The X-Factor for the Thunder
Every team has a so-called ‘x-factor.’ This is a person who flies under the radar and does things that does things that not everyone will, yet is a vital part to the team. Without this person, the team doesn’t function as properly as it should. Everyone on the team knows who the person is, but not everyone in general knows. Oftentimes, this person goes unrecognized by fans, journalists, and the public. So who is the X-Factor for the Thunder?
Serge Ibaka? Nope
James Harden? Try again
Nick Collison? Negative
The X-Factor for the Thunder is the guy drawing the X’s and O’s: head coach Scott Brooks.
Let’s be honest, if PJ Carlesimo was still the head coach, the Thunder would not have the success the team is currently experiencing. When Brooks took over for Carlesimo, the team went 2-17 in their first 19 games with Brooks at the helm. After this point, however, something happened:
The Thunder started to win.
Starting with a New Year’s Eve 2008 win, the Thunder have gone 70-62 in that span with Coach B in charge, earning an 8-seed in the Western Conference in the NBA Playoffs last season. The team plays hard, gives maximum effort, and has the desire each night to fight to finish for a W. Brooks’ leadership has earned him respect from his players and a vote of confidence from the front office.
This was culminated last season when Brooks earned the 2009-2010 NBA Coach of the Year.
Coach Brooks is a very even-keel guy. Never will he yell at his team on the bench, and is always very encouraging. He always comes in early and stays late to make the team better. Most of the players refer to him as coach, a respectful gesture for someone in his position.
Bigger things are expected for the Thunder this season. If the team wants to achieve their goals, let Scott Brooks lead the way. With Brooks in charge, the rafters at the Ford Center will be filled up with banners in no time.
Training Camp Breakdown: The 6th Man
With only one day left until training camp, the Oklahoma City Thunder are just about to start their first work outs in preparation for the 2010-2011 season. The expectations are high, nothing less than the playoffs, amongst the players and the fans. An important, but often overlooked, ingredient to any great season is the bench.
The Thunder are blessed to have a bench full of hardworking, seasoned verterans, a few extremely talented sophomores, a guy who hasn’t been able to prove himself due to an injury his rookie season in D.J. White, a young sophomore who could see a bit more playing time, and a rookie who is looking to add to the already stellar blocking defense of the Thunder.
First, the hardworking verterans.
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Nick Collison is the hardest working player in a Thunder uniform.
He’s been criticized a lot of times, but there’s no denying it, Nick Collison shows the most heart for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Watch his minutes, and I challenge you to find a play where Collison is not hustling. Granted, it seems that he commits a lot of fouls, and yes he was 8th in the league last year in fouls per 48 minutes, but his positives outweighed the negatives. He added 5.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game in 20.8 minutes, and gave a lot of effort in the paint, a place where the Thunder seemed to struggle a bit at times. This season he will continue to mix it up underneath, gaining minutes especially if the Thunder look to run the fast break more. The coaching staff will hopefully work on his discipline this training camp.
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Morris Peterson will add more leadership to the young Thunder squad.
10 years after winning an NCAA Championship, Morris Peterson finds himself on another squad with championship caliber. One of two current Thunder players to win the NCAA National Championship in Men’s Basketball (Cole Aldrich is the other), and amongst a slew of players who reached the Final Four, Mo Pete looks to right the ship and get back into a winning tradition. He had a tremendous career with the Toronto Raptors from 2000-2006, with 4 years averaging double digits per game, and several more posting 30+ minutes. During his career he has bounced around between 38 and 44% shooting from the field, and has only once (06-07 with .9) dipped below a 1.0 assist to turnover ratio. However, over the past few years, Peterson has led a quiet career.
Peterson will be coming off the bench for the Thunder, though at this point it’s hard to tell how many minutes Mo Pete might get this season. He is currently second on the depth chart at small forward, though he has traditionally been a shooting guard, behind Kevin Durant. He brings, however, a lot of great qualities to this team: Leadership and experience, as well as depth. 10 years of league experience, heading into his eleventh, Morris Peterson has worked with a lot of great players and seen a lot of action over his career, and can bring some insight and tips of the trade to the young Thunder players. He has logged over 19,000 minutes, and could break 20,000 this year. And at 6’7″ Mo Pete can happily slide into a true small forward role, a bench spot that has been vacant. Look for the coaching staff to try and extract all of his leadership and experience, and for them to develop his habits into the role of a true small forward.
