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

[Lalouie]

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This was something I laughed at every night on forums, Twitter, and sports shows. People talking about how being so young and inexperienced they were. I kept reminding them that OKC is a two way dominant team with stupid energy and athleticism, while being extremely well coached.

Experience like “clutch” isn’t some magical fairy that makes or breaks a team. Basketball is about defense and offense. They are great at both and have lots of guys on the bench that can play too.

Why was this fallacy constantly repeated? Now they are still undefeated like Minny in the playoffs with mostly blowout wins.

with all the vets gone,,,,EVERY TEAM is "inexperienced"
youth is not an issue since all the remaining teams are young
athelticism is not a thing since all teams are athletic

it's not as if the young teams are playing gsw from 5yrs ago,,,,,or sas

[LaLover11]

Maybe because Mavs done have a real defender to stick on Shai? Timberwolves once again the best team that can guard the small star guards Murray/Shai and Big men like Jokic/Chet

[TheBullsDynasty]

Why does people saying OKC is an inexperienced team bother you? It's the truth, and their inexperience might hold them back in these playoffs. It's a generalization based on past data. We've seen it time after time.

This, in no way, a guarantee that an inexperienced team like OKC will experience issues in the playoffs. They might or might not. There are always exceptions to the rule. Either way, I don't see a problem with being cautious, and saying a team is young, and let's see how they perform before we set high expectations.

Also, usually the moment gets too big for inexperienced players as the stakes get higher. The first round or even WCSFs hardly count as much in this case, especially because they were in a winning situation in all of their games. Let's see how they do in WCFs or the Finals if they can make it there. Let's see how they do when/if they go down in a series, or when they're facing elimination. Usually these are the moments that inexperience hurts you the most, not when you're up 20 in a game.

Lastly, if you want to see playoff inexperience holding a team back... check out the game 7 of the Cavs-Magic series.

[DonaldSanders]

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.

Which teams are you thinking of? I can't think of a #1 seed with a clear MVP candidate (top 3 player) that just folded in the playoffs because of inexperience, but being a few beers deep I may just not be able to remember.

[Dr Aki]

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.

Which teams are you thinking of? I can't think of a #1 seed with a clear MVP candidate (top 3 player) that just folded in the playoffs because of inexperience, but being a few beers deep I may just not be able to remember.

The Celtics? For the last 4 postseasons (2020 to 2023)?

[DonaldSanders]

The Celtics?

I don't consider Tatum or anyone on the Celtics a top 3 MVP candidate, though it is a really good team. They also haven't been the #1 seed with this group until this year.

[KamikazeK]

It's only round 2.

[vxmike]

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.

Now they’re playing the Mavs with a crippled Luka. It’s not a fair fight.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Because they haven’t played any battle tested teams yet?

What a silly question

[dhsilv2]

Minnesota and OKC are defying conventional logic in that regard. The changing of the guard appears to be real.

Minnesota has a lot of playoff experience.

[Sphynx]

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.

Now they’re playing the Mavs with a crippled Luka. It’s not a fair fight.

Must have ran into injured stars for 80 consecutive games then…

[dhsilv2]

This series just started and Im not sure how reliable the sample of a series against a Zionless Pels is

I’ll repeat it again. Similar to Minny, everything they are doing they did to the elite teams during the season. It’s sustainable and real. It’s not them playing beyond their means.

Playoff inexperience arguments are the opposite. It's that young players will preform below their regular season standards in the playoffs due to how the refs call games different, coaching changes, how players adapt over a 7 game series. So far that hasn't been the case, but it's perfectly reasonable to hold off and see if things change as the teams make adjustments.

[KennerLeaguer]

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.

You act as if Dallas makes it to the conference finals all the time.

[KennerLeaguer]

Because they haven’t played any battle tested teams yet?

What a silly question

Well, that happens when you are the #1 seed. You get bottom dwellers in the first round.

[KennerLeaguer]

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.

Now they’re playing the Mavs with a crippled Luka. It’s not a fair fight.

The Clippers' best player could barely suit up against the Mavs. Were you equally dismayed by that lack of fairness?

[KennerLeaguer]

Why does people saying OKC is an inexperienced team bother you? It's the truth, and their inexperience might hold them back in these playoffs. It's a generalization based on past data. We've seen it time after time.

This, in no way, a guarantee that an inexperienced team like OKC will experience issues in the playoffs. They might or might not. There are always exceptions to the rule. Either way, I don't see a problem with being cautious, and saying a team is young, and let's see how they perform before we set high expectations.

Also, usually the moment gets too big for inexperienced players as the stakes get higher. The first round or even WCSFs hardly count as much in this case, especially because they were in a winning situation in all of their games. Let's see how they do in WCFs or the Finals if they can make it there. Let's see how they do when/if they go down in a series, or when they're facing elimination. Usually these are the moments that inexperience hurts you the most, not when you're up 20 in a game.

Lastly, if you want to see playoff inexperience holding a team back... check out the game 7 of the Cavs-Magic series.

Did you actually compare OKC who is the #1 seed in a stacked western conference to Orlando? Also there is no technical way in the western conference playoffs that OKC would have to play a Game Seven on the road.

[ShootersShoot]

Yea its kinda weird to ask this question one game into the second round..if they were doing this in the wcf then it would be a more interesting discussion. Looking at their first round matchup..its not surprising in the least they were able to advance.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Because they haven’t played any battle tested teams yet?

What a silly question

Well, that happens when you are the #1 seed. You get bottom dwellers in the first round.

I didn’t say they were meant to.

The inexperience thing has always been about later rounds.

Conference finals and the finals are generally where it is tested and historically teams have fallen short

[durden_tyler]

They have yet to face advertisity this postseason.

So like the Wolves, i’d like to see which team “reacts like a veteran” when they are trailing (say down 1-2 in a series, or a big lead in a crucial game).

Really interesting to see what happens if and when Dallas ties the series (if at all it happens), how would this young Thunder team react.

[Bloodbather]

Because their key players are all very poised. They're also so good that they're running away with games and avoiding stressful situations.

I expect them to beat Dallas, but don't see them beating Minnesota, but a great season for them regardless with their future looking brighter than anyone else in the league.