Serge Ibaka as WCF MVP?

As counter-intuitive as the purposely provocative title might sound, it just seems tomeIMHO like  the Thunder are a MUCH better team when defensive beast, and future People's most beautiful people listee, on the floor. The numbers somewhat back this up as he put up his two best games in the first two Thunder wins, especially his 26 point, 9 of 9 from the field, game 4. Even yesterday, when he was limited to 20 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble, he still put up 9 points on 4 of 6 shooting, 2 blocks, and 5 rebounds. Ultimately for me though, it is how the Thunder look as a unit when he's on the floor. They just seem more cohesive. More whole. More of an actual basketball playing unit. His weirdly consistent jump shot helps to spread the floor so that the slashers (Westbrook/Durant/Harden in no particular order) can operate. If his man cheats off of him, he's going to drain that shot from 18 feet and in. Further, and perhaps more importantly, he's the defensive anchor in the paint. He's averaging 2.6 blocks a game these past 3 wins, which is not too crazy for him but still damn good,  but even his presence on the floor ends up changing innumerable shots of anyone getting to the paint. I mean Westbrook's passing during his shooting drought has been fantastic, Durant is obviously All-Universe (seriously, he and LeBron would be my picks if another Space Jam tournament to free the Loony Tunes comes around), and Harden is more than capable of taking over a game for stretches himself. However, considering the various troubles each of those 3 have had, I am not so sure that Ibaka is not the most valuable for the Thunder IN THIS SERIES. (Emphasis very much required/double negative alert).

One quick departure for a larger look at the Thunder and Spurs, the past two games have illustrated an underrated advantage that the youth of the Thunder affords them... shorter, defined rotations. I missed this as well in my previous Western Conference Final preview post. Not to put too fine of a point on this, because I do no think it has all that much of an affect, but in the last two games the Thunder have had an 8 man rotation compared to the Spurs' 12 and 9 to SA's 11, respectively. OKC's younger legs can take the punishment of the shorter rotation and it keeps only the 8 best men on the floor in any given game. Of course, there are dangers here considering their general, and Ibaka's in particular, foul trouble but I feel like a limited rotation, if possible, is always advantageous.

UPDATE:
Clearly the entire idea of the post only applies if the Thunder win the series, which is very far from certain. If not, it is not a possibility and the MVP is a really close vote between Manu Ginobili and Manu Ginobili's bald spot with Manu himself winning in a walk. Seriously, did you see him last night? Ridiculous. He looked like a slightly balding Argentinian Tasmanian Devil out there.


Image: counterkicks.com

Dolan Out the Existential Pain

In the (I think) latest New York Magazine, Will Leitch has an article outlining how Carmelo Anthony has essentially hijacked the Knickerbockers franchise by pushing out one coach (Mike D'Antoni- TRUE), insisting on the hiring of another coach (Mike Woodson- PROBABLE) and then forcing the latter to drop his agent and join CAA to further kill any leverage the new coach might have (SEEMS LIKE HIM). I agree with the gist of the article in that Melo has too much power on the Knicks and it is going to be a problem for the franchise going forward. I especially agree that the isolation (ISO) sets on offense favored by Carmelo Anthony and Mike Woodson (i.e., why he was hired) are not how one wins a championship. All four teams playing right now move the ball until they find the open shot with the two favorites, San Antonio and OKC (yes, I think whoever comes out of the west wins the title), currently being the best at it. In fact, when the Thunder ran much more Iso sets in the first two games San Antonio slapped em around like petulant school boys.

My quibbles come with his almost throw away Phil Jackson point and his blame falling solely on Melo. While, admittedly, Mr. Leitch may have access to sources that I do not, nothing I've read indicated that Jackson had any real interest in coming to NY. There was that brief period where there was one report that he'd do it for $40-50 million, but, any time the Knicks have had a coaching opening, there was always a rumor that Jackson was coming for some ludicrous amount of money (that I would GLADLY pay). I wasn't holding my breathe waiting for Jackson to come riding on his zen-like steed as a white knight version of Tywin Lannister to save the day at Basketball Mecca. Further, and more importantly pour moi, Melo and his newfound power, if anything, are a symptom of the ultimately problem rather than the actual disease... James Dolan.

