OKC Thunder 2022-23 Regular Season Discussion

[Old Man Game]

I'm really enjoying this Josh Giddey and J Dub pairing. Really compliment each other well imo. In terms of being both big facilitators who can distribute and slash off the ball. If J Dubb improves his outside shooting it could be even better.

[Devilanche]

can we promise to ourselves that we won't take bold overreactionay statements on few stretches of teenagers?

I can promise overreaction .

Seems like we should be prepared for at least a home playoff round this season.

[retrobro90]

I'm marginally concerned with JDubs jumpshot. I've noticed the majority of his misses from 3 are short so I wonder if there's something mechanical he can tweak to get himself a little more power but he had a couple middy's tonight that were also pretty bad misses.

[QPR]

I'm marginally concerned with JDubs jumpshot. I've noticed the majority of his misses from 3 are short so I wonder if there's something mechanical he can tweak to get himself a little more power but he had a couple middy's tonight that were also pretty bad misses.

It's a very flat jumper which probably explains why his misses tend to be short.

[zionland]

Giddey playing like a star of late

[bbms]

That GB thread is going to get bumped throughout the season

what thread?

viewtopic.php?p=103414678#p103414678

well ill keep my opinion that at this level, the most important trait for players is what is between their ears

giddey has that in spades.

confidence also still matters. giddey did seem off to his own brand of basketball (unconventional by nature) in earlier in the season (numbers show he was hurting the team), but now his form is not only impressive, but in line w what we expected him to be after 2021/22 season and completing on SGA gas tank to carry us to the playoffs.

[cjmcallist]

I’m trying hard not to overreact to this road-trip. The team is really gelling and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

I’m still worried about our ceiling. It’s not clear to me that we have the talent to be a championship team. Part of me wonders if Daigneault is getting more from the sum than the parts are worth - like Spoelstra does in Miami or Stevens did in Boston.

[Dadouv47]

I’m trying hard not to overreact to this road-trip. The team is really gelling and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

I’m still worried about our ceiling. It’s not clear to me that we have the talent to be a championship team. Part of me wonders if Daigneault is getting more from the sum than the parts are worth - like Spoelstra does in Miami or Stevens did in Boston.

We certainly don't...at least need Chet to reach an all star kind of level (or anyone else we could draft or trade for) before thinking about really competing.

Can't contend without a good frontcourt. Still a ton of talent to add.

[cjmcallist]

I’m trying hard not to overreact to this road-trip. The team is really gelling and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

I’m still worried about our ceiling. It’s not clear to me that we have the talent to be a championship team. Part of me wonders if Daigneault is getting more from the sum than the parts are worth - like Spoelstra does in Miami or Stevens did in Boston.

We certainly don't...at least need Chet to reach an all star kind of level (or anyone else we could draft or trade for) before thinking about really competing.

Can't contend without a good frontcourt. Still a ton of talent to add.

I think that’s right, then you throw in the timing of when Chet will be an All Star…

Hard to not feel like this year is going to hurt us in the long run.

[Dadouv47]

I’m trying hard not to overreact to this road-trip. The team is really gelling and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

I’m still worried about our ceiling. It’s not clear to me that we have the talent to be a championship team. Part of me wonders if Daigneault is getting more from the sum than the parts are worth - like Spoelstra does in Miami or Stevens did in Boston.

We certainly don't...at least need Chet to reach an all star kind of level (or anyone else we could draft or trade for) before thinking about really competing.

Can't contend without a good frontcourt. Still a ton of talent to add.

I think that’s right, then you throw in the timing of when Chet will be an All Star…

Hard to not feel like this year is going to hurt us in the long run.

Definitely could and I'm worried about that. I only started rooting for some Ws in the last 4-5 games because it's really important for SGA/Jalen/Giddey development, growing confidence and happiness in playing for us.

I really hope Suns/Lakers will figure it out and we won't finish above 12th in the West (likely 9th worst record or something overall) and I wouldn't mind if we sit our best players for the last 15-20 games but it's almost impossible at this point since we will be in stupid play-in contention

[ThunderBolt]

I’m trying hard not to overreact to this road-trip. The team is really gelling and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

I’m still worried about our ceiling. It’s not clear to me that we have the talent to be a championship team. Part of me wonders if Daigneault is getting more from the sum than the parts are worth - like Spoelstra does in Miami or Stevens did in Boston.

We certainly don't...at least need Chet to reach an all star kind of level (or anyone else we could draft or trade for) before thinking about really competing.

Can't contend without a good frontcourt. Still a ton of talent to add.

I think that’s right, then you throw in the timing of when Chet will be an All Star…

Hard to not feel like this year is going to hurt us in the long run.

If we're good and have a core, we'll be fine. The downside is when you draft a player like Luka and aren't bad enough to get talent around him. We've got so many paths to get better. The key is having core pieces around Shai and it looks like we have that. I fully expect Giddey to regress and even have a bad stretch or two before the season is over. However that doesn't mean he hasn't significantly improved in year two.

[slick_watts]

I'm marginally concerned with JDubs jumpshot. I've noticed the majority of his misses from 3 are short so I wonder if there's something mechanical he can tweak to get himself a little more power but he had a couple middy's tonight that were also pretty bad misses.

part of the reason he didn't rise up higher than the low lottery is that there wasn't any evidence he could shoot outside the hot junior season at santa clara.he has now attempted just as many threes in the pros as he did that season, so... starting to look suspect.

since january 1, in 150-ish minutes together, josh giddey has a higher usage than sga. i thought that was interesting. he hasn't been particularly efficient scoring the ball on those minutes but the team is +12pp100 and scoring 120+pp100 in those minutes.

