The Scene At Shootaround
I’ve been MIA lately, I know. Had to focus my attention on this little nifty thing we do before every season called a special section. I got a little bogged down with that on top of the regular load. But it gives me great pleasure to say that weight has been lifted off my shoulders, and our Thunder special section will hit newsstands and your front porch or driveway this Sunday. So let’s get back into the swing of things here shall we?
TINKERING WITH THE ROTATION
Thunder coach Scott Brooks at this morning’s shootaround sounded like he is done throwing out funky lineups and wacky rotations. I expect Brooks to play what mostly will be his main rotation in tonight’s preseason finale against Sacramento. But Brooks said he and the coaching staff are still trying to figure out who fits best with each other while giving different players an opportunity to adjust to playing with different teammates.
“It’s good for our team,” Brooks said. “It’s good to build chemistry on the floor. You’re going to be put in a position where you have to play with different guys…You try to figure out what a guy does with different guys. The game is impacted by who you’re playing with.”
DEJA VU
Rarely in the NBA will a team open the regular season against the same team it ended the preseason against. But that’s the position the Thunder and Kings are in this year. Cleveland and Boston have also managed to pull the scheduling quirk.
Brooks, however, said tonight’s game shouldn’t have any bearing on Wednesday’s season opener. Because of exhaustive scouting departments, he said, NBA teams, don’t have anything left to hide.
“We know what they’re going to run and they know what we’re going to run,” Brooks said. “We have to do a great job of executing it and using effort in our execution.”
Brooks did say Wednesday’s packages will be different than tonight’s because he plans to implement more wrinkles in the final few days of practice before the two teams meet again. He called the next five days of practice “pretty important for us.”
A FRIEND TURNED FOE
Perhaps a more significant advantage than the Kings’ ability to pick up on the Thunder’s strategy early is the presence of former Thunder forward Desmond Mason on Sacramento’s roster. Brooks expects Mason to share secrets with his new teammates. All players do once they change teams. Mike Harris informed Jeff Green of Houston players’ tendencies at the scorer’s table just before tip-off Monday.
“One of the things our coaches do when we have guys that play with other teams is (go over) their personnel’s tendencies,” Brooks admitted. “I think it’s important to listen to the players. They know, they feel it, they see it on the court. They experience it. So you always tap into their knowledge. And I’m sure Sacramento is going to be no different. Desmond knows what Kevin Durant does and how he does it. The bottom line is it takes five guys to make an offense work and it takes the same five guys to make a defense work.”
Grizzlies 99, Thunder 91
MEMPHIS — I’ve got good news and bad news from Memphis. Which one do you want first?
Let’s start with the bad.
The Thunder lost 99-91 to the Grizzlies on Wednesday night the same way it dropped a good majority of its games last season — late-game turnovers, poor decision-making, porous defense and deer-in-the-headlights looks from players on offense down the stretch.
The good news is this was Game 1 of the preseason, and this time the unit that fell prey to the same mistakes we saw so many nights last season won’t all be on the floor when the games matter three weeks from tonight.
The Grizzlies outscored the Thunder 19-9 in the final 7 1/2 minutes. OKC had as many turnovers (four) as field goals in those final minutes. Memphis rookie Sam Young took over like he was still a man among boys at Pitt, scoring 15 of his game-high 22 points in the final period. He attempted 16 free throws, 10 in the fourth quarter.
But the result is secondary since two rookies (Byron Mullens and James Harden), two sophomores (Kyle Weaver and D.J. White) and three role players (Shaun Livingston, Etan Thomas and Ryan Bowen) were the only ones that played the fourth quarter.
The main guys looked good.
Russell Westbrook orchestrated the offense almost perfectly. He finished with a game-high 10 assists and could have had more had his buddies made more shots. Westbrook didn’t force anything all game and, as a result, turned the ball over only twice. And one was an illegal screen. Because he looked for his teammates all night, he only took four shots, missing them all and scoring just five points. But his development was on display. His leadership, too. He jumped off the bench in the first half after the Grizzlies had two consecutive run outs and yelled, “Somebody’s gotta get back!” In addition to that, he helped hold Mike Conley in check and didn’t let the speedy point guard cause problems by weaving his way into the lane all night. Westbrook’s overall performance was hands down the most encouraging thing about the opener. He’s answering the question of whether he’s ready to lead this team each time he steps on the floor in a competitive environment. It’s way too early to declare that he is. But the better question might soon become is he ready to be consistent as the leader?
