Why isn’t playoff inexperience holding OKC back as people claimed?

[Los_29]

For one thing they played a bad Pelicans team without their best player. Now they are playing a team that missed the playoffs last year and got through an injury depleted Clippers team.

However, Mavs are a good test for them. I predicted the Mavs to win the series and still think they’ll get it done.

[ILOVEIT]

Because LUKA and Dallas as a TEAM are overrated. As long as Luka walks it up and does his ISO stuff, they will always lose to complete team basketball. Note: Clippers play the same dumb ISO ball as Dalla, hence the win in first round.

[NZB2323]

because it's game 1, relax. Dallas always loses game 1 and rebounds well after as history has shown. OKC definitely has a bright future tho and the jury is still out this year so we'll see.

i don't think op is talking about the game or the series.

i guess he's criticizing a certain one-sided dominant narrative that just pretend to analyse the thunder, but just regurgitates cliches.

But the cliche is there for a reason; look at the 2023 Cavs.

[Jasen777]

I don't think it's that unusual for an inexperienced team to win a round or two, especially if they are good enough to be highly seeded.

[Special_Puppy]

Part of it is that they were already so good in the regular season that they would still be a formidable team even if they somewhat underperformed in the post season. Part of it is that the teams they faced are particularly experienced themselves. Pelicans and Mavericks don’t have particularly experienced playoff rosters. Lakers vs OKC would have been an amazing early test of playoff experience vs regular season net rating but sadly we never got it. Only remaining team that ranks top 5 in playoff experience is the Celtics now

[ChipotleWest]

Sorry but I'm gonna tell it like it is they're getting teams with injured stars. Zion out, and Luka

Mavericks Star Luka Doncic Appears on Injury Report Against OKC Thunder

Superstar Luka Doncic is already dealing with a knee sprain that doesn’t appear to be getting better.

Doncic himself has mentioned that this injury will linger, being something he has to fight through not heal from.

https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/news/playoffs-okc-thunder-injury-report-luka-doncic-mavs

[SweaterBae]

Good team is good for a bunch of reasons that can't be boiled down to any one negative or positive.

[ForeverTFC]

In hindsight, that talking point is looking ridiculous given how well OKC and Minny are playing.

Though to be fair, OKC is benefitting from injuries to the best player of the teams they’ve faced so far and Minny imported a ton of playoff experience from the Jazz.

Still, this is another reminder that in the NBA, top end talent trumps everything else.

[meekrab]

Because they're an elite team, 3rd best offense, 4th best defense, best record in a stacked Western conference, and their core rotation played tons of minutes together.

Usually when people talk about inexperienced teams they're talking about a 5 seed or something, because it's rare to get as good as the Thunder are with practically nobody on the team over 25 years old. And then the 5 seed loses in the first round and people blame experience when it's just the better team winning.

[sfernald]

Sorry but I'm gonna tell it like it is they're getting teams with injured stars. Zion out, and Luka

Mavericks Star Luka Doncic Appears on Injury Report Against OKC Thunder

Superstar Luka Doncic is already dealing with a knee sprain that doesn’t appear to be getting better.

Doncic himself has mentioned that this injury will linger, being something he has to fight through not heal from.

https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/news/playoffs-okc-thunder-injury-report-luka-doncic-mavs

How many times u reposting this?

[BloodNinja]

Inexperience comes into play when the games get tight at the end. No one has been able to put them in that situation yet.

[slick_watts]

playoff inexperience doesn't matter. inexperienced teams aren't usually that good. that's why they don't go far. okc is really good.

[ChipotleWest]

Sorry but I'm gonna tell it like it is they're getting teams with injured stars. Zion out, and Luka

Mavericks Star Luka Doncic Appears on Injury Report Against OKC Thunder

Superstar Luka Doncic is already dealing with a knee sprain that doesn’t appear to be getting better.

Doncic himself has mentioned that this injury will linger, being something he has to fight through not heal from.

https://www.si.com/nba/thunder/news/playoffs-okc-thunder-injury-report-luka-doncic-mavs

How many times u reposting this?

Until people like you acknowledge that he's injured and stop pretending we're getting 100% SGA vs. 100% Luka. So probably a lot more.

[OkcSinceSGA]

In hindsight, that talking point is looking ridiculous given how well OKC and Minny are playing.

Though to be fair, OKC is benefitting from injuries to the best player of the teams they’ve faced so far and Minny imported a ton of playoff experience from the Jazz.

Still, this is another reminder that in the NBA, top end talent trumps everything else.

Those two teams are also a testament to the value of developing young talent and not taking shortcuts. Teams like the Clippers, Suns etc give away youth and picks for peanuts. NAW was a throw in for example and I’ve always thought he had upside.

[DaPessimist]

I'll copy paste my comment from the game thread.




Before these playoffs started my friend told me he still wasn't sold on OKC because he needs to see how this young team performs in a close playoff game.



I told him they might not be in many close playoff games.

[OkcSinceSGA]

I'll copy paste my comment from the game thread.




Before these playoffs started my friend told me he still wasn't sold on OKC because he needs to see how this young team performs in a close playoff game.



I told him they might not be in many close playoff games.

Many told me that about SGA. “Wait until he does it in the playoffs before talking”. I mean he has a game based on skill, driving, getting to the line and high IQ. This isn’t a 3 point specialist who’s suddenly gonna get locked up lol.

[ShootersShoot]

I think dallas just doesnt have enough outside of Luka and kyrie to make okcs inexperience a factor..it might play a role against a stronger team such as denver or minny.

I think the bigggest gap in talent is between chet and dallas frontcourt. They really have no one that can guard him or match his production.

[Patches Perry]

I think experience helps with the psychology of the playoffs, but ultimately talent and developed habits are more important. They were a lot more talented than New Orleans and also not that much less experienced. With Dallas, they won game 1. Their inexperience might still bite them later on, especially with Kyrie having lots of big game playoff experience.

With Kyrie though, it's also worth pointing out that his insane 2016 run with LeBron, especially in the finals, was done in his first full playoff run. So there's not an exact science to this.

[zimpy27]

Well being that they are inexperienced it could have gone either way.

So far they look good but in the past we've seen debut teams collapse in playoff conditions. It's not really commentary on OKC but rather data from how squads of the past have performed on debut.

[jkvonny]

Dallas isn't that great (good team tho) of a team (slightly overrated at times) and they are hobbled as well which doesn't help.

Experience usually matters deeper the playoffs goes. Denver (defending champs) is very experienced with post season play, Minn has some playoff experience. Minn is younger than Denver, but has some valuable vets as well.

I could see Minn/Denver posing more issues for OKC in WCF, also due to their size.
Now, OKC is really good and fun to watch, but I wouldn't say that they'd beat Den/Minn easily in a 7 game series.
OKC has a bright future, BTW and for years to come. They will get theirs soon.