Who on OKC should get credit for their ridiculous defense?

[flranger]

Not sure who to give the most credit to, but I would bet $100 they have at least one 40+ point win in the playoffs due to locking some poor team down

[kobe_vs_jordan]

DPOY race is going to start to get interesting with Wemby missing games. It might go to someone from another team if they cant pick out one guy from OKC

Draymond

Jokic.

He has the league's best defensive rating for a player who isn't either Wemby or on OKC. He carries a bigger defensive load than anyone on OKC, and he's carrying it well.

Defensive rating was never meant to be compared across teams.

Nobody with two eyes will watch a basketball game and say joker a better defender than Draymond.

[firedavidkahn]

Clippers are actually going to end up being the reason OKC has the greatest modern dynasty.

They traded Shai and what will end up as a top 5 pick in an absolutely loaded draft for Paul George (plus a lot more).

Clippers are such an awful organization

[firedavidkahn]

Bro, can the rest of the NBA just donate players for a month or two to the Clippers just so they don't end up giving a top 5 pick to OKC???

[Homer38]

Clippers are actually going to end up being the reason OKC has the greatest modern dynasty.

They traded Shai and what will end up as a top 5 pick in an absolutely loaded draft for Paul George (plus a lot more).

Clippers are such an awful organization

thanks to Kawhi!

[Calvin Klein]

everyone? why the obsession to only ever give credit/criticism to one person?

[-Luke-]

Clippers are actually going to end up being the reason OKC has the greatest modern dynasty.

They traded Shai and what will end up as a top 5 pick in an absolutely loaded draft for Paul George (plus a lot more).

Clippers are such an awful organization

Jalen Williams was also selected with a pick from that draft.

Ten years or so from now someone has to draw a 'family tree' of that trade and everything that followed. It started out as a Phoenix Suns salary dump and the Serge Ibaka first round pick. They will likely get multiple championships, at least one MVP, 10+ All-NBA selections and 15+ All-Star selections out of it.

[Liam_Gallagher]

Everyone. That's how defense works. It's contagious.

You never want to be the only one not working your butt off.

[TK Smart]

In this case where there are so many individually great defenders, and it's hard to separate and isolate an individual, I have to give this to Shai. Shai gets 33 a night and is the person you want to pick on and try to break the back of the defense with because he has to carry so much of an offensive load. If I'm going to test anyone to try and break this defense with, I'll test the guy who has to go out and score 33 a game and see how much energy he has to compete on the other side of the ball.

He'll never get the credit he deserves for doing what he does on the offensive side of the ball while contributing what he contributes to this team defense because of basketball Stan Wars and the implication that if I put player x here, his gaudy numbers won't do **** but make the team worse because he presents defensive issues, but it has to be Shai.

[TheGeneral99]

It's a combination of multiple great defenders and depth - Shai can defend, Dort is an elite defender, Chet is an elite rim protector and can switch, Caruso is a huge energy guy, Wallace can defend etc. they don't really have any weaknesses defensively at any position.

[The Servant]

Dort, Caruso, Jalen Williams, and Cason Wallace are all in the top 30 for perimeter defenders in the league, coupled with Chet and Hartenstein locking down the paint. I think Chet's defence is heavily discounted because of his frail appearance, but last year OKC led the league in opponents field goal percentage in the restricted area (sorry Wemby), and they also ranked 5th in the league for opponents fewest attempts in the restricted area.

Four elite perimeter defenders combined with two defensive 7 footers in the paint just adds up to a lot of length, active hands, shot blocking and versatility.

[ahartleyvu]

If you watch the games, the officials allow OKC to basically mug everyone. They get away with way more physicality. When they can play ultra aggressive without foul trouble, it’s a no brainer that they are shutting teams down

[Optms]

If you watch the games, the officials allow OKC to basically mug everyone. They get away with way more physicality. When they can play ultra aggressive without foul trouble, it’s a no brainer that they are shutting teams down

They aren't getting away with anything. They just are ahead of other teams when it comes to basketball defensive IQ and hustling. Refs only allow big market teams like the Lakers to get away with things. At least that's what is always said so it makes zero sense that they would allow a no name small market franchise with zero history special treatment.

As for the question - Shai doesn't take plays off. He's the MVP and still plays his butt off on defense unlike past MVPs. It starts from the top and he sets the example for everyone else. Therefor you have the rest of the 11 guys having zero excuse to not hustle. Anyone who doesn't gets shipped out Ala Giddey. He is probably the best leader in basketball right now. He's boring but he really encompasses perfection and that's what you want out of your franchises player.

