PG: Golden State Warriors (111) - Oklahoma City Thunder (95) | 3/20/17

[Thabo Sefolosha]

GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS at OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER
                   POSTGAME THREAD
• Record: 40-30
• http://www.espn.com/nba/game?gameId=400900444

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[Pillendreher]

Let's just avoid them on the Playoffs.

[Jstock12]

Give Christon the max.

[Andre Roberstan]

If we could not play like crap against the Warriors one game it'd be great.

INB4 they drop the next game to some scrub team again cause they spent all their energy trying to prove they were the big dog tonight in our house.

[NaturalThunder]

We're going to finish 5th, win a feel good series against the Clippers, and then lose in four games by an average of 28.3 PPG in the second round to the Warriors.


Why? Why do they completely, utterly, and totally own us this badly? Why can every other crap team and decent team find a way to compete against them at least once? For Durant, I count the Wizards game as a "missed game" even though it counts as '1' in his GP column. With that said, including the Wizards game where Durant got hurt and played just two minutes, the Warriors started 2-5. One of those losses was that weird Spurs game where the Warriors rested everyone of importance and the Spurs didn't have Kawhi or Aldridge, but they still got blown out. Then they won three in a row against sub-.500 teams. The sans-Embiid 76ers even managed to play them close. We were rolling and I know we're a good team, but we play the Warriors sans-Durant and get blown the **** out. With or without Durant, our current roster structure apparently can't even kinda sorta play with the Warriors.

[ThunderBolt]

This game is important to our fans and it disgusts me that in four attempts we couldn't even put up a competitive showing against them. We couldn't even keep a guy on their shooters. It looked like they were playing five on four against us on both ends of the court.

[spearsy23]

Honestly, after watching Cam continually tuck his tail between his legs it's nice to see a backup pg that won't back down. Unfortunately semaj still sucks. I want to buy a 2nd rounder and get Frank Mason, we need more guys that will fight with anybody.

[spearsy23]

We're going to finish 5th, win a feel good series against the Clippers, and then lose in four games by an average of 28.3 PPG in the second round to the Warriors.


Why? Why do they completely, utterly, and totally own us this badly? Why can every other crap team and decent team find a way to compete against them at least once? For Durant, I count the Wizards game as a "missed game" even though it counts as '1' in his GP column. With that said, including the Wizards game where Durant got hurt and played just two minutes, the Warriors started 2-5. One of those losses was that weird Spurs game where the Warriors rested everyone of importance and the Spurs didn't have Kawhi or Aldridge, but they still got blown out. Then they won three in a row against sub-.500 teams. The sans-Embiid 76ers even managed to play them close. We were rolling and I know we're a good team, but we play the Warriors sans-Durant and get blown the **** out. With or without Durant, our current roster structure apparently can't even kinda sorta play with the Warriors.

Disregarding the obvious 'they're way better than us' answer, they're a terrible matchup for us in general. We give up open three's and lanes to the basket like it's going out of style, and our lack of shooting let's them negate our one true advantage by packing the paint. Plus, our two perimeter defenders are much better at matching up with iso players than fighting through screens.

[bondom34]

This game is important to our fans and it disgusts me that in four attempts we couldn't even put up a competitive showing against them. We couldn't even keep a guy on their shooters. It looked like they were playing five on four against us on both ends of the court.

I totally get not liking the loss, but this wasn't an effort thing, they're just better. Spearsy said it, they were last year when cupcake was on OKC, now he's gone.

[Osirus89]

Well... another blowout loss against GS. I feel like we are doomed in this matchup as long as the powers that be insist that playing two bigs that can't defend in space is good against a team that abuses pnr and stands on the 3 pt line. If you want to beat GS, you have to play like Cleveland or Boston. Have a player(s) that can target Curry in Isolation (Lebron/Kyrie, IT) and have the rest of the players space the floor. We have the first part, but not the second part. Adams cant shoot 3s or guard on the perimeter well and Kanter can't guard anything. We have the worst front court in the league for going against GS. They own our souls just like they own the Clippers, because the Clippers play the same way.

If we insist on this two big garbage, then the second big has to be an Anthony davis/ Blake Griffin/ KP/ Kevin Love type player that can cover up for the fact that Steven can't space the floor. Either that or swap Adams for a true stretch 5 and add a small ball 4. This two post player crap hasn't worked since .... Pau/ Bynum in 2010 ?

