With Miami launching their signature offense driving and spinning into the lane and Chris Bosh being back on the floor, for the first time in this season, a few areas of concerns about OKC have grown on me after watching Game 2. On the internet, much talk has been focused on this series going to come down to how well the Thunder front-court players will hold down the paint.
Let's take a look at Chris Bosh's profile first: • He is a superb perimeter defender and a capable post-up threat. • He is known for his good mid-range jumper, which he uses a lot when opponents double team James or Wade. • His performance in game 2 proves that his average over 10 rebounds per game isn't just a number on paper • He is a 80% career free throw shooter and shoots almost 50% from the field despite spending a large amount of his time on the perimeter.
And then Serge Ibaka: “If there’s one flaw to Serge Ibaka’s defensive genius, it’s when he gets pulled away from the basket. He can’t block everything at the rim, like he usually does, if he has to go 25 feet out to guard a resurgent Chris Bosh. This advantage is more directed to: Chris Bosh vs. OKC big men than Serge Ibaka alone … but, regardless of who’s guarding him, OKC’s interior defense will be stretched by Chris Bosh’s perimeter ability, and that will open the lane for the likes of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade. Perkins, Ibaka, and Collison can’t return the favor on the offensive end … and over the course of a seven game series, this will be OKC’s biggest problem to solve”
Scott hasn't changed his starting lineup (in good times or bad) and stuck with: Westbrook - Sefolosha - Durant - Ibaka - Perkins for a long time. Will Scott follow Pop to insert his sixth man James Harden into the Game3 starting line to give OKC's offense a boost? Will he finally decide to sit his beefy center down to start experimenting more with a Serge Ibaka/Durant front line. Changes, they could be a-coming?