Game 1: Thunder at Wolves!

[TimberKat]

Aroooooooo! Played like crap in that second half but Rudy really saved our butts and we got the win. Team needs to get the chemistry going but take any win you can get that all matter in the end.

Heatles started 9-8.lot more ego with that team but we should iron stuff out as it goes.

Good thing the schedules easy or it is on paper

Know who else started 9-8?

Watch on YouTube

That is because Wally was out on those games

[Jailblazers7]

My two big takeaways from game 1 were:

1. The Rudy PnR is gonna take a little while to hit it’s stride. DLo & Ant are still figuring out the spacing and angles with Rudy because it looked very crowded in game 1. They’ll figure it out tho no concerns there.

2. This team is gonna give up a lot of quality looks from 3 which is the trade off when playing two bigs. This is the long term concern imo because it’s not easily solved and will be an issue in the playoffs.

[winforlose]

My two big takeaways from game 1 were:

1. The Rudy PnR is gonna take a little while to hit it’s stride. DLo & Ant are still figuring out the spacing and angles with Rudy because it looked very crowded in game 1. They’ll figure it out tho no concerns there.

2. This team is gonna give up a lot of quality looks from 3 which is the trade off when playing two bigs. This is the long term concern imo because it’s not easily solved and will be an issue in the playoffs.

1. Very true. But, there are more options out of PNR than Dlo/Ant shooting or Rudy shooting. Kicking out to MCD or KAT for open 3 (after the defense collapses,) or a great cut from one of the 3 not involved taking advantage of the situation could create an open layup. The team is still figuring itself out, and our schemes are still coming together. The first 3 weeks of any season is like that for every team

2. Here we disagree. On the one hand, Finch does prefer to give up 3s to paint shots. But, we brought in Rudy in no small part to reduce the scramble and protect the corners. On the latest Dane Moore pod he and Britt talked about how we need to develop more trust in Rudy, help less in the paint, and have more perimeter presence (especially in the corners.) I am paraphrasing but that is the gist. Also, (and this is entirely me,) KAT can and did defend in space on Wednesday, which means he can close out on opposing PFs or Cs and take away the 3 ball.

2A. OKC is bad at 3 point shooting. They were number 30 last year, and they don’t have a lot of sharpshooters, much less snipers. There is a saying in basketball, you take what the defense gives you. We were giving 3s because we trusted them to miss. For the most part it worked too. But ask me if we would do the same tonight against Beasley, LM, MC, and other shooters, and the answer is no.

2B. It can be very easy to see something and extrapolate to the rest of the season. Especially when it confirms our suspicions. But, the season is 82 games across multiple months. what happens in week 13 or 15 often has very little to do with what happened in week 1 or 2. Ant missing 5 or more layups is not a nightly thing. Likewise, our defensive rebounding woes should not be nightly either. Without those, a lot of open 3s might not happen. Likewise without the layup misses, transitions 3s might not happen. In summary be careful when distinguishing short term and long term concerns.

[KGdaBom]

My two big takeaways from game 1 were:

1. The Rudy PnR is gonna take a little while to hit it’s stride. DLo & Ant are still figuring out the spacing and angles with Rudy because it looked very crowded in game 1. They’ll figure it out tho no concerns there.

2. This team is gonna give up a lot of quality looks from 3 which is the trade off when playing two bigs. This is the long term concern imo because it’s not easily solved and will be an issue in the playoffs.

I'll take that any day over giving up quality looks at the rim with nobody defending it and giving up O Boards that turn into quality looks from 3 and the rim. Giving up an O Board that turns into a 3 for our opponents is probably the single most depressing thing that can go wrong on the court other than injuries of course.

[Devilzsidewalk]

I'll take that any day over giving up quality looks at the rim with nobody defending it and giving up O Boards that turn into quality looks from 3 and the rim. Giving up an O Board that turns into a 3 for our opponents is probably the single most depressing thing that can go wrong on the court other than injuries of course.

That's the bet they're making too I suppose - that the net benefit of rebounding, interior defense, and better finishing around the rim on offense, will exceed the mismatches on defending the perimeter. But I think we saw that we can't just rely on Rudy to take care of all of that. We know we're bigger and slower now, and that teams are going to try to hurt us with outside shooting. That means long rebounds - we were out of position all night on long rebounds and loose balls. On the other end, I know they want to get back on defense and shutdown transition opportunities, but it felt like they were bailing way too early. There were some long offensive rebound opportunities of our own that we left on the table by getting overzealous on getting back on defense before they even know where the shot is going. I'd like to see them fight a little more for offensive rebounds.

[KGdaBom]

I'll take that any day over giving up quality looks at the rim with nobody defending it and giving up O Boards that turn into quality looks from 3 and the rim. Giving up an O Board that turns into a 3 for our opponents is probably the single most depressing thing that can go wrong on the court other than injuries of course.

That's the bet they're making too I suppose - that the net benefit of rebounding, interior defense, and better finishing around the rim on offense, will exceed the mismatches on defending the perimeter. But I think we saw that we can't just rely on Rudy to take care of all of that. We know we're bigger and slower now, and that teams are going to try to hurt us with outside shooting. That means long rebounds - we were out of position all night on long rebounds and loose balls. On the other end, I know they want to get back on defense and shutdown transition opportunities, but it felt like they were bailing way too early. There were some long offensive rebound opportunities of our own that we left on the table by getting overzealous on getting back on defense before they even know where the shot is going. I'd like to see them fight a little more for offensive rebounds.

