The Serge Effect, What Ibaka Brings to Thunder

The Oklahoma City Thunder stands no chance of beating the San Antonio Spurs without Serge Ibaka. This fact was made crystal clear during the first two meetings of the two teams. Ibaka’s essence to OKC was shown through his absence. In game 3, the hyper athletic forward returned to action to change the course of the series, as the Thunder got their first victory in the 2014 Western Conference Finals. The Ibaka Effect will now continue to make the Thunder’s road towards the NBA Finals a bit easier and here are the top 3 benefits OKC receives out of Ibaka’s presence.

No.1: Defense

Serge Ibaka has been one of the NBA’s top shot blockers for the past few seasons, if not the best. He finished the 2013 – 2014 season as the league – leader in total blocked shots. Apart from his blocks, the 24 – year old forward is altering many more shots and also barricading the Thunder’s paint.

In this series against the sizzling San Antonio Spurs, Ibaka’s contribution on defense is essential. The Spurs are so good on offense that the Thunder are allowed to make no mistakes on defense. With Ibaka on the court, OKC can be a bit more confident about its pick and roll defense and also be optimistic that it can avoid some easy baskets close to the hoop. Of course, Serge Ibaka is assigned with the task of containing Tim Duncan, a task that is anything but easy. But if there is one man that can defend megastars like Duncan, that’s Serge Ibaka.

No.2: The third offensive wheel

Let’s face it, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are used to having a third wheel to accompany them on offense. At first it was James Harden, then Kevin Martin and during the 2013 – 2014 season, this role was filled by Serge Ibaka. It’s no surprise that the he sank five out of his six shots from the floor in Game 3. With KD and Durant on the floor the opposing defense has to pay attention to those two superstars and that leaves the rest of the team open in several cases. Serge Ibaka appeared to be much improved on offensive this season. He worked on his mid – range jump shot and he even possesses some post moves now. So, when the two megastars can’t get congested, Ibaka is ready to punish the opposing defense.

No.3: Momentum boost

What the Oklahoma City Thunder need more than anything else in this Western Conference Finals series is a momentum boost. The Thunder needed to turn things around after dropping the first two games. Kevin Durant has not been able to reach his MVP level of performance and Russell Westbrook has been good but not great up till now. The Thunder needed to make the difference in Game 3, they needed someone to step up and this guy was Serge Ibaka. Even since the team announced that Ibaka’s status was upgraded to day-to-day, something changed in Oklahoma City. You could feel it in the air. Will this alteration be translated to OKC’s domination in this Western Conference Finals series?

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