Well, I am glad that’s over.
It wasn’t the most entertaining game in the world that’s for sure. It was a lot of running around, turning the ball over, getting beat on the boards and knuckle ball jump shots. I guess the explanation was that it is just summer league, but I have to admit it was a bit of a letdown after some of the good play on display last week in Orlando.
Anyway, I don’t want to get too down about this. The summer league is a tool first and foremost. It lets the coaching staff see how the new guys play with and against their peers. It gives them starting points to work on with these players.
Some random observations:
- None of the “regulars” got big minutes. Harden, White and Ibaka all got less than 20 minutes, and Westbrook and Livingston got less than 25.
- The Turnovers as a team were really pretty bad. It was a lot of sloppy plays and disjointed offensive execution. Russell was the “reckless” Russell that we see sometimes; driving into traffic and getting swarmed and swiped. He had 4 turns in 23 minutes. By my notes, two were his fault, two were not.
- Ibaka was knuckleballing most of his shots tonight, but he’s been very efficient in the Summer league prior to tonight. He airballed a two foot hook shot.
- Speaking of Ibaka, I think the team is looking at him with a mind to see if he can get a few garbage minutes at the 5 next year. He’s a real run/jump kind of guy with a nose for the ball around the basket. If the Thunder want to play small/fast for a stretch he could be an option. He can make shots, but he’s not a pick and pop guy like White, Krstic and Mullins.
- D.J. White is a smooth offensive player who never seems to be in a rush, and doesn’t really force anything. He did have four boards in his 17 minutes.
- James Harden’s shot wasn’t on, but he did get to the line 4 times in 18 minutes. In a game without any really impressive highlights, Harden probably had the closest thing. He had the ball out on top of the arc and he got a little screen, he used it by dribbling around it to the left and drove right to the lane for a left hand dunk. He did that very same thing dozens of times at ASU. It seems to be sort of a signature thing with him, but what’s great is that he has such a good handle, and he’s such a great passer, that he has his head up the whole time he’s executing, and he is a threat at any time to pass out to an open jump shooter or for a dunk at the basket when the defense tries to rotate.
- Weaver was efficient tonight with his jumper going 3/5 from deep…including one bank shot. He turned it 4 times however.
- Lord Byron Mullins hit a jumper and a floater at the rim. I thought he did a good job defending Haddadi in the low post on a little running hook. The shot went in, but I thought he had good position and was able to stay in front of him
- Scott Brooks was being interviewed by Antonio Harvey and Rich Kamla and he was telling them that Mullins was 7-2″ and 270…..hmmmm. Well he measured out at 7’1.25″ and 258 at the combine, but what’s 3/4 of an inch and 12 pounds among friends right? Maybe Brooks is trying to strike fear into the hearts of the other opposing NBA Centers in the league.
- I’m not sure what Robert Vaden is doing. He’s a gunner, a scorer, a high usage guy. The scoring is a thing of need for the Thunder, but instead Vaden seems to be trying to play his way to Tulsa by proving he’s “multidimensional”. It’s like when Sly Stallone tried to be cast in serious dramatic roles. Puuuhleeese. Vaden needs to hit shots; he’s not even attempting shots. If he is ever to get minutes with the big club it is going to be as a guy who can bring some scoring punch off the bench.
- Devon Harden showed a little something around the basket with a put back and a block. He might be a junk/3rd Center for the big club. Somebody who will use some fouls to put the hurt on people and grab rebounds and protect the rim. He definitely can’t shoot, but he did hit his free throws.
- I noticed that several times the Thunder opted to double Hasheem Thabeet in the post. I guess they were hoping for a steal? Uhhm….don’t you usually double team somebody because they are hard to stop one on one? I don’t think Thabeet has established himself as an offensive threat with his back to the basket yet. He did pass out to an open shooter though.
- Tony Durant, the Kids big brother got a sniff in the fourth quarter. He doesn’t look like he shares one scrap of DNA with Kevin. He looks like a bull in a china shop. But really, for being a small college guy (Towson University?) he looks as good like he belongs as well as some of the other guys in Summer league play. He seems like an undersized Power Forward/hustle player.
The Thunder don’t play again until Tuesday night. There we get the Lakers and the fearless Adam Morrison. Be afraid, be very afraid.
@Joe
yeah, i really like the idea of livingston in during crunch time. i know russ really believes he's a point guard (as he made clear before the draft), but he's too erratic during crunch time, when possesions are clearly extremely valuable. he should still clearly be in for his ability to create if need be, but i'd be happy with livingston in to more calmly and consistently bring it down and find the right guy (DURANT). i play that lineup all the time in nba live, haha
i mean 19 years old ...
later - going back to listening to drake
that harden dunk was nice .. i told my brother that the knock on him was he can't go right ... to which he replied "& still became the #3 pick in the draft!" ... he absolutely didnt believe me when i told him he was 20 years old
DJ as kurt thomas was my assessment ...
westbrook might have had his eye on that flight he was catching to cali after the game .. i wouldnt even worry about it ...
i guess no matter what thabeet does, guys will still try to hold onto their opinion that he's not a capable player
The game was horrible - yes it's summer league but still if you are scheduled to play a game you should actually show up - this analysis is late because I was at church last night and I didn't watch the third quarter until this morning (I didnt watch the 4th quarter but 7 points scored tells me all I need to know)
1)RW has imrpoved slightly with is point guard duites on the break, but in the half court his passing (or lack thereof) is painful to watch. You know when RW is going to shoot the ball fice seconds before he does it. That is not winning basketball. Guys like Kobe, Lebron, and DWade are talented enough to get away with that type of one on one play, but they are NVP caliber. Joe brought up a good point - in crunchtime go with Livingston, Westbrook, Harden, Durant, and either Green or some other big.
