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Tag Archive - Russell Westbrook

Tremendous Tandems: Kevin Durant And Russell Westbrook Aim To Make A Baker’s Dozen

April 3, 2012 in by with 1 Comment

Through 52 games the prodigious pair of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook have scored 2,711 points this NBA season, a shade more than half of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s entire point total. Both lead not only at their position in points-per-game, but have been mainstays in the top five on the PPG leaderboard all year long.

Twenty two times this season has this potent pair of assassins posted at least 25 points in the same game, 42% of the entire OKC schedule. Any given night you have to pick your poison, choose which to tie up hoping your roulette gamble pays off and you don’t get torched by the other. Should RussWest, averaging 24.5 PPG as I write this a few hours before the Thunder will square off with the Memphis Grizzlies, go on one more tear and manage to bump up his scoring average to 25.0, he and Durant will become just the thirteenth tandem in NBA history to post 25 PPG for the same team.

The feat has been accomplished only 15 times previously in NBA history by a dozen sets of twosomes.

• Accounting for 57% of their team’s 100.6 average scoring in 2000-01, Shaquille O’Neal put up 28.7 PPG while Kobe Bryant chipped in 28.5 PPG. The Los Angeles Lakers would take the title in dominating fashion.

• Accounting for 57% of the Lakers’ scoring once again in 2002-03, 100.4 PPG, Kobe would knock back 30.0 PPG while Shaq played an increasingly disgruntled second-fiddle to Bryant putting up 27.5 PPG. The Lakers would lose to the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs in the second round of the playoffs.

• Accounting for 52% of the Lakers’ 101.3 points-per-game in 2001-02, Shaq continued his prime with 27.2 PPG to Kobe’s up-and-coming 25.2 PPG en route to the last three-peat seen in the NBA.

One other tandem, also of Royal Blue and Gold, decorates the annals of prolific pointdom with three appearances on this list of copious scoring in combos.

• Accounting for 52% of the 1964-65 Lakers’ 111.9 points, the logo himself, Jerry West, dropped 31.0 PPG to Elgin Baylor’s 27.1 PPG. The team would lose their third trip to the Finals since moving from Minneapolis to LA to the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics. You will see these super-twins again shortly.

• Accounting for 51% of last season’s superteam Miami Heat 102.1 scoring on average, LeBron James threw down 26.7 PPG while Dwyane Wade followed closely with 25.5 PPG. Still fresh in the memory is their Finals loss to the Dallas Mavericks.

• Our current tandem chimes in here currently accounting for 50% of the Thunder’s 103.7 PPG offensive output, Kevin Durant in a heated scoring champ battle with Kobe knocking down 27.7 PPG as of April 1 to Russell Westbrook’s much-improved efficiency leading to 24.5 PPG. Postseason fate: TBD

• Dipping under the majority mark for the first time on this list with 49% of the total 109.7 PPG we find the 1963-64 Lakers led by Jerry West’s 28.7 PPG and Elgin Baylor’s 25.4 PPG. They would be bounced by the St. Louis Hawks in what was then the first of three rounds of playoffs, who would in turn be bounced by the eventual Finals-bounds San Francisco Warriors led by Wilt Chamberlain.

This season’s Heat also finds 49% of their 101.3 PPG led by LeBron’s 26.5 PPG and D Wade, although Wade is not near enough the 25 PPG highlighted here with 23.0 PPG. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. Dominating your team’s scoring in tandem is by no means a guarantee of a title. Only three on this list have managed to reel one in — all Lakers squads — and only three others even have a Finals appearance the year of making this list.

I can’t be the only one to be at least a little surprised that the Boston Celtics, in all their historical glory, only give us one fleeting glimpse in this group. Without looking I’d wager they do appear on more passing lists though. Nevertheless, I present to you…

• Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, accounting for 48% of the 1986-87 Celtics’ 112.6 PPG, Bird hitting at 28.1 PPG, McHale at 26.1 PPG. However, Magic Johnson and the Lakers would take the playoff cake. Sadly, this would be Larry Bird’s last Finals appearance.

Four different dynamic duos accounted for 47% of their team’s scoring, listed here in order of team PPG. Two would fail to reach the postseason, two others would get relatively early vacations, losing at the conclusion of round one.

• In 1960-61 the Cincinnati Royals would put up an astounding 117.9 PPG behind Oscar Robertson’s 30.5 PPG and Jack Twyman’s 25.3 PPG. But it would be in vain as Cinci would finish the season dead last in the Western Division, then the Western Conference, failing to make the playoffs.

The Big O and Jack Twyman

• Before Willis Reed and Walt Frazier there was Rich Guerin and Willie Naulls who, in the 1961-62 season, led the New York Knicks and their 114.8 PPG with 29.5 and 25.0 PPG, respectively. Despite leading the NBA in attendance in the famed Madison Square Garden that year the Knicks would finish ahead of only the expansion Chicago Packers in the regular season standings, missing the spring season.

• When you think Pistol Pete Maravich you think… Lou Hudson and the Atlanta Hawks?! Putting up a third-best-in-the-NBA 112.4 PPG in 1972-73, Lou Hudson would lead the Hawks with 27.1 PPG with Maravich a free throw behind at 26.1 PPG. Although his most prolific scoring years would be with the New Orleans Jazz, Maravich would never see the playoffs there. This particular year the “Hudson Hawks” would lose to the Boston Celtics in the “first round.”

• The Knicks and Amar’e Stoudemire isn’t the first time someone tried to build a super-core around Carmelo Anthony. In 2007-08 the Denver Nuggets acquired Allen Iverson to pair with Melo and put up an NBA second-best 110.7 PPG, AI dropping 26.7 to Melo’s 25.7 PPG. Hopes were high coming in.

But the Nuggets would fizzle rather than sizzle, getting swept in their first round playoff series with the LA Lakers. Denver is the only other team on this list aside from the Lakers that can boast more than one dynamic duo. Read on to find out who.

• For the third time in four years, in the 1966-67 season, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor would be most prolific on offense, leading the Lakers’ 120.5 PPG with 28.7 and 26.6 PPG each. Yet that elusive ring continued to evade The Logo, and would for a few seasons more as LA would fail to reach the Finals for the only time in a six-year span this year (they lost all five Finals visits between 1964-65 and 1969-70). But West isn’t done yet…

Our other Denver Duo checks in twice in the space of three years here:

• Accounting for 45% of the Nuggets’ 1981-82 point total of 126.5 PPG, Alex English at 28.4 PPG, and Kiki Vandeweghe at 26.7 PPG, terrorized teams with a fast-paced attack in Doug Moe’s first year in charge in Denver.  And then…

• …in the 1983-84 season the tandem would flip-flop, English leading with 28.4 PPG to Kiki’s 26.4 PPG accounting for 44% of the Nuggets’ 123.7 PPG. But like Carmelo Anthony they would be plagued by first and second round playoff exits.

