With the first 28 games now behind us, what do we know. 1. We were very lucky last year having hardly any starters miss games. 1/3 through the season and already Krstic, Green, and Durant have missed a stretch of games, but the Thunder have kept their game up in the absense of starters. 2. KD is showing signs of fatigue from the Worlds this summer. Some would argue that this is why he sat the stretch of games, not an injury. I see letting him sit vs. under .500 clubs, but to let him sit vs. the Celtics (which was a W!) unless KD is hurt I couldn't imagine the staff letting him sit that out for 'rest'. 3.When starters are out we have some pretty darn good replacements. Maynor, Harden, White, Ibaka, Collison are all good backups when injury hits. Ivey has really brought a defensive presence on the team, and when he has the open shot, he usually hits it. 4. Our coaching staff has some work to do. A. How do we have 2 seven footers that can't get any burn ('cept scrub time) and expect to 'develop'. Cole has spent much of his time in the D-League, which I am fine with. The team has been pretty consistent in putting rookies in the D-League, but when the team is constantly giving offensive rebounds to the other team (see Suns game, I was there) it is frustrating to see that size on the bench. B. KD iso plays are not 'Thunder basketball'. Kd is one of the purest shooters in the league, he can elevate over the guys who have the speed to keep up with him, and go past the ones who have the height to match. I want to see him comin off a screen on 30-40% of possesions. Not that he will get the ball everytime. After he drains two or three the D will start overplaying and then comes the lob for Ibaka. C. We need to get a coach who can teach this big guys how to screen. Collison can, that's about it. 5. Ron Adams took the defense with him to Chicago. Seriously are those the same players out there?? They turn it on in the 4th, or in bursts when needed. I still have my fingers crossed that they start to get more consistent start of '11, we'll see. They have played ugly, but usually winning ugly. 19-9....I'll take it!
