DAILY THUNDER 2010-11 SEASON PREVIEW OKLA THELINEUP HOMACITY THUNDERPRE VIEW2010-2011 3 A Look Back at Last Season Remember last year? Yeah, it was good. So let’s refresh some of the Thunder’s overall team accomplishments. Advanced stats included. 4 Great Expectations in Thunderland The catch-word in 2010 is expectations for the Thunder. Can they live up to the hype? By ROYCE YOUNG 9 2010-11 Roster and Player Capsules Last season’s stats, projected stats for this season and a few thoughts on the upcoming year for each player on the Thunder roster 12 View From the Other Side A look at the Thunder from an outside perspective. Is this team really that fun and exciting, or are we just wrapped up in them? By ROB MAHONEY 14 Setting the Bar, Shooting Higher What defines success for this season for the Thunder? Can we even accurately measure that? By ROYCE YOUNG 16 Where the Thunder Will Finish A completely accurate prediction of how the season will play out for the Thunder 19 Beyond Fifty The Thunder won 50 games last season. Can it happen again? By PATRICK JAMES 22 Learning From Turkey What can we take from KD’s stellar performance in Turkey? It would appear, a lot 24 Four Questions, Twelve Answers SAME FACES, NEW PLACE? The Thunder hope to meet the Lakers again Who’s starting at center in March? Can KD win this season, just not in the first round MVP? These are a few things DT’s panel of experts try and answer DAILY THUNDER 2010-11 SEASON PREVIEW Looking Back at 2009-10 To know the future, you must first know the past. Or some crap like that. The 2009-10 campaign for the Thunder was just about as magical as it gets. Not only did the team improve 27 games to hit the 50-win plateau, but Kevin Durant became the NBA’s youngest ever scoring champion, finished second in the MVP voting and his team nearly upset the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening round of the playoffs. On top of that, Scott Brooks was named Coach of the Year, Durant signed a big extension to keep him in Oklahoma City for like 50 years and players like Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and James Harden showed off a little of just how dynamic and electric they can be. The Thunder was built mostly around a swarming, attacking, ball-hawking defensive that pressured opponents into taking bad shots late in the clock. Thabo Sefolosha was the key to it, as he was named second-team All-Defense. But on top of that was the improvement of Durant on that end of the floor along with Jeff Green, Ibaka and Westbrook all getting better as the season went along. 2009-10 Important Final Statistics Record: 50-32, fourth in the Northwest Division, eighth in the West Home: 27-14 Away: 23-18 Points Per Game: 101.5 (14th) Opponent Points Per Game: 98.0 (11th) Attendance: 738,149 (12th) Pace: 93.1 (12th) Offensive Rating: 108.3 (12th) Defensive Rating: 104.6 (9th) Opponent FG%: 44.8 (5th) Rebounds Per Game: 43.5 (3rd) SRS: 3.55 (9th) Blocks Per Game: 5.9 (1st) The Thunder struggled on the offensive end for most of the season, but really cranked things up toward the end of the season. They were right in the middle in terms of pace and for the most part, only ran when the opportunity presented itself. Last year, OKC was a well-rounded bunch that performed extremely well on one end and serviceable enough on the other. Statistically not the best team, but good enough for 50 wins. 3 DAILY THUNDER 2010-11 SEASON PREVIEW Great expectations in Thunderland Because of last season’s success and the Summer of Kevin, the stakes have been raised in Oklahoma City. Can the team live up to the hype and deliver an award-winning performance? BY ROYCE YOUNG | Photograph by Daniel Smith HATE going into movies with expectations. In a way, your mind can be made up about I a flick before you see it based on your friend raving about it or bashing it down. How can I possibly come out of National Treasure 2 and say I liked it if three of my friends ripped it to shreds the day before? Not because I'm afraid to like something my friends don't, but more so that I'm seeing the movie already knowing that people of similar taste as me hated it. So that movie better be really good to impress me because I've got some serious prejudice heading in. * * * I remember how high my hopes were for Indiana Jones 4. Like I don't know if I've ever been so excited for a movie. Actually, I don't know if I've ever been so excited for anything. My favorite movie character back on screen after over 20 years off? Yes. Please. Harrison Ford was back and looked great in the previews. Steven Spielberg preached for months about how he directed this one with the fans in mind. George Lucas went through screenplay after screenplay looking for the perfect script. Everything was coming together for a serious ROAR OF THUNDER Expectations aren’t just excellent movie. And I couldn't wait. high for the Thunder. They’re probably even higher for their star. 4 DAILY THUNDER 2010-11 SEASON PREVIEW Like a huge nerd with no life, I saw it at Of course the movie was stellar and I left midnight. I sat through two hours, didn't with a great taste. say a word to anyone and then the credits came up. And something unexpected And here's where I start bringing this happened. home. Last season for the Thunder was O Brother Where Art Thou. In fact, it may It sucked. have been something more like The Social Network, a movie that I fully expected to How could it be? How could a movie with be bored with that turned out to be the caliber of talent surrounding it be bad? completely fantastic. But the point is, I figured Indiana Jones 4 could be ancient there weren't expectations for anything scrapbooking and I'd love it. But it just and when the team did what it did, it wasn't good. And I was devastated. couldn't have been more fun. After 35 wins, it really was all gravy. Later that summer another movie I was absolutely certain would be good was Most felt as long as 2009-10 was a step released. I had equally high hopes and forward, they'd be happy. And instead, actually, these may have been a little the team won 50 games, Kevin Durant higher because this director didn't really won the scoring title, Scott Brooks won have any blemishes on his resume unlike Coach of the Year, Russell Westbrook George Lucas who tried to ruin my potentially started making The Leap, the childhood a few years earlier with Jar Jar team went to the playoffs and they Binks. Based on a few early reviews, the actually won a couple games. For last hype from a key actor's death, the cast season, there's really no accurate and the awesome looking previews, I was comparison. It was a thrill run unlike any convinced The Dark Knight would be other we'll really experience ever again. It awesome. I wasn't even a bit gun shy was a blank canvas and by the end of with what happened with Indy 4. April, we were looking at the Mona Lisa. In the end, for fans and the team, it really comes down to understanding and defining your own expectations. This time, expectations achieved. And The question is, what is this season? The then some. I've seen that movie probably 2010-11 campaign already has got the six or seven times now and there's really same hype as Indy 4 or The Dark Knight. not a thing I'd gripe about. It's not a This summer has been the equivalent of perfect movie nor is it my favorite, but it being bombarded with ads constantly. met every high hope I had for it. Everyone isn't just expecting a good movie at this point from the Thunder, And then there's the third end of the they're expecting something Oscar spectrum with expectations. When you worthy. They're expecting a masterpiece. have none, that is. I remember seeing O Brother, Where Art Thou? in high school. I I think for me, it kind of comes down to had no idea who the Coen's were. I just defining those expectations. You've got to knew George Clooney was in this movie understand what you want in order to be and some friends wanted to see it. I didn't happy. But at the same time, those type have any preconceived notion as to of things go flying out the door in whether it would be good or bad. It was December when you get a taste of the really a treat to just walk in nearly blind team and the season. Like last year, I and appreciate the two hour pictureshow thought 35 wins would be a banner year. for what it was. But by the end of February, my 5 DAILY THUNDER 2010-11 SEASON PREVIEW expectations had evolved and I was now running, winning games at a high clip all the expecting playoff basketball in Oklahoma way through the season.