OKC Thunder 2014-2015 Preseason

[HeartSouloma]

Adams with another solid game, showing his improvements.
Roberson, very impressive. 15 points 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 blk/stl, 7 of 9 shooting, 0 TOs in 35 minutes.
His second game in a row being a very solid and productive player. This guy is really starting to put himself in the right place to get rebounds, great defense for such a young player and is becoming a very selective player with his shot. Break-Out-Season for this guy with Durant out and even when KD returns they might cut his minutes a bit for a while. Until they are a bit more secure that the foot will not be an issue again or the play-offs, one of the two.

So should he start for the rest of the season? Or u rather have Lamb start?

[bondom34]

So, does the team suck or was tonight lost with the camp guys in. I see a few of them got a lot of time, did the starters suck or Zanna, Bassy, and co.?

[KD35Brah]

Imagine Snyder(Jazz coach) coaching the Thunder.

Orgasmic.

[Bravenewworld]

So should he start for the rest of the season? Or u rather have Lamb start?

Obviously Roberson should start. Lamb and JR Smith are the two most inconsistent players ive seen. If Lamb would start 7 games and every single game be consistent with his shooting and shot selection, i'd be okay with him starting full time, even at the 2 when KD comes back. But i dont think anyone see's that happening at this point.

So, does the team suck or was tonight lost with the camp guys in. I see a few of them got a lot of time, did the starters suck or Zanna, Bassy, and co.?

It was just another game of weeding through the roster. Notice the number of players who played went way down from the last two games.

[NetsWorld]

So, does the team suck or was tonight lost with the camp guys in. I see a few of them got a lot of time, did the starters suck or Zanna, Bassy, and co.?

It's only preseason. As time progresses, they will pick it up another level. Brooklyn last year had a successful preseason only to see the season smack them hard in the face. So these games are not indicative of a team's season success, although they can be a sign of things to come. LA, the same year they won the title had an awful preseason. OKC has a switch that when it's flipped, they are a tough team to beat. It's fun watching Adams develop through this preseason and I honestly hope he gets the chance to start at C to showcase his skills and increase his value.
Lets go Thunder.

[Bravenewworld]

So, does the team suck or was tonight lost with the camp guys in. I see a few of them got a lot of time, did the starters suck or Zanna, Bassy, and co.?

It's only preseason. As time progresses, they will pick it up another level. Brooklyn last year had a successful preseason only to see the season smack them hard in the face. So these games are not indicative of a team's season success, although they can be a sign of things to come. LA, the same year they won the title had an awful preseason. OKC has a switch that when it's flipped, they are a tough team to beat. It's fun watching Adams develop through this preseason and I honestly hope he gets the chance to start at C to showcase his skills and increase his value.
Lets go Thunder.

No, you cant even consider these games "a sign" or determining factor for anything but individuals and how they have improved and a basic idea of how they work in a team concept.
When you are playing 4s at the 3 or 2, 2's at the 4, 20 minutes going to a d-leaguer, allowing Lamb to go 1 of 12 and continue to shoot, etc. Its not indicative of anything.
They are merely trying to figure out the best players to put at the 13-15 spots.

Its also worth pointing out that the top tier teams in the league often do poorly in pre-season because they are working with "lesser" draft picks and going through more D-league players and free agents. Where as the worst teams are giving near full time minutes to their two top 15 picks, a top 10 pick from last year, some solid youth depth players and Vets to sign as 2nd or 3rd string players that makes the team player better against lesser talent.

[NetsWorld]

So, does the team suck or was tonight lost with the camp guys in. I see a few of them got a lot of time, did the starters suck or Zanna, Bassy, and co.?

It's only preseason. As time progresses, they will pick it up another level. Brooklyn last year had a successful preseason only to see the season smack them hard in the face. So these games are not indicative of a team's season success, although they can be a sign of things to come. LA, the same year they won the title had an awful preseason. OKC has a switch that when it's flipped, they are a tough team to beat. It's fun watching Adams develop through this preseason and I honestly hope he gets the chance to start at C to showcase his skills and increase his value.
Lets go Thunder.

No, you cant even consider these games "a sign" or determining factor for anything but individuals and how they have improved and a basic idea of how they work in a team concept.
When you are playing 4s at the 3 or 2, 2's at the 4, 20 minutes going to a d-leaguer, allowing Lamb to go 1 of 12 and continue to shoot, etc. Its not indicative of anything.
They are merely trying to figure out the best players to put at the 13-15 spots.

Its also worth pointing out that the top tier teams in the league often do poorly in pre-season because they are working with "lesser" draft picks and going through more D-league players and free agents. Where as the worst teams are giving near full time minutes to their two top 15 picks, a top 10 pick from last year, some solid youth depth players and Vets to sign as 2nd or 3rd string players that makes the team player better against lesser talent.

Ok, there is a misunderstanding on your part of the context of that sentence. What I mean is that certain effects can carry over into the season. LA for instance struggled in 2012 in the preseason and look at their season. Brooklyn is another example. OKC happens to be a team which has been pretty consistent year in and year out with their play and dominating their competition.