• Battered but not broken, Jerry West would finally break through and get off the schnide in the NBA Finals, albeit it not with Elgin Baylor carrying the bulk of the load of sidekick scoring duties. West is the only player to appear four times on this list of monumental immortality, and the only one to lead the points punch for every tandem appearing more than once. But his partner in crime this time would be Gail Goodrich. In 1971-72 the Lakers would put up 121.0 PPG, West and Goodrich accounting for 43% of the total output, 26.6 and 25.9 PPG apiece.

• Russell Westbrook needs to average 26 PPG over the Thunder’s final 14 games to solidify his and Durant’s standing on this list of scintillating scoreboardery.

A Final Note, Taking It To A Trio

Last season, the trio of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh all scored at least 25 points in a game four times, although two of those times were after the 66 game mark. This season they have done so only once thus far with the 66-game season quickly winding down.

This season, the trio of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden have scored at least 25 points each in a game two times. Don’t be too surprised if they do so a lot more often in the near future.

What’s Eating Russell Westbrook? Nothing, Apparently.

July 22, 2011 in by with 1 Comment

Photo by Valerie Everett on Flickr

Westbrook said his shooting was never an issue with the Thunder.

“My family and teammates had my back,” said Westbrook, who averaged 23.8 points, 6.4 assists and 4.6 turnovers during the playoffs. “That’s all that mattered. I didn’t [discuss it] unless I was asked about it [by the media]. Other than that, we never really discussed it.

“We were winning. As a team we were getting better each round. That’s all I was worrying about.”

via Yahoo! Sports: Westbrook shrugs off criticism

It’s been about two months since the Thunder were eliminated from the playoffs, and yet the questions over Russell Westbrook’s style of play and how it fits with Kevin Durant continue to arise. Why is he shooting so much? Doesn’t he realize that KEVIN DURANT IS ON HIS TEAM?! He can’t shoot jumpers, why does he keep taking them? Doesn’t he know that he’s costing them games? Where’s the nearest Dunkin Donuts? I’m hungry.

It seems Westbrook doesn’t think he should care about those questions. To some extent, he’s right. He needs to be confident as a scorer and player to be effective for his team, but he fails to recognize that most of those who questioned Westbrook’s play weren’t asking him to change his identity as a player. Most asked Westbrook to improve his cognitive skills, to recognize that the Thunder needed slightly less Westbrook, even if just for a playoff series or two.

Obviously, Westbrook was not the sole or even primary reason for the Thunder’s postseason loss at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. The Mavericks were a veteran, talented team with great depth and more assured play. Westbrook wasn’t the only Thunder player that occasionally seemed to stretch his limits. Kevin Durant showed improvement between his 2010 (16.6 PER) and 2011 (24.1 PER) postseasons, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t have moments like this. By no means did the Thunder underachieve in the 2010 playoffs. A Western Conference Finals berth one season after losing to the Lakers in the first round is nothing to scoff at, especially for such a young team. However, the playoffs were often a clear symbol for the issue with the current player that the young and developing Westbrook is: Confident, heady, brilliant, and often misguided. That can lead to terrific results when his game is on point, but when it isn’t, it can be harmful to his team’s likelihood of succeeding.

The belief that changing Westbrook’s play style slightly at times would be detrimental to the Thunder as a whole is generally incorrect. It is true that a point guard whose primary strength is scoring (like Westbrook) can’t really afford to completely stop attacking on a whim, but that doesn’t mean he can’t eradicate two or three questionable plays a game. He doesn’t need to become primarily a distributor when he’s acting out his role impressively as the Thunder’s secondary scorer, but Westbrook also doesn’t have the ability to sit back and purely distribute when he’s struggling to score. An AST-TO ratio of about 3-2 in the playoffs is certainly nothing to get excited about, and it’s actually quite poor for a player that is frequently referred to as an elite PG. Because of Westbrook’s struggle to pass and score efficiently with frequency, Westbrook’s PER fell significantly during the playoffs, falling from 23.6 during the season to 19.6 for the postseason. He was missing shots and turning the ball over at higher rates during the playoffs, and it had the ability to hurt the team on nights when his struggles became prevalent.

Westbrook mentions the Thunder’s playoff series victories by saying, “We were winning”, but that quote is ultimately hollow for a simple reason: The Thunder stopped winning when they came up against the Dallas Mavericks, and his inability to consistently make the slight changes necessary to improve his play were part of the reason for that decline. Westbrook can still improve various aspects of his game (Note: He’s 22 years old), and some of that improvement will come with added experience. I hope that occasionally making minuscule changes, changes that can alter the outcome of a game, will go hand-in-hand with that experience.

Bite The Hand That Feeds You

May 9, 2011 in by with 3 Comments

Photo via MattyPape2008 on Flickr

“There is nothing that will kill a man so soon as having nobody to find fault with but himself.”

- T.S. Elliot

It’s easy to criticize and find fault with others – hell, it can be downright fun. Inevitably though, we all reach an instance where we begin looking for those mistakes, combing each scenario for any blemish to pounce on, to unearth the errors of our contemporaries. At what point does this practice become exaggerated to the point where we are blinded by our own preconceived notions, be they right or wrong? When does bias begin to outweigh objectivity?

For many of the individuals quickly flocking to the growing army of Russell Westbrook detractors, that line is beginning to blur, with the process only further augmented by the postseason stage.

The burgeoning guard has been both criticized and exonerated on this very sight and the esteemed Royce Young of Daily Thunder has repeatedly provided insightful writing into the so-called “hero mode” that Westbrook is often condemned for. In his most recent post – a careful examination of the final seven minutes the Thunder’s game 3 loss to Memphis, a loss in which Westbrook was blistered for his so-called team synergy meltdown – Young paints a much different picture. Rather than reinforcing the notion of Westbrook as a virulent presence on the court, he argues the explosive playmaker is a victim of the situation, reacting to the options the defense leaves him.

It’s convincing and well thought out material to be sure and I unequivocally agree with it. While Westbrook is unquestionably deserving of some fault, he isn’t the ball-hogging monster with no regard for setting that many are attempting to make him out to be. He isn’t the driving force preventing Kevin Durant from dominating the offense as he did in Oklahoma City’s opening round series win over Denver. Somehow, because it’s Memphis, Westbrook’s critics aren’t willing to give credit where credit is due: the Grizzlies – specifically Tony Allen – are doing a fantastic job at taking away Durant as an option.

Allen’s impact on Durant has been palpable and the numbers only further emphasize the devastating effect he has had on the NBA’s top scorer. According to data from NBA StatsCube, Durant averages 19 points per-36 minutes on 35% shooting when Allen is on the floor. When the defensive stalwart is on the bench, those marks grow exponentially to 29 points on 62% shooting. The fact that Allen has spent almost as much time on the bench (51 minutes) versus on the floor (76 minutes) in the first three games of this series only serves to further support the easily distinguishable fact that he is severely limiting Durant as a scorer.

The end result is one in which Westbrook – already the owner of a massive usage rate – must compensate for the inhibiting effect on Durant.

Also lost in the fray has been the variance in play calling the Thunder has exhibited in the postseason. According to Synergy Sports Technology, during the regular season Oklahoma City’s most prevalent play-type on offense was touches in spot-up sets, with isolation sets not far behind. In the playoffs, both of those have been usurped by the pick and roll which has accounted for just over 17% of the total possessions through eight games. Is it any wonder that Westbrook has seen an increase in shot attempts when his team is running more plays that highlight his strengths turning the corner off of screens?