Five Pressing Questions
Training camp is underway at Thunder headquarters and, frankly, we’ll see how long the optimism lasts now that the real work has started. National expectations continue to be high for the Thunder in 2009-10. But there are several questions about this team leading into the Oct. 28 opener against Sacramento. Answers will begin to crystallize over the next month and into the early portion of the season. But here are five burning questions the Thunder faces as training camp opens.
1) How much better can OKC get defensively?
It’s seemingly a foregone conclusion that the Thunder will pose problems offensively. With Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, James Harden and Nenad Krstic, Oklahoma City has ample scoring weapons. And so defense has been the name of the game entering this season. It’s what the organization wants to establish as its identity as a means toward long-term, championship-level success. But is there enough in the cupboard? Etan Thomas’ addition upgrades the interior defense, but the Thunder still doesn’t have a true anchor in the middle. The team’s perimeter players are long and athletic enough to give opponents’ fits, but today’s hand-checking rules allow perimeter players only so much room for lock down D. And without a last line of defense in the form of protection in the paint, baskets still could come too easily for opponents this season.
2) Is Russell Westbrook ready to lead?
From a statistical stand point, last year’s fourth overall pick put together one of the best seasons in NBA history for a rookie point guard, with averages of 15.3 points, 5.3 assists, 4.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals. And somehow people still question if he’s the right guy to captain this team. In some ways it’s a fair question. Mostly, it’s ridiculous. The biggest area of improvement Westbrook must show this season is decision making. He played with increased patience and showed more maturity toward the end of last season and in summer league. That level of play is expected to carry over into 2009-10. Westbrook might never be the pass-first, set-up man that many want him to be. And that is probably a good thing. His offense is too valuable and he’s too explosive and versatile to be resigned to coming down the court and taking two dribbles before passing it off. But in year two, Westbrook will definitely need to make more sound decisions to take the next step as an elite young point guard.
3) Is Scott Brooks ready to lead?
Almost everything the interim head coach did last season was an upgrade from the moment he took over — from lineup changes to his rotation and substitution patterns to the team’s nightly effort. But, no disrespect to the job Brooks did, that’s not saying much. The Thunder had no choice but to play better after the coaching change was made. Brooks’ challenge now is to get his players to give that same effort for 82 games even if they grow sick of hearing the same voice. Naturally, as the head guy, Brooks also must take on more of a bad cop role and police his players more than he ever has. The players all support Brooks, which should make things easier on him in his first full season. But expectations are rapidly growing for a young Thunder team, and the young coach must prove he’s ready to blossom with his squad.
4) What will a full season of Nenad Krstic and Thabo Sefolosha mean?
The Thunder played its best ball last season after Sefolosha and Krstic came on board. But even in the second half of the season we never really got to see what both players could offer in the context of the team. The starting lineup of Westbrook, Sefolosha, Durant, Green and Krstic played only 17 games last season. We know Sefolosha is the team’s best man defender and Krstic is the best offensive big. But how will those skills, when blended with the Thunder’s full arsenal of talent, impact Oklahoma City over the course of the year?
5) What’s the missing piece?
Talk to anyone around the league about the Thunder and you’re usually greeted with, “That’s a good young team with great talent, but they need a big man.” It’s the pink elephant in the organization. As training camp turns to the preseason and the preseason progresses to the regular season, we’ll find out just how big of a weakness that hole still is this season. I tend to think the team’s playoff possibilities would be much more realistic with a rebounding and shot-blocking presence like Andris Biedrins on the roster. Etan Thomas should help in the middle but is only a backup and is no longer a spring chicken. The other obvious problem area last season was perimeter shooting. And most players think rookie James Harden will help solve last year’s woes. But are those two additions alone enough to at least plug the hole enough in those areas to allow the Thunder to take the next step in 2009-10. And are there other issues that could arise?
-DM-
Training Camp Roster Almost Finalized
Former Tulsa standout Michael Ruffin is one of several free agents who have received an invitation to the Thunder’s training camp, which opens Tuesday.
NBA Fanhouse first reported that the Thunder will sign Ruffin and Ryan Bowen, two nine-year veteran power forwards, to non-guaranteed contracts. The Oklahoman has also learned that Tre Kelley and Mike Harris are among at least two other players who are expected to join Ruffin and Bowen in training camp.
Harris, a 6-foot-6, 240-pound forward, played at Rice and had a brief stint with Houston at the end of last season. Kelley is a 6-foot point guard who was a three-year starter at South Carolina.
Oklahoma City has 14 guaranteed contracts, and the quartet is expected to fight for the final roster spot throughout October’s preseason schedule.
Ruffin, Bowen and Harris are all known as hard workers who could add beef to the Thunder’s frontcourt in emergency situations and provide a high level of competition in practice. The Thunder is set to enter the season with a solid rotation of Jeff Green, Nick Collison, Nenad Krstic and Etan Thomas at the power forward and center positions.
