Game 3: Thunder v. Utah Jazz
Ouch.
That pretty much sums up tonight’s game.
The Jazz got out to a good start in the first quarter, then held the Thunder virtually helpless in the middle of the game, taking a 16 point lead at half and never looked back from there.
The Thunder didn’t score for the last 3 1/2 minutes of the second quarter. Additionally, Kevin Durant was bottled up in the first half, shooting 3-11, and got little help from anyone else.
The third quarter started, and more of the same happened. The Jazz opened up the lead to 20+ points, while holding the Thunder in check by playing good defense. The Thunder did have a glimmer of hope in the third quarter, scoring 12 in just over a minute, but the Jazz cooled off the Thunder by scoring on back to back possessions.
Durant finished with 28 on 8-19 shooting, Russ with 22 and Jeff with 17.
Although the Thunder were defeated soundly, this game was a good gut check for the young squad. A division rival came into our house and dominated us from bell to bell. The Thunder can learn from this game and move on and improve from here. Nowhere to go but up.
2-1 on the season, let’s make it 3-1. See you Wednesday in LA when the Thunder take on Blake Griffin and the Clippers.
From the Stripe: The Importance of Free Throws
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Free throws will be aq huge part of the Oklahoma City Thunder offense this season.
We saw it last year, especially in the playoffs, and we’ve seen it twice already this season: Free-throws are important for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Points from free throws have propelled the Thunder to multiple wins, and have accounted for both the Thunder’s wins this season heading into their third regular season game against the Utah Jazz. The Thunder currently lead the league in free throws made and attempted per game, 37.5-45.5 per game on the season.
The Thunder were 37-44 (84.1%) against the Detroit Pistons on Friday night and 38-47 (80.9%) Wednesday against the Chicago Bulls from behind the stripe in two wins this season. Free throws have easily accounted for the scoring difference between the team each night. The Pistons were only 16-20, while the Bulls were only 13-22. This huge discrepancy in free throws is showing two things that the Thunder are doing well, and also exposing one major weakness in the Thunder’s offense right now.
The Thunder are playing much faster and much harder than any team in the NBA right now. Their youth, speed, and aggression has led to 55 fouls committed against them, most of those on shooting plays or while in the bonus. As players fight for good shots down low, slashes hard through the lane, or Kevin Durant uses his Kobe Bryant-esque rip move, the Thunder go to the line in numbers. They’re discipline from the line, though not stellar yet, will get them through many games, and if they continue to improve on their free throw shooting they will be hard to stop. This is especially evident in the fast break, when the Thunder are most effective. The Lakers, in the playoffs last year, resorted to fouls on the fast break when the Thunder had numbers. From an officiating standpoint, when a defender tries to make a play on a much quicker player, it looks like a foul, and more often that not it is called as one.
The Thunder’s defense has been improving ever since Coach Scott Brooks took over 17 games deep into the 2008-2009 season. Brooks preaches a defense first style of game play. The Thunder have played solid defense thus far, but have not gotten into foul trouble, something that will help them create deficits in games. As long as the Thunder aren’t giving away free points, they are in good shape. Their offense has not quite yet gotten the chance to blossom into its fullest, and yielding nothing on defense will be instrumental in winning those close games, especially as Thunder players flood the foul line on the offensive side.
Wins by free-throws do expose one weakness of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s offense right now: shooting. The Thunder are shooting a touch under 40%, the standard benchmark for an average shooting percentage. If the Thunder do not pick it up, especially when a team like the Pistons turns red hot (good defense, hands in the face, good mismatches, all outside shots, the Pistons were simply locked in), it could turn, and almost did, disastrous for the Thunder. They are getting open looks, especially Jeff Green, but he must finish if the Thunder are going to have a successful season.
Get fouled, get to the line, and get the win. Thunder Up!
-Justin Wright
Game 2: Thunder @ Detroit Pistons
The Thunder go on the road for the first time this season to the Palace of Auburn Hills in Detroit (where ironically, the Thunder played at Detroit in the second game of the year last season as well).
Game gets off to an average start. Speed used by the Thunder helped them build an early lead, but turnovers killed the momentum. Fortunately, we were able to capitalize on Pistons mistakes, turning their first half turnovers into 22 first-half points.
The Thunder held a consistent lead (3-10 points) for most of the game, however, the team was not able to shake the Pistons, in large part due to Ben Gordon’s 32 points off the bench on 11-16 shooting. Gordon was hot all night and was hard to stop him, even with Thabo defending him.
