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With the World Championships about to kickoff and the month of August coming to a close, I think it’s more than appropriate for us to start getting a little excited about the upcoming year (especially now that we’ve seen the schedule). And a big part about the anticipation and excitement for this upcoming season has to do with the natural progression that a young team must make to go from potential contender to a championship reality.
So with that in mind, I’m going to look at five different things over the next few weeks that I’d really like to see happen next year because I believe these are the five developments that will take the Thunder from being a young and promising squad to a legitimate, without-question championship contender.
And no, these are not in any specific order of importance whatsoever. Read more…
Commentary
James Harden, Thabo Sefolosha
Nice to see Thabo get the credit he earned all season. He made the second team with 14 points (lowest total on the second team) and received three first team and eight second team votes.
Also receiving votes was Russell Westbrook, who got three second team votes, Kevin Durant who received one second team vote and Serge Ibaka who got one second team vote. Kind of cool. Until you see that Earl Watson also got one second team vote. Kind of taints it, you know?
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Thabo Sefolosha
I think all of us in Oklahoma City (or those that watch this team nightly) know what a defensive specialist Thabo Sefolosha is.
He’s catching more national attention with stellar games against Kobe, Brandon Roy and Dwyane Wade, but for the most part, he’s not in the Top Defender discussion. But we all know he should be. A lot of times, in the NBA, defense is all about reputation. Have a couple nice games in the playoffs in front of everybody and your reputation is locked in as a great defender. Do it for five years and have the great players compliment you constantly, and you earn the reputation. But do it for a team in a small market that more still perceive as “sucky” and its hard to gain traction.
So I’m here to try and start creating that reputation for Thabo. I’ve watched him for about 30 games now and the guy is outstanding. Just outstanding. He plays with energy every night. He hits the glass. He helps. He cuts off passing lanes. He blocks shots. I think he defends three guys at a time. He. Does. It. All. You can see Thabo’s face lighting up to the challenge of guarding a great player. Some guys want to shoot it 20 times. Some want the glamour of a big highlight dunk. Thabo is in it because he wants to lock you down. Read more…
Commentary
Thabo Sefolosha
Per a release:
The Oklahoma City Thunder have signed guard Thabo Sefolosha to a multi-year contract extension, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Sam Presti. Per team policy, the terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“We are excited that we were able to reach an agreement that will keep Thabo a part of our core group moving forward,” said Presti. “Thabo represents many of the qualities that we look for in our players, great competitiveness, a team first mentality, and a strong work ethic. We believe Thabo’s best basketball is ahead of him, and his desire to remain a part of the Thunder family allowed for us to make this happen.”
I see this as excellent news. I don’t want to guess what the terms might be, but I’m sure it’s reasonable and maybe within the Bruce Bowen-ish range (his first contract was a 3-year, $11.7 million deal). They surely didn’t pay him starter money as I’m sure they intend for James Harden to be that in the future. But Thabo adds depth and a defensive mindset to the team and it’s good to get this out of the way so that it’s not an issue hanging over everyone during the season. I’m glad to see that Thabo is in the franchise’s long-term plans.
News
Thabo Sefolosha
We took a look at a list of goals for the entire Thunder team a couple weeks ago. But let’s get detailed. Let’s get specific. I’m going to dig in and hit on some individual goals for a few players that would define a successful season. So what meters for success should we set for Thabo Sefolosha?
Second Team All-Defense. This is probably unrealistic. In the current landscape of the NBA, most postseason accolades are won over a couple of seasons by gaining reputation. And nothing is more true than in the All-Defense teams. A lot of those guys get by on reputation alone instead of actually being elite defenders. So if Thabo can spend a whole season catching people’s attention with his lockdown skills, maybe he can grab a little traction. Plays like this go a long way in building a reputation, so hopefully we have a season full of them. Read more…
Commentary
Thabo Sefolosha
