Thunder 101, Hornets 91
Nuggets from my notebook from Wednesday’s win over New Orleans.
- Monty Williams was my pick to win Coach of the Year. Can I get a mulligan? Please!!!
- You knew this one would be somewhat competitive. If nothing else, Williams will get his team to play hard, which is why I thought the Hornets would be this year’s surprise team in the first place. Plus, New Orleans lost its last three games by a combined six points. The Hornets might have come in on an eight game losing streak, but these guys know how to compete and not go out without a fight.
- Serge Ibaka is coming around folks. This had to be his best game yet. And he just looks completely different now than he did in most of the first 10 games or so. His energy level has been great and he just looks more focused. Earlier in the season there were times where he didn’t even look interested in being out there. Now, Ibaka is rebounding with aggression and finding a way to be around the ball more on both ends. He started off excellent tonight on the glass and it led to some confidence on offense. Ibaka was an animal in the paint with putbacks and even looked good a time or two in the pick-and-pop with Russell Westbrook.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on Ibaka: “Serge was really good tonight, scoring around the basket, making his jump shot.”
- Brooks said at practice Tuesday that he has made it a point to get Ibaka more involved offensively. But Brooks credited Ibaka for his 10-point first quarter tonight rather than anything the coaching staff did. “He was aggressive,” Brooks said. “I wish I could take the credit, but I’m not…Give him the credit. He was putting himself in a position to score.”
- I asked Ibaka before the game why he doesn’t break out the Air Congo anymore. His response: “I’m getting old.”
- Ibaka’s man defense left more to be desired. It seemed like whoever his man was got a bucket any time he wanted in the first quarter. Ibaka bit on two pump fakes in the first half, too, one one Jason Smith and one on Jarrett Jack. We continue to wait on the discipline to kick in.
- The Hornets must be the kings of the circus shot. That or the kings of the bank shot. These guys had at least three circus shots in the first half, two by Emeka Okafor and one by Carl Landry. And when they weren’t putting in off-balanced, falling-down prayers, they were banking them in.
- This was not a pretty win. And not just because the game was a complete and utter bore. Offensively, things are really messy at times for the Thunder. By now we know that if the Thunder isn’t scoring in transition, it could be a really long night. Fortunately for the Thunder, some easy chances came tonight in transition and off Hornets turnovers. But there just seems to be tons of instability and indecisiveness on the offensive end of the floor.
- The most glaring problem tonight in the halfcourt offense was that nobody seemed to realize that Kevin Durant was having a great game. Go back and watch the first four minutes of the third quarter to get a complete understanding of how oblivious to that fact OKC appeared tonight. Durant was 6-for-6 from the field in the first half, yet when the offense struggled in the first four minutes of the third KD could barely get a touch. This is when Thunder players should be glad KD is not Kobe, because Durant had every right to snap. But of course KD kept his cool. He patiently watched Westbrook miss three shots, Ibaka miss a jumper and Thabo Sefolosha misfire on a 3.
- Turnovers are the other big problem. The Thunder had 21 of them tonight. Six players had two or more. New Orleans scored 21 points off those giveaways, and if the Hornets were any good the Thunder might have lost this game.
- After tonight, the Thunder is now averaging 18.3 assists and 16.6 turnovers.
Nick Collison goes all GQ
Thunder reserve forward Nick Collison will be writing blogs for GQ.com throughout the 2011-12 season. He has posted two entries so far. The second appeared four days ago. Much like on the basketball court, Collison’s work for GQ has been superb.
You can find Collison’s work at “Balls Out” here. Here is the opening paragraph for his Jan. 20 entry. As you can see, Collison did not “bury the lead.” Great stuff.
