I think we can all agree that Ron Artest did a terrific job on Kevin Durant yesterday. KD went just 7-24 from the floor and took eight 3-pointers, hitting only one. He took almost all jumpers, and never looked comfortable. A lot of it had to do with some visible nerves early in the game, but most of it was because of Artest just being a pest. He was disruptive in every way, pushing, pulling and grabbing Durant around every corner.
Here are five plays Durant was stopped and on the end, one successful trip down the floor.
OK, so let’s analyze a bit. The first play: Read more…
Hubie Brown hammered the Thunder last night for poor transition defense against the Grizzlies early on after Oklahoma City gave up four easy buckets. And he was right. Transition defense has become a bit of an achilles for the otherwise stout Thunder defense. Let’s watch the four easy transition buckets that came early.
To recap: O.J. Mayo scored on a runout layup, Mike Conley Jr. went to the rim with little resistance, Mayo went to the rim with little resistance and then Conley got back into the paint and to the rim. If you wanted to simplify three of those, it’s just that the Thunder didn’t stop the ball. It’s the number one rule of transition defense. Stop the ball, make the player pass. A pass gives your teammates a chance to recover and hopefully set up. But let’s look at it one by one. Read more…
The Thunder lost the kind of game last night that you lose sleep over. What if Kevin Durant had hit 2-4 from 3 instead of 1-4? What if George Hill doesn’t get “fouled” right before the half and awarded three free throws? What if James Harden were healthy? But you wouldn’t be asking yourself these mind-numbing questions had one shot not rimmed out. Thabo Sefolosha got a good look from 3 with eight seconds left, but just didn’t make it. And while “Thabo Sefolosha” and “last shot” typically don’t go hand-in-hand, Scott Brooks said after the game the play was executed well and KD made a good decision passing out of a double-team. So let’s have a good look at that final play, shall we? Read more…
We all know Oklahoma City has had some offensive issues this season. OKC ranks 20th in offensive efficiency (105.9), which is an improvement from last year where OKC finished ranked 29th (102.9). So it’s gotten better. But at times, the Thunder’s offensive execution can be extremely elementary. To be honest, the entire offensive scheme isn’t complicated. I would say it hinges on three general principles: 1) Get Kevin Durant the ball in a position to score 2) Create off a drive and score/kick out to a shooter and 3) Get Kevin Durant the ball in a position to score.
But in more than one circumstance, bad execution has cost them late in the fourth quarter. Kevin Arnovitz detailed some of this in far better fashion than I could, but I wanted to dip my toe in the water and take a closer look.
So against Denver, I wanted to highlight five different possessions, all from the second quarter (thanks to reader Johnny for the grabs). Let’s take a peek. Read more…
Let’s take another bite into some film, shall we? This time, we’re going to look at what changed for Kevin Durant between the first half (where he scored 20 points) and the second half and overtime (where he scored just eight) Wednesday night against the Lakers. Roll the video! (As always, big props to Johnny for the video. Check out the shiny arrows and commentary he added!)
If you can’t tell, I’m a little obsessed with the details of basketball. I like knowing how and why the other team scored, as well as my own. Anyway, James Harden caught some attention last Friday with his eight assist performance in Detroit. He’s also caught a little criticism for his supposed slow start to his rookie year. But I wanted to break out some video to show exactly what Harden brings to the floor and why he’s going to be an absolutely dynamic offensive player for the Thunder. He can score, don’t worry. That stuff will come. But lots of athletic guys can score. What Harden’s got is intelligence, an understanding of the game and the most important thing of all – this thing called feel.
(Big time thanks to reader Johnny for the video.)
Two assists stand out from that sequence more than any other. And they’re not even the flashiest ones. I like Harden’s dish to Etan Thomas for a layup and his little wrap-around bounce pass to Nick Collison for a dunk. But let’s look at a couple of the eight. Read more…
To the delight of I think every Thunder fan out there, Serge Ibaka saw his first real playing time of the season Friday night in Detroit. He played three minutes and just pulled down one rebound. He didn’t do much but Scott Brooks likely wanted to just get Ibaka some burn and will likely kind of work him into the fold as we go.The way he’s going to find a place in the rotation is if he brings great energy and does work on the defensive end. But how did he do? After the jump, I’m going to put on my breakdown hat and look closely at a few possessions with Ibaka. (h/t to reader Johnny for the video)
In any close game, there’s three or four key sequences that had they gone your way, maybe you tack on a W instead of an L. And I’m not talking about Chris Paul’s twirling last-second crab travel (I’m not whining – well maybe I am – but watch the video. He picks up his dribble and plants, then continues on toward the bucket and takes step two. Then he stumbles and falls back leaving his established pivot foot, making that a, you guessed it, traveling violation. No, I’m not bitter about this.). And I’m not talking about the two blown out-of-bounds calls that went against OKC. I’m talking crucial moments where the Thunder just didn’t execute properly.
1. [8:27, fourth quarter] The Thunder is up 85-84 and has possession. Earl Watson walks the ball up and swings it to Russell Westbrook. Westbrook dumps to the post where Chris Paul dives in to double Jeff Green. Green kicks cross-court to Watson who is standing open at the three-point line. Now, keep in mind Watson is 0-4 from three for the game and is shooting an *awesome* 28 percent from three. But with 12 seconds on the shot clock, Watson jacks the trey. An extra pass gives Westbrook a wide open look because Antonio Daniels left him to put a hand in Watson’s face. While Westbrook would have a more open look, he also had a clear path to the bucket because Nick Collison had just flashed in the paint and the middle was cleared out. A big time missed opportunity for OKC. Read more…
