Thunder 115, Timberwolves 110
Observations from the Thunder’s 115-110 victory over Minnesota at the Target Center on Saturday night:
- Good news for the Thunder: Minnesota has been mathematically eliminated from the Western Conference playoffs and can’t possibly be a No. 8 seed. In other words, OKC is done playing the Timberwolves this season. “That’s not good news, that’s great news,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said after Saturday night’s 115-110 victory at the Target Center. “That is good news,” OKC forward Kevin Durant echoed.
- Russell Westbrook had 16 points of his 35 points in the third quarter and Durant had 20 points of his 43 in the fourth quarter. Westbrook picked up the slack when Durant was on the bench with four fouls in the third period. When Durant re-entered at the start of the fourth quarter, Westbrook selflessly deferred to the two-time scoring champ. Further evidence these two stars work extremely well together. On rare occasions, they fail to click – like last Wednesday’s loss at home against the Clippers – but that was because their shots weren’t falling (a combined 10 for 35), not because they were selfish.
- Minnesota’s current list of shortcomings is astounding, particularly for a team that’s more good than bad. The Wolves have now lost nine straight and 10 of their last 11 games; they’ve lost 12 straight against the Thunder, when they could have easily won at least one-third of those game; they’ve also lost 25 straight games in April. Only two of Minnesota’s last dozen losses to OKC have been by double-digits, five have been by five points or less and two have come in overtime. The Wolves also have now lost 163 games due to injuries this season.
- To those still wondering why the Thunder is so high on center Kendrick Perkins: After the game, Perkins spent 10 minutes speaking one-on-one with forward Serge Ibaka. The exact conversation was unknown, other than Perkins repeatedly asked Ibaka if he understood where he was coming from, to which Ibaka repeatedly nodded. Perk appeared to be explaining to the 22-year-old Ibaka why things happened the way they happened in Saturday’s game. Perhaps Ibaka was troubled by how he was used in the rotation. He played 21½ minutes and finished with eight points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots. At times, the Wolves were killing the Thunder with the pick-and-roll, which they probably ran 70-plus times. In the end, Perk again made sure Ibaka was OK and also asked Thabo Sefolosha to double-check on Ibaka. This is an example of what makes Perk valuable. Perk seems to care as much about his teammates –perhaps more — than he cares about himself.
- It’s amazing how effective Minnesota point guard J.J. Barea is at the pick-and-roll. Why Dallas let him go without a competitive contract offer still astounds me. He simply toys with OKC. Players on the Timberwolves’ bench were shaking their heads and smiling at how easily Barea scored 17 first-half points. Barea does what the great point guards do – he’s in a rush, but not in a hurry; and he constantly keeps his dribble alive – just like Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Tony Parker, et al. Barea is fantastic.
- Durant on Barea: “Barea is an unbelievable guy at pick-and-rolls and that’s what they did. It’s tough to stop, but I think Russell did a great job in the second half. Him a Fish (Derek Fisher) did a great job. Pick-and-roll is such a big part of his game and that’s all they ran. I think we responded well in the second half. Wish we could have played a little better, but we got the win.”
- Tough night for sixth man James Harden, who missed Friday night’s game with a sore right knee. Harden was a last-minute activation for the game. He shot 1 for 11 from the field, including 0 for 8 from 3-point range. Asked if he might have rushed Harden back too soon, Brooks said, “No, I don’t think so. A lot of those shots tonight were good looks, open looks I thought might fall.” Harden did not appear to limp in his 30½ minutes of playing time.
- It’s hard to find a nicer man than University of Minnesota coach Tubby Smith, who was on hand to watch Nazr Mohammed, who played for him at Kentucky. Smith, who previously coached at Tulsa, still speaks fondly of the experience and said he believes Danny Manning will do very well at the job.
- Brooks shakes his head at Minnesota’s 25-36 record. It’s upside-down because of a slew of injuries. “They’ve had some tough luck,” Brooks said. “They were right there in the mix (for the playoffs). They’re a good team. They’ve done a good job of laying a foundation.”
