2018-2019 OKC Thunder Regular Season Pt 1: A Renewed Hope

[slick_watts]

hand wringing over steven adams and billy donovan and even sam presti is all moot. the team lacks the resources to offset the degree of russell westbrook's decline, especially when potentially useful players (e.g. alex abrines, patrick patterson) and elite role players (andre roberson) vanish into the ether. we're damn near at the end of the regular season and westbrook has career lows in numerous categories. no coaching change is going to make up for it and there's no trade that sam presti can pull out of a hat that will make up for it. they should have rebuilt when they had the chance. sam's going to leave a flaming bag of doo-doo for whoever succeeds him.

[Old Man Game]

hand wringing over steven adams and billy donovan and even sam presti is all moot. the team lacks the resources to offset the degree of russell westbrook's decline, especially when potentially useful players (e.g. alex abrines, patrick patterson) and elite role players (andre roberson) vanish into the ether. we're damn near at the end of the regular season and westbrook has career lows in numerous categories. no coaching change is going to make up for it and there's no trade that sam presti can pull out of a hat that will make up for it. they should have rebuilt when they had the chance. sam's going to leave a flaming bag of doo-doo for whoever succeeds him.

It's not too late to pull the plug. Even at this stage of his career some GM among the 29 other teams would be willing to trade for him and give you a favorable package to start a rebuild. But of course, no one expects that and it isn't because of how much we value Russ, it's because of how little faith we have in Sam.

What I think your comment, and the general sense about this issue, actually reflects is the extent to which we've all just internalized that Sam Presti isn't going to rebuild, almost no matter what. He's too hard headed to admit his mistakes and would rather just see them through under the mantra of 'the Thunder way' until its well too late to change course. It's the single most defining characteristic of his tenure here.

[slick_watts]

hand wringing over steven adams and billy donovan and even sam presti is all moot. the team lacks the resources to offset the degree of russell westbrook's decline, especially when potentially useful players (e.g. alex abrines, patrick patterson) and elite role players (andre roberson) vanish into the ether. we're damn near at the end of the regular season and westbrook has career lows in numerous categories. no coaching change is going to make up for it and there's no trade that sam presti can pull out of a hat that will make up for it. they should have rebuilt when they had the chance. sam's going to leave a flaming bag of doo-doo for whoever succeeds him.

It's not too late to pull the plug. Even at this stage of his career some GM among the 29 other teams would be willing to trade for him and give you a favorable package to start a rebuild. But of course, no one expects that and it isn't because of how much we value Russ, it's because of how little faith we have in Sam.

What I think your comment, and the general sense about this issue, actually reflects is the extent to which we've all just internalized that Sam Presti isn't going to rebuild, almost no matter what. He's too hard headed to admit his mistakes and would rather just see them through under the mantra of 'the Thunder way' until its well to late to change course. It's the single most defining characteristic of his tenure here.

had andre roberson not been hurt, and had russell westbrook's decline been pushed out just a couple more years, this could have been an intriguing team this year and maybe the next 1-2. and even in its current state i believe the thunder are doing okay in terms of revenue and profit even with the huge payroll.

it's just strange to read people talk about issues the team is having this year while westbrook is struggling to make 50% TS. westbrook is the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about because it's just so easy to quantify the impact of his struggles as opposed to something more vague like coaching.

they could pull the plug but they've exhausted potential rebuilding resources attempting to galvanize the roster. trading a 1st round pick to get rid of melo and take a point guard version of melo back won't look great in retrospect.

[ThunderBolt]

hand wringing over steven adams and billy donovan and even sam presti is all moot. the team lacks the resources to offset the degree of russell westbrook's decline, especially when potentially useful players (e.g. alex abrines, patrick patterson) and elite role players (andre roberson) vanish into the ether. we're damn near at the end of the regular season and westbrook has career lows in numerous categories. no coaching change is going to make up for it and there's no trade that sam presti can pull out of a hat that will make up for it. they should have rebuilt when they had the chance. sam's going to leave a flaming bag of doo-doo for whoever succeeds him.

One thing I wonder is how do we know if Sam is doing what he wants or what ownership wants him to do? That doesn't excuse all of his decisions but it's what gives a little bit of hope that he could fix this.

[Pillendreher]

hand wringing over steven adams and billy donovan and even sam presti is all moot.

Here we go again. I was just waiting for this. Your mission has been a little neglected lately, but I'm glad you're back on track.

