OKC Thunder 2023-24 Regular Season Discussion

[retrobro90]

Starting a new thread. No longer the offseason and pre-season has now concluded as of today.

[ThunderBolt]

Said this in the General Board:

OKC fans Chet is concerning the **** out of me.

He's an excellent shot blocker! But does he have to challenge every damn thing? In preseason?

Same **** that happened in that BS Crawsover League he went to block Auser Thompson's dunk and landed very awkward.

He grabbed at his knee, kept playing and did a great job blocking even more shots but damn bro on the bench rubbing on his knee cause he clearly tweaked it.

He gotta learn to do this **** in moderation. Do not be surprised if he hurt his right knee.

My thoughts are that injury prone guys aren’t really spared by not going all out or load management. They end up getting hurt no matter what. I think most of us have concern about Chet’s durability. We basically gave him an entire year off. He made it through preseason. If his body holds up, great. If not, so be it. I don’t want Chet to be reckless but I don’t want him to hold back for fear of injury. A game off here and there is fine but when he plays I want him giving his all. If we can’t let him do that then trade him and find someone else.

[slick_watts]

i hope we don't play chet so much with other big guys, especially since our 'other' big guys are so bad. it not only places some limitations on chet's best qualities but also deprives our huge wings their biggest advantages (especially jalen williams, who feasts at the 4). if we had a better quality big man off the bench than jaylin williams maybe it would be an attractive option for certain matchups.

micic was 2-13 from three and 4-8 from the line in preseason. both uncharacteristic. his playmaking skill was obvious but he will need to make shots also, especially threes. he was a 38% 3pt and 85%+ ft shooter for efes the last four seasons so we will see.

kenrich williams back spasms are something to watch. the bench really needs him. i would start him over lu dort, if i had my druthers.

cason wallace will play in the g-league.

i'm still higher on poku than dieng. mostly because poku lacks the timidity that i think holds dieng back. i'm not sure how the team will navigate the poku/dieng/bertans/jwill/krich front court minutes but there are combinations that are obviously winning to me and it will be frustrating when the thunder eschew those for "development".

chet's a dog, i wish he wasn't flying around like a maniac in preseason either but in the regular season he just has to play his game. if he gets hurt it is what it is.

[Zagor]

kenrich williams back spasms are something to watch. the bench really needs him. i would start him over lu dort, if i had my druthers.

Probably the best five is Shai, Giddey, J-Dub, Kenrich and Chet.

Three teams in West are probably better than Thunder. Those are Denver, Phoenix and Lakers( if Lebron is healthy).
If this team is going to have a great season, they will end in fourth position. Solid season will lead them to 5-6 position, warm-cold season to 7-8 position.
Catastrophic season with injuries and they probably barely make play in.

[WillyJakkz]

Said this in the General Board:

OKC fans Chet is concerning the **** out of me.

He's an excellent shot blocker! But does he have to challenge every damn thing? In preseason?

Same **** that happened in that BS Crawsover League he went to block Auser Thompson's dunk and landed very awkward.

He grabbed at his knee, kept playing and did a great job blocking even more shots but damn bro on the bench rubbing on his knee cause he clearly tweaked it.

He gotta learn to do this **** in moderation. Do not be surprised if he hurt his right knee.

My thoughts are that injury prone guys aren’t really spared by not going all out or load management. They end up getting hurt no matter what. I think most of us have concern about Chet’s durability. We basically gave him an entire year off. He made it through preseason. If his body holds up, great. If not, so be it. I don’t want Chet to be reckless but I don’t want him to hold back for fear of injury. A game off here and there is fine but when he plays I want him giving his all. If we can’t let him do that then trade him and find someone else.

It's preseason, what does he have to prove?

He's already made the team lol no reason to show the other team and your teammates how he can be a huge deterrent to opposing offenses every single play. I'm sure they see it in practice. If it comes his way sure, but he's going out of his way to do it all the time but none of this counts.

Give them a sample which he has already done then go out there and work on a different aspect of his game.

Just my thoughts but it's his life. Do him.

[ThunderBolt]

Said this in the General Board:

OKC fans Chet is concerning the **** out of me.

He's an excellent shot blocker! But does he have to challenge every damn thing? In preseason?

Same **** that happened in that BS Crawsover League he went to block Auser Thompson's dunk and landed very awkward.

He grabbed at his knee, kept playing and did a great job blocking even more shots but damn bro on the bench rubbing on his knee cause he clearly tweaked it.

He gotta learn to do this **** in moderation. Do not be surprised if he hurt his right knee.