- Rumor is Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is resting his sore shin because he had a comfortable lead to win this year’s scoring title. I don’t believe that. Doesn’t sound like Bryant, an egomaniac who prefers to settle things on the court. Durant erupted for 43 points Saturday. If Bryant (28.1 ppg) sits the remainder of the regular season, Durant (27.8) would have to average 30.7 points in the final six games to win his third straight scoring title. That’s certainly doable.
- Target Field, the new home of the Minnesota Twins, is located next to the Target Center, the longtime home of the Timberwolves. The Twins lost 6-2 at home to the Texas Rangers on Saturday afternoon and fans stayed in the neighborhood for some post-game beverages prior to a sellout crowd of almost 20,000 arriving for the Wolves. After the Thunder-Minnesota game, the area was packed with a younger crowd going to numerous night clubs. A very cool setting. Major-league facilities located side-by-side have always fascinated me.
- Next up for the Thunder: A day off Sunday, followed by a 9:30 p.m. game at the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center.
Thunder 115, Kings 89
Nuggets from my notebook from Friday’s win over the Kings.
- Russell Westbrook’s monster dunk late in the second quarter. Was it the best in Thunder history? I say so. Kevin Durant agrees. The Thunder has had a lot of highlight-reel dunks over the (four) years, but this one has to be at the top of the list.
- It didn’t matter that Westbrook’s dunk didn’t come on someone, like Durant’s over Brendan Haywood, or Durant’s on Roy Hibbert, or James Harden’s on J.J. Hickson, or even Westbrook’s on Shane Battier and Mario Chalmers. What made Westbrook’s dunk tonight so great was three things: 1) how incredibly high he got, 2) how incredibly bad the pass from KD was and 3) the fact that Westbrook is, you know, a 6-3 point guard!
- I’m just going to copy and past what KD said of Westbrook’s flush. “I don’t want to give him too much credit. It was a great pass by myself (laughs),” Durant joked. “Nah, but that was one of the most athletic plays I’ve ever seen. I think it was probably the dunk of the year. But Blake Griffin has had a lot of those. But for a 6-3 point guard to be catching lobs like that, man, that was unreal.”
- Durant on what he thought when he let go of the pass: “I thought it was too short. I thought it was going to get tipped. But he turned a terrible pass into a great finish. That’s what he’s been doing for us all year. That was unreal.”
- KD on where the dunk ranks in Thunder history: “He had a few of them. He dunked on Battier. Battier was crucial. His first year when he dunked on Chalmers. And the one where he dunked off the backboard over (Marco) Belinelli was crazy. He’s had plenty of highlights. But this one was unreal because of how high he jumped and how much he cocked it back. At 6-3, I’ve never seen nothing like that. Nah. That was probably the best, his right there because he’s 6-3, man, and he dunked that like he was my height. It was a terrible pass and he cocked it all the way back, man. That was crazy.”
- If you don’t care about the dunk, are one of those basketball “purists” who roll your eyes and consider it just two points and you want me to move on, you’ve come to the wrong place. The NBA is in the entertainment business, and plays like the one you saw tonight are the reason folks pay what they pay to see these games. There might not be 100 people in the world who can do what Westbrook did tonight. Not only is it a big deal, but it was by far the most interesting thing to happen in this contest.
- And I’d actually disagree with anyone who says plays like Westbrook’s monster dunk is worth just two points. They’re momentum-changers. They get players hype. They get teams going. And they fuel crowds. Harden admitted as much a few days ago during an interview session prior to the Clippers game. Generally, highlight plays like those are followed by a run of some kind. It’s no coincidence, at least in my book, that the Thunder closed the half on a 9-2 run after Westbrook’s dunk. (more…)
James Harden Has A Twin
No words needed.
-DM-
Clippers 100, Thunder 98
Nuggets from my notebook from Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers.
