By Michael
Dugat
FOXSportsSouthwest.com.
Feb.
20, 2011
At times, we've all been swallowed by the hype surrounding something we want to love. We've ignored the wisdom housed in our baser instincts to embrace the melodic beauty eternally sung by our hopes. Occasionally, we're forced to the realization of a siren's song having seduced those hopes and led us astray.
Riding the high of the league's youngest scoring champion, and a playoff series in which the Thunder pushed the eventual champion Lakers to their limits, the summer arrived. The world watched as Kevin Durant took to the court in the FIBA World Championships and boldly declared his arrival once more by leading a group many referred to as the US "B-team" to gold.
This was no longer a player who was going to be very good, possibly even great in the near future. This was a player who could be those things now, and was doing so while acting as the antithesis of the off-court antics, and "Decisions", from the summer that scraped the sensibilities of so many.
The Thunder wore a cascade of accolades tethered to their young star and were all but handed the second seed in the West, while many began to wonder what Durant would say when David Stern handed him the MVP Trophy sure to come his way at season's end.
Things haven't quite worked out that way, though this is no siren's song. While preseason hyperbole may have been just that, OKC remains a team on the rise few would want to tangle with in a seven-game series.
And, one star has become two.
Before we break down and grade the individual performances thus far from the Thunder's key players, let's take a brief look at where the team stands in comparison to last season at the same point.
Through 54 games, for all of the improvement on offense, rising from 99.1 points-per-game to 104.7 (ranking at 5 in the NBA), the defense has countered by allowing 102.4 per night, an increase of 6.5 points.
This counter-balancing of improvement versus slippage has resulted in an addition of two-games to the win column, currently sitting at 35-19, despite facing the fifth most difficult schedule, compared to 33-21 last season. Within this, how have the individual players fared?
Place your number-two pencils on your desk. It's time to hand out some grades.
Kevin Durant: A-
Before you break a chair, dip a shirt in kerosene, wrap it around one of the legs and light a crude torch; realize it is still an A, and give me a moment to explain the minus.
While playing almost identical minutes to a season ago and taking the identical number of nightly field-goal attempts, two key bits of information describing those shots must be considered.
It may be his least effective shot by percentage, but Durant's three-point attempts have raised by one a game. Meanwhile, according to Hoopdata.com, his most effective, those taken at the rim, have decreased by from 5.3 last year to a career low 3.9 this one.
Are these fair reasons to attach a minus to the grade of the player comfortably leading the league in scoring at 28.9? Yes? No?
The greater the talent, the greater the expectations, and the greater the standard by which one is judged.
Russell Westbrook: A
While Durant is arguably the MVP of the team, it speaks very highly of Westbrook that any argument can be made at all.
By showing improvement across the board, Westbrook has emerged as one of the best point guards in the league and a legitimate second star on the OKC roster. Outside of Miami, few duos can so thoroughly haunt the dreams of opposing coaches as they construct their defensive schemes.
While taking only three more shots per game, Westbrook has increased his scoring average by six points, while still managing to see a slight increase in his assist numbers.
Should their respective ascents continue, a bright future is anxiously waiting to overwhelm the present.
Jeff Green: C+
This grade likely represents "fit" as much as personal performance. Jeff Green is often outmatched as a power forward. He simply hasn't the size to defend a position most often inhabited by players much stronger, and as athletically gifted. Yet, with Kevin Durant beside him, power forward is where the bulk of the minutes must come, if they are to come.
Beyond the disadvantages placed upon him by playing a position that is anything but ideal, Green continues to launch an unadvisable, considering he is hitting only 30.6 percent, number of three-point attempts, with 3.7 per game.
When considering the fact that he is the team's starting power forward, you must also question his rebounding numbers (5.6 rebound per game ranks at 26 among power forwards) and his overall shooting efficiency (43.7 percent comes in at 29 among power forwards).
Serge Ibaka: B+
At only 21-years-old, the youngest player on the roster (James Harden is almost a month his elder) has shown signs of evolving into a force that will demand the staring power forward job become his in the near future.
Though still wearing the mistakes promised by youth, Ibaka is taking the necessary steps to improve, which should eventually pay significant dividends.
Thabo Sefolosha: B-
James Harden may stand prominently in his rearview mirror, and his three-point percentage may have dipped to an ugly 29.5, but Thabo isn't getting his minutes based on his offensive pedigree. Rather, he is there for his defensive presence, and in this role he continues to earn his time.
Other than the three-point percentage mentioned above, Sefolosha has essentially held steady across the statistical board in comparison to last season. Teams with title aspirations need a gritty perimeter defender, and he continues to fill this role admirably.
James Harden: C+
If James Harden wore his headband around his chin, you would constantly have to do a double-take to verify his head wasn't on upside down. The beard is that nice.
Looking beyond facial hair, Harden has yet to perfect an offensive game outside of three-point attempts or shots at the rim, where 77 percent of his attempts have come. In other words, he's yet to develop anything resembling an effective mid-range game.
He has played respectable defense, but only counters it with mediocre offense, generally resulting in a statistical wash with the opposing shooting guard, or in some instances small forward.
Nenad Krstic: C
There's little surprise to be found in the play of Nenad Krstic. He hasn't played poorly, and his mid-range jumper offers an element many teams are without. Yet, he has missed nine games and remains a porous defender, a trait that may be accentuated by the defensive pairing with Jeff Green, and, at best, he is an average rebounder.
This won't be the first, or the last, time you read/hear this, but hard not to imagine how this team would look had the trade for Tyson Chandler gone through.
Nick Collison: B-
Much like Krstic, you know what you're getting when Nick Collison takes the court. He's going to hustle, is willing to bang in the paint, and will play respectable defense.
Good teams can always use a guy like Collison in their rotation. He's willing to do the dirty work to frustrate opponents without the need to be consistently rewarded at the offensive end, as evidenced by the fact that he takes the least number of shot attempts (3.2 per game) of any player on the roster to have played in at least half of this season's games.
Eric Maynor: C
Considering the fact that Russell Westbrook is in his third season and has yet to miss a game in his career, and averages 35 minutes a game this year, there isn't much room for the backup point guard to shine. Taking this into account, its no revelation to find Eric Maynor playing the least nightly minutes (14.5) of all Thunder players breaking the regular rotation
In this limited time, Maynor has been a solid defender, and has shown the ability to run the offense. Add this to a nice conversion rate on his three-point attempts, hitting 37.1 percent, and you've got the makings of an average backup point guard.
