Oklahoma City Thunder Are Head Of Class In Western Conference
Gone are the days of the San Antonio Spurs and Los Angeles ruling the Western Conference. In 2012, there is a new king in town and that team is the Oklahoma City Thunder.
All of this talk began last season. The Thunder surprised many by making a trip to the Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Mavericks. Even though the series only went five games, Oklahoma City was in even single game against the eventual world champs. It just wasn’t their time quiet yet.
This season, they have gotten off to a perfect 5-o start with an impressive and hard fought win in Memphis and then a last second victory over the defending champions at home.
I didn’t get to see a lot of their game last night against my Phoenix Suns, but in the brief minutes that I fortunate enough to watch, I came away very impressed for a number of different reasons. On a night where Kevin Durant went a less than stellar 4-of-11 from the field, they still won the game with ease.
One of the first things that makes them an elite team is their defense. The Suns shot under 40 percent and made only 31 percent of their attempts from three-point range during last night’s contest.
The combo of Serge Ibaka and Kendrick Perkins at the power forward and center have the ability on any night to lock down opposing team’s big men. They did exactly that on New Year’s Eve night against Phoenix. Thabo Sefolosha isn’t much of an offensive threat, but he does a great job against other team’s with good guard play.
You come away impressed with OKC’s depth as well. On a night where Durant wasn’t at his typical MVP level, the Thunder had five other players in double digits. Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City’s #2 option, led the way with 18 points. Daequan Cook and Sefolosha had 12 each and Nick Collison and James Harden had 11 and 10 points respectively.
Oklahoma City is really well coached as well. Scott Brooks, the NBA’s Coach of the Year during the 2009-201o season, seems like a perfect fit for one of the youngest rosters in the league. His players seem to really respect him and love to play for the former NBA guard. His success so far in his career speaks for itself.
As far as how they stack up against other teams in the Western Conference, I think they clearly are the best.
The Lakers took a big hit with their depth trading Lamar Odom and it is going to take time to get use to Mike Brown. The Spurs are still a quality team, but they are old and coming off of a quick ousting during last year’s playoffs. The Mavericks are have plenty issues of their own as evidence by their record.
Other young teams like the Blazers, Warriors, Nuggets and Clippers are clubs to watch out for, but I don’t think they are quite ready for primetime. No other teams besides those out West really stack up in my opinion.
Lets just enjoy watching this young and exciting team over the next couple of months of the regular season and well into the playoffs. They are young enough and have the pieces in place to not only win this season, but over the next several.
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