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It's pretty obvious to me that the Nuggets are just a bad matchup for the Thunder. They have too many shooters who can create off the dribble and they run so much motion that our defense isn’t able to load up like they’d be able to do against most opponents.

Denver plays like Golden State played 3 years ago before Durant jumped on the bandwagon. This current Golden State squad’s offense doesn’t employ near as much motion as they did pre-KD. Which is why I think OKC has better odds at beating them than Denver. Plus Denver is a lot deeper than Golden State. Denver goes 9-10 deep easily with guys who are good shooters/scorers. Therefore even when their reserves come in they usually have the matchup edge against OKC. Again, this was similar to the pre-KD Warriors who believed in “strength in numbers”.

It’s just one of those things. Sometimes teams are just bad matchups for good teams. Like in 2007 the Mavs had the best record in the league. They posted 67 wins on the year but an average Golden State Warriors team led by Baron Davis, Monte Ellis, and Stephen Jackson owned them during the regular season and ran them out of the gym in the playoffs.

You can substitute "Nuggets" for "any potential playoff team" and most of that holds true. OKC will have a bad matchup in the playoffs no matter their seeding. They will be against a much better coached team that will give OKC the ability to showcase their weakness, Russ shooting, while trying to prevent their strength, Russ driving. OKC's is a tough regular season matchup because you don't really adjust your game plan day-to-day in the NBA. In a playoff series you completely adjust to your opponent, unless you are Billy then you just throw random garbage out there and dream about your vacation.

I really hope we keep #3 and GS slips to #2

No. The squad with the all time great talent is the more difficult opponent, period.

you guys are hilarious

Thunder Up wrote:you guys are hilarious

Your act is lame.

Kizz Fastfists wrote:You can substitute "Nuggets" for "any potential playoff team" and most of that holds true. OKC will have a bad matchup in the playoffs no matter their seeding.

OK man, we get it. There's nuclear war coming and the hunger & plague is just around corner.

ThunderBolt wrote:

Thunder Up wrote:you guys are hilarious

Your act is lame.

my "act"?
lmao, there is seriously a thread saying that a young team who could be much more easily gameplanned for in a seven game series is a TOUGHER MATCHUP than the all-time best team who has won 3 of the last 4 championships...

as I said, you guys are hilarious, I come to Real GM OKC forum once every day or two for the hilariously ignorant content

Thunder Up wrote:

ThunderBolt wrote:

Thunder Up wrote:you guys are hilarious

Your act is lame.

my "act"?
lmao, there is seriously a thread saying that a young team who could be much more easily gameplanned for in a seven game series is a TOUGHER MATCHUP than the all-time best team who has won 3 of the last 4 championships...

as I said, you guys are hilarious, I come to Real GM OKC forum once every day or two for the hilariously ignorant content

You post nothing of substance. If you disagree then put some research into your post and debate instead of just showing up with your “lol” quotes every other day.

ThunderBolt wrote:

Thunder Up wrote:

ThunderBolt wrote:Your act is lame.

my "act"?
lmao, there is seriously a thread saying that a young team who could be much more easily gameplanned for in a seven game series is a TOUGHER MATCHUP than the all-time best team who has won 3 of the last 4 championships...

as I said, you guys are hilarious, I come to Real GM OKC forum once every day or two for the hilariously ignorant content

You post nothing of substance. If you disagree then put some research into your post and debate instead of just showing up with your “lol” quotes every other day.

this thread doesn't deserve anything of substance, neither do people who say this isn't a playoff team 4 games into the season, or people who proclaim games and seasons are over after 7 minutes of a single game

Thunder Up wrote:

ThunderBolt wrote:

Thunder Up wrote:
my "act"?
lmao, there is seriously a thread saying that a young team who could be much more easily gameplanned for in a seven game series is a TOUGHER MATCHUP than the all-time best team who has won 3 of the last 4 championships...

as I said, you guys are hilarious, I come to Real GM OKC forum once every day or two for the hilariously ignorant content

You post nothing of substance. If you disagree then put some research into your post and debate instead of just showing up with your “lol” quotes every other day.

this thread doesn't deserve anything of substance, neither do people who say this isn't a playoff team 4 games into the season, or people who proclaim games and seasons are over after 7 minutes of a single game

What about people who mocked the idea that we might lose to the jazz in the playoffs last year?