[falcolombardi]

If you watch the games, the officials allow OKC to basically mug everyone. They get away with way more physicality. When they can play ultra aggressive without foul trouble, it’s a no brainer that they are shutting teams down

Smh the big markets like oklahoma keep getting all this help

[MrGoat]

Kawhi Leonard. They would never have been this stacked had he not mandated the Clippers adding Paul George. OKC owes Kawhi a statue like the Lakers owe Nico Harrison a statue

[scrabbarista]

Draymond

Jokic.

He has the league's best defensive rating for a player who isn't either Wemby or on OKC. He carries a bigger defensive load than anyone on OKC, and he's carrying it well.

Defensive rating was never meant to be compared across teams.

Nobody with two eyes will watch a basketball game and say joker a better defender than Draymond.

Disagree to agree.

[JonFromVA]

I dont know what they feeding them. But you have to give up when you see even guys like Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins, play relentless and smart 1v1 D.

I was like, aren't they supposed to be basically one way offense specialist shooters? The only favourable match ups for opponents in the rotation? How the hell are they doing this?

But as someone else said, its basically the coach, besides the insane depth of individual specialist defenders, he has them so well drilled and bought fully in, that he has guys who who would be average to below average defenders in other teams schemes, look flawless because he has organised them to a T. To the point no one leaves any gaps. Totally in synch.

Well, if it's the coach, other teams will start to catch up as the Thunder knowledge starts to leak out.

For instance, we saw Mike Brown export the Spurs show & recover defense to great effect to the Pacers and Cavs and you wouldn't look at the Cavs roster over his tenure and think they had the personnel to be a top defense let alone that Zydrunas Ilgauskus with 10lbs of steel in his feet would ever be able to show & recover from the 3pt line back in time to protect the paint.

And history also suggests that as time goes by it gets harder and harder to keep a team focused on doing things which are hard and take extra effort when they seemingly have the talent to coast.

Alas the Thunder have defensive talent AND they have the draft capital to easily reload or fill holes caused by the cap, players in decline, players getting lazy, the league changing defensive emphasis, etc, etc.

[cupcakesnake]

I think I found the answer.

Chet Holmgren will win a DPOY before Wemby. The line-ups with Chet turn their defense from average to
greatest of all time

So far this year, lineups with Chet are posting a ridiculous 100.7 Drtg in 328 minutes. Without him, they're at 107.7, which would still lead the league by a large margin. So no, they aren't average without Chet, they're the #1 defense, but he does crank them up to historic levels when he's on the court.

That's just in the limited sample of this year though. Include last year's data, where we have more time with Chet out, he's only move the needle by about a point.

Alex Caruso has an even more ridiculous number this year, with the Thunder at 98.1 Drtg with him on the floor (106.8 off).

[Godymas]

I think I found the answer.

Chet Holmgren will win a DPOY before Wemby. The line-ups with Chet turn their defense from average to
greatest of all time

So far this year, lineups with Chet are posting a ridiculous 100.7 Drtg in 328 minutes. Without him, they're at 107.7, which would still lead the league by a large margin. So no, they aren't average without Chet, they're the #1 defense, but he does crank them up to historic levels when he's on the court.

That's just in the limited sample of this year though. Include last year's data, where we have more time with Chet out, he's only move the needle by about a point.

Alex Caruso has an even more ridiculous number this year, with the Thunder at 98.1 Drtg with him on the floor (106.8 off).

Yeah but the Caruso line-ups are a much smaller sample size compared to the Chet lineups, plus Caruso will be running against bench lineups a bit more frequently than Chet.

Their most played line-up without Chet is Hartenstein, SGA, Wiggins, Dort, Wallace. And this lineups is a 109 DRTG. Their second most played non Chet lineup swaps Wallace for Mitchell and is even worse defensively at about 111 and their 3rd most non Chet lineup has Jaylin Williams, Wiggins, Wallace, SGA, Hartenstein with a 121.4 DRTG.

So it seems pretty clear that Chet is turning their defense elite for their starting 5 and the #s show that it becomes average to even bad depending on the lineups. Chet makes their defense elite against other starters.

[Kiss of Death]

Whoever came up with the ‘just foul on every play because they can’t call everything’ strategy.