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Royal Ivey will have an interesting role this year for the Thunder.
Royal Ivey, the former Texas Longhorn, will be the definition of a veteran bench leader. At 3rd on the depth chart, unless there are injury or foul troubles, he will get very little playing time. And hopefully, but not hopefully for Ivey, there won’t be injuries (knock on wood). Ivey has averaged under 15 minutes per game over the last 2 years, including only 7.1 minutes per game last season between the 76ers and the Bucks. Look for him to impart his wisdom on this young team, especially the young point guards in front of him, Eric Maynor and Russell Westbrook. Ivey has made a career of being careful with the ball, with a career assists to turnovers ration of 2.0, a career high mark of 3.2, and a career low mark of 1.5, all of which are excellent numbers. He certainly has a lot to offer the young guys, and I’m sure Coach Scott Brooks and company will want him to show Westbrook and Maynor the tips of the trade.
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Daequan Cook will have a role very similar to that of Royal Ivey.
Daequan Cook, entering his 4th year in the NBA, will play a role very similar to that of Royal Ivey, as a safety net if injuries plague the Thunder. He unfortunately doesn’t have the same type of experience that Royal Ivey and Morris Peterson, but still has some to offer to 2nd year guard James Harden. He’s had solid minutes coming off the bench the past three years, adding a handful of points and being careful with the ball. He will be a great addition to this team, and the coaching staff will extract all his qualities.
D.J. White
D.J. White has battled adversity in his NBA career.
With only 29 games logged in 2 NBA seasons, it seems that D.J. White is doomed on the stat sheet. The problem with D.J. White was the malignant tumor found in his jaw his rookie season which caused him to miss the rest of his rookie season. His rehab has gone smoothly, but the loss of that important rookie season was disastrous. Still looking to regain his carrer, White enters his third season with a lot to prove. Sitting 3rd on the depth chart at power forward, the young White could have a lot to offer. He will no doubt work hard in training camp, looking for some sort of leverage, to finally get his career on track. I’m very intrigued to see where his career will take him, and how well he can work. Anyone who can fight through a tumor like that, malignant or not, deserves respect.
The young sophomore with a lot to prove.
Byron Mullens has a lot to prove in he wants to see more minutes.
Entering his second year in the league after a rookie season with very few minutes logged, Byron Mullens enters training camp with a lot to prove. Sitting 3rd on the depth chart, he will have to work extremely hard if he wants to beat out the two foreign born but very talented centers in front of him, Serge Ibaka and Nenad Krstic. Mullens was mostly part of the wrecking crew, earning his minutes in the very last parts of the 4th quarter in games where the Thunder were, barring a miracle, guaranteed a win. At 7’0″ Mullens has a lot to offer to a team that lacks height and a physical presence in the paint. The coaching staff will definitely work with him and hopefully develop him as an inside presence this training camp.
Training Camp starts today! The Thunder are geared up and ready to hit the weights and the hardwood in preparation for the 2010-2011 season.
Next and final training camp breakdown: Kevin Durant… isn’t he important or something?
-jw
Why the Thunder need to sign Erick Dampier
The Thunder had a great 2009-2010 season, winning 50 games and pushing the Lakers to 6 games in the first round of the playoffs (which could have gone 7 games, but that’s a discussion for another day). As with any team, there are opportunities that the Thunder can capitalize on to make the team even better.
One of the major issues for the Thunder last year was lack of aggressive rebounding and giving up 2nd/3rd/4th chances that we should have never given up in the first place. Although the Thunder led the L in blocks last year and have good rebounders in Serge Ibaka, Nenad Krstic, and Nick Collison, rebounding as a team needs to step up.
As much as I hate to say it, sadly, I have to bring up Game 6 of the playoffs from last year. Pau Gasol rebounds a shot at the end of the game and puts it in for the game-winning basket. Obviously, the Thunder had plenty of chances in the fourth quarter to win the game, but if there was a presence in the middle, that would have been a rebound (and a game 7) for the Thunder.
