Interesting points made but I think like Skip does so well, hes taking an argument that cant really be bought and selling it well, its his magic, the consummate devils advocate. Having said that and having watched every Thunder game this year, I see shades of nice guy Kevin Durant taking a back seat to the take no prisoner attitudes of Ibaka and Westbrook. I think Westbrooks injury and extensive time missed this year showed the capable talents of KD. Hes 7 feet and can handle the ball like a point, could hit that 7-8 assist mark in very Lebron James fashion while still being a rebounding force and picking up the majority of the 24 points Westbrook gives you on average. KDs greatest skill with Westbrook off the court was involving Ibaka. Ibaka had more 18+ point games with Westbrook out of the lineup then he has had in his entire career with Westbrook in. This I attribute partially to the growth in his game, development of a jumper that started at 14 feet and has moved out to 18 while also throwing in the occasional 19 foot corner three but more importantly to the guy who opened up the court, gave him the ball and the confidence to make wide open shots as defenses collapsed... KD. Westbrook is a necessary evil, hes a better defensive point then Jackson but hes ultimately an undersized 2 that has the ball in his hands all too often. Hes a tweener with a JJ Watt like motor. He allows Jackson to be depth rather then Fisher as your only other point. Hes a great second option in a scattered offense and hes maybe the third best fast break player in the league behind Lebron and Blake Griffin. Hes also good for 6 turnovers a night, 10 bad shots, and 5 defensive gambles that lead to easy scores for the opponent. I think that when OKC traded Harden to keep Ibaka, this showed that they were not fooled by hype and saw the true talent and potential and made the right choice. But was it the right choice because Ibaka is the best player they have or the only big man they have? In games 1 and 2 OKC had no big men. Perkins, well we all know his deficiencies. I think he still has a job in the league because he can body up other teams big men and hes a great leader for a young core but as an asset to the team hes actually more of a necessary evil then anything and I literally came out of my seat when I saw him jump for a rebound in game four, its been a while since hes been off the ground. Hasheem Thabeet is buried on their bench but he cant give you even 10 solid minutes. Nick Collison is a scrapper but limited offensively at best with no shot blocking ability and little to no defensive prowess at all. Hes terrible in help defense, he leaves his feet way too easy and hes really just 6 fouls that gives Ibaka rest. Steven Adams is a piece that will ultimately replace Perkins and I think a guy who will be an elite center in this league for a decade plus but right now hes raw, foul-proned and a rookie having played only one year of organized basketball prior to this season. His talent is that hes bigger then anyone on the court and he gets serious hustle points but veterans like Duncan eat him alive especially paired with liabilities like Perkins and Collison. Ibaka is a great talent. A once a decade shot blocker and good at bodying up without fouling in the low post. Having said that, Skip in this article makes mention of the Heat not having an Ibaka... youre right skip, they have Bosh who is light years ahead offensively and not far behind defensively just not as explosive a jumper but more sound in his footwork and they have Anderson who is a 5 blocks in 15-20 minutes kinda guy. Both Bosh and Birdman have a lot more experience and have fewer mental lapses. Ibaka does look like a God against old as dirt Duncan and a scrub that benefits from Duncan in Splitter but how did he fair against Griffin and Jordan in the Clippers series or Gasol and Randolph in Memphis? He never had more then 7 boards in the LA series recording only 1 and a half blocks a game and in Memphis he had three good games in a 7 game series... In his two best games in that series where he gave them 15 points and 11.5 rebounds, the Thunder lost. He reminds me a lot of Dwight Howard. incredible athleticism and a great rim protector in help defense but it takes one guy to guard him on offense and hes best as a teams third best player. He has zero back to the basket moves or ability at this stage. You could argue hes right now the Thunders second or 2b best player but he often hits his stride offensively when teams are collapsing on KD or Westbrook and defensively when a team only has one big man and he can roam the paint without much responsibility for a second offensive threat. The Thunder made a conscious effort to involve Ibaka in game three as they should have and Ibaka rose to the moment being the most rested on the court. In game four though it was Durants 7-7 stretch in the second and early third that blew the doors open allowing Westbrook to have a monster 4th quarter in a game that was over half way through the third and led to Ibaka being a talking point rather then an afterthought. Go back to last years series against Memphis, Ibaka got owned shooting 37% on 14 attempts per game and only 8 boards. Or the entire playoffs the year before where he gave them 9 points on 42% shooting and only 6 boards. Maybe he should have been more carefully considered for Defensive player of the year, maybe Most improved player but to forget that Durant had a big game six against LA but has otherwise been quiet this playoffs and is still averaging 30-9-4 with a block and a steal like thats just a product of Ibakas greatness is well Skip Bayless at his best. Take KD off this team and you have a 6 seed in the west, maybe... Id still take SA, LAC, Portland, Golden State, Memphis, and maybe Houston as stronger seeds. KD is the reason this team was still a 2 seed when Westbrook went down and what takes them from a likely every year 8 seed and early playoff out to a top 2 seed and an annual Finals contender. To suggest otherwise is just the same kind of ignorance that says Lebron is the best player in the league so long as everyone else takes a pay cut to stack their roster as OKC has to trade away top five picks because they play in a cow pasture. Ibaka youre my boy, dont get me wrong but knowing what I know about you, we can maybe count your 9 points 8 boards in game 4 as a sloucher but I anticipate him disappearing in game five more likely then him carrying KD to another victory or whatever Skip is trying to say he does. espn.go/nba/playoffs/2014/story/_/id/10996627/skip-bayless-thunder-spurs-game-five
Posted on: Thu, 29 May 2014 23:59:16 +0000
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