- The Clippers are so lucky to have Chris Paul. The guy is just a winner. He’s fearless, he’s clutch, he’s calm under pressure and he’s virtually unstoppable. Take his game-winning layup, for example. The Thunder defended it fairly well from the start, sending its two best defenders, Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins at him at the top of the key to trap an upcoming ball screen. Paul wisely and coolly audibled out of the 1-4 ball screen with Blake Griffin and into a 1-5 ball screen with Kenyon Martin. The goal was to try to make Perk retreat and get a more favorable matchup with Serge Ibaka on the perimeter. But the Thunder didn’t bite. Perk stayed and, unfazed, Paul adjusted. Paul simply called his own number and jetted to the basket for the biggest bucket of the night. He orchestrated it all from the start and made it look simple from the start.
- The one complaint, or maybe more of a question, I’d have on the final defensive possession by the Thunder is where was the help? When Paul scooted past Perk, the help defense was so late in sliding over that it was nonexistent. Russell Westbrook ended up with a foot in the paint, but it was much too late. The dilemma Westbrook had was leave his man and get burned for 3, or stay and give Paul a layup. I’m obviously working with the benefit of hindsight, but clearly Westbrook should have taken his chances leaving his man earlier. You’ve got to make Paul pass out to the perimeter for a lower percentage shot.
- Paul’s game-winner was the culmination of his volcanic eruption in the second half. The guy was amazing. Just when you think he’s down for the count, he rises and delivers a haymaker of his own. After a dismal seven-point first half on 3-of-9 shooting, he made 8-of-11 shot for 24 points in the second half.
- Said James Harden about the Thunder’s defense on CP in the second half: “We just got lazy in the second half. We didn’t come out with that aggression like we did in the first half to really control him and he took advantage of it.”
- Said Thunder coach Scott Brooks about OKC’s D on CP in the second half: “We didn’t do a good job of taking the ball out of his hands. And he was making some shots. That’s what Chris does. He’s always been a terrific second half player. And in the fourth quarters, you know you’re going to have to play your best basketball to stop him from scoring. He had a great game.”
- I thought Westbrook and Derek Fisher actually did an incredible job against Paul in the first half. Both pressed up and cut off Paul’s passing options to cutters out of the pick-and-roll while forcing him into tough, contested shots.
- Did Brooks out-think himself? Thabo Sefolosha switched onto Paul in the third quarter and, surprisingly, he didn’t do half as well as Westbrook did. Maybe it was Thabo who made the call. I don’t know. But perhaps the Thunder should have stuck with Westbrook. Westbrook had his chances in the second half, but by the time he switched back onto Paul it was too late. He was hot and had found his rhythm. And there was nothing Westbrook or anyone else could do.
- Kevin Durant was nearly the player of the game despite a horrendous 22-point performance on 7-of-21 shooting. He came up with a huge blocked shot on Martin with 43 seconds remaining and hit the game-tying 3 at the other with 32.2 seconds to play. He was 6-of-19 before that game-tying 3-ball dropped. So, needless to say, gutsy shot.
- Then KD settled, like he’s done in the past, and hoisted a 25-footer looking to win the game. It was as poor of a decision as we’ve seen from Durant this season. He easily could have forced the action and drove to the basket in search of a better look or a foul. But he let it fly and that was that.
- KD on what he saw on the final miss: “He was playing off me a little bit and it got clogged up. I didn’t want to risk a turnover so I shot it.”
- Hey, KD, next time risk a turnover. (more…)
Thunder 91, Raptors 75
Nuggets from my notebook from Sunday’s win over the Raptors
- You knew this one was going to be a blowout. It was only a matter of how it would take shape and at what point it would get out of hand.
- The first turning point came early. The bench unit turned a 25-20 lead at the start of the second quarter into a 13-point lead midway through the period. That five-minute stretch pretty much won the game. Although they gave it a good fight, the Raptors simply didn’t have enough horses to keep up with the Thunder.
- The stretch that put it away came when the Thunder finally decided to wake up and win this thing late in the third quarter. Toronto pulled within 58-55, and the Thunder just turned it on and ran away, ending the quarter on a 12-0 run before opening the third with another 12 straight. That’s 24 unanswered for you mathematically-challenged. It put the Thunder up 82-55 with 9 1/2 minutes left to play. Ballgame.
