2018-19 Oklahoma City Thunder Preseason | October 3rd - October 9th

[Pillendreher]

The Thunder treat Ferguson like I treat players I traded for on NBA 2K: As soon as I have them on the court, I try to do stuff with them they simply aren't capable of. And until Ferguson actually gets better, his role should be reduced accordingly.

thunder need to find value in ferguson since they eschewed possible deals to improve in the short term by not trading that pick / not trading ferguson himself. it's not like he's blocking anyone who may be vastly superior to him.

on a healthy team, ferg might not even get minutes. with andre out, does it really matter all that much?

Well, yes, it does matter. Donovan is not exactly the kind of coach you can predict. We as a fanbase might think that Ferguson might not be getting minutes while Donovan thinks he could play him next to Westbrook and Schröder a whole bunch. So how the Thunder as a franchise view him does actually matter. You have to assume the worst when it comes to the supporting cast and the kind of rotation Donovan is throwing out there.

[slick_watts]

Well, yes, it does matter. Donovan is not exactly the kind of coach you can predict. We as a fanbase might think that Ferguson might not be getting minutes while Donovan thinks he could play him next to Westbrook and Schröder a whole bunch. So how the Thunder as a franchise view him does actually matter. You have to assume the worst when it comes to the supporting cast and the kind of rotation Donovan is throwing out there.

i don't think a 800-1200 minutes investment in terrance ferguson hurts the team all that much relative to other options, and it behooves them enough to give him the playing time considering he's the only young guy on the roster with a wide, heretofore undefined development range.

i think playing terrance ferguson (or, as happened last year, alex abrines or raymond felton) in lieu of vastly superior players (andre roberson) is indefensible.

assume the worst? who would you rather play than terrance ferguson? is it outlandish that he is ahead of TLC the first game of the preseason? or hamidou diallo? i don't think you're making much sense here. if ferguson got 2000+ minutes and TLC barely played all year or something like that it'd be groan-worthy.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Didn't get to watch the whole thing but:

Adams looks really good. Like really good.

And Schroder is going to be the 6th man creator the team needs.

Still not sold on the wing options, but until we know more about Robes it's hard to make a move there.

[ThunderBolt]

I think some are forgetting that schroder will possibly get as many minutes at the two as anyone.

[Pillendreher]

I think some are forgetting that schroder will possibly get as many minutes at the two as anyone.

I really wonder how the rotation is going to work with Schröder. I think he has the ability to be a "one man offense" (you guys really need a translation for Alleinunterhalter, which means being the solitary guy doing something), but at the same time his ability to create offensively is probably best used with the best offensive players around him, no? And if you do that, how is Westbrook working with that strategy? Is a bench with him and four defenders going to work?

Another thing I noticed in the 1st half: The team looked like its offense was a little bit quicker and more decisive at times. Like they didn't do something and then stop for 5 seconds, but followed that up with yet another action, so it looked like there was more flow to it.

And finally: They used Adams as a passer little more and I liked it.

[ThunderBolt]

What’s the deal with this new clown of an announcer butchering Dennis Schröder’s name?

[ThunderBolt]

Hot take- Adams has gotten better. A lot.

[slick_watts]

Hot take- Adams has gotten better. A lot.

[slick_watts]

i'm not a fan of these pg curls where he is attempting contested 16-20 footers off the dribble. it's a thing in our offense that betrays its sub-optimal nature. pg is not a great mid-range shooter, doesn't get fouled on a ton of them, and is an average or mediocre passer out of those. mis-use of his skill set imo. defenders just know how to defend this and unless you're an elite mid-range shooter or an elite playmaker it's not a play that should be run very much with high expectations.

[ThunderBolt]

Hot take- Adams has gotten better. A lot.

He’s beautiful

[slick_watts]

is wiggins the worst contract in the nba?

[slick_watts]

schroeder's defense is not good. i can't see how he will work with westbrook.

[Osirus89]

[Thundershock88]

Good first half. The amount of foul calls is pretty ridiculous though.

[ThunderBolt]

Diallo and Ferguson are very similar but diallo is more aggressive whereas Ferguson seems too passive. I’m not sure Ferguson is assertive enough to progress. Both guys shot some ugly looking threes.

[DoubleJ13]

The spacing in the 2nd unit could be really bad but they should be able to rack up FTs between Schroder & Grant drives. Combined with PG & Russ, the team should live at the line.

Hope they make them this year though.

[getrichordie]

Hot take- Adams has gotten better. A lot.

He’s definitely being more assertive which is awesome. We are going to live and die by defense and paint attacks this year. Good thing we have 3 good rim protectors and ~5 players who can finish around the rim. We honestly just need to find the guy who can hit the open 3 at the 2 spot. Abrines should be able to handle that role. Our front court rotation should be able to make up for Alex’s lack of defense.


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[bondom34]

Also hot take maybe: The bench might not be bad. Especially when Schroder gets bumped there. Yeah the wings stink but maybe depth fills some of the drop off there.

[CROklahoma]

I loved everything Diallo showed as a rookie on the court.
He's already somewhat big, good hands, athletic, and agressive on both ends.

Like him a lot more than Ferguson ...

[getrichordie]

Also hot take maybe: The bench might not be bad. Especially when Schroder gets bumped there. Yeah the wings stink but maybe depth fills some of the drop off there.

Schroder
Abrines
Luwawu
Patterson
Noel

That isn’t so bad.


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