[Woerzboerg]

I’m trying hard not to overreact to this road-trip. The team is really gelling and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.

I’m still worried about our ceiling. It’s not clear to me that we have the talent to be a championship team. Part of me wonders if Daigneault is getting more from the sum than the parts are worth - like Spoelstra does in Miami or Stevens did in Boston.

We certainly don't...at least need Chet to reach an all star kind of level (or anyone else we could draft or trade for) before thinking about really competing.

Can't contend without a good frontcourt. Still a ton of talent to add.

I think that’s right, then you throw in the timing of when Chet will be an All Star…

Hard to not feel like this year is going to hurt us in the long run.

No worries, Clippers and Rockets will tank for us in the coming years.

[ThunderBolt]

since january 1, in 150-ish minutes together, josh giddey has a higher usage than sga. i thought that was interesting. he hasn't been particularly efficient scoring the ball on those minutes but the team is +12pp100 and scoring 120+pp100 in those minutes.

Has this had any negative impact on Shai's numbers during that time?

[jake_swivel]

I get being concerned about winning too fast. And I would be too if it was George hill or Al horford or Danilo Gallinari on the last years of their contracts dragging young dudes to the brink of the playoff. But that’s not what is happening. It’s young dudes carrying the team while the #2 pick isn’t playing and a bunch of draft picks still to come.

It would be great to have a shot at another high level pick this year. But you have 3 dudes in shai, giddey, and Jalen carrying you to the playoffs and tons of room to grow. You don’t sacrifice their development at the shot at the unknown when they are making these leaps. You don’t instill bad habits and toleration for losing when they can compete at this level. That stuff is contagious, not just with their future behaviors but the rest of the team. This team is fun as hell. Enjoy the show ya’ll. This is the funnest part of being a sports fan watching these leaps.

[Dadouv47]

I get being concerned about winning too fast. And I would be too if it was George hill or Al horford or Danilo Gallinari on the last years of their contracts dragging young dudes to the brink of the playoff. But that’s not what is happening. It’s young dudes carrying the team while the #2 pick isn’t playing and a bunch of draft picks still to come.

It would be great to have a shot at another high level pick this year. But you have 3 dudes in shai, giddey, and Jalen carrying you to the playoffs and tons of room to grow. You don’t sacrifice their development at the shot at the unknown when they are making these leaps. You don’t instill bad habits and toleration for losing when they can compete at this level. That stuff is contagious, not just with their future behaviors but the rest of the team. This team is fun as hell. Enjoy the show ya’ll. This is the funnest part of being a sports fan watching these leaps.

Definitely. This is an incredible season for us considering our #2 pick is out for the season. Our players are having fun playing and it's very exciting to watch. SGA playing like a superstar, Giddey showing he can still be really good and Jalen looks great. Isaiah Joe also looking like a steal given how much we are paying him. Only dissappointed about Mann tbh and Dieng to a lesser extent (need to see how he comes back from injury). Poku also made a big leap even if I don't know if he will be able to make it.

[QPR]

I could watch Joe catch and shoot in rhythm all day. He's a cold man.

[Patches Perry]

Any explanation for Giddey shooting orders of magnitude better in December and January? Like 15-20% better from both FT and #3PT. Shooting coach paying off? Either way I'm here for it. If he knocks down perimeter shots, it opens up the game for him to play on or off the ball, pull defenders from the point of attack, and overall just be more effective in moving the defense.

[Devilanche]

We certainly don't...at least need Chet to reach an all star kind of level (or anyone else we could draft or trade for) before thinking about really competing.

Can't contend without a good frontcourt. Still a ton of talent to add.

I think that’s right, then you throw in the timing of when Chet will be an All Star…

Hard to not feel like this year is going to hurt us in the long run.

Definitely could and I'm worried about that. I only started rooting for some Ws in the last 4-5 games because it's really important for SGA/Jalen/Giddey development, growing confidence and happiness in playing for us.

I really hope Suns/Lakers will figure it out and we won't finish above 12th in the West (likely 9th worst record or something overall) and I wouldn't mind if we sit our best players for the last 15-20 games but it's almost impossible at this point since we will be in stupid play-in contention

Think of it this way, if we think chet will be a star anyway, this season should help him fill up / gain strength abit with NBA level training .

In the interim for this season, we can see how our rotational bigs might be in future. They might not have played that much minutes or that big a role if Chet was around.
-Poku got some minutes , much better this season than last.
-Jdub got some minutes at the 4. Probably might not have played as much otherwise ?
-Dieng already got some minutes. He probably would have been mostly g-league otherwise.
-JRE got some minutes , some improvement from last season and probably wouldn’t have been different if Chet was around.
- offense wise , I guess everyone get that bit more shot though the team suffer from lesser spacing ?

Silver linings guys, we probably lost some and gained elsewhere.

[Devilanche]

Any explanation for Giddey shooting orders of magnitude better in December and January? Like 15-20% better from both FT and #3PT. Shooting coach paying off? Either way I'm here for it. If he knocks down perimeter shots, it opens up the game for him to play on or off the ball, pull defenders from the point of attack, and overall just be more effective in moving the defense.

There were quotes that he improved his selection and his guiding hand abit and it could be that the adjustment in game also took a while to get used to.

Another contributor could be that he started the season adjusting from his old shot and was on a cold streak and after he adjusted abit , he’s now only a hot streak ?