Thunderous Intentions
Fansided

Coach Billy Donovan Must Change his Lineups

By Joshua Lea

facebooktwitterreddit

While it’s clear the Oklahoma City Thunder needed Kevin Durant to return and preform at an MVP level. There is much work to do on both ends of the floor. If the Thunder are to challenge for the Western Conference, there must be some minor tweaking in rotations and overall offensive scheme. One thing is clear, Coach Donovan must change his starting lineups. 

Last night, the Thunder lost in Atlanta and at times looked confused at what they were trying to do offensively and defensively. The Hawks presented a big problem for Oklahoma City, constantly switching and moving the ball, creating mismatches galore that the Thunder defense couldn’t handle. Offensively, Oklahoma City started out shooting 3-point jumpers and 18-foot jumpers making just 2-of-9 from the floor until head coach Billy Donovan called at timeout with 6 minutes to go in the first half.

Sometimes, this team has a strong habit of relying on long mid-range shots – the least-efficient shot in basketball. You don’t get the 3-point shot nor do you get an easy shot at the rim. Look at it like this, instead of attacking the paint for the easy two (and possibly a foul), they’re settling for long-range field goal attempts that the’re often missing.

Fast forward to late in the second quarter, and the lineup of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Dion Waiters, Serge Ibaka, and Anthony Morrow was playing more effectively. The Thunder began attacking the paint and putting points on the board in a hurry, closing the second quarter on an 16-3 blitz in just under 3 minutes. This lineup was damaging on both sides of the floor. In that short span, Ibaka had two blocks, Westbrook had two steals and two rebounds, and the team got in the paint to draw fouls.

For some reason, this lineup was not used again throughout the rest of the game.

In fact, they came of out the locker-room for the third quarter content with shooting jumpers again starting out 1-of-4 from the floor. Coach Donovan offered his thoughts on the post game via FoxSports Oklahoma.

So, why was the lineup that shredded the Hawks not used again except for that 3 minute span? There is something to be said about how Donovan is using his lineups. Earlier in the season he was convinced Kyle Singler was OKC’s version of Detlef Schrempf for the team’s second unit. Donovan has apparently learned the error of his ways as Singler hasn’t seen the floor in the past five games.

However, Enes Kanter and the second unit are way out of sorts. When Waiters and Kanter are on the floor together they are running two different offensive sets. Dion is trying to attack the weak side for a 1-on-1 isolation, while Kanter is trying to set a screen and use the pick-and-roll to get a shot. Kanter and Waiters both took just seven shots each last night. Generally, when these two are on the floor together they do not sync well; both also preform at a higher level when they are playing with Westbrook. The lesson here is that a change needs to be made in the lineup, and it’s best to do it now rather than later.

I have said before that Kanter should start and I maintain that’s the case; he’ll get more shots at the bucket playing with Westbrook. You could argue that starting Kanter would hurt the team defensively, yet they are holding opponents to 103.0 points per game. That’s 22nd in the NBA. So, where’s your defense? Andre Roberson has been a lackluster defender, only shutting down and aging Joe Johnson versus Brooklyn. Steven Adams has played great this season but, would likely be as effective off the bench.

Here’s is how the lineups should look for this team:

1st unit: Westbrook/Morrow/Durant/Ibaka/Kanter

2nd unit: D.J. Augustin/Roberson/Waiters/Nick Collison/Adams.

Consider this: Dion thrives playing isolation basketball so you should put players around him that do not rely on the pick-and-roll. You adjust the defense on the second unit. If Durant and Westbrook get hot and put a ton of points on the board, you have a defensive second unit that can sustain the offense with Waiters while not allowing the opponent to score forcing Donovan to place his starters in with 9:30 to go in the fourth.

The overall fact here is that this team is still one of the best teams in the NBA. It’s December, all you have to do is adjust your lineups. This team is more than capable of putting up monstrous numbers. But, when you have players who thrive in isolation playing with players who thrive in the pick-and-roll, adjustments need to be made and Donovan’s the only person who can make them.

More from Thunderous Intentions

Home/Thunder News