WCQF | (4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs Utah Jazz (5) | UTA 4-2

[Pillendreher]

Looked like Russ from first 20 games of the season. Too passive, only making passes and not attacking the rim (even if Utah has Gobert)

I like how he played for the most part offensively. There were some issues for sure in terms of shot selection and defense (in part because of him switching as a default.

When I say I have a problem with switching, it's primarily when they readily and easily switch into a bad matchup with their guards in the paint creating easy baskets in the paint and putbacks/off boards. There were some key situations where there were high pick and rolls that the ball handler (Mitchell/Rubio) had no intent of attacking, they just readily handed off the switch. Especially the 1/5 pnr. All Russ needed to do was get back to his man. PG as well. Utah got back consistently. If it's late in the clock or the guards are proving they're willing to attack it, then fine. Switchability is a must in today's NBA, but not when not required.

They defended the PnR better when they switched.

[dakomish23]

They took their foot off the pedal after the 19-0 run. Sloppy turnovers and bad FGAs, then poof, lead evaporated.

Can’t take it for granted.

Did they? I think Utah put their foot back on the pedal after the 19-0 run. The thunder never had control of this game. It was Utah’s to lose and they executed well down the stretch.

Don’t know about that. They just gave up easy baskets at the rim with bad defense & bad turnovers in a few minutes. After that they were pressing.

Last game OKC put their foot on the throat and expanded the lead to the teens. This time, they acted like they had it.

[Old Man Game]

Someone cue up that Dennis Green rant, "They are who we thought they were!"

https://goo.gl/images/muJmfF

[ThunderBolt]

They took their foot off the pedal after the 19-0 run. Sloppy turnovers and bad FGAs, then poof, lead evaporated.

Can’t take it for granted.

Did they? I think Utah put their foot back on the pedal after the 19-0 run. The thunder never had control of this game. It was Utah’s to lose and they executed well down the stretch.

Don’t know about that. They just gave up easy baskets at the rim with bad defense & bad turnovers in a few minutes. After that they were pressing.

Last game OKC put their foot on the throat and expanded the lead to the teens. This time, they acted like they had it.

Jazz won three of the four quarters.

[dakomish23]

Did they? I think Utah put their foot back on the pedal after the 19-0 run. The thunder never had control of this game. It was Utah’s to lose and they executed well down the stretch.

Don’t know about that. They just gave up easy baskets at the rim with bad defense & bad turnovers in a few minutes. After that they were pressing.

Last game OKC put their foot on the throat and expanded the lead to the teens. This time, they acted like they had it.

Jazz won three of the four quarters.

Did Jazz win that last quarter more than OKC lost it? That 4th quarter. Yeeshhh

[ThunderBolt]

Don’t know about that. They just gave up easy baskets at the rim with bad defense & bad turnovers in a few minutes. After that they were pressing.

Last game OKC put their foot on the throat and expanded the lead to the teens. This time, they acted like they had it.

Jazz won three of the four quarters.

Did Jazz win that last quarter more than OKC lost it? That 4th quarter. Yeeshhh

http://www.nba.com/games/20180418/UTAOKC#/matchup
The jazz controlled the entire game aside from the third quarter and a brief stretch at the start of the second. It doesn’t make sense to say OKC lost what they only had for a short time. Tonight was Utah’s night.

[dakomish23]

Jazz won three of the four quarters.

Did Jazz win that last quarter more than OKC lost it? That 4th quarter. Yeeshhh

http://www.nba.com/games/20180418/UTAOKC#/matchup
The jazz controlled the entire game aside from the third quarter and a brief stretch at the start of the second. It doesn’t make sense to say OKC lost what they only had for a short time. Tonight was Utah’s night.

I said the 4th. OKC didn’t execute at all and UTA did. If that’s them winning it in your eyes, cool.

[ThunderBolt]

Did Jazz win that last quarter more than OKC lost it? That 4th quarter. Yeeshhh

http://www.nba.com/games/20180418/UTAOKC#/matchup
The jazz controlled the entire game aside from the third quarter and a brief stretch at the start of the second. It doesn’t make sense to say OKC lost what they only had for a short time. Tonight was Utah’s night.

I said the 4th. OKC didn’t execute at all and UTA did. If that’s them winning it in your eyes, cool.

Does that Utah defense not get credit for that or is OKC so unstoppable in star power that only they can stop themselves?

[Old Man Game]

Can we just take a moment to appreciate that floater Mitchell hit in the second half where he did like two hesitation dribbles in a row and jumped forward and released the floater and hit it. I don't think I've ever seen that. It was almost like he triple jumped all while maintaining a live dribble. The kid is really something.

