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The Thunder are heading down the home stretch and recently fortified their bench with the acquisition of Ronnie Brewer and Derek Fisher. As we have seen over the course of the season, the bench can at times look like a great complimentary piece and other times they struggle to carry the load when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook get a breather.
Today at Daily Thunder, we address 3 bench players and what we might be in for as the playoffs approach.
3-on3: Bench, Please | Daily Thunder
I've excerpted a few snippets of answers here, so be sure to head to DT to read them in full.
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1. True or false: Reggie Jackson is underused.
Royce Young, Daily Thunder: True. Jackson is blossoming, people. And while he’s playing essentially the same amount of game to game time Eric Maynor saw when he was even at his best, Jackson is far more a dynamic player. He gives Scott Brooks a bunch more options as he can play alongside Russell Westbrook or play alone in the backcourt. The Thunder have been missing a dynamic offensive spark on the second unit all season and it appears Jackson might be the man to provide it. But 12 minutes a game isn’t good enough, especially when Derek Fisher is getting 15.
2. Fill in the blank: Derek Fisher’s role should be __________.
J.G. Marking, Daily Thunder: Much less than it has been. Look, Fisher is a wonderful presence on this team and he still has a knack for making shots…it’s just that his presence should be in the locker room and his knack for making shots at all is becoming less and less frequent. Toss in the fact that Fisher is eating up small-ball minutes that really should be going to Brewer and/or Reggie Jackson playing alongside Westbrook (if Brooks really wants to go to a three-guard lineup), and I’m sorry but this has all the feeling of the "I will play Jeff Green no matter what"-itis, only the Derek Fisher strain.
3. Scale of 1-10, 10 being very, how concerned are you about Kevin Martin’s pending playoff performance.
J.A. Sherman: I would put my concern about Kevin Martin’s play at about a 7. While I know it is a bit presumptuous to be slotting the Thunder for the Finals already, using the Heat as The Standard likely means that the Thunder are simultaneously measuring up well against their Western competition also. One of the biggest things the Finals showed us (and this season has borne out) is that LeBron James has put a stranglehold on "Greatest Player Alive" for the foreseeable future. For the Thunder to challenge James, they need the rest of the team to be performing at a high level, higher than the Heat’s role players. With Harden gone, that puts a lot of pressure on Martin.
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