Oklahoma City Thunder Regular Season 2015-2016 Part 2

[bondom34]

Nothing to get too excited about after this game. We sleptwalk through the first half, gave up 61 first half points after playing lazy defense, and were able to flip the switch and out talent an inferior team. One plus is that it's becoming more and more evident that Payne is better than Augustin, or at least he has the potential to be.

I'm going to the game on Tuesday night so here's to hoping we don't let the Bucks come in and do to us what they almost did to the Warriors in Golden State a week or so ago. The Bucks have the talent that, if we try and sleepwalk our way through 2 or 3 quarters, they'll make us pay. Either way, despite how frustrating this season has been, I'm excited to get to make it to a game for the first time in a few years.

Have fun at the game, I'm hoping to see them in Philly in March. And remember, Cameron Payne has no ceiling.

[spearsy23]

Nothing to get too excited about after this game. We sleptwalk through the first half, gave up 61 first half points after playing lazy defense, and were able to flip the switch and out talent an inferior team. One plus is that it's becoming more and more evident that Payne is better than Augustin, or at least he has the potential to be.

I'm going to the game on Tuesday night so here's to hoping we don't let the Bucks come in and do to us what they almost did to the Warriors in Golden State a week or so ago. The Bucks have the talent that, if we try and sleepwalk our way through 2 or 3 quarters, they'll make us pay. Either way, despite how frustrating this season has been, I'm excited to get to make it to a game for the first time in a few years.

Nothing to get excited about? Cam 12 minutes, DJ 6. nothing could make me more excited.

[Bergmaniac]

Payne is so obviously much better playmaker than DJ or Dion that it's baffling that Donovan needed so much time to give him a shot. Thunder's second unit needs someone who could actually run the pick and roll and make passes, and both DJ and Dion are just really, really bad at it while Payne seem much better. And it's not like he could be any worse defensively than DJ.

Lazy D from the Thunder, seems like they expected to beat the nuggets without putting an effort since the Nuggets missed so many key players. At least they woke up in the second half and dominated offensively.

[Pillendreher]

Finally. Now I don't just shout "IBAKA!!!" after blocks, I can shout "CAM PAYNE!!!" after anything he does well. Seems like Donovan finally got his head out of his ass and noticed what kind of potential was wasting on the bench. Cam needs to see 20 mpgs at the minimum. He's so much better than Augustin, it's ridiculous. I don't get why Donovan went with Waiters in the 4th though. His defense was **** all night and Payne is already a better shooter and finisher.
Oh and Morrow with the 2nd nice game in a row. Here's to Donovan finally setting Morrow, Payne and Mitch free.

Re our defense: I think it wasn't THAT bad. Faried and that french guy made some nice moves, but they were mostly making tough shots. Especially Barton and Nelson couldn't miss at times.

[NaturalThunder]

Nothing to get too excited about after this game. We sleptwalk through the first half, gave up 61 first half points after playing lazy defense, and were able to flip the switch and out talent an inferior team. One plus is that it's becoming more and more evident that Payne is better than Augustin, or at least he has the potential to be.

I'm going to the game on Tuesday night so here's to hoping we don't let the Bucks come in and do to us what they almost did to the Warriors in Golden State a week or so ago. The Bucks have the talent that, if we try and sleepwalk our way through 2 or 3 quarters, they'll make us pay. Either way, despite how frustrating this season has been, I'm excited to get to make it to a game for the first time in a few years.

Nothing to get excited about? Cam 12 minutes, DJ 6. nothing could make me more excited.

True. That made me very happy. Now if we can just turn that into 18 minutes for Payne and 0 for Augustin for at least a few games, we'd be set.

[OkcMagic]

is there a stat that shows how much better the offense ran when Payne was the floor and not Assgustin

[getrichordie]

Payne is so obviously much better playmaker than DJ or Dion that it's baffling that Donovan needed so much time to give him a shot. Thunder's second unit needs someone who could actually run the pick and roll and make passes, and both DJ and Dion are just really, really bad at it while Payne seem much better. And it's not like he could be any worse defensively than DJ.

Lazy D from the Thunder, seems like they expected to beat the nuggets without putting an effort since the Nuggets missed so many key players. At least they woke up in the second half and dominated offensively.

DJ is actually quite good at running the pick and roll. He's just a terrible defender and has trouble finishing around the rim. So you can't have him out there and not have a couple of defensive cogs as well because we will lose a lead. Happens every damn time.

I think the reason for the lazy defense is the holiday hangover. They have been at home since Xmas and they were probably chilling, not practicing. We will most likely see a better version of the Thunder tomorrow night.

[Pillendreher]

is there a stat that shows how much better the offense ran when Payne was the floor and not Assgustin

99.7 ORtG with Payne on the floor, 141.1 ORtG with him off the floor. That can't be right.

[KD35Brah]

Payne wasn't the only player running the offense when he was in. The first eight minutes in the 2nd he was with Augustin and Dion.
Donovan took out Augustin and then Payne went back to the bench until the 3rd. He had 2 assists to Kanter in his first half minutes.

