Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Denver Nuggets 04/07/10

Post #1 » by **slick_watts** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 10:04 pm

Gotta forget about last night and defend the home court.

The stakes are even higher. Lose this game, and we might have to beat Portland on the road to avoid the eighth seed. Win the game, and we can probably avoid the 8th seed as long as we take care of business against Memphis and Golden State.

dream_catcher_9 · Post #2 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Wed Apr 7, 2010 11:05 pm

I hope they have enough energy for tonight's game.

Thunder 108
Nuggets 106

another exciting game down to the wire IMO.

Jimmy76 · Post #3 » by **Jimmy76** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:16 am

the dont go back to play D offense :lol:

Jimmy76 · Post #4 » by **Jimmy76** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:41 am

I was worried we would play tired and our shooters would have no legs

doesn't look like a real concern

Post #5 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:48 am

Jeff Green is frustrating. Four times this game he's over commited on help and left his man wide open for a jump shot. The communication on defense is horrible, nobody knows what they are doing lately and we end up with three people collapsing on the penetrating guard.

joyner82 · Post #6 » by **joyner82** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:49 am

Jimmy76 wrote:I was worried we would play tired and our shooters would have no legs

doesn't look like a real concern

Utah is looking that way right now.

Jimmy76 · Post #7 » by **Jimmy76** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:51 am

collison looking more and more like a keeper with that new jumpshot

Post #8 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 12:56 am

Serge is playing well.

I hate Brooks' new found love for playing Kevin Durant at SG for stretches. It completely ruins our flow. IT's nice on the offensive end but it's not a good defensive lineup.

Is James Harden in the dog house or something? He's been real productive lately but seems to get pulled way too early in my opinion. He should be at SG right now, take out Jeff Green who has been horrible.

joyner82 · Post #9 » by **joyner82** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:08 am

slick_watts wrote:Serge is playing well.

I hate Brooks' new found love for playing Kevin Durant at SG for stretches. It completely ruins our flow. IT's nice on the offensive end but it's not a good defensive lineup.

Is James Harden in the dog house or something? He's been real productive lately but seems to get pulled way too early in my opinion. He should be at SG right now, take out Jeff Green who has been horrible.

Durant was terrible on D his first 2 years because he was playing SG a high percentage of the time..no reason why he's going back to that.

joyner82 · Post #10 » by **joyner82** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:12 am

I don't want to get ahead of ourselves seeing as this will be our first year in the playoffs...but if we can keep Durant, Ibaka, Westbrook, and Collison together this could be a dynasty. You throw in a good defensive center and a shooting guard that's a 3 point threat(which could be Harden eventually) and there are no missing pieces.

Post #11 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:15 am

I meant Durant shouldn't be at SG, obviously. But Brooks played him there for a spell and our defense was poor.

Post #12 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:16 am

joyner82 wrote:I don't want to get ahead of ourselves seeing as this will be our first year in the playoffs...but if we can keep Durant, Ibaka, Westbrook, and Collison together this could be a dynasty. You throw in a good defensive center and a shooting guard that's a 3 point threat(which could be Harden eventually) and there are no missing pieces.

In what possible way is Harden not 'a shooting guard that's a 3 point threat'? Brooks hasn't been playing Harden enough and he's been playing Thabo too much, I think. Harden's been scorching lately.

joyner82 · Post #13 » by **joyner82** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:20 am

slick_watts wrote:
joyner82 wrote:I don't want to get ahead of ourselves seeing as this will be our first year in the playoffs...but if we can keep Durant, Ibaka, Westbrook, and Collison together this could be a dynasty. You throw in a good defensive center and a shooting guard that's a 3 point threat(which could be Harden eventually) and there are no missing pieces.

In what possible way is Harden not 'a shooting guard that's a 3 point threat'? Brooks hasn't been playing Harden enough and he's been playing Thabo too much, I think. Harden's been scorching lately.

Harden is very streaky and not a consistent threat yet. He's a rookie so it's understandable, I'm just stating if he develops into a legit NBA SG, plus his playmaking is very poor for a guard. He has definitely progressed since December in terms of efficiency though so that's a great sign.

Post #14 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:25 am

Harden's TS% isn't that far below Steph Curry and higher than Tyreke Evans'. He's fine as a threat offensively. And he's improving defensively. Harden should be playing more, Thabo less, IMO. Except against certain competition where Thabo's utility as a defender is high (Lakers, Blazers).

Post #15 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 1:57 am

Hope Melo's Ok.

dream_catcher_9 · Post #16 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 2:00 am

yeah at first I thought he was just taking a rest but then I saw the replay and looks like a pinched nerve.

Jimmy76 · Post #17 » by **Jimmy76** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 2:01 am

damn sucks for Denver

I like that team too

Post #18 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 2:32 am

I hate Brooks' rotations sometimes. Literally hate. We were playing GREAT DEFENSE with Thabo on the bench. So he brings Thabo in to guard another point guard and Thabo's getting smoked. On offense, Denver has started playing 10 feet off Thabo who sits in the corner doing nothing. Thabo serves no utility in this game right now. Harden spreads the floor, Denver can't play off him. There's a reason the lane is clogged right now and we can't get daylight, NOBODY is guarding Thabo.

Jimmy76 · Post #19 » by **Jimmy76** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 2:39 am

slick_watts wrote:I hate Brooks' rotations sometimes. Literally hate. We were playing GREAT DEFENSE with Thabo on the bench. So he brings Thabo in to guard another point guard and Thabo's getting smoked. On offense, Denver has started playing 10 feet off Thabo who sits in the corner doing nothing. Thabo serves no utility in this game right now. Harden spreads the floor, Denver can't play off him. There's a reason the lane is clogged right now and we can't get daylight, NOBODY is guarding Thabo.

hopefully it doesn't become a long term problem

Harden needs to start next year

Post #20 » by **slick_watts** » Thu Apr 8, 2010 2:39 am

Seriously screw Scott Brooks. What an idiot coach. He's made some good things happen for our defense but bringing Thabo in this game TO GUARD CHAUNCEY BILLUPS when he's been horrible guarding PG's all season is (Please Use More Appropriate Word). Harden / Maynor / Westbrook were doing fine and made their defensive run. Denver was just defending 10 feet off Thabo and we couldn't get anywhere near the lane.

Brooks is a good motivator and gets these guys to buy into the defense but he's just clueless as a game manager and doesn't understand matchups. What a joke.