- The Raptors went 8 minutes, 56 seconds without scoring during that run.
- The Thunder did a really good job of spreading the court and executing the drive-and-kick game to blow open the game. OKC started hitting shots and really picked up its defense, too. That mix was too much for Toronto.
- The ball movement was really working during the run. The Thunder had five assists in that spurt and did a great job of getting contributions from everyone. James Harden led the way with eight points, Daequan Cook and Kevin Durant scored five apiece, Nick Collison had four points and Russell Westbrook scored two.
- Both teams were awful offensively aside from that one Thunder flurry. For much of the game, both the Thunder and Raptors were shooting below 40 percent. The Thunder ended up at 45.5 percent. The Raptors finished at 37.5 percent.
- Because of the below average offense, the most interesting thing in this one for about 2 1/2 quarters was the triple-double watch Westbrook had us on. He came out doing a great job of facilitating early, setting up Serge Ibaka for baseline jumpers and getting Kendrick Perkins an easy layup all within the first five minutes. And when you see Westbrook passing like that early, you know a triple-double is well within his grasp. Unfortunately, after scoring 11 points with six boards and six assists by halftime, Westbrook got just four more points the rest of the way without another rebound or assist. It was an up and down game for him overall, because of turnovers, a few bad passes and a few questionable shots. But he was great managing the game early.
- Thabo Sefolosha was the only Thunder starter to play in the fourth quarter. That’s been a great way for the Thunder to get rest this season, because Scott Brooks said he doesn’t plan on sitting his guys down the stretch.
- The three-game skid is over.
- Nick Collison on how crazy the NBA can be: “Four games ago we were playing our best basketball. And then we lose three straight.”
- Oh yeah, Denver’s loss at Golden State on Saturday night wrapped up the Northwest Division title for the Thunder. It’s the second straight division title for OKC. Expect another banner to be unveiled soon. (more…)
Pacers 103, Thunder 98
Nuggets from my notebook from Friday’s loss at Indiana.
- The Thunder is no longer in first place. This loss, coupled with San Antonio’s win over New Orleans, dropped the Thunder to second. And unless the Spurs start resting players down the stretch, which is a likely scenario, the Thunder might not be able to regain home-court advantage through the Western Conference Had a good time. Hope you did too. Finals.
- This is the first three-game losing streak of the season. Obviously, it comes at a terrible time.
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks on the skid: “We knew going into these last number of games that we were going to have to play well to get some wins. Our guys are going to bounce back. That’s how they are.”
- Brooks then said what his team has to do better. Brace yourselves: “We just got to play better. We got to start the game better. We got to play every possession better. We got to end quarters better. We got to come out in the second half better.”
- The bad start is exactly what cost the Thunder tonight. OKC got down 32-20 after the first quarter and trailed by 15 at halftime. All the momentum was with the Pacers after that, and their lead eventually grew to 24 midway through the third. The chances of coming back from that were slim.
- I give the game ball to two players. Tyler Hansbrough and Lou Amundson. They completely changed the game with their defense. They defend the ball screen extremely well and completely shut off the Thunder’s ball-handler in the pick-and-roll. Surprisingly, Hansbrough and Amundson had no problem staying with Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Derek Fisher when forced to switch onto them late in the first quarter and early in the second. Those two shut down the Thunder’s first option and, really, OKC never countered with a second option. It threw the Thunder’s offense entirely out of whack and allowed the Pacers to go on a big run, which was actually 11-2 to end the first quarter.
- When the bigs were having so much success defending the pick-and-roll, it was clear that Brooks should have gone small. The downside obviously would have been exposing the team to getting bullied on the inside. But the Thunder had no choice. Instead, Brooks stayed with his traditional units for far too long and it resulted in a 24-point deficit at one point.
