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…
