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Yahoo! Box Score:
I like to call this image, "Philosophy".
Well, I'll be honest, I only heard the last few minutes of this game, and without any footage to watch, there's not much to say. The Thunders' starting five kept a fairly consistent lead over the Grizzlies until the 4th quarter, where we put in our scrubs (Harden, Livingston, White, Bowen, Mullens) and they got completely dominated. The people who are known quantities produced pretty much as expected.
So, what do we take from this game? Here's a few things to consider....
The Thunder will need some of Jeff Green's, "Meditation" if they're going to stop fouling.
What the hell happened with the fouls?
Everybody who played for the Thunder tonight got at least 2 fouls. Serge Ibaka played just over four minutes, and he got 2 fouls, whereas Kyle Weaver and James Harden both had 5, and were in danger of fouling out. I don't know if it was hard defense or what, but we're going to have some bad crunch time players if this ridiculousness continues.
Russell Westbrook: Team Player, Legit PG
There is nothing that a coach or general manager can like more than when he has twice the amount of assists that he has points. Again, I didn't hear the whole game, but it looks like Westbrook knew where to find everybody on the floor, especially considering he only played just shy of 25 minutes. Had he played a full game, he would probably have had a Triple-Double, or at least 13 assists.
D.J. White: Beastin' It
D.J. White was pretty much the only source of offense sans Livingston for the Thunder late in the game. 8-13 is an extremely solid field goal percentage, though 5 rebounds is a bit below average. Nevertheless, you've got to be excited about a Power Forward who can legitimately score down low.
Rookies: Not Impressive
James Harden had 12 Points, 4 Rebounds, and 3 Assists, which should be about what he gets every night, but not in the Pre-Season. This is especially true considering the fact he had more opportunities to shine than he would normally get. And 1-6 from the 3 Point Line? Yuck. He's supposed to be the one guy who can hit outside shots for us, and if he proves to be disappointing, then our team will suddenly become very one-dimensional on offense.
B.J. Mullens, from the look of the stats, didn't do much of anything but sit there and clog the lane. He's a project big man,. so for now this is okay, but I still think that drafting him was a mistake, unless our goal is to win the D-League Dunk Contest.
Serge Ibaka only had 4 minutes on the floor, so it's hard to make any definitive judgement. Still, his performance was promising, with 4 points and 2 rebounds in this limited time span. Hopefully the 2 fouls he racked up weren't charges, or this is going to be a long year of 11 minute, 11 point performances for this man.
The New Guys: Trash
There was absolutely no show of life from the two off-season acquisitions that played tonight, Ryan Bowen and Etan Thomas. Thomas had 4 Points, 1 Rebound, and 1 Steal in 17 minutes, and Bowen missed 2 shots, grabbed 3 rebounds, and got a block in over 21 minutes of action. I really hope that we don't end up giving either of these guys heavy minutes, though I do hope Thomas (an experienced poet) will write a new Thunder Ad Campaign. Thunder Up? Comeon.
Grizzlies Thoughts:
Hasheem Thabeet put up exactly the kind of double-doubleish numbers that people expect him to put up at this point, with 6 Points and 7 Rebounds in under 26 minutes. For a "Project" big man, that's pretty darn good. I don't see a Saer Sene clone here.
Their starting 5 still has some growing to do. Ideally, at some point Thabeet will replace Randolph, and they'll have a lineup of Conley, Gay, Mayo, Thabeet, and Gasol. That's solid, but their bench is pretty thin at the bigger spots, and I sincerely doubt they'll make the playoffs this year. But, they're on the right track, and that's what really matters for them at this point.
On to the Awards....
Thunder Wonder:
D.J. White, with 16 Points, 5 Rebounds, and 1 Assist. This guy is really coming into his own, and developing a nice repertoire with backup Point Guard Shaun Livingston, who will most likely be on the floor at the same time as him. So things are looking up for this guy.
Thunder Down Under:
Russell Westbrook, with 5 Points, 4 Rebounds, 10 Assists, 1 Steal, and only 2 Turnovers.
Thunder Blunder:
Ryan Bowen, with no Points, 3 Rebounds, and 1 Block in 22 minutes. Pathetic, enough said.
Thunder Plunderer:
Sam Young, 22 Points, 2 Rebounds, 1 Assist. There are a lot of streaky shooters that have amazing summer league and Pre-Season games, but don't have enough real talent to play consistently on an NBA team. Is Sam Young one of these guys? It's too early to tell, but I'm sure he's enjoying his light in the sun, as he should.
Next Game:
October 10th, at New Orleans, 1 PM CST, No TV
Keep those radios running!
(All photos via the Associated Press.)
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