quantity of each players contributions to his teams ability to

BARCELONA, Spain -- Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder saw exactly what they need to move on after Kevin Durant: buckets in bunches from Victor Oladipo.The 24-year-old guard scored 34 points in his debut on Monday as the Thunder began their first preseason without Durant in nearly a decade with a 142-137 overtime loss at Real Madrid.Getting Oladipo off to a good start was clearly the Thunders focus for the game in the Spanish capital. He made 14 of 24 shots in 33 minutes and dished out five assists, while Westbrook left the team in his hands. Westbrook settled for 18 points in 22 minutes after sitting out the second and fourth quarters.I think (Oladipo) did a good job of playing aggressive, Westbrook said of his new backcourt partner. Thats the most important part of going out and competing, being aggressive, and thats what we need for him to do.Consistently driving to the basket against the nine-time Euroleague champions, Oladipo led an offense that coach Billy Donovan is trying to remake after the departure of Durant and his superb shooting touch from long range.The problems for Donovan came at the other end of the court. With shot-blocker Serge Ibaka no longer defending the paint after the Thunder traded him to the Orlando Magic for Oladipo and other players, Real Madrid roared back from an early 22-point deficit by scoring 92 points in the second half and overtime.We are a work in progress. We replaced faces on our team, Donovan said. We were very good offensively, we scored an enormous amount of points, but . they nearly scored 95 points in the second half. So, to me, its much, much more us being able to sustain a defensive intensity for the full 48 minutes.Domantas Sabonis and Ersan Ilyasova, the other players the Thunder acquired from Orlando for Ibaka, also played their first games under Donovan. The newly drafted Sabonis had seven points, five rebounds and four assists before fouling out.Oladipo, taken second by the Magic in the 2013 draft, led the Thunder in scoring just ahead of forward Enes Kanters 29 points, despite misfiring from distance. He hit only one of seven 3-point attempts.Spanish rookie Alex Abrines, however, showed how important he could be to the team built around the driving duo of Oladipo and Westbrook by making four of his five 3-pointers.(Abrines) is going to be huge for us. We need him, the way he shoots the ball, the way he can open up the lane for me and Russ, the way he spreads the floor, Oladipo said. I still got room to improve there obviously. But, again, I feel that I am special in that aspect, that I can do a lot of things pretty good. So Ive just got to keep growing, keep getting better.Next up, the Thunder head east to the Mediterranean coast for Wednesdays game against Barcelona, Abrines team until he made the leap to the NBA in July.It will then be back to the U.S. for four more preseason games before the Thunders season opener at the Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 26.Oladipo will have until Feb. 11 to prime his game for the return of Durant to Oklahoma City, this time in a Golden State Warriors uniform. Alex English Nuggets Jersey . Jane Virtanen scored two, and Alex Roach and Elliott Peterson rounded out the offence for the Hitmen (40-15-6). Brady Brassart chipped in with three assists. Colton McCarthy scored twice, Brayden Point had a goal and two assists, and Jack Rodewald also scored for the Warriors (15-35-9), who were 2 for 5 on the power play. Tyler Lydon Jersey .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. http://www.authenticnuggetsproshop.com/Will-Barton-Jersey/ . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. Gary Harris Nuggets Jersey . -- Devin Hester is done returning kicks in Chicago. Jarred Vanderbilt Jersey . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. For the sixth season in a row, ESPN.com is ranking the top players in the NBA. Who will be the best player this season?To get the final ranking, we asked our expert panel to vote on pairs of players.LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. Russell Westbrook vs. Kevin Durant. Damian Lillard vs. Chris Paul.We asked, Which player will be better in 2016-17? To decide, voters had to consider both the quality and the quantity of each players contributions to his teams ability to win games.Well roll out the rest of our top 200 players over the next two days. If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. You also can follow along @ESPNNBA and on Facebook.On to the list ...9. Paul GeorgePacers | SF | @Yg_TreceLast years rank: 262016-17 projected RPPM: 5.dddddddddddd49Insider profile:?George returned in full force in 2015-16 from his horrific broken leg after a brief cameo at the end of the preceding season. With a summer to work back to full strength, he was as good as ever. His brilliant playoff performance against the Toronto Raptors solidified his standing as perhaps the Easts best two-way wing. George is on the short list of players, along with Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler, who can be the primary creator on offense while shutting down the opponents best wing threat. ?Read more ?#NBArank 6-106: Anthony Davis7: Chris Paul8: James Harden9: Paul George10: Damian Lillard#NBArank 2016: The Top 200 countdown ' ' '