Victor Oladipo is a very good on ball defender. C.J. McCollum is one of the league’s most slippery guards. Put the two together and we were definitely going to get one really cool moment between the two – either Oladipo was going to put the clamps on McCollum, or McCollum was going to shake Oladipo in a way that raised eyebrows.
That second thing ended up happening during the second quarter of Sunday’s Portland-Oklahoma City game. McCollum was dribbling up the court and got hounded the entire way by Oladipo. After crossing halfcourt, McCollum initiated contact with Oladipo and went behind his back to try and create some separation.
The contact mixed with the change in speed/direction caught Oladipo off guard, and the Thunder guard’s feet got crossed up. This sent Oladipo flying – he literally went from outside of the three point line to right next to the free throw line. This doesn’t change the fact that Oladipo is a good defender, obviously, but he may want to think twice before he gets this close to a guy with McCollum’s bag of tricks off the bounce.
After this happened, McCollum pulled up and knocked down a jumper. Because if you’re going to do this to someone and you attempt a jumper, you are guaranteed to hit the shot.
