2017-2018 OKC Thunder Regular Season Thread part one: The Fellowship for A Ring

thekaoswithin · Post #1961 » by **thekaoswithin** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:33 pm

Robes being out hurts our offence too. Our TOV% was great, leading to lots of transition points. No Robes means less gambling for PG and Russ, therefore less steals and worse offence too.

Unless PG13 and Russ start playing like men possessed I don't see us making it out of the first round.

Is it possible that Dre can return for the playoffs if it wasn't a complete tear?

Post #1962 » by **bondom34** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 4:39 pm

Pillendreher wrote:
bondom34 wrote:
Pillendreher wrote:
He's not wrong on this one tho. Russ is not uncapable of picking up the slack defensively. If he doesn't, things will not look pretty.

You know he wouldn't ever in his life use the term "alpha" unless he had this opportunity.

Only a beta would take offense to that.

No offense.

I know if it were another player or 2 in his shoes it would be a different tune is all.

spearsy23 · Post #1963 » by **spearsy23** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:29 pm

Pillendreher wrote:
bondom34 wrote:Oh boy true alpha time.

He's not wrong on this one tho. Russ is not uncapable of picking up the slack defensively. If he doesn't, things will not look pretty.

I don't believe this at all. You can't just suddenly flip a switch and be great at something. expecting him to raise his level any significant margin is like expecting Robes to drop an efficient 15 if Russ went down.

P.S. Russ is still an average defender.

Old Man Game · Post #1964 » by **Old Man Game** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:30 pm

bondom34 wrote:Oh boy true alpha time.

I wish I knew who first popularized this whole "alpha" and "beta" thing in our culture so I could kick him straight in the nut sack.

spearsy23 · Post #1965 » by **spearsy23** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:33 pm

Also, is now an appropriate time to point out that Steven is 51st in DRPM among centers? Though that's definitely hurt by his lack of defensive rebounds.

RunOKC · Post #1966 » by **RunOKC** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:54 pm

Any way we can get Jae Crowder? He hasn't been good defensively (mediocre offense too..) with the Cavs, but the Cavs in general are a mess. Maybe he can turn it around with the Thunder? 2 of Grant/Abrines/Dakari + 2nd rounder? Probably wishful thinking.

Westbrook
George
Crowder
Melo
Adams

Felton
Ferguson
Huestis/Singler
Patterson/Collison
Dakari

and find a Vet to come in too?

Sun_Tzu · Post #1967 » by **Sun_Tzu** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 5:56 pm

Old Man Game wrote:
bondom34 wrote:Oh boy true alpha time.

I wish I knew who first popularized this whole "alpha" and "beta" thing in our culture so I could kick him straight in the nut sack.

Spoken like a true alpha.

getrichordie · Post #1968 » by **getrichordie** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 6:08 pm

spearsy23 wrote:
Pillendreher wrote:
bondom34 wrote:Oh boy true alpha time.

He's not wrong on this one tho. Russ is not un-capable of picking up the slack defensively. If he doesn't, things will not look pretty.

I don't believe this at all. You can't just suddenly flip a switch and be great at something. expecting him to raise his level any significant margin is like expecting Robes to drop an efficient 15 if Russ went down.

P.S. Russ is still an average defender.

Exactly. I expect him to try and give more effort on the defensive end but I don't think it will amount to much if any impact in-game. Also, the load he carries offensively is exactly why we need a defender like Roberson. Let's not forget that Westbrook is human. I think the real change that Westbrook can make is to have complete faith in his teammates to knock down shots. He should just hit the open guys every time a defender pulls off of them because we are going to need our entire squad knocking down 3-pt shots @ a good rate to compete with HOU and/or GSW. I think if he can do that and kind of rely on his teammates instead of himself so much, then I think he can get to another defensive level if he wanted to. But as it stands right now, Westbrook shoulders too much offense and his strengths aren't very energy efficient (unlike a Klay Thompson) so he's not going to be able to give 100% on both ends.

Funcrusher · Post #1969 » by **Funcrusher** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:33 pm

RunOKC wrote:Any way we can get Jae Crowder? He hasn't been good defensively (mediocre offense too..) with the Cavs, but the Cavs in general are a mess. Maybe he can turn it around with the Thunder? 2 of Grant/Abrines/Dakari + 2nd rounder? Probably wishful thinking.

Westbrook
George
Crowder
Melo
Adams

Felton
Ferguson
Huestis/Singler
Patterson/Collison
Dakari

and find a Vet to come in too?

Pillendreher · Post #1970 » by **Pillendreher** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:36 pm

spearsy23 wrote:I don't believe this at all. You can't just suddenly flip a switch and be great at something. expecting him to raise his level any significant margin is like expecting Robes to drop an efficient 15 if Russ went down.

No, it's not. Robes can't shoot and therefore will never be an efficient scorer. Russ on the other hand is very capable of defending, yet he chooses not to way too often.

spearsy23 · Post #1971 » by **spearsy23** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:54 pm

Pillendreher wrote:
spearsy23 wrote:I don't believe this at all. You can't just suddenly flip a switch and be great at something. expecting him to raise his level any significant margin is like expecting Robes to drop an efficient 15 if Russ went down.

No, it's not. Robes can't shoot and therefore will never be an efficient scorer. Russ on the other hand is very capable of defending, yet he chooses not to way too often.

Based on what? He's never been a difference maker defensively on the NBA level, expecting that to change because Dre went down is both foolhardy and unfair.

Robes can't shoot, but defense is just as much a skill.

Post #1972 » by **ThunderBolt** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:54 pm

RunOKC wrote:Any way we can get Jae Crowder? He hasn't been good defensively (mediocre offense too..) with the Cavs, but the Cavs in general are a mess. Maybe he can turn it around with the Thunder? 2 of Grant/Abrines/Dakari + 2nd rounder? Probably wishful thinking.

Westbrook
George
Crowder
Melo
Adams

Felton
Ferguson
Huestis/Singler
Patterson/Collison
Dakari

and find a Vet to come in too?

I don’t think Cleveland would do this deal.

spearsy23 · Post #1973 » by **spearsy23** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:00 pm

Read on Twitter

Great to hear, but now the real process begins.

Post #1974 » by **slick_watts** » Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:01 pm

THEY USED AN OKLAHOMA DOCTOR. CAREER OVER.

wco81 · Post #1975 » by **wco81** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:24 am

Wouldn't it be up to the player?

You'd think his agent would find out the best orthopedic surgeon or one who's got a great track record with athletes.

Pillendreher · Post #1976 » by **Pillendreher** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 10:43 am

Over the first 20 games, we went 1-11 in games when we lost the 3rd quarter. Since then, we're 9-6. That's interesting.

bbms · Post #1977 » by **bbms** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 11:57 am

Thunder now 4th rated team by SRS.

George is looking more and more comfortable playing for this team.

Old Man Game · Post #1978 » by **Old Man Game** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:27 pm

slick_watts wrote:THEY USED AN OKLAHOMA DOCTOR. CAREER OVER.

The McBride clinic where the procedure was performed is literally across the street from the Thunder training facility. The place has a bunch of autographed pictures from various (mostly collegiate) athletes/former patients on the walls in the waiting room.

Old Man Game · Post #1979 » by **Old Man Game** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:32 pm

Assume there's no way to get him or make it work, but wow, this'd be a home run.

Read on Twitter

CROklahoma · Post #1980 » by **CROklahoma** » Mon Jan 29, 2018 2:52 pm

Abrines, Singler, 2ndRP please go.