OKC Thunder Offseason 2015

Post #121 » by **bondom34** » Fri May 22, 2015 6:33 am

Random, but found a lineup analyzer that addresses weakness/strength based on RPM. You can look at each team, the weakness is still C, but that's likely to improve internally.

http://walterfootball.com/nba/teamneeds ... ty-thunder

KD35Brah · Post #122 » by **KD35Brah** » Sun May 24, 2015 5:25 am

Seeing Curry evolve offensively after being put into a real system makes me excited to see what Donovan can do with Durant and Westbrook.

spearsy23 · Post #123 » by **spearsy23** » Sun May 24, 2015 7:04 am

KD35Brah wrote:Seeing Curry evolve offensively after being put into a real system makes me excited to see what Donovan can do with Durant and Westbrook.

There's no real evolution from Curry that's coming from the offense. He just takes and makes bad shots at what would be considered an impossible rate for anyone else. The angles and body positions he can shoot from are insane.

QPR · Post #124 » by **QPR** » Sun May 24, 2015 7:49 am

And then when you do leave him even slightly open he makes perimeter shots at the rate most would make lay-ups.

KD35Brah · Post #125 » by **KD35Brah** » Tue May 26, 2015 5:04 pm

Darnell wrote a piece on the Lamb situation this season. I know i was loud when talking about his inconsistencies, but he never deserved to lose his spot in the rotation. He got better on defense and had games where he was great offensively and defensively.

https://twitter.com/DarnellMayberry/sta ... 5859442688

Jeremy Lamb was on a short leash this season. He fell out of the regular rotation for good by mid-December. He wasn’t bad when given the opportunity. But those opportunities came early and dried up quick.

Shot selection: C. One of the things ex-Thunder coach Scott Brooks used to say about Lamb was he needed to set up his shots better. Lamb seemingly relied more on his athleticism and shooting ability rather than being fundamentally sound. Because of that, Lamb had a tendency to settle for 3-pointers, take off-balance pull-ups or running, leaning one-handers. It limited his effectiveness as a scorer and kept his percentages down. But there were things to like about Lamb’s offense. He shot 35.6 percent from 3-point range in the 20 games that he was a fixture in the rotation, from Nov. 7 through Dec. 18. He was shooting 40.6 percent from 3 in the first 17 games of that stretch before he slid into a shooting slump in the final three. It was a stretch that showcased Lamb’s potential as a potent scorer. But fine-tuning his technique and decision-making might be the first step toward getting there.

Defense: B-. Since his rookie year, the inability to defend was said to be Lamb’s biggest limitation. But this season was different. Lamb really tried. He got beat less, and he was engaged more. The Thunder played some of its best defense of the season when Lamb was in the rotation due to multiple injuries. In that 20-game stretch from early November through mid-December, players shot 38.3 percent shooting when Lamb defended their shots. That’s 4.8 percentage points less than what they normally shot, according to nba.com/stats. OKC also allowed just 101.3 points per 100 possessions with Lamb on the court during that same stretch. That’s nearly two points per 100 possessions less than what the Thunder allowed all season. Lamb still had moments where he lost his man, got beat off the dribble and had communication breakdowns. But he got better on defense in Year 3.

Consistency: C-. It’s been the story of Lamb’s last two seasons. He’s either really on or really off. Never does there seem to be an in between with Lamb. And that leads to some maddening moments.

Post #126 » by **bondom34** » Tue May 26, 2015 5:18 pm

Yeah, I'm hoping we see more of him and pull Dion quicker. Unless they trade em both and get a better vet entirely.

Grolgar · Post #127 » by **Grolgar** » Wed May 27, 2015 7:43 am

spearsy23 wrote:
Grolgar wrote:I get the reasoning, but I guess I don't think Roberson should start every game. I think he needs to learn to play situationally. If the other team is starting Tony Wroten then why play Roberson? We know Roberson can become unplayable in certain playoff situations so why not use Robes situationally all season?

When will Roberson be unplayable? It's not like he's a horrible offensive player.