We were blowing them out than things went to hell in the third and I don't think that Thunder comeback had more than the ordinary amount of perimeter shots. I could be wrong.

[winforlose]

I'll take that any day over giving up quality looks at the rim with nobody defending it and giving up O Boards that turn into quality looks from 3 and the rim. Giving up an O Board that turns into a 3 for our opponents is probably the single most depressing thing that can go wrong on the court other than injuries of course.

That's the bet they're making too I suppose - that the net benefit of rebounding, interior defense, and better finishing around the rim on offense, will exceed the mismatches on defending the perimeter. But I think we saw that we can't just rely on Rudy to take care of all of that. We know we're bigger and slower now, and that teams are going to try to hurt us with outside shooting. That means long rebounds - we were out of position all night on long rebounds and loose balls. On the other end, I know they want to get back on defense and shutdown transition opportunities, but it felt like they were bailing way too early. There were some long offensive rebound opportunities of our own that we left on the table by getting overzealous on getting back on defense before they even know where the shot is going. I'd like to see them fight a little more for offensive rebounds.

What kept striking me was seeing Rudy one on four going for those boards. I also agree that we need to rebound smarter. This includes boxing out, anticipating the length and direction of the rebound based on the shot, and communicating better (KAT knocked a big rebound away from Rudy late in the game which ended up causing a 5 point swing.)

I disagree a bit about the “mismatches on the defensive perimeter.” Last year high wall forced a lot of collapses in the paint which in turn lead to open 3s (corner or swing to preferred shooter.) Our assistant coach Micah Nori did a short video on this on the BSN feed, and Dane Moore also talked about this a bit on his blue wire podcast. The hope is that Rudy can do it all inside, and that we don’t need to help or collapse nearly as much. This allows guys to commit to the perimeter, and in theory either contest, force guys into the midrange, or funnel them into Gobert for blocks, deflections, altered shots, ect… It isn’t perfect, and it won’t look like it did last year, but it will help us to give up less open 3s. However, smart teams do sometimes give open 3s to bad shooters (Westbrook was given so many open looks last night,) and it is good coaching/game planning to do so. Like when you play OKC and they were dead last at 3P% last year.

[Devilzsidewalk]

My two big takeaways from game 1 were:

1. The Rudy PnR is gonna take a little while to hit it’s stride. DLo & Ant are still figuring out the spacing and angles with Rudy because it looked very crowded in game 1. They’ll figure it out tho no concerns there.

2. This team is gonna give up a lot of quality looks from 3 which is the trade off when playing two bigs. This is the long term concern imo because it’s not easily solved and will be an issue in the playoffs.

D'Lo is low-key wildly inaccurate at times on his passes into the post. He seems better threading a bounce pass than making a touch pass in the right spot when a big has his man sealed. KAT looked better than him at making a good pass over a fronting defender.

For point 2, I think Finch can clean a lot of that up. I saw a lot of poor rotations, guys not being decisive in who they pick up in semi-transition, things like that. Things that better communications would fix. Even when Gobert wasn't even on the floor - like there was a sequence where KAT has a man up top, drops down to rotate to the low man in the paint, and everybody is ball-watching and nobody picks up the man he left on the perimeter. For the most part, KAT moves his feet well, they just need to communicate and recognize their switches and rotations better. But it seems way more mental than physical, not like KAT and Gobert are 2 big oafs camping around the paint, and they just swing the ball around and get wide open threes - I wasn't getting that feel.

[KGdaBom]

I'll take that any day over giving up quality looks at the rim with nobody defending it and giving up O Boards that turn into quality looks from 3 and the rim. Giving up an O Board that turns into a 3 for our opponents is probably the single most depressing thing that can go wrong on the court other than injuries of course.

That's the bet they're making too I suppose - that the net benefit of rebounding, interior defense, and better finishing around the rim on offense, will exceed the mismatches on defending the perimeter. But I think we saw that we can't just rely on Rudy to take care of all of that. We know we're bigger and slower now, and that teams are going to try to hurt us with outside shooting. That means long rebounds - we were out of position all night on long rebounds and loose balls. On the other end, I know they want to get back on defense and shutdown transition opportunities, but it felt like they were bailing way too early. There were some long offensive rebound opportunities of our own that we left on the table by getting overzealous on getting back on defense before they even know where the shot is going. I'd like to see them fight a little more for offensive rebounds.

What kept striking me was seeing Rudy one on four going for those boards. I also agree that we need to rebound smarter. This includes boxing out, anticipating the length and direction of the rebound based on the shot, and communicating better (KAT knocked a big rebound away from Rudy late in the game which ended up causing a 5 point swing.)

I disagree a bit about the “mismatches on the defensive perimeter.” Last year high wall forced a lot of collapses in the paint which in turn lead to open 3s (corner or swing to preferred shooter.) Our assistant coach Micah Nori did a short video on this on the BSN feed, and Dane Moore also talked about this a bit on his blue wire podcast. The hope is that Rudy can do it all inside, and that we don’t need to help or collapse nearly as much. This allows guys to commit to the perimeter, and in theory either contest, force guys into the midrange, or funnel them into Gobert for blocks, deflections, altered shots, ect… It isn’t perfect, and it won’t look like it did last year, but it will help us to give up less open 3s. However, smart teams do sometimes give open 3s to bad shooters (Westbrook was given so many open looks last night,) and it is good coaching/game planning to do so. Like when you play OKC and they were dead last at 3P% last year.

Great post. Maybe your greatest ever. You were clear and concise explaining it all and made a great point.