I’m writing this while sitting on a plane after a game. I just finished eating some delicious teriyaki chicken wings and drinking an Arnold Palmer. My seat is comfortable and covered in leather. I have about four feet of legroom between my seat and our shooting guard James Harden, who is sitting at a hardwood table playing cards with three other guys. I have wi-fi, and I’m listening to the new Roots album. The previous ninety minutes were spent finishing off a win, sitting for ten minutes in a portable cold tub (think: inflatable kiddie pool with 50 degree water), then a shower, a quick security screening, a short bus ride, and a walk onto one of the chartered Delta Planes we always fly on. A U-Haul truck filled with the bags of personal stuff and equipment of our 42-person traveling party has already been loaded into the belly of the Airbus 319 that comfortably takes us to the next city. (Our travel party includes fifteen players, seven bench coaches, one video guy, and a training staff consisting of two strength coaches, a trainer, a physical therapist, plus two PR guys, an equipment manager and his assistant. The rest of the group includes our general manager and a couple other front office guys, as well as our local TV and radio crew.) When we land we will hop on a bus and head to a beautiful Four Seasons Hotel. Our bags will be delivered to our rooms, which we do not have to share with a roommate.
This is how NBA teams travel, and it is awesome.”
By The Numbers: Thunder-Pistons
Numbers to note from Monday’s 99-79 win over the Pistons.
1: Blocked shot by Detroit, tying an opponent low for the Thunder. Dallas also had one block against OKC on Dec. 29.
3: Thunder players with at least 20 points: James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. It’s the second time the Thunder has had three 20-point scorers. OKC is 2-0 in those games.
5: Blocks by Serge Ibaka, tying his season-high just one game after establishing it at New Jersey. Led by Ibaka, the Thunder recorded 10 blocks, the fourth time this season OKC has had at least 10.
6: Technical fouls called on Kendrick Perkins this season after picking up one late in the first half Monday. Perk is now seven away from an automatic one-game suspension.
7: 3-pointers made by the Thunder. OKC made just eight (on 36 attempts) in its previous two games combined.
10: Rebounds by Ibaka, a game-high. Over his past three games, Ibaka now has 29 rebounds.
14: Free throws attempted by the Thunder, a season-low. The previous low came against Phoenix on Dec. 31. Detroit attempted 13 more than Oklahoma City.
16.7: Percent shooting by the Pistons in the first quarter. Detroit was 3-for-18 in the period and missed 15 of its final 17 shots in the frame.
21: Assists by the Thunder, the first time in eight games that OKC has handed out at least 20 helpers.
24: Points scored by Harden, who is now averaging 19.8 points on 55.4 percent shooting in eight home games.
30: Team-high minutes played by Westbrook. Ibaka was the only starter to log a single second in the fourth quarter. His 2 minutes, 5 seconds of action in the final period kept the Thunder from extending its count of games in which all five starters could sit for the entire fourth to five.
32: Biggest lead for the Thunder, the largest of the season. The previous high was 31, set against New York on Jan. 14.
33: Pistons points at halftime, a new opponent low for the Thunder in any half. OKC set the previous low one game earlier, when the Thunder held the Nets to 35 first-half points.
34.1: Percent shooting by the Pistons. It became the second lowest field goal percentage by a Thunder opponent this season. New Jersey’s 31 percent, set on Saturday, is the low mark.
53.2: Percent shooting by the Thunder. It was the fifth time this season that the Thunder has connected on at least 50 percent of its shots.
18,203: Announced attendance inside Chesapeake Energy Arena, a sellout. It was the eight sellout in as many home games. If Thunder fans can sellout a Monday night game against the Pistons, it looks like the entire season will be sold out.
-DM-
Thunder 99, Pistons 79
Nuggets from my notebook from Monday’s win over Detroit.
- I don’t know about you, but I knew this game was going to be a blowout when Russell Westbrook shredded the Piston’s defense and threw down a tomahawk dunk to make it 6-2.
- I was convinced when Westbrook threaded the needled with an on-the-run, behind-the-back pass to Kevin Durant to make it 8-2.
- Not very often two Top 10-worth plays by the same team are turned in within the first 2 1/2 minutes of a game. Westbrook did just that.
- Westbrook on his two early highlights: “I just tried to keep the excitement in the game. I just tried to keep the fans involved and keep my teammates involved as well.”
