OKC Thunder youngsters impressive in victorious preseason debut – Player Grades
. F. Oklahoma City Thunder. ALEKSEJ POKUSEVSKI. B
The 7′ unicorn better known as Poku was precisely what I expected. He can shoot the ball from all over the court, given his height – has great vision which combined with his fundamental skill set allows him to be an exceptional dime disher.
His defense is an issue based on two factors:
- he’s simply too thin. As he adds some strength he’ll improve on that end of the court
- Poku just doesn’t seem as invested on that side of the court. That’s not an unusual situation for a young player, particularly one who has such offensive prowess.
To suggest Aleksej Pokusevski isn’t capable would be untrue. Isolate on how he brings the ball up the full length of the court, moves with and without the ball, and those skills should be transferable to his defense. Sure, as noted he’ll need to gain strength but with commitment, his defense could also be special since he’s going to be slotted in at the small forward which will give him a decided advantage over his counterparts just based on his length.
His four turnovers were an issue on this day but he was playing against some size (Gay, Aldrige) which was part of the problem. In 23 minutes he produced 14 points (5 of 12), eight rebounds, and two assists while shooting 4 of 8 from deep.