2024-2025 OKC Thunder Games Thread

[Devilanche]

just think it's gonna be a blowout loss today. OKC looks physically and mentally done. Feeling that Indy took control of those POs in a bad bad way after game 3. I had not this feeling last year against the Mavs or this year after game 3 in Minny or even when Denver was up 2-1. Probably Shai gonna play well but that's it.

Would be extremely disappointed if it was a blowout loss.

[Dadouv47]

just think it's gonna be a blowout loss today. OKC looks physically and mentally done. Feeling that Indy took control of those POs in a bad bad way after game 3. I had not this feeling last year against the Mavs or this year after game 3 in Minny or even when Denver was up 2-1. Probably Shai gonna play well but that's it.

Would be extremely disappointed if it was a blowout loss.

just bad vibe about what is left in the tank for us. I obviously hope I'm wrong. Also don't know if there's a way to slow down the pace...

I just think there were a reason why Ajay played in G1 and we saw it in game 3. Coach D made some obvious mistakes but he isn't stupid either.

Kenrich should be an option tonight...only fresh guy on the bench that could make a positive impact. I wonder if going super small with Kenrich at the 5 isn't a good option when Mcconnell is leading the Pacers second unit. It would also give some extra rest for Chet and then play the two big men together a bit more.

[bbms]

there must be something going on that i don't know with kenrich because his low utilization is bizarre imo. he could solve many problems vs aaron gordon, he did great vs minnesota, was great g2 and practically a dnp vs indiana

he guards the perimeter, he guards big guys, he shoots a three, his impact on team rebounding is third best on the roster i don't understand really

[Kizz Fastfists]

there must be something going on that i don't know with kenrich because his low utilization is bizarre imo. he could solve many problems vs aaron gordon, he did great vs minnesota, was great g2 and practically a dnp vs indiana

he guards the perimeter, he guards big guys, he shoots a three, his impact on team rebounding is third best on the roster i don't understand really

Same thing as last year's playoffs. He rarely got to play and never had more than 8 minutes in a game. He isn't viewed as a player that they want to play. Mark is afraid to rely on his bench. OKC's depth is why they had such a dominant regular season, but Mark has been afraid to trust them in the playoffs. Game 3 Joe should have gotten more run after knocking down a pair of 3s to see if had a hot hand. Mark is running his starters into the ground. His lack of trust in Jaylin, Kenrich and others to be on the court is causing Chet and others to be gassed in the 4th. Indiana is letting their bench have their minutes so their starters still have gas in the tank in the 4th and that is how they have pulled off so many late comebacks. It is one thing to tighten up your rotation in the playoffs, but Mark has made it clear he has no faith in his bench.

Indiana has 9 players that average 14+ minutes per game and only Tyreese is over 35 MPG. OKC has 7 players over 14 MPG a game and all of them are 23+ MPG. Running a 7 man rotation puts too much strain on those players when you play at the pace OKC and Indy do. Even in the Memphis series he was only letting the bench players, outside of Caruso and Cason, get run after the game had been put away. Someone in the organization has to explain to Mark that he has got to trust his bench to give his starters some rest and he needs to stick with what worked in the regular season.