- If you ask me, this was by far Serge Ibaka’s best game of the season. He started off providing weak side defense at the rim and his presence was a big part of the Thunder shutting down the Pistons’ attack early. Ibaka then rebounded like a mad man. Only thing he didn’t do tonight was knock down shots, which (I may be in the minority on this) you can live with when he has nights like this. Ibaka finished with a game-high 10 boards and a season-high tying five blocks.
- In his last three games, Ibaka has now pulled down 29 boards and blocked 12 shots. Said Westbrook: “He’s back to protecting the paint and rebounding. In the last five or six games, he’s gotten people scared to come in the paint. I’d be scared if I was them, too.”
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks started Kendrick Perkins on Greg Monroe and Ibaka on Ben Wallace. I wasn’t sure about that one at first because of Monroe’s athleticism. But it was a brilliant matchup. Perk’s superior man defense limited Monroe’s effectiveness, and with Ibaka on a non-factor offensively in Wallace he was allowed to roam and provide that great weak side help. Well done by Brooks.
- Worst part of this game was Nick Collison not returning after halftime due to a sprained left ankle. He’s listed as day-to-day. A shame, really, because you never want to see bad things like an injury happen in a blowout.
- Detroit made its first shot. The Pistons then missed 15 of their final 17 in the opening period.
- Westbrook’s post-up game looked much better tonight. I’m nowhere near ready to say that it’s a good option yet, largely because he abused a rookie in Brandon Knight. But the first move Russ hit Knight with, a Dream shake-like fake that led to a smooth jumper was jaw-dropping no matter who it was scored against. It was by far the most impressive move we’ve seen out of Westbrook in the post. Give me more of that regularly and I can live with Westbrook on the block.
- KD missed the Dirk twice tonight. He’s like 0 for his last four on the Dirk…and I’m still not sure he’s hit one at home.
- The Thunder scored 15 of its 19 fast break points in the first quarter. There have been entire games this season in which the Thunder hasn’t had 15 fast break points.
- How sweet is home for James Harden? He scored his 18th points with 4:52 remaining in the second quarter. That total was more than his point production in any one game on the Thunder’s recent three-game road trip. Harden finished with 24, two shy of his career-high, on 8-for-11 shooting.
- Thanks to Harden coming back to earth, the Thunder finally made some 3-pointers. OKC was 7-for-16 tonight, and Harden was 5-for-6. In the previous two games, the Thunder was 8-for-26 from deep.
Read the rest of this entry »
Another contract for Thunder to work out
Thunder coach Scott Brooks is up for contract renewal.
Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook had until Wednesday to sign a rookie contract extension, or wait until the summer and become a restricted free agent. Six days before the deadline, Westbrook agreed to a five-year extension with OKC worth an estimated $80 million.
Westbrook is now under contract through the 2016-17 season and will be surrounded by familiar faces for several seasons.
Two-time scoring champ Kevin Durant is signed through 2015-16, Kendrick Perkins and Nick Collison are signed through 2014-15 and Thabo Sefolosha through 2013-14.
Next on the agenda are rookie contract extensions for James Harden, Serge Ibaka and Eric Mayor, who are signed through 2012-13, as is Daequan Cook.
Rarely has an NBA team been able to re-sign its top nine players for an extended period of time. For OKC to be in a position to do so is somewhat unfathomable. However, quietly the clock ticks even faster on another key “core” component of the franchise’s continuing success.
This is the final contract year of coach Scott Brooks, whose winning percentage has climbed steadily since becoming the Thunder’s coach – from 22-47 (.319) as interim coach in 2008-09, to 50-32 (.610) his first full season, to 55-27 (.671) last season, to 13-3 (.813) so far this season.
Asked Monday morning if he was concerned about extending his contract, the 46-year-old Brooks smiled and said: “I’ve got a contract. I have a job. There are 30 great jobs in the NBA, and I’ve got one of them. I’m with a great organization, a great place to be.”