It’s been argued by many, but the path to acceptance has been stymied by bias: Westbrook simply doesn’t fit the traditional definition of a point guard, yet he is continually held to the same standards as his contemporaries. Equally as apt of a scorer as he is a playmaker, but more importantly the second scoring option on this Thunder team, Westbrook is doing exactly what he should be more often than not. His propensity for making errors in judgment in spectacular fashion has unsurprisingly nullified his beneficial qualities, but he isn’t destroying on the court cohesiveness.

For all of his otherworldly physical gifts and abilities, Westbrook remains a young player still learning the game. He isn’t Steve Nash, he isn’t Rajon Rondo, he’s a unique talent still in the process of being understood by many. Westbrook may never develop into the consummate point guard, he is what he is, and that doesn’t make him any less of a cornerstone piece in the Thunder’s future. Oklahoma City fans understand this, sooner or later, the rest of us will follow.

In Defense of Russell Westbrook

April 28, 2011 in by with 9 Comments

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“As for me being a gunslinger, I’ve just got this one granddaddy Paterson Colt and a borrowed belt to stick it in. But I also got an appetite for greater things. I hoped by joining up with you, it’d put me that much closer to getting them.”
-Robert Ford, The Assassination of Jesse James

It’s official: the basketball world has turned against Russell Westbrook.

Honestly, it’s been a long time coming. Westbrook wears his flaws on his sleeve, and his tendency to freeze out the offense while forcing bad shots is understandably alienating. It’s hard to watch Westbrook when he shifts into “hero mode,” as he did in the Thunder’s Game 4 loss — a performance that catalyzed the criticism of his game and his ability to function alongside Kevin Durant over the long term. Among that critical chorus was our own Zach Harper, who laid out his stat-supported case for Westbrook’s negative impact on Durant’s play:

[Westbrook] can win you basketball games. But it comes with a price and that price is the production of Kevin Durant.

Kevin Durant is the best player on the Thunder. Nobody should quibble with this fact. It’s unquibbable (made it up). And yet, you have people wondering if Westbrook might be the Thunder’s best player. The reason people are thinking this is because they fail to see how Westbrook negatively impacts what Kevin Durant does on the court….The reason Durant is less efficient [this season] seems to be that Russell Westbrook might be the most erratic star point guard since the fabled Stephon Marbury-Steve Francis era. You never know what he’s going to do on the court. Is he going to run the offense or is he going to awkwardly pull up on his jumper and show you what it would look like if Andre Miller actually elevated while shooting?

This is where Durant suffers. Yes, KD has issues with getting separation from his defenders, but the bigger problem is that the way he gets the ball is so inconsistent…The reason Durant gets the ball so inconsistently is because Westbrook is still trying to toe the line between point guard and “holy shnikes, I think I can get by everyone and get my own shot.”

That line that Harper describes is very real. We’ve seen Westbrook attempt to run some semblance of a cooperative offense, and we’ve also witnessed his mental shift into a realm where he is a lone gunman. Those two states are blatantly evident in Westbrook’s play, and I wouldn’t dare argue against the fact that he can act as a detriment to his team when at his shot-hunting worst (Game 4 serves as the most recent example, but is only one of many relevant ones).

Still, before we condemn Westbrook too much for his indiscretions against his teammate and the game of basketball, we should all take a deep breath. Westbrook and Durant are both stars, and played as such this season. Both ranked in the top 10 in PER, so being highly critical of their synergy is, to some degree, making a mountain out of the pile of dust that remains after OKC demolishes their opponents. This is the highly successful core of a highly successful team, and while there’s nothing wrong with pondering the influence of one star on another, I think the case against Westbrook isn’t quite as well-supported as one may think.

In Harper’s piece, for example, he cites Durant’s regular season performance when Westbrook was on the court in comparison to when Westbrook was on the bench (courtesy of the invaluable NBA.com StatsCube):

Screen shot 2011-04-28 at 11.29.28 AM

We can see that Durant has significant gains in points, field goal attempts, three-point attempts, free throw attempts, rebounds, assists, and +/- on a per-minute basis with Westbrook on the bench, while maintaining essentially the same shooting percentages.

For comparison’s sake, let’s look at a few other examples. First, on how Kobe Bryant plays with Pau Gasol on and off the court:

kobe-pau

Or Paul Pierce, with Kevin Garnett either in the game or on the bench:

pierce-garnett

Or perhaps the most famous pair of stars around, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade:

lebron-wade

We see the same general production trends across the board even on those teams like the Lakers, Celtics, and Heat. Shooting percentages either go up or maintain their previous levels once one star goes to the bench, while shot attempts, points, and other production increase. These are the natural dynamics of star players sharing the court: there are only so many shots, assists, and boards to go around, and playing with another highly productive player naturally curbs some box score stat accumulation. Removing one star from the equation opens the door for more opportunity to produce.

However, there is one substantial difference between those other star duos and the Durant-Westbrook pairing: the Thunder’s plus-minus is a disappointing +2.2 (per 48 minutes) when Westbrook and KD are on the court together, but a tremendous +9.4 (per 48 minutes) when Durant plays while Westbrook sits. On face value, this does seem to support the notion that the two aren’t so compatible after all.

But before we go any further with that thought, we should look at how Westbrook and Durant have performed in the postseason thus far. After Westbrook’s Game 4 meltdown, the plus-minus numbers should be consistent with the eyebrow-raising regular season marks, right?

KD-russ post-game5

It’s a small sample size, but the trend appears to have completely reversed while strengthening in magnitude. In this year’s playoffs, the Thunder are 16.8 points better per 48 minutes with both Westbrook and Durant on the court than they are with Durant playing sans Westbrook. But why are the numbers so radically different between the regular season and the postseason?

Unfortunately, as is usually the case when quantifying what held back the Thunder, the problem seems to be Jeff Green. It’s almost cruel to pick on Green at this point, but his +/- acts as a sufficient sandbag for the otherwise successful performance of Westbrook and Durant as an on-court duo.

The Thunder’s regular season on/off data is greatly affected by the fact that the core of Westbrook, Durant, and Green played a ton of minutes together, while Durant and Eric Maynor (Westbrook’s backup) only played limited minutes with Green in the lineup. If we look at every single Thunder lineup that saw more than 25 minutes* of action this season (via BasketballValue, natch), five of them featured the full trio of Westbrook, Durant and Green, and those lineups played a grand total of 1,116.7 regular season minutes. During that substantial sample, those lineups were collectively 1.6 points worse than their opponents per 100 possessions. Green isn’t a horrible player, but he was a horrible fit. OKC’s former starting lineup was a substantial part of the problem, as the Westbrook – Thabo Sefolosha – Durant – Green – Nenad Krstic combination was 0.9 points worse per 100 possessions than their opponents over a huge, 542-minute sample.