The playoffs. Once teams start scheming for a series, totally ignoring Roberson, he becomes unplayable. Happened to Thabo. Unless he improved dramatically, you can't sustain playoff success with a one way player that kills spacing for the other four players. Now, a good coach, could use Roberson less predictably and more erratically to offset this... But the playoffs are NOT the regular season.

Pillendreher · Post #128 » by **Pillendreher** » Wed May 27, 2015 11:35 am

bondom34 wrote:Yeah, I'm hoping we see more of him and pull Dion quicker. Unless they trade em both and get a better vet entirely.

Same here. I think both Jones and Lamb can be an important piece to this team. They're too talented to be left on the bench.

spearsy23 · Post #129 » by **spearsy23** » Wed May 27, 2015 6:32 pm

Grolgar wrote:
spearsy23 wrote:
Grolgar wrote:I get the reasoning, but I guess I don't think Roberson should start every game. I think he needs to learn to play situationally. If the other team is starting Tony Wroten then why play Roberson? We know Roberson can become unplayable in certain playoff situations so why not use Robes situationally all season?

When will Roberson be unplayable? It's not like he's a horrible offensive player.

The playoffs. Once teams start scheming for a series, totally ignoring Roberson, he becomes unplayable. Happened to Thabo. Unless he improved dramatically, you can't sustain playoff success with a one way player that kills spacing for the other four players. Now, a good coach, could use Roberson less predictably and more erratically to offset this... But the playoffs are NOT the regular season.

Kendrick Perkins, Thabo sefalosha, Tony Allen, Matt Barnes, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, Shaun Livingston, Norris Cole, etc.

Defensive stalwarts who actually help the offense while on the floor are never unplayable. Especially with 4 good to great offensive players around them.

Post #130 » by **bondom34** » Wed May 27, 2015 6:59 pm

Yeah, I feel better w/ Roberson on the floor than any wing unless Morrow is absolutely on fire. He's always got a spot.

bbms · Post #131 » by **bbms** » Thu May 28, 2015 8:31 pm

Roberson's defensive impact is outstanding. He's beyond Thabo there imo. His help defense is much more effective than Thabo's. He could be a Tony Allen/Dwyane Wade type of defender that lift up the team's defensive play overall from the perimeter.

He is grade B- to B+ at everything offensively (for a second year) minus shooting from outside. He can pass really well, finishes well at the rim (MUCH stronger than Thabo) and is great in transition. He would not be negative offensively if the Thunder used his cutting ability more often or moved the ball around more. It's also way easier to teach a corner three than elite defense.

He's definitely getting backlash for Westbrook/Durant/Ibaka not being able to play often due injury. He's my candidate for Thunder's MIP under Donovan.

Grolgar · Post #132 » by **Grolgar** » Fri May 29, 2015 11:35 pm

spearsy23 wrote:
Grolgar wrote:
spearsy23 wrote:When will Roberson be unplayable? It's not like he's a horrible offensive player.

The playoffs. Once teams start scheming for a series, totally ignoring Roberson, he becomes unplayable. Happened to Thabo. Unless he improved dramatically, you can't sustain playoff success with a one way player that kills spacing for the other four players. Now, a good coach, could use Roberson less predictably and more erratically to offset this... But the playoffs are NOT the regular season.

Kendrick Perkins, Thabo sefalosha, Tony Allen, Matt Barnes, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, Shaun Livingston, Norris Cole, etc.

Defensive stalwarts who actually help the offense while on the floor are never unplayable. Especially with 4 good to great offensive players around them.

Surely you're joking with that list. A bunch of those guys are great 2-way players, not the worst guard at shooting in the NBA. And, you realize we had to bench Thabo in the playoffs because of his shooting, right?!? That's exactly what could happen to Roberson.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #133 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Sat May 30, 2015 12:29 am

Thabo got benched in the playoffs because he was still hurt. He had missed over a month then came back, still hurt, with 6 games left in the season to try to show that he could play though it. He was terrible and clearly still hurt. Thabo played in the playoffs every year he was healthy.