So how do the Thunder solve this problem?
Enter Erick Dampier.
Dampier is entering his 15th season in the Association and was just released by the Bobcats. Although his career numbers are average (7.8 PPG, 7.4 RPG), his presence is just what the Thunder needs for the following reasons:
First, he’s a big body. No one is worried Dampier will be stepping out to shoot 3s. He patrols the lane, plays physical basketball, and is a big body. Just what the Thunder need.
Second, he’s not a big scorer. That’s perfect, because we have the NBA’s scoring champ last year and two emerging stars averaging points in the mid-teens. Dampier doesn’t have to be the go-to guy, and that suits the style of the Thunder.
Third, Dampier is an older guy (35) so he can bring some veteran experience to the young Thunder squad. A guy who’s been to the playoffs the last six years with Dallas will no doubt provide valuable insight.
It is uncertain whether the Thunder are pursuing Dampier at this time. However, for the foreseeable future of the Thunder, at least for the next 2-3 seasons, Dampier would be a nice fit in Oklahoma City.
Training Camp Breakdown: The Sophomores
With the number of days until training camp growing ever so low, three players look to enter their second NBA training camp, as wise, seasoned NBA sophomores. Eric Maynor, Serge Ibaka, and James Harden are the three young guns that will bring a lot of spark and energy coming off the bench night after night this coming season. The three of them, all coming off promising rookie campaigns, will all represent an ever-so-important 6th man role for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
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Eric Maynor proved to be a great mid-season trade acquisition for the Thunder.
Eric Maynor was an extremely important mid-season pick-up last year for the Thunder, especially with the unfortunate continuing injuries to former back-up point guard Kyle Weaver. Maynor became almost a spitting image of Russell Westbrook, passing, moving the ball up the court, and defending much like Westbrook does. While they’re offensive styles are a bit different (Westbrook is a slasher and Maynor is more of a mid-to-long range shooter), they’re transition during substitutions was almost unnoticeable. Raw per game stats don’t work well for bench players, so one must look at per-48 minutes stats for Maynor. Per-48 minutes, Maynor averaged 11.3 points per game, 8 assists, and not to mention only 2.5 turnovers per game, and per 48 minutes had the highest assist to turnover ratio (3.25 A/TO) of any player who played more than 50 games this past year. While he’s not the lane threat that Russ is, he’s careful with the ball, and is going to continue to be a great back-up point guard. Look for Maynor to get the same amount of minutes he did last year, if not a few less due to the success of Westbrook late in the season, but look for him to be even more careful with the ball, and look for his 3-point shooting ability to shine on a team that lacked in that department last year.
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Serge Ibaka was a shot blocking fiend late in last year’s season.
The most improved player last season was Serge Ibaka. Serge “Air Congo” Ibaka had a lot of promise and a lot of raw talent coming into his rookie season in the NBA, but the few minutes he got made most fans shudder: turnovers, poor ball handling, no rebound output, and poor shooting. However, Serge must have made a New Year’s resolution to make the second half of the season his personal coming out party, because Serge became more and more important to the roster as the months went on, culminating in the playoffs. Serge was important to a team that led the NBA in blocks and was 3rd in rebounds, and his aggressive inside presence showed on the court late in the year. He only averaged 18.1 minutes a game, but in that 18 minutes he managed to block 1.3 shots (3.5 per 48 minutes), pull down 5.4 rebounds (14.4 per 48 minutes), and added 6.3 points (16.7 per 48 minutes), which is pretty effective for a rookie coming off the bench. Look for Serge to really impose his will out there. He will vulture some minutes away from Nenad Krstic if he keeps up the success and confidence he had late in the season. At 21 years old, all that Air Congo truly needs is a bit more experience before he takes over as a prominent starter. With that experience will come more inside scoring, and even more (despite the tons he already has) blocking ability.
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Harden adds a nice offensive balance to the shooting guard position.
