2024-2025 OKC Thunder Games Thread

[ThunderBolt]

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[ThunderBolt]

May 28, 2016 was the Klay Thompson game.

[Kizz Fastfists]

May 28, 2016 was the Klay Thompson game.

I think of that game as the Westbrook collapse. Tie game, OKC possession with 2 minutes to go and Russ turns the ball over FOUR times to finish out the game. OKC is only able to attempt one shot in the final 2:20 due to all the Russ turnovers.

[Dadouv47]

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[ThunderBolt]

May 28, 2016 was the Klay Thompson game.

I think of that game as the Westbrook collapse. Tie game, OKC possession with 2 minutes to go and Russ turns the ball over FOUR times to finish out the game. OKC is only able to attempt one shot in the final 2:20 due to all the Russ turnovers.

Well as Schlecht said, the demons have been exercised. You know that I love Westbrook the person more than I do Westbrook the player. My dad was at that game. As a season ticket holder during the Eddie Sutton era at OSU, he said the arena was even louder than Gallagher Iba arena that night due to some type of noise making thing they gave the fans.

[falcolombardi]

May 28, 2016 was the Klay Thompson game.

I think of that game as the Westbrook collapse. Tie game, OKC possession with 2 minutes to go and Russ turns the ball over FOUR times to finish out the game. OKC is only able to attempt one shot in the final 2:20 due to all the Russ turnovers.

Westbrook was a really good player but his fault in sone of our losses gets retroactively dismissed too much in favor of blaming durant

[Dadouv47]

Durant was 10/31 and 1/8 from three in that game (a less efficient overall player Westbrook was 10/27).

Durant is one of the best scorer in the history of the NBA so yeah I blame him more for that game 6 but whatever that was a bad shooting night from our team.

[Dadouv47]

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[Dadouv47]

The fun part is that when Presti was drafting only player with huge length but no shooting we had a meh defense but this time he decided to draft two way players with high BBIQ and somehow we end up with one of the best defenses in the history.

[Devilanche]

Durant was 10/31 and 1/8 from three in that game (a less efficient overall player Westbrook was 10/27).

Durant is one of the best scorer in the history of the NBA so yeah I blame him more for that game 6 but whatever that was a bad shooting night from our team.

Yea, time has probably changed stuff .

I remember the ending as KD didn’t even want to take over , Russ had to try something .

[Kizz Fastfists]

The fun part is that when Presti was drafting only player with huge length but no shooting we had a meh defense but this time he decided to draft two way players with high BBIQ and somehow we end up with one of the best defenses in the history.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Presti drafting anyone who profiled as a big time defender outside of Russ until after the team had peaked last time. Roberson was drafted in 2013, after Russ' knee injury in the playoffs. KD and Harden were offensive studs. Ibaka was a raw shot blocker when drafted and spent a year as a draft and stash, but did become a defensive force. Adams was a bruiser in the paint, but he wasn't a guy who profiled to alter the offensive approach against his team like Chet. PJIII, Mitch McGary, Huestis, Abrines, Reggie Jackson, Ferguson, Payne, etc. Were any of them expected to be standouts on defense? Was there a single decent draft pick between 2014 and 2020? I'm really tempted to just say every pick after 2013, Adams and Abrines, until 2021, Giddey and Wiggins, were just pure trash. Am I forgetting someone? Sabonis!!! Although, technically he was drafted by Orlando then traded to OKC, but I knew there had to be at least one good rookie come through during that time. We just traded him before he could develop.

Presti was drafting for non-basketball skills. This time he has drafted players that at least have some basketball skill that will translate to the NBA. Dort's defense, Chet's shot blocking, etc. He's not just drafting wingspans and athleticism that doesn't translate to the court. He's drafted basketball players and even the "bust", Giddey, is a pretty solid player. He just didn't fit with the team.

[Dadouv47]

Durant was 10/31 and 1/8 from three in that game (a less efficient overall player Westbrook was 10/27).

Durant is one of the best scorer in the history of the NBA so yeah I blame him more for that game 6 but whatever that was a bad shooting night from our team.

Yea, time has probably changed stuff .

I remember the ending as KD didn’t even want to take over , Russ had to try something .

with all these 2012/2025 Thunder comparisons, I couldn't stop thinking that if Durant was as close of a leader like Shai is, we would have won at least a title.