Mark has the best roster in the NBA. The problem is he is coaching like he only has three NBA players forcing SGA, JDub and Chet to do all the work and they are wearing down in the 4th. He needs to go back to his staring line up of SGA-Dort-JDub-Chet-IH. Pull IH or Chet 3 minutes into the game for Caruso along with JDub for Cason and then 3 minutes later put IH or Chet back in with JDub and give SGA and Dort rest and either go bigger with Jaylin or trust Joe or Wiggins. I prefer Joe and get him a few early 3 point looks and if he's on give him some run. Play some Jaylin at center minutes with Chet and IH both resting for a few minutes then put them in together to finish the game. This no trust in Jalyin, Joe and Wiggins isn't working. He HAS to get Joe and Wiggins 12 MPG to give guys rest. He needs to give Jaylin 10-12 MPG to match the size of Indy and keep Chet and IH fresh. It's almost like Mark is afraid that if there is 4 minute stretch where OKC loses those minutes they can't make it up over the rest of the game. OKC playing fast is advantage against MOST teams, but Indiana plays just as fast and they are able to do it the entire game because they give their guys the needed rest for the pace of this series. You don't try to reinvent how your team plays in the Finals. You do what you have done all year until it doesn't work. Game 1 set the tone for Mark being way out of his depth. Going small to try to out run and out pace Indiana lost that game. You are not going to beat Indiana that way consistently, if at all. When you are smaller and they can play just as fast you lose. When you are bigger and both teams are playing fast you win. Jaylin has played 2 minutes in the entire series. You can't match up 6'5 players against 6'9 players an entire game and think you are going to come out on top unless you have a significant athletic/skill advantage.

[Dadouv47]

You have Sam Vecenie that says that Isaiah Joe is so bad defensively that you can't play him and you have Kizz that tells you that he should play more. Trust who you want.

[cjmcallist]

I think Mark has been doing a fine job. Obviously he's made some mistakes, but that should be expected from the first deep playoff run. I still think he's the right coach for us.

Com'on y'all! I don't get the negativity around our expected response today. Game 3 stunk, but this team has earned the benefit of the doubt. They're going to come out strong tonight and I still expect us to win the series.

[cjmcallist]

Also - if KD comes back, I'm out. There's no way I'm cheering for him. I still maintain that I'd rather win zero championships without KD than win any championships with him.

[Dadouv47]

Also - if KD comes back, I'm out. There's no way I'm cheering for him. I still maintain that I'd rather win zero championships without KD than win any championships with him.

he won't comeback. I do think there's a chance Russ is coming back though

[Dadouv47]

I think Mark has been doing a fine job. Obviously he's made some mistakes, but that should be expected from the first deep playoff run. I still think he's the right coach for us.

Com'on y'all! I don't get the negativity around our expected response today. Game 3 stunk, but this team has earned the benefit of the doubt. They're going to come out strong tonight and I still expect us to win the series.

somehow I think Coach D made more mistakes against Denver but it's easier to blame Mark in the Finals against an all time great coach.

Also people still blaming Mark for game 1 despite the fact that it should have been a blowout (even if Mark deserves some fair criticism)

[cjmcallist]

Also - if KD comes back, I'm out. There's no way I'm cheering for him. I still maintain that I'd rather win zero championships without KD than win any championships with him.

he won't comeback. I do think there's a chance Russ is coming back though

That would be interesting. I think I'd prefer that he not (I'm not sure that I want to do that again).

But, if he did, I'd still cheer for him.

[Kizz Fastfists]

he won't comeback. I do think there's a chance Russ is coming back though

That would be interesting. I think I'd prefer that he not (I'm not sure that I want to do that again).

But, if he did, I'd still cheer for him.

Russ is playing on a minimum deal this year and likely will next year as well. Bringing him back as a bench player wouldn't be bad. I don't think Presti brings KD or Russ back, but KD would elevate the team to another level where Russ would be competing with Topic, Cason, Caruso, etc. for playing time. I don't mind Russ coming back as a bench player. KD making a return for a year would be great for the team. I know some fans don't like that KD was the first to openly say that Presti was a failure at team building and left, but the goal is to win a championship and KD puts the team in the best position to do that of anyone that you can think OKC might acquire in the off-season.

[Dadouv47]

he won't comeback. I do think there's a chance Russ is coming back though

That would be interesting. I think I'd prefer that he not (I'm not sure that I want to do that again).

But, if he did, I'd still cheer for him.

