Section 309

Just a quick post today before the boys take on the Charlotte Bobcats. I'd like to mention a couple of interesting tidbits that have resulted since Scotty Brooks took over as coach.

First, the changes he's made to the lineup. Most notably, Russell Westbrook taking over the starters role at Point Guard and Nick Collison heading to the bench in favor of Chris "Weezy" Wilcox. Westbrook and Wilcox have only started one game, the Thunder's most recent against Memphis, and the Thunder won. Though it's only one game it's been coming to this for a while as Brooks seems to favor speed and athleticism so the Thunder can spread the court and create mismatches.

Check this out though, courtesy of 82games.com. It's the top 5-man combinations for the Thunder this season. It's put in order by total minutes played together but look at the +/- stat for the units (+/- is the net point differential between the 5 man unit and the 5 man unit they played against).

The worst 3 units for the Thunder (Min. 20 minutes together):
Watson-Durant-Green-Collison-Petro (-50)
Watson-Durant-Green-Wilkins-Collison (-43)
Watson-Durant-Green-Collison-Swift (-41)

The best 3 units for the Thunder (Min. 20 minutes together):
Westbrook-Mason-Smith-Green-Wilcox (+3)
Westbrook-Durant-Mason-Smith-Wilcox (+3)
Westbrook-Durant-Green-Wilcox-Collison (-9)

This could mean many things. First, Uncle Rusty was stubborn because these worst 3 lineups are also the top 3 lineups as far as minutes played together. Second, it could mean it hasn't been updated in a while to reflect Damien Wilkens insertion into a starters role since Scotty took over. Third, it means that Westbrook on the floor, and Weezy to a lesser extent, have a positive impact on the game.

The other interesting factoid resulting from Scotty taking over also reflects the above. Courtesy of Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman:

"In 15 games under Carlesimo, the Thunder averaged 88.9 points. Under Brooks, OKC is averaging 98.2, which increases to 101.4 if you throw out the Cleveland clunker."

Of course, we're still in the honeymoon phase with Scotty but one has to be encouraged of what has been happening over this relatively short progress. At the very least it represents the kind of progress that everyone had hoped for from the beginning. Hopefully it portends that the season is not lost and the Thunder can quit being a freebie on everyone's schedule.

Tonight it represents an opportunity to start a winning streak.