- As soon as Brooks went small, going with Westbrook, Fisher, Harden, Kevin Durant and Kendrick Perkins with 5:39 left in the third, the Thunder responded with a 9-0 run. The defensive intensity got kicked up a notch, with the quicker players flying to the balls and using their quick hands to get steals and deflections, and that led to transition opportunities — something the Thunder didn’t have going since early in the opening quarter. Brooks wisely stuck with that lineup the rest of the way and gave the Thunder a chance to win.
- Would have liked to see Daequan Cook get the nod over Fisher during at least a portion of that small ball stretch. At least start with D.C., and if he’s not hitting his shot then go to Fish. But to automatically resort to Fish…meh.
- Speaking of, it’s safe to say that Fish has taken Cook’s minutes. End of story. Cook’s just getting token time now, just enough to spell KD for a brief time. The reality is that, with Fish in the fold, Brooks has reverted to a nine-man rotation.
- OKC fought hard to get back in it but couldn’t get closer than 10 when it really mattered. On seven, count ‘em, seven, occasions, the Thunder got within 10 points in the fourth quarter but couldn’t cut it to single digits. When the Thunder finally did, getting a fast break layup from Westbrook, it was just 1:41 remaining. (more…)
Grizzlies 94, Thunder 88
Nuggets from my notebook from Monday’s loss to Memphis.
- Three things killed the Thunder tonight: turnovers, defensive rebounding and a nonexistent transition game.
- The Thunder had 18 turnovers leading to 23 Grizzlies points.
- The Thunder gave up 14 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 Grizzlies points.
- And the Thunder scored a season-low two fast-break points. Two!
- The previous season low in fast-break points was five, set against Portland on March 18. The Thunder won that game with lights-out shooting from 3-point range, making 11 of 18 from deep.
- Here’s how bad it was for the Thunder in those three categories tonight. In the first half, the Grizzlies had 10 offensive boards and converted them into 12 points, the Thunder had 12 turnovers leading to 16 points and OKC had yet to score a single fast-break bucket. Ouch!
- Thunder coach Scott Brooks said his team was out of sync offensively tonight. “They did a good job,” Brooks said of the Grizzlies. “They got back and they made us play in the half court.”
- The lone fast-break points came with 39.2 seconds left…on a pair free throws by Russell Westbrook!
- If I was a Thunder fan I’d be very, very worried about meeting Memphis again in the playoffs. The Grizzlies don’t back down and they don’t go away. And Memphis’ contrasting style that combines paint points and physical punishment is a perfect recipe to oust the Thunder. Plus, not only are the Grizzlies great defensively but they also play with poise that young teams rarely exhibit. It would be another scintillating series. But this time, I’m not so sure the Thunder could get past them.
- The Grizzlies started Tony Allen on Westbrook and put Jeremy Pargo (filling in for an injured Mike Conley) on Thabo Sefolosha. It’s nothing new. We’ve seen it before. But I thought that one cross matchup explained a lot about the Thunder’s offense tonight. The Thunder missed some great looks early, but Allen helped disrupt OKC’s offense from the start. Westbrook was 1-for-5 from the field in the first quarter. By comparison, he was 5-for-6 from the floor in the opening period Sunday against Chicago.
- Through three quarters, Westbrook was 2-for-12. With him saddled, the Thunder’s offense was terrible.
- Now would probably be a good time to alert you to Westbrook and Kevin Durant responding to Skip Bayless. Durant in that response: “We’re worse when I take more shots.” Worth noting that Durant took 20 shots to Westbrook’s 16 tonight.
- Throw in missed free throws as one of the many culprits for tonight’s loss. The Thunder made just 17 of 24, an uncharacteristically-low 70.8 percent.
- Daequan Cook is back. He was available to play tonight but Brooks opted to go with the nine-man rotation again. Brooks said he’ll proceed with Cook the same way he did with Sefolosha and ease him back into the mix.
- For the second straight game, Brooks started the second quarter with Sefolosha in the lineup. He said he’s searching for minutes for Sefolosha. We’ll have to monitor how that is handled from here. That could be bad news for Cook. It’s possible that Brooks decides to shorten his rotation and go back to a nine-man rotation.