2) The whole team including Westbrook were asleep defensively. I remember one play where the ball was thrown in the middle of the lane and the Thunder had four guys surrounding the lane and Memphis dunked the ball and not ONE of the Thunder moved a muscle. Inexcusable. The whole team, including Westbrook and Weaver were more concerned with reaching rather than moving their feet and playing any kind of positional defene.
3) Passing was atrocious. Basically, most were concerned with getting their own points. Even Harden, usually a good passer, seemed to be counting his points. Weaver is a willing passer but he had several turnovers. He didn't look like the same player I saw last year. RW did his usual thing that we have discussed ad nauseum. All the wing players seemed to have no willingness to get the ball inside. Please pass the ball in the post!! Fast break passes were laughable. Routine 2-on-1 breaks were botched - why? Everybody wants their points. Seriously, we have too many people interested in individual points, and far too many people interested in Thunder points.
4) Livingston has a very good 15-16 foot jump shot. Outside of that - leave him open because he won't make it. An NBA guard has to have a longer range than 16 feet.
5) Geesh Mullens has a lot of work to do. First, the guy posts up 18 feet out. Not a lot of post moves can be done that far out. He needs to hit the weight room big time so he can establish better position. Two, when the wings finally got around to passing him the ball, he overdribbled. No surprise, the Memphis defense came in and stole it. He needs ALOT of work on his post game. ALOT. He spends too much time trying to show us he can make 22 footers.
6) Scott Brooks was all PC during his interview. The only negative thing he said was that "Harden is struggling a little today". Can we get any kind of realistic interview??? At least Larry Riley (Warriors GM) was calling out his team during Satruday's game. He criticized his team for not passing the ball ahead - and he got onto Randolph (whom the announcers gushed over for two entire broadcasts) for overdribbling. Brooks, your team is getting embarrassed right before our eyes - at least mention that fact.
7) Thabeet - I owe you an apology. You still stink, but at least you showed up last night.
Rant over - hopefully Tuesday will be better . . .
Glad I missed it...It's too bad that Westbrook had trouble again. I get the feeling that improvment might have been offset by over eagerness. He did the same thing in Orlando. In one of his interviews recently, he said that he has learned to slow down and to try to see the game a little better and pick his spots. But, learning that it's important and making it come naturally are two different things. Hopefully it comes with time for RW.
I like the analysis, but I feel it needs to be pointed out that no one on the Summer League that doesn't have a contract already has a shot at playing for the big club unless he's doing what John Lucas did last year and playing for a week. Vaden and Hardin will be D-Leaguing it or parlaying their Summer League experience into a Euro contract...there's no reason to give them false hope.
Lefty :
Longar Longar played yesterday, guys.
Who, who? :O)
Nix :
I see D.J. as a Joe Smith to the T
That's a really good comparison. Brooks used Smith at Center in the season quite a bit before Krstic got here and got integrated into the lineup. I don't really see DJ playing any Center, but the comparison is solid.
I think we are going to have to live with Westbrook being sort of a Jekyll and Hyde point guard for a few years until he figures it out. My guess is that it is in his nature to attack the basket and then when the defense sags a bit to prevent the drive, he shoots a jumper. So, as a point guard, he tries to integrate that by driving and sometimes dishing, which looks great when it works, but results in a turnover when the defense swarms him. Jekyll when it works, Hyde when it doesn't.
I think until Westbrook is coached about the very real value of each possession, he won't gloss over in his mind his 4, 5, 6 turns in a game. Once he's lost a few games for us late with turns, and his coaches and players explain to him that there is a time to let it roll, and a time to really protect the rock, we are going to see this.
It may be that this season or beyond that Brooks takes the ball out of his hands in key situations. Maybe he has Durant or Harden or Livingston handle with the game on the line and 4 seconds left. We shall see.
Longar Longar played yesterday, guys.
I watched some of the game. Focused on Thabeet. It's true he's very long. So long he changed this game on the defensive end. But that was against unorganized rookies & scrubs. He also got a defensive 3 second call. That's going to happen a lot in the regular season. It will be interesting to see how quickly Thabeet adapts. Or if he can. Also couldn't help but notice Westbrook totally sucked. Totally outplayed at PG by that kid that Nets & Warriors both let go. But it was a summer game. So what ever. But I was looking for a lot more considering the lineup that started the game.
Sounds like I picked a good one to miss. Lucky for me.
I see D.J. as a Joe Smith to the T
I'm hoping that Ibaka becomes our version of Birdman. We need a guy like that.