30 Teams In 30 Days: Oklahoma City Thunder

[CelticBalla32]

For those unfamiliar, basically what I'm doing is making decent-sized team previews, one per day in alphabetical order. Today's featured team is the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Teaser:

The only thing Oklahoma City has resembling a low-post scoring threat is Chris Wilcox, who conveniently happens to be approaching a contract year. If he can return to 2005 post-All-Star form, meaning production in the vicinity of 14-15 points and 8-9 rebounds per game, the Thunder may be able to exceed the expectations of the average fan.

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Coming Soon: Orlando Magic


Previous Entries:

30 Teams In 30 Days: Atlanta Hawks
30 Teams In 30 Days: Boston Celtics
30 Teams In 30 Days: Charlotte Bobcats
30 Teams In 30 Days: Chicago Bulls
30 Teams In 30 Days: Cleveland Cavaliers
30 Teams In 30 Days: Dallas Mavericks
30 Teams In 30 Days: Denver Nuggets
30 Teams In 30 Days: Detroit Pistons
30 Teams In 30 Days: Golden State Warriors
30 Teams In 30 Days: Houston Rockets
30 Teams In 30 Days: Indiana Pacers
30 Teams In 30 Days: Los Angeles Clippers
30 Teams In 30 Days: Los Angeles Lakers
30 Teams In 30 Days: Memphis Grizzlies
30 Teams In 30 Days: Miami Heat
30 Teams In 30 Days: Milwaukee Bucks
30 Teams In 30 Days: Minnesota Timberwolves
30 Teams In 30 Days: New Jersey Nets
30 Teams In 30 Days: New Orleans Hornets
30 Teams In 30 Days: New York Knicks

[Who]

It's incredible to see Westbrook barreling down on the fastbreak, he just rams into guys and knocks them backwards 4-8 feet while barely feeling the tinge as he looks to finish a layup. This kid's strength is incredible, and his ability to find any hole on the fastbreak and exploit it is incredible. He is impossible to keep out of the paint on the break. Very impressive ... now show me something else, yes?

I feel sad for Kevin Durant. He had the most offensively incompetent supporting cast in the league last season and it looks no better this season. He has no shooters to space the floor for him. Limited post threats. No sidekick scoring options who can get 15 points a night. He has no passers who can deliver him the ball with precision, who can create an easy shot for him. He has no help .... it's terrible. Most offensively inept supporting cast in the league.

The one saving grace for this roster this season is that they now have a good batch of role players. Some are returning players like Nick Collison, Damien Wilkins and to lesser extents Watson and Wilcox. Then you have the newcomers Joe Smith, Desmond Mason, Russell Westbrook (he'll contribute as a rookie). Suddenly you have three useful big man and a couple prospects behind them. Then two wings to platoon alongside Durant. Hopefully Jeff Green does a better imitation of a good player this season and gives OKC another frontcourt option. Then you have two point guards.

The squad lacks top tier talent, second tier talent, third tier talent ... and so forth ... but they have assembled a good group of role players. Hard workers who'll compete night in night out. Good rebounding. Good effort defensively if poor results. At least a little more offense is there too.

I can see OKC being one of those scrappy teams that catches others by surprise and steals away a bunch of games they shouldn't. They'll remain in the same ball park (cellar) because they lack talent, but they might be able to avoid being the worst of the worst.