Thunder Season-End Awards

• The regular season has come to an end and the postseason has yet to start. The time between is a time for basketball fans to look back on the season that was, and what better way to do so than a look-back on this season "Awards" winners. You know, those cute boldfaced designations at the bottom of (nearly) every Welcome To Loud City game recap.

  Below is a season tally for every Thunder Wonder, Thunder Down Under, Thunder Blunder, and Thunder Plunderer award we've given out this season. Again, the lists won't total 82 because there were some recaps that we unfortunately missed. There were also times when no rewards were given in the recaps, or some rewards were left out. Still, I think the totals provide a telling snapshot of the season.

  So, without further adieu, your 2010-2011 award winners!
  
  
  2010-2011 THUNDER WONDER OF THE YEAR...

THUNDER WONDER SEASON TOTALS:

Kevin Durant 25
Russell Westbrook 20
James Harden 6
Serge Ibaka 5
Jeff Green 3
Cole Aldrich 1
Eric Maynor 1

What can we learn from this?

• BREAKING NEWS: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are the Thunder's two best players!
• There's not a lot of distribution of wealth when it comes to the team's best player in any particular game. In other words, it takes quite a performance for anyone else on the team to take the title away from KD or Westbrook
• Cole Aldrich managed a Thunder Wonder? I guess miracles do happen after all.
• According to this, the best player not named Durant or Westbrook is James Harden, with Serge Ibaka following close behind. It's a hard case to argue, they definitely fill the stat sheet better than anyone else. It's also interesting to note that Kendrick Perkins has yet to be named Thunder Wonder, though it's really hard for him (or anyone) to compete for the honor on a team that has Kevin Durant.
• Also, Jeff Green was only named Thunder Wonder three times, despite being on the team for most of the season.

2010-2011 THUNDER DOWN UNDER OF THE YEAR...

SERGE IBAKA: 9.9 ppg, 7.6 rbg, 0.3 apg, 0.4 spg, 2.4 bpg, 0.9 topg, .543 fg%, .750 ft%

THUNDER DOWN UNDER SEASON TOTALS:

Serge Ibaka 14
Kevin Durant 13
James Harden 6
Russell Westbrook 5
Nick Collison 4
Nenad Krstic 4
Thabo Sefolosha 3
Jeff Green 3
Kendrick Perkins 2
Daequan Cook 2
Nazr Mohammed 1
None 1

What can we learn from this?

• I for one would not have picked Serge Ibaka to have accumulated the most Thunder Down Unders, which goes to a game's second best performer. However, I think this speaks a lot to Ibaka's consistency. Though he may not be in the Thunder's top two or three players, he definitely does come to play on a nightly basis.
• MORE BREAKING NEWS: The Thunder rely on Kevin Durant a lot.
• Westbrook surprisingly only has 5 Thunder Down Unders. This speaks to what most Thunder fans already know, when this guy is feeling it, he's almost impossible to stop. When he's not When he's not on fire, he can be very frustrating to watch. There isn't a lot of in-between. Fortunately, he has many more good days than bad.

2010-2011 THUNDER BLUNDER OF THE YEAR...

JAMES HARDEN: 12.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.1 apg, 1.1 spg, 0.3 bpg, 1.3 topg, .436 fg%, .349 3p%, .843 ft%

THUNDER BLUNDER SEASON TOTALS:

James Harden 11
Russell Westbrook 10
Daequan Cook 7
Eric Maynor 5
Kevin Durant 4
Nick Collison 3
Thabo Sefolosha 3
Jeff Green 3
Serge Ibaka 3
Royal Ivey 2
B.J. Mullens 2
Morris Peterson 1
Nate Robinson 1
Nazr Mohammed 1
Nenad Krstic 1
The Thunder Defense 1
None 1

What can we learn from this?

