Oklahoma City Thunder @ Milwaukee Bucks 01/02/10

[slick_watts]

Russell Westbrook / Thabo Sefolosha / Kevin Durant / Jeff Green / Nenad Krstic

@




Brandon Jennings / Michael Redd / Luc Ricard Mbah a Moute / Ersan Ilyasova / Andrew Bogut

Matchup

This is a much healthier Bucks team than we ran into on national television. Luc Ricard Mbah a Moute, Michael Redd, and Andrew Bogut either did not play or came off the bench in the last game. LRMAM is the Bucks best defender and will draw the Kevin Durant assignment. KD's looking for a franchise record seven straight 30 point games. It'll be a tough task against a stingy Milwaukee defense.

Andrew Bogut gives the Bucks another wrinkle they did not have last game. He's been a little uneven since returning from injury, but he's still capable on both ends of the floor. Michael Redd's been playing like doo doo lately so I imagine Thabo will be guarding Brad Jennings.

I'd like to see someone else get it going on offense, either Westbrook or hopefully Jeff Green. Bucks missed a lot of open jumpers in the last game, especially Ilyasova..

Some Numbers

Kevin Durant had an unbelievable December shooting the ball, coming close to the 50/40/90 'Steve Nash' scoring efficiency Nirvana. Russell Westbrook shot very poorly but had a 3:1 A:TO ratio for the month, by far his best month handling the ball in his short career.

James Harden and Jeff Green must pick it up offensively.

A Question

We've started sluggish in the first few minutes of the last few games before hitting some shots and generally playing better as the game goes on. Is this the mark of a good team?

[dream_catcher_9]

please win, 6 in a row sounds really nice....

[slick_watts]

I think we lose in Chicago so I hope we get this one.

[slick_watts]

The Bucks have 27 (!) first quarter shot attempts, 7 offensive rebounds, and zero turnovers to our four. Unbelievable.

[slick_watts]

Very fortunate to be winning. Never discount the ability to manufacture points at the line..

[dream_catcher_9]

KD has been on a tear recently...........

oh and I think Maynor > Westbrook, he is such an impressive rookie.. He plays like a 10 year vet....

[theokie]

I really like Maynor running the offense with Westbrook playing the 2 right now.

[dream_catcher_9]

Kevin Durant once again fades down the stretch........

but anyways we didn't deserve this one because we got out hustled and just didnt get the stops when we needed to.

[dream_catcher_9]

forgot to mention our offense in tight games look like a and 1 game. Either Westbrook or Durant go 1v1 and thats our offense down the stretch.

[slick_watts]

Well, I think a lot of people will complain about the offense. Aside from crunch time and OT, I thought our offense was fine. Four minutes to go in the fourth with the game really close we were shooting 45% from the field and we got to the line 29 times. Those aren't great numbers, but they aren't bad either.

Our offense broke down, as it always does, in crunch time. For some unknown reason, instead of the back cuts, screens, and movement we see the rest of the game, our coaching staff chooses to implement a one on one isolation offense featuring either Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook. For all their strengths, both of these players are turnover prone in one on one situations, and I'm extremely frustrated with the coaching staff boorishly continuing with this approach. We do fairly well offensively most of the time, our offense has been one of the most improved in December compared to how we started. There's really nothing wrong with it, and if we add another scorer, preferably a big man, it'd probably be Top 10 in the league. So why, why, WHY do we settle for cheap isolation plays that not only lead to missed shots and / or tunovers, but often fast break opportunities the other way. I don't understand it. I don't blame Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant here, there should be better game planning to end games. Period.

Other than that, the difference in this game was rebounding and turnovers. Milwaukee attempted 99 shots in regulation and 106 overall. Our defense was fairly good; they were not shooting a high percentage and we had a lot of good contests. But you can't win when they are getting 20+ more shot attempts, just like the Houston game(s) and the Laker game(s). Nenad Krstic and Serge Ibaka were bad on the boards, not boxing out, and not really doing their jobs. Jeff Green was also poor on the boards. Nick Collison did yeoman's work once again but he can only do so much. Not only does our lack of consistent defensive rebounding / boxing out from our bigs affect our rebounding, but we often force our guards into rebounding so it stifles any opportunities we might have to initiate a fast break.

I think we should have won this game in regulation. We played fairly well despite the rebounding and turnovers, just like we played well against Utah despite the free throw shooting woes. We had an opportunity to win the game on the road, but our horrible game planning offensively (30 foot shot attempt to end regulation? Really..?) shut the door on us, and we couldn't beat a good home team in overtime which is no surprise. Sam Presti should be taking a hard look at our roster, especially the front court, and ask himself whether or not Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic represent a winning combination up front. With our assets we can be proactive about upgrading the center position, even if it's only a guy like Sam Dalembert who will rebound the ball, and that should make a huge difference in games like this in the future.

[dream_catcher_9]

agreed on all counts....
Jeff Green and James Harden are really pissing me off. I can excuse James because he is a rookie, and will learn, but Jeff? What the hell is up with him? I used to be his biggest supporter but now IDC if he gets traded for a front court piece. He has regressed tremendously from last year.

and Scott Brooks cant be that dumb and not know the offense at the end of games doesn't work can he? Mine as well give away games if thats our late game offense... its horrific to watch.

[slick_watts]

I'm not that concerned with James Harden.. for him it's a mental thing and I'll give him time to figure it out. Brooks is rewarding Maynor with some extra minutes and Thabo's getting some, so The Beard will have an opportunity to break out of his funk at his own pace.

Jeff Green.. I don't think he's regressed. I think he's always been this way. He's out of position, he's a perimeter player playing in a crowded perimeter. We start games with five perimeter players on the floor, it's hard to get position, move on offense, etc. when nobody is on the block. He's undersized and too weak to keep position on rebound attempts, he's not long enough to make his post game work against most power forwards.. I mean, this has always been the story with Jeff and I've been saying it for over a year now. Unless he magically grows his arms three inches or puts on thirty pounds, he's not going to be successful as a starting power forward, especially if we start a jump shooting center next to him.

[Frozen Banana]

I really like Maynor running the offense with Westbrook playing the 2 right now.

agreed.

6 games with the thunder he has dished out 20 dimes and commited only 3 turnovers. i definitely would like to see him getting more minutes, even start for the team and move Westbrook to the 2.