However, if we look at all of the lineups that played more than 25 minutes this season featuring Westbrook and Durant without Green, we see a completely different result. 10 different lineup combinations that fit that criteria totaled 921.6 minutes of playing time over the course of the regular season, and with Green out of the mix, those lineups were collectively 7.8 points better per 100 possessions than their opponents. In contrast to the old starters, the new starting lineup is doing quite well; the Westbrook – Sefolosha – Durant – Serge Ibaka – Kendrick Perkins lineup was 5.8 points better than their opponents per 100 possessions in 271.4 regular season minutes.

The Green Effect holds true even if we replace Westbrook with Maynor; qualified lineups featuring Maynor and Durant without Green were 12.7 points per 100 possessions better than their opponents in a small, 93.5-minute sample, while the one qualified lineup featuring Maynor, Durant and Green was 12 points worse than their opponents over 100 possessions. The only difference is that Westbrook played more minutes with Green and Durant both (1,116.7) than he did with just Durant (921.6)**, while Maynor played far more minutes with Durant alone (93.5) than he did with Durant and Green at the same time (28).

Westbrook is far from perfect, but he’s also no monster. His positive impact far outweighs his detriment, and if we filter through some of the noise in the lineup data available, we find that he and Durant actually work quite well together, so long as Jeff Green isn’t around. Westbrook doesn’t set up Durant as well as he should and sometimes takes shots even when he shouldn’t, but the Thunder are still performing at an elite level in spite of those hiccups. There are no omens in Westbrook’s errors, only lessons; he’s figuring out the best ways to be effective with every step he takes along the way — even the ones in the wrong direction. He’s learning. He’s adapting. He won’t develop Chris Paul’s court vision, but frankly he doesn’t have to; Westbrook is Westbrook, and while he may not fit neatly into the point guard mold, he and Durant can remain the core that ushers the Thunder to greatness.

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*25 minutes may admittedly be a somewhat arbitrary endpoint, but it’s close enough to BasketballValue’s own 33.4 minute qualifier while also allowing some of the lesser used Maynor lineups to come into play.

**These minute totals reflect only the sum of all lineups that qualified under the 25-minute criteria.

Unhinged: The Russell Westbrook Story

February 15, 2011 in by with 2 Comments

Photo by /amf on Flickr

By tapping into chaos, Westbrook has risen to the top of his profession. He has more games of 30+ points and 10+ assists than any other player this season. He also has more games with seven or more turnovers than anyone in the league, but that’s just part of the package for a player this talented and this bullish. It’s a credit to Scott Brooks and his staff that they haven’t tried to turn Westbrook into something he’s not. Other point guards might shift away from such a forceful approach, but Westbrook’s way forward doesn’t lie in concession.

Unlike his point guard colleagues, Westbrook will find no elevation in control. He’ll continue to improve only as he better understands his own strengths (many of which are derivative of or rooted in his unruly style), improves some technical aspects of his game, and better unleashes himself on opponents. Westbrook forged his stardom with his own fire, and though he occasionally burns himself and his team, there’s simply no substitute for the ferocity of a creative hearth.

via Westbrook’s Stylistic Blessing and Curse – NYTimes.com.

Try and calculate how many times your average NBA internet pundit hears the phrase “when he learns” during the average course of a season. It is the fan’s greatest hope. Rajon Rondo is 25 and we’re still discussing “when he adds a mid-range jumper.” With Derrick Rose it’s his mid-range or his defense. With John Wall it’s health and the jumper. The list goes on and on, nowhere more pointedly than in the never-ending stream of conversations about the elite class of point guards we watch every night.

Which is probably why Westbrook’s my favorite of all them. Not the best. My favorite.

Because as Mahoney touches the nerve on, I don’t think Westbrook considers his game. He just plays. It’s instinctive. With Rose, there’s a high level of calculation going on, even if the math itself isn’t all that complex. He’s precise, borderline OCD about how he springs off that screen. He’s not perfect and he knows it, wants to improve. And that’s really admirable. It’s a great quality to have in your young beast. The best, really.

But there’s something about Westbrook’s attitude. It’s borderline “F*c% it, I’m going deep.” Openings in the lane are not opportunities to be seized on like a vulnerable commodity in a high-equity market, they’re not the flat bars in Tetris, to be used eagerly to clean out that row. No, it’s stumbling upon free drinks at a bar, an open cashier at the market, the opening in traffic for a chance to open up the engine. You don’t consider the consequences. You push the little red button. That’s Westbrook’s whole approach. Push the little red button.

Westbrook takes what’s his. It’s honestly the biggest difference between he and KD. Durant is always judging himself, the shot, the defense, the game, trying to find that equilibrium that allows him to do amazing things. He’s a kid searching through radio stations for that song he heard once. If he finds the right frequency, everything falls into place. Westbrook on the other hand is just going to run in and jump on the bed until it breaks and then run downstairs for his pudding pop. It’s not the best thing. But it’s the thing which hits you in the seratonin spots like chocolate.

Part of the draw is of course, the violence.

Westbrook sees no need to go for the body shot. He just swings for the head. Swing away.

That’s pretty much Westbrook, only without the goofiness of “Signs” (although I’ll also readily admit “Signs” is my favorite Shyamalan flick). He’s not conniving, in such that you don’t think the hawk that snatches the snake out of the grass is conniving. It saw a snake, it was hungry, it killed the hell out of it and went on its way. That’s Westbrook. You’re in need of a few players on any good team who simply exist in that “no-mind” state. Odom is that for the Lakers, Rondo would likely be that for the Celtics had he not been brainwashed into hyper-effectiveness.

It’s honestly James’ biggest problems, to continually bring him back into things. He’s an instinctive player who’s not sadistic. Westbrook, on the other hand, gets his greatest sense of satisfaction on the floor in demolishing you. He’s got a mean streak, and it shows. It’s not just the dunks. That mid-range middle-key pull-up of his is basically him saying “Take that. Leave me open.” The looping left-baseline righty layup might as well be followed by “Oh, I’m sorry, were you gonna guard that baseline, eventually?” Westbrook is the one who irritates opponents and their fans, not Durant. Durant you respect, you fear, but you don’t really get irritated by him. Westbrook however is always trying to cut you in the fight and you’re constantly frustrated with the small cuts he elicits.

Like all reckless players, you wonder if eventually it’ll take its toll on Westbrook, if he’ll stop being fearless and have to hold himself back. Until then, we’re just waiting for Westbrook’s next opportunity to get off the leash.

NBA Playoffs Lakers-Thunder Game 5 Recap: They Crush Your Head

April 28, 2010 in by with 6 Comments

We knew they had it in them.

It’s been pretty obvious the last couple of months that if the Lakers wanted to play basketball the intelligent way then they would have a lot more games like this. Instead, the Lakers have been all over the place. They’ve been blaming their struggles on injuries and a lack of rhythm instead of showing some heart and fortitude on defense to go along with smarter shot selection on offense. We’ve been waiting to see them take advantage of the length that nobody else can match, rather than chucking up 20-footers because it’s the easy way out.

