Daequan Cook’s Defense Saves Oklahoma City Thunder – a Fan’s Take

It seems a lot the talk recently with the Oklahoma City Thunder surrounds Thabo Sefolosha's injury and the team having to survive without his defense until he returns. The side story is that James Harden does not seem to be the man to step in and replace that defense in the starting lineup.

Daequan Cook is a side note in this entire tale.

However, as the games against the Dallas Mavericks and Memphis Grizzlies showed, Cook is not an afterthought and is a lot better defensive player than anyone gave him credit for. Most people only think of Cook as a bench player who comes in when the need arises to drain three point shots like no one else on the team.

When head coach Scott Brooks replaced Harden in the starting lineup with Cook, I assumed the main reason was to bring some normalcy back to the team since Harden is so important as the sixth man. I underestimated Cook, just like everyone else did. I had no idea his defense was going to be so dominating.

Against the Thunder, the Mavericks and Grizzlies combined to only hit 8-of-32 (25-percent) from beyond the arc. With Harden starting in place of Sefolosha, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers were hitting everything from 3-point land. The recent success all rests with Cook's skills.

Against Memphis, Cook had seven rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots. He defended Tony Allen and O.J. Mayo, keeping both under control. Mayo only hit 5-of-16 from the field and 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. Sefolosha will miss at least another week so the fact that Cook is playing so well is a welcome relief.

Oklahoma City starts a brutal stretch of five consecutive road games on Feb. 4, starting with the San Antonio Spurs before making stops in Portland, Golden State, Sacramento and Utah, before getting a well deserved three-day break. Cook will help them get through this before Sefolosha returns.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: NewsOK.com