Preseason: Thunder 87, Mavs 83
It was a block party for Cole Aldrich and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night against Dallas.
Nuggets from my notebook from Tuesday’s 87-83 win over Dallas.
- By far the most interesting thing on the night took place 90 minutes before the game even started. It came in Thunder coach Scott Brooks‘ pre-game session with the media. In responding to a question I asked about sixth men, Brooks came as close as he’s ever come to conceding that their could be a change to his starting lineup this season. His direct quote: “Last year we had a great one. James was really good. He came in and really improved from year one to year two, and even in his second year, each month he got better. I don’t know who’s going to fill that role this year, or it might be the same guy.” Notice anything about that last sentence?
- I didn’t notice this in Dallas, but it appears the Thunder has a new pre-game handshake route. Just before tip-off, the entire bench stood in a single-file line in front of the scorer’s table and welcomed each starter with a handshake. It looked like something out of baseball’s book, with the bullpen coming in and meeting the on-field players and the rest of the bench near the mound immediately following the game. I sort of liked it and I sort of thought it was weird.
- Kendrick Perkins again looked great. His offense really stood out tonight. In the first quarter alone, Perk showed off a two-dribble drive past Brendan Haywood for a reverse layup, a dunk off a pick-and-roll with Russell Westbrook and a nice backdown on backup Mavs center Ian Mahinmi that led to a foul and a trip to the free throw line.
- It figures that after his first bucket that came off that nice drive, Perk would pick up a tech. It was his first of 2010-11 and came after he shoved Haywood. By no means was it a big deal. But it was good to see some things haven’t changed with Big Perk.
- The defense tonight was dominant. Dare I say championship level? OK, there I go again with the hyperbole. I know, it’s preseason. Still, tonight’s effort was exactly what you want to see out of the Thunder. Players dove on the floor for loose balls, played the passing lanes (12 steals) protected the paint (10 blocks) and closed possessions with rebounds (35 defensive boards). Best of all, the D led to O, as OKC scored 21 points in transition. Yup, that’s Thunder basketball.
- Referee Kevin Fehr was in preseason form tonight. He had himself a night blowing the whistle on questionable calls. First, he slapped Thabo Sefolosha with two of his three early fouls, two of which didn’t appear as if Thabo even touched his guy. Then, Fehr called a ball out of bounds on Kevin Durant when it might have been off Shawn Marion. And finally, Fehr slapped Russell Westbrook for a backcourt violation. The last two calls very well could have been legit.
- Durant did not have a good game tonight. And it wasn’t just in his final stat line, which read 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting with five rebounds, two assists, two steals and one turnover. Those are Reggie Jackson numbers. But Durant was getting lit up by Marion to start the game, then Lamar Odom came in and immediately drilled one on Durant. To put it plainly, KD’s defensive performance tonight was reminiscent of three seasons ago.
- KD also couldn’t find his rhythm offensively. He looked frustrated throughout the first quarter but told me after the game that he wasn’t and just had his scowl on. But one thing that stood out tonight is when KD checked out of the game for the first time, Westbrook wrapped his arm around Durant’s waist and began pointing out some things. It was an amazing sign of Westbrook’s growth and leadership. I asked Durant after the game what Westbrook said and KD said he didn’t remember. But Durant said Russ always does that. It’s just nobody wants to write about that.
- Cole Aldrich got the minutes ahead of Nazr Mohammed and ended up stealing the show tonight. Already, Aldrich looks tons better than he did last year. Tonight, he blocked four shots, tied Perk with a team-high eight boards, tied Westbrook with a game-high three steals and added six points (including a surprisingly sweet reverse layup) to his stat line. If I had to describe Cole’s performance tonight in a word, it’d be active.
- Jackson’s first shot tonight, a 3-pointer, bricked so badly it hit the bottom of the backboard on the opposite side f the rim. But it was impressive to see the rook bounce back and calmly swish his next jumper.
