Why Serge Ibaka Is the Player to Turn Oklahoma City Thunder's Season Around

If the Oklahoma City Thunder are going to right the ship, Serge Ibaka will have to steer.

After Tuesday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, the team with the worst record in the NBA last season, Oklahoma City is now 2-6. Last season, OKC didn’t lose its sixth game until the last day of December.

The struggle is real, and with Russell Westbrook out for at least another month, help is not on the way. That places a tremendous amount of pressure on OKC’s de facto best player, Serge Ibaka.

Being undermanned in the dog-eat-dog Western Conference is never a good look. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has even wondered why the Thunder haven't considered tanking. As appealing as the No. 1 pick might be (Jahlil Okafor, anyone?), it’s way too early for the Thunder to give up on this season.

Think of Ibaka as a 6’10" substitute teacher. All he has to do is look after things until Westbrook and Kevin Durant are back at full health. Then he can slide into a more complementary role.

Though not as heralded as Durant or Westbrook, Ibaka can certainly be a difference-maker. Here’s why.

Defensive Presence

Ibaka’s defensive impact cannot be overstated. Just look what happened when Ibaka missed two games with a calf injury in last year’s Western Conference Finals. San Antonio dominated the Thunder, winning those two games by an average margin of 26 points.

Notice the difference in Oklahoma City’s team defense with and without Ibaka in last year’s postseason. The contrast is staggering.

	Games	PPG	FG%
With Ibaka	17	101.9	43.1
Without Ibaka	2	117.0	53.8

Ibaka has length, huge hops and excellent anticipation. Plus, he moves well for a player his size. Defensively, he’s the whole package.

Without Westbrook and Durant to rely on offensively, OKC needs to win with defense. That starts with Ibaka.

Improved Offense

We all know Ibaka is a world-class defender. But he’s no slouch offensively.

Look at the stats. Last year, his points-per-game average surged (no pun intended) to 15.1, a new career-high. This year, he’s done even better, scoring at a clip of close to 17 points per game.

Ibaka’s biggest asset offensively is his versatility. He has a respectable post game, but he’s even more dangerous from beyond the arc. His career three-point percentage (37.9) is higher than both of his All-Star teammates.

In six Thunder losses, Ibaka has averaged 16.2 points per game. In OKC’s two wins, he’s posted 18.5 points per game. He’s also been less turnover-prone in the two victories (1.5 TOPG versus 2.8).

	Games	PPG	BLKPG	STLPG	TOPG
OKC Wins	2	18.5	2.5	0.5	1.5
OKC Losses	6	16.2	1.3	0.2	2.8

One thing is for sure. If the Thunder want to stay relevant in the Western Conference, Ibaka will need to be heavily involved on offense.

Competitive Edge

In basketball, you’ll often see a coach take a technical to get his team fired up. Oklahoma City doesn’t need that—they already have Ibaka.

Ibaka may not be quite as hotheaded as Westbrook, but he’s certainly not afraid to ruffle a few feathers. He’s gone after Blake Griffin, Matt Barnes, Metta World Peace and even Vince Carter, as you'll see in the clip below.

I’m not suggesting Ibaka should lose his cool whenever things get chippy. That’s DeMarcus Cousins territory, and nobody wants that. But a 2-6 team needs a spark, and if Ibaka can put his swagger to good use, why wouldn’t he?

The Thunder aren’t where they need to be right now. That much is obvious.

But If Ibaka can tap into his deep skill set while providing some much-needed toughness, Oklahoma City might be able to turn things around. In fact, they’ll have a chance to do just that on Wednesday against the rebuilding Boston Celtics.

After that, the schedule gets even friendlier with soft matchups against Detroit, Utah and Denver. Who knows, maybe Oklahoma City can crawl its way back to .500 by the time Westbrook is able to suit up.

Those MVP chants aren’t for you, Kendrick Perkins. They’re for Serge.