2016 Playoffs Round 1: OKC Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks

[Pillendreher]

I'm hoping for a danceoff between Payne and Villenueva.

[KD35Brah]

Looks like they addressed the defensive breakdowns in practice. Quotes from Collison included.

http://newsok.com/article/5493083

With reporters, it's no surprise he completely ignored talk of those late-game mistakes. That's how Westbrook deals with the media.

But behind the scenes, does Westbrook show the same lack of accountability?

“He's coachable,” Collison insisted. “He understands it.”

In film sessions, can Donovan get on him?

“Film doesn't lie. Things that happened on the court happened,” Donovan said. “It's my job to point them out…I try to be very truthful, very honest and very direct…Russell's always been great in terms of those guys always want to be coached and told where they can improve.”

Westbrook can terrorize opponents on defense. Twice this series, just the threat of his strength and speed combo has spooked Dirk into a couple fumbles on would-be post-ups.

But he's only good when he's locked in, which he wasn't down the stretch on Monday night. The Thunder doesn't need him to publicly own up to that. But OKC does need him to correct it.

“He knows he can be better,” Collison said. “I'm confident he's gonna come out and be really good on that end in Game 3…He sees mistakes he made and I guarantee you it'll be a priority for him in the next one. Because he knows how important it is.”

[bondom34]

I only had 2 breakdowns on him,but glad its addressed

[Pillendreher]

This might be the first time ever the Thunder adressed Westbrook's defensive lapses. Good for them.

[spearsy23]

Looks like they addressed the defensive breakdowns in practice. Quotes from Collison included.

http://newsok.com/article/5493083

With reporters, it's no surprise he completely ignored talk of those late-game mistakes. That's how Westbrook deals with the media.

But behind the scenes, does Westbrook show the same lack of accountability?

“He's coachable,” Collison insisted. “He understands it.”

In film sessions, can Donovan get on him?

“Film doesn't lie. Things that happened on the court happened,” Donovan said. “It's my job to point them out…I try to be very truthful, very honest and very direct…Russell's always been great in terms of those guys always want to be coached and told where they can improve.”

Westbrook can terrorize opponents on defense. Twice this series, just the threat of his strength and speed combo has spooked Dirk into a couple fumbles on would-be post-ups.

But he's only good when he's locked in, which he wasn't down the stretch on Monday night. The Thunder doesn't need him to publicly own up to that. But OKC does need him to correct it.

“He knows he can be better,” Collison said. “I'm confident he's gonna come out and be really good on that end in Game 3…He sees mistakes he made and I guarantee you it'll be a priority for him in the next one. Because he knows how important it is.”

out of all the things that could've been addressed from that game this should have been a good ways down the list.

[Pillendreher]

It should have been adresse months ago because Russ has been doing that kind of **** all season long.

But yeah, those possession weren't really the problem. I'd rather see them adress the bench rotation or the late-game offense.

[Old Man Game]

This is a terrific breakdown of the endgame offense.

TL;DR: Donovan's put together good sets, but there's a lack of misdirection and extra movement from the players who aren't involved in the immediate play. It's 80% of the way there, but the 20% makes all the difference.

http://hardwoodparoxysm.com/2016/04/20/oklahoma-city-thunder-clutch-offense-failures

That's excellent. Really reads like our team is just sort of lazy and entitled. Maybe they are. Or maybe Billy just isn't the right messenger to get them to go that extra mile. Hard to know.

[Pillendreher]

Everybody should listen to the last segment of Zach Lowe's latest podcast. Maybe publicly bashing them will shame them into playing better.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ZachLowe_NBA/status/722881879846727682[/tweet]

[bondom34]

[Pillendreher]

What?

[bondom34]

Maybe public shaming will change them. I don't think they really are ashamed of much, and if they were wouldn't "Mr. Unreliable" have led to some sort of changes, or the multiple call outs earlier in the year?

[Pillendreher]

Well all we can do is hope. It's one thing to not give effort in a RS Gane, but it's an whole other thing to do it on a national stage and get called out for it.

I think this is the first time several people have criticized them for those things nationally.