Post #134 » by **bondom34** » Sat May 30, 2015 12:38 am

Grolgar wrote:
spearsy23 wrote:
Grolgar wrote:
The playoffs. Once teams start scheming for a series, totally ignoring Roberson, he becomes unplayable. Happened to Thabo. Unless he improved dramatically, you can't sustain playoff success with a one way player that kills spacing for the other four players. Now, a good coach, could use Roberson less predictably and more erratically to offset this... But the playoffs are NOT the regular season.

Kendrick Perkins, Thabo sefalosha, Tony Allen, Matt Barnes, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, Shaun Livingston, Norris Cole, etc.

Defensive stalwarts who actually help the offense while on the floor are never unplayable. Especially with 4 good to great offensive players around them.

Surely you're joking with that list. A bunch of those guys are great 2-way players, not the worst guard at shooting in the NBA. And, you realize we had to bench Thabo in the playoffs because of his shooting, right?!? That's exactly what could happen to Roberson.

Thabo was benched as Kizz said due to injury and the fact that he wasn't only shooting poorly but lost all confidence and stopped trying. The simple threat of a guy trying to score is enough with 3 other scorers on the floor, Roberson does that. You don't change the lineups every game like its 2K, you have a set group of starters that may change under very certain circumstances. Like vs. one or 2 teams, not constantly changing.

QPR · Post #135 » by **QPR** » Sat May 30, 2015 1:13 am

Memphis suffered quite a bit offensively with Allen on the floor against GWS.

Kizz Fastfists · Post #136 » by **Kizz Fastfists** » Sat May 30, 2015 1:43 am

Memphis suffered quite a bit offensively with Mike Conley missing games and playing hurt. Memphis is a defensive oriented team they needs to control the pace and they were unable to do that. Somehow they managed to win the two games that Allen and Conley both played 30+ minutes and lost every other game. Too bad Allen only played a combined 21 minutes as they lost the last 3 games or they might have had a chance.

spearsy23 · Post #137 » by **spearsy23** » Sat May 30, 2015 2:10 am

Grolgar wrote:
spearsy23 wrote:Kendrick Perkins, Thabo sefalosha, Tony Allen, Matt Barnes, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, Shaun Livingston, Norris Cole, etc.

Defensive stalwarts who actually help the offense while on the floor are never unplayable. Especially with 4 good to great offensive players around them.

Surely you're joking with that list. A bunch of those guys are great 2-way players, not the worst guard at shooting in the NBA. And, you realize we had to bench Thabo in the playoffs because of his shooting, right?!? That's exactly what could happen to Roberson.

[/quote]
None of those players are great two way players. Robes has as positive an offensive effect as any of them.

Balkman32 · Post #138 » by **Balkman32** » Sat May 30, 2015 3:26 pm

With only the Pel's job left open if Tom Thibodeau or JVG don't get the job, could Thibodeau join this team as an assistant? It would give Tom an oppertubity to just coach, and give Billy the NBA experience desired on the bench. I would be willing to make him the highest paid assistant ever.

Balkman32 · Post #139 » by **Balkman32** » Sat May 30, 2015 3:28 pm

Does anyone think Kyle Singler will receive an RFA offer this offseason?

Grolgar · Post #140 » by **Grolgar** » Sat May 30, 2015 8:25 pm

spearsy23 wrote:
Grolgar wrote:
spearsy23 wrote:Kendrick Perkins, Thabo sefalosha, Tony Allen, Matt Barnes, Bruce Bowen, Dennis Rodman, Shaun Livingston, Norris Cole, etc.

"Defensive stalwarts who actually help the offense while on the floor are never unplayable. Especially with 4 good to great offensive players around them.

Surely you're joking with that list. A bunch of those guys are great 2-way players, not the worst guard at shooting in the NBA. And, you realize we had to bench Thabo in the playoffs because of his shooting, right?!? That's exactly what could happen to Roberson.

[quote="spearsy23"]None of those players are great two way players. Robes has as positive an offensive effect as any of them.[quote="spearsy23"]

I'd say being one of the best 3 point shooters in the league (Bruce Bowen) qualifies you as a two-way player. Even Matt Barnes shot 36% from three. He's a serviceable offensive player that you actually have to guard. There's a pretty wide gulf from those percentages to Roberson's embarrassing 24% from 3. Apples and oranges.