11/12 - POSTGAME | Dallas Mavericks (99) - (112) Oklahoma City Thunder

[Pillendreher]

Russ still with a trash game. I don't know what's wrong with him, but if this continues, we have no chance at making the WCF. He started play like he should once the game once over. It has to be something mental. He forces so many shots and the offense did look better with him off the ball, which is very worrisome. Hell, over the last two games George has been the better playmaker.

If this is indeed mental, he needs to clear his head and buy in.

[M2J]

I know the Mavs suck, but we still won semi-convincingly without Adams or Carmelo. I'm still not sure if we'd just be better with the "OK3" being Russ, PG13, and Adams and never playing Carmelo.

It’s a fair question.

With that logic "not playing Adams" would be fair question too.
Adams missed 2 games and we won 2 right?
***
Adams-Robertson duo kills spacing and offensive flow imo. We should put 1 of them in the lineup.
Melo also stops the ball time to time. But we still played a lot of iso's without him.
There was a play in early 2nd half that we run a set for J.Grant and shot clock expired. That was one of Melo plays we usually run. I dont know why Russ wait to pass the ball to high post with -5 seconds left.

2 wins with incredible PG performances. Mavs played terrible. Clippers missed some of starters.
All in all 2 games doesnt mean we're better without Adams-Melo.

As long as they play the Clippers and Mavs, and George scores 40ppg... They'll have a terrific season. Just rest Adams and Melo until the playoffs.

[Mick75]

First half was terrible for Russ. I don't get all the careless turnovers he is producing. What is wrong with him?

Great all around game from Paul George! With Russ playing this bad we really need PG to play like this all the time. One can only hope that Russ will finally get his **** together. He has always had bad plays or even bad games but covered it up with stellar performances. I really miss the old Russ!

His lift seems to be off and what's even worse his vision is off as well. There was one play last night where Russ drove into the paint with defence collapsing at him and PG standing just outside the 3pt line...unguarded. Russ took the ill advised shot. Kick the xxxxxxx ball out... It was supposed to be so easy.

Really hope that PG's game will motivate Russ to perform better. He is better than this and the team should hold him accountable for that (if Billy is unable to).

On another note: did Raymond put on some weight during the last couple of games or is it just me adjusting to his out of shape look?

#thunderup!

[Kinglee]

They’re not better without Melo. The team goes as far as Westbrook. He play good, they win. He play bad, they lose. He played great against the Clippers and were up a ton, he turned into Baron when they were up 20 against the Clippers and the Clips came back. He went back to being Russ after the game was tied and they blew them away. Same scenario last night.

Melo has been perfectly fine. Defending fine, hitting his shots especially in the clutch. George has FINALLY turned it on the past two games after being horrendous the few games and then solid. Russ has been terrible all year long. Melo has been the most consistent out of the OK3. Let’s not pretend this wouldn’t had been 3 games in a row had they gave Melo the ball more against Denver.

[Kinglee]

First half was terrible for Russ. I don't get all the careless turnovers he is producing. What is wrong with him?

Great all around game from Paul George! With Russ playing this bad we really need PG to play like this all the time. One can only hope that Russ will finally get his **** together. He has always had bad plays or even bad games but covered it up with stellar performances. I really miss the old Russ!

His lift seems to be off and what's even worse his vision is off as well. There was one play last night where Russ drove into the paint with defence collapsing at him and PG standing just outside the 3pt line...unguarded. Russ took the ill advised shot. Kick the xxxxxxx ball out... It was supposed to be so easy.

Really hope that PG's game will motivate Russ to perform better. He is better than this and the team should hold him accountable for that (if Billy is unable to).

On another note: did Raymond put on some weight during the last couple of games or is it just me adjusting to his out of shape look?

#thunderup!

Felton isn’t out of shape, that’s just him. He just a big guard, but it doesn’t hinder his game. He’s been perfect all year lol. Looks “fat” to us, but that’s his comfortable playing size lol

[Mick75]

Don’t get me wrong, I like what Felton has shown so far. Still has me thinking, could he be faster if he would lose some of his weight? No disrepect at all!

[Old Man Game]

Russ still with a trash game. I don't know what's wrong with him, but if this continues, we have no chance at making the WCF. He started play like he should once the game once over. It has to be something mental. He forces so many shots and the offense did look better with him off the ball, which is very worrisome. Hell, over the last two games George has been the better playmaker.

If this is indeed mental, he needs to clear his head and buy in.

Makes you think, what are the odds he plays out the entirety of his contract in OKC? If say year 3 or so, George and Anthony are gone, Russ is trending downward, would we not trade him to some team that thought he could be the missing piece?

[Bergmaniac]

Westbrook really needs to cut down on the amount of long 2s he takes, he is a better 3 point shooter now, the way he shoots the ball he's about as likely to hit a 3 as an 15-18 footer, and he has much more help now. Especially these horrid shots after posting up a guard and being unable to get the rim, he shouldn't take these unless the shot clock is about to expire. Open 14-18 footers from his preferred spots once in a while are fine, but all those forced shots with a hand in his face one step inside the 3 line need to go.

George is such a hot and cold player on offense, when he gets going he's really scary. Hopefully he'll stay more engaged on that end when his shot is not falling too.