clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Thunder weekly grades: Serge Ibaka, Perry Jones lead the cavalry

New, comments

The Thunder finished their opening week at 1-2, so why are we optimistic? Let's examine how each player performed.

By JuanToribio and Ali AlShowaikh
/ new
Mark D. Smith-USA TODAY Sports

The Thunder have suffered an incredible number of setbacks in the early part of this season, but they have not given up hope or feistiness. Despite losing in close 4th quarter games, the Thunder came back and held on for a big win vs Denver. Here is how each player contributed.

Game 1: Thunder lose season opener to Portland, 106-89

Game 2: Thunder lose Westbrook, come up short vs Clippers, 93-90

Game 3: Thunder defeat Nuggets, 102-91

***

Westbrook_medium
RUSSELL WESTBROOK Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 2 20.5 20.0 1.5 5.0 0.0 2.0 2.5 -3.5
JUAN
grade_A
Russell Westbrook only played one full game this week before going down, but that was a really good game. He dropped 38 on the Trail Blazers and had the Thunder a good fourth quarter away from winning a game that they had no business even competing in. I miss you already, Russ.
ALI
grade_Aplus
Russell Westbrook may have played only one full game this season, but he was the spirit on the floor that kept the Thunder competitive throughout the first three quarters. He finished scoring 38 points all along with 6 assists and 6 steals.
Ibaka_medium
SERGE IBAKA Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 3 30.3 16.7 6.3 1.7 1.7 0.3 2.3 1.7
JUAN
grade_A
It was a little bit of a disappointing effort from Serge Ibaka in the Portland game, but he stepped up with everybody else out. He battled hard and hit a couple of big threes down the stretch against the Clippers and he absolutely stepped up as the main guy in the Thunder's lone week against the Nuggets. Ibaka is the guy now and he's going to have to be a stud for the Thunder to have much of a chance.
ALI
grade_A
As my mate Juan said, Ibaka didn't meet our expectations in the first season opener game against the Blazers. However, although the Thunder lost against the Clippers, he did a great job lifting his team. Furthermore, he was one of the main reasons that contributed in the Thunder's first win against the Nuggets.

Roberson_medium
ANDRE ROBERSON Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 3 36.0 7.7 7.0 3.3 1.0 1.0 3.0 0.7
JUAN
grade_Aminus
I'm going to be like a P.E. teacher this week and just hand out good grades for participation because this team deserves it. Andre Roberson, however, put in some serious work on the court. Roberson hasn't really dominated a specific stat but he stuffs the stat sheet in many different ways. Roberson averaged 7 rebounds a game this week and he had a really, really good outing against the Nuggets.
ALI
grade_B
Roberson is such a good defensive shooting guard and contributes well in grabbing rebounds and guarding his opponent very well, but he has been disappointing in producing offensive support from the shooting guard spot which is what the Thunder currently needs.
STEVEN ADAMS Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 3 27.3 9.0 6.7 1.3 0.3 1.0 3.0 2.7
JUAN
grade_Bplus
Steven Adams, the new starting center of the Oklahoma City Thunder. How does that sound? Adams hasn't had a dominant game this season, but he has been a consistent player in the middle for the Thunder. OKC will need some more production out of him with all the injuries around him. But that goes for everyone, not just Kiwi Strong.
ALI
grade_Bplus
Steven Adams is officially the new starting center for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was fabulous in the preseason, as he scored in double digits in almost all the Thunder's preseason games. However, when it comes to the regular season, Adams has been struggling in scoring points, but overall he's doing a great job in filling his role as a center by defending the paint well and securing offensive and defensive rebounds.

Perk_medium
KENDRICK PERKINS Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 3 19.7 8.0 6.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 -5.3
JUAN
grade_A
KENDRICK PERKINS IS AN OFFENSIVE GENIUS. Perkins went 6 for 7 from the field against the Nuggets and the Thunder won. This could very easily be the only time this happens this season, so big Perk is getting an A. Who cares what he did the previous two games, right?
ALI
grade_B
Kendrick Perkins was spectacular against the Nuggets. He finished with 17 points and 5 rebounds. As good as that game was, Perkins didn't get the 'A' is because he didn't play to his strengths on consistent basis. He wasn't that good against the Blazers and the Clippers. I'd like to see more of his performance that was against the Nuggets in the upcoming Thunder games on consistently.
Collison_medium

NICK COLLISON Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 3 19.7 3.3 5.3 2.3 0.7 1.0 1.0 -2.7
JUAN
grade_B
Nick Collison is doing what we all know he's going to do: compete. He's one of the best competitors in the league. Unfortunately, he hasn't done much on the offensive end and the Thunder are going to need more of the facilitating Nick Collison with all these injuries.
ALI
grade_B
Nick Collison is doing so far so good. He's already old and he went through so many injuries but beside that, he's contributing somehow on the floor in terms of helping the team by grabbing some rebounds and scoring easy points from down the paint.

