Kyle Weaver Out At Least Four Months
The bad news keeps rolling in for the Thunder.
Guard Kyle Weaver will miss at least four months after undergoing surgery today to repair damage sustained by a dislocated shoulder, the team has announced.
Weaver becomes the second Thunder player who will miss a significant chunk of the season, dealing yet another blow to the team’s backcourt rotation. The Thunder announced earlier Monday that reserve guard Kevin Ollie is out up to four weeks after undergoing successful surgery on his right knee.
Guard Shaun Livingston is still recovering from a Nov. 17 surgical procedure on his knee and likely is at least a week away from returning to the lineup, although Livingston and Thunder coach Scott Brooks have said Livingston is doing more in practice every day.
Weaver, who averaged six points, 1.7 assists, one rebound and one blocked shot in 10 minutes per game over three contests, was headed for a prominent role as the Thunder’s emergency backup point guard behind starter Russell Westbrook when Livingston and Ollie went down. But after an encouraging performance in his first meaningful action of the season last Tuesday in a road win at Utah, Weaver injured his shoulder a day later while driving in for a layup during practice.
The diagnosis is the latest setback for Weaver, the second-year guard out of Washington State. The Thunder traded for guard Thabo Sefolosha last February and drafted another shooting guard, James Harden, with the third overall pick in June. Weaver then underwent surgery on July 28 to repair the extensor tendon in his left thumb, an injury sustained while playing with the team in summer league.
Now, it looks as though Weaver could miss the rest of the season. The team announced Weaver’s status will be updated as necessary, but only eight April games would be left on the schedule if Weaver is out the entire four-month minimum timetable.
Recently signed guard Mike Wilks is now expected to play a significant role off the bench over the next few weeks while the Thunder gets healthy.
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Ollie To Miss Up To Four Weeks
Kevin Ollie has undergone successful surgery on his right knee, but the backup point guard could miss up to four weeks while recovering from the procedure.
Ollie, according to a release by the team, had a minor procedure to relieve pain in his patellar tendon. If he is out all four weeks, Ollie will miss all 15 games in December, leaving recently signed guard Mike Wilks and healing reserve Shaun Livingston to man the position off the bench.
Livingston is getting closer to returning to the lineup and recently said he could be back in a week or two. Kyle Weaver, meanwhile, is set to undergo surgery on his shoulder Tuesday.
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Halftime talk sparks defense
Milwaukee was hanging with the Thunder in an ESPN nationally televised game Friday night in the Ford Center, a matchup of two young teams off to better starts than most projected.
The primary reason the Bucks trailed only 51-50 at halftime was they were 6-of-13 on 3-pointers.
At halftime, Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks challenged his team to play better defense, especially getting to the perimeter to guard Milwaukee’s potent 3-point shooters.
“Coach Brooks came in at halftime and emphasized taking that away,” said Russell Westbrook. “No easy baskets. We did a good job of that starting the third (quarter). We got the lead from there.”
The Bucks opened the third quarter 0-of-13 from the field. They didn’t score until midway through the third period. By that point the Thunder had outscored Milwaukee 15-0 to build the lead to 66-50.
That essentially was the game. The Bucks never got closer than 10 points the rest of the game as Oklahoma City cruised to a 108-90 win.
So what were Brooks’ magic words?
“The only thing we changed was our effort,” Brooks said. “We had to pick it up. They’ve had some great third quarters (earlier this season) and we needed to pick it up and do a better job defensively.”
The Bucks missed a few open shots but OKC’s defense improved.
“At the start of the third quarter we got overwhelemed,” said Bucks coach Scott Skiles. “They just drove straight by our guys to the basket. They took the game over at that point. We had a hard time staying in front of them defensively.
“We just weren’t sharp enough to come here and beat a team like Oklahoma City. You have to be sharp if you’re going to take control and win. We didn’t do that tonight. They are a much improved team. The way they took control in the third was embarrassing for us.”
The Thunder experienced some embarrassing losses early last season, especially in November. A year later they’re 9-7 with one more game to play this month.
How much better is the Thunder? Oklahoma City didn’t post its ninth win until late January.
“It was a great way to start the homestand,” said Thabo Sefolosha who recorded a double-double. “We’re building our confidence and building our team identity.”
