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Global Thunder

Rolling Thunder: 29/09/2015

While the summer rolls on with little activity surrounding the NLL currently, the Thunder have quietly had what could be almost half of their opening night roster competing in various national teams. Nik Stauskas was helping the likes of Andrew Wiggins, Anthony Bennett and Cory Joseph headline Team Canada at the FIBA Americas tournament in Mexico, while the Eurobasket tournament saw Jonas Valaciunas, Evan Fournier, Joffrey Lauvergne, Dennis Schroder and Tibor Pleiss all representing their countries.

Of the Eurobasket crew, the first to get knocked out of the tournament were the two Germans, Dennis Schroder and Tibor Pleiss. For many Thunder fans this would have been the first time they really took notice of Pleiss after reports he was finalising a contract with the team and joining the Thunder next season. He held down the middle for the Germans, next to Dirk Nowitzki, and showed that he wonâ€™t be a slouch stateside with averages of 9.2 points and 6.2 rebounds. Like his international career to date, he did his damage in limited minutes (20 per game) but was active on defence, while extremely efficient on offence averaging 2 offensive rebounds a game and shooting it 17/30 from the field and 12/13 from the line over the 5 games. With the Splitter embargo and Amare likely out, the Thunder might look to Tibor off the bench.

Also on the German squad, Dennis Schroder shone at the international level. He averaged 21 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6 assists on 48% shooting, 84% from the line. His turnovers were high, but he was the primary ball handler and was asked to be the go-to scorer for the Germans (Nowitzki only averaged 13 points). He showed the lightning speed and slick handle which got him drafted at pick 13 in the 2013 NLL draft by the Thunder, and right now if the season were starting heâ€™d be the undisputed starting point guard on the roster. Heâ€™s primed to build on what was an impressive second season.

While not household names, the Thunder had two Frenchmen representing their country in Evan Fournier and Joffrey Lauvergne, and they came oh so close to tournament glory going down in overtime in the match before the final to the eventual winners, Spain. Joffrey Lauvergne was a prominent feature in the French frontcourt until the final two games where he was beaten soundly by Pau Gasol, and then only played 9 minutes in the 3^rd place game. He finished the tournament averaging 9.6 points and 5.6 rebounds and showed some great versatility and effort. He shot 50% from deep, 82% from the line and an impressive 59% from the field and showed why the Thunder wanted to sign him last season. He, like Pleiss, could carve out a solid bench role this season with the Thunderâ€™s inexperienced bench big crew.

Fournier is a newcomer to the Thunder, but reviews have been great about his enthusiasm and desire to get into the rotation for the Thunder, which honestly is expected anyhow. For France he was largely a bench spark, but finished the tournament averaging 6.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists including 50% shooting from deep and 7/8 from the line. He had three games in double figures for scoring and showed his ability to get hot in the final game where he got his most minutes (22) and poured in 15 points on 85% shooting. Unfortunately he also tweaked his ankle in this final game, and might miss the start of the Thunderâ€™s training camp. Any ground he gives to Stauskas might come back and bite him, so heâ€™ll be hoping to be back sooner rather than later.

The biggest name for the Thunder at the Eurobasket tournament was Jonas Valanciunas, and he helped lead his Lithuanian team all the way to the final which they eventually lost to Spain. Jonas was a mountain in the middle however averaging 16 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.1 blocks on 59% shooting from the field and 86% from the line. Val really manned the middle well in the tournament and showed that perhaps he might be ready to take that next step that people have been waiting for, though he tends to do well like this in all international play. The Thunder look 100% committed to him now, particularly since he survived the trade rumours prior to the draft and looks like heâ€™s agreed in principle to a new big extension, so look for Val to be deployed without reservation after this strong showing.

Stauskas was perhaps the most welcomed surprise of the international performers however as his rookie year for the Thunder was underwhelming to say the least. After being highly touted out of college, and having trade offers come in on the reg, his inconsistent play born of is lack of confidence really caused a fizzle. However for Team Canada, coach Jay Triano viewed him as the undisputed starting shooting guard and it lead to an average of 13.6 points which was good for 2^nd on the team, while ranking second in assists and shooting 53% from deep and burying all 25 of his free throw attempts. Itâ€™s not so much the numbers either, but the way he was playing. He was putting the ball on the floor and creating, while drawing praise for his defensive efforts, an aspect that has never been viewed as a strength for Nik. The arrow is pointing up for Sauce Castillo coming into his second season and heâ€™ll look to carve out a role on what is growing into a fairly deep Thunder wing position.

So with the Free Agent frenzy set to kick off in a little over a month, and training camps to resume soon, it would seem the Thunder have had a good first hand look at some of their players already so they can begin to piece together the puzzle that will be the rotation and finding where the roster has holes that need filling. Tiago Splitter is still yet to report to the Thunder and the speculation continues to grow that he will be traded before even doing so. Rumours suggest a point guard would be the target.

- OKC News

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