- Say goodbye to the six-game winning streak. The Thunder had a shot to tie its season-long seven game streak and move into first place in the league with Chicago losing tonight. So much for that. (more…)
Thunder 92, Bulls 78
Nuggets from my notebook from Sunday’s win over Chicago.
- It’s really a shame Derrick Rose couldn’t play. Instead of a potential Finals preview, we got 48 minutes of poo.
- Thunder heads aren’t complaining, I know. This is just what most of you probably wanted, a quick and easy blowout victory so everyone could rest up for what should be a physical battle against Memphis on Monday night.
- But it might have been better for the Thunder to be challenged a little more. OKC has struggled mightily with Rose in the past and there aren’t much better tests for pick-and-roll defenses than Rose and the Bulls. Given the current winning streak and how good things have been for the Thunder, it could have been useful for this one to have been more of a barometer game.
- Enough of all that. This was a great win for the Thunder. The Bulls came in 14-5 without Rose, and Chicago has some pretty solid wins without him. The Bulls are still plenty dangerous, and the Thunder took care of business. That was the first of many impressive things about this win. Said Thunder coach Scott Brooks: “At times, you can have a letdown when someone’s best player is missing. But he’s missed…10 games so we we’re prepared.”
- For anyone who has that friend who feels the need to discredit wins like this by the Thunder, here are four arguments you can fire at him or her: Feb. 4, March 3, March 13 and March 16. Those dates represent four Thunder losses. Each of them — San Antonio, Atlanta, San Antonio and Houston — was a defeat the Thunder took when the other team was without its best player (Manu Ginobili, Joe Johnson) or one of its best players (Kyle Lowry). Point being, wins under these circumstances aren’t always easy.
- Brooks called the Thunder’s defense the best of the season. Hard to argue with that. OKC held Chicago under 40 percent shooting all game and ultimately hounded the Bulls into a season-low 33 percent shooting. The Thunder just swarmed to the ball defensively, using active hands to come up with deflections and disrupt every part of the Bulls offensive rhythm.
- Brooks: “I liked the way our guys got after the basketball. We challenged every pass. We challenged every shot. And we rebounded the ball better as the game went on.”
- The third quarter was arguably the most impressive period of the game for the Thunder. From very early on in the period, you could tell that OKC came out looking to build on its 10-point lead and put away the Bulls early. And that’s exactly what happened. The Thunder used a 20-5 run over the first six minutes of the period to blow open the game. Eventually, the Thunder led by as many as 30.
- No starter (from either team) needed to play a single second of the fourth quarter. That’s how well in hand this one was. And it should benefit the Thunder as the rested Grizzlies come in here next on what will be the second night of a back-to-back for OKC.
- Another sign of how completely dominant the Thunder was. Midway through the third quarter, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant had combined for 48 points. The Bulls had 44! Through three quarters, Russ and KD had 53 points. The Bulls had 51.
- I loved, loved, loved Westbrook’s aggressiveness to start the game. With Rose out, Westbrook went right at C.J. Watson. From all areas: in the post, in transition, in the pick-and-roll and with his mid-range game. Westbrook was again unstoppable all night. He started this one making five of his first six shots thanks to his jumper working. It set the tone offensively, and the Bulls simply didn’t have the firepower to keep up.
- Durant had his jumper working early, too. He started 3-for-3 and all three were gorgeous, Kevin Durant-type shots. Coupled with Westbrook’s effectiveness, and that stingy D, the Bulls never stood a chance.
- This is getting ridiculous. Westbrook took two more shots than KD. Mark my words. This is going to be a huge problem come playoff time.
- April Fool’s! The Thunder is 20-4 when Westbrook takes more shots than KD. And the average margin of victory in those wins is a whopping 12.4 points! (more…)
Thunder players familiar with the Final Four squads
Several Thunder players are familiar with this year’s Final Four participants, having actually competed against them during the NBA lockout last summer.
Nick Collison and Cole Aldrich spent the offseason in Lawrence and frequently played in pickup games with Kansas players.
