Serge Ibaka Has Lost Some Confidence vs the Memphis Grizzlies

Zach Randolph and the Memphis Grizzlies have shut down Serge Ibaka so far in the second round of the NBA Playoffs—the OKC Thunder big man is shooting a putrid 30.8 percent from the field. Kevin Durant seems to think Ibaka’s issues in the series are mostly mental, and Serge admits to a loss of confidence. Per the Oklahoman: “A day after Kevin Durant said Serge Ibaka’s shooting struggles were all in his mind, Ibaka admitted that his confidence is waning. ‘Yeah,’ Ibaka said. ‘It’s normal, man. It’s normal. A little bit. But that does not mean my confidence is way down because after all the shots I missed, after the (missed) dunk, I was still playing defense. I wanted to still help my teammates. I wanted to still try to be aggressive. But it’s normal like he said. Of course, that happens to everybody.’ Ibaka suggested his shots in this series might be too easy. ‘Most of the time when you’re open that’s when it’s tough to make shots because you try to get some different focus than normally when some guys try to contest your shots,’ Ibaka said. ‘So that’s happened.’ Ibaka said his focus now is just moving forward. ‘Like people say, if you think about the past you cannot get better in the next one,’ Ibaka said. ‘So right now I’m trying to do the best I can to forget about (Saturday) night’s game and be focused the next game and try to be aggressive.'”