Jones_medium
PERRY JONES III Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 3 37.7 19.3 4.0 1.7 0.3 0.7 2.7 6.0
JUAN
grade_Aplus
Perry Jones III stepped up and he did it in a huge way against the Clippers. Jones III was easily the best player for the Thunder against LA and he even got a couple of iso's in late game situation. He didn't put OKC in the win column against the Clippers, but he was the reason they didn't get blown out of the Staples Center. Perry Jones averaged a little less than 20 points a game this week and that's with a 3-point outing on opening night.
ALI
grade_Aplus
With Durant being absent, he's the real MVP. He recorded a career high 32 points against the Clippers. He finished scoring 23 points against the Nuggets. He's basically a second version of Durant on the floor. He can shoot the ball very well from behind the arc as well as mid range, and dominate through scoring points off the post.

SEBASTIAN TELFAIR Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 3 30.7 6.3 2.3 6.0 0.0 1.7 1.0 -1.7
JUAN
grade_Aminus
Sebastian Telfair has been awful shooting the ball, but he's logging a ton of minutes for the Thunder and he's competing at a high level. He's had to guard Damian Lillard, Chris Paul and Ty Lawson so far and that alone earns him an A-minus.
ALI
grade_Bplus
Sebastian Telfair sadly can't shoot the ball, but he's really doing a great job just as my mate Juan said. He had to guard players such as Lillard, Pual, and Lawson. Beside that, He doing a good job passing the ball to his teammates. He recorded 7 assists against the Clippers and 9 assists against the Nuggets. He needs to work on his shooting abilities so that he can earn that A grade.

LANCE THOMAS Games Played MIN PPG REB AST BL ST TO +/-
(Average Stats) 3 25.0 10.0 2.7 2.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 -14.0
JUAN
grade_B
Like the rest of the team, Lance Thomas is competing and trying his best to log a ton of minutes for Scott Brooks and the Thunder, but there's just something that isn't working. Lance Thomas went a combined -42 this week and it's far and away the worst on the team. He still gets a passing grade because it's the first week and he's out there playing.
ALI
grade_Bplus
Lance Thomas was pretty good in the Thunder's season opener. He finished scoring 14 points against the Blazers. Although he only had 4 points against the Clippers, he managed to step up and add 12 points in the Thunder's box score against the Nuggets. What I really like about him is his ability to score especially that the team is short on players who can produce reliable offensive support.

Thunder_medium

TEAM GRADE Record OffRtg DefRtg AstRatio REB% TS% PACE +/-
(Advanced Stats) [1-2] 95.6 101.6 17.0 53.0% 52.8% 96.6 -3.0
JUAN
grade_Aminus
It's hard to get an A- in a week that you lost two games. In fact, I can comfortably say that it won't happen again. But these are desperate times and staying competitive against playoff teams is admirable for this group. The Thunder were two bad quarters away from starting this season 3-0. Considering that the Thunder barely have enough healthy bodies to start a flag football team, that's impressive.
ALI
grade_A
The Thunder squad consists now of 8 healthy players now. They won 1 game and lost 2 games. However, they lost from the Clippers who had a healthy squad by 3 points only and crushed the Nuggets easily at their first home court opener.

Brooks_medium

SCOTT BROOKS Coaching Grade
JUAN
grade_Aplus
Scott Brook's job isn't all about X's and O's right now, it's more about keeping this team motivated and ready to go. Brooks did an excellent job to get the team to compete after losing Russell Westbrook during the Clippers game and had his team ready to go against the Nuggets. The first couple of months are going to be a struggle, but all Brooks can ask for is that his guys play hard. And they did that this week.
ALI
grade_Aplus
Scott Brooks is dealing with a critical situation right now by having 8 healthy players only in the squad. He's resisting that by creating the right X's and O's formations and keeping his team ready in the current circumstances.

*All player images via US Presswire

In This Stream

Thunder 2014-15 Regular season weekly player grades

View all 17 stories

More From Welcome to Loud City

Loading comments...