Andre Roberson is vital to future success of the Thunder
By Gideon Lim
Building offensive relevance
Another change for Roberson this year has been his offensive role on the team. Despite Roberson’s shooting slump, his offensive role on the team has actually grown. For this, Donovan has Steve Kerr to thank.
Roberson’s expanded role starts with Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka’s departure. The team was in need of offense. No longer could Roberson conserve energy on offense and watch the rest of the starters carry the load. In order to make Westbrook effective, every member of the starting lineup needed to have his form of offense.
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During last year’s playoffs against the Warriors, Kerr kicked off the game of chess by deploying Draymond Green against Roberson. The idea was to completely free Green up by assuming that Roberson had no value out on the perimeter.
Instead, the call came and Donovan responded. Against all traditions, Donovan shifted Roberson up to a big man slot’s on offense. He still started out on the perimeter. But Roberson was now responsible for setting screens and hard cuts, thus forcing the defense to at least respond to his movement.
Experiment success!
The series and following summer might not have worked out for the Thunder. But Donovan saw that adjustment as a blueprint for the new season. With Durant gone, the Thunder’s offense got simpler. The idea was to create whirling variations of motions for Westbrook to pick his poison. Either set a teammate up or exploit the space himself.
Donovan started by getting Roberson to persist in the screening and cutting action he picked up during the playoffs. Donovan then pushed Roberson even further, to take on Durant’s fast break role on the team. Westbrook remains the go-to man for decision-making in transition, but Roberson is now the first man leaking out.
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On top of that, Billy D has exploited opposing defenses’ decision to ignore Roberson on offense. As seen during the Rockets series, when opposing defenders choose to cheat off Roberson, Roberson used that chance to slip box-outs and attack the offensive board.
This strategy is still used in small dosages. After all, the Thunder already have enough offensive rebounders on the team and Roberson’s best value is getting back on defense.
However, it is these small shifts in game plans that highlight Roberson’s growth as a player. His shooting has certainly regressed this year. But he has proven his offensive value, however minuscule, on a team that needed that kind of leap from its players.