A little more than a week ago, Scott Brooks had a talk with his team about playing better in the fourth quarter, about executing and closer better.
We still don’t know if that talk took, because it’s now been four full games since Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook played in a fourth quarter.
A second consecutive blowout of the Phoenix Suns allowed the Thunder’s extended bench to close out the final 12 minutes of the game, thus leaving most of the starting crew on the sidelines for the final 12 minutes.
It was easy to assume the Suns might play with a bit more conviction and urgency after the way the Thunder smoked them on Friday, and while they had more energy on the defensive end early, they were absolutely putrid offensively. They scored 69 points, shot 32.6 percent, from the floor turned it over 23 times, and until late in the fourth, didn’t have a single player in double-figures.
The Thunder had to do it tonight shorthanded too, as Kevin Martin was a late scratch because of flu-like symptoms. Obviously a major hit to an already sketchy Thunder bench, but Martin’s production was made up entirely by Thabo Sefolosha, who played his doppelganger even more than usual tonight.
After scolding the Suns for 18 Friday night, Thabo built on his recent offensive surge, dropping 20 on Phoenix this time, which featured a career-high five 3s. In 34 minutes of action, Thabo was a +38. That plus/minus is well deserved, because Thabo genuinely was the Thunder’s best player tonight. The point production and outside shooting an obvious bonus, but his defense was as disruptive as ever, as he basically blew up Phoenix sets virtually on his own.
The Thunder held a solid 17-point lead at halftime and Thabo set a perfect tone after the break, stealing a pass on the Suns’ first possession and finishing a dunk on the other end. At that moment, the game was basically over.
Without Martin, OKC’s bench wasn’t close to as productive as it has been the past few weeks and without the blowout, wouldn’t have produced much of anything. The second unit finished with 23 points, but late in the third quarter had two total. Again, this wasn’t a big concern for two big reasons: 1) The Thunder were ahead by like 50 and 2) that supplementary scoring was being provided, just not by guys that didn’t start. Points are points no matter where they come from.
It seems that the Thunder righted themselves a bit by getting back at home and sorting things out. After a sloppy, choppy stretch of play, that’s now four straight wins by 21 or more points, something only done by 10 other teams in NBA history. But it’s a very encouraging thing to see the Thunder take their recent home dominance on the road, blowing out a team that they’re far superior to in their building.
NOTES:
- Remember, the last time OKC played in Phoenix, Westbrook and Durant combined for 77 points, including 47 of 51 in the second half. Tonight, Durant and Westbrook combined for just 42 total points.
- Because I care about such silly things, sitting these fourth quarters is really tanking KD’s stats.
- Lindsey Hunter just looks so unsure and uncomfortable as a coach. Hands in his pockets, awkward smiles, no real assertive, demonstrative moments. He might make a good coach eventually, but you can tell he’s new at this.
- There was a miscommunication on the fastbreak between Thabo and Westbrook in the second quarter which resulted in a turnover. Westbrook was clearly upset about it, but not at Thabo. Westbrook immediately patted his chest, taking the responsibility for the play.
- Really a shame Jeremy Lamb has been out recently. Could’ve gotten some nice run the past few games.
- The Suns stink. They really do.
- KD deflected a pass off a fan’s face in the front row, and of course stopped to make sure she was OK before continuing on.
- Another very strong performance from Russell Westbrook. Steady and smart.
- Obligatory mention of how good the home whites look with black shoes.
- While Perk obviously didn’t explode tonight like he did Friday — instead of 17 points, he had a big fat zero in 26 minutes tonight — he was very good establishing the defensive interior. Two games against Perk, just eight total points in 49 minutes for Marcin Gortat.
- Serge Ibaka has been sorting himself out offensively lately. Another strong game from him. Twelve points and six boards, with a good number of midrange shots dropping.
- Seven rebounds in 20 minutes for Reggie Jackson. That dude is a machine on the glass.
- Eric Maynor once again looked far and away better than he has. He played almost the entire fourth quarter running point guard for OKC, scoring five points with two assists. Getting that knee brace has obviously helped him.
- Perry Jones III went just 1-6, but I liked the way he played, again. Him not turning down jumpers is a very good thing. He can make those spot-up looks. But he can be hesitant and unsure of himself. He looks comfortable and confident in taking them. I do wish he’d show off a bit more of his athleticism while out on the court. That should really be his mindset when he’s playing: Be athletic.
- Brian Davis Line of the Night: “Kaaaaaaaay Deeeeee! Eying the rim with bad intent!”
Next up: At Utah on Tuesday.
http://dailythunder.com/2013/02/monday-bolts-2-11-13/
Important news, OKC is set to pass Atlanta to move into 28th in TOV%. We're leaving Houston in the dust.
