Serge Ibaka was once thought of in the Oklahoma City Thunder organization as a guy that would become a star player. Remember, the Thunder chose to keep him alongside Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook over James Harden. Harden has since gone on to become a superstar of his own team while Ibaka is stuck playing third fiddle at best.
The Thunder as a team have been playing great recently. They have won eight of their last nine games and are almost a lock for the three seed out West come playoff time. Because of the team is winning, it's easy to think Ibaka could put his role reduction on the backburner, but he says he is having a difficult time making the adjustment.
"I'm gonna tell you the truth, it's hard sometimes when you play hard, you play your butt off," said Ibaka. "You play so hard on defense, then you come to offense and you're going to be out there in the corner for 4, 5, 6, sometimes 8 minutes and you don't touch the ball. We human, man. It's hard."
Ibaka's best trait has always been his ability to protect the rim. To this day he is still one of the best shot blockers in the NBA and his defensive prowess does not go unnoticed by the Thunder. But on offense Ibaka says he sometimes feels like a forgotten man and it frustrates him. It's hard to blame Ibaka because he was so used to being a prominent part of the offense. But when you play alongside Westbrook and Durant, they are inevitably going to take the majority of the shots.
The 26-year-old forward is averaging just 11.2 shot attempts per game this season which is his lowest mark in three years. The Thunder have a plethora of scoring options so this shouldn't come as a surprise, but of course it won't be easy for Ibaka to not touch the ball for possessions at a time. The seven-year veteran was in no way complaining, but there have been questions all year about his reduced production and he responded by saying he needed time to adjust to his new role.
Over the last couple of seasons Ibaka has turned himself into more of a jump shooter than a post player. Last season he attempted more than three three's per game and this year that number is just over two. Ibaka's three-point percentage has dropped from 38 to 34, but that is something that can again be attributed to his new role.
Despite the fact that the Warriors and the Spurs have stolen all of the headlines this season, the Thunder still feel like they are a championship-level team. In order for OKC to reach that goal, it needs Ibaka both on defense as a rim protector and on offense as a third option. The Thunder rested Ibaka during their last game to have him fresh for the playoffs and he will be their X-factor in the postseason.