• James Harden and Russell Westbrook are the two names that top the list for Thunder Blunder, but both have earned that status for two different reasons. Though Harden has been a great presence off the bench late in the year, let's not forget that Harden started the season very poorly. Westbrook, as noted above, has serious ups and downs. He'll have nights where he gets turnovers and miss shots and make dumb plays. He's still learning. As noted above though, his good games outnumber his bad.
• Guards, in general, are far more prone to being named Thunder Blunder than big men, it seems. This could seem odd to some people, as for most of the season the center and power forward positions were seen as the team's biggest weaknesses. The reason for this is simple. Guards tend to take shots farther away from the rim than big men. The farther away you shoot from, the less statistically likely you are to make the shot. Shooting percentage was a very common statistic used in determining most Thunder Blunders.
• Ah, I'm reminded of all those poor shooting nights from Cook earlier in the season. Daequan Cook ladies and gentlemen, you gotta love him.

2010-2011 THUNDER PLUNDERER OF THE YEAR...

VINCE CARTER: 13.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 0.9 spg, 0.3 bpg, 1.1 topg, .422 fg%, .366 3p%, .735 ft%

THUNDER PLUNDERER SEASON TOTALS:

Vince Carter 3
Tyreke Evans 2
Blake Griffin 2
Dwight Howard 2
Stephen Jackson 2
Zach Randolph 2
Luis Scola 2
Brandon Jennings 1
DeMarcus Cousins 1
Kobe Bryant 1
Nene 1
Ty Lawson 1
LaMarcus Aldridge 1
David Lee 1
Gerald Wallace 1
Anthony Randolph 1
Al Jefferson 1
Leandro Barbosa 1
The Free Throw Line (Heat) 1
J.J. Hickson 1
Rip Hamilton 1
Jrue Holiday 1
Joe Johnson 1
Dahntay Jones 1
Gary Neal 1
Stephen Curry 1
Tony Allen 1
Eddie House 1
Trevor Booker 1
Kevin Love 1
Chris Paul 1
Amare Stoudemire 1
Lamar Odom 1
Jamal Crawford 1
Travis Outlaw 1
Shawn Marion 1
Chauncey Billups 1
Kyle Lowry 1
Anthony Parker 1
Jarrett Jack 1
Michael Beasley 1
Monta Ellis 1
Andrea Bargnani 1
Danny Granger 1
Dirk Nowitzki 1
Delonte West 1
Matt Bonner 1
Jodie Meeks 1
Eric Gordon 1
Ben Gordon 1
Joakim Noah 1

What can we learn from this?

• There's not a lot to extrapolate from this except that the Thunder clearly have had a hard time defending big strong power forwards and centers throughout the season.
• Against the Miami Heat, the Thunder Plunderers were Eddie House and Free Throw Line
• The following are the average stat lines vs OKC for every player that had multiple Thunder Plunderer awards:
• Vince Carter Average vs OKC (in 3 games): 30 points 5 rebounds 2.67 assists .67 steals .33 blocks 1 turnover .532 fg% .500 3p% .667 ft%
  
• Tyreke Evans Average vs OKC (in 2 games): 26 points 7 rebounds 5 assists .5 steals 4 turnovers .452 fg% .200 3p% .722 ft%
  
• Blake Griffin Average vs OKC (in 4 games): 26.75 points 11.5 rebounds 4.25 assists .75 steals .25 blocks 2.25 turnovers .603 fg% .585 ft%
  
• Dwight Howard Average vs OKC (in 2 games): 39.5 points 16.5 rebounds .5 assists 1 steal 4 blocks 3.5 turnovers .692 fg% .781 ft%
• Stephen Jackson Average vs OKC (in 2 games): 19 points 3.5 rebounds 3 assists 1 steal 5 turnovers .343 fg% .333 3p% 1.00 ft%
• Zach Randolph Average vs OKC (in 4 games): 26.5 points 13 rebounds 2.25 assists 1.5 steals .5 blocks 2 turnovers .580 fg% .500 3p% .806 ft%
• Luis Scola Average vs OKC (in 4 games): 22 points 7.5 rebounds .75 assists .25 steals .75 blocks 3 turnovers .535 fg% .632 ft%