Thunderstruck

Sometimes in sports, certain teams cannot reach their full potential despite having enough talent. No team has exemplified this more over the last several years than the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC has the ability to win most one-on-one matchups, but it tends to become a crutch far too often. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are both top five players in the league, but they struggle to get other players involved. Of the 6782 shot attempts by OKC last year, 2479 were by Durant/Westbrook (Westbrook only played 46 games). 

Playing this system also makes low post play insignificant. Serge Ibaka has star talent, but he is being misused. 65% of his shots were jumpers last year. This is way up from the 56% in 2011-12, and the 46% of his rookie season in 2009-10. He attempted a total of six three pointers in his first three years, and 117 in his next two. He has already attempted 72 threes in 18 games this year, which is insane considering that he shot 60 in 81 games last year. He has been gradually moving away from the hoop. This is necessary in the team’s system because slashers like Durant and Westbrook need floor stretchers to pull opposing big men out of the lane. But without a legitimate offensive center on the team, the team has no inside presence whatsoever. 72% of their shots last year were jumpers last year. Ibaka’s 15.2 ppg and 7.6 rpg look nice, but the way he is getting points is alarming. Their top five scoring big men last year outside of Ibaka (Perkins, Nick Collison, Adams, Perry Jones, Hasheem Thabeet) only averaged a total of 15.6 points per game last year. Kendrick Perkins was supposed to be what Andrew Bogut has become for the Warriors, but he is not quite athletic enough to be relevant offensively. He averages 20.2 minutes per game, almost all of which comes with the second unit. He only attempts 3.8 shots per game.

Durant, Westbrook, and Serge Ibaka make a formidable big three, but they do not fit together in a championship fashion. It is always difficult to put a big three together when one of your stars is a ball dominant point guard. When the Celtics assembled their super team in 2008, Rajon Rondo was the perfect guy to run it because he would much rather passes than shoot. With the Heat’s big three, neither Wade nor LeBron were official point guards despite handling the ball often. The 24-second shot clock means that decisions must be made quickly, and a ball dominant PG is more likely to always look for his shot first. This can throw off the rhythm of an offense, especially when the PG is not even the best scorer on the team. The defending champion San Antonio Spurs are extremely active passing the ball, which catches defenses off guard when done effectively. As seen in the finals last year, they make up for lack of explosive athleticism by always finding the best shot. They can hit midrange shots, three pointers, slash, and work the low post. Being able to attack in different ways allows for a system to still be effective when the star players are limited or out. This is great conceptually, but the Thunder cannot become that balanced overnight. The Spurs became what they are by establishing a system and adding guys who contribute more than scoring over many years. OKC was 26th in passes per game last year, and 15th in points generated by assists (51.2). They are worse this year so far. Reggie Jackson has been largely responsible for the lack of ball movement. He was leading the league in time of possession before Westbrook came back. It got to a point where Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins would stop passing him the ball after rebounds and take the ball up the court themselves. This type of play will obviously be tamed with the return of Westbrook, but it appears that Jackson’s basketball IQ has taken a step back. This is a problem, considering that he is the team’s most important bench player. 

Over the offseason, Coach Scott Brooks did state that ball movement would become more of a priority. Kevin Durant just returned, so it is still too early to judge how good this team will be by the end of the year.

They, however, will be plagued either by injuries or cold shooting in the playoffs. They are not built for a long playoff run, and I foresee regular season wins serving as fool’s gold for keeping Brooks. Brooks is not a bad coach, and he has done a great job maximizing the talent of his team. The way the team is structured is greatly flawed, however. This falls on the coach and GM. They do not have a system that can be run by their role players. Without the rest of the team being engaged, it has just become Durant and Westbrook playing hero ball. The Thunder are really fun to watch, but they will never win a title as currently constituted.



Photos from bleacherreport.com