After Serge Ibaka accumulated six fouls in eighteen minutes during last night's loss against Orlando, he increased his lead over the competition in the dubious category of fouling out of the most games. Ibaka currently lands at 27th in the league in personal fouls per 48 minutes. While that may not sound so bad, a closer look at the leader board reveals that nearly every player that commits fouls at a more frequent rate than does Ibaka plays less minutes than he does. The only exception to this rule is Amir Johnson, who has played 0.3 more minutes per game than Serge.
Ibaka's tendency to hack away at the competition may become an increasing problem for the Thunder if, as expected, he soon begins registering more minutes with the departure of Jeff Green. Over the upcoming weeks and months, we will see whether he can shift his defensive game to better suit his new, expanded role. Come playoff-time, the Thunder's potential opponents sport a group of talented big men, including Bynum/Gasol, D. West, Duncan, Nowitzki, and LaMarcus Aldridge. Ibaka is much better suited to cover some of these players than Kendrick Perkins or Kevin Durant. The question is, can he stay on the floor while doing so? Because if not, the Thunder will be forced to either play Nick Collison big minutes or shift Durant to the 4. If they are often forced to either of those options, the Thunder will likely be shown a quick exit from the championship hunt.
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