I do not care what Bill Simmons or anyone else say, the Knicks gave up too much for Melo in the first place. Despite the argument that one has to do that trade for who the Knicks gave up, they were only bidding against themselves because Jimmy Dolan got involved. What the Knicks gave up was unnecessary. In the same vein, the problem of Melo's coup d'etat came not because of his genius strategy of not playing to his ability, but because Dolan exacerbated the issue by making it clear that it was Melo's franchise and that D'Antoni had no real support. Then, as the final rabbit poop of a cherry on top of the frozen hobo piss sundae, Dolan removed the interim tag from Woodson and required, as a condition precedent for a contract signing, that Woodson switch representation. I firmly believe Woodson deserved the extension for the stretch run, but did Dolan really have to cut him down at the knees before he even has had a chance to actually coach Melo full time? JD, who appropriately makes me need a shot of something, is a facilitator for everything bad Melo brings to the team. It's depressingly Isiah-like all over again. And, because there is no getting out from under the roster we now have because of the unmovable contract, Knicks fans are stuck with what they have. It's not enough.

Welcome back futility; that brief interlude of excitement and hope during that now distant Linsanity thing made me miss you all the more. Time to go back to realizing the Knicks are, as always, not a contender with no hope in sight for the immediate future. Can't wait until the next time I fool myself into thinking the Knickerbockers have a shot and then realize that the team is still owned James Dolan longsigh.


Image: NY Daily News

OKC Foreign Exchange Students Bring the Ruckus

Thabo Sefolosha (Switzerland), I'm guessing he enjoys chocolates, and Serge Ibaka (Congo via Spain), he of a STUPID freakily cut body, put together an amazing showing to help the Thunder break the Spurs' 20 game winning streak dating back to the regular season. While they both played well offensively, the normally offensive anemic Ibaka throwing down 14 points on 5 of 9 shooting and Sefolosha playing 37 minutes, scoring 19 points while shooting 40% from the 3, it was on defense where they both shined (IMHO). Ibaka had 3 blocks but played well on switches and altered an innumerable number of shots in the paint helping to keep the Spurs to a relatively low, for them, 24 points in the paint. Sefolosha, on the other hand, played a number of minutes he rarely, if ever, sees and was one of the main defensive presences on the perimeter for the Thunder. He used his length to grab six steals and swallowed up countless passing lanes to help bottle up the Spurs potent ball movement while adding six rebounds as the two guard. I was personally very, very impressed by Thabo's play. Though probably a bit overlooked, he was easily one of the best players on the floor the entire game. While Russell Westbrook's pass and, especially, shot selection were making me leave palm imprints on my head, Thabo's smart defensive plays, in particular his come back block on Jax, that left the real impression on me. That game would not have gone nearly as well without him.

In general, the Thunder made the right adjustments to come out strong last night, especially on offense. That being said, Fisher (or some other approximation of a PG) needs to get a hold of that offense and get the ball out of Westbrook's hands when running the O. I know Westbrook is a good player, and he still had a good +/-, but he makes stupid, stupid, 7 seconds or less type decisions. The reason their offense worked well last night is because it was predicated on ball movement. Basically taking a page out of the Spurs' book and making the extra pass to get to the open man (a la Harden's possibly ill advised, but ultimately worked out well, cross court pass to Thabo for a wide open 3). If they go back to Westbrook's one on one bullshit, the Spurs will work them again. Interesting to see them play as they did last night though. This may be a series after all.

As long as Pop continues to rub off on Scotty Brooks. If only Brooks could give two word, hilariously angry, in game interviews like Pop....

Image: Sportsnet Canada