1/13 | G41: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 7PM CST

Moderators: Dadouv47, retrobro90

User avatar
Osirus89
Starter
Posts: 2,148
And1: 2,017
Joined: Nov 23, 2016
   

Re: 1/13 | G41: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 7PM CST 

Post#41 » by Osirus89 » Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:35 am

Knrstz wrote:Westbrook is an all time talent but he lacks self awareness of his own limitations. He says he reads the games and tries to take advantage he sees. I'm curious what he sees that makes this think he should jack up contested threes less than 5 seconds into the shot clock. I know he isn't seeing his stats on three point percentage.


Kinda why the previous dynamic worked so well. He had to defer to someone else. Now he has the reins to do whatever. If he was actually coached, it wouldn't matter but........
User avatar
ThunderBolt
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 19,340
And1: 19,166
Joined: Dec 29, 2016
Location: Lynnwood, WA
   

Re: 1/13 | G41: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 7PM CST 

Post#42 » by ThunderBolt » Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:36 am

Osirus89 wrote:You know something just occurred to me. Watching this game makes me think that another playmaker isn't exactly what this team needs. We don't need a guy that runs an offense, we need a guy that scores in isolation. They try to do it with Kanter, but that isn't winning basketball. It has to be a wing for it to work. Oladipo is either not aggressive enough or doesn't get his number called, but they need a guy that can score the ball rain, sleet, or snow. Gallo, Wilson Chandler, Gay are essential I believe not because they are wings, but because they take the ball out of Russell's hands. 10+ turnovers. Give me an effin' break. /rant

Payne and Kanter are expendable. Payne's defense is going to continue to be an issue and he isn't really running much of an offense when he is in. Payne's "playmaking" does nothing when the only bench player you can run floppy or flare plays for is Abrines. Noone else can shoot worth a damn, including Payne.

Also I have no idea why Abrines or Morrow weren't put in the game much. You need one of them on the floor. Running Grant and Andre together with no shooting is idiotic. I wish we had Stan van Gundy. :nonono:

I'm not letting Russ off the hook either, but this seemed like a game where everything went horribly wrong. There was no player that can walk away from that game and think "I played pretty well tonight". Sadly Sacramento is a must win now because of this game. After Sacramento its the Clippers, Warriors, and Jazz. Shoot me please!!! :banghead: /end rant


We need an average playmaker because our superstar hurts us? Yeah this team has more issues than Rudy Gay can fix. I don't disagree with your critique but we've got big issues.
bisme37 wrote:If there were magnets in basketballs so strong they changed the path of the ball as it flew through the air, wouldn't the ball then stick magnetically to the rim when it got there?
User avatar
pelifan
RealGM
Posts: 14,237
And1: 21,691
Joined: Aug 12, 2014
Location: Small market
 

Re: 1/13 | G41: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 7PM CST 

Post#43 » by pelifan » Sat Jan 14, 2017 4:23 am

Man this game really lived up to the day it was played. Really scary game for the Thundies
Image
User avatar
Osirus89
Starter
Posts: 2,148
And1: 2,017
Joined: Nov 23, 2016
   

Re: 1/13 | G41: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 7PM CST 

Post#44 » by Osirus89 » Sat Jan 14, 2017 5:59 am

pelifan wrote:Man this game really lived up to the day it was played. Really scary game for the Thundies

rofl

Knrstz wrote:
We need an average playmaker because our superstar hurts us? Yeah this team has more issues than Rudy Gay can fix. I don't disagree with your critique but we've got big issues.


I didn't mean only Gay specifically, but it needs to be someone who doesn't need Russell to help them. The only players on the roster that can create offense of any kind are Kanter, Oladipo, Payne, and Steven. Steven and Kanter are bigs so they can just be doubled on the block. Victor should be able to, but he doesn't for unknown reasons. Payne has defensive issues and had a long period of sitting so he is all out of sorts and putting him in this january schedule is less than ideal, but it is what it is. I agree the roster has many glaring issues, but I don't think those can all be fixed during the season. Bring someone in who in competent with the ball in their hands and hope that will be enough for a lower seed in the playoffs. Then address the big issues during the draft/ offseason.
User avatar
spearsy23
RealGM
Posts: 19,481
And1: 7,654
Joined: Jan 27, 2012
   

Re: 1/13 | G41: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 7PM CST 

Post#45 » by spearsy23 » Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:54 am

Even superstars have bad games. It's just magnified when you rely so heavily on one guy. We're not winning games that Russ plays poorly in, but that shouldn't surprise anyone, and the sky isn't falling every time he plays poorly. Just have to suck it up and move on, it's the ones where Russ plays well and we still get destroyed that should bring on the roster criticism.
“If you're getting stops and you're making threes and the other team's not scoring, that's when you're going to see a huge point difference there,” coach Billy Donovan said.
User avatar
ThunderBolt
Retired Mod
Retired Mod
Posts: 19,340
And1: 19,166
Joined: Dec 29, 2016
Location: Lynnwood, WA
   

Re: 1/13 | G41: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 7PM CST 

Post#46 » by ThunderBolt » Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:49 pm

Osirus89 wrote:
pelifan wrote:Man this game really lived up to the day it was played. Really scary game for the Thundies

rofl

Knrstz wrote:
We need an average playmaker because our superstar hurts us? Yeah this team has more issues than Rudy Gay can fix. I don't disagree with your critique but we've got big issues.


I didn't mean only Gay specifically, but it needs to be someone who doesn't need Russell to help them. The only players on the roster that can create offense of any kind are Kanter, Oladipo, Payne, and Steven. Steven and Kanter are bigs so they can just be doubled on the block. Victor should be able to, but he doesn't for unknown reasons. Payne has defensive issues and had a long period of sitting so he is all out of sorts and putting him in this january schedule is less than ideal, but it is what it is. I agree the roster has many glaring issues, but I don't think those can all be fixed during the season. Bring someone in who in competent with the ball in their hands and hope that will be enough for a lower seed in the playoffs. Then address the big issues during the draft/ offseason.


I agree with you. I think the problem is we hoped Oladipo would be that guy and he's not. Maybe he turns it on after the ASG, but I doubt it. Adams has played very well as of late, but sometimes he has a crap game like he did last night. I think Adams is and will be our second best player, but I don't know that he'll ever be our second best scorer. Since we extended Oladipo, we're kind of stuck. Either we hope a guy in his fourth year develops a part of his game that he hasn't yet, trade him, or make due with what we've got.

RW trusts his teammates in very short instances. If they don't deliver, he plays hero ball. There are also times when he shares the ball and his teammates just blow the opportunity. It's hard to fault him for that. Roberson comes to mind when he didn't cut to the basket but decided to hang for an open three. To run an offense that had more ball movement and got more guys involved would be better in the long run but likely cost us games in the short term. I don't know if RW can handle losing games at the expense of growing players.

P.S. I would love Chandler or Gallinari over Gay.
bisme37 wrote:If there were magnets in basketballs so strong they changed the path of the ball as it flew through the air, wouldn't the ball then stick magnetically to the rim when it got there?
User avatar
Pillendreher
RealGM
Posts: 14,191
And1: 9,953
Joined: Jan 25, 2015
 

Re: 1/13 | G41: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves | 7PM CST 

Post#47 » by Pillendreher » Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:54 pm

Knrstz wrote:Either we hope a guy in his fourth year develops a part of his game that he hasn't yet, trade him, or make due with what we've got.


What part is that? We're not even giving him the opportunity to create offense.
"I don't know of any player that, when the shot goes up, he doesn't want it to go in," Donovan said

Return to Oklahoma City Thunder