That identity is defense. The third quarter was yet another example.
Report: Thunder To Sign Mike Wilks
According to the Web site InsideHoops.com, the Thunder will sign free agent point guard Mike Wilks.
The site is reporting that Wilks agent, Bill Neff, has confirmed that Oklahoma City will add the 30-year-old Wilks to provide backcourt relief behind starting point guard Russell Westbrook.
Both of the Thunder’s reserve point guards, Kevin Ollie and Shaun Livingston, are out with knee injuries. Reserve guard Kyle Weaver, a natural shooting guard who is capable of running the team from the lead guard spot and was called on for emergency duty at point guard Tuesday at Utah, sustained a shoulder injury during practice Wednesday.
Wilks, who is listed at 5-foot-10, 180-pounds, is a six-year veteran out of Rice. He has career averages of 2.5 points, 1.2 assists and 1.0 rebounds in 229 games. He’s played for Atlanta, Minnesota, Houston, San Antonio, Cleveland, Seattle, Denver and Washington. Wilks spent last season in Orlando and Memphis but did not play in a game last year.
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Thunder Waives Ryan Bowen, What Now?
The Thunder has waived forward Ryan Bowen, the team announced today.
Bowen made the roster as the team’s 15th man after beating out Mike Harris, Michael Ruffin and Tre Kelley in training camp for the final spot. It was clear since October that Bowen could be waived at some point if a better option came along or the Thunder needed to fill the 15th spot with a player who filled a pressing need.
Well, with injuries to reserve guards Kevin Ollie (knee), Shaun Livingston (knee) and Kyle Weaver (shoulder), the Thunder now has a pressing need. Starter Russell Westbrook is the only healthy point guard on the roster. And while James Harden is capable of manning the point position, and Kevin Durant and Jeff Green can bring the ball up the court, OKC would walk into Friday’s nationally televised game against Milwaukee without an experienced playmaker if a move is not made. That’s why I expect a move to be made soon, perhaps no later than Friday morning.
It’s unclear who the Thunder might be targeting or whether the team’s preference is a trade or free agent contract. The likely approach seems to be signing a player to a partially-guaranteed deal so that when Ollie, Livingston and Weaver return that player can easily be waived. A 10-day contract is out of the question at this point because, under Collective Bargaining Agreement Rules, teams can’t sign players to 10-day deals until Jan. 5.
History suggest if the Thunder makes a move it will be for a veteran guard who can provide a steady hand behind Westbrook as opposed to a young, inexperienced player who can be rattled. The Thunder brought in Chucky Atkins last season and Ollie last summer hoping they would fit that bill. The usual suspects this time around are free agents Jacque Vaughn, Antonio Daniels, Brevin Knight and Keith McLeod.
Bowen appeared in just one game for the Thunder. He scored four points and grabbed two rebounds in eight minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
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Chat with Mike Baldwin at 11 a.m.
Thunder 104, Jazz 94
SALT LAKE CITY –When is it time to pull the vets and play the pups?
That’s the question I asked Scott Brooks following Tuesday’s 104-94 win over Utah at Energy Solutions Arena. It’s a subject that is gaining more and more steam as this season snakes along. The latest and arguably most surprising case for the youngsters came when the Thunder walked into Utah and whipped a veteran Jazz team, leading by as many as 19 points and, with the exception of the final minutes of the second and fourth quarters, played with poise, patience and pride.
With Nick Collison and Kevin Ollie out with knee ailments, the Thunder’s bench unit was comprised of two rookies and one sophomore. Veteran Etan Thomas, the only other reserve to see action, played just nine minutes. Serge Ibaka, James Harden and Kyle Weaver took over the heavy lifting, and they showed they are more than capable of handling the load.
Weaver, who was relegated to the D-League on Saturday and recalled from the Tulsa 66ers hours before tip-off only to provide emergency duty behind starting point guard Russell Westbrook, had played only 15 garbage-time minutes in the Thunder’s first 14 games. Fourteen of those minutes came in one contest. But on Tuesday night, Weaver matched his season total in minutes. And he provided more than just a steady hand. Weaver made plays, pestering Jazz point guards Deron Williams and Eric Maynor with his defense and seamlessly setting up the offense and swishing key shots. He finished with seven points on 2-for-3 shooting. He turned the ball over twice but had a career-high-tying three blocked shots to go with one assist.
