Thunder weekly grades: Westbrook keeps charging, Morrow keeps firing, Adams keeps hulking, Thunder stay in playoff hunt

The Thunder finished the last week with a 2-2 record. How did each player perform?

By Joey Conger Mar 30, 2015, 8:59pm CDT

The Oklahoma City Thunder finished the week at 2-2, which included two devastating losses to the Spurs and Jazz. How did each player do during this rocky week?

Game 1: Thunder coast way to win over Lakers, 127-117

Game 2: Thunder suffer loss to Spurs so bad I'm not even going to write the score

Game 3: Thunder lose frustrating game to Jazz, 94-89

Game 4: Thunder earn comeback win over Suns, 109-97

***

KEVIN DURANT	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
SHERMAN		This grade has more to do with Kevin Durant's medical staff. Do I give them an A for recognizing the situation and being proactive before KD pre-maturely ends his career? Or do I give them an F for not getting it right the first time?
JOEY		sheds tear

RUSSELL WESTBROOK	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	4	33.5	28.3	5.8	7.8	0.5	1.8	4.8	-2.5
SHERMAN		You can see Russell Westbrook wearing down. His shooting percentages are dropping and he's not setting up the offense with the same vigor. It's unfair, really, to hold him to such an unrealistic standard, even though he could still pop off for a 40-14-10 Wednesday night (although that would be nice).
JOEY		You know you're good when a 28-8-6 week is "okay"

SERGE IBAKA	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
SHERMAN		With Durant's sad news, we haven't heard anything about Serge Ibaka's recovery in a while. Is he on schedule? Ahead of schedule?
JOEY		Once again, Serge's documentary was great.

ANDRE ROBERSON	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
SHERMAN		Are we missing Andre Roberson? Maybe a little bit? He might have helped against Trey Burke the other night.
JOEY		He didn't break any faces, or air ball any threes this week.

STEVEN ADAMS	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	4	29.3	9.5	11.0	3.5	0.0	0.8	1.3	+1.5
SHERMAN		Steven Adams is playing remarkably well, and the only thing holding him back from an A+ despite averaging a double-double is his FT shooting has been way off, and contributed to the Thunder's loss against Utah. Other than that, I have to keep reminding myself that Adams is only in his 3rd year of competitive basketball.
JOEY		While Steve is carrying the team defensively, his offense has been really impressive. I feel like the addition of Kanter is pushing Adams to be better on that end.

ENES KANTER	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	4	28.5	17.5	11.5	1.3	0.8	0.3	3.0	-3.3
SHERMAN		Unlike Joey, I wasn't a fan of Enes Kanter's pre-game smack about the Jazz, even though it wasn't nearly as bad as was made out to be. More than anything, it definitely didn't help the Thunder's cause, and they have so little margin for error right now that they can't lose focus on something so silly. The only morality in sport is whether you do right by your own team.
JOEY		He gets a grade raise because he talked trash about the Jazz. Love it.

DION WAITERS	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	4	29.8	14.5	3.0	2.0	0.0	0.3	1.5	-0.3
SHERMAN		Complimentary Dion is a nice player who understands how to get to the rim and find the open man. Hero-ball Dion can't even hit FT's. That said, I hope his MRI goes well.
JOEY		Everyone needs more Dion. Everyone.

DJ AGUSTIN	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	4	27.8	9.5	1.8	3.5	0.0	0.8	1.0	+1.0
SHERMAN		The offense against the Suns was nice, but what really impressed me about D.J. Augustin's play was his defensive intensity. He was making a concerted effort to not get screened, and it made a big difference in how the OKC defense slowed down Phoenix in the 2nd half.
JOEY		That dagger running skyhook yesterday was so great. Those 4 threes were cool too.

NICK COLLISON	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	0	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
SHERMAN		We could really use some of Nick Collison's veteran wisdom right about now as OKC heads into a brutal stretch of games.
JOEY		Nice hair.

