2017-2018 OKC Thunder Regular Season Thread part one: The Fellowship for A Ring

[Reign23]

Record vs those 3 teams this season:

Dallas: 1-2 (lost by 16 and 3, won by 13)
Orlando: 0-1 (lost by 13)
Phoenix: 0-1 (lost by 14)

Going 1-2 or even 0-3 wouldn't surprise me.

yeah but now the urgency is there.

It should have been there all season long with those self-proclaimed championship aspirations.

do you think okc gonna miss the playoffs?

Possibly. I could see them going 3-7 over the next 10 and that's with the easy half of the remaining schedule.

If missing the Playoffs would mean also getting rid of Donovan, it might be worth it. You know, what we call 'Glück im Unglück' ;)

but I think if they miss the playoffs PG is also gone..

[Pillendreher]

yeah but now the urgency is there.

It should have been there all season long with those self-proclaimed championship aspirations.

do you think okc gonna miss the playoffs?

Possibly. I could see them going 3-7 over the next 10 and that's with the easy half of the remaining schedule.

If missing the Playoffs would mean also getting rid of Donovan, it might be worth it. You know, what we call 'Glück im Unglück' ;)

but I think if they miss the playoffs PG is also gone..

Yeah. But right now, I don't see us making enough noise in the Playoffs to convince him just based on that anyway. We might make it and lose to the Trail Blazers or whatever.

[ThunderBolt]

"It's tough. We're so aggressive; we play at the rim constantly," George said. "We're just officiated differently, all three of us. And it's tough. At least one of us [should] get the benefit of the doubt. But when we're on that floor no one is getting the better side of that whistle. But we're going to keep attacking, we're going to keep being aggressive. That's our job, to put pressure on them. At some point it's gotta work out for us."
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22591272/paul-george-says-okc-thunder-big-3-officiated-differently-other-stars


Man shut up. These guys still buy into their own hype.

[Pillendreher]

"It's tough. We're so aggressive; we play at the rim constantly," George said. "We're just officiated differently, all three of us. And it's tough. At least one of us [should] get the benefit of the doubt. But when we're on that floor no one is getting the better side of that whistle. But we're going to keep attacking, we're going to keep being aggressive. That's our job, to put pressure on them. At some point it's gotta work out for us."
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22591272/paul-george-says-okc-thunder-big-3-officiated-differently-other-stars


Man shut up. These guys still buy into their own hype.

Always looking for these side stories instead of talking about how they're close to missing the Playoffs. How about you light into Russ and Melo so they start playing defense instead of whining like this.

[ThunderBolt]

"It's tough. We're so aggressive; we play at the rim constantly," George said. "We're just officiated differently, all three of us. And it's tough. At least one of us [should] get the benefit of the doubt. But when we're on that floor no one is getting the better side of that whistle. But we're going to keep attacking, we're going to keep being aggressive. That's our job, to put pressure on them. At some point it's gotta work out for us."
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22591272/paul-george-says-okc-thunder-big-3-officiated-differently-other-stars


Man shut up. These guys still buy into their own hype.

Always looking for these side stories instead of talking about how they're close to missing the Playoffs. How about you light into Russ and Melo so they start playing defense instead of whining like this.

The fact that George still talks about Melo like he’s some kind of an all star is puzzling. In some ways I think it benefits us because he seems to really believe in playing alongside he and russ and acts like they’ll be even better next year. Adams is clearly the third best player and has been all year.

[Pillendreher]

"It's tough. We're so aggressive; we play at the rim constantly," George said. "We're just officiated differently, all three of us. And it's tough. At least one of us [should] get the benefit of the doubt. But when we're on that floor no one is getting the better side of that whistle. But we're going to keep attacking, we're going to keep being aggressive. That's our job, to put pressure on them. At some point it's gotta work out for us."
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22591272/paul-george-says-okc-thunder-big-3-officiated-differently-other-stars


Man shut up. These guys still buy into their own hype.

Always looking for these side stories instead of talking about how they're close to missing the Playoffs. How about you light into Russ and Melo so they start playing defense instead of whining like this.

