Monday Bolts – 5.13.13
Ben Golliver of SI.com: “Those two plays marked an unfortunate end to another strong performance from Jackson, who had 16 points, 10 rebounds and two assists, and found a way to provide the occasional spark by getting to the rim or finding space to shoot open jumpers in semi-transition. The future of Eric Bledsoe with the Clippers — where’s more or less stuck behind Chris Paul even though he possesses starter-type talent — has received all sorts of attention and we’re getting closer to the point where Jackson’s play will warrant that type of buzz as well. He’s way too talented to play just 14 minutes a night again next season. Most likely, the Thunder resolves the scenario by playing him alongside Westbrook on a regular basis, as Jackson’s finishing abilities far outpace his playmaking skills at this point. Remarkably, none of Oklahoma City’s 18 most-used lineups this season included Jackson and Westbrook on the court simultaneously, per NBA.com. Talk about a huge opportunity for experimentation.”
Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com: “Bottom line, the Thunder no longer look like a title contender. Or like a threat to the Heat. Or like much, really. They look, with all due respect, like a one-man show, like those old Cleveland rosters led by King James, like a team more likely to lose to Memphis in six than push Miami to seven. And that I’m typing these words after a game in which the Thunder out-performed the Grizz in a bunch of grit-and-grind categories and still lost speaks volumes. Because if Oklahoma City can’t win in Memphis on a night when it outscores the Grizz in the paint (44 to 30) while All-Star forward Zach Randolph misses eight of the 12 shots he takes and finishes with just one offense rebound, how is Oklahoma City ever going to win in Memphis? And if Oklahoma City can’t win in Memphis then Oklahoma City can’t win this series. And if Oklahoma City doesn’t win this series then this will forever go down as the season that could’ve been in addition to the one when the world realized that, great as he is, Kevin Durant being asked to “carry a huge load,” as Hollins put it, isn’t a recipe for notable success in the NBA because, you know, it never really has been for anybody.”
KD on Serge Ibaka: “We have to get him confidence,” Durant said of Ibaka. “We have to get him some shots and get him going. We can’t let him put too much pressure on himself. It’s all in his mind. If he thinks he’s going to make those shots, he’s going to make them … He missed a few blocks, a few layups and a few open jump shots. I have to pick him up, and that’s what I’ve been doing.”
Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com: “This is the kind of offense the Thunder desperately need. Granted, Memphis generally handles it well. There’s a lot of acreage to defend on the floor when Durant gets a solid pick up top. Whether it’s Tony Allen, Prince or Pondexter, guarding Durant coming off that pick is hellacious. Almost any forward progress by Durant triggers a rotation. Meanwhile, Ibaka needs to be adequately shaded if he rolls, and contested if he pops. There’s a lot to work with in these pick-and-roll sets, and Durant must be able to depend on his best big man to convert possessions into points. If he can’t, the Thunder don’t have much of a chance in this series because few NBA games can be won by teams that score 86.2 points per 100 possessions, which is what the Thunder tallied in Game 3.”
Bill Simmons’ Trade Value column has Serge Ibaka 31st (previously 17th), Russell Westbrook fourth and KD second. One thought: I don’t think it’s really fair to drop Ibaka that much based off a couple bad games in the playoffs. Especially when his defense has been as good as it’s ever been. He’s just not making some shots. We all know Ibaka can shoot and score, he’s just struggling right now. Harden kind of stunk against the Thunder in the opening round — why not drop him to No. 15 then?
Berry Tramel: “Two words. Rucker Park. Maybe it’s time the Thunder quit trying to find some help for Durant. Maybe it’s time Durant pulled himself out of the running for Sportsman of the Year. Maybe it’s time Durant went all Rucker Park. Back in August 2011, during the NBA lockout, Durant played on the legendary Harlem outdoor court and scored 66 points with a shooting display that went viral on the Internet. They don’t play Memphis defense at Rucker Park. But Durant was in no mood to pass that night across the street from the old Polo Grounds, and that’s the attitude the Thunder might need to beat the Grizzlies.”
Paul Flannery of SB Nation on KD: “If the Thunder fail, coach Scott Brooks will take the most heat. He’s had four and a half years to develop an offense that didn’t rely so heavily on Durant’s uncanny shotmaking and Westbrook’s mercurial ability to create. The results thus far have been unconvincing. The Thunder have given us more of the same and only Durant’s supernatural talent has been able to sustain them. OKC can’t continue down this path and expect to emerge on the other side. This calls for something unconventional, a smaller lineup or a subtle tweak in the offensive structure. It may be beyond Brooks’ sideline acumen, and the talent that he has to work with may simply not be good enough. But OKC can’t continue down this path and expect to emerge on the other side. Unless, of course, Durant can do the impossible. Unless he can be even better than we thought. He didn’t ask for this, but this is his challenge.”
Rob Mahoney of SI.com on Perk: “There’s not much the Thunder can do because there’s not much that Perkins can do. He’s not a threat to shoot, isn’t a great offensive rebounder, has clumsy hands and doesn’t present a lob threat. One can only imagine that Perkins will play less and less as this series rolls on, particularly if Ibaka and Collison improve their play to a degree that allows Brooks to justify using them even more. It should be noted that the same limitations apply to backup center Hasheem Thabeet, who played 13 minutes in the Thunder’s Game 2 loss. Desperation would seem to be the only valid explanation for his bump in playing time (he had logged nine total minutes in the team’s first seven playoff games), but he’s unfortunately no more useful than Perkins.”
Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com on teams that could beat the Heat: “I might as well have listed “Kevin Durant” as the third team. With Westbrook out, it’s wholly Durant’s show to run. That presents many problems for Oklahoma City, but we shouldn’t be too quick to count it out. A core of Durant, Serge Ibaka and Kevin Martin can still score formidably when things are clicking. And some of what the Thunder lost with Westbrook can be compensated for with heavier Durant minutes. If they can escape the West, they would be a threat to outscore anyone. It’s largely forgotten, but James was a largely ineffective defender against Durant in the 2012 Finals. This is no knock on James, who’s a fantastic defender against everybody else. But Durant happens to be a gigantic freak of a scoring machine, impervious to what might work on Carmelo Anthony or Derrick Rose. Durant finished with a Finals average of 30.6 points on 54.8 percent shooting (39.4 percent from 3-point range).”