If you’re wondering how the Lakers dominated this game against a Thunder team that seemed ready to shock the world or surprise the league or show that nobody believed in them or proved the doubters wrong or win some more basketball games then you should look no further than the symbolic and definitive 10-0 run the Lakers used to start the game and build an insurmountable lead:

- First play of the game, the Lakers move the ball around the perimeter until they get it back to Derek Fisher on the left wing. By the time the ball gets back to Fisher, Andrew Bynum has muscled Nenad Krstic into the middle of the key. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Fisher throws an errant entry pass that Bynum attempts to save. The result is a turnover with a pass out of bounds.

- The Thunder come down and run a little screen down on Durant in the post to allow him to come up to the elbow and launch a jumper. Ron Artest does a good job of getting around the screen quickly enough to fly at Durant to contest the shot. The result is a missed jumper and a defensive rebound for the Lakers.

- Lakers work the ball to Pau Gasol on the left baseline. Pau promptly takes Jeff Green into the low block then drop-steps to the baseline for that unstoppable left-handed hook. That’s twice in two possessions the Lakers have gone to a post play. They’re up 2-0.

- The Thunder work the ball into Durant just above the low right block. He takes a quick but contested fadeaway jumper over Artest for the miss.

- Derek Fisher gets the eventual rebound after a failed tip-dunk attempt by Thabo and races up the court with the ball. He takes advantage of the Thunder’s continually inept transition defense by getting into the lane. However, he misses the runner.

- Russell Westbrook gets the ball off the Krstic board and pushes the ball back up the court. He attacks Ron Artest who plays solid defense by standing his ground and using his size advantage to cause a jump ball.

- Next play gives Kobe the ball in the right corner. As Kobe drives the baseline and attracts the attention of the Thunder help defense, Bynum flashes right through the lane from the left side. Kobe throws a bad pass that sails out of bounds but again the Lakers try to get points inside.

- Ensuing possession the Thunder drop the ball into Jeff Green inside against Artest. Green drives towards the baseline and puts up a terrible runner against Andrew Bynum. Against most other defenses, Green probably scores the basket or gets fouled but against Bynum, he just can’t get past his size.

- Kobe misses a wide-open spot-up three-pointer (three dashes in a row!) and then contests a jumper by Westbrook as he fights around a screen. We’ve now played two minutes and the Thunder really haven’t had a quality shot other than the first missed shot by Durant.

- Fisher grabs the long rebound, takes it right up the court and gets a fairly easy layup off of a little hesitation move against Westbrook. Fisher took advantage of the one-on-one situation because even though Thunder had the 4-2 advantage defensively, nobody properly raced to the key to provide Russell with some help defense. 4-0 Lakers.

- Thunder run a pick-and-pop play on the right side of the floor that gets Krstic a wide-open jumper. He misses it and the Lakers take the ball back up the court. Bynum takes Krstic to the middle of the key and then pretends to go set a back pick on Jeff Green. At the same time, Kobe drives down the right side of the floor in transition and forces Krstic to step up. Bynum slips the screen and catches a nice alley-oop pass from Kobe for the dunk. 6-0 Lakers.

- OKC comes down and runs a dribble hand-off play to get Thabo Sefolosha a jumper. I’m sure that you’re shocked they would run that play for him and amazed that it didn’t work.

- Cross-court passing and a laser from Artest to Gasol in the post gets Pau good position to work his way into the middle of the key and put up a right-handed half hook. Clanks front iron. Thunder push the tempo and get Thabo a layup that is promptly blocked by every member of the Lakers and Jack Nicholson.

- Lakes try to work the ball into Bynum again to maximize the mismatch with Krstic. Krstic fronts Bynum on the left block so the Lakers move the ball back to the top of the key as Bynum reverse pivots to create an easy lob over the top inside. Bynum lays the ball in and it’s 8-0 Lakers.

- Durant gets the ball in an iso situation with Kobe guarding him on the right side. As he faces up and tries to create a little space, Kobe steals the ball from him. Fisher gets the ball in the middle of the floor and dribble to the right side. At this point, Gasol has raced down the middle of the floor and set up on the lower right block. Bynum is trailing the play and makes a B-line right down the middle of the key. Fisher whips a pass into Gasol who drops a perfect bounce pass to the cutting Bynum for another dunk. 10-0 Lakers, four minutes into the game.

Let’s take a quick review of what happened in these plays. The Lakers tried to get a scoring opportunity nine times to open the game with just one jump shot attempt (which was an open three by Kobe that missed). They also used smart defense to get the Thunder to shoot low-percentage jumpers. When the Thunder actually got the ball inside, it was either a jump ball or a blocked shot. The Lakers knew they had the size advantage and they used it early.

So why doesn’t this happen every game? Why do the Lakers get lazy? Why do they make things harder for themselves?

They had 58 points in the paint during this 24-point demolishing of the Thunder. That’s 32 more points inside than Oklahoma City scored. And it’s something they can do with their size. Also, something they can do with their size is defend. When the Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Men are in the game, the perimeter defenders can play so aggressively. They know they have backup if they get beat. This allows the Lakers to have an easier time forcing turnovers. By the way, they scored 21 points off of the 17 Thunder turnovers.

Again, I ask you – why don’t they ALWAYS play like this?

The problem is that there is nobody in the West to challenge this team. Sure, the Thunder are giving them a good run and the Spurs look like they might be showing flashes of the decade dominant team we are used to. But nobody can realistically make the Lakers pay four times in seven games.

They can win when they have to. When they play like this, they’re a despicable affront to everything we love about sports. But without someone to keep them honest, how do you teach them the lesson to get them to change?

It’s like they’re heading down the path that the 2006-2008 Detroit Pistons showed us. They only played tough, hard-nosed basketball when they had to. But they ran into problems in their own conferences that ended up breaking their will. The Lakers don’t have that wake-up call. Nobody in the West scares them and rightfully so. There is no check and balance for the Lakers.

So they’ll go on coasting through the playoffs and there is nothing anybody can do about it. When they get to the NBA Finals, they’ll finally have a true test in either the Cavs or Magic. Even then, will it matter?

This is not the great team we were spoon-fed with dreams of 70 wins this past October. They’re just good enough and winning games whenever they feel like it.

NBA Playoffs Thunder Lakers Game 5 Preview: Peace Before Victory, And The Stench Of Complacency

April 27, 2010 in by with 3 Comments

Winning Tuesday’s game will not be easy. The Lakers can’t expect the Thunder to come out, roll over, and hand them the win. The Lakers will need to execute the little things and can’t rely on the Thunder to not play well. However, if there is a team that knows what needs to be done to still win this series wouldn’t it be the one led by Phil Jackson and captained by Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher? Guys with 20 championships between them as players and coach? History has proven that these guys know how to get it done. But with every new season, new challenges appear, and the need to prove it again arises. I think the Lakers have it in them. Tuesday is when we all get to see if I’m right.

via Forum Blue And Gold.

If you step back from the horror of tonight&apos;s loss – not easily done, granted – the Lakers should still be considered the slight favorites in this series. The Thunder appear to be a very different team in their own barn, and to our eternal relief, there&apos;s only one more game scheduled to be played there. In Staples, they’ll have to recreate the same élan they displayed in Games Three and Four but without the backing soundtrack from their fans and the friendly officiating that creates. It’s a lot to ask from what Dan Shulman and Doris Burke reminded us 283 times tonight is – repeat after me, everyone – the youngest team in the NBA.