Russ is playing on a minimum deal this year and likely will next year as well. Bringing him back as a bench player wouldn't be bad. I don't think Presti brings KD or Russ back, but KD would elevate the team to another level where Russ would be competing with Topic, Cason, Caruso, etc. for playing time. I don't mind Russ coming back as a bench player. KD making a return for a year would be great for the team. I know some fans don't like that KD was the first to openly say that Presti was a failure at team building and left, but the goal is to win a championship and KD puts the team in the best position to do that of anyone that you can think OKC might acquire in the off-season.

I don't want KD for what he did to OKC but even from a pure basketball perspective he's gonna cost 54 millions next season and that's significant. That means getting rid of Hartenstein that is a key piece even if it's a bad series for us, a decent young player and several picks. All of that for an expiring player....not worth it. If we want to trade those players then you bring a star locked under 2-3 seasons like Giannis or whoever (even if the KD fit is better)

I would rather use 20-30 millions of cap space, package isaiah Joe, Dieng and some picks and bring one good player or two decent players. That's the only viable path to me.

Russ in OKC would be from a pure locker room presence and maybe leading the offense during 5 minutes if Topic/Ajay Mitchell aren't ready. I don't love the idea but it won't cost much.

[Kizz Fastfists]

I would rather use 20-30 millions of cap space, package isaiah Joe, Dieng and some picks and bring one good player or two decent players. That's the only viable path to me.

I understand this thought process, but if you are going to bring in a solid player you have to get Mark to sign on off on it. If he isn't going to trust that player and use them in your playoff rotation then you don't waste the assets. Based on what I've seen from the coaching in these playoffs I need someone better than a good player, i.e. Cam Johnson, unless Mark acknowledges in advance that they would be part of the playoff rotation. The playoff rotation either has to be more than 7 players or it has to be 7 players better than what OKC is using now. Mark has made it clear that he doesn't believe Kenrich, Joe, Wiggins, Jaylin, AJay, Dieng and Jones are good enough for his playoff rotation so all of them are tradeable. You can argue AJay is a rookie, but he is older than Cason, so you can a case that he'll be better next season. If Mark tells you there is no path for AJay to be trusted in the playoffs then he's useless to the roster.

[Dadouv47]

I would rather use 20-30 millions of cap space, package isaiah Joe, Dieng and some picks and bring one good player or two decent players. That's the only viable path to me.

I understand this thought process, but if you are going to bring in a solid player you have to get Mark to sign on off on it. If he isn't going to trust that player and use them in your playoff rotation then you don't waste the assets. Based on what I've seen from the coaching in these playoffs I need someone better than a good player, i.e. Cam Johnson, unless Mark acknowledges in advance that they would be part of the playoff rotation. The playoff rotation either has to be more than 7 players or it has to be 7 players better than what OKC is using now. Mark has made it clear that he doesn't believe Kenrich, Joe, Wiggins, Jaylin, AJay, Dieng and Jones are good enough for his playoff rotation so all of them are tradeable. You can argue AJay is a rookie, but he is older than Cason, so you can a case that he'll be better next season. If Mark tells you there is no path for AJay to be trusted in the playoffs then he's useless to the roster.

you can blame Mark as much as you want but Wiggins was bad except in one game and Isaiah Joe is TERRIBLE. Our coach gave Joe a shot in each series and his defense is such a liability that we couldn't play him. Somehow a guy that didn't think would be in the rotation and had a great impact was Jwill. Mark played him more than we would have expected in the Denver series so I disagree with your take. Jwill is match up dependant that's it and he had a huge role in our postseason success because he was key in the Denver series. The only guy that probably deserved more minutes and wasn't allowed because of Mark decisions is Kenrich.

Also when I mention a "good" player that's a Cam Johnson kind of guy yeah. I don't have specific names so far but gotta be at least established good NBA players. It's better to have a strong top 9 or 10 players than a deep 13 players with at least five of them with huge question marks.

I think the plan was to have Ajay in the postseason but can't ask for too much from a kid that suffered a severe injury in his rookie season. Hopefully one of Ajay or Topic can lead the second unit next season but I don't mind adding another ball handler because these are young guys and JDub isn't good enough as a primary playmaker. We only have Shai has a good playmaker on this team and that's not even his biggest strength.

