As we go into the offseason and the discussion continues about what free agents Oklahoma City should key on or who the Thunder should set their eyes to in the draft, one good way to gain some perspective is to take a look back at the season in stats.
- The Thunder ranked in the bottom 10 of the league in nine major statistical categories: 24th in scoring offense (97.0 ppg), 23rd in opponent points per game (103.1), 26th in field goal percentage (44.6), last in turnovers (16.2 per game), last in three pointers made (four a game), last in three point attempts (11.6), 20th in assists per game (20.3), 22nd in blocks (4.5 a game) and 29th in assist to turnover ratio (1.14).
- OKC did rebound surprsingly well ranking sixth in the league in rebounds per game (42.6). But while the Thunder hit glass well, they did give up 41.2 rebounds a game for a differential of +1.4, which was in the bottom 15 of the league. But at the same time, nobody averaged more than 6.9 a game. It was all done by committee without one dominant rebounder.
- Another thing the Thunder did well was steal the ball. OKC ranked 13th in the league with 7.4 thefts per game.
- Again, the Thunder ranked dead last in both three pointers attempted and made. Jeff Green and Kevin Durant combined to make 193 of OKC’s 328 threes this season. Yeah, that’s 59 percent of the team’s total three point makes.
- OKC averaged 91.8 ppg in November, 96.1 in December, 102.8 in January, 106.3 in February, back down to 92.4 in March and 95.4 in April.
- In wins, the Thunder had six guys that averaged double figures. In losses, they had just three. In wins, “the big three” averaged 60.3 ppg, (60 percent of the team’s points). In losses, they averaged 56.1 ppg (59 percent of the team’s points).
- Kevin Durant averaged 27.2 ppg and 8.0 rpg in wins and 24.7 and 6.0 rpg in losses. Jeff Green averaged 18.6 ppg in wins and 15.9 in losses. Westbrook averaged 14.8 ppg in wins and 15.5 in losses. But he averaged 4.9 assists per game in losses and 6.2 in wins. That says something right there.
- For the season, the only three players that averaged double figures were Durant, Green and Westbrook. Other teams that had three or fewer players average double digits: New Jersey and Dallas. The Thunder relied more on three players than all but one team (Dallas had Dirk, Jason Terry and Josh Howard combining for 63.5 ppg while OKC’s three averaged 60.3 ppg). Nenad Krstic provided some supplementary scoring sometimes and Thabo did too sometimes, but OKC needs a consistent extra scorer whether it be off the bench or in the starting lineup to take some of the load off the big three.
- OKC’s backcourt ranked 26th in the league in efficiency and got just 34.0 ppg from the backcourt, which was last in the league.
- The Thunder ranked 28th for in-the-paint stats and 23rd for out-of-paint stats.
- The Thunder’s starters ranked 25th in the league with a -9.6. They ranked 22nd in points per game, tied Minnesota for lowest shooting percentage and tied Boston for first in turnovers.
- OKC’s bench ranked in at 19th at a -1.4, was fifth in rebounding but last in turnovers.
- OKC ranked 21st in point guard play and last in turnovers in that category with 4.9 a game.
- At shooting guard the Thunder ranked last in the league with a -5.8. OKC got the least amount of points from that position in the league with 15.3 a game.
- OKC ranked fourth at small forward and were fourth for points per game, sixth for rebounds per game, third for steals per game, sixth in shooting percentage, first in three point percentage and fourth in free throws made at that position. Oh yeah, Kevin Durant.
- The Thunder ranked 28th at power forward. At the four, OKC was 18th in ppg, 22nd in rpg, 26th in blocks and 25th in field goal percentage.
- And at center, OKC came in 24th. 16th in points, 17th in rebounds, 24th in blocks and 18th in field goal percentage.
- Finally, just because I care: KD wound up shooting a 176.1 in the “180 Shooter” statistic. At one point he got as high as a 179.3 but his subpar finish dropped him down some. Still a wonderful shooting season and I’m thinking he’ll be a multiple 180 shooter during his career. (He finished 47.6 percent from the field, 42.2 from three and 86.3 from the free throw line.)
So out of all that, it’s clear OKC needs help pretty much across the board. But some of that should be taken care of players the Thunder already has. You’d assume Westbrook will improve and bring the turnovers down. You’d assume the offense will be better with a full season under Scott Brooks and Durant, Green and Westbrook all getting better. You’d assume the defense to improve some as young players mature and understand that end of the floor better. But some things you can’t expect the Thunder to just “get better” at. They need a shooter. They need a physical post player that can rebound, block shots, play solid post defense and score on the block. They need depth off the bench. You know, so get all that and we should be fine.
@G.A.P
Blowing by your defender is important for two reasons. One, it pulls the defense and should allow for open outside shots - unfortunately seeing and finding teammates is one of Westbrook's shortcomings. Two, it leads to high percentage shots - unfortunately Westbrook has proven not yet to be a very good shooter or finisher (due in part to his forcing his shot).
I definitely think he'll be working hard, but I'd rather have the ball in a shooter's hands at the one. Westbrook can drive all he wants as long as we have someone more efficient deciding when he gets the ball.
@Joe
Right on. He's never had to be a shooter because at every other level he could get to the rim at will. Now that he needs a jumper, I'm sure it will come.
Like you said, his form is fine and his release is pure. Sometimes he does lay the ball a little flat across his palm and then we he flicks his wrist, he loses control of the ball and that's why you see the bad misses off to the left and right. And sometimes he really rushes and pulls up out of rhythm. But like you said, nothing serious that would concern you.
Westbrook should and will stay at the pg, I guess nobody had the chance to see him blow by so many defenders and in the last several games he started to show glimpses of becoming the playmaker that Presti said he could become.
Judging by his character i'm lead to believe that he's gonna work hard this offseason and come back and shock and impress thunder fans all over again with his newly developed jumpers and finishing around the rim.
I will say this much about Westbrook's shot: It isn't broken, he just needs practice. His form is great and smooth. It doesn't have a hitch or anything. It looks good to go. He just needs to be shooting a butt load of them every day. Deep jumpers, midrange, stop and pops, floaters, you name it.
I think it's likely that he shoots it better next year.
I really don't see how Westbrook fits as a 2 since he's a mediocre outside shooter . . .
Good points. We were talking about defense all year and how poorly we did it. Kind of interesting to see that our offense is actually a bigger need. As much as I love what Thabo has brought, I think all of us know he's really a 6th-8th man on a good team.
I still think Westbrook would make a better 2 than one. Yes, his turnovers should certainly come down, but turnovers are not the only bad decisions a PG can make. I think he'd be better off even as a scorer with a pass-first PG getting him the ball in good position. Even when he gets in the lane, he misses a lot of shots because he is up against multiple defenders. Having someone set him up where he can actually go one-on-one could increase his overall shooting almost 5% on its own.
Off topic, but I purchased Desmond Mason and KD Mcfarlane action figures today. Dez is a very nice figure. He is well proportioned, has a nice pose, and is a good likeness of Dez. KD is a nice figure as far as sculpt and face go, but somebody at Mcfarlane forgot to check how tall KD is, because he is shorter than my Mike Bibby figure, and makes Dez look like Shaq. I packaged it back up and I am going to return it.
Great analysis, Royce.
The small forward stats do a nice job of debunking the idea that we're somehow better off without Kevin Durant. But good lord do we need help at shooting guard. Hope Thabo and Kyle Weaver work hard this summer.
I just read on espn that Scotty Reynolds has declared for the draft. I wonder where he would fall and if maybe we would take a look at him with our 2nd pick. Thoughts?