OKC Thunder: Early signs point to Terrance Ferguson’s growth
By Brayden Koch
The young career of Terrance Ferguson has been nothing less than rocky, but it’s not time to give up yet. The OKC Thunder guard is developing slowly, but surely.
Last year, Terrance Ferguson came into the NBA as a 185 pound guard with very hopeful athletic ability. The OKC Thunder took a gamble on Ferguson with the 21st pick over other notable prospects such as Jarret Allen, OG Anunoby, and Kyle Kuzma.
While Ferguson showed flashes of his talent throughout his rookie season, he was never able to get into a full rhythm. His best performance last year was a 24 point game against the Lakers, which included a couple of extravagant dunks.
Besides that, he only had four other outings in which he scored more than 10 points, thus categorizing himself as one of the many disappointments for OKC in the 2017-2018 season.
2018-19 production:
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Now jump forward to October 2018. After another shaky start for T-Ferg he is finally showing glimpses of his potential on both ends of the court. While not contributing much on the scoreboard, he has done exceptionally well with off-ball screens and movement.
Additionally he has been able to find gaps in the defense where he’s able to crash the offensive glass. On the defensive end, Ferguson has been very active, never giving his assignment more than a foot of room.
While Terrance Ferguson’s contributions might not show up on the stat sheet, he is able to push the pace and play with a high-tempo motor, which has been translating to overall team success.
Terrance Ferguson has tremendous upside, but he has much to work on. For the most part, he needs to hit the weight room. In a league with powerful guards such as Victor Oladipo and DeMar DeRozan, he needs to be able to hold his ground, and 185 pounds will not make the cut.
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If Ferguson is able to gain some muscle and work on his confidence, he has the potential to be a solid shooting guard in the NBA.