Nazr Mohammed played at Kentucky and set up one of the Thunder’s voluntary mini-camps this summer on the campus in Lexington.
Kansas, Kentucky, OhioState and Louisville are in this weekend’s Final Four at New Orleans. Kentucky and Louisville meet in Saturday’s first national semifinal at the Superdome, while Kansas and Ohio State meet in the other semifinal. The winners will play for the title on Monday night.
Daequan Cook attended Ohio State for one season before going pro, but rather than spending last summer in Ohio, Cook spent much of his time working out in Oklahoma City to show his desire to re-sign with the Thunder as a restricted free agent.
More than half the OKC roster participated at the Kentuckycamp. The Wildcats are 36-2 and spent much of the season ranked No. 1. For them to advance to the Final Four came as no surprise to Thunder players.
“We were all thinking, ‘They’re pretty good,’ ” said two-time All-Star Russell Westbrook. “All of ‘em are going to be pros. They’re a good team, so they’re going to be all right (at the Final Four). … It was no mystery they were going to be good.”
Mohammed envisioned a big season for his alma mater. “Oh, definitely,” Mohammed said.
NBA two-time scoring champ Kevin Durant saw the same. “Oh, yeah. I did,” Durant said. “I called it. Everybody on our team said they’re the best team in the country. They have five pros on their team. Their sixth man is a pro also. They’re really, really good, man. Being there for a week, we got close to those guys. You talk to them and you pull for them that hopefully they win the championship. Coach Cal (John Calipari) is a great guy. Their whole staff is good. Hopefully they win. They respected us. They came out and competed against us. You could tell they were going to be really good this year.”
Every Thunder player who discussed the Wildcats was quick to mention national player-of-the-year candidate Anthony Davis, who is a lock for the Wayman Tisdale Award as the nation’s top freshman. “Anthony Davis stood out,” Mohammed said. “He’s just such a good kid, worked hard, was trying to find as much knowledge as he could. Terrence Jones, all the guys were good. The surprising part was they were such a tight-knit group for guys who just had met, so that definitely was a good sign.”
It was never the Thunder vs. Kentucky in Lexington. It was always mix and match. Mohammed said at one point there were two courts of 5-on-5 going on side-by-side. “I was really impressed with their talent,” Collison said of Kentucky. “Anthony Davis, when I saw him, I knew he was going to be really good. Yeah, they’ve got a ton of talent, for sure. They were really talented and that was their first couple weeks on campus, too. I’m sure they’ve gotten a lot better since then.”
The same success wasn’t envisioned for Collison’s alma mater, which lost roughly 70 percent of its scoring, rebounding and assists and nearly 80 percent of its 3-pointers off the previous year’s team and still managed to win its eighth straight Big 12 regular-season title.
“Honestly, they’ve really impressed me, man. They’ve overachieved a lot,” Collison said. “This is probably one of the least-talented teams they’ve had in a long time in terms of depth, the number of guys, but the players have done a great job. Guys who didn’t much at all last year really stepped up. … I’m really impressed. They’ve had an unbelievable year. They’ve got a lot of walk-ons playing quality minutes. That’s not always the case atKansas, but those guys have really stepped up and played great. It’s been fun to watch.”
Aldrich smiled and shook his head when asked how he thought this year’s Jayhawks would fare after facing them throughout the summer. “Nick and I kind of joke about it,” Aldrich said. “We were like, ‘Uh, I don’t know about this.’ We thought they’d make the (NCAA) tournament, but we were unsure of how far they would go. To see them in the Final Four, I think huge credit goes out to coach (Bill) Self, not only for getting those guys prepared for the season, but for the guys themselves, for working hard and getting better throughout the season. It shows that a team you think may not have a good year has a great year.”
Mohammed advanced to the national championship game all three seasons atUK, winning the title as a freshman in 1996 and as a junior in 1998, after which he turned pro. Collison made it to the 2002 and 2003 Final Fours, losing the national title game to Syracuse and freshman Carmelo Anthony in 2003, when Collision had 19 points and 21 rebounds. Aldrich was a freshman on the 2008 national championship team at Kansas. Cook and fellow OSU freshmen Greg Oden and Michael Conley turned pro after losing in the 2007 national championship game against Florida.
