I’ll be honest, I’ve been really negative on Thabo Sefolosha for years. Yeah, he’s a great defensive player. However, his offensive woes have overshadowed his defense in the past. However, due to the lock out, Sefolosha played in Switzerland, leading that league in scoring. I had the privileged of watching some of the games online. I’ll be honest, dude really brought his “A” game.
Coming into the season, we all expected the same Sefolosha that we’ve come to know. However, he really changed his offensive game. He was much more aggressive. He took more shots, made a lot more shots. Not to mention really became a decent cutter. A lot of his mishaps in the NBA Finals, really distracted everyone from what a great season he had this year.
If I would have told you that Thabo Sefolosha was the best three-point shooter during the regular season? Would you have believed me? Yeah, I wouldn’t have either. I knew he shot well, but 43.7 percent well? That’s impressive. He actually shot better from three than he did from two. He didn’t average much, just 4.8 points per game. Thabo even had a season high of 19 points at Boston, back in January.
As well as Sefolosha played this season, he hurt his foot January 27, at Golden State. He missed the remainder of that game. Sefolosha would then miss the next 24 straight games with that foot injury. An injury that Sefolosha admitted is not 100 percent. The Thunder went 17-7 in their games without Sefolosha. Before that, they were 17-3. It’s very safe to say the injury effected him immensely. He didn’t average as many points, didn’t shoot as well, and to a point, defense lacked at times. What’s crazy is that Sefolosha shot 48.1 percent from three-point range before the injury and just 40.9 percent after the injury.
Thabo is just a fifth year guy. That’s hard to believe. He looks like a veteran, plus he’s been around forever. There is plenty of upside for this “kid.” I’d really love to see Thabo become a lot more aggressive on the offensive end. He shot well, and plays great defense. There is no reason why he can’t become a stealth threat offensively. He’s a smart guy and reminds me a lot of Shane Battier.
Thabo Sefolosha, despite the injury, had his best season in Oklahoma City. I think he earned the starting position by evolving offensively. It makes me curious to how much the injury really stopped us from seeing how much this player could improve. Luckily, he’ll be back healthy next season. That should allow Oklahoma City, and their fans, to see him really come into his own.
Post Season Grade: B+
Photo Credits: Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images
