Five takeaways from the Thunder’s Game One loss
By Tony Heim
4. Victor Oladipo needs the ball in his hands more
Victor Oladipo went 1-12 tonight and I’m honestly not that upset with him. Russell Westbrook dominated the ball tonight, giving him minimal chances to create for himself. In turn his 12 shots were mostly contested and off-rhythm.
One instant way to change this is to allow Oladipo to bring the ball up and initiate the offense. This will help in a couple ways. For one, pesky Patrick Beverley has intelligently decided to pick Russ up full-court; it definitely shook the MVP tonight. Allowing Oladipo to run the offense will throw a different wrinkle at Houston’s defense and frees Russ from having to expand the extra energy fighting Beverley.
What harm does it do in giving Oladipo a chance? Against Minnesota he helped lead the Thunder to a 100-98 win without Russ. Westbrook can’t do it all on his own; tonight proved that. Beverley truly is one of the league’s best perimeter defenders and it’s not fair to Russ to go up against that every minute he’s on the court.
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Beverley got two pick-pocket steals at the start of possessions from pure hustle. We can’t expect Westbrook to set up an offense while also worrying about Beverley swiping in for a steal. Giving Oladipo the ball will help ease the burden on Russ’ shoulders while also minimizing the Patrick Beverley-effect as much as possible.
Which leads me to my next point…