But there is only young, inexperienced talent after that in D.J. White, Serge Ibaka and Byron Mullens. Those three have played a combined seven NBA games — all by White — and each is expected to see significant time in the D-League.
-DM-
Desmond Mason, Thunder Part Ways
Desmond Mason’s days in a Thunder uniform have come to an end.
For now.
Oklahoma City has decided to go in a different direction and will not re-sign the former Oklahoma State standout and fan favorite, The Oklahoman has learned.
Mason, who is an unrestricted free agent this summer, became a casualty of the Thunder’s commitment to developing its young talent and was the odd man out on a roster that is one player below the NBA maximum of 15 allowed.
The Thunder remained open to the possibility of re-signing the 31-year-old Mason throughout the summer and had ongoing discussions with his agent since the start of free agency on July 1. Mason made $5.3 million in the final year of his contract last season and is believed to have been seeking a deal in the same neighborhood this summer.
Contract negotiations were believed to have been more exploratory in nature, comprised of more casual discussion rather than concrete proposals. Mason’s camp is believed to have been seeking a multi-year contract of at least two seasons while the Thunder was willing to agree to nothing longer than a one-year deal.
But it appeared less likely Mason would return with each transaction the Thunder made since February.
Q&A With Kevin Ollie
It was long overdue but I finally got in touch with Kevin Ollie, the veteran point guard the Thunder signed on Aug. 1 to add stability and leadership to the lead guard position. Throughout our 18-minute conversation, Ollie talked about why he joined the Thunder, why he thinks something special is being built in Oklahoma City, his goals of a coaching future, the impact of assistant coach Maurice Cheeks’ addition and how he plans on mentoring Russell Westbrook while competing with Shaun Livingston for backup minutes.
Ollie, who turns 37 in late December, is regarded as one of the classiest guys in basketball and that characterization was evident in our brief chat. He was thankful for the opportunity to continue his career and eager to meet his new teammates and start training camp. He was insightful, introspective, eloquent, humble and gave the impression of being an extremely hard worker. Thunder fans definitely will take a liking to Ollie’s personality, and if he provides anything of value on the court this season that will just be icing on the cake.
DM: What attracted you to the Thunder?
KO: From Day One they gave me a call and expressed interest and had a strong belief in me and my talents and what I can bring as an asset to the team. So I really appreciate their involvement from Day One. And once I met Sam Presti and coach Brooks I just fell in love with the organization. They do everything in a classy way, and I just believe that they’re building a winning program there that I wanted to be a part of.
Breaking Down The Etan Thomas Trade
It’s official.
The Thunder has acquired Etan Thomas and two 2010 second-round picks from Minnesota in exchange for Damien Wilkins and Chucky Atkins.
On one hand, the deal could be viewed simply as three aging reserves and two second-round picks swapping places. But this trade holds much more significance for the Thunder in both the short and long term.
Just last week I touched on how the Thunder’s post play remains the weakest link. Young guns D.J. White, Serge Ibaka and Byron Mullens aren’t ready to contribute consistent minutes next season and the addition of Thomas now means they don’t have to.
Oklahoma City is now looking at a steady power forward/center rotation of Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic as the starters and Nick Collison and Etan Thomas as their backups. Roles should be clearly defined in 2009-10 as opposed to the uncertain responsibilities surrounding Thunder bigs Collison, Green, Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, Robert Swift and Johan Petro at the start of last season.
But more than that, the Thunder has brought in the type of player it lacked — a tough-minded, physical presence who rebounds, defends and blocks shots like his career depends on it. Collison is as close as it gets on the Thunder, but he lacks Thomas’ athletic gifts, shot-blocking skills and physical prowess in the post. Not only does Thomas fill that void, but he can now serve as a mentor to players like Mullens, Ibaka and White. If the Thunder stood pat and you looked around the locker room come October there wouldn’t have been any name plates above cubicles that you honestly could have said would make the young bigs better. They needed someone to challenge them every day by punishing them on the practice court and demonstrating healthy habits on game days.
The Thunder also landed two more second-round picks from Minnesota in next year’s draft. One is Minnesota’s and the other will be the lesser of the eventual second-round slotting between Houston, Portland and Chicago. It bumps Oklahoma City’s total number of draft picks to five in 2010. The Thunder has its own first-rounder as well as Phoenix’s unprotected first-round selection. And OKC likely will retain its own second-round pick rather than having to send the conditional pick to Dallas as agreed to in the draft-night deal for Mullens.
