Yesterday, I linked to a blog at Thunderguru.com that talked about Oklahoma City’s offensive improvement and defensive slide since replacing PJ Carlesimo with Scott Brooks. Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus shed some light on the development today:
Under Carlesimo, the Thunder was threatening all sorts of league records for offensive futility. That has changed under Brooks, and impressively so. Actually, Oklahoma City’s 106.8 Offensive Rating over the last 13 games is not far off of league average for the season (108.0). The Thunder has been far more potent at late. The tradeoff has come at the defensive end, where an OKC squad that was reasonably competent early in the season has been porous since the coaching change. No team is allowing more points per 100 possessions than the Brooks Thunder, though again the league-wide shift inflates the magnitude of the change.
The move from an awful-offense/average-defense squad to one that is nearly average at scoring but dismal at defending can largely be traced to Brooks’ biggest coaching move thus far. Right away, he shifted starters Kevin Durant and Jeff Green from shooting guard and small forward to small forward and power forward, taking a big man out of the lineup (center Robert Swift, who had been starting at center, has not played since Brooks took over because of a back injury) and making room for another wing, Damien Wilkins. The new look offers more perimeter shooting, but has left Oklahoma City woefully small in the frontcourt, explaining the improved offense and the weakened defense.
Pelton goes on to explain Durant’s improved offensive efficiency. It’s a great read from a brilliant basketball mind.