The fact that George still talks about Melo like he’s some kind of an all star is puzzling. In some ways I think it benefits us because he seems to really believe in playing alongside he and russ and acts like they’ll be even better next year. Adams is clearly the third best player and has been all year.

Read on Twitter

How about that I guess.

[CROklahoma]

How about the part where Melo has the worst BPM with 1500 minutes played.

He is a glaring issue on this roster with this role ...

[EnragedThunder]

I refuse to bash Melo.

When you look at past OKC starters in Durant, Ibaka, Harden, Perkins, Sefalosha, Roberson, Martin, Oladipo, Fisher, Sabonis, Gibson, the only consistent two way players were Durant and Harden. Oladipo was two way but not on Melo's level.

Melo can guard and generate his own shot, can put up 15+ on any given night, something that OKC has rarely ever had from their players. The Thunder way seems to be one way players. So when we get a legit player, I refuse to bash them just like I refuse to give one way NBA players praise.

[CROklahoma]

He can guard ? Who ? Chriss, Bender, Markannen, and likes ?
What are you talking about, when the playoffs he'll be number one target in pick and rolls for easy switches, he is a major liability on defense ...

And thing about putting 15+ on any given night, lets see Knicks history about him generating his own shots and success of the franchise in that time ...

[EnragedThunder]

Name a previous starter besides Durant who is better. And please don't name a one way player.

[ThunderBolt]

Melo is a two way player? Good to know.

[CROklahoma]

Serge Ibaka, Taj Gibson were a lot better than Anthony for this team, LOL, just based on position he's currently starting on.

We actually have even better one on our bench, collecting dust, cause we have to play our so called "big3" player, named Pattrick Patterson.

And I REAAAALLY LOL at that TWO WAY MELO.
He wasnt that even in his best Denver days early in his carrer ...

[bondom34]

Ibaka, Oladipo, Roberson, and a prime Thabo at least.

And Melo is a one way player. And that's being generous.

[EnragedThunder]

Roberson, who couldn't hit a free throw in the Houston series to save his life, is better than Melo?

Sefaloshoa, who consistently scored maybe 2 points per game while he was a starter is better?

Prime Ibaka was great for blocking shots, otherwise he was another inconsistent scorer. I can't recall how many times I checked the stat line to see 2-6 points from Ibaka, or Ibaka standing around in the corner waiting to jack up a 3.

Patterson is better than Melo, LOL, really? Are we watching the same team?

I liked Oladipo, but his shooting percentages were just as consistent as Westbrook's, but Westbrook doubled the amount of shots taken.

Pretty much everyone named could not generate their own shot.

[slick_watts]

name a better starter than melo? bruh he's the worst starter in our usual starting lineup this season.

i think you'd be hard pressed to find a starter worse than him. perkins? since 2011-12 i think the would be the only one.

[slick_watts]

Pretty much everyone named could not generate their own shot.

generating your own shot only has value when you make the shots.

[EnragedThunder]

Please help me, but I can't recall any recent NBA champion who won the chip with so many non-scoring one way players.

If George and Melo are gone next season, let's say Westbrook-Roberson-?-?-Adams are the 2018-2019 starters. Currently, that's only two players who can generate their own shot. Who currently from the bench would you start, and who would you target in the free agency? At some point, scoring matters.

[bondom34]

There was a while last year where I would say Sabonis was a worse starter.

[EnragedThunder]

Hey, there are some Thunder fans who are OK with players consistently scoring 2-4 points while contributing somewhat elite defense on a somewhat consistent basis. Presti tends to side with this one.

Then there are others like me who would rather have a player on the court who has to be respected by opposing teams, as he'll light teams up who leave him open from the 3 point line, can drive to the basket, generate offense, and actually make plays.

[Pillendreher]

Hey, there are some Thunder fans who are OK with players consistently scoring 2-4 points while contributing somewhat elite defense on a somewhat consistent basis. Presti tends to side with this one.

Then there are others like me who would rather have a player on the court who has to be respected by opposing teams, as he'll light teams up who leave him open from the 3 point line, can drive to the basket, generate offense, and actually make plays.

You're describing a player that doesn't exist this season.





That's among the 64 volume shot takers this season. He's been way worse than expected.