Free throws were a big part as to why the Thunder were in the game. The Thunder had nearly twice as many FT’s made (37) as Detroit had attempts (20).
Fourth quarter rolled around, and the game got tighter, with the Pistons continuing to close the lead. Ill-advised shots and missed FT’s by the Thunder allowed the Pistons to keep it close. With under 10 seconds left, Charlie Villanueva hit a shot from the corner to put the Pistons up by 1. On the ensuing possession, the ball is inbounded to Jeff Green, who drives to the basket nearly uncontested and hits a layup with 2.5 seconds left. The Pistons immediately drive the ball down the court but did not get a shot off as time expired, and the Thunder move to 2-0 on the season.
The Thunder also shot poorly from deep (2-15 on 3s) and overall a bad shooting night (38.8%). However, for the second game this season, free throw shooting and defense kept the team in the game, and most importantly, the Thunder earned a W.
Let’s go for 3-0. Utah Jazz up next. See ya Sunday!
Jeff Green: A Legacy Challenged
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Not re-signing Jeff Green could be a mistake by the Thunder front office.
Jeff Green has been a staple for the Oklahoma City Thunder over the three years of his career. Now, in the early days of the 2010-2011 season, Jeff Green’s contract status has already been dealt with: Sam Presti and the Thunder will not offer Jeff Green a contract extension. Jeff Green will officially become a restricted free agent after this season. The Thunder have the privilege of offering Green a match on any contract any other team makes, but there is no guarantee that Green will sign.
What does this mean for the Oklahoma City Thunder? The Thunder will now risk losing one opf their hardest working players, one of their dependable defenders, an offensive threat, and a stable, friendly face within the locker room.
Jeff Green has decent numbers, not those of superstars, but decent nonetheless. He has averaged 14.1 points and 5.8 rebounds on 34.0 minutes per game over his career. Green, in his 4th year, has improved every single year since his selection at 5th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft. He has protected the ball well, averaging a touch under 2 turnovers per game during his career, and has added 1.7 assists per game. This season, Green has given the Thunder 21 points, including 2-5 from behind the 3-point arc, and adding 1 steal, 1 block, and only 1 turnover.
So what is Green downside? It’s not his shooting, as he has improved his career percentage from 42.7% his rookie season to 45.3% last season in a category that generally improves with experience. It’s not his defense, as Jeff Green is a very intelligent basketball player, using his skill to compensate for his size. He constantly gets into passing lanes, and puts himself in the right place at the right time, very rarely getting beat and yielding less than an average 3 fouls over his career.
What it boils down to is size. Jeff Green stands at 6’8″, undersized at the power forward position. Green was originally listed as a small forward when coming into the NBA, but had to change back to power forward, his natural position at Georgetown, when he was placed on the same Seattle Supersonics squad as the talented Kevin Durant. College allows for a guy at 6’8″ to have some success, especially in a fast break offense, but it does not translate well to the NBA.
Green makes up for his size not only with his intelligence but also his athleticism. Green is an extremely versatile player, with the ability to handle the ball well everywhere on the court, and the shooter’s touch to shoot from anywhere on the floor. He rarely takes bad shots, he just has not found the ability to finish on all of them, something that comes with experience. A lot of his shots draw good iron and then spin out, and he usually finds open space on the floor. Green has also improved his inside game, with the ability to post up against much taller defenders with success.
This season is going to be an interesting one. If Green has a great year it could be disastrous for the Thunder, as another team could offer him a contract the Thunder cannot match. The team will possibly be able to size to the line-up, but they will lose the athleticism, the versatility, and the intelligence that few other players possess. The locker-room will lose a great teammate and a guy who has had a great career playing second fiddle to Kevin Durant. The fans will lose an exciting player who has helped bring the Thunder on the fast break. Kevin Durant will lose a close friend, a guy who he has grown up with and shared the good and the bad with, from last year’s amazing turnaround season to the two years they struggled to put up wins.
All-in-all, only time will tell. Jeff Green’s legacy remains in tact for now, but could be challenged after the season’s end. Green’s potential is best realized in Oklahoma City, and he has expressed interest to stay in Oklahoma City. However, basketball is a business, and sometimes business takes precedent over love. Jeff Green needs to stay a Thunder player, though. Hopefully Sam Presti will realize that Green is an asset this team cannot lose.
-Justin Wright
The Wild Wild Northwest
The NBA’s Northwest division was the most highly contested last season, with 4 of the 5 teams making the playoffs and combining for a total of 206 wins, the most of any division. Despite being the division of death last season, the top two teams, the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets, did little to help themselves this past offseason, while the Portland Trail Blazers and the Oklahoma City only got better.
