vvoland wrote:Onus wrote:wco81 wrote:
They're able to play small because their wings don't have a long of length but they are "handsy" as some charitably put it.
They had 3 players getting 3 steals last night. Well they foul and don't get called for it.
They dominated the Wolves because players like Randle, who had been abusing the Warriors defenders, couldn't put the ball down without getting stripped.
It wasn't because the Thunder defenders were able to strip the balls without fouling. It was because they could strip while fouling but only getting called for it some of the times.
It was the Seahawks pass defense approach from a decade ago. They were the most penalized for pass interference in the NFL. But they were flagged for PI only half the time or even less. So basically they dared the refs to call it every time and they didn't.
Maybe the NBA will keep letting them get away with it but the ratings crashed for these Finals, at least the first 5 games. If they decide that they want more scoring in the Finals and the playoffs, well the Thunder have a lot of fouls they can burn. Only SGA and one or two other guys can't get into foul trouble.
That's what I'm saying. Attacking the ball handler may be more beneficial than attacking the shot. The NBA seems to allow a lot more physicality on drives and hand being part of the ball that it may be more beneficial to have smalls attack the dribble than having length to contest shots. Also the refs have historically allowed smaller players to be more physical. Having speed to deny driving lanes and then coming back out to contest outside shots.
I do think we need an upgrade from TJD and Looney as we'll need another rim protector when Dray sits, but we don't necessarily need wing sized players on the wings. 6'5'' is typically on the smaller end of wing sized and not prototypical size and the thunder
built a generational defense on undersized wings.
But seriously, can we find out how they were allowed to grab, hold, and reach to the extent no one else has? The one play last night when wallace just grabs TJ's off hand by the wrist and then dives in for the steal - directly in front of the ref that's staring right at the contact. No call - pick 6 the other way. Just a crazy amount of leeway
It's just trashy NBA officiating.
Even the Warriors have benefitted in some games, getting a lot of turnovers in the paint before the ball handler could pick up the ball to get into the shooting motion or to pass. Iggy was great at stripping and he clearly encouraged Curry and Klay to strip, anticipate when the player was going to pick up his dribble and go into the shooting motion.
I'm sure some of the clutch strip steals that Iggy made on Lebron, Bron would say he was fouled.
But it varies too much from game to game, officiating crew to officiating crew.
I'm sure Game 4 of this series, millions of fans learned about "the Extender" nickname for Scott Foster. The official story is that the Thunder and especially SGA made clutch plays to come back and avoid going down 3-1. But they let SGA push off 2 or 3 times in the 4th quarter, including the one play where he pushed off so hard that he stumbled away from the defender, walked in the process but was able to gather, after traveling, to rise for an uncontested 6-footer which was a key basket.
Remember Harden had 3 or 4 seasons where he won the MVP or was one of the top vote getters for MVP. In those seasons, he was getting close to double-digit FT attempts by hunting fouls. Then in his last season before he was traded, his FT rate dropped by a ton. He stopped doing to the line as much and surprise, he was no longer one of the top MVP candidates.
So for whatever reason, the NBA stopped officiating him the same way. That could happen to SGA, though he's still very young. But he pushed off with the offhand all the time (usually his right hand) or he hooks the defender's arm and then goes into the shooting motion to get shooting fouls.
For as much as they dominated, it doesn't seem like OKC was featured in too many national games this past season. In fact I'm not even sure if they played on Christmas Day. If they did, it was one of the early or late time slots, not the prime time slots from noon to 5 PM tipoff on the West Coast.
Now that they're champions, they should get more exposure but maybe outside of the OKC fanbase, there's not much interest in watching their games.
