Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Chicago Bulls 10/27/2010

[wiff]

I went out to watch the game tonight.

Rose was really tough the first half.

Nice to see the Thunder hit the gas pedal when they needed it.

I don't like watching Serge at Center either. However the play where Ibaka blocked Rose, KD grabbed the loose ball, hit Thabo on the break where he immediately zinged it to Westbrook for the dunk and one, was the nail in the coffen.

Great all around team play right there. Kind of showed what this team is made of in one play.

Westbrook scored 28pts on 15 attempts
Rose scored 28pts on 31 attempts

Wow!

[dream_catcher_9]

Rose was incredible in the 1st half, he looked like freaking Michael Jordan.

[slick_watts]

The team benefitted tremendously from continuity and having played together a lot down the stretch.

I thought Rose forced the issue a bit too much and lost sight of the bigger picture. He was trying to shoot the Bulls into the game as opposed to looking for his teammates which he seemed to do more earlier in the game. It remains the key difference between his game and Westbrook's, IMO.

Rose only took more than 30 FGA in a game one other time, and it was in an OT game against WAS in which he played 50 minutes. It's clearly not sound strategy from the Bulls, though our defense did distrupt his rhythm down the stretch.

[boogydown]

Rose made some poor decisions in the early 2nd half by shooting the long 3 when he should have just taken it to the hoop. He did it a couple times which was irritating. However, he would have likely ended up shooting close to 40 shots if he didn't miss 30% of the game.

Hopefully Jeff Green continues to play well. He had a good game.

Overall, you guys really need a Center. Everything else is pretty much set in stone.

[boobie miles]

Good game first up. Best aspect was seeing the team lift the intensity on defense and just shut the Bulls down in the 4th. Westbrook and also Green had good games, although not too sure they'll be shooting that many free throws on a nightly basis. Durant was slightly subpar for his lofty standards, yet still got his customary 30pts. Bodes well for when he does actually get into the groove. Bring on the Pistons.

[tsherkin]

I'm losing faith in Scott Brooks a bit. He's playing Ibaka at center, with Durant at PF. He's playing Cook at SF. I don't understand the lineups or rotations, it is as if he's purposefully selecting the worst performing sets.

Game one of the season, don't you think he's just screwing around a little to see what works and what doesn't? You have to experiment sometime, and it doesn't pay to do it only in practice or the preseason, he needs to see what does and doesn't work against a legit NBA team trying to win.

If he's still doing it in February, you can complain about it, but on opening night? C'mon.

[slick_watts]

Game one of the season, don't you think he's just screwing around a little to see what works and what doesn't? You have to experiment sometime, and it doesn't pay to do it only in practice or the preseason, he needs to see what does and doesn't work against a legit NBA team trying to win.

If he's still doing it in February, you can complain about it, but on opening night? C'mon.

You're probably right, it's just the one aspect of his coaching I ever have a problem with. He did do this early last year, too, and when he settled on a rotation it was settled.

I just don't like small ball stuff. I think the team can win in spite of it, not because of it.

[tsherkin]

Fair enough. Hopefully, he'll work it out. More specifically, hopefully he was looking at a particular element of the game and using that lineup to explore something as opposed to making it a regular, big-minute rotation.

[sonictecture]

Rumor is Brooks abhors beards and refuses to start or play Harden significant minutes until he shaves. Sources speculate that "baby face" Brooks is jealous of Harden's facial hair abilities and is determined to stymie Harden's "growth" on the court even if it hurts the team.

[slick_watts]

Rumor is Brooks abhors beards and refuses to start or play Harden significant minutes until he shaves. Sources speculate that "baby face" Brooks is jealous of Harden's facial hair abilities and is determined to stymie Harden's "growth" on the court even if it hurts the team.

Or headbands. Ibaka removed the headband he had been wearing all preseason and he gets 30+ minutes. Coincidence?

[HeartSouloma]

Rumor is Brooks abhors beards and refuses to start or play Harden significant minutes until he shaves. Sources speculate that "baby face" Brooks is jealous of Harden's facial hair abilities and is determined to stymie Harden's "growth" on the court even if it hurts the team.

What? Thats a stupid thing to say about Harden. I mean if Brooks is not giving more minutes to Harden cause of that, will its pretty bull ****. Look at Lebron and Baron Davis, do you ever see one of there coaches telling them to shave off there beards? Or even Tufiaf. Right now i don't even know ifs its a rumor or not, so i'm not going to jump in like that.

Any ways good game yesturday. Didn't really get Brooks rotation a bit. I mean instead of putting Durant at PF, let him stay at SF a bit and put Ibaka at PF to develope a bit. And whats up with Harden getting little minutes? And why isn't Brooks not letting Cole play a bit? Why not let Mullens get some minutes. Any ways its just one game so i can't freak out now, hope this won't happen again.

[Clangus]

Rumor is Brooks abhors beards and refuses to start or play Harden significant minutes until he shaves. Sources speculate that "baby face" Brooks is jealous of Harden's facial hair abilities and is determined to stymie Harden's "growth" on the court even if it hurts the team.

What? Thats a stupid thing to say about Harden. I mean if Brooks is not giving more minutes to Harden cause of that, will its pretty bull ****. Look at Lebron and Baron Davis, do you ever see one of there coaches telling them to shave off there beards? Or even Tufiaf. Right now i don't even know ifs its a rumor or not, so i'm not going to jump in like that.

Any ways good game yesturday. Didn't really get Brooks rotation a bit. I mean instead of putting Durant at PF, let him stay at SF a bit and put Ibaka at PF to develope a bit. And whats up with Harden getting little minutes? And why isn't Brooks not letting Cole play a bit? Why not let Mullens get some minutes. Any ways its just one game so i can't freak out now, hope this won't happen again.

relax kid it was clearly a joke.