ThunderBolt wrote:

Thunder Up wrote:

ThunderBolt wrote:You post nothing of substance. If you disagree then put some research into your post and debate instead of just showing up with your “lol” quotes every other day.

this thread doesn't deserve anything of substance, neither do people who say this isn't a playoff team 4 games into the season, or people who proclaim games and seasons are over after 7 minutes of a single game

What about people who mocked the idea that we might lose to the jazz in the playoffs last year?

what about people who said Rudy Gobert is a top 10 borderline top 5 player in the NBA, Terrance Ferguson is going to be Jimmy Butler, Westbrook's athleticism has fallen off a cliff, Andre Roberson is not an important part of the team, etc etc etc

Thunder Up wrote:

ThunderBolt wrote:

Thunder Up wrote:
this thread doesn't deserve anything of substance, neither do people who say this isn't a playoff team 4 games into the season, or people who proclaim games and seasons are over after 7 minutes of a single game

What about people who mocked the idea that we might lose to the jazz in the playoffs last year?

what about people who said Rudy Gobert is a top 10 borderline top 5 player in the NBA, Terrance Ferguson is going to be Jimmy Butler, Westbrook's athleticism has fallen off a cliff, etc etc etc

I would love you best your defense for whatever your stance is on a particular subject. That’s how message boards work.

Debating which is a better match up between two teams that are both ahead of us in the standings is a valid discussion. If you think it’s beneath you, then leave it alone. Even the people that I vehemently disagree with put more effort into their posts than “lol”.

ThunderBolt wrote:

Thunder Up wrote:

ThunderBolt wrote:What about people who mocked the idea that we might lose to the jazz in the playoffs last year?

what about people who said Rudy Gobert is a top 10 borderline top 5 player in the NBA, Terrance Ferguson is going to be Jimmy Butler, Westbrook's athleticism has fallen off a cliff, etc etc etc

I would love you best your defense for whatever your stance is on a particular subject. That’s how message boards work.

Debating which is a better match up between two teams that are both ahead of us in the standings is a valid discussion. If you think it’s beneath you, then leave it alone. Even the people that I vehemently disagree with put more effort into their posts than “lol”.

I love you, brother.. Thunder Up

You guys can dismiss it all you want but it's an absolute fact that matchups and playing style are a HUGE factor.

Golden State has the better top end players but Denver is a deeper squad and the fact that they run a ton of motion and have a skilled big man with a point guards mentality make them a much tougher matchup for OKC.

I'm sure back in 2007 there were Dallas fans laughing at the notion of the Warriors being a tougher matchup than the Spurs.

We'll see.

1bigfan13 wrote:You guys can dismiss it all you want but it's an absolute fact that matchups and playing style are a HUGE factor.

Golden State has the better top end players but Denver is a deeper squad and the fact that they run a ton of motion and have a skilled big man with a point guards mentality make them a much tougher matchup for OKC.

I'm sure back in 2007 there were Dallas fans laughing at the notion of the Warriors being a tougher matchup than the Spurs.

We'll see.

Those Warriors and the Spurs weren't the best team in NBA history, bud. Neither are the Nuggets.

I've been watching this game and other sports for over 30 years and no matter how great a team is there is always a team or two who great teams would rather avoid because those teams play a style of play that's more difficult for them to defend.

There are literally dozens of teams who have been crowned "best team of all time" and they have all had the same issue when dealing with certain teams who were supposed to be inferior.

Check your history. Or don't and remain blind to these facts.

Thunder Up wrote:

1bigfan13 wrote:You guys can dismiss it all you want but it's an absolute fact that matchups and playing style are a HUGE factor.