[bondom34]

Well all we can do is hope. It's one thing to not give effort in a RS Gane, but it's an whole other thing to do it on a national stage and get called out for it.

I think this is the first time several people have criticized them for those things nationally.

Possible.

Also, David Thorpe says KD is leaving. Remember. (I have no clue why but find it interesting this came from nowhere lol.)

[KD35Brah]

Thorpe is an idiot.

The moment he started lobbying for him to join Wall, who is ifinitely worse than Russ, and that horrible Wizards organization i knew he was clueless. He has no idea on what he's talking about.

[bondom34]

Thorpe is an idiot.

The moment he started lobbying for him to join Wall, who is ifinitely worse than Russ, and that horrible Wizards organization i knew he was clueless. He has no idea on what he's talking about.

What did he even say?

I just saw the headline, I'm at work and don't have audio.

[KD35Brah]

Thorpe is an idiot.

The moment he started lobbying for him to join Wall, who is ifinitely worse than Russ, and that horrible Wizards organization i knew he was clueless. He has no idea on what he's talking about.

What did he even say?

I just saw the headline, I'm at work and don't have audio.

The Usual:

- KD looks unhappy(this was nowhere to be seen after blowing out the Mavs by 38)
- Comparing LBJ's situation in 2010 to this
- Thought the Thunder woulld be irrelevant after Russ got injured in the 2013 playoffs
- Thought he was going to go GSW(before 2015) or Washington
- Connects Durant being at the top of the league with Brooks being his coach, so he thinks if the Wizards get Brooks Durant has a serious chance to go there.
- Says Durant likes to compete with Russ, thinks Durant has a problem with competing with Russ for Shots.
- Wall is a better passer and doesn't like to shoot so he thinks it's a prefect fit.
- Talks about the quote where Durant says he feels left out in the media, so Thorpes "instincts" tell him that Durant wants to go to a bigger market with bright lights so he'll never be forgotten.

[bondom34]

Thorpe is an idiot.

The moment he started lobbying for him to join Wall, who is ifinitely worse than Russ, and that horrible Wizards organization i knew he was clueless. He has no idea on what he's talking about.

What did he even say?

I just saw the headline, I'm at work and don't have audio.

The Usual:

- KD looks unhappy(this was nowhere to be seen after blowing out the Mavs by 38)
- Comparing LBJ's situation in 2010 to this
- Thought the Thunder woulld be irrelevant after Russ got injured in the 2013 playoffs
- Thought he was going to go GSW(before 2015) or Washington
- Connects Durant being at the top of the league with Brooks being his coach, so he thinks if the Wizards get Brooks Durant has a serious chance to go there.
- Says Durant likes to compete with Russ, thinks Durant has a problem with competeing with Russ for Shots.
- Wall is a better passer and doesn't like to shoot so he thinks it's a prefect fit.
- Talks about the quote where Durant says he feels left out in the media, so Thorpes "instincts" tell him that Durant wants to go to a bigger market with bright lights so he'll never be forgotten.

[KD35Brah]

Apparently Durants 2nd and 3rd best players are on the same level as Mo Williams and Delonte West.

[spearsy23]

Well all we can do is hope. It's one thing to not give effort in a RS Gane, but it's an whole other thing to do it on a national stage and get called out for it.

I think this is the first time several people have criticized them for those things nationally.

I don't think effort was really an issue, they just flat sucked. It's not like KD wasn't trying, if anything he was trying to hard. And Russ may have had as couple of defensive breakdowns, but they scored 85 points.

[bondom34]

Well all we can do is hope. It's one thing to not give effort in a RS Gane, but it's an whole other thing to do it on a national stage and get called out for it.

I think this is the first time several people have criticized them for those things nationally.

I don't think effort was really an issue, they just flat sucked. It's not like KD wasn't trying, if anything he was trying to hard. And Russ may have had as couple of defensive breakdowns, but they scored 85 points.

Yeah this is pretty much where I'm at. I mean, Russ had maybe 2 breakdowns, I'm not gonna kill a guy for that, and held the opponent to 85. The offense was the issue.