stoopified
1/21/2010, 10:51 AM
I admit that since the passing of the Bird-Magic era to being just a casual NBA fan, BUT this team has my attention.I am stunned by the level of improvement this team has made between last season and this year.Scott Brooks has this squad playing as the epitome of TEAM
.Before the season I thought the Thunder could win maybe 35 games and I recall thinking that would be an INCREDIBLE improvement.Barring injury this team has a real shot at the playoffs.I admit injury is a real fear in the long season that is the NBA. An injury to Westbrrook or Green would be crippling, let alone an injury to Durant.
Looking at theTHUNDER talent it is clear Durant is a star,Westbrook and Green are excellent players and the rest of the team is a collection of role players who do exactly what they need to do to make this team sucessful.That is a tribute to Coach Brooks and his staff and the job they have done.
My question to serious NBA fans is what do we need in OKC to go from the ranks of a good NBA team to elite?My own observation is that we need a true low post presence for both offensive and defensive purposes.Don't get me wrong I appreciate the collective efforts of the Thunder frontcourt BUT neither Green nor Durant fill that role.Durant is an incredible talent but he IS a small forward if I had to categorize him,down low is not where he is best .Green has the ability to play down low but not the physical makeup to make a living there. Krtic is a solid player and Ibaka is raw,but talented,yet neither is top teir.The low post by committee approach that OKC employs works for the most part but does become an issue against the lteams with elite post players.
On THE BLITZ the question was asked about wether the Thuder should pursue Chris Bosh in the free agent market.The response was only if that was the final piece to the puzzle.I freely admit i have no idea if Bosh would be a good fit chemistry-wise with this team ,but I do think talent-wise, he or a player of his talent at the post is the missing peice to turn Cinderella OKC into the Bele of the NBA ball.
.Before the season I thought the Thunder could win maybe 35 games and I recall thinking that would be an INCREDIBLE improvement.Barring injury this team has a real shot at the playoffs.I admit injury is a real fear in the long season that is the NBA. An injury to Westbrrook or Green would be crippling, let alone an injury to Durant.
Looking at theTHUNDER talent it is clear Durant is a star,Westbrook and Green are excellent players and the rest of the team is a collection of role players who do exactly what they need to do to make this team sucessful.That is a tribute to Coach Brooks and his staff and the job they have done.
My question to serious NBA fans is what do we need in OKC to go from the ranks of a good NBA team to elite?My own observation is that we need a true low post presence for both offensive and defensive purposes.Don't get me wrong I appreciate the collective efforts of the Thunder frontcourt BUT neither Green nor Durant fill that role.Durant is an incredible talent but he IS a small forward if I had to categorize him,down low is not where he is best .Green has the ability to play down low but not the physical makeup to make a living there. Krtic is a solid player and Ibaka is raw,but talented,yet neither is top teir.The low post by committee approach that OKC employs works for the most part but does become an issue against the lteams with elite post players.
On THE BLITZ the question was asked about wether the Thuder should pursue Chris Bosh in the free agent market.The response was only if that was the final piece to the puzzle.I freely admit i have no idea if Bosh would be a good fit chemistry-wise with this team ,but I do think talent-wise, he or a player of his talent at the post is the missing peice to turn Cinderella OKC into the Bele of the NBA ball.