First off, Merry Christmas and hoping you have a peaceful day of celebration with your families and loved ones.
Chicago Bulls in Oklahoma City this afternoon to play the Thunder in the second game of ABC’s five game set today. Cavs-Golden State and Houston San Antonio are two other games I plan on watching. Should be a great afternoon-early evening of family, hoops, and eating.
OKC is 20-9 for the season and firmly in control of the No. 3 seed in the West. Exactly where many thought they’d be at this point. Kevin Durant’s foot seems fine and he’s playing some of the best overall basketball of his career. Russell Westbrook has continued his play at a high level which supports the claim he’s one of the top seven players in the NBA as well. So there’s plenty to be grateful for if you’re a Thunder fan.
Serge Ibaka seems to be coming around, but more importantly Steven Adams and Andre Roberson are playing solid basketball. OKC’s starting five has clicked for the most part and the Thunder are 9-2 in the month of December with only close road losses at Miami and Cleveland marring their record for the month.
The downside is OKC’s bench. It’s been an inconsistent mess of late. You literally put your hands over your eyes when the starting five aren’t on the floor and pray for something good to happen. This is a bench which I thought would actually be decent at the start of the season with enough firepower to score 34-38 points on most nights.
But of late the bench unit of Collison, Waiters, Morrow, Kanter, and Augustin has been an overall liability. -10 in their first shift against the Lakers on Wednesday night was especially hard to watch. I’m not calling for any of these five to be traded yet, but rather they do the job they’re being paid to do and give OKC a functional bench unit. If these five can’t figure out–then I’d have no problem with Billy Donovan giving rookie Cam Payne and Mitch McGary the opportunity to inject some life in the OKC bench because it’s not like Kanter and Augustin give you much defensively.
Right now…Sam Presti’s moves to add Augustin, Singler, and Kanter are looking questionable especially when you factor in new contracts for Singler and Kanter. OKC’s bench has to pull it together. Period.
Interesting coaching matchup today with Fred Hoiberg vs. Billy Donovan. Two rookie NBA coaches making the transition from college to NBA ball. Just a year ago this would have been an Iowa State vs. Florida coaching matchup, but today they’re both on the national stage with good NBA teams.
I’d give Donovan a B- letter grade so far, and give Hoiberg a C+. I didn’t like what Donovan did with Morrow and Singler early on. Plus, I think he has to be more creative with staggering Durant and Westbrook to open the fourth period–with the Cleveland game being a prime example of how not to do it.
As for Hoiberg—-his team comes in having lost three straight and are 4-6 in their last ten games. Not sure what I think about the Noah coming off the bench experiment. Jimmy Butler made some public comments earlier this week calling out himself, his teammates, and Fred Hoiberg for their effort to date. Kind of odd considering everyone assumed Thibadeau was fired because he was too tough on his team.
Derrick Rose lit up Westbrook and OKC earlier this season in a Bulls victory in Chicago. Rose made every play down the stretch and Westbrook did not. I’m sure no one will need to remind Russell Westbrook of this. You would think Westbrook will be in top tier Westbrook mode today.
Good Christmas Day matchup. Ham, sweet potatoes, green beans, cheese grits, salad, rolls, and sweet tea—plus Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. All the ingredients for a great Christmas afternoon of family and hoops in Oklahoma City.