SAN ANTONIO – Oklahoma City Thunder guard/forward Andre Roberson sat in the AT&T Center after practice Sunday and smiled when he recalled the first time he stepped on the Spurs’ home court.
Roberson was in elementary school then – he couldn’t remember what grade he was in – when he played in a YMCA Little Dribblers game at halftime of a Spurs contest.
“It was fun,” he said. “It’s a blessing to be back in San Antonio and play in front of your family and friends at the highest level in the playoffs. It just makes it that much more special. I don’t take it for granted. You enjoy every little bit of it.”
Roberson, who helped lead Wagner High School to the Class 5A state semifinals as a junior and senior in 2009 and 2010, grew up a “big-time” Spurs fan and watched a few games at the AT&T Center through the years. One of his teammates at Wagner was guard Jordan Clarkson, who also graduated in 2010 and now plays for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Roberson started at shooting guard against the Spurs in Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series Saturday night at the AT&T Center. The Silver and Black also will host Game 2, set for 8:30 p.m. Monday.
Roberson, 6-foot-7 and 210 pounds, averaged 4.8 points and 3.6 rebounds in his third NBA season. He started all 70 games he played in and logged an average of 22 minutes.
One of the Thunder’s best defenders and most versatile players, Roberson played nearly 20 minutes in San Antonio’s 124-92 shellacking of OKC in the series opener. He had a tough night offensively, missing his only two field-goal attempts, both three-pointers, and finishing with only one rebound.
“I don’t necessarily feel good about getting blown out by 40 points (actually, 32), but at the same time you can’t get too high, can’t get too low,” Roberson said. “In our case, we can’t get too low. We’ll come back, practice to get better and look at the film, and see what we did wrong and adjust from there.
“Every game is its own seven-game series. We’re looking to get one here and go back home and take care of our home court. Hopefully that will put us in a good position to win the series.”
What do the Thunder have to do keep the game close Monday night?
“Most important is our urgency,” Roberson said. “I don’ think we came ready to play at a high level yesterday. I think we coasted and eased into the game to start out. They threw the first punch. We’ve got to come back and take care of transition defense and pick-and-roll defense. Make them play 24 seconds on defense. If we do that, we’ll be all right.”
OKC faces the challenge of wresting the home-court advantage from a Spurs team that has lost only once at the AT&T Center this season. Roberson was asked what makes the Silver and Black such a model of consistency.
“I give it to Pop and the players he recruits,” he said. “They’re all great guys and willing to work together. Pop, being the great coach that he is, no matter if you’re a starter or a role player, he gets on you. That’s what you need. That accountability in the locker room, on the court, off the court, is just a big-time key to any success. They trust and believe in him, and that’s what it takes.”
The Spurs kept the Thunder scrambling with their crisp ball movement in Game 1, finishing the game with 39 assists on 51 made field goals.
“They’re looking for the uncontested shot,” Roberson said. “They don’t really care who gets the credit, as long as the balls goes in the basket and they get the ‘W’ in the column. That’s what a lot of guys appreciate about them. If you’re a fan of basketball, you love it. You love to see that happen. If a guy has a good shot, they look for a person who has a great shot. They pass it around and look for that uncontested shot.”
Roberson has seen the Spurs plenty since his rookie season in 2013-14. San Antonio and OKC are both in the Southwest Division, and play each other four times during the regular season. This is the second time Roberson has faced the Silver and Black in the postseason. The Spurs eliminated the Thunder in the 2014 Western Conference finals.
Roberson was selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the 26th pick in the first round of the 2013 NBA draft. The Timberwolves actually made the selection for Golden State after completing a deal with the Warriors, and the Warriors subsequently traded the pick to OKC.
Named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year as a junior in his final season at Colorado, Roberson averaged 10.9 points and 11.2 rebounds. His rebounding average ranked No. 2 in the country. Roberson completed his three-year career at Colorado with 1,012 points and 1,045 rebounds. He is the only player in school history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds, 150 blocks and steals, and 100 assists.
When he joined the Thunder, Roberson had to adapt to playing guard after being more of a post player throughout his college career.
“For me, personally, I like taking on challenges,” Roberson said. “I like working on every aspect of my game. I just work hard every day and do what I can for my team. Whatever Coach (Donovan) asks me to do, I’m going to do to the best of my ability.
“Offseason, I work on everything, post-ups to getting out there on the wing. It just makes the game that much easier, especially on defense. If you can guard 1 through 4, it just makes it tough on an opponent. It creates havoc on your opponent.”
Born in Las Cruces, N.M., Roberson comes from a family of athletes. His father, John Roberson, played basketball at New Mexico State and his mother, Lisa, was a volleyball player for the Aggies. John Roberson also played pro basketball overseas for 12 years.
Andre is the third of seven children, and the older of two sons, in his family. His two older sisters, Ashlee and Amber were college athletes, the latter playing volleyball at Texas and the former playing basketball at Texas Tech. One of Andre’s younger sisters, Arielle, also was a standout basketball player at Wagner and played at Colorado.
“I always gravitated toward basketball,” Roberson said. “I always loved basketball. I wanted to follow in my dad’s footsteps. I would go everywhere with him to the gym. I started at a young age. We’ve just been blessed in my family to have the opportunity to compete in athletics.”
