| Pace | Eff | eFG | FT/FG | OREB% | TOr | |
| OKC | 94.0 | 105.3 | 43.2% | 35.8 | 26.5 | 14.9 |
| MEM | 97.9 | 50.0% | 26.0 | 21.6 | 18.1 |
The Thunder took a sixteen point lead into the fourth quarter tonight, on the road without it’s Superman, and did enough of the little things to hang on for the win. The road victory tonight was only the fourth of the year for the Thunder, but it was the second win in Memphis and third out of four tries against the Grizzlies.
The Thunder shot 11-19 (58%) in the first quarter and opened up a 12 point lead in the first quarter. They used a starting lineup of Westbrook, Weaver, Sefolosha, Green and Krstic instead of the second half starters from last night that featured Nick Collison. The starters tonight were very effective on both ends of the court in the first, dominating in nearly every way except for the five turns. Thabo was especially exceptional, playing great defense, hitting a few shots and grabbing five rebounds.
In the second quarter our shooting cooled way off, but we were able to maintain most of the first quarter lead by hammering the boards and forcing 6 Grizzly turnovers (for 11 points). Westbrook had three steals in the quarter. Big Rob Swift made an appearance tonight as the last rotation big and hit a shot and grabbed a board and had two nasty blocks. He did a good job of protecting the rim for the most part, except once when he looked so gassed he couldn’t get over to help under the basket on a drive.
After going up fifteen in the third, the Grizz went on a little 8-0 run to make the game interesting. Brooks called a timeout and the Thunder regrouped. Then Green hit a little mid range, followed by big time back to back threes. After a Swift jumper the score was back up to a sixteen point advantage for the boys in blue. The Thunder were still a bit shaky on it’s shooting (36% in the second and third quarters) but they were doing enough of the little things to keep it rolling. Meanwhile the Grizz were missing half it’s free throws and getting beat to the rebounds.
In the fourth it was all about hanging on for the wild ride. The Grizz scored 31 points in the fourth period, and cut the lead down to three with just a few seconds left, but our boys hit their free throws down the stretch, and it seemed like the Grizz lost their cool and let us put one on them in their house.
Randomness
- It was very nice to put an end to the losing streak. We dedicated Thunder fans were kind of getting used to something close to .500 ball there for awhile.
- I am firmly in the Thabo Sefolosha fan club. His long jumpers didn’t drop tonight, but he did so many other things. Grant Long said tonight that it seemed like there were two of him on the court at the same time tonight. I can think of about a half a dozen big time defensive plays that really made a statement by him.
- In fact, Sefolosha played so well that he basically took Earl’s minutes away. Earl only got 10 minutes of run tonight. As near as I can tell, Earl was only in the game when Westbrook was on the bench, which wasn’t much. He didn’t get any of the run alongside RW that he has been getting the last month and a half because Weaver is a capable second ball handler, and Sefolosha is too valuable on defense. I think Earl better get used to it.
- The number of empty seats in Memphis, on a Saturday night was stunning. Just a complete wild guess I would say 9000 fans.
- Dean Oliver, basketball guru extraordinaire says that the four factors tell the tale of a game, and shooting is the most important by far. If you don’t shoot the ball well, you better do the other three (getting to the line, maintaining possessions with offensive boards, and preventing turnovers) better than the other team. Tonight, when I say we “did all the little things to win”, this is what I’m referring to. We were out shot, but we were able to get to the line more often and make more free throws, we snagged five extra offensive rebounds and had three extra steals, two less turns and two more blocks than the Grizz. Those added up to 14 more scoring opportunities ( FGA’s + FTA’s), and were the reason we won while the other team shot better than we did.
- Robert Swift has a pretty good sized tattoo of the Supersonics team logo in the crook of his right arm just below the bicep.
- Thabo doesn’t bite on the up fakes that everybody in the NBA does. He might be about the only one on our team who stays down like he should. I noticed that most of the night, but it was especially helpful when Conley jacked up that three with 4 seconds left and jumped into Thabo trying to get the three free throws. Thabo was down, but his arms were straight up–the refs weren’t having any of it.
- Westbrook was again a little out of control at times, and definitely forces shots, but he got to the line all night and made almost as many steals as he did turns. He finished with 7 assists.
- The Thunder did a great job playing the passing lanes tonight.
Some numbers
- Jeff Green now has 60 rebounds in his last five games. He had double digit boards again tonight. If he keeps this up, I will begin to really think of him as a bonafide power forward. Most improved player anyone?
- Thabo had a double double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and only one foul playing his lock down defense. Presti is a shrewd judge of talent.
- I’d have to mention just about everybody tonight if I wanted to mention all of the nice statistics our guys accumulated. Green, Thabo and Westbrook were all double digit positive guys on +/-; Collison, Krstic and Weaver were all positive as well. Only Earl and Swifty were in the hole.
- As you can see, our offensive efficiency was 105.3. Not great, but not all that bad considering all of the change and missing superstar.