[Dadouv47]

The fun part is that when Presti was drafting only player with huge length but no shooting we had a meh defense but this time he decided to draft two way players with high BBIQ and somehow we end up with one of the best defenses in the history.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Presti drafting anyone who profiled as a big time defender outside of Russ until after the team had peaked last time. Roberson was drafted in 2013, after Russ' knee injury in the playoffs. KD and Harden were offensive studs. Ibaka was a raw shot blocker when drafted and spent a year as a draft and stash, but did become a defensive force. Adams was a bruiser in the paint, but he wasn't a guy who profiled to alter the offensive approach against his team like Chet. PJIII, Mitch McGary, Huestis, Abrines, Reggie Jackson, Ferguson, Payne, etc. Were any of them expected to be standouts on defense? Was there a single decent draft pick between 2014 and 2020? I'm really tempted to just say every pick after 2013, Adams and Abrines, until 2021, Giddey and Wiggins, were just pure trash. Am I forgetting someone? Sabonis!!! Although, technically he was drafted by Orlando then traded to OKC, but I knew there had to be at least one good rookie come through during that time. We just traded him before he could develop.

Presti was drafting for non-basketball skills. This time he has drafted players that at least have some basketball skill that will translate to the NBA. Dort's defense, Chet's shot blocking, etc. He's not just drafting wingspans and athleticism that doesn't translate to the court. He's drafted basketball players and even the "bust", Giddey, is a pretty solid player. He just didn't fit with the team.

Sabonis was a Presti pick if I'm not mistaken but yeah he used to draft based on athleticism and less on talent and he clearly changed his vision. Presti surrounded the franchise with competent people, from scouting, a good young coach and guys like Chip Engelland that can be different makers. He's smart enough to know that our only chance to win a championship is drafting well so he had to work on that. He still made some mistakes since 2020 but most of those picks were understandable. A guy like Poku is a running joke right now but in the end he's just a terrible version of Chet, Porzingis or Victor that can defend pretty well inside, dribble and shoot so I kind of understand the idea of gambling with a prospect like that late in the first round of the draft.

The biggest Presti flaws in our previous era were hiring bad coaches and his inability to surround our big 3 with decent players and it looks like he realized it. Lamb, Mitch Mcgary, Perry Jones etc. weren't able to contribute to a contender but it's also difficult to draft players that can help you in 2 or 3 years max to win a title so it requires a lot of inside help. You need a great coaching staff for guys like JDub, Chet and Cason Wallace to be that impactful 2 or 3 years after being drafted. Bottom line, obviously Presti got lucky with the PG13 trade and to a lesser extent with the JDub pick but hiring a lot of competent people in the organisation helped us tremendously with our current success.

[ThunderBolt]

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[Dadouv47]

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[OE_Thunder]

I am not so confident as others going into the finals. Indiana presents a unique challenge as they can exploit our overhelping defense and knock down 3's. Hopefully we don't help as much. Also, another series where we should only play 1 big at a time.

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[Sailor Haumea]

Should be a good series.

[Zagor]

I am not so confident as others going into the finals. Indiana presents a unique challenge as they can exploit our overhelping defense and knock down 3's. Hopefully we don't help as much. Also, another series where we should only play 1 big at a time.

Yes, but they depend heavily on Haliburton. And OKC can suffocate him with multiple defenders.
We can pressure the ball in a way they never seen before.

I also believe this is a series for Joe and Wiggins. It's going to be much easier for them than against Denver and Minnesota.

[Dadouv47]

yeah I don't like that match up. We love to give up open 3's on defense but against this Indiana team it's tricky so we need to make some adjustments or it can be ugly. Also worried about Chet in a fast pace series and against very mobile bigs.

[Dadouv47]

I am not so confident as others going into the finals. Indiana presents a unique challenge as they can exploit our overhelping defense and knock down 3's. Hopefully we don't help as much. Also, another series where we should only play 1 big at a time.

Yes, but they depend heavily on Haliburton. And OKC can suffocate him with multiple defenders.
We can pressure the ball in a way they never seen before.

I also believe this is a series for Joe and Wiggins. It's going to be much easier for them than against Denver and Minnesota.

it was supposed to be a series for Joe against Minny but he couldn't hit any 3 while struggling on D. Just hope he can hit his shots but the lack of confidence is a big issue.