OKC Thunder Offseason: Avengers Assemble

[getrichordie]

Didn't see this one but looks like Russ took over and the defense is legit.

It was actually a “quiet” 20 from Russ. George was very active and had a great all around game. He looked very comfortable running with the second unit at times and I expect that to get better. The rest of the team showed a lot of effort on defense for sure. Good switching, getting hands up to contest 3s and good positioning as well for the most part.


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[bondom34]

I like Jokic even more lol.

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[spearsy23]

I'm going to roll with Huestis but wow, you don't want him putting it on the floor or trying to make a pass off the dribble. Just spot up, Josh.

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Finding a player on our bench that’s competent at anything is a victory. Obviously the guy has some weaknesses but he’s much better than the other options.

It just makes more sense why Donovan hasn't been in any hurry to play him. He's very 1 dimensional offensively. Those spot ups are great but that appears to be literally all he can competently accomplish.

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As opposed to the many different dimensions grant and singler brought?

[CROklahoma]

Incredible defensive intensity by our guys today.

And, my god, would we be a TEAM if Abrines starts. People wouldn't know how to stop us from scoring, while keeping our defense honest.

Also, yes, Huestis must be in a roster, and get some rotation minutes in the regular season, I hope our ownership won't be cheap on him.

Eventhough I admire Semaj's effort to become a 2nd or 3rd string PG in this league, dunno, Hamilton makes more sense off the bench, eventhough he is a poor man's Jamal Crawford who is first looking to create a shot for him, and lastly, dish the ball to someone first open. He has a bigger body frame, and in today's positionless basketball, would make a lot more sense to invest time in him, than Christon, unfortunately ...

About Dakari, I really dont like anything he can bring to our team, I'd rather have super athletic Grant as a smallball 5, than anything Dakari does. He can't do 1 thing on average basis, and when the season starts, teams are gonna feist on him, be it on defensive or offensive end of the floor.

EDIT: "Fred Katz: Donovan also didn't rule out running first-unit lineups with Abrines and 2nd-unit lineups w/ Robes in reg season: "I’m not saying we’re not".

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[Pillendreher]

I like Jokic even more lol.

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Jokic is a bitch. Good for Russ.

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A couple of thoughts:

-Russ was actually giving effort on defense
-Adams with a very good defensive game. Sharper rotations, very good recovery at the rim.
-Roberson with a nifty pass to the backdoor-cutting Adams. I like it.
-À propos Roberson:

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-Josh Huestis should play. He can't do much else besides spotting up offensively, but he has been quite good at that so far and his defense is legit.
-Grant should not get minutes. He can't do anything besides jump. Now his latest gimmick is trying to draw charges on defense because he's too slow to keep up with the opposing player.
-I don't know what some of you guys saw. Melo's rim protection was very Kanter'esque this game. It's like he's avoiding contact. Adams won't be able to rely on his 4 to help him at the rim this season.
-Both Melo and George will have to cool it with the iso midrange pullups.
-George with the KD handle. We should have him come off-screens more.
-Interesting that Donovan gave George some time with the bench. Must have listened to slick_watts
-Look at that: With Kanter gone, our bench unit is suddenly able to defend. That Hamilton-Ferguson-George-Huestis-Grant lineup was legit defensively. We were basically running 5 SF sized guys at the same time and it worked very well defensively. Not so much offensively, but well, that was to be expected.
-Ferguson keeps showing flashes. He should get minutes.
-Dakari just seems slow. It's just preseason, but I have to say I expected more. On both sides of the floor, it looks like he doesn't really know what he's doing.

[ThunderBolt]

EDIT: "Fred Katz: Donovan also didn't rule out running first-unit lineups with Abrines and 2nd-unit lineups w/ Robes in reg season: "I’m not saying we’re not".

LEEEEEEEEEEEEEETS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I have no doubt that Donovan hasn’t ruled out any lineup possibilities.

[ThunderBolt]

I still wouldn’t mind trading for Barton if it was possible. He destroyed us.

[jambalaya]

Some good things but here is some of what I didn't like: the fouls. hands not out or up all the time. last second is better than not and can work but hands weren't out & up enough to me, including Adams. Adams seemed heavy and not that energetic much of time. I did like him trying to be decisive & pass but that will probably lead to more turnovers in regular season.

Imo, a good or great coach should eliminate 80-95% of lineups (fairly quickly) because you don't need a lot and there is better and worse and likely better and likely worse and I want as much time spent on with the better and making that even better. Random dink lineups on average perform poorly across teams & time. It is a not smart inefficient coaching waste of time.

[ThunderBolt]

I don’t mind criticising Donovan for tinkering too much but not in preseason. This is the time he should be tinkering.

I missed the first quarter but liked what I saw from Adams. I think it’s unfair to say he did something well and discredit it by saying he won’t be able to repeat that. Why can’t he continue to pass well? He’s not surrounded by four guys this year so passes are easier.

[Pillendreher]

The refs were all over the place tho. I haven't seen that many travelling calls over the course of a whole season.

[Old Man Game]

As opposed to the many different dimensions grant and singler brought?

If you feel as a coach that a guy is as helpless with the ball as Josh appears to be I can see viewing him as a non option. Say what you will about the rest of the roster but at least those guys are vets. There's a degree of trust from a coach's view that comes with that.

Like I said before I'm ready to roll with him. I feel he has earned a chance regardless of those missteps and I feel he can contribute defensively. But I can see Donovan's point of view I think.

