OKC Thunder in the news: Schröder Impresses, Westbrook ranked, George pumped
By Reid Belew
OKC Thunder In the News for Tuesday features three of the Thunder’s most important players: Dennis Schröder, Russell Westbrook, and Paul George.
Pour yourself some coffee and start your day like any devoted sports fan: reading your team’s news. Here you’ll find OKC Thunder news highlights from recent days. This edition is chalked full of star power, so saddle up.
Dennis Schröder Made Quite an Entry
Dennis Schröder inspired a great deal of confidence after the Thunder’s Blue and White scrimmage on Sunday. Thunder Nation was especially excited to see Schröder play with his new teammates, as there’s already been some 6th Man of Year scuttlebutt roaming around the internet.
Thunder forward Paul George understands why:
Paul George on adding Dennis Schroder to the Thunder “Hands down best backup point in the league” pic.twitter.com/Dsvw0denqP
— SneakerReporter (@SneakerReporter) July 26, 2018
PPat expressed similar praise:
Patterson on Schröder: “His ability to get into the paint off pick and roll, little scoop under the hand with the layup. He’s very skilled and very quick.”
— Brady Trantham (@BradyDoesSports) September 30, 2018
It’s hard to not be excited. Schröder is a crafty, skilled, and fast guard who played in a difficult situation for Atlanta. Schröder’s own excitement seems to echo his new teammates’. After seeing Schröder do a little of this:
Dennis to Nerlens. @USCellular Training Camp Blue & White Scrimmage. pic.twitter.com/DKji1lOHJ3
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) September 30, 2018
and then do a little of this:
Doing work. Playing hard. Blue & White Scrimmage @USCellular Training Camp pic.twitter.com/kwiAkePE58
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) September 30, 2018
…makes it look like he’s been playing with the team for years.
Bleacher Report Ranks the Top 15 Point Guards
Russ is one of the most polarizing players in the league. Hardly anyone detracts from his greatness, but different opinions on what determines player value has Russ’ place in the NBA point guard pantheon in a state of fluidity.
Bleacher Report released their top 15 point guards for the upcoming season, and Russ was number 3 behind Chris Paul (2) and Steph Curry (1).
Bleacher Report’s criticism of Westbrook is fair: he takes too many ill-advised pull-up jumpers. B/R stated their case:
"Pull-up attempts have accounted for at least 47 percent of Westbrook’s total shots in every season since 2013-14. Only once, in 2013-14, has he notched an effective field-goal percentage north of 45 on these looks. Last year, as the league leader in pull-up attempts, he churned out a 39.4 effective field-goal percentage—a bottom-11 mark among 73 players to hoist at least 250 such shots."
Undying loyalty does not necessitate manufacturing blindness to a flaw. To be aware of shortcomings is to understand even greater. Reading Bleacher Report’s write up, I was reminded of this excellent Zach Lowe piece, where he came to the same conclusion:
"Put simply, Westbrook is an average jump shooter who takes too many contested jump shots worth two points. Harden’s “worst” shots are worth three points. James, Paul, Harden, and the others in this group shoot better from deep…The obvious answer: Unleash Westbrook as the angriest, fastest, spread pick-and-roll point guard in NBA history. Turn those five ugly jumpers into lobs or 3s. There is no defense for a Westbrook-Adams pick-and-roll with three shooters surrounding it."
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What Thunder fans see and know that the outside NBA world does not is: part of Russ’ greatness is his inability to budge. Those contested jumpers might be bad basketball, but they’re also strangely endearing. Having a man at the helm who throws himself at the defense–even if that comes at the price of recklessness–illicits a unique confidence that says “Thank God we’ve got that guy on our team.”
It’s all part of the Russell Westbrook experience, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
PG Knows This Year’s Ceiling
It seems PG had much to say recently.
Outside of complimenting his new running mate in Dennis Schröder, PG told the media what he expects from this team. Of course, his thoughts could partly be inferred by his somewhat surprising return to the team. PG lays it out:
"“We’ve got the chemistry. Me being around these guys going on about to be two years now, there’s an expectation and a level we know we need to play at. I think the consistency part you’ll see with us now being able to play well against the sub-.500 teams. But I definitely think this team has a chance. The reason why I signed back here is because I believed in it. And everybody in here believes. It’s on us, we’ve got our work cut out and it’s not going to be easy, but we’re up for it.”"
We know chemistry is a pillar of this year’s squad, but hearing a team leader say it’s a critical part of how they just might make the Finals…that’s music to our collective ears.
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Speaking of ears, keep ’em on the ground this week. We’ve got you covered with the best in OKC Thunder news, analysis, and opinion. So lend us your ears, will ya?