- Our defensive efficiency was a very nice 97.9. Woohoo. That’s cause for a party with this team. It’s the best defense we’ve played in the last 14 games; going all the way back to the last New Jersey Nets game.
- I don’t want to beat a dead horse here, but it’s not a coincidence our defense is much improved with Durant out of the lineup.
- Our pace was about average for us at 94 possessions.
Any win is a good win; especially on the road. Next up: Dallas at home on Monday.
Green has taken a beating over the last few games. He was fouled hard multiple times in the game against the Lakers, and again tonight he was on the ground in pain. I hope all of his rebounds aren't going to come at the expense of his health.
Durant doesn't have any positive player pairs but can you use other players and guess who he would play well with? Anthony and McGrady both play well with wing defenders. McGrady with vet bigs, Anthony not as blessed but some of the same sign. Anthony now blessed with vet true PG, McGrady has been missing that lately. Roy working pretty well with everybody but hits these same notes. Durant not overly blessed with strong vet bigs but Collison Krstic the Smiths/Thomases are better than young bigs. Durant does relatively well with the Masons and Weavers so there is hope for with Sefolosha. Durant Westbrook isn't terrible but it isn't quite strong either. Gotta find somebody he is strong with. Assume he had good run with DJ Augustin. Didn't seem like Presti was ever close to pursuing that. Not sure that would have been the right pick by itself but at some point fit matters.
Saw where Brandon Roy has decided to start chirping about team defense. It is time. they need more and will benefit from it. A decent 1 on 1 defender but he still shows up as lousy as part of team defense while on the court. Don't know if he has or will pick it up that way. But maybe chirping about it is part of the way. Offensive star demanding help from the others on that. Still better if you lead by example with help defense but try anything. Durant can talk up the D some on the court (Garnett is the most vocal and it probably helps some) and yak it up in the locker room and in the press. Give props to Westbrook, Weaver, Sefolosha, Collison, Krstic and Green when they play good defense. But some more real personal contribution will be needed too. Mabe play a little less minutes and play defense harder?
Westbrook-Green just works better than Durant-Green, which has never worked and ultimately has to or a foundational change will need to be made. Don't fight the numbers.
Westbrook, Weaver, Sefolosha, Green and Krstic should play slow, maximize Durant's rest and focus on defense and just not losing ground.
Next season will be different as at least 2 more players join the emerging rotation and perhaps substitutions are made.
1. I was thinking Westbrook, Weaver, Sefolosha, Green and Krstic might be the lineup to use whenever Durant sits. Westbrook and Green get their chance to shoot more but Krstic plays a role too with the multiple ballhandlers moving around and hopefully finding him some.
2. I'd make sure to always have 2 of Westbrook, Durant and Green on the floor and would make that a priority over maximizing all 3 on the floor, though you still can do that for 24 minutes mainly at start & finish.
3. By doing 1 and 2 I'd max Westbrook-Green to 36 minutes and minimize Durant-Green to 24 minutes. By doing 1 and making it a priority at other times too you maximize Green-Krstic which is Krstic and Green's second best pairings.
4. I'd see how Watson-Sefolosha does vs Westbrook-Sefolsoha. Watson-Weaver is markedly better than Westbrook-Weaver but see if the Sefolosha pairs confirm these as pairing to maximize or offest and makes it a draw.
Yeah, honestly, I do think he is just a poor defender right now. But I will say that I've definitely seen defensive improvement from him this season. He is getting down a bit into a defensive stance, and he is getting his arms out and up. I don't really know all that there is to know about playing man defense, just what I see. What I see is that he can't keep quick guys in front of him, and when they do get by him, he doesn't get the steal or block from behind like Thabo did tonight, or like Mason is so good at. But Durant has a very competitive edge to him. I fully expect him to get better because he seems to be a sort of an assassin who really wants to win, and he talks about defense.
And beyond what I see on defense, there are the numbers:
http://basketballvalue.com/teamplayers.php?year=2008-2009&team=OKC
The Thunder are 8.4 points worse on defense per 100 possessions when he is on the court. The worst of our rotation guys. Some of that is who he is replaced with, but most of it is that he just doesn't keep his opponent from putting the ball in the hole.
From everything I've read (since I never played B-ball above the YMCA level)defense is about effort. When he gets serious about the effort of playing lock down defense, he will get better. I would have to believe he will. It will be the difference between him being a top ten player and a top 5 player. All of the top five players play defense.
Joe, do you think Durant is really that negative of an impact on the defensive end, or do you think the team plays differently when he's out? At 6'10" with stretch armstrong arms, he can contest and alter a ton of shots by his man. Also, he doesn't seem to rotate any worse than other Thunder players (though I suppose that doesn't say much yet), so where is the hitch?
It's obvious that Durant doesn't have the Kobe or Lebron intensity on the defensive end yet, but he certainly has the capacity to be a Tayshaun Prince-like defender. What do you think is the main thing he needs to do in order to more effectively improve this team's defense?