[Devilanche]

You have Sam Vecenie that says that Isaiah Joe is so bad defensively that you can't play him and you have Kizz that tells you that he should play more. Trust who you want.

i lean towards some minutes for Kenrich/ Jaylin.

And probably some minutes for Wiggins/Joe.

[ThunderBolt]

If we win tonight, I like our chances. If not, obviously it’s over.

[Devilanche]

I would rather use 20-30 millions of cap space, package isaiah Joe, Dieng and some picks and bring one good player or two decent players. That's the only viable path to me.

I understand this thought process, but if you are going to bring in a solid player you have to get Mark to sign on off on it. If he isn't going to trust that player and use them in your playoff rotation then you don't waste the assets. Based on what I've seen from the coaching in these playoffs I need someone better than a good player, i.e. Cam Johnson, unless Mark acknowledges in advance that they would be part of the playoff rotation. The playoff rotation either has to be more than 7 players or it has to be 7 players better than what OKC is using now. Mark has made it clear that he doesn't believe Kenrich, Joe, Wiggins, Jaylin, AJay, Dieng and Jones are good enough for his playoff rotation so all of them are tradeable. You can argue AJay is a rookie, but he is older than Cason, so you can a case that he'll be better next season. If Mark tells you there is no path for AJay to be trusted in the playoffs then he's useless to the roster.

I think this is true . If someone is not a player you willing to play 10-15 mins in the playoffs , that player should be a candidate for a trade.

[Dadouv47]

You have Sam Vecenie that says that Isaiah Joe is so bad defensively that you can't play him and you have Kizz that tells you that he should play more. Trust who you want.

i lean towards some minutes for Kenrich/ Jaylin.

And probably some minutes for Wiggins/Joe.

I would definitely give Kenrich a shot early in the game. JWill makes only sense to me if we plan to play a lot of minutes with two big.

I wouldn't even consider Joe but I would definitely give a chance to Wiggins. He's a guy that can be pretty effective while not being a liability defensively. He's still one of the rare Thunder players that can create his own shot.

[Kizz Fastfists]

You have Sam Vecenie that says that Isaiah Joe is so bad defensively that you can't play him and you have Kizz that tells you that he should play more. Trust who you want.

If you want to argue that Presti is so incompetent he's handing out contracts to plyers that are unplayable go ahead and make the argument. Just to be clear, the argument is that a 20+ MPG player on a record setting team is unplayable. Even I'm not going to accuse Presti of giving decent sized contracts to unplayable players. Drafting Josh Huestis and him being unplayable and being gone without a 2nd contract is one thing. Presti doesn't hand out extensions to unplayable players. Flawed player, yes, but every player has flaws.

[Dadouv47]

You have Sam Vecenie that says that Isaiah Joe is so bad defensively that you can't play him and you have Kizz that tells you that he should play more. Trust who you want.

If you want to argue that Presti is so incompetent he's handing out contracts to plyers that are unplayable go ahead and make the argument. Just to be clear, the argument is that a 20+ MPG player on a record setting team is unplayable. Even I'm not going to accuse Presti of giving decent sized contracts to unplayable players. Drafting Josh Huestis and him being unplayable and being gone without a 2nd contract is one thing. Presti doesn't hand out extensions to unplayable players. Flawed player, yes, but every player has flaws.

I wouldn't because I trusted Isaiah Joe too but now it's the second postseason in a row that he sucks big time so yeah he earned his contract based on regular season performance alone but if I knew he would be so bad in the postseason I would have traded him by now. I have been pretty vocal about how Joe scoring ability was key to this Thunder squad (I didn't want to include him in a Cam Johnson trade) but I thought he was gonna be reliable in the postseason and he isn't.

Going deep in the postseason shows you who are the guys you can or can't trust and we got some good and bad surprises (Jwill against Denver was a good one, Joe overall performance is a terrible one).