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[Old Man Game]

-Ferguson keeps showing flashes. He should get minutes.
-Dakari just seems slow. It's just preseason, but I have to say I expected more. On both sides of the floor, it looks like he doesn't really know what he's doing.

Ferguson looked decent last night. I like his defensive activity. I'm still waiting for regular season games to get a full read on how good he actually is. I'm afraid he'll get the typical rookie hazing from the officials and end up a foul magnet this season.

Johnson just looks like a dinosaur out there to me. He looks like a back-to-the-basket center from the 1980s just plodding along doesn't really do much in terms of face-up game hasn't really shown any of the playmaking that he was renowned for in the D-League. I don't think there's a place for him this league.


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[ThunderBolt]

-Ferguson keeps showing flashes. He should get minutes.
-Dakari just seems slow. It's just preseason, but I have to say I expected more. On both sides of the floor, it looks like he doesn't really know what he's doing.

Ferguson looked decent last night. I like his defensive activity. I'm still waiting for regular season games to get a full read on how good he actually is. I'm afraid he'll get the typical rookie hazing from the officials and end up a foul magnet this season.

Johnson just looks like a dinosaur out there to me. He looks like a back-to-the-basket center from the 1980s just plodding along doesn't really do much in terms of face-up game hasn't really shown any of the playmaking that he was renowned for in the D-League. I don't think there's a place for him this league.


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I could see the rookie hazing being less for Ferguson compared to a big like Sabonis. I’m curious as to what will be better for him and he team both short term and long term, D-league vs playing with the team.

Dakari does look very slow. Hopefully Patterson will be an effective small ball center because Grant and Dakari are our worst players, in my opinion.

[Old Man Game]

I'm pretty excited to see Alex Abrines this season. He looked noticeably more buff last night compared to his first season. I think it's going to help his defense quite a bit. And if you pair adequate defense with that jump shooting ability you've really got something.

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[CROklahoma]

Let's not forget, Abrines can actually put the ball on the floor and create off for himself or others off of P&R, he was only one who slashed a few times successfully during the playoffs vs Houston, alongside Russ and Dipo.
He is a decent ball handler, did that plenty of time in Barcelona aswell.
He is a COMPLETE package. The one in who you want to invest as many time as possible. He is our Klay in the making. Our better D.Green. Fit any 3rd/4th option you want.

I watched D.Green at Alex's age live while he was playing for Union in ABA league here in Europe. He had nowhere near the potential Alex has, regarding IQ, handling, shooting, and yes, tools needed for good defender. Cmon, lets not screw this up, giving Dre MORE minutes then Alex. Split those minutes accordingly who performs the best between these two.

[ThunderBolt]

Off topic, but does anyone else think Huestis and Abrines bith had a dad named Logan?

[hardenASG13]

Finding a player on our bench that’s competent at anything is a victory. Obviously the guy has some weaknesses but he’s much better than the other options.

It just makes more sense why Donovan hasn't been in any hurry to play him. He's very 1 dimensional offensively. Those spot ups are great but that appears to be literally all he can competently accomplish.

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As opposed to the many different dimensions grant and singler brought?

Or Roberson, who brings no dimension! They need huestis ' dimension, which appears to be spot up shooting. Makes their offense even more deadly.

Also yea, ditto for singler he brings nothing to the table. Grant has been disappointing from a perimeter offense perspective (still way better than roberson- he actually wants to catch the ball and won't pass up dropstep layups on the block, or force guys to take bad shots because they don't want to pass to him.....it happens!). It seems he's in line to play more 4/small ball 5 anyway though. Free Huestis!

[hardenASG13]

I still wouldn’t mind trading for Barton if it was possible. He destroyed us.

Even with defensive dynamo Roberson out there, who some have argued was the better player between the 2 based on advanced stats.

[hardenASG13]

-Ferguson keeps showing flashes. He should get minutes.
-Dakari just seems slow. It's just preseason, but I have to say I expected more. On both sides of the floor, it looks like he doesn't really know what he's doing.

Ferguson looked decent last night. I like his defensive activity. I'm still waiting for regular season games to get a full read on how good he actually is. I'm afraid he'll get the typical rookie hazing from the officials and end up a foul magnet this season.

Johnson just looks like a dinosaur out there to me. He looks like a back-to-the-basket center from the 1980s just plodding along doesn't really do much in terms of face-up game hasn't really shown any of the playmaking that he was renowned for in the D-League. I don't think there's a place for him this league.


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Agree, no use for Dakari. They idea he can be a playmaker in any capacity in the NBA is laughable. You don't need a lumbering center as your backup, or starter in alot of cases.

[hardenASG13]

Let's not forget, Abrines can actually put the ball on the floor and create off for himself or others off of P&R, he was only one who slashed a few times successfully during the playoffs vs Houston, alongside Russ and Dipo.
He is a decent ball handler, did that plenty of time in Barcelona aswell.
He is a COMPLETE package. The one in who you want to invest as many time as possible. He is our Klay in the making. Our better D.Green. Fit any 3rd/4th option you want.

I watched D.Green at Alex's age live while he was playing for Union in ABA league here in Europe. He had nowhere near the potential Alex has, regarding IQ, handling, shooting, and yes, tools needed for good defender. Cmon, lets not screw this up, giving Dre MORE minutes then Alex. Split those minutes accordingly who performs the best between these two.

Yep, completely on point. Just waiting for theses guys to hafta eat crow on that. Abrines defense isn't nearly as bad as they make it out to be. His offense is miles ahead. Pretty obvious. Blind minutes to roberson is absurd.