That said, there&apos;s no question the Lakers are very much capable of losing this series. None of their problems from the regular season has been fixed. If anything, new problems have emerged and squished themselves onto an already crowded plate of FAIL. The stench from tonight&apos;s turd sandwich will linger in our noses for at least the next three days. Maybe much longer.

via We Are Not Amused – Silver Screen and Roll.

Let’s get down to business right from the get-go and acknowledge that this Thunder team has never won in the Staples Center in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Ouch. That one stings a little bit–until you realize that the last three times the Thunder has played the Lakers in LA, the Lakers average margin of victory has been a paltry 4.66 points.

Yes, a two possession game. So let me repeat an answer I gave to a Laker fan who posted on the site that he/she saw no proof for why the Thunder could win Game 3 in OKC (how’s that looking now?) because no matter how close the scores might have been, the Thunder still lost games 1 and 2 in LA: Do we really have to discuss how a close and competitive game is an indicator that the teams were fairly evenly matched where both had an opportunity to win it, especially since the visiting team had a three point shot bounce out when they were down by two with seconds remaining?

As crazy as it sounds, the Thunder have come A LOT closer to beating the Lakers in LA in the last three games than the Lakers have at beating the Thunder in OKC (OKC’s average margin of victory in the last 3 meetings in the Thunderdome–try 14 points).

via Can the Thunder win in LA? | Daily Thunder.com.

Am I annoyed? Do I find it frustrating? Hell yes.

But I’m not going to over-analyse it, as it will ultimately be a fruitless exercise. Matter o&apos; fact, I’m not going to analyse it at all.

The same Lakers won&apos;t turn up for game 5, as this game actually means something to them.

Do I still think the Lakers will win? Yes.

Am I buying into the OKC-coolaid yet? Good team… I still think we’re done without going the full distance with LA walking away the victor in 6.

via With Malice – An LA Lakers blog, news and opinions.

So Games 3 and 4 were fun. And I’m not talking, “a rousing game of UNO” fun. I’m talking “afternoon mini-golfing with friends and two six packs of PBR” fun. I’m talking o”pen-tab-at-the-bar, top-of-the-line sushi and a Tarantino festival” fun. It was the most fun playoff games in the first round. Oklahoma made the NBA fun. Let that settle for a minute.

(Side note: I once commented that the state motto of Oklahoma should be “FREE PARKING!” or Well, it can’t get any worse… we think.” Now I think they should change it to: “Thunder 110 Lakers 89″.)

And now, the overwhelming sentiment is this: “We think the Lakers will show up tonight and take back control of the series and win in six or seven.” But we’re not sure. That’s what the Lakers have done to themselves, and what the Thunder have done. There’s doubt. I picked the Lakers in each game. I thought they’d win the series in 5 before it started. I thought they’d win Game 3, lose Game 4, then close it out in 5. Whoops. Then they lost Game 3, so I thought they’d get back on track and win Game 4. Instead, they put up arguably the most pathetic performance by a defending champion in the last 30 years.  And the most pathetic performance by a championship contender since, well, Game 4 of the Rockets series last year.

But that’s who this team is. I’ve said it all year and will continue to say it. This team only execute, only performs, only earns their paycheck, when they absolutely have to. And tonight, they have to. They lose this game, and Oklahoma City’s emotion will carry them to a Game 6 close out. That can’t happen. Not for a team that still has 14 feet of frontcourt before Lamar Odom even steps on the floor. This team has no choice but to respond, in front of its rowdy passionate hungry fashionable home crowd. So it’ll take down the Thunder at home, and possibly be able to withstand a surge from OKC in Game 6, especially with travel days mixed in. If not, back to the warm and peaceful confines of Staples.

Surely this series puts significant doubt as to if the Lakers can even make it out of the West, right? Wrong. Everything is coming up Lakers if they can get past the Thunder. The Jazz need 1 of 3 to make it to the second round. The Jazz have zero matchup advantages against LA before you start considering their injuries. Meanwhile, it’s looking like Suns-Spurs in Round Two. I think we all know how that turns out. Which means a beat-up, tired Spurs team faces a rejuvenated Lakers team in the WCF. G’night.

The path to the Finals is still very much there, but we just have to see how lazy, disjointed, and mediocre while still incredibly talented this Lakers team is.

******************************

  • Jeff Green is shooting 23% from three in this series, down 7 percent from the regular season. His offensive rating is down 9 points. It’s not surprising, given that trying to play his traditional role in this series is remarkably difficult, but the number of open looks he’s clanged has been damaging. It takes away a central component of the Thunder offense, and means that they have to rely even more on Westbrook and Durant. If Green can knock down a few, it’s going to move the defense away from the middle, though that strategy has actually benefited the Thunder lately.
  • I was really not expecting Ron Artest to unravel like the baseball Benny hits in the Sandbox until much later. But there he is, throwing up airballs. He’s shooting 13% from three. THIR.TEEN.PER.CENT.
  • I went through a bunch of Ibaka boards on Synergy trying to find some sort of trick he’s using, possibly black magik, to collect rebounds. Nope. It really, honestly, truly just is that he’s working harder, wanting it more. 8:08 second quarter of Game 4, Harden comes around a screen, drives, misses the layup, Ibaka comes from the right corner, jumps from the right side of the basket, and grabs the rebound on the left side, over Odom and Farmar. Dude just wants it more. What was I saying about cliches?
  • Kobe’s gotta get rested with all the travel days at some point, right? Right?
  • Westbrook’s moved himself into the top ten of point guards, right?



NBA Playoffs Thunder-Lakers Game 3: Here’s How Russell Westbrook Killed A Man

April 23, 2010 in by with 4 Comments

Something I’ve been impressed with all year with the Lakers is their transition defense. They’re not just always up the floor and ready to pick up their man, but they have such good positioning. Teams try and force the issue and run into a wall, then try and slide off and hit another one. It’s frighteningly effective to the point of despair for running teams. Which is why the astounding amount of fail on Russell Westbrook’s poster-dunk last night was even more surprising in context.

Before we begin, it should be noted that I went to look at these plays expecting Derek Fisher to have been the catastrophe on defense. He wasn’t. He got blown up on this play, but it’s a hard angle, in a difficult position, and when you consider the rest of the work he did, it’s forgivable. Westbrook’s late pull-up elbow and-one wasn’t an and-one at all, and Fisher had a hand up, after fighting through a screen. The pull-up answer three from Westbrook after Fish’s dagger was just an incredible shot (with possible poor shot selection) that Westbrook nailed with Fisher right there. Even if he was slightly to Westbrook’s right trying to guard against the screen drive, Fisher recovered enough to acquit. So this play really isn’t his fault, even though he’s the one that got taken at halfcourt.

Westbrook dribbled up to halfcourt, and then saw this:

I suppose in this scenario that Pau Gasol and Odom are expecting that monumental hole on their right to be plugged with the corner defender, or for Fish to be able to cut the snake off at the head. That, in and of itself, has to be concerning from a defensive standpoint because the Lakers should have reached the point where they no longer count on Fisher’s defense to always be there. It’s like a U2 album at this point. It’s still got the capacity to be quite good, but you should have learned to listen on iTunes before you put your money down.