[InTheSabonus]

There's not even really anything new to say about the coaching. The situation just sucks. The postups suck. The lack of intensity on the defensive end sucks. The rotations suck. That Donovan won't be fired sucks. No matter what young talent we bring in- because we're certainly not getting any free agents- it'll never be optimised. We could trade for Curry and he'd probably put him on the block to try to post people up. It's just mind boggingly bad. And it's blindingly obvious that he can't get players to actually play with any real intensity and cohesiveness on the defensive end. Hell, the one thing Adams could do before anything else, was defend, and be the team's motor and glue guy. And now he mopes around flat footed as anything.

Obviously the talent disparity on the teams is huge, even with durant sitting. But Donovan has proven incapable of figuring out how to beat teams that sag off. Which is terrible. Every NBA coach- hell just about anyone that coaches any remotely serious basketball team- should know how to deal with defences that pack the paint. Benching, say, McBuckets after a couple of minutes because you can't figure out how to get him open looks, when your only other 3 point specialist finishes the game shooting 0/7...

And it's embarrassing that all the stuff the commentators were saying was true, but wouldn't have happened. Playing Dougie. Lighting into the guys at half time (as if that would ever happen). Making sure you aren't giving **** Klay Thompson 10 feet of space while he's standing on the 3 point line.

I wouldn't mind if we lost games like this the right way. Playing as best we could, controlling everything we can, only to be outclassed by a team with much more talent. But we can control so much more than what we do. A decent coach may not bring this team a championship, but if you got them playing hard D every night, made sure Russ has space with which to operate...At least we could maximise the quality of Russell's time here, which is what he deserves if he wants to stay. But instead we're postup city and play like the 3 point line doesn't exist- on both ends.

[bondom34]

Great post.

FWIW, I was told that apparently the coaching is Russ's fault too. I miss Brooks. Wish Donovan would bolt for IU.

[Osirus89]

I'm for getting rid of Donovan, but I'm not sure who would be the best to bring in. Presti isn't exactly hands off and Russ is used to having free rein on offense. I would love to bring in someone who is more authoritarian, but I have no idea how that would go over with Russ. The only coach like that in the league that would work for is Pop. Also a lot of prospective coaches now want the dual role of GM/Coach, which would mean Presti and Donovan are both out. I just can't see management doing something so drastic, even if it might be the right course of action. Messina from SA? I can't see JVG coming unless he had GM power as well just like his brother. McHale?

[InTheSabonus]

I'm for getting rid of Donovan, but I'm not sure who would be the best to bring in. Presti isn't exactly hands off and Russ is used to having free rein on offense. I would love to bring in someone who is more authoritarian, but I have no idea how that would go over with Russ. The only coach like that in the league that would work for is Pop. Also a lot of prospective coaches now want the dual role of GM/Coach, which would mean Presti and Donovan are both out. I just can't see management doing something so drastic, even if it might be the right course of action. Messina from SA? I can't see JVG coming unless he had GM power as well just like his brother. McHale?

McHale is an option I'd consider. He's coached Harden, which is a plus, because the two are so similar. He won't piss off Russ by implementing a complex offense, but it looks like he'd command a hell of a lot more respect than Donovan in regards to actually getting them to play hard. I think he'd at least be an upgrade. I'd say on paper Mark Jackson would be a similar option, but he's a lunatic.

On the other hand the lack of offense is also an issue we had under Brooks and now Donovan. It all comes down to how Russ would react to certain coaches and their styles. We can speculate based on his play style that he wouldn't like anyone trying to take the ball away from him, but who knows. Maybe he'd really respond well to a hardass coach.

[Pillendreher]

There's not even really anything new to say about the coaching. The situation just sucks. The postups suck. The lack of intensity on the defensive end sucks. The rotations suck. That Donovan won't be fired sucks. No matter what young talent we bring in- because we're certainly not getting any free agents- it'll never be optimised. We could trade for Curry and he'd probably put him on the block to try to post people up. It's just mind boggingly bad. And it's blindingly obvious that he can't get players to actually play with any real intensity and cohesiveness on the defensive end. Hell, the one thing Adams could do before anything else, was defend, and be the team's motor and glue guy. And now he mopes around flat footed as anything.

Obviously the talent disparity on the teams is huge, even with durant sitting. But Donovan has proven incapable of figuring out how to beat teams that sag off. Which is terrible. Every NBA coach- hell just about anyone that coaches any remotely serious basketball team- should know how to deal with defences that pack the paint. Benching, say, McBuckets after a couple of minutes because you can't figure out how to get him open looks, when your only other 3 point specialist finishes the game shooting 0/7...