[Bravenewworld]

It's only preseason. As time progresses, they will pick it up another level. Brooklyn last year had a successful preseason only to see the season smack them hard in the face. So these games are not indicative of a team's season success, although they can be a sign of things to come. LA, the same year they won the title had an awful preseason. OKC has a switch that when it's flipped, they are a tough team to beat. It's fun watching Adams develop through this preseason and I honestly hope he gets the chance to start at C to showcase his skills and increase his value.
Lets go Thunder.

No, you cant even consider these games "a sign" or determining factor for anything but individuals and how they have improved and a basic idea of how they work in a team concept.
When you are playing 4s at the 3 or 2, 2's at the 4, 20 minutes going to a d-leaguer, allowing Lamb to go 1 of 12 and continue to shoot, etc. Its not indicative of anything.
They are merely trying to figure out the best players to put at the 13-15 spots.

Its also worth pointing out that the top tier teams in the league often do poorly in pre-season because they are working with "lesser" draft picks and going through more D-league players and free agents. Where as the worst teams are giving near full time minutes to their two top 15 picks, a top 10 pick from last year, some solid youth depth players and Vets to sign as 2nd or 3rd string players that makes the team player better against lesser talent.

Ok, there is a misunderstanding on your part of the context of that sentence. What I mean is that certain effects can carry over into the season. LA for instance struggled in 2012 in the preseason and look at their season. Brooklyn is another example. OKC happens to be a team which has been pretty consistent year in and year out with their play and dominating their competition.

There was no misunderstanding, the things you point out have nothing to do with anything.
Preseason does not do anything for the season as its so vastly different in every aspect. Players are played out of position, rotations are entirely different and inconsistent, coaching is null and void, starters are benched or DNP, 3rd string players get first string minutes. The second you start game 1 of the regular season anything kind of trends or mold that happened in the preseason is shattered as everything is different.

LA struggling in the regular 2012 season had absolutely nothing to do with the preseason. That was a horribly constructed team that also went through injuries and players not getting along.
I also don't know what the Nets are an example of. Solid preseason, bad season but this some how another example of effects carrying over? The two examples you give are polar opposites of what your summary is.

Ya, again, there is absolutely nothing we get from preseason outside of player evaluations. The only vague and generalized thing we can say about teams in the preseason is that regular season bad teams are generally good in the pre, and good teams in the regular season are generally bad in the pre. But records vary so much that only holds true probably 50% of the time.

[Space Dracula]

Preseason has been interesting. Normally don't take much away from preseason but I've come to a few conclusions so far that I feel are mostly solid (although, subject to change).

- Andre Roberson should start at SG. I enjoy this guy's game. I like him. Gives tremendous effort on defense and on the boards. Has been disappointingly hesitant shooting the ball, but has been unexpectedly productive as a passer on the perimeter. In a couple of the games now I was impressed with how quickly he moved the ball on the perimeter. Fouling will be the big thing for him. I don't think he's going to be close to as productive as 2012-13 Thabo (IMO, the archetype for what the Thunder are looking for at the SG spot), but I'm excited for his season.

- Jeremy Lamb should only be a spot bench player. I keep thinking of the young guys Presti has drafted. Among who I would label as 'failures', all except for J. Green displayed questionable effort. All of the guys that Presti has picked that have put the effort in (which could easily include Roberson and Adams this season) have exceeded their draft position. Even Durant, as talented as he is, has certainly come close to maximizing his potential as a player so far. Lamb for me is dangerously close to ending up in that 'questionable effort' group -- when he stated earlier in the summer that he didn't try on defense for a long time that piqued my skepticism. Now he's shooting <20% form three point range and just generally looks BAD in the preseason. Regular season can change everything quickly, of course. But I'm about 95% there on this guy being non-useful to a contending team.

- Steven Adams should remain on the bench to start the season. He's definitely a better player than Kendrick Perkins right now. No question. But I'd say Perk is still a better defensive player by a decent margin, and I think there's more value to Adams' skill set right now coming in off the bench. Mostly to protect him from foul trouble, and inject his offensive game in the second unit. I'd say it's 50/50 that he usurps Perkins during the season. But especially with Durant out, I think it's in the team's best interest to maximize defensive talent with the starting group.

[Thunderhead]

I don't even pay attention to invidual player evaluations in the preseason, due to the obvious disparity in the skill of opposing players, and that defense is played entirely different in regular season.

IMO, NBA defense is team defense more than individual skill. Since the rule changes of no hand checking and allowing zone defenses, its no longer man on man, its help and recover with teams playing hybrid man and zone defense. Its as much about positioning and anticipation, than physical man on man ability.

And to do that , and do it properly and do it well, means they need consistent line-ups with continuity to fine tune playing with each other, making the proper rotations , and timing of those rotations. IMO, I think that takes a while, especially if they are incorporating new players.

For that reason, I think some individual performance can be distorted.

And I also read today, that Kobe is shooting 35% in the preseason, you know that won't last, he will get into form.

Sometimes I think, we are better served, not even watching these games. Just sit back, let the coaches coach and train, and then get concerned come regular season.