@[censored] Did ESPN change their TOV% calculation from last year? I can't tell if we are any better or worse than last year.
So when can we get darnell fired?
@Lost Ones He posts a lot useful information.
@Sigmund you could do the same.
@Lost Ones @Sigmund probably better
@Lost Ones So you prefer John Rohde?
@Sigmund @Lost Ones yeah, stuff like, jackson is a better shooter and passer than westbrook.
@Lost Ones i wouldn't mine right now as we speak
Mystery of the week
http://www.thelostogle.com/2013/02/11/mmt-jim-traber-deleted-his-twitter-account-after-his-wife-sent-an-angry-tweet-from-it/
Wow it looks like the Suns got beat more than Jessie Jackson in the presidential primarys! #BLack history month
@PerkPunt So wrong, and still hilarious.
Odalipo and Smart are both playing their way into the top 10 of the draft. Draft Express updated their draft again this morning and Smart is 7 and Odalipo is 9.
@okcjim Smart is considered a PG, and is an unreliable shooter. I would like Oladipo. He's a tremendous defender and athlete, and has been hitting his threes this year (though I question his shooting at the next level). With the Raps pick likely to be top 10, Oladipo could be a pretty good option if the better Cs are already off the board.
@Keith00Odalipo would be an excellent Thabo replacement.
@Lost Ones @okcjim @Cold-Blooded I'm not a big fan of Craft. He's a good defender, sure, but pretty poor offensively. I don't think he's Avery Bradley good on defense, so his offense would keep him off the court.
If we could, I'd love to see the team trade up with our own pick and try to get Trey Burke in the 15-20 range. I don't really see him as an NBA starter, but I expect he'll be a good passer that doesn't turn the ball over and can shoot the three. Not much of a defender at his size, but I see him essentially being what we wanted from Maynor, someone in the Jose Calderon mold.
@okcjim @Cold-Blooded That might be true, Jim. Big men develop slower and are often overdrafted based on athleticism. But, I think we are in better position to get the right one because we can be more choosy. We don't need to bank on an athletic freak with zero skill. We don't have to bank on a skilled Senior who just happens to beat his more talented opponents because of experience. We don't specifically need a scorer or defender. We can afford to look for just the best player, and develop him in Thabeet's role until he's ready for more.
@okcjim @Keith00 @Cold-Blooded I would draft a center, then draft a guy like Aaron Craft in the second round who is elite defensively
@Keith00 @okcjim well, he's not important to us right now so its irrelevant. Moving on!
@Keith00 @Cold-BloodedWe could definitely use a center more if I had to choose. I think it's just a lot harder to project bigs.
@Cold-Blooded @okcjim @Keith00He's a much better prospect than Liggins.
@Cold-Blooded @okcjim @Keith00 Oladipo appears to be longer and more athletic than Liggins, and his offense is more effective at the college level. I mean, that shouldn't be a huge stretch to accept. Oladipo is a likely top 10 pick, while Liggins is a second rounder. Sometimes second rounders really surprise, but there's a reason guys are picked where they are picked.
@Keith00 @okcjim but its funny hiw jim said that liggins is not SUPER skilled, i mean, what is that? Makes no sense smh
@okcjim @Cold-Blooded Aldrich was a bust on his own, it wasn't because he was a center. Also, Bledsoe is getting pretty overrated. He's a defensive scoring guard that doesn't score all that efficiently. Bledsoe is definitely the better of the two, but that's on Presti.
The point I was making with all those names is that there are a lot of choices. I would like to assume we won't choose poorly and grab another bust. But the fact is Oladipi may NEVER play for this team simply because of the players in front of him. I'm all for BPA, but we all need to factor in role. If we have minutes at C but not at SG, we are still better off as a team getting perhaps the 2nd best player available when that player is a C. I'm not saying pass up a star if he's available, but we're not talking about stars with any of these guys.
@okcjim @Keith00 lmao, so odipo or whatever his name is is all of what you've just said???...FLAGGED!
@Cold-Blooded @okcjim @Keith00
Liggins isn't a Thabo or Tony Allen type defender. That's not a huge knock on him because not many guys are. He's got a great motor but he's not super skilled and he's not long/strong/quick enough to be an elite defender.
@Keith00 @Cold-BloodedWe just can't afford a bust with that pick and centers are a lot higher risk. It's like when we drafted Aldrich. We were determined to get a center. Would you rather have Bledsoe or Aldrich right now?
@okcjim @Keith00 EXCUSE ME?....do yourself a favor and stop go to that rum bar and watch more basketball. J/k ;)...but really, thats probably the dumbest thing you've EVER posted.
