Lost amidst the Thunder meltdown in Portland last night, the LA Clippers won their ninth straight and have pulled within one game of OKC’s Thunder for the third seed in the West. This shouldn’t come as any shock because neither the Clippers nor the Thunder as presently constructed have the overall rosters to win sixteen games and four playoff series. Both have two top ten players, but both are defensively weak teams with suspect benches a month before the trade deadline.
Both teams have underachieved three seasons running, yet shown the occasional flash of brilliance, but both have never really addressed their defensive shortcomings to be considered top tier NBA championship teams in the same breath as Golden State, San Antonio, or Cleveland.
Defense matters. Rim protection matters. Perimeter defense matters. Quality roster depth matters. Basketball IQ matters. Veteran mental toughness matters.
This isn’t rocket science. You can do this on your own without John Hollinger. BTW…how’s that worked in Memphis? Yawn. I’ll take Jerry West and Pop if you don’t mind.
Let’s examine both the top nine players on both Golden State and the Spurs’ rosters and you’ll see what I mean. A blend or hedge if you will of experience, roles, and skill sets.
Let’s go with Golden State’s nine players first… 1 Steph Curry (best scorer),2 Draymond Green ( does everything well), 3 Klay Thompson ( consistent 2nd option scorer), 4 Andre Iguodala (elite lockdown defender/Finals MVP), 5 Andrew Bogut (rim protection, great high post passer), 6 Harrison Barnes ( do everything player), 7 Shawn Livingston (quality backup point guard with length), 7 Festus Ezeli ( quality bench big), 8 Marrese Spreights (bench scorer), 9 take your pick from Brandon Rush or Leandre Barbosa. See what I mean, and with the versatility of Draymond Green—the Warriors can play small and not lose much defensively.
Now let’s do this with San Antonio… 1 Kawhi Leonard ( great all around player), 2 LaMarcus Aldridge ( consistent second option scorer in this system), 3 Tim Duncan (one of the ten greatest players of all-time and smart), 4 Tony Parker ( smart offensive point guard with two rings and a Finals MVP), 5 Danny Green ( three point specialist who isn’t a defensive liability), 6 Boris Diaw ( versatile forward with multiple skills), 7 Manu Ginobli (multiple rings and a Hall of Fame player), 8 David West ( tough, big, smart vet forward in quest of a ring), 9 Patty Mills (vet offensively skilled point guard with post season smarts).
Now OKC’s top nine and we’ll be thru… 1 Kevin Durant ( generational scorer), 2 Russell Westbrook (tremendous athletic point guard yet still plagued by questionable decision making in late game situations), 3 Serge Ibaka ( has regressed the past two seasons), 4 see what I mean–I’m really having to think about this–let’s go Steve Adams (tough, smart big who is destined for good things), 5 Oh, boy–whew — this is really tough because there isn’t a viable fifth best player on the Thunder right now, but I’ll go Kanter just because Presti foolishly signed him to a four year, $70 million deal which makes him the third highest paid player on the team, 6 Anthony Morrow, (usually reliable three point specialist), 7 Andre Roberson (because he shows flashes here and there but is not an elite lockdown defender), 8 Cam Payne (has a great smile and some natural offensive instincts), 9 Nick Collison (excellent role player in his prime, not sure he should be a regular rotational player at this point in his career), 10 Dion Waiters (shows flashes, but is plagued by extremely inconsistent play and bad decision making).
So there it is–an honest appraisal from someone who isn’t either employed by the OKC Thunder or reliant on the OKC Thunder to make a living.
At best—OKC has a third or fourth place roster in the West depending on how many games Kevin Durant misses due to injury.
It is what it is.
Mike Jackson