Thunder 103, Heat 87
Nuggets from my notebook from Sunday’s win over Miami.
- This was one of the best regular season wins in Thunder history. Taking on an elite team in a game that both sides knew had vast implications, the Thunder assembled a dominating performance that showed a nationally televised audience just how much of a threat it can and likely will be. Oklahoma City stuck to its style, matched Miami’s physicality, was dialed in defensively and played with supreme poise and patience offensively. It’s a mix the Thunder has yet to show on a consistent basis, leaving questions about where it truly ranks among the league’s best. But on Sunday night, for 48 minutes, the Thunder proved that, deep down, it does indeed have that magnificent mix to be a real problem.
- The Thunder’s discipline was without a doubt the most remarkable aspect of tonight’s win. Never before have we seen OKC play with such sustained discipline for 48 minutes. And it was on both ends. Thunder players stuck to their shell defensive principles, shutting off Miami’s driving lanes to the basket, and swarmed to the ball all night to get deflections and force turnovers. Offensively, the Thunder trusted each other. All. Game. Long. That poise and patience that the Thunder displayed led to unstoppable offense, characterized by ball movement and unselfishness that saw players routinely make the extra pass and get wide open shot after wide open shot.
- What you saw tonight is an example of exactly what type of team the Thunder is striving to be. That discipline is what defines great teams. At some point, the Thunder is going to get there. It’s not going to happen overnight, but this was a huge step in the process. Thunder coach Scott Brooks prefers to instruct by highlighting positives in film sessions rather than harping on negatives. After tonight, Brooks won’t find a better blueprint to show his guys in what he calls the “truth box.” Every night isn’t going to be like this. But the key is for the Thunder to start stringing together several games in succession of this type of effort.
- Nick Collison: “Instead of going into a big-time game like with our players saying, ‘OK, I need to make great one-on-one plays,’ we said we need to really run through our sets and execute so that we can get good shots. That’s something that we haven’t always done. Hopefully that means we’re learning and getting better at that stuff and hopefully it becomes the norm for us.”
- From the start, the matchups were going to be interesting to watch. Both teams played it straight up to start. Russell Westbrook was on Mario Chalmers. Thabo Sefolosha was on Dwyane Wade. Kevin Durant guarded LeBron James. Serge Ibaka defended Chris Bosh. And Kendrick Perkins was on Joel Anthony.
- The Heat bring Udonis Haslem off the bench first in place of Bosh, and then Shane Battier later comes in for Wade. When Battier checked in, he played the 2 and guarded James Harden. And Battier gave Harden fits. We’re used to seeing Harden either dominate or simply struggle with his shot. It’s rare that a player shuts him down. But that’s what Battier was doing early, forcing Harden into dribbling into a crowd and hounding him into making terrible passes. Fortunately for the Thunder, the Heat had to have Battier on Durant a good portion of the time so Harden was able to get much of his against Wade.
- In the two-man game, Harden still had his way.
- It’s interesting that Miami is regarded as the team that best punishes teams for their mistakes. Yet it was the Thunder that blew open the game at the end of the first half by capitalizing on the Heat’s turnovers. With five minutes remaining in the second quarter, the Thunder lead 43-40. In the last five minutes of the quarter, the Heat had five turnovers and the Thunder converted four of the five turnovers into points to build a 55-42 lead with two minutes remaining in the half.
- The ball movement by the Thunder in the first half was perhaps the best we’ve seen all season. It was certainly the best we’ve seen against an elite team. OKC started the game with six assists on its first seven buckets and nine assists on its first 11 made field goals. The Thunder finished with 26 assists, one shy of tying its season high.
- The Thunder had just six turnovers at halftime, another example of the discipline with which OKC played. Miami had 11.
- Both teams combined to shoot 42-of-67 from the field in the first half. Apparently, that 63 percent clip was the best first-half shooting this year. (more…)