Meanwhile, I didn’t draw it, but you should just go ahead and imagine a big lightbulb above Westbrook’s head.

Westbrook realizes that Fisher’s not only old and slow and crusty and smells like a death sandwich (thanks Videogum!), but is overplaying his right as are the rest of the Lakers, Phil Jackson, the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, and the cast of Glee. So he gives him some Jimmy Smith 2001 juking sans cocaine, and is off to the races. Lamar Odom, meanwhile, is apparently hallucinating.

Fisher’s trying here, hoping to re-establish position before Westbrook gets to launching point. Odom recognizes what’s happening but can’t quite get there, which means he’s going to try and give him a Bynum-foul. Pau Gasol does what you would expect Pau Gasol to do.

I’d also like to point out that Shannon Brown has the same position for the entirety of this clip, as if he is a crab alien in Space Invaders trying to provide help defense. Additionally, from this still, Ron Artest looks like he’s leaning back with his hands in his pockets saying “Whoo Boy, Dat’s going to be one ugly poster!”

And it was. You’ll notice Gasol recoiling in horror. Artest reaches out, as if to say “No…” and is cut off.  And then blood rained from the skies and people in Oklahoma were louder than anything since “Shameless” came out, and OKC managed to steal a game.

And that, my friends, is how you make a poster.

NBA Playoffs: Thunder Are Learning How To Walk Even If They Keep Hurting Themselves

April 21, 2010 in by with 2 Comments

Progress.

A little over three weeks ago, I was playing some pickup hoops with some of my friends. It was a little windy out and I was having a bad day shooting the ball. It probably would have been a bad day shooting the ball even without the wind. Something was just off. So mired in a shooting slump, I decided that the only way for me to score and make plays was to take the ball to the hoop.

On one play (and my last play for a while), I drove the baseline with my left hand. As I got under the basket, I tried to stop without warning in the hopes that the guy guarding me would slide past me just enough for me to sneak a layup attempt towards the hoop. As it so happens, the inside of my right foot buckled and rolled under my ankle. I had never rolled my ankle that way before – it had always been the traditional way of the outside of my foot playing limbo with my ankle. But this time, we decided to try something new.

Since then, I’ve been fairly hobbled and hoping to make progress. I figure I won’t be completely healthy until I’m able to slide a shoe on my right foot without the use of my hands and without any pain. Recently, I’ve been able to start driving a car again and I can pretty easily walk up the stairs in my house. I just can’t slide that shoe on or walk down stairs without feeling an uneasy discomfort that gives me a lot of trepidation with my next movement.

But I’m making progress day by day with an extra step here and some extra weight put on my foot there.

You could say the Oklahoma City Thunder made progress with the three-point loss to the Lakers on Tuesday night. They took what was for the most part a frustratingly mediocre game in the first part of this series and turned it into a two-point game with a Kevin Durant three-point attempt for a series tie heading back to Oklahoma. He didn’t make it. He clanged off the iron and eventually the Thunder had to settle for a missed Jeff Green three-pointer to try and send this game into overtime.

But the fact that they played horrible terrible HORRIBLE offense and yet still were within one big three-point shot from the league’s leading scorer has to count for something besides a second playoff loss. Everything at this point in this franchise-building project is a good lesson for future reference. In the first game, they let some of the role players like Derek Fisher and Andrew Bynum find ways to score the ball against them. In this game, they held everybody not named Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol in check.

Kobe and Pau scored 64 of the Lakers 95 points on the night but the big part of those totals was the fact that the two Lakers stars combined for 40 of those points in the second half. The Thunder adopted the philosophy of let the stars have their nights and shut everybody else down. And it damn near worked. Derek Fisher, Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum, and Ron Artest combined for a 9/38 shooting extravaganza. They just couldn’t stop Pau Gasol in the post or Kobe Bryant in the anything he tried to do in the fourth quarter.

But this was a good next step for the Thunder to make. Limiting the role players worked. Getting Kevin Durant to knock down some shots worked. Defending the paint worked (17 blocked shots). Holding your own on the rebounding battle didn’t work (49-37). Getting other guys outside of KD to hit shots didn’t work (17/48 for 35.4%). However, the youngest team in the NBA took the defending NBA champs down to a decent three-point look from the NBA’s leading scorer with 15 seconds left in the game and down only two on the road.

The Thunder aren’t sliding the shoe on that foot yet. But they’re starting to climb up the stairs.

Playoff Paroxi-Notes

- Thabo Sefolosha may have needed a rest. Or he may have needed a new jump shot. Or he may have needed to sit on the bench so he could scan the crowd for all of the Swiss celebrities (what up, Martina Hingis?). Regardless, I don’t understand how he didn’t see any time other than the final 1:16 of the fourth quarter. In a period in which Kobe Bryant went off for 15 points, it would have been good to have your best defender on the floor for at least half of that time.

Instead, Jeff Green was given the assignment of checking Kobe and it showed. Jeff Green is nice in theory but he hasn’t been great in application during the first two games of this series. I trust him guarding Ron Artest or Lamar Odom but certainly not Kobe Bryant. His first step is too slow. His second step is too slow. And by the time he recovers, Kobe is already figuring out which ridiculous shot he wants to get on SportsCenter. Kobe got whatever shots he wanted and got to the line nine times in the final period. I’m not saying Thabo would have stopped him but he did force him to start 6/16 from the field. There were better options no matter what the reason for sitting Thabo was.

- Ron Artest has made life a living hell for Kevin Durant. We all remember what happened in the first game in which it looked like Ron was using Durant as his personal ventriloquist dummy. And in this game, there wasn’t a whole lot of difference. Durant went to the free throw line fewer times and ended up committing eight turnovers in the game. At the same time though he just found a way to make shots. He seemed to take advantage of other players getting switched out to defend him, like when he baited Lamar Odom into giving him too much space on a three-pointer. When Artest was on him and he wasn’t turning the ball over, he made some ridiculous turnaround jumpers. Durant will not be stopped in this series and it’s foolish to think he can. Artest is doing the correct thing in making him work for everything he gets. This is one of the most impressive battles I’ve seen in a long time between two individuals.

- I don’t want to keep harping on mistakes Jeff Green has made but it would be nice for Thunder fans if he decided to show up for the rest of the series. He is now 6/23 in this series because he can’t knock down open jumpers.

- Serge Ibaka is a man. He’s a large, intimidating man. He had six points, five boards and seven blocks like it was nothing. He’ll struggle at times but this guy is going to be All-Star material some day.

