2024-2025 OKC Thunder Games Thread

[Kizz Fastfists]

Also your "go small and you go home" take is stupid since OKC went to the finals by going "small" in the WCF since Hart and Chet played like 5-6 minutes together per game.

How many minutes did OKC play without a legitimate big man, Chet, IH or Jaylin, during the playoffs before the Finals? Let's agree garbage time in the blowouts does not matter so the all bench lineups in 15+ point games winding down the clock are irrelevant. How many minutes has OKC played a lineup without a legitimate big man in the Finals? Going small and trying to pretend they are the GSW of old and that Jalen is Draymond cost them one game. If they do it again they lose the series. Maintaining continuity, as you mentioned in another post, is vital to a team. You keep your big starting line. They win their matchup, even if you want to claim they don't beat opposing starters as much as you would like, they are still winning their minutes. Everyone is comfortable with the rotation and their roles. When you completely dismantle the roles the players have had for months you destroy everything you have built. The result is players not knowing what to do because you are putting them in new situations with no preparation and you lose.

If Mark repeats game 1 for game 2 then OKC will lose again and the series will be over. You don't try to reinvent the way your team plays in the most important game of the season. You do what got you there until the other team makes you adjust.

[Dadouv47]

Also your "go small and you go home" take is stupid since OKC went to the finals by going "small" in the WCF since Hart and Chet played like 5-6 minutes together per game.

How many minutes did OKC play without a legitimate big man, Chet, IH or Jaylin, during the playoffs before the Finals? Let's agree garbage time in the blowouts does not matter so the all bench lineups in 15+ point games winding down the clock are irrelevant. How many minutes has OKC played a lineup without a legitimate big man in the Finals? Going small and trying to pretend they are the GSW of old and that Jalen is Draymond cost them one game. If they do it again they lose the series. Maintaining continuity, as you mentioned in another post, is vital to a team. You keep your big starting line. They win their matchup, even if you want to claim they don't beat opposing starters as much as you would like, they are still winning their minutes. Everyone is comfortable with the rotation and their roles. When you completely dismantle the roles the players have had for months you destroy everything you have built. The result is players not knowing what to do because you are putting them in new situations with no preparation and you lose.

If Mark repeats game 1 for game 2 then OKC will lose again and the series will be over. You don't try to reinvent the way your team plays in the most important game of the season. You do what got you there until the other team makes you adjust.

I never said we need to play with no big like in the end of game 1...that was a stupid mistake from Coach D. I'm saying playing with Chet or Hartenstein at the 5 is still our best line up.

OKC actually played more minutes all season (and in the playoffs) with only one big and not with two bigs. Our historic net rating is due to our one big line up. That's totally different than playing without any big like Mark did for 7 minutes and it cost us the game. I think he saw Chet struggling and went totally crazy mode instead of giving Hartenstein a chance because he was scared of Pacers speed and that was beyond stupid.

[Dadouv47]

Main issue is still that Jdub and mostly Chet played like **** and it's impossible for us to win this series without them being offensive threats. Shai had some meh decisions but it's also very difficult for him offensively if our option 2 and 3 are not making their shots. It's gonna be so much easier for Indiana to defend against Shai if he's our only true weapon offensively.

Everytime I watch a bad playoff performance from JDub I remember about that "Mr. unreliable" article about KD back in the days because that's the feeling I have about JDub. Dude is a legit second option and a legit star if he can play at his peak most of the time but he can dissapear during an entire series and look like a bad role player.

[Kizz Fastfists]

I never said we need to play with no big like in the end of game 1...that was a stupid mistake from Coach D. I'm saying playing with Chet or Hartenstein at the 5 is still our best line up.

OKC actually played more minutes all season (and in the playoffs) with only one big and not with two bigs. Our historic net rating is due to our one big line up. That's totally different than playing without any big like Mark did for 7 minutes and it cost us the game. I think he saw Chet struggling and went totally crazy mode instead of giving Hartenstein a chance because he was scared of Pacers speed and that was beyond stupid.

When I say going small I'm talking about the no big lineup that we agree cost them the game. I have always preferred, and always will, starting two highly skilled big men. OKC is a rare team that can do that with Chet and IH. It messes with opponents as they rarely encounter it. Just to be clear, the rim protection of Chet and IH is superior to that of the Knicks' two big lineup or anything else Indy has faced. That lineup makes teams adjust how they attack and that mentally carries over through the rest of the game allowing the one big lineup to be even more successful as there is a hesitation about attacking the rim because that extra length and rim protection has gotten in their head and that hesitation allows your quality defenders to create more turnovers. You don't have to run it the whole game, but when you run it the first 3-4 minutes of each half and sprinkle it in for another 4-5 minutes through the game it has a negative impact on the opponents offense not only why it is on the floor, but also the rest of the game.

[Dadouv47]

I never said we need to play with no big like in the end of game 1...that was a stupid mistake from Coach D. I'm saying playing with Chet or Hartenstein at the 5 is still our best line up.

OKC actually played more minutes all season (and in the playoffs) with only one big and not with two bigs. Our historic net rating is due to our one big line up. That's totally different than playing without any big like Mark did for 7 minutes and it cost us the game. I think he saw Chet struggling and went totally crazy mode instead of giving Hartenstein a chance because he was scared of Pacers speed and that was beyond stupid.