He then played about 4 minutes with Durant and he hit back to back 3s. Donovan took him out becauses he committed 2 dumb fouls. One was an illegal screen on Jeff(turnover) and another was on Jeff shooting a contested(by Ibaka) midrange shot on the baseline. I would have liked to see him over Dion in the 4th, but it was a tight game and we all saw the fouls he gave Chalmers in Memphis...

[spearsy23]

is there a stat that shows how much better the offense ran when Payne was the floor and not Assgustin

99.7 ORtG with Payne on the floor, 141.1 ORtG with him off the floor. That can't be right.

He won't fix all the benches issues, but the big thing to take from that is that's a +8 difference offensively between the unit with him and the normal bench unit lineup.

[OkcMagic]

is there a stat that shows how much better the offense ran when Payne was the floor and not Assgustin

99.7 ORtG with Payne on the floor, 141.1 ORtG with him off the floor. That can't be right.

He won't fix all the benches issues, but the big thing to take from that is that's a +8 difference offensively between the unit with him and the normal bench unit lineup.

I know he wont fix the problem by himself, but the thing I notice when he is on the floor is that he looks for other people first, the complaints of the bench is that Kanter and Morrow doesn't get enough touches but everytime I see Payne/Morrow on the floor together, Morrow gets more shots than DJ/Dion on the floor

[KD35Brah]

Slater wrote an article on Payne's 12 minutes of play last night.

http://newsok.com/article/5469244

[Soonerule]

I have a response, but you'll have to read it at Welcome to Loud City in a few days. Thanks guys, great discussions have inspired me again. I see what Donovan is trying to do. Spearsy, you're exactly right, it's all about hope cuz sometimes that is all you got and if you give up on it, you got nuthin.

Here is that response I promised, sorry it took so long. It is hard to convert a forum comment into a post sometimes:

http://www.welcometoloudcity.com/2015/12/24/10641888/how-is-donovan-going-to-fix-the-real-problem

Merry Christmas all you Thunder fans at RealGM!

Good article man, but I take some issue with this

We see from Hanneke's post what happens when Russell sits down and Donovan is leaving no stone un-turned looking for a solution.

Keep that in mind the next time a rotation is on the floor that seems to defy logic.

In keeping with the metaphor, he is turning over boulders instead of moving the gravel. The number one issue with the 2nd unit is obviously shot creation and guard play, and he has a point guard sitting on the bench that has a skillset perfectly matched with his offense. Payne could be an abject failure in year one, it's absolutely possible, but until Donovan tries it doing things like playing Singler at the 4 is like changing the steering wheel cover when your car won't start.

There are those that think he is not ready to have the second unit thrown in his lap. I personally don't agree. If that is ever going to happen, now would be better than during the pressure of a run to the playoffs... but Payne was the stone I was talking about and he got his shot and kicked DJ's ass, side by side, hombre a hombre, and he played the rest of the game yesterday and DJ picked splinters. When Donovan put him back out there on his own with the bench players only I held my breath and that kid, while not perfect, just impressed the hell out of me. What did he say on draft night, "there isn't a ceiling on Cameron Payne"? Well by golly, let's find out.

[Soonerule]

here is a reply I made about Kanter starting over at WTLC:

Kanter isn’t ready to start….. yet. He is getting better and it started with basic footwork, but he still has work to do and he definitely needs Collison to get him going. Once he catches on to the other team’s rhythm he doesn’t do too bad, then Ibaka can join him and he is fine … but Ibaka was not the guy that was in charge of communication throughout his career. He played with Perk and was the one being told what to do. All he had to do was understand what he was being told, nod his head and do it.

Now Perk is gone and Serge is supposed to be telling Kanter what to do but…… it’s a recipe for disaster.

this is priceless

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJm7WUr2-w0[/youtube]

Gallo caught Serge right after the game while he was still jacked up….. I have listened to this a hundred times…. what in the heck does Serge say at the 16 second spot?

It cracks me up every time I hear it… start at 13 seconds, something about "we started a little slow (only had to listen a couple of time to quote that) …..then we pickin it up in a second half ( I think the next word is "half" but he only said about half of "half") and the next word is anyone’s guess, maybe his brother playing at UCO could tell us but I guarantee you Enes Kanter can’t tell you what it was. I promise it isn’t in any English to Turkish dictionary or on any episode of Sponge Bob (Kanter watched Sponge Bob to help him with slang… to each his own).

That explains that "what the heck did he say?" lost look Kanter has when he takes the floor for the first time and it is Serge giving instructions instead of Collison. Enes comes in the game, goes to Serge, Serge is in game mode and jacked up, there is limited time to give instuctions and zero time to ask questions and Serge will come out with a "then we pickin’ it up in a second ha- COULPGH"….. sorry, that is the best I can do phonetically, and Serge says it with finality like Gallo and the rest of us should know exactly what he is saying. That is when I start laughing. I mean…. Poor Kanter! Was it French, Spanish or his native tongue Lingala? I don’t know but it sho’ ain’t English!

could anyone here translate the work "COULPGH" for me please.