Brooks is represented by agent Warren LeGarie, who represents many NBA coaches and front-office executives.
Brooks said he has no expectations to what a new deal might entail. “We’ll see,” Brooks said with a shrug. “I’m not even focused on that. I’ve got a group of guys who love to be coach and it’s fun to see their development. That’s all I’m focusing on.”
Thunder general manager Sam Presti reiterated his policy of not publicly discussing contract negotiations involving team personnel, but added, “I think everybody knows how we feel about Scotty and we hope he remains with the organization for many years to come. I have a lot of respect for Scott. We have been through a lot over the last four years, but that’s part of the process when you’re trying to build something that can last and endure. It’s great to come to work with someone that is committed to the organization. That means a lot here. It’s easy to support him as our coach.”
Presti did not share a specific timetable in resolving Brooks’ future status, but Brooks isn’t exactly playing hard to get. “Sam and I have a great, open communication,” Brooks said. “I love the guys I coach. This is where I want to be.”
In the past, Presti has waited until the end of the season to announce contract issues with Brooks, who had the “interim” label lifted on April 15, 2009, the final day of the regular season. On May 4, 2010, four days after a first-round playoff loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Thunder announced it had picked up Brooks’ third-year option, which extended him through the 2011-12 season.
Brooks became an assistant under Seattle SuperSonics coach P.J. Carlisemo at the start of the 2007-08 season and was named interim head coach when Carlesimo was fired 13 games (1-12) into the 2008-09 season.
Brooks won the 2009-10 Red Auerbach NBA Coach of the Year Award in his first full season in charge, directing a 27-win improvement (from 23-59 to 50-32) that tied for eighth largest in NBA history.
Terms of Brooks’ current deal have never been announced, but he is believed to be making $1.75 million this year.
Power Lunch Chat with Darnell Mayberry
Monday Morning Mailbag
Are Thunder fans beginning to bail on Serge Ibaka?
It’s been a long time, but it’s time we bring back the old mailbag.
Since our last edition, the Thunder has become the best team in the Western Conference, Russell Westbrook has signed a lengthy contract extension and, oh yeah, there was this really annoying thing called the NBA lockout.
But in this week’s mailbag, we talk Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson and Kevin Love on the Thunder. Feel free to join the conversation next week if you like.
What’s your thoughts on Serge? He finished so strongly last year (around 12 points, 10 rebs and 3 blocks the last couple months I believe) and yet, it doesn’t look like any of that has carried over into this season. Is he just a victim of the short training camp? Did he play over his head last year? Is there anything you see that leads you to believe he’s going to revert back to what he was doing at the end of last season? The Thunder really need his rebounding. Take care! — Matthew R.
Matthew, unfortunately Serge appears to have been a victim of hype and expectations. Although he’s coming around (a season-high five blocks in his last game and 19 boards in his last two games), he clearly hasn’t been the same dominant defensive presence he was last year. But maybe it just looks worse because we all anticipated he’d come back so much better. Some, as early as two seasons ago, even threw his name out as a dark-horse Defensive Player of the Year candidate. I think Serge will be fine. It’s important to remember that Ibaka still hasn’t been a starter for a full season. He’s started 60 career games. That fact, coupled with him still being just 22, suggests he’ll figure things out and continue to develop nicely. But his flaws have become obvious, and when I see them I get the sense that his ceiling simply isn’t as high as we once thought.
I love Harden and like Ibaka, but if there is any chance we can’t sign both, is there any chance we could package both of them for Love? The money is right pre- Love extension. We could max him out to have arguably the best 3 man combo in league. He rebounds like a demon (imagine Perkins helping with box out), is a great post threat, and passes well. This would allow us to work pick and roll like never before. Opposing teams would have fits trying to guard Westbrook and Durant if they actually had to worry about a post threat. Also on radar as post threats for lesser compensation: Greg Monroe and R Hibbert. — Todd B.