ANTHONY MORROW	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	4	25.8	10.3	1.8	0.5	0.5	0.3	1.3	-3.3
SHERMAN		In Atlanta, they build their motion offense around Kyle Korver, a guy who takes about 8 shots a game. Chicago did the same thing when Korver played in the windy city. Why? Because having a guy out there who knows how to move and find open spaces and make 3's at a historic rate breaks defenses. All this to say, Morrow really needs to be getting more shots.
JOEY		The only person that gets more excited when Anthony Morrow hits a three, than Anthony Morrow is me. Oh, and he's shooting like 62% on threes. That's just stupid.

MITCH MCGARY	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	4	18.3	5.8	5.3	0.3	0.3	0.8	1.8	-4.8
SHERMAN		Mitch McGary still enduring the ups and downs of his rookie season, but it doesn't seem like Westbrook and Augustin are working as hard to set him up, either. Give him a chance, guys!
JOEY		Mitch gon' Mitch.

KYLE SINGLER	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	4	24.8	3.8	3.3	1.5	0.3	1.0	1.0	0.0
SHERMAN		Kyle Singler may not possess the refined skillset that we all wish he had, but at least he tries on defense and understands what is going on. Sometimes that makes a difference, because as they say, in the land of blind men, the one-eyed man is king.
JOEY		Singler's game yesterday was so great. Hopefully he can keep it up.

PERRY JONES III	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	2	17.5	3.0	2.5	1.0	0.0	1.5	1.0	-7.5
SHERMAN		His game against the Spurs is a great example of how not to play when you've been given a huge opportunity against a good team.
JOEY		Get him in there to make sure he's still breathing, Scotty.

JEREMY LAMB	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	2	11.5	4.5	1.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0	-9.5
SHERMAN		So what we're saying is that even Novak plays better defense than Jeremy Lamb?
JOEY		Get him in there to see if you can trade him for something, Scotty.

STEVE NOVAK	Games Played	MIN	PPG	REB	AST	BL	ST	TO	+/-

(Average Stats)	3	11.0	1.7	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	-10.0
SHERMAN		Like McGary, Steve Novak at least deserves a shot each game to see if he's got his 3-point stroke working. If not, sit him down again, no great harm done.
JOEY		I need more "DISCOUNT DOUBLECHECKS" than I'm getting.

TEAM GRADE	Record	OffRtg	DefRtg	AstRatio	REB%	TS%	PACE	+/-

(Advanced Stats)	2-2	104.3	111.7	14.5	53.4%	55.2%	98.9	-5.5
SHERMAN		On the whole, the week was still a .500 performance and they didn't really lose much ground, although Dallas is still sitting there waiting to fall. Forget the Spurs game; we could see that coming a mile away. Instead, focus on how OKC corrected itself against Phoenix in a much more dire game for the Suns. Play defense like that, and they have a shot this week against all 3 teams they face.
JOEY		Relatively bad week considering how ugh we lost by to SA, and we should've beat Utah. Regardless, it's make or break time. In my opinion, either get up to the 7 seed or drop out of the playoffs. The Warriors are a basketball buzz saw.


SCOTT BROOKS	Coaching Grade
SHERMAN		There is only so much coaching that Scott Brooks can provide when his best players allow themselves to get screened, don't box out, and defend the PnR horribly. It's kind of remarkable to me that Brooks woke them up in Phoenix before that one turned into something awful.
JOEY		Not much you can do with 4 out of your best 5 defenders out.

SCOTT BROOKS

Coaching Grade

SHERMAN

There is only so much coaching that Scott Brooks can provide when his best players allow themselves to get screened, don't box out, and defend the PnR horribly. It's kind of remarkable to me that Brooks woke them up in Phoenix before that one turned into something awful.

JOEY

Not much you can do with 4 out of your best 5 defenders out.

*All player images via www.usatodaysportsimages.com

Thunder weekly grades: Westbrook keeps charging, Morrow keeps firing, Adams keeps hulking, Thunder stay in playoff hunt

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