The OKC Thunder had a year that can only be described as a development opportunity. Aleksej Pokusevski was the complete embodiment of this. He started the season out poorly, missing almost every shot that he took.
When he was assigned to the G-League for their bubble season, things turned around for the Thunder rookie. He gained some confidence while in the bubble which he then bought to his game back to the varsity squad.
Pokusejvski started handling the ball with more confidence, shooting at a much better clip, and turning the ball over less. He started to show glimpses of the player that he is going to become for the Thunder. It is important with Pokusevksi that fans temper their expectations and see the reality that he is still a very young player.
The OKC Thunder have really helped Aleksej Pokusevski acclimatize.
When you are the youngest player in the league when you are drafted, there is always going to be a level of growth required of you to stay in the league. Pokusevski had to move to a different country, acclimatize to a different language and figure out how to play in the best league in the world, all prior to his 19th birthday while a pandemic was gripping the world.
The fact that Pokusevski was able to accomplish this and develop in his rookie year speaks volumes about the maturity of the man. Now that he is about to enter his second season, Pokusevski has new goals he needs to accomplish. Let’s take a look at them now.
OKC Thunder goal for Aleksej Pokusevski No. 1) Strength
The biggest knock on Pokusevski is that he is not strong enough to battle in the paint against power forwards, let alone centers. He stands 7’0” tall and only weighs 190 pounds. This is too light for the rigors of an NBA schedule, particularly if he is going to battle opposition big men.
There was no way that Pokusevski could have gotten into the weight room with the way the NBA schedule was this season. Now he has a full offseason, he can start working hard with the Thunder strength and conditioning coaches and put on some muscle.
To put it into perspective, Ty Jerome is 6’5” and weighs in at 195 pounds, five pounds heavier than Pokusevski. At the moment, the 19-year-old would not be able to back most guards down in the post, to get an easier bucket from the higher percentage area near the hoop.
To be fair, Pokusevski is not yet 20 years of age and his body is going to take a long time to put the muscle on. If he could get to 200 pounds by the start of the season then he is going to have an easier time next season.
OKC Thunder goal for Aleksej Pokusevski No. 2) Consistency
Of the 45 games that Pokusevski played, he had nine-game where he scored between 10 and 19 points. On top of that, he had five games where he scored 20 points or more. However, to temper this, Pokusevski had 31 games where he did not make it to double figures.
Yes, he is a rookie and as a result, he is always going to have a level of inconsistency in his first season. It is very rare for a rookie to be consistent for the whole season. The NBA schedule is like no other schedule that any player will have come across and it takes a lot of getting used to.
Now that Pokusevski has experienced this more condensed version of an NBA season, he knows how to prepare his body for the rigors of a season, he will not struggle in as many games. He also knows that if he is not scoring that he can impact a game in so many other ways.
Pokusevski is also a willing and very able passer. Unfortunately for Pokusevski, he had 39 games where he had four assists or less. He only had six games where he had five assists or more. On top of that, he had 25 games where he failed to collect five rebounds.
This is one area where Pokusevski could improve his consistency so that he can impact games even when his shot is not dropping.
OKC Thunder goal for Aleksej Pokusevski No. 3) Cut down on the turnovers.
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One thing about Pokusevski which was frustrating to watch this season was his propensity to turn the ball over. He did it in the most frustrating ways, dribbling the ball off his foot or trying to force a pass that just was not there. He also struggled a little with the rule differences, with basket interference being the main one.
Pokusevski had 11 games where he had four turnovers or more, this is too many in 45 games. In fact, Pokusevski had one game where he had six turnovers, and he only had five rebounds and three points. This was the only game where he had four or more turnovers that Pokusevski had more turnovers than any other statistical category.
In the 11 games where he had those four or more turnovers, the Thunder were 1-10 which highlights the importance of looking after the ball. Considering that Mark Daigneault had him playing as a guard in a few games towards the end of the season, he needs to cut these out of his game.
To be fair, the Thunder had a lot of new and young players on their roster. This means that the chemistry was not there at the start of the season which would not have helped Pokusevski’s turnover issues. This will improve next year as players return from this season and Pokusevski gets more used to the offensive schemes of the coaching staff.