Life without Russell Westbrook and the New Thunder Offense

Life without Russell Westbrook and the New Thunder Offense

For Oklahoma City fans, it has been a real treat to watch this Thunder team, successfully (and rather handily) dissect opposing defenses for the past few years and cakewalk into a favorable playoff seed. A huge part of this prosperity comes from the luxury of retaining two of the best scorers in the league, and while OKC’s offense doesn’t exactly dazzle the fundamentalist fan at times, it still topped out as the second most efficient offense last season. Unfortunately Russell Westbrook is gone now (for the season anyway), and OKC will now have pile most of the burden upon the shoulders of Scott Brooks, Reggie Jackson, Kevin Martin and especially Kevin Durant.

It really is a shame this has happened; OKC had positioned itself to have the greatest chance of knocking off the commanding Heat team, and Scott Brooks will have to nitpick the Thunder’s offensive tempo, lineups, and overall scheme to counter opposing defenses that can now direct their strategy to containing one scorer instead of two. That’s exactly what happened with the Rockets on Saturday night, and while they did give Durant some fits through the game, the Thunder somehow still strapped themselves to his back and snuck out of Houston with a 3 point win.

And the final result didn’t seem so bad. Durant took a few more shots but still shot at a decent percentage, the frontcourt dominated the defensive glass, and OKC trumped Houston’s defense holding them to a mediocre 101.0 points per 100 possessions, 5.7 points below their regular season total.

So why does it seem Thunder fans are now more concerned after the first game without Westbrook than before? Yes it is hard to watch Durant log such lengthy stretches during the game with out a break, but those types of minutes are necessary in crucial games such as this. OKC clearly didn’t want to let this one slip away and be forced into a game 5, and Durant paid the price logging 47 total minutes. It is not so much that he needs to rest, as it is the risk of a sputtering Thunder offense when their superstar is not on the floor. This isn’t a problem with Westbrook as part of the rotation, as Brooks can easily turn to Westbrook to guide while Durant sits. However, lineups score at a disastrous rate when both share the bench. Here are a few things OKC needs to do to lessen the burden on Durant’s shoulders, and increase productivity in their offense.

Alternate Scoring Options

Finding other teammates to score is certainly easier said than done, but it starts first with running less of the offense through Durant isolations and finding good looks for teammates. An open 3 for floor spacers such as Fisher, Sefolosha, Martin and even Ibaka are more efficient shots than a 20-foot Durant jumper shot over 3 defenders. This is much easier achieved with KD on the floor, as running him through screens creates open looks for other players against a compromising defense forced to attach themselves to Durant. Watch here the Houston defense creeps over to the right side of the floor to contain the superstar, only to have Reggie Jackson slice through the defense to find Martin for an open look on the opposite side. 

And here, as Durant draws an extra defender leaving Sefolosha open for a clean look.

The Thunder have a palpable advantage offensively when compared to other teams, as nearly all of their wings and even Ibaka can camp out behind the 3 point arc and wait for the ball to swing their way.

However, the Thunder need to formulate easier ways to break down the initial defensive set to swing the ball around for an easy look, and while the easiest way to do this is the high pick and roll, they don’t have a consistent big to run that with Durant. Perkins is clearly the best screen-setter on the team, but he has no range, especially when he is forced to pull a quick trigger, and while he can find the open man, he’s not the most willing passer on the team. Ibaka has improved tremendously on offense, but he’s nowhere near the level of a Garnett or Pau Gasol when it comes to slipping through the screen and kicking it into the corner.

This is why a lineup featuring Collison is intriguing. Paired with Durant, Fisher, Martin and Sefelosha, this could potentially score without relying on Durant to bail OKC out with 4 seconds on the shot clock. Martin and Collison already have chemistry running the two-man dribble handoff, and Collison is a capable and willing passer, as he shows here by slipping through the screen and setting off a chain of clueless Houston defenders for an open Fisher three.

This lineup only looks good on paper of course, although the Collison-Martin duo is scoring 113.3 points per 100 possessions which would rank first in the league by a large margin. This would most likely suffer defensively, especially against a team like the Clippers or Spurs with two bigs, but it’s an effective fallback for stretches when Durant can’t keep it going. It really doesn’t matter where the offense comes from, but with Westbrook inactive, the other Thunder players on the floor are going to have to assist Durant in carrying the burden when the shots won’t fall or he is on the bench.

Better/more Passing

This may come to a surprise to some; Durant really is a video game-like scorer, but even the best players can’t carry the team all the time, and that imperfection was exposed Saturday. Durant shot 3-7 on long twos, and a paltry 2-9 from deep. This is why I suggest for him to (gasp) pass more. As stated earlier, even the deep shooting threats on OKC’s perimeter were more often than not subtly ignored by the Houston defense.  Yes, he’s the best scorer in the league, but shooting numbers are always going to diminish in large quantities, even in Durant’s case, and I’d like to see a few less long jumpers from him. He’s perfectly capable of penetrating the defense, and while it’s not as effortless as when Westbrook does, Durant draws the defense into the lane so much it gives perimeter players enough time to tie their shoes before jacking up an open 3. Look at how much the Houston defense collapses into the lane in this photo.

Here, either Sefolosha or Martin could get a quality 3-point shot, and although Durant's shot went in, those types of contested shots seldom fall. I’m not saying Durant should hold himself back by shooting less and passing more; he’s a scorer and I expect him to go out and get his points. However, when the shot’s aren’t falling why not throw it around to the open man?

And that’s really about all the Thunder can do. Durant is going to have to carry this offense through nearly every possession on the floor, even if he’s not the primary ball handler. Kevin Martin is unfairly assumed to be a secondary scorer, but he’s been accustomed to scoring off the bench this year, although I do expect his usage rate to increase a bit. Ibaka can’t pass, and Sefelosha and Fisher are basically spot up shooters.  Reggie Jackson is the only other tangible option to run plays for, it’s dicey to thrust him into such a vital role in such a crucial situation, but it’s worth a shot to run him a few pick and rolls, and his numbers on synergy are not shabby, albeit in small sample sizes.

For Thunder fans, and sports fans in general it’s a tough reminder that luck plays a huge role in winning any championship, and with the western conference now wide open, the Thunder will need a lot of fine tuning to get their offense back into elite shape.