Lopsided loss to Hornets overshadows Collison's best game
Thunder power forward posts 16 points, 13 rebounds in 10th straight loss

BY DARNELL MAYBERRY

Published: November 22, 2008

Things have become so bad for Thunder forward Nick Collison over the past three weeks that even his good days are now forgettable.

Chris Paul of New Orleans get tangled up with Nick Collison of Oklahoma City during the NBA basketball game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the New Orleans Hornets at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Friday, Nov. 21, 2008. By Bryan Terry

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Collison strung together his best performance of the season Friday night with 16 points and 13 rebounds, only to watch the Thunder drop its 10th straight game in a 105-80 blowout to the New Orleans Hornets.

The Thunder fell to a league-worst 1-12 going into tonight’s rematch against the Hornets tonight in New Orleans.

The losing has visibly affected Collison perhaps more than any other Thunder player. It was Collison who called out his teammates for being too happy inside the locker room immediately after a 25-point defeat last Saturday in Philadelphia.

Behind the scenes, Collison has had long chats with general manager Sam Presti and the coaching staff. He seems more aloof as the days go by, and his individual performance has mirrored the team’s sluggish start.

Collison, who won the starting power forward job over Chris Wilcox, entered the game averaging 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds, the lowest totals since his rookie season in 2004-05. He had scored in double figures only three times this season and recorded at least 10 rebounds only once.

His best effort before Friday night was a 10-point, 10-rebound performance in the Thunder’s only win, 88-85 over Minnesota.

The Thunder can only hope Friday’s showing will be duplicated over the next few weeks.

"This is more in line with what Nick did consistently for us last year,” said Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo. "That was encouraging, and I think he will (build on it). It’s not that he’s not been playing hard. He’s been playing hard. He just hasn’t gotten the results that he got last year. So that was one encouraging thing from tonight.”

Collison entered this season as the team’s best rebounder and most consistent low-post to mid-range threat after averaging a career-high 9.8 points and 9.4 rebounds a year ago.

But his production has tailed off as the Thunder makes a concerted effort to develop Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, and the team has struggled to score.

"He’s a great asset to our team as far as rebounding and playing defense and stretching the defense with his jump shot,” said Kevin Durant. "He adds a lot to our team. So it was good to see him play well tonight.

"We got to get him a little bit more involved in the offense as far as dropping it to him and getting him wide-open shots.”

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