When I say going small I'm talking about the no big lineup that we agree cost them the game. I have always preferred, and always will, starting two highly skilled big men. OKC is a rare team that can do that with Chet and IH. It messes with opponents as they rarely encounter it. Just to be clear, the rim protection of Chet and IH is superior to that of the Knicks' two big lineup or anything else Indy has faced. That lineup makes teams adjust how they attack and that mentally carries over through the rest of the game allowing the one big lineup to be even more successful as there is a hesitation about attacking the rim because that extra length and rim protection has gotten in their head and that hesitation allows your quality defenders to create more turnovers. You don't have to run it the whole game, but when you run it the first 3-4 minutes of each half and sprinkle it in for another 4-5 minutes through the game it has a negative impact on the opponents offense not only why it is on the floor, but also the rest of the game.

well our two big line up is elite defensively but it's really really bad on offense. Also gotta take into account the fact that corners 3's are an issue against Indiana in particular and I think it's just not worth playing that line up but I don't think playing them for 4-5 minutes to start the game would change the outcome of a game. I think our coach made a ton of mistakes in game 1 (and some key players too) but I don't blame him for the starting 5...they are way too good from three for us not to try to contest those shots which is a big match up issue since we love to pack the paint and let opponents role players take 3's.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Indiana isn't a small team! They had 96 minutes in game one for players 6'8 and over. OKC had 41 minutes for players 6'8 and over. It was a direct repeat of the Dallas series last year where OKC got beaten by a bigger team. The difference this year is that OKC has the ability to be the bigger team and made the choice to give up their advantage and throw the game. OKC got crushed by being the smaller team. Are you really going to argue that Chet and IH are not capable of defending Siakam, Turner, Toppin and Bryant? If they are that bad defensively then OKC can't win and it doesn't matter what Mark does because the roster is not capable.

[Devilanche]

Lineups and rotation are mostly what it is now in the finals . Unless you are considering tweaks like playing Kenrich or Jaylin more… the solution remains what was Scott brooks favourite playbook.

We just need to play better . Everyone that gets into the rotation needs to play better.

[bbms]

kenrich is someone i would consider in micro lineups

in fact i wouldnt even try micro without him.

[Dadouv47]

kenrich is someone i would consider in micro lineups

in fact i wouldnt even try micro without him.

it makes no sense to me to play micro line up but yeah Kenrich would be the one to play if we are going with it

[kdthunderup]

I thought the Pacers defence was on a string game 1. They did a good job of playing Shai straight up without over helping which made it harder for JDub and Chet to get going.

To me the key will be to get JDub and Chet going early and get Shai off the ball more. They need touches to get into the flow of the game. I think thought the offence slowed down and became more predictable which fell right into Indianas game plan when Shai came back in during the 4th qtr.

Indiana did the same thing in game 1 by moving Halliburton off ball more and our defensive intensity never really picked up to the same level as the before. We will be smart to do more of the same.

[Dadouv47]

Wake up JDub

[Dadouv47]

ok this is gonna be a very long series (or very short) if we get this version of JDub

[Dadouv47]

I don't trust Isaiah Joe at all but it's a smart move to play him with the two big mens...issue with Chet/Hartenstein line ups in is the lack of spacing so it makes sense. Probably first great decision from coach D in those finals but you gotta hope Joe can hit some shots.

[bbms]

nothing had indicated so far that the two bigs would be easily ran off the floor by the pacers, mark was seeing ghosts. i don't have these agendas, i just want him to use what works and mark robbed himself of seeing if it worket g1.

i think this run was the first i saw the thunder contesting short rebounds this series tbh with that hartenstein team offensive rebound forced.

[Dadouv47]

nothing had indicated so far that the two bigs would be easily ran off the floor by the pacers, mark was seeing ghosts. i don't have these agendas, i just want him to use what works and mark robbed himself of seeing if it worket g1.

i think this run was the first i saw the thunder contesting short rebounds this series tbh with that hartenstein team offensive rebound forced.

I think it's a good line up when Dort and JDub (mostly Dort) are on the bench. Need two guys that can create spacing while running on defense.

[bbms]

kenrich on court i like it a lot

good fit in this series in multiple looks

[Dadouv47]

let's play some smart basketball

[bbms]

nothing had indicated so far that the two bigs would be easily ran off the floor by the pacers, mark was seeing ghosts. i don't have these agendas, i just want him to use what works and mark robbed himself of seeing if it worket g1.

i think this run was the first i saw the thunder contesting short rebounds this series tbh with that hartenstein team offensive rebound forced.

I think it's a good line up when Dort and JDub (mostly Dort) are on the bench. Need two guys that can create spacing while running on defense.

crux of the issue is that when you play chet and hartenstein, someone will be in soft coverage for chet to free safety the defense. the trade off is a much more potent offensive rebounding which is great vs zone and okc plays the most vs zone in the league

two bigs doesn't blow anyone out but it brings stability, low variance, in most matchups. but not this one, since theoretically both teams could go off from the mismatch

mark saw this trade off as instability, panicked and chickened out of it. that's the truth of it.

he couldn't roll the dice for 5 minutes to start a series

[Dadouv47]

still pissed this series is 0-1

[bbms]

i like sga approach this game

he opted for getting his guys looks and shots early to build their rythm first, then he builds his rythm

last game he tried too hard getting his game going early, and everyone was cold when needed