Ibaka, meanwhile, continued to be a game-changer around the basket. One game after a career night — an 11-point, 13-rebound, five-block performance against the Lakers — Ibaka pulled down five rebounds and had one steal and one block in 21 minutes. He coolly filled in for Jeff Green when the Thunder’s starting power forward picked up two early fouls. He gobbled up a rebound following a Paul Millsap miss. He netted an 18-footer following a feed from Kevin Durant. He pulled down another board after Mehmet Okur’s missed jumper, giving him two points and two rebounds in just four minutes. Ibaka later spelled a foul-plagued Nenad Krstic and did much of the same. But most impressive was the 20-year-old’s confidence. When the Jazz came alive in the fourth quarter and used a 4-0 spurt to cut the Thunder’s 19-point lead to a tenuous 15 with eight minutes remaining, Ibaka smoothly sank an 18-footer. Thabo Sefolosha then nailed two free throws to push the lead back to 19.
And all James Harden did was bounce back from a woeful performance he turned in two nights earlier that could have rocked the rookie’s confidence. After a 2-for-15 shooting night (0-for-10 from 3) against the Lakers, Harden netted four of five shots and one of two 3-pointers for his 10 points during his 19 minutes. His second-quarter production showed his moxie. He poured in all of his points during a 3 minute, 14 second span that started with the Jazz leading by a point and ended with his 3-pointer that gave OKC a 39-36 lead with 6:54 remaining in the half. The Thunder trailed only twice the rest of the way, both times by just a point.
“Sam Presti, our general manager, has done a great job of finding guys who are competitive,” Brooks said after the game. “You can have talented guys, but if they’re not competitive what good are they? Our guys are competitive. They get better. They get better in practice. It’s a fun group to coach because they compete against each other in practice. Sam has done a good job of putting a good group together.”
So why not play the kids?
“One of the things that Sam and I talk about every day, we have a team that has to earn minutes,” Brooks said.
Translation: the days of PT liberally being handed out ended with Russell Westbrook last season. No longer is the Thunder in the phase of speeding players’ development by awarding extended minutes without merit. Ibaka and Harden are clear cases. Neither figure to unseat Thomas/Collison or Sefolosha so long as those veterans are more consistent and better defensively, no matter how lofty the rookies’ ceilings.
But that doesn’t mean the position battles won’t intensify as the season marches on.
“Guys are competing for minutes and it puts pressure on our guys to come with it every day in practice,” Brooks said. “And it pays off. I think the way guys work in practice pays off and it gives them opportunities to show what they do. And our starters have to be ready because we have guys that can play.”
While the pups wait their turn, the fans will be waiting with bated breath.
Thunder vs. Jazz Live Chat
The Scene At Shootaround
SALT LAKE CITY — About 30 minutes before the curtain was pulled back and media was allowed into the Energy Solutions Arena for the Thunder’s shootaround, I had planned on asking Thunder coach Scott Brooks how he would handle his point guard rotation tonight.
It was a pressing problem for the coach because he didn’t have more than one healthy point guard, starter Russell Westbrook. And Utah’s guard play, with starter Deron Williams and backups Eric Maynor and Ronnie Price, is one of the best in basketball. But the Thunder issued a press release which provided the answer just before the team opened its shootaround. Kyle Weaver had been recalled from the Tulsa 66ers of the D-League and will be in uniform tonight against the Jazz. With Kevin Ollie and Shaun Livingston both out with knee ailments, Weaver will play extended minutes behind Westbrook.
The emergency duty the Thunder has called on Weaver to provide is what makes the second-year guard valuable. The 6-foot-6 guard can play multiple positions while also being a pest on defense and an asset as a spot-up shooter. Thunder coaches specifically had Weaver work on his point guard skills in the Orlando and Las Vegas Summer Leagues for moments like this.
“Kyle needs to just run the team,” Brooks said. “Get us in, make plays offensively. Defensively, he’s solid. He has great length. He’s a position defender. He uses his body well and he’s gotten stronger. I think he’s improved. He’s going to get an opportunity tonight and I expect him to play well.”