[KD35Brah]

Here is that response I promised, sorry it took so long. It is hard to convert a forum comment into a post sometimes:

http://www.welcometoloudcity.com/2015/12/24/10641888/how-is-donovan-going-to-fix-the-real-problem

Merry Christmas all you Thunder fans at RealGM!

Good article man, but I take some issue with this

We see from Hanneke's post what happens when Russell sits down and Donovan is leaving no stone un-turned looking for a solution.

Keep that in mind the next time a rotation is on the floor that seems to defy logic.

In keeping with the metaphor, he is turning over boulders instead of moving the gravel. The number one issue with the 2nd unit is obviously shot creation and guard play, and he has a point guard sitting on the bench that has a skillset perfectly matched with his offense. Payne could be an abject failure in year one, it's absolutely possible, but until Donovan tries it doing things like playing Singler at the 4 is like changing the steering wheel cover when your car won't start.

There are those that think he is not ready to have the second unit thrown in his lap. I personally don't agree. If that is ever going to happen, now would be better than during the pressure of a run to the playoffs... but Payne was the stone I was talking about and he got his shot and kicked DJ's ass, side by side, hombre a hombre, and he played the rest of the game yesterday and DJ picked splinters. When Donovan put him back out there on his own with the bench players only I held my breath and that kid, while not perfect, just impressed the hell out of me. What did he say on draft night, "there isn't a ceiling on Cameron Payne"? Well by golly, let's find out.

I Still believe he can be one of the best players from this draft. Top 5 best.

[Soonerule]

Good article man, but I take some issue with this

In keeping with the metaphor, he is turning over boulders instead of moving the gravel. The number one issue with the 2nd unit is obviously shot creation and guard play, and he has a point guard sitting on the bench that has a skillset perfectly matched with his offense. Payne could be an abject failure in year one, it's absolutely possible, but until Donovan tries it doing things like playing Singler at the 4 is like changing the steering wheel cover when your car won't start.

There are those that think he is not ready to have the second unit thrown in his lap. I personally don't agree. If that is ever going to happen, now would be better than during the pressure of a run to the playoffs... but Payne was the stone I was talking about and he got his shot and kicked DJ's ass, side by side, hombre a hombre, and he played the rest of the game yesterday and DJ picked splinters. When Donovan put him back out there on his own with the bench players only I held my breath and that kid, while not perfect, just impressed the hell out of me. What did he say on draft night, "there isn't a ceiling on Cameron Payne"? Well by golly, let's find out.

I Still believe he can be one of the best players from this draft. Top 5 best.

He's bigger than I thought he would be, faster, has tremendous court vision that will only get better as the game starts to slow down. I can't think of a single argument to that declaration KD35Brah.... not one.

[bondom34]

Cam has reignited some excitement for me.

[KD35Brah]

There are those that think he is not ready to have the second unit thrown in his lap. I personally don't agree. If that is ever going to happen, now would be better than during the pressure of a run to the playoffs... but Payne was the stone I was talking about and he got his shot and kicked DJ's ass, side by side, hombre a hombre, and he played the rest of the game yesterday and DJ picked splinters. When Donovan put him back out there on his own with the bench players only I held my breath and that kid, while not perfect, just impressed the hell out of me. What did he say on draft night, "there isn't a ceiling on Cameron Payne"? Well by golly, let's find out.

I Still believe he can be one of the best players from this draft. Top 5 best.

He's bigger than I thought he would be, faster, has tremendous court vision that will only get better as the game starts to slow down. I can't think of a single argument to that declaration KD35Brah.... not one.

I mean the only reason he fell was because of the size difference between himself and Russell/Mudiay. Along with coming from a weak conference like Lillard, CJ, Elfrid, and Curry.

His 3pt shot could be a big part of our small ball lineup and for the team in general. He was a great spotUp and PnR pull-up shooter in college.
http://youtu.be/hWse5O-Kb6E?t=4m6s

He was #1 in the country for "Points Produced" for a team.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2390010-nba-draft-notebook-meet-cameron-payne-americas-most-overlooked-prospect

http://www.cbssports.com/nba/eye-on-basketball/25151972/cameron-payne-looks-to-become-ovcs-first-1st-round-pick-since-2011

[KD35Brah]

Someone save him from the D-League

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwGizSga9eY[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohHVL_Xfk6k[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhdvfZtWGOw[/youtube]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcguHtwEvAY[/youtube]

17 PER rookie

[Pillendreher]

Yeah, this I absolutely don't get. If he can play D-League games, he's physically ready for the NBA. You don't waste such an energy player if your bench lacks exactly that.