Tough. Tough to watch the play which took Andre Roberson down. Even tougher to watch the immediate aftermath as his teammates came to his side with looks which told it all. That being, Andre Roberson’s season is most likely over with what is being speculated as a ruptured patellar tendon injury. I won’t put the video of the injury on my blog. I can’t watch it again. I won’t.
Westbrook, Adams, and Andre are the core three of this team for Thunder fans who know anything. No, Andre isn’t part of the elite thing called the Big Three, but for those of us who never miss Thunder games, we know what just happened. What happened is OKC just lost the soul of its defensive identity and one of the best defenders in the NBA. OKC lost the player who would have guarded James Harden in the playoffs or Klay Thompson or Jimmy Butler or Andre Wiggins or at times even Kevin Durant.
What OKC will lose if indeed this is a season ending injury—is a major piece of its team. But more than that, it lost for this season a solid human. A player who without fanfare did his job. A guy his teammates and coaches love. And if you’re a knowledgeable fan–you know the season and the manner in which Billy Donovan coaches this team just took a big hit. Billy Donovan just lost his blue collar junkyard dog defender who does so many little things which don’t show up on a box score it’s pointless to list them all.
Some might say OKC will be a better offensive team with I’m to presume Terrance Ferguson starting in place of Roberson. Good luck with that. So much of what Roberson does on the defensive end enables OKC to get in transition and gives Russell Westbrook and Paul George time to breathe and get their space in transition. Basketball is like hockey in that offense is started by what you do on the defensive end of the floor in transition in breakout mode. From this point forward, Billy Donovan will have to rethink somewhat how he’s going to coach this team the remaining 33 games of the regular season and beyond into the playoffs. Especially, the playoffs where the pace of the game slows a bit and individual matchups are highlighted even more than in regular season games.
I’d probably start Terrance Ferguson and use Josh Huestis more minutes to try and deal with this Andre-less situation coming down the stretch. Billy Donovan might have to use them as a situational tandem of sorts. But that’s would I do. In no way does this have me bringing Alex Abrines back on the floor for anything beyond spot minutes here and there as a three point specialist. Go nine with the rotation with Abrines as a floater sub and pray. But I’d shorten my rotation to nine.
What a bummer recap. The Thunder won their 7th straight in Detroit by a score of 121-108 to improve to 29-20 for the season. Wouldn’t you know it, just as it appeared the ‘turn’ to the season finally occurred this happened. But there is a silver lining. As I watched the aftermath of Andre’s injury with him laying there what I observed was a close team. A group of guys who seem to care for one another and have fought through this season of ups and downs and developed a sense of respect for one another. That’s what I saw. That’s good. This isn’t like in Cleveland where the team is shitting on each other. It made me feel good about the team. It gave me hope about the character of the team.
No rest for the weary. The Thunder host the Sixers tomorrow in Oklahoma City. That’s the way the NBA works. It’s a grind. Terrance Ferguson gets an even bigger opportunity than when Andre sat some games earlier this season with a sore knee. But this time, it isn’t a fill in spot, it’s for the rest of the season just as the Thunder were hitting their stride. Terrance Ferguson and Josh Huestis have big shoes to fill. Billy Donovan has to change the nuance of his team.
But again, as tough a day as it was in Detroit, the thing which gives me hope is what I saw from the team as one… and three weeks ago I didn’t know if that was possible with this team.
Come even closer together as a team. Next guy up. That guy is Terrance Ferguson and it’s his time. Pull together and figure it out.
Beat Philadelphia.
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Get well, Andre. As a fan base we love you and what you stand for. Seriously. Our prayers are with you.