I do think, that whatever Brooks wanted to get done this preseason, as far as adding to the offense, is lost, due to all the injuries. Thunder gonna be behind when the season starts.

[Thunderhead]

No, you cant even consider these games "a sign" or determining factor for anything but individuals and how they have improved and a basic idea of how they work in a team concept.
When you are playing 4s at the 3 or 2, 2's at the 4, 20 minutes going to a d-leaguer, allowing Lamb to go 1 of 12 and continue to shoot, etc. Its not indicative of anything.
They are merely trying to figure out the best players to put at the 13-15 spots.

Its also worth pointing out that the top tier teams in the league often do poorly in pre-season because they are working with "lesser" draft picks and going through more D-league players and free agents. Where as the worst teams are giving near full time minutes to their two top 15 picks, a top 10 pick from last year, some solid youth depth players and Vets to sign as 2nd or 3rd string players that makes the team player better against lesser talent.

Ok, there is a misunderstanding on your part of the context of that sentence. What I mean is that certain effects can carry over into the season. LA for instance struggled in 2012 in the preseason and look at their season. Brooklyn is another example. OKC happens to be a team which has been pretty consistent year in and year out with their play and dominating their competition.

There was no misunderstanding, the things you point out have nothing to do with anything.
Preseason does not do anything for the season as its so vastly different in every aspect. Players are played out of position, rotations are entirely different and inconsistent, coaching is null and void, starters are benched or DNP, 3rd string players get first string minutes. The second you start game 1 of the regular season anything kind of trends or mold that happened in the preseason is shattered as everything is different.

LA struggling in the regular 2012 season had absolutely nothing to do with the preseason. That was a horribly constructed team that also went through injuries and players not getting along.
I also don't know what the Nets are an example of. Solid preseason, bad season but this some how another example of effects carrying over? The two examples you give are polar opposites of what your summary is.

Ya, again, there is absolutely nothing we get from preseason outside of player evaluations. The only vague and generalized thing we can say about teams in the preseason is that regular season bad teams are generally good in the pre, and good teams in the regular season are generally bad in the pre. But records vary so much that only holds true probably 50% of the time.

Thank you. I'm glad to hear someone else speak to this. I've suspected that what your saying is happening for some time.

[Bravenewworld]

I don't even pay attention to invidual player evaluations in the preseason, due to the obvious disparity in the skill of opposing players, and that defense is played entirely different in regular season.

IMO, NBA defense is team defense more than individual skill. Since the rule changes of no hand checking and allowing zone defenses, its no longer man on man, its help and recover with teams playing hybrid man and zone defense. Its as much about positioning and anticipation, than physical man on man ability.

The pre-season generally just shows us and gives us a general idea for the potential of a player skills and how those skills can possibly translate with said teams already signed players. Perfect examples of this for the off-season would be Morrow and Telfair. Both players we brought in to increase our ability to stop and pop the 3. Which in the pre-season we had to evaluate if they both still have this ability and how well they work with our team, and with both players it seems to work but we wont fully know until the regular season.
So out of a scale of 10 we find that say, Morrow is an 8 in fitting in with the team construct and Telfair a 7. Both seem to be able to do what we brought them in for offensively, defensively seem to be fine and also seem to fit the team fairly well.

Defense is 50/50, we've seen teams with great defenders do bad because the help defense of that coach is horrible and we've seen bad defensive individuals do good because the help defense is great.
We see this with Nash and Collison, Collison being a... ehh.... B defender? Nash being a C+ defender, C, defender. But both knowing how to rack up charges (which, IMO is more valuable then blocks or steals as you are not only stopping a play and getting the ball, but racking up fouls for the other team) and both of these are due to good help defensive scheme's.

[Bravenewworld]

All that being said i want to add something here.

Morrow might be our shooting guard answer.
I would like to see us resign Reggie and then put Westbrook back at the 1 full time and if Morrow plays the way it looks like he will, start him at the 2.
The guy is experienced, he gives us a high percentage spot up 3 shooter which we absolutely need full time in this line up, defensively he is B+/A-, he is a semi-vet who still wants to prove himself, and he just seems to fit this team perfectly.
He went undrafted and the second he hit the NBA proved that was a big mistake for all 30 teams. I like guys like this on our roster. The undervalued guys who always want to prove themselves. And best news is we got him for 3 years at roughly 3.3 a year. Which is a steal given his abilities and experience.

Setting aside all homer'ism, i think Morrow and Adam's are the answers we needed to win a finals. McGary is our Nick Collison of the future and should have a quick impact, but right now is not as needed at those two.
And of course Jackson is our Harden replacement.

[Thunderhead]

My problem with Morrow over Roberson, really does not begin until KD comes back.

Thabo played defense for KD. KD is really our SG, but he can't defend the two on the other end. We don't wanna waste his energy fighting through screens, chasing a SG. Or put him on the opposing teams best offensive wing player.

We need a defender like Thabo, who can cross match. Roberson can play the three on offense and the two on defense, while KD can play the two on offense and three on defense.

But for the right now, if you start Morrow, who defends the opposing teams best wing offensive player ?

I don't think that's the job for Morrow, and that's where Roberson comes into play.