Todd, there’s a really good chance of that happening — if this were NBA 2K. In real life, fuggedaboutit! This ain’t a fantasy league. Love is one of the best power forward’s in the game. Minnesota isn’t going to trade him unless it absolutely has to. And the Thunder isn’t trading James Harden for him. That’s a deal neither team would have any interest in. Greg Monroe and Roy Hibbert? Dream on, my friend. They’re close to untouchable, too. Everyone would love to see a post scorer and dominant rebounding big man on the Thunder. But that’s beyond realistic at this point. Just be happy with the two All-Stars currently in the stable and the nice complement of role players that surround them. There are about 27 other teams that would give up everything to trade rosters with the Thunder. So you can bet the Thunder realizes what it has and isn’t in a rush to make a move. For that reason, I wouldn’t anticipate much turnover over the next few seasons. It looks like Perk and Ibaka are here to stay, assuming Ibaka gets extended of course.
Quotes About Russell Westbrook
Thunder GM Sam Presti, coach Scott Brooks and guard Russell Westbrook held a press conference today to announce Westbrook’s contract extension. All three had some pretty good sound bites. Here’s a sampling of what they had to say.
WESTBROOK
From day one, this is the spot I wanted to be. The organization believed in me by surprisingly picking me No. 4. A lot of guys doubted me, but from day one this organization supported me.”
Special thanks to my family. Without them, I don’t know if I would be sitting in this situation now.”
Growing up, me and my brother always said no pain, no gain. Right now, I can say I made a little gain. I’m just blessed to be in this position.”
It wasn’t something that was a problem. My agent, Sam and Clay were taking care of that. And my job was to come out every day, every night and try to find out how we could start the season off on the right foot…Once it got finished, it definitely was a big relief.”
I can say this for any player in the league. You want to be somewhere where you’re wanted. I wanted to be somewhere where I had great support, and this is the spot for me.”
Why wouldn’t you want to play with the best scorer (and maybe) the best player in the league on your team?”
BROOKS
How can you not love this guy? The guy plays with so much passion. He plays with toughness. He plays for the team. And he’s improved every month since we’ve had him.”
I like the fact that he wants to be coached. He understands than he’s not a finished product. His family has done a great job of instilling that work ethic in him.”
PRESTI
Days like today are made possible because of our owner, Clay Bennett, who’s shown unwavering support in our efforts to build and sustain and elite basketball organization. We’re fortunate to have an owner as committed as Mr. Bennett is.”
As we began our conversations with Russell about remaining with us as a core member of our organization and team, he made it abundantly clear he wanted to continue to be part of the organization, as well as this community.”
Our expectations for Russ are high, and he knows this. We expect him to continue to develop, even though he’s 23 years old, in a myriad of ways.”
The guy is so resilient. It’s really hard to keep him down. He just continues to come back and work. That’s incredibly impressive.”
-DM-
By The Numbers: Thunder-Nets
Numbers to note from Saturday’s 84-74 win at New Jersey.
4: Missed free throws by Kevin Durant. He was 2-of-6 on the night. In his previous six games, Durant had made 46 of 48 from the stripe.
5: Blocked shots by Serge Ibaka, a season-high. Ibaka helped the Thunder record 10 blocked shots, the third time this season that the Thunder has had at least 10 swats. Ibaka also had nine rebounds, giving him 19 boards in the past two games. Ibaka had pulled down only 19 rebounds in his previous four games prior to the last two.
8: Rebounds by guard Thabo Sefolosha, a season-high.
9: Rebounds by James Harden, a career-high. Harden also scored 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting, salvaging something of the three-game road trip. In the first two games, Harden averaged just nine points on 31.2 percent shooting.
12: Turnovers by Durant in his last two games. KD had five against the Nets after seven at Washington.
13: Percent shooting from 3-point range by New Jersey. The Nets were just 3-for-23.
14: Points scored by Nets guard Deron Williams on 5-for-18 shooting. Williams missed all six of his 3-point attempts and had six assists and three turnovers in 39 minutes.