- Jackson actually played well tonight during his meaningful minutes. He was again under control and never forced the issue. His defensive pressure was good (albeit largely against training camp guys) and his decision-making didn’t really look like a rookie’s. Jackson was a big part of the 17-4 run to end the first half that helped break open this game.
- James Harden was the engine in that 17-4 run. He scored or assisted on 11 of the Thunder’s points in that stretch and again anchored that second unit.
- Let me tell you who’s not about messing up his shooting percentages. Daequan Cook. At the end of the first and second periods, Cook could have tried to launch a prayer from the other end of the court. He instead just dribbled out the clock.
- The Thunder held the Mavs to 6-for-21 shooting in the second period and 6-for-18 in the third. In those middle two quarters, OKC outscored Dallas 56-29. That was the ball game.
- Worth noting that Jason Kidd did not start the second half or play at all after halftime.
- Dirk Nowitzki scored six points on 2-for-10 shooting. Serge Ibaka might have had the play of the night when he suffocated Dirk into a shot-clock violation midway through the third quarter. It was the kind of position defense we didn’t see out of Ibaka last year.
- Perk had a reverse dunk tonight. Just thought you should know.
- Everyone’s been saying KD’s post game has improved. Tonight, he showed it. He hit Marion with an absolutely gorgeous drop step from the right block, finishing the play with a sweet finger roll. If you DVR’d the game fast forward to the 10:45 mark of the third quarter and just keep hitting rewind on that move.
- Nick Collison and Lamar Odom got into a mini-altercation tonight. Odd mix to be mixing it up, I thought. But Odom started it by recklessly closing out on Collison and slapping down on Collison’s neck with both arms. Words were exchanged. Collison picked up a tech. Skirmish over.
- All in all, it was a great preseason showing by the Thunder. But we all know by now not to read too much into it. As Mohammed said, “It’s a barometer for exhibition games. We’re a good exhibition team right now. The real show starts on Sunday.”
-DM-
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
Nice post, as always… I’ve got a question about the economics of keeping the core in tact/small market/luxury tax debate. Doesn’t the team stand to gain huge additional profits with the deep playoff run not only of last season, but the ones anticipated for the next 5+ years?? Wouldn’t those
[...] Darnell Mayberry on last night’s game: “Cole Aldrich got the minutes ahead of Nazr Mohammed and ended up stealing the show tonight. Already, Aldrich looks tons better than he did last year. Tonight, he blocked four shots, tied Perk with a team-high eight boards, tied Westbrook with a game-high three steals and added six points (including a surprisingly sweet reverse layup) to his stat line. If I had to describe Cole’s performance tonight in a word, it’d be active.” [...]
Peter, making the playoffs always helps. And deep playoff runs can indeed offset a rising payroll. Unfortunately, I don’t have knowledge of exact numbers. But as it’s been explained to me in the past, simply making the playoffs can be the difference between a season in the red and one in the black. However, one important thing to remember is every revenue stream available to the Thunder is less than other big-market teams. That includes advertising and sponsorship revenues, as well as its television contract and gate receipts. So a $100 million payroll in New York, for example, is not the same on the purse strings as it would be in OKC. -DM-
Nice post, as always… I’ve got a question about the economics of keeping the core in tact/small market/luxury tax debate. Doesn’t the team stand to gain huge additional profits with the deep playoff run not only of last season, but the ones anticipated for the next 5+ years?? Wouldn’t those profits offset the losses of a rising payroll, even one that creeps towards or even exceeds the luxury tax threshold? Wouldn’t that, then, make it worthwhile, economically speaking, to keep the core in-tact, no matter the cost?? (Kind of like what we’re seeing in Memphis, with 3 guys set to make over $13 mil p/year for the next several seasons, not even including Conley’s contract). I mean, this isn’t like the Knicks having the leagues highest payroll with one of the worst teams during the Isaiah era… Anyways, thanks for keeping us in the know, Darnell!!