@Cold-Blooded @okcjim @Keith00 I'm still believe there is about a 90% chance we draft a center with that pick. Noel will be off the board, but Len, Zeller, Plumlee, Austin, and Gobert are all possibilities. Given the eventual loss of Perkins (we certainly won't be extending him) and the relatively lackluster play of Thabeet, drafting a center makes almost too much sense.
Oladipo makes more sense if we lose Martin. Thabo would be a FA soon, and might be looking for a heftier payday. Oladipo and Lamb can then become the new Thabo-Martin.
@Cold-Blooded @okcjim @Keith00
Odalipo is better.
@okcjim @Keith00 we already has that, liggins.
Lamb and Jones III need to stay stashed. Despite the impatience of fans these rookie salaries don't hurt the team a bit even if they contribute zero this year. In a couple of years these guys may be called upon to become rotation players. Or not.
I don't care if Lamb is stashed deep on the bench for the next 4 years. If the team's among the best in the league who cares (besides Lamb's agent) if he plays or not.
@DXL lamb is injured and hasnt played a minute with the team in months wth u talking about lol
@DXL I CARE
@Fezzy OKC's 8 man rotation is really, really good. Lamb and the other rooks will have to wait. Next year's there's going to be another lottery pick who also won't play. Excess capacity is a good thing!
@PerkPunt @lethalizer @DXL @Fezzy The organization has always been agreeable to trusting young players that can contribute. Early on, it was a matter of necessity, but after getting better, we've seen both sides of the coin. Ibaka played his way into the rotation and facilitated the trade of Green. Mullens/White had some NBA skills, but never played well enough to carve out minutes. Maynor played because he earned the backup minutes.
Reggie is sort of in-between. He hasn't played well, but we don't have a better option at the backup PG spot. Had Maynor not gotten hurt, we likely Reggie would likely have spent most of the last season and a half in Tulsa. Jones and Lamb just aren't ready to contribute to a winning team. We are stacked at their positions, but also neither has really forced the coaching staff's hand with great play.
@lethalizer @DXL @Fezzy
Red shirted.
@DXL @Fezzy I don't think Presti will keep that pick, actually. But we'll see.
As for Lamb, I'm starting to believe that he's getting the Reggie Jackson treatment. He was rarely used last year. Even when Maynor got injured, they went ahead and grabbed Fisher to replace his role instead of Jackson.
This organization doesn't trust rookies. It is their "style", so to speak. Just accept that fact and move on.
I think durant and westbrook numbers are gonna drop a little, not that they can't perform but because this team seems to on a roll now. Kinda reminds of the 2004 pistons. individual numbers weren't eye popping, but billups, hamilton, prince and the two wallace's played together so well. And thats what am kinda seeing from this thunder team.
@Cold-Blooded Look at the March schedule. Now repeat that sentence again.
@lethalizer your point tho?????
@lethalizer I've already done that. January and march is the two toughest month.
@Cold-Blooded @lethalizer I know we are. I'm not saying we will lose those games. I'm saying the games will be close, and that means KD will have to up his production because of the huge minutes he'll play. There's a difference.
@lethalizer and oh, did you speak of playing on the road?..well....last time i checked we're the best road team!
@Cold-Blooded @lethalizer No problem. See you in April :)
@lethalizer and thats wat you'll see. So for the last time, in march, we're gonna be playing playoff type basketball, while the mavs, grizz and clippers with injury problem are gonna trying to find themselves. We alreay know who we are. Thanks for the brief convo!
@Cold-Blooded @lethalizer We whipped the Mavs at Dallas? The last time we met, that game went to 2OT and KD had, what, 50+ points?
Those games are AWAY games. Even if one of those games end in a blowout, that would be a huge statement to the rest of the league.
@lethalizer again, we aren't playing the spurs ten more times. I only see the spurs one time on that list that you just named. If you feel like the mavs, memphis, and clippers (all those teamd we've already whipped), are gonna be a problem. Then thats you, I DON'T!
@Cold-Blooded @lethalizer Again, the schedule. Away at Denver(arguably the best home team in the NBA), Away at Clippers, away at Knicks, away at Spurs, away at Mavs, away at Memphis, etc..
KD will have a huge March.
@lethalizer PROBABLY. we're the best offensive team and i just think we're gonna be blowing alot of teams out, which means alot of rest in 4qtrs. Am pretty sure we're not playing the spurs 20 times for the remainder of the season so dont give me that bull. Like i said, we're gonna be running teams off the court. Plain and simple!
@Cold-Blooded @lethalizer Yeah, and did you look at KD's January numbers?
When things get tough, his minutes go up, so his numbers also go up. This little stretch is only an anomaly. KD and Russ's production will probably go way up in March.