Golden State has the better top end players but Denver is a deeper squad and the fact that they run a ton of motion and have a skilled big man with a point guards mentality make them a much tougher matchup for OKC.

I'm sure back in 2007 there were Dallas fans laughing at the notion of the Warriors being a tougher matchup than the Spurs.

We'll see.

Those Warriors and the Spurs weren't the best team in NBA history, bud. Neither are the Nuggets.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

1bigfan13 wrote:I've been watching this game and other sports for over 30 years and no matter how great a team is there is always a team or two who great teams would rather avoid because those teams play a style of play that's more difficult for them to defend.

There are literally dozens of teams who have been crowned "best team of all time" and they have all had the same issue when dealing with certain teams who were supposed to be inferior.

Check your history. Or don't and remain blind to these facts.

Thunder Up wrote:

1bigfan13 wrote:You guys can dismiss it all you want but it's an absolute fact that matchups and playing style are a HUGE factor.

Golden State has the better top end players but Denver is a deeper squad and the fact that they run a ton of motion and have a skilled big man with a point guards mentality make them a much tougher matchup for OKC.

I'm sure back in 2007 there were Dallas fans laughing at the notion of the Warriors being a tougher matchup than the Spurs.

We'll see.

Those Warriors and the Spurs weren't the best team in NBA history, bud. Neither are the Nuggets.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

It doesn't matter how long you have watched a sport for, that means absolutely nothing when you are presented with the Warriors who are literally the best team ever formed and have won 3 of the last 4 championships. On no planet is Denver a tougher match-up for OKC than Golden State.

Thunder Up wrote:

1bigfan13 wrote:I've been watching this game and other sports for over 30 years and no matter how great a team is there is always a team or two who great teams would rather avoid because those teams play a style of play that's more difficult for them to defend.

There are literally dozens of teams who have been crowned "best team of all time" and they have all had the same issue when dealing with certain teams who were supposed to be inferior.

Check your history. Or don't and remain blind to these facts.

Thunder Up wrote:
Those Warriors and the Spurs weren't the best team in NBA history, bud. Neither are the Nuggets.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

It doesn't matter how long you have watched a sport for, that means absolutely nothing when you are presented with the Warriors who are literally the best team ever formed and have won 3 of the last 4 championships. On no planet is Denver a tougher match-up for OKC than Golden State.

Golden State is pretty much the best team ever. 5 all stars, guys playing with each other for years (only Cousins who is new). Good bench. Can play big or small ball.
They already proved that they can play elite basketball comes playoff time after coasting the regular season. They have clutch players...Klay is cold blooded (he ***ing killed us in game 6).

I would agree that we would be the team that match up the best against Golden State if Roberson was healthy, but even considering that, I still prefer to play Denver. Most Denver players have no playoff experience. That matters. They are a really really good team but I don't think it's a worse match up than Utah, Houston or Portland. Denver is the second best team in the West, period. Gs is at worst the second best team ever and they are killing us at every position.

The only good side of playing the Warriors is that if u can make a competitive series it's already a win, while losing against any other team would be a disappointment. Even if it would hurt to lose against cupcake, losing in the WCF in 6 games against the Warriors is still a great accomplishment

1bigfan13 wrote:You guys can dismiss it all you want but it's an absolute fact that matchups and playing style are a HUGE factor.

Golden State has the better top end players but Denver is a deeper squad and the fact that they run a ton of motion and have a skilled big man with a point guards mentality make them a much tougher matchup for OKC.

I'm sure back in 2007 there were Dallas fans laughing at the notion of the Warriors being a tougher matchup than the Spurs.

We'll see.

This is just a ridiculous attempt to justify losing to an inferior team multiple times in a row by putting them on a pedestal they don't deserve. If you can't beat a team that hasn't made the Playoffs since Kevin Martin was a Thunder, you have no business calling yourself a contender, period. The same was true for losing to the Jazz last season. If you do that, then you're not worthy of competing.