My thoughts are that injury prone guys aren’t really spared by not going all out or load management. They end up getting hurt no matter what. I think most of us have concern about Chet’s durability. We basically gave him an entire year off. He made it through preseason. If his body holds up, great. If not, so be it. I don’t want Chet to be reckless but I don’t want him to hold back for fear of injury. A game off here and there is fine but when he plays I want him giving his all. If we can’t let him do that then trade him and find someone else.

It's preseason, what does he have to prove?

He's already made the team lol no reason to show the other team and your teammates how he can be a huge deterrent to opposing offenses every single play. I'm sure they see it in practice. If it comes his way sure, but he's going out of his way to do it all the time but none of this counts.

Give them a sample which he has already done then go out there and work on a different aspect of his game.

Just my thoughts but it's his life. Do him.

I don’t think you’re wrong. I just kinda think if he’s an injury prone player then it’s inevitable. Hopefully by next year he’ll learn that he can chill a bit more in preseason.

[Xatticus]

Said this in the General Board:

OKC fans Chet is concerning the **** out of me.

He's an excellent shot blocker! But does he have to challenge every damn thing? In preseason?

Same **** that happened in that BS Crawsover League he went to block Auser Thompson's dunk and landed very awkward.

He grabbed at his knee, kept playing and did a great job blocking even more shots but damn bro on the bench rubbing on his knee cause he clearly tweaked it.

He gotta learn to do this **** in moderation. Do not be surprised if he hurt his right knee.

My thoughts are that injury prone guys aren’t really spared by not going all out or load management. They end up getting hurt no matter what. I think most of us have concern about Chet’s durability. We basically gave him an entire year off. He made it through preseason. If his body holds up, great. If not, so be it. I don’t want Chet to be reckless but I don’t want him to hold back for fear of injury. A game off here and there is fine but when he plays I want him giving his all. If we can’t let him do that then trade him and find someone else.

I think he needs to get a bit nastier. There were smalls flying in from the side for box outs when they didn't have position and clattering into his base. I didn't like it. He needs to make guys pay for trying that. He needs to create a wider berth than he is right now if he wants to stay healthy. It's one thing to bang with other bigs, but it isn't alright to let short players undercut you.

[Dadouv47]

This is the most important season since we decided to trade Westbrook and I'm excited and scared at the same time.

I don't care that much about Cason, Jwill, Dieng and some others . I just want Chet, SGA, JDub and Giddey to show they are the right guys to lead us to a championship in a couple of years. The rest can easily be added via trade.

[jake_swivel]

I like what I saw from Dieng on the back half of summer league and preseason. If he runs the floor, plays good defense, and hits open shots, he can be a valuable big off the bench. I’d like to see him get some minutes w/ shai, Josh, JDub, and Chet to see if he can be a decent glue guy, ala Batum.

[jake_swivel]

Read on Twitter

[jake_swivel]

Before the Poku experiment comes to a close, I really, really, really want to see this lineup just for the sake of my own curiosity:

Shai
JDub
Dieng
Poku
Chet

[Big nick]

Before the Poku experiment comes to a close, I really, really, really want to see this lineup just for the sake of my own curiosity:

Shai
JDub
Dieng
Poku
Chet

That would be so much height.

[Jamaaliver]

No idea where else to post this...

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[Dadouv47]

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No Kenrich, No Jwill in two difficult games.

[jake_swivel]

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No Kenrich, No Jwill in two difficult games.

Bruh, we got Chet, shai, JDub, and giddey healthy. If they lose and jwill or Kenrich is the difference, I’m fine with it.

[Dadouv47]

Read on Twitter

No Kenrich, No Jwill in two difficult games.

Bruh, we got Chet, shai, JDub, and giddey healthy. If they lose and jwill or Kenrich is the difference, I’m fine with it.

I don't mind that much about them either but we have a tough schedule and it's not ideal to start the season without some good bench pieces (obviously our core staying healthy is more important)

[jake_swivel]

I don't mind that much about them either but we have a tough schedule and it's not ideal to start the season without some good bench pieces (obviously our core staying healthy is more important)

After a full year without the 2nd most important player on the roster, I’m ready to take on the world with those 4 and most of this supporting cast healthy.

49.

[Dadouv47]

CHAMPIONSHIP !

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[retrobro90]

No idea where else to post this...

Watch on YouTube

Loved this so much. The guard/guard PnR is a hallmark of the Daignault offense. One of the many reasons why Giddey is perfect for the current system and vice versa. Imagine these plays with Chet spacing out instead of JWill/Sarr/Muscala. Game over.

[Dadouv47]

So excited about tonight's game. First season in a while that I'm really ooting for us and not to get a high draft pick. I think we might struggle a bit but I will be happy if we end up with a positive record.

Please stay healthy Chet!