My favorite rookie from last year had to be James Harden. Maybe it’s the beard, maybe it’s the bowtie (both of which I have), or maybe it was just how fun he was to watch. His confidence level was high coming into the NBA, and he flourished early on, coming off the bench to replace the defensively minded Thabo Sefolosha. He had a lot of promise, he averaged the most minutes (22.9 minutes per game) and the most points (9.9 points per game) of any of the three rookies. He showed a lot of promise, and he will definitely begin to threaten Thabo’s starting job here in a few years if he continues to progress. In his days at Arizona State he was a big time three point shooter, and he led the team in 3-point shooting percentage at 37.5%. Hopefully, he will continue to improve on this, as the Thunder have yet to find a true shooter from behind the arc. Harden is definitely going to be looked on this year as an offensive switch, particularly when some of the starters (KD, Jeff Green, and Russ) leave the floor. I think he will have a great year coming off the bench, and I believe that, if he has a good camp he will be a great shooter for the Thunder this year as well. And hopefully, after seeing the playoffs for the first time las year, he won’t look so timid on the road in the post-season.
Obviously, these three guys are a bright part of the Thunder’s already bright future. They’re one year wiser now, and are going to add a lot of spark to an already young team.
Who will have the biggest impact this year out of these three? Look for Serge Ibaka to have a break-out year. He’s going to get a lot of work in training camp and pre-season, continuing to develop his hands, his strength, and his inside ability. Also, if the rumors about Nenad not getting a contract extension offer from the Thunder after this season are true, Serge may be stepping into a whole new role as the go-to-guy down low. He’s going to get a lot of minutes, maybe even a few starts, and he may just eclipse Krstic by the end of the season… depending of course on how well he develops as a basketball player. We will see.
Until next time my friend, keep Thundering up.
-j
Training Camp Breakdown: Nenad Krstic
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With less than two weeks until Training Camp, the Serbian native Nenad Krstic is getting geared up to come back to US soil and meet up with the rest of the Oklahoma City Thunder players. After a (shortened) stint with team Serbia in the FIBA World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, Krstic will reunite with his team in the heartland just before training camp begins.
Nenad will likely play a role very similar to that of last year’s, if not a bit reduced. With the late season improvement of Serge “Air Congo” Ibaka, Nenad might see his minutes (22.9 a game last year) diminish even more. Nenad was a rather atypical center for the Thunder last season. Rather than imposing his will in the paint and using his body to gain leverage, Krstic will pop out at the top of the key and hit 20-footers all night. This strategy made the Thunder seem even smaller last year, despite Nenad standing at 7’0.”
In Istanbul there was a huge issue with Nenad and the Serbia-Greece fight back on August 19th. There have been a lot of dissenting opinions on it, but I stick to my guns here: Nenad was defending a teammate and himself. The chair might’ve been overkill, but come on. Hopefully he will channel that same intensity, maybe not by Coach Knighting a chair at someone. but in a positive way.
Unfortunately, a three game suspension followed the brawl, and Nenad only got 6 games of work for his national team. Despite that, Nenad still got his numbers, scoring 13.5 points per game and pulling down 7.5 rebounds. Those numbers look promising, and it seems as though Nenad might be working on his inside game some.
I’d really like to see Nenad work even more on his inside game, especially if we wants considerable minutes. The Thunder desperately need an inside presence to offset the small up-tempo game the other 4 starters will likely be running this year. A 7-foot inside presence is something we did not have, and it showed in games against the big tough inside teams, like the Lakers, the Celtics, and the Nuggets.
Nenad will need to work on his rebounding as well. He only pulled down 5 rebounds per game. It’s not a bad number, but if the big men pull down rebounds, we can start the fast break, rather than having our guards and KD crashing the boards. The Thunder were 3rd in the league in rebounds last year, so no harm done with Nenad only pulling down 5, but, like I said, it’s a lot easier to start the fast break with your big man pulling down those boards.
Look for Nenad to impose his will in training camp and into preseason. Nenad knows his starting job might be on the line, so look for him to work hard to solidify himself as a starter for this team. And remember, competition breeds excellence, so Serge and Nenad vying for the starting job will make them both a lot better, and we will ultimately have good minutes from everyone at the center position.
So close, I can almost taste it. Keep Thundering up.
-j
