The Oklahoma City Thunder may eventually have to part ways
with Serge Ibaka (or Kendrick Perkins) but are for now blessed with a big man
who has sky-high potential.
Hakeem Olajuwon would be the perfect tutor for Ibaka for various
reasons. Olajuwon has shown he is willing to reach out to current NBA players
like LeBron
James and Dwight
Howard, so if Ibaka can manage to spend some time with one of the NBA’s
greatest centers of all time, he would be wise to take full advantage of it.
Here are five skills that Serge Ibaka could learn from
Hakeem Olajuwon and make a push at becoming an elite center/power forward.
1. Offensive post moves
and footwork
The
consensus last year was that the Oklahoma City Thunder really needed an
offensive post presence.
Although it was masked by two of the NBA’s most prolific
scorers (three-time
scoring champion Kevin Durant and point guard Russell
Westbrook), Ibaka and Perkins did not provide nearly enough lift
offensively.
Most often, Scott Brooks would have to choose one or the
other to play center and have Kevin Durant play power forward because having
two players who cannot score the basketball on the court at the same time is a
huge liability.
Not only that but it allows an extra man (and a half) guard
Durant or Westbrook whether they sag off Ibaka or Perkins or simply double a
scorer.
Olajuwon is known as one of the best offensive big men of
all time. In fact, Pete Newell said Olajuwon has “the best footwork [he’s] ever
seen from a big man” (per NBA.com).
You don’t get much higher praise than that.
So, if Ibaka could figure out something even remotely
similar to the Dream Shake (video above), he could become more of a weapon and
less of a liability for the Thunder.
2. Get defensive rebounds
more effectively and efficiently
Over his career, Ibaka averages less than seven rebounds per
game.
That needs to change—especially if he is going to be a primary
big man.
While there is truth to the statement that defensive
presence is more than just statistics, rebounds do have quantitative value:
namely preventing offensive rebounds and allowing your team to get transition
opportunities.
Hakeem Olajuwon averaged over 11 rebounds in his career. He
could likely briefly watch some tape of Ibaka and suggest the best way for
Ibaka to improve his rebounding.
It may be something as simple as effort and boxing out, or
it may be more intricate—perhaps transitioning better from being a shot-blocker
to a rebounder. Either way, this would be something that would significantly
improve Ibaka’s overall game.
3. The mindset of a big
man
Although Ibaka is already approaching the league’s elite big
men, his offensive game isn’t quite there.
Perhaps more importantly, his mindset and outward appearance
isn’t there yet.
Too often we see Ibaka running up and down the court looking
too much like a nice guy. The center position isn’t meant to be friendly—people
don’t call it “battling” for rebounds for nothing.
Hakeem’s sustained success in the NBA can always come back
to his mental composure and appearance. Just look at some of the league’s best
centers in recent memory (Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard): something in
their swagger is intimidating.
Breaking
backboards does tend to do that to an opponent.
4. Shot blocking
To be fair, Serge Ibaka is already one of the league’s best
shot-blockers.
In fact, his league leading 241 blocks was over 100 more
than the second-place finisher.
But just imagine where Ibaka could be if he got some tips
from the NBA’s all-time blocks leader. And going back two slides, if Ibaka can
learn how to rebound and shot block effectively he will be right up there with
Dwight Howard as the league’s best defensive presence.
5. How to play with other
great players
All of the aforementioned skills are useless if Ibaka cannot
coexist with Durant and Westbrook.
That’s not to say that he hasn’t been already, just that
offensively Westbrook likes to handle the ball a lot and shoot early in the
shot clock while Durant is capable of taking over games with the ball in his
hands.
Hakeem knows what that’s like, having played with one of the
NBA’s 50 greatest players, Clyde Drexler (who
I have interviewed).
Preparing Ibaka to gameplan with Durant and Westbrook and
prepare to create opportunities for himself is critical in order to remain on
the floor and in an Oklahoma City uniform.
He already has a decent jump shot—if he can become more of
an offensive threat he will make his way up near/to the top of the NBA’s best
big men.
This article can also be viewed at Bleacher Report.com
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