16: Offensive rebounds by the Nets. Oklahoma City out-rebounded New Jersey 55-46 but got beat by two on the offensive end. The Nets’ total on the offensive end raised the Thunder’s league-worst opponent offensive rebounds to 13.5 per game.
17: Biggest lead by the Thunder. OKC led for good after taking a 13-12 lead with 4:49 left in the opening period.
19: Turnovers by the Thunder. The Nets scored only 10 points off those giveaways. But OKC had just 13 assists. It was the sixth time the Thunder has finished a game with more turnovers than assists.
22: Points off turnovers for the Thunder. OKC had 18 points on 12 Nets turnovers by halftime alone.
31: Percent shooting by New Jersey, an opponent low for the Thunder.
35: Halftime points by the Nets, an opponent low for any half this season by the Thunder.
74: Points scored by the Nets, an opponent low for the Thunder this season. In the previous game, the Thunder allowed Washington to score 105 points, which set an opponent season high.
84: Points scored by the Thunder, a season-low. The previous low by OKC was 87 at Dallas on Jan. 2.
-DM-
Thunder 84, Nets 74
Nuggets from my notebook from Saturday’s win at New Jersey.
- There was a TON of Thunder fans in the building tonight. I mean a ton!! I remember coming here two years ago and being shocked at how many fans were cheering for the Thunder. You’d have to times that reception by 35 to get a feel for what took place tonight. I asked my Twitter followers about two hours before the game who was coming to this one. I only got a handful of responses. But the reason I asked was because I figured it would be like this.
- Thunder jerseys, hats and sweatshirts were everywhere. I even say two fans with a sign that read “Fear The Beard.” Fans even cheered each and every Thunder starter when he was announced during pre-game introductions.
- Kevin Durant, who got an M-V-P chant from at least one fan late in the game, on the reception: “It feels good. We came a long way. I remember my first year when we played in Oklahoma, we played these guys here and it wasn’t hardly anybody in the stands. So a lot of people coming to support us makes us feel good. I’m excited that people are starting to like us and are starting to like us and come out to see us play.”
- The game itself wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was pretty darn ugly. But unlike three nights earlier at Washington, I’m sure ugly is fine for everybody who bleeds Thunder blue when OKC comes out on top.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks rated tonight as one of his team’s best defensive performances. Hard to argue with that. OKC held the Nets to opponent lows of 31 percent shooting and 74 total points. The Nets came in leading the league with 26 average 3-point attempts. Against the Thunder, they went 3-for-23.
- The only rebuttal one could possible give Brooks is the Nets are absolutely brutal.
- You could tell the Thunder made it a point to defend the 3-point shot tonight. On three occasions, a Thunder player fouled a Nets shooter while contesting a 3. Reggie Jackson gave up a four-point play when he hacked Anthony Morrow on a last-second attempt in the first quarter. Russell Westbrook closed out too strong on Deron Williams in the third quarter. And Durant fouled DeShawn Stevenson behind the arc in the fourth quarter.
- I wrote a few games back about how everyone being in Jackson’s ear could have a negative short-term impact. We’re officially seeing it. Jackson hesitated on shots in the first and second quarter and is clearly over-thinking at this point. He now looks unsure of himself and too determined to do the right thing instead of playing naturally. It’s obvious that he has some natural scoring ability, but now that he’s been forced to play a certain style he’s looking lost out there at times.
- This was not one of the Thunder’s better nights offensively. And I’m not even talking about the season-low 84 points. That would be acceptable if it was a rhythmic game with ball movement and crisp sets. But the Thunder didn’t just miss shots tonight. OKC made it hard on itself at times with one-on-one play and poor ball security. In the end, this was the second straight night and sixth time this season that the Thunder finished with more turnovers (19) than assists (13).
- Durant had 20 points on 22 shots. Westbrook had 21 points on 21 shots.
- The saving grace for the Thunder offensively was scoring off turnovers. OKC had 22 points on 18 Nets turnovers. By halftime, the Thunder had 18 points on 12 Nets giveaways.
- No Jay-Z tonight. More importantly, no Beyonce.