[slick_watts]

hand wringing over steven adams and billy donovan and even sam presti is all moot. the team lacks the resources to offset the degree of russell westbrook's decline, especially when potentially useful players (e.g. alex abrines, patrick patterson) and elite role players (andre roberson) vanish into the ether. we're damn near at the end of the regular season and westbrook has career lows in numerous categories. no coaching change is going to make up for it and there's no trade that sam presti can pull out of a hat that will make up for it. they should have rebuilt when they had the chance. sam's going to leave a flaming bag of doo-doo for whoever succeeds him.

One thing I wonder is how do we know if Sam is doing what he wants or what ownership wants him to do? That doesn't excuse all of his decisions but it's what gives a little bit of hope that he could fix this.

probably unknowable. thunder had the fifth highest average ticket prices last year, right? i guess they're still making money hand over fist. another first round exit could produce fanbase grumblings methinks.

[Pillendreher]

it's just strange to read people talk about issues the team is having this year while westbrook is struggling to make 50% TS. westbrook is the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about because it's just so easy to quantify the impact of his struggles as opposed to something more vague like coaching.

This is excellent gaslighting right here.

[slick_watts]

it's just strange to read people talk about issues the team is having this year while westbrook is struggling to make 50% TS. westbrook is the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about because it's just so easy to quantify the impact of his struggles as opposed to something more vague like coaching.

This is excellent gaslighting right here.

i've returned to the u.s. spiritually, mentally, and physically enriched. i don't have a desire to muck about with you this way. if you want to discuss basketball ok, but if you just want to write silly one-liners without any content i'm not interested. hope you have a nice day.

[hardenASG13]

[quote="slick_watts"]hand wringing over steven adams and billy donovan and even sam presti is all moot. the team lacks the resources to offset the degree of russell westbrook's decline, especially when potentially useful players (e.g. alex abrines, patrick patterson) and elite role players (andre roberson) vanish into the ether. we're damn near at the end of the regular season and westbrook has career lows in numerous categories. no coaching change is going to make up for it and there's no trade that sam presti can pull out of a hat that will make up for it. they should have rebuilt when they had the chance. sam's going to leave a flaming bag of doo-doo for whoever succeeds him.[/quote]

Yea sure, when the team is dedicated salary wise to a big 3, and one of the big 3 (adams, he makes 25 mill a season) has been performing like a mid to low level starter, on both ends, the past 2 months, and basically the 2nd half of every season, that's not a problem, right?

Hand wringing over Westbrook makes no sense. He still controls the tempo of the game, collapses the defense all night long, is involved in almost every loose ball/50/50 rebound....and is averaging a 20 point plus triple double. Yes his shooting has slipped. He's still a high level all star, far from as big a problem as the chronically underperforming adams. Games like last night should be closer to the norm for him for what he's paid. He's way too content being a passive offensive rebounding specialist. That's on him, not anyone else, and it's unacceptable at his salary.

[Pillendreher]

it's just strange to read people talk about issues the team is having this year while westbrook is struggling to make 50% TS. westbrook is the elephant in the room nobody wants to talk about because it's just so easy to quantify the impact of his struggles as opposed to something more vague like coaching.

This is excellent gaslighting right here.

i've returned to the u.s. spiritually, mentally, and physically enriched. i don't have a desire to muck about with you this way. if you want to discuss basketball ok, but if you just want to write silly one-liners without any content i'm not interested. hope you have a nice day.

What is there to discuss? This is obviously agenda driven to the highest degree. Westbrook's struggles have been talked about all season long. Save for a couple of idiots that can't help themselves, there is not a single person here that goes "Oh, this is fine, this is just great". In fact, we have been adamant all season long that this "He's at his best save for scoring" take is crap. Yet here you are again, pretending that the opposite happened. And why? We all know why. Because it's easier to get your shots in if you invent opposition to your musings. And of course at the same time it gives you the opportunity to make the argument that nothing else matters but the one thing you've been pushing and pushing and pushing. The objective behind this is to dominate the debate, obviously. "No, you should not talk about anything else but what I want you to talk about". Yawn. So predictable.

[slick_watts]

Yea sure, when the team is dedicated salary wise to a big 3, and one of the big 3 (adams, he makes 25 mill a season) has been performing like a mid to low level starter, on both ends, the past 2 months, and basically the 2nd half of every season, that's not a problem, right?

adams' performance since january has been a problem, yes. but even if he was performing as well as he was to start the year it wouldn't make up for how much westbrook has fallen off, is the point. adams was basically moses malone last year on the boards and while still a beast overall in that respect, he hasn't been able to match last year. adams and westbrook both regressing from last year on the offensive boards has hurt the offense.