For Weaver, it’s the opportunity he’s waited on all season, one that has seemed to take much longer to arrive than the 14 games it’s been. Weaver has played in only two games this season, averaging 5.5 points, 2.0 assists and 1.5 rebounds in 15 minutes, his partial playing time coming only in blowouts, 14 of those minutes during the 14-point loss at Orlando. It’s been a frustrating transition at times for a player who, as a rookie, played in 56 games, 19 as a starter, and averaged 20.8 minutes.
“You’re a competitor,” Weaver said. “You want to be out there, especially after having that first year where you did have a few chances to be out there on the floor contributing. But it’s a learning process, too. A lot of players go through this. Some of the best players go through it or have been through it. I’ve just got to take it for what it’s worth, and the time that I’m out there just pick up on things.”
Last season’s experience, Weaver said, will help him go into tonight’s game with confidence and poise when his number is called. He now knows what to expect rather than having to be thrust into a backup role while still being unsure of himself.
“Last year was definitely a big help, being able to be out there on the floor,” Weaver said. “It makes everything a bit smoother and hopefully I’ll be a lot more comfortable out there.”
Ollie, who had been the team’s calming force off the bench behind Westbrook, said his biggest advice to Weaver is to take command of the offense.
“Be confident,” Ollie said. “I know he has great belief in himself and knows the team is behind him. Just be assertive out there. Be a leader. As the point guard, your voice has to be projected over everybody. And they got to know that you’re in command.”
Lakers 101, Thunder 85
LOS ANGELES — That was a thoroughly entertaining affair.
If you’re not a Thunder fan.
Notice the use of the word affair, not game or contest, which the Thunder’s 101-85 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers never was on Sunday night. A clinic, maybe, but far from a contest.
But that’s the beauty of a Lakers game at Staples Center. The home team doesn’t just play basketball, the Lakers put on a show. And when making your way to the glitzy arena on Figueroa Street, you never know when you’ll be treated to something special, something you’ll remember forever, like an 81-point outburst or an impromptu concert by a Grammy-Award winning artist.
Will.i.am provided the latter Sunday night, turning a boring rout into a boisterous party during a timeout early in the fourth quarter when he recited the lyrics from the Black Eyed Peas hit, “I got a feeling.” The sold out crowd of 18,997 rose to its feet and gladly sang along, no doubt enjoying what was a good night for the hometown fans. Longtime Los Angeles media members and NBA executives even gushed over the scene, assuring that they’ve never seen anything like it.
Unfortunately for the Thunder, the scene that played out with 8:58 left to play only added insult to what at that moment was a 26-point blowout that soon would go down as Oklahoma City’s worst performance this season. The Lakers toyed with the Thunder for 45 minutes and sent it to Salt Lake City searching for answers.
Thunder coach Scott Brooks told me before the game that the key to the game would be ball movement on offense and stops on defense. The Thunder, Brooks said, needed to refrain from one-pass-and-shoot possessions. Sadly, many of the Thunder’s early possessions didn’t even get to the one-pass phase. Turnovers doomed OKC from the start, six alone in a first quarter that led to eight Lakers points and a quick 35-16 advantage for Los Angeles.
The Thunder had two assists in the period. The Lakers had 10.
All the shots that the Thunder made against the Wizards rimmed out against the Lakers. Kevin Durant was 0-for-5 in the first quarter and held scoreless as Ron Artest bottled him up. Russell Westbrook was 1-for-4 from the field and James Harden missed all three of his shots in the opening period. Collectively, the Thunder was just 6-for-21 and the rout was on.
“When you get down like that, it’s tough to try to fight back,” Durant said.
Thankfully, when the Thunder proved it couldn’t and went on to see its deficit increase to as many as 28 points against the defending champs, Will.i.am and his celebrity friends kept Sunday night interesting.
QUICK HITS
- Serge Ibaka notched his first double-double of the season with 11 points and 13 rebounds while adding five blocked shots. Thunder coach Scott Brooks promised Ibaka would play more, and the rookie made the most of his 32 minutes.
- Ibaka was 3-for-3 from the field in the first three quarters. He was 1-for-9 in the final period. Seven offensive rebounds for Ibaka, though. Big time.
