A night to remember at the Ford Center
Chris Foshee sat on Row 2 of the Ford Center Tuesday night with a big grin on his face. Two years ago, after the Hornets’ home finale in
Clay Bennett indeed brought an NBA franchise back to Oklahoma City. The team was a little late in arriving. But piece by piece, bit by bit, the Thunder is looking more and more like a legitimate NBA ballclub, and Tuesday night brought news of one of the cornerstones.
The Thunder traded for center Tyson Chandler, giving Oklahoma City a defensive presence in the middle, where the Boomers have been gashed all season.
“He’s a young, big man that brings a defensive presence,” said Thunder general manager Sam Presti. “He’s an addition that fits with what we’re trying to do.” Yeah, like guarding opponents.
The Thunder is incredibly fun to watch. Fun, but exasperating, and you saw some of that Tuesday night, when the Hornets beat OKC 100-98, piling up a big lead on easy basket after easy basket. That kind of nonsense is expected to stop once Chandler returns from an ankle sprain.
“We need guys that really are committed to the defensive end,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “Defense wins games. You have to be committed on defense.”
Back when he was an NBA journeyman point guard, Brooks played with the likes of Patrick Ewing and Hakeem Olajuwon. So he knows intimidating big men when he sees them.
“They make perimeter players look like better defensive players,” Brooks said. “That’s who he is. He blocks shots, he alters shots, he gets rebounds. Acquiring guys with a defensive mentality is going to help us win games.”
Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green have the potential to be elite defenders. They’re not terrible now, but they can drift, which is not surprising for guys who have played less than 150 NBA games. Kevin Durant likely never will be a defensive stopper, since he’s 6-foot-10 and guarding guys 5-6 inches shorter. But his freakish-long arms can work to his advantage. Nick Collison plays tough. Desmond Mason, too, though he’s gone for the year and we don’t know if he’ll be back.
But the point is, Chandler gives the Thunder a defensive centerpiece. OKC has the offensive centerpiece in Durant, who is simply spectacular. It’s a solid start to building a contending team.And there’s an added bonus in getting Chandler. It sent a clear signal that Thunder management will open the checkbook. Chandler is due about $24 million the next two years, which is a large chunk of money. Yet the Thunder took on that contract. Great, great news for Oklahoma City basketball fans. “Strong statement from our ownership group,” Presti said. He called it a commitment to elite basketball. I like the sound of that. More good news. Chris Paul called the Thunder “scary” after the trade. He meant scary-good potential. Here’s something else scary about them. They are scary-young.
Durant is 20. Westbrook is 20. Green is 22. Kyle Weaver is 23. Nenad Krstic is 25. Chandler is 26. The old geezers on this roster are Nick Collison, 28, and Earl Watson, 29, and frankly, who knows if they’ll still be on the roster by the trading deadline Thursday.
Young teams drive you batty, but they also make huge jumps in quality of play. We’ve already seen that out of the Thunder, especially offensively. A huge jump defensively is the next order of business, and the arrival of Tyson Chandler should expediate that.
-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.
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Comments
I agree with Hal. Other NBA teams don’t have made up nicknames. Let’s stick to what the owners want.
Worst part of this article is Berry calling our team the Boomers. OMG. ACK! Hey Berry, can we call you Dildo?
Just out of curiosity, can anyone say what’s so wrong about “Boomers”? If nicknames are so bad, does that mean we can’t ever call players from OSU the “Pokes”? After all, “Pokes” is a nickname for “Cowboys”, and I’ve never heard any complaints about that…
Berry, quit calling them the Boomers! They are the Thunder! Geez!