[slick_watts]

This is excellent gaslighting right here.

i've returned to the u.s. spiritually, mentally, and physically enriched. i don't have a desire to muck about with you this way. if you want to discuss basketball ok, but if you just want to write silly one-liners without any content i'm not interested. hope you have a nice day.

What is there to discuss? This is obviously agenda driven to the highest degree. Westbrook's struggles have been talked about all season long. Save for a couple of idiots that can't help themselves, there is not a single person here that goes "Oh, this is fine, this is just great". In fact, we have been adamant all season long that this "He's at his best save for scoring" take is crap. Yet here you are again, pretending that the opposite happened. And why? We all know why. Because it's easier to get your shots in if you invent opposition to your musings. And of course at the same time it gives you the opportunity to make the argument that nothing else matters but the one thing you've been pushing and pushing and pushing. The objective behind this is to dominate the debate, obviously. "No, you should not talk about anything else but what I want you to talk about". Yawn. So predictable.

not interested, sorry.

[Pillendreher]

i've returned to the u.s. spiritually, mentally, and physically enriched. i don't have a desire to muck about with you this way. if you want to discuss basketball ok, but if you just want to write silly one-liners without any content i'm not interested. hope you have a nice day.

What is there to discuss? This is obviously agenda driven to the highest degree. Westbrook's struggles have been talked about all season long. Save for a couple of idiots that can't help themselves, there is not a single person here that goes "Oh, this is fine, this is just great". In fact, we have been adamant all season long that this "He's at his best save for scoring" take is crap. Yet here you are again, pretending that the opposite happened. And why? We all know why. Because it's easier to get your shots in if you invent opposition to your musings. And of course at the same time it gives you the opportunity to make the argument that nothing else matters but the one thing you've been pushing and pushing and pushing. The objective behind this is to dominate the debate, obviously. "No, you should not talk about anything else but what I want you to talk about". Yawn. So predictable.

not interested, sorry.

I'm glad we're on the same page then.

[slick_watts]

did royce young really call dennis schroder a re-tradeable asset? my man has been all over the place this year on the thunder.

[ThunderBolt]

hand wringing over steven adams and billy donovan and even sam presti is all moot. the team lacks the resources to offset the degree of russell westbrook's decline, especially when potentially useful players (e.g. alex abrines, patrick patterson) and elite role players (andre roberson) vanish into the ether. we're damn near at the end of the regular season and westbrook has career lows in numerous categories. no coaching change is going to make up for it and there's no trade that sam presti can pull out of a hat that will make up for it. they should have rebuilt when they had the chance. sam's going to leave a flaming bag of doo-doo for whoever succeeds him.

One thing I wonder is how do we know if Sam is doing what he wants or what ownership wants him to do? That doesn't excuse all of his decisions but it's what gives a little bit of hope that he could fix this.

probably unknowable. thunder had the fifth highest average ticket prices last year, right? i guess they're still making money hand over fist. another first round exit could produce fanbase grumblings methinks.

I read on the GB that the three nba franchises made less than the Louisville men’s basketball program last year. Okc was one of them. That would lead me to believe the profits aren’t great right now.

[slick_watts]

One thing I wonder is how do we know if Sam is doing what he wants or what ownership wants him to do? That doesn't excuse all of his decisions but it's what gives a little bit of hope that he could fix this.

probably unknowable. thunder had the fifth highest average ticket prices last year, right? i guess they're still making money hand over fist. another first round exit could produce fanbase grumblings methinks.

I read on the GB that the three nba franchises made less than the Louisville men’s basketball program last year. Okc was one of them. That would lead me to believe the profits aren’t great right now.

if true, that would change my perception of things a bit.

[JustOneFix]

Man, if Portland could hold on that 3rd seed and we somehow end up being 6th, I would call this a succesful season after all...

[ThunderBolt]

probably unknowable. thunder had the fifth highest average ticket prices last year, right? i guess they're still making money hand over fist. another first round exit could produce fanbase grumblings methinks.

I read on the GB that the three nba franchises made less than the Louisville men’s basketball program last year. Okc was one of them. That would lead me to believe the profits aren’t great right now.

if true, that would change my perception of things a bit.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1815697&hilit=Louisville

[SecondTake]

Man, if Portland could hold on that 3rd seed and we somehow end up being 6th, I would call this a succesful season after all...

Until we get swept.

[slick_watts]

i don't think they could have made these guys this close even if they were conspiring to do it. unreal.