[Thundershock88]

http://www.nba.com/games/20180418/UTAOKC#/matchup
The jazz controlled the entire game aside from the third quarter and a brief stretch at the start of the second. It doesn’t make sense to say OKC lost what they only had for a short time. Tonight was Utah’s night.

I said the 4th. OKC didn’t execute at all and UTA did. If that’s them winning it in your eyes, cool.

Does that Utah defense not get credit for that or is OKC so unstoppable in star power that only they can stop themselves?

Let's be real, OKC chucked the game away. There was no offensive direction whatsoever.

[ThunderBolt]

I said the 4th. OKC didn’t execute at all and UTA did. If that’s them winning it in your eyes, cool.

Does that Utah defense not get credit for that or is OKC so unstoppable in star power that only they can stop themselves?

Let's be real, OKC chucked the game away. There was no offensive direction whatsoever.

There was plenty of offensive direction it was just a happening at the other end of the court.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Let's be real, OKC chucked the game away. There was no offensive direction whatsoever.

That is in line with the whole season. They just happened to make enough shots to get a lucky win in game 1. After two games they are shooting 44% from the field, 39% from 3 and 78% from the FT line. In the regular season they shot 45%, 35% and 72%. OKC isn't the better team because they have terrible coaching, poor effort on defense and poor shooting. When they make their shots they can beat anyone. They just aren't going to shoot 48% from 3, like they did in game 1, very often.

[slick_watts]

Yeah I've touted the playoff superiority all season of this team.

[bondom34]

Yeah I've touted the playoff superiority all season of this team.

In shambles.

OKC has the better top talent.

Utah has the better team.

[Rocketsbaby]

You guys actually had a very competitive playoff team with Roberson. Being forced to run your offense through Westbrook in the postseason just doesn't work unless you have an elite defensive team though

I think George is pretty much forced to leave for the Lakers, but i think OKC is going to be able to go through a quick rebuild and move Carmelo's expiring salary for enough to field a pretty good team next year or the year after.

[RunOKC]

I'm not worried yet. We were missing some decent looks in the 4th until the last 2 minutes. We're going to go steal one of these in SLC.

Also Gary Zielinsky and Ken Mauer need to be suspended. Ticky tack/straight wrong calls on us all night while Utah got benefit of doubt on everything.

[AGE1207]

Yeah I've touted the playoff superiority all season of this team.

In shambles.

OKC has the better top talent.

Utah has the better team.

Correct summary.
Jazz probably with the better coach too. OKC fans are going to sell themselves short if they simply blame the refs.
Taking out Adams to open up the paint was a Snyder plan.

[M2J]

Looked like Russ from first 20 games of the season. Too passive, only making passes and not attacking the rim (even if Utah has Gobert)

I like how he played for the most part offensively. There were some issues for sure in terms of shot selection and defense (in part because of him switching as a default.

When I say I have a problem with switching, it's primarily when they readily and easily switch into a bad matchup with their guards in the paint creating easy baskets in the paint and putbacks/off boards. There were some key situations where there were high pick and rolls that the ball handler (Mitchell/Rubio) had no intent of attacking, they just readily handed off the switch. Especially the 1/5 pnr. All Russ needed to do was get back to his man. PG as well. Utah got back consistently. If it's late in the clock or the guards are proving they're willing to attack it, then fine. Switchability is a must in today's NBA, but not when not required.

They defended the PnR better when they switched.

Did they defend the paint better or rebound better? Just saying not every switch was needed

[Pillendreher]

I just don't understand why they didn't stick with what worked in the 1st game. The Jazz are the last team you need to trap/double on the PnR. Just go under the **** screen and drop back.They did that trapping bull in the 1st game as well and got burned, yet here they were again.

Looking at the lineup data, they were really bleeding points (on a team level) on the Adams-Gobert matchup:



Can't give up a 123 ORtG like that. And it's not like Gobert was scoring himself: The PnR defense that was offered was just horrible.

Also I don't think that Anthony should be out there for like 12 minutes straight. Give him a breather and bring him back. Don't play him like this:



You can't just transfer the **** that didn't work with George to Melo and be all like 'Yeah, this will do'. He's not 26 anymore.

[spearsy23]

it's dumb plays like that which people chalk up to 'momentum' plays that great teams don't get too mucked up with.

This has been a Hallmark of Golden State the last few years. Great teams certainly do it, they just also occasionally make the shots.