The Oklahoma City Thunder have been playing well, lately, putting to rest the criticisms for their poor play fourth quarters with an eight-game win streak. This success has led them to a 52-23 record, third in the West, and puts them in the upper echelon of teams behind the Warriors and Spurs.
Despite the recent success, however, the Thunder have also had their share of struggles. Much of that has stemmed from a seemingly isolation-heavy offense relying too heavily on Thunder stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook to take turns breaking down the defense.
While that criticism has mostly come from the outside looking in, Thunder power forward Serge Ibaka seems to agree.
“I’m gonna tell you the truth, it’s hard sometimes when you play hard, you play your (butt off),” Ibaka swore, before apologizing and rephrasing. “You play so hard on defense, then you come to offense and you’re going to be out there in the corner for 4, 5, 6, sometimes 8 minutes and you don’t touch the ball. We human, man. It’s hard.”
Ibaka has long been known for his unrelenting style of play, especially on the defensive end. Although he has struggled a bit this season, he is still a huge key to any success for the Thunder. He also has a very valid point. The Thunder do struggle to move the ball at times and that can be very demotivating for a player whose success on one end comes from hard work and his success on the other end relies on getting the ball from teammates.
Ibaka did clarify later, saying the team has done a better job of moving the ball in recent weeks, helping create this spurt of winning basketball.
For the Thunder to succeed in the playoffs, they need Serge Ibaka at his best form. He has yet to show that this season, but if Durant and Westbrook continue putting him in positions to succeed, he could turn that around and make the Thunder a legitimately scary team.