The question now becomes: Who comes out on top? After strong seasons from the Jazz, Thunder, Blazers, and Nuggets, one can only think that this season will be hardly different, considering the few changes that occurred on rosters in the Western Conference. What this divisions outcome, one that will greatly affect the Western Conference Finals outlook, will boil down to is team chemistry.
Denver Nuggets
Good team chemistry isn’t exactly a term I would use to describe the Denver Nuggets this season. Face of the franchise Carmelo Anthony went through a “change of scenery” debacle similar to that of LeBron James’, though his wishes to join another team fell through this summer. Now, with the Nuggets sitting at 1-0, Carmelo has once again expressed his desire to leave Denver in favor for another team. Carmelo is slowly turning into a cancer for the Nuggets, and unless they can part ways with him soon, he could negatively affect the team down the stretch. Anthony could turn into a Terrell Owens type figure who, despite his great play in games, is a constant disruption from the general direction of the team. Anthony serves as the glue to an already stout line-up in Denver.
All-in-all, unless Denver parts ways with Anthony before Christmas, which I do not see them doing, their locker room atmosphere, along with their increasing age, could hinder their overall performance in the 2010-2011 season.
Prediction: 42-40, 3rd in the Northwest, playoff berth (7 seed)
Utah Jazz
The Jazz locker room lost a big leader from last season, watching Carlos Boozer leave Salt Lake City and sign with the Chicago Bulls. The Jazz did pick up several players to replace the rebounding dominance of Boozer, namely Al Jefferson,
but can they pick up the load that Boozer carried for the Jazz. Deron Williams is clearly the face of this framchise, but who else will step up and carry the load for the Jazz?
Another issue for the Jazz is depth. Considering the threat of injuries, as Raja Bell and Andrei Kirilenko both spent much of last season unable to play, and as Mehmet Okur’s recovery continues, the Jazz could be up for a long season. Their roster does not have the type of depth to support a successful record over 82 games, especially so if injuries decimate the make up of the starting roster.
Prediction: 36-46 4th in the Northwest Division, no playoff berth
Minnesota Timberwolves
There were very few good things that could be said about the Minnesota Timberwolves last season, except the valiant play of Kevin Love may have kept them from falling off the face of the Earth. There is more upside to this team this season, but not much. Kevin Love is more experienced, and could if given any help at all, be a great power forward in the league. Michael Beasley, one of the new arrivals in St. Paul, could do some damage and help Love out, but Beasley has been known to disappoint since his days at Kansas State. At the point guard position it seems that Luke Ridnour has emerged out of nowhere, and it will be interesting, though don’t hold your breath, if Ridnour kept it up and played strong basketball all season as an offensive threat.
This team has a lot more going on for them this season, but in this division you have to be the best to beat the best, and the best are damn good.
Prediction: 34-48 5th in the Northwest, no playoff berth
Now for the good stuff
Portland Trail Blazers
The Trail Blazers had a great season last year, finishing 6th in the Western Conference. The Blazers look poised to have another strong year, behind the continued excellence of Brandon Roy. The Blazers are still lacking that dominant presence in the paint, and without another top notch small forward or guard to run with Roy, things look ominous. Greg Oden, who has been a huge mystery to the NBA thanks to injury after injury, could be the key to the Blazers season. He is currently slated to make a return in November. During his absence, LeMarcus Aldridge and Marcus Camby will take up the slack, and they did a fine job of doing just that in their first two games.
This team will be able to play great half court basketball, but will they be able to run with the young, high-flying Thunder? They need more guard play besides just Brandon Roy.
Prediction: 50-32, 2nd in the Northwest, playoff berth (4-5 seed)
Oklahoma City Thunder
They snuck up on everyone last year, even their own fans and coaching staff, and found their way into the team’s first playoff berth in Oklahoma City. Now, one year older, the team looks poised to give everyone, maybe even the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, a run for their money. Behind the strong play of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green and company, it looks like this might be the Thunder’s year.
Injuries will be the only demon to this young team. The chemistry is high in the locker-room, the players treating the team like a college squad. With all the upside and promise this team shows, almost everyone is buying into the hype. With the scoring prowess of Durant, and the high energy run-and-gun style of basketball they played, backed by outstanding defense, the Thunder could take it all this year.
Prediction: 55-27, 1st in the Northwest, playoff berth (2 seed)
It’s going to be a fantastic year for this very talented division. Only time will tell who the real winner is.
-Justin Wright