- Ibaka got major minutes in part because Nick Collison sat out with a knee injury. It isn’t believed to be a major setback. Collison took part in pre-game shooting and is listed as day-to-day.
- I don’t know if it was evident on television, but the game was extremely chippy in the fourth quarter for it to be a blowout. Several players were barking at each other and pushing late in the game. I have no idea why, but if it had anything to do with the Thunder’s pride kicking in at that point then I’m all for it.
- Here’s how embarrassing things got Sunday night — the Lakers raced to a 19-point lead after the first quarter and Adam Morrison started the second period.
- Kobe Bryant evened the score with Thabo Sefolosha tonight. Bryant had his way with the Thunder’s defense and didn’t have a single turnover.
- The Thunder missed 20 3-pointers tonight. 20! It came just one game after OKC made 11 of 21. Maybe that’s why Brooks said this team isn’t built for a shootout.
- The Thunder has no answer for Andrew Bynum. The Lakers center does whatever he wants to do against the Thunder and is a walking example of why everyone who is high on OKC immediately follows up any bit of praise with, ‘They’ve got to get a big man.”
- Bynum will, I repeat, will, win the Most Improved Player award if he stays healthy.
- Ron Artest didn’t fill up the stat sheet, but I thought he bothered Kevin Durant with his defense.
- Ryan Bowen got his first action and gave as much energy and effort as he could in 7 minutes, 54 seconds. What if he’s a secret weapon that not even Brooks knows about? What if Bowen could come in when the Thunder is stuck in a rut and turn the tide by pestering opponents with his hustle? What else does Brooks have to lose when he’s watching his team go down 25-8 in the opening minutes?
- The Thunder will forever live in Shannon Brown’s personal highlight collection. The alley-oop dunk he threw down was unreal.
- James Harden must have felt this entire game was his heat-check moment. He took 10 3-pointers and missed all 10. He made only two of 15 shots. He said the coaches and his teammates are instructing him to shoot more and that there is no point of him being on the floor if he doesn’t shoot. Maybe he took that advice a little bit too far. He was rushing shots all night, it seemed, just so he could get one up. One of his very first attempts was in transition and he never got his feet set and it didn’t even look like he knew where he was on the court.
- Still, I liked Harden’s aggressiveness. The Thunder will need that out of him. He attacked the rim hard a few times and created contact.It was a good sign.
- And lost in Harden’s 0-for-10 shooting night from behind the 3-point line alone was his six assists. Dude can still make a play for others even when his shot’s not falling.
THEY SAID IT
- Scott Brooks on the Lakers: “We played against the best team in basketball. We didn’t handle their physical toughness tonight. They got into us, we set the offense too far out and turned the ball over. And they capitalized on every mistake, and that’s what they do. It’s a talented team and some of the best players in basketball.”
- Brooks on looking forward: “We’ve got to continue to get better. That’s where we are. We have to take this as a lesson learned and get better tomorrow at practice and against Utah play a much better ball game.
- Jeff Green on the Thunder’s turnovers: “I don’t know how many turnovers we had. Over 10, I know. Nineteen. That’s why we lost. And the Lakers probably had about eight, nine. The turnovers we had, that gives them extra possessions and it takes us out of the game.”
- Russell Westbrook on what went bad: “It was a lot. We started off bad. Tough loss. We got to bounce back the next game.”
- Kevin Durant on the Lakers defense: “They always play hard. When you get down like that, it’s tough to try to fight back. Good job to the Lakers. They played well.”
- Kobe Bryant on if he’s ever made this many “H-O-R-S-E” type shots: “No. It was pretty crazy tonight. Pretty crazy. We had our rabbit foot on.”
- Shannon Brown on his alley-oop dunk: “I honestly didn’t know how high the ball was. I knew he was going to throw it, so I made eye contact. I saw him make an undercut on one side so I did an undercut on the other side and when he threw it up there I just tried to get it.”
BY THE NUMBERS
5: Blocked shots by rookie Serge Ibaka, a career-high.
9: Turnovers by the Lakers.
13: Rebounds for Ibaka, a career-high.
15: Blocked shots by the Thunder, tying a franchise record.
19: Turnovers by the Thunder.
28: L.A.’s biggest lead.
60: Points in the paint by the Lakers.
18,997: Announced attendance at Staples Center, a sellout.
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