- The two most successful ways for the Thunder to score in this game were off of isolation plays (56.3% FG) and in transition (41.7%). Other than that, they were pretty horrible on offense. A lot of this had to do with the open, spot-up jumpers they were missing. They made just 6/18 spot-up shots and with three of those makes and 13 of those attempts coming from behind the three-point line. With all of the good looks the Thunder are getting, it’s hard to say that the offense is THAT bad. At the same time, they can’t hit their threes so maybe it’s time to take those looks and drive it to the basket. (These stats courtesy of Synergy Sports – seriously go sign up and enjoy your summer with this stuff)

NBA Playoffs: Thunder and Lakers Show You How Not To Play The 1-8 Matchup

April 18, 2010 in by with 1 Comment

This was one of the most frustrating games I’ve ever watched and I’m not even a fan of either team. So I can only imagine what it was like for Lakers and Thunder fans.

For a while, it looked like the Lakers were going to do what we all expected them to do. They were punishing the Thunder inside. They were trying to teach them a lesson. The lesson was “we’re happy for you that such a young team was able to make huge improvements, win 50 games, get Matt Moore cake and be one of the most surprising defensive teams in the league but we’d like to show you that none of that means anything unless you’ve got size and power and we’re going to show you that we have size and power.”

Here is essentially the first quarter reenacted by our friends from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia – Mac and Dee.

(NSFW – language)

The Thunder were just getting abused inside by Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum and there was nothing OKC could do about it. Sure, Nick Collison and Serge Ibaka were able to do decent jobs on the Lakers’ bigs in stretches during this game but when the Lakers concentrated on pounding the ball inside, it was complete domination.

But the Lakers weren’t content on their steady dose of playoff basketball they kept giving to the Thunder. They were intent on trying to knock down bad shots. Derek Fisher took A LOT of shots early and it almost seemed like it was by design. I felt like they were messing with OKC by saying, “we know we can beat you so we’re going to let this guy shoot for a while.” And this has been my problem with the Lakers all season long. We know they can dominate and we think they should dominate. But they keep making things harder for themselves. They keep taking bad shots instead of going out and getting much easier shots.

They had 14 points in the paint in the first quarter. The Thunder had 13 points total. And yet, the Lakers finished with just 34 points in the paint. They had 20 points in the paint at halftime. However, they just wanted to shoot jumpers, make threes and show off their skills. Sometimes, all the skill in the world doesn’t mean anything if you don’t have power.

The Thunder on the other hand must have seen the Lakers interior presence on offense and had it scare them away when they were trying to score because all they did early on was take bad jumpers. It wasn’t until Russell Westbrook realized that he had a corpse in a Derek Fisher jersey guarding him that the Thunder really started attacking the basket. At a certain point, it looked like Westbrook was intent on having some layup practice because he was relentless in attacking the hoop.

With this Lakers team, that’s what you have to do. Slap them in the face and let them know you’re probably going to be here for a while so they might as well take you seriously. Yes, Andrew Bynum is too big for the Thunder. Yes, Pau Gasol is too skilled for the Thunder. Yes, Kobe and Odom can get inside seemingly whenever they want. So what?

The Thunder needed to realize much earlier they should attack the basket. Perhaps it was first playoff game jitters for this team. I’m not quite sure what the problem was. But you could tell Westbrook was often the only guy who wasn’t afraid to mix it up a little.

Sadly, the most intimidated person on the court seemed to be Kevin Durant. I don’t know if Ron Artest was whispering disturbingly illegal things into his ear when they were standing next to each other but something rattled Durant. He tried to persevere through it by getting himself to the free throw line. After all, he got there 11 times. However, Ron’s defense was pretty spectacular in taking away Durant’s strengths on the court.

Durant was almost always out of rhythm on his jumper and having to take a contested shot. Artest was physical. He was rough. He hounded him constantly and always made contact with Durant whether he had the ball or not. A couple of times, it backfired with the way Durant gets you to get your arms in the way of his so he can go up for a jumper and initiate a foul on his defender. When he wasn’t doing that, Ron made life difficult. I don’t really blame Durant for it either. He was too passive for his team’s good but he didn’t necessarily shy away from taking shots. He just wasn’t in rhythm. He settled for a lot of much deeper shots than you’d like. He needed to get things going towards the basket and instead was forced into settling.

The weird thing about this game is you’d look at the low score from two decent offensive teams and expect it to be a sloppy affair. I think it was just poorly executed and a little lazy in the efforts by both teams. Both teams actually took good care of the ball. There were not a lot of poor dribbling displays or bad passes. Just rushed shots that were far more difficult than they needed to be. You should never have a Lakers game in which Ron Artest and Derek Fisher combine for 23 shots (7/23 overall).

I’m just disappointed that it took so long for the Thunder to see they belonged on the court with the Lakers. You’d like Russell Westbrook to take control early from what we saw and prove to his team that they can hang. He’s that type of player with a strong personality. He’s not afraid of anybody. Unfortunately for him, he was being too much of a point guard and not assertive enough. I’d expect him to go on a tear for the rest of the season in a similar way to what we saw when the Thunder were playing well.

And I’m disappointed in the Lakers for not sticking to what was working and just letting Bynum and Gasol dominate. Bynum was fierce. He realized he was the biggest and strongest guy on the court early and stepped up to the challenge of breaking the will of the opponent. But the Lakers wouldn’t let him continue his feats of strength. Andrew only took ten shots in the game and only had four attempts in the second half. Bynum and Gasol combined for 32 points, 25 rebounds, and seven blocks.

In the next game, some things need to change:

- First, the Thunder need to get Kevin Durant in motion. He’s essentially a wide receiver who is getting jammed at the line and needs to find a way to get some room to operate. For the first half of next game, I’d put him in motion and treat him like Reggie Miller running off of screens. With his jumper, he can be deadly coming off of curls and double screens along the baseline. He’ll square up his jumper and use his height to make it virtually indefensible. This will get Artest off his back and allow him plenty of breathing room. If the Lakers jump out on the screen, it can leave a slip to the basket by the screener and get some easy scoring opportunities for Green, Ibaka, etc.

Once you can get Durant in a rhythm with his jumper, the rest of the talent will take care of itself. The Lakers will either have to double team and deal with a disadvantage in the middle of the floor or keep the single coverage and let Durant carve up the perimeter. I think the more attention that has to be shown to Durant, the more likely you can find scoring space for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic for mid-range jumpers. I doubt the Thunder shooters will continue to struggle with wide-open looks.

- Second, the Lakers need to get Kobe on the low block and allow him to dissect the defense more. I’m talking more cutters, more screens away from the ball and more patient post moves like the first one he put on Russell Westbrook in this game. He was so patient and just waited. He faked the fadeaway jumper a couple of times before going into the deep post, pump-faking again and then scoring over Green. Kobe can do that whenever he wants. I’d like to see it more.

- I want Jeff Green to see what Lamar Odom does and try to copy him. Green should be driving and dishing a lot more. He’s so versatile. I don’t think he should be settling for jumpers quite as much.

- The Lakers need to push the tempo off the long jumpers they’re forcing the Thunder to miss. Two fast break points is a horribly low numbers, especially since the Thunder are so bad at transition defense. Lakers need to look for easier points.

Overall, both teams can’t really be proud of this game. The Lakers held their serve at home so they get to take the win but they can’t be happy with the way they played and the way they couldn’t put the Thunder away. The Thunder should be of the mindset that the playoff jitters are out and now it’s time to play some basketball.

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