And it's embarrassing that all the stuff the commentators were saying was true, but wouldn't have happened. Playing Dougie. Lighting into the guys at half time (as if that would ever happen). Making sure you aren't giving **** Klay Thompson 10 feet of space while he's standing on the 3 point line.

I wouldn't mind if we lost games like this the right way. Playing as best we could, controlling everything we can, only to be outclassed by a team with much more talent. But we can control so much more than what we do. A decent coach may not bring this team a championship, but if you got them playing hard D every night, made sure Russ has space with which to operate...At least we could maximise the quality of Russell's time here, which is what he deserves if he wants to stay. But instead we're postup city and play like the 3 point line doesn't exist- on both ends.

Excellent post.

[Pillendreher]

Three other things I would like to add:

-Donovan isn't without fault regarding the whole Sabonis situation. He played well in the first half and then Donovan just glues him to the bench. Why? What gets accomplished besides crushing what lilttle confidence he has left?
-Gibson starting and still only playing ~20 minutes a game is laughable. We can't sacrifice winning just to get Enes Kanter minutes.
-Adams and Dipo are becoming 'Schönwetterspieler'. This German expression means that somebody only brings it if the weather is 'nice', ie they perform well when things in general go well, but they suck once things go south. I can't remember a single game in which either one of them really stepped up and kept us from losing. You?

[ThunderBolt]

Three other things I would like to add:

-Donovan isn't without fault regarding the whole Sabonis situation. He played well in the first half and then Donovan just glues him to the bench. Why? What gets accomplished besides crushing what lilttle confidence he has left?
-Gibson starting and still only playing ~20 minutes a game is laughable. We can't sacrifice winning just to get Enes Kanter minutes.
-Adams and Dipo are becoming 'Schönwetterspieler'. This German expression means that somebody only brings it if the weather is 'nice', ie the perform well when things in general go well, but they suck once things turn south. I can't remember a single game in which either one of them really stepped up and kept us from losing. You?

Adams made some huge plays against Memphis the first time we played them in OKC. But ya, you're right. Last night Adams had a wide open rebound. He jumped for it and ended up hitting it like a volleyball. It either went out of bounds or directly to Golden State. He had one freaking rebound last night! I'm sure if he had more minutes he would have secured 3 or 4 more.

[ThunderBolt]

There's not even really anything new to say about the coaching. The situation just sucks. The postups suck. The lack of intensity on the defensive end sucks. The rotations suck. That Donovan won't be fired sucks. No matter what young talent we bring in- because we're certainly not getting any free agents- it'll never be optimised. We could trade for Curry and he'd probably put him on the block to try to post people up. It's just mind boggingly bad. And it's blindingly obvious that he can't get players to actually play with any real intensity and cohesiveness on the defensive end. Hell, the one thing Adams could do before anything else, was defend, and be the team's motor and glue guy. And now he mopes around flat footed as anything.

Obviously the talent disparity on the teams is huge, even with durant sitting. But Donovan has proven incapable of figuring out how to beat teams that sag off. Which is terrible. Every NBA coach- hell just about anyone that coaches any remotely serious basketball team- should know how to deal with defences that pack the paint. Benching, say, McBuckets after a couple of minutes because you can't figure out how to get him open looks, when your only other 3 point specialist finishes the game shooting 0/7...

And it's embarrassing that all the stuff the commentators were saying was true, but wouldn't have happened. Playing Dougie. Lighting into the guys at half time (as if that would ever happen). Making sure you aren't giving **** Klay Thompson 10 feet of space while he's standing on the 3 point line.

I wouldn't mind if we lost games like this the right way. Playing as best we could, controlling everything we can, only to be outclassed by a team with much more talent. But we can control so much more than what we do. A decent coach may not bring this team a championship, but if you got them playing hard D every night, made sure Russ has space with which to operate...At least we could maximise the quality of Russell's time here, which is what he deserves if he wants to stay. But instead we're postup city and play like the 3 point line doesn't exist- on both ends.

This makes me wonder if any trades will actually make us better. As an organization, we don't seem to be maximizing what we get out of our players. I've been disappointed in Adams and Vic at times this year. I can't help but wonder if they were traded to other organizations if they would become the players we wanted them to be here.

[nurseryc]

I didn't see the game. Why didn't Westbrook play in the 4th quarter?

[Andre Roberstan]

I didn't see the game. Why didn't Westbrook play in the 4th quarter?

Game was out of hand.