2018-2019 OKC Thunder Regular Season Pt 1: A Renewed Hope

CROklahoma · Post #3081 » by **CROklahoma** » Wed Mar 6, 2019 9:13 am

I'm 50-50% on forfeiting on watching this team next year if Donovan is still the HC, along with those assistants around him.

Its been an absolute displeasure to watch this team ball after the ASB. Win or loss, it doesnt change the fact how we play.

1bigfan13 · Post #3082 » by **1bigfan13** » Wed Mar 6, 2019 12:01 pm

It's definitely time to end the Billy Donovan era. He's literally just another Scott Brooks. A guy who has been handed a team with multiple All-NBA caliber players yet consistently underachieves.

The thing that's frustrating me the most these days is the total lack of effort and efficiency we see from the team at the start of games. Every game it's the same thing and it doesn't matter if the opponent they're playing is a quality opponent or a lottery bound team.....OKC will, without fail, fall behind by 8-15 points then spend the better part of the game scrambling trying to play catch up.

Does anyone remember the last time OKC actually got off to a fast start and jumped out to a quick 10 point lead? Maybe in January or late 2018. The point remains.....VERY RARELY does Billy Donovan have his team ready to play at the opening tip.

1bigfan13 · Post #3083 » by **1bigfan13** » Wed Mar 6, 2019 12:07 pm

I wish the OKC media weren't such kiss asses and actually started calling out the players and coaches for their idiotic decisions and egregious errors.

Westbrook for instance, gets WAY too much of a free pass. It all stems back to when Tramel criticized Kevin Durant's inconsistent play by calling him "Mr. Unreliable" back in 2013. Everyone got pissy and the Oklahoman issued apologies all because the media and city of OKC were scared to be critical of top players because they didn't want to offend and possibly lose them in free agency. Well they kissed KD's ass for 9 years, showering him with nothing but praise the entire time.....how'd that work out for them?

Bottom line, this organization (players, coaches, front office) needs to start feeling pressure from the fan base and the media.

I'm tired of watching Westbrook chucking up 10+ three pointers a night and fans and the media refuse to hold him accountable for his poor decision making and wasted possessions.

I'm sure Westbrook will get pissy and come up with a smartass response but someone needs to question why he feels the need to shoot so many three pointers when he's only about a 27% 3 point shooter.

Ask Donovan straight up, "why are you struggling to have your team ready to play at the start of games".

The OKC media needs to stop being obedient mouthpieces of the organization and actually do their damn jobs like journalist in larger markets do all the time.

Pillendreher · Post #3084 » by **Pillendreher** » Wed Mar 6, 2019 12:34 pm

1bigfan13 wrote:It's definitely time to end the Billy Donovan era. He's literally just another Scott Brooks. A guy who has been handed a team with multiple All-NBA caliber players yet consistently underachieves.

They just picked up his option. Presti's buddy isn't going anywhere.

1bigfan13 wrote:The thing that's frustrating me the most these days is the total lack of effort and efficiency we see from the team at the start of games. Every game it's the same thing and it doesn't matter if the opponent they're playing is a quality opponent or a lottery bound team.....OKC will, without fail, fall behind by 8-15 points then spend the better part of the game scrambling trying to play catch up.

Does anyone remember the last time OKC actually got off to a fast start and jumped out to a quick 10 point lead? Maybe in January or late 2018. The point remains.....VERY RARELY does Billy Donovan have his team ready to play at the opening tip.

The last time the Thunder had a doule digit lead after the 1st quarter was February 11 vs Portland (36 vs 26). They've managed to win the first quarter just 3x since 2/1 out of a total 14 games. Overall, they've been outscored 9.3 pp100p in the first quarter since 2/1.

1bigfan13 · Post #3085 » by **1bigfan13** » Wed Mar 6, 2019 12:42 pm

Pillendreher wrote:
1bigfan13 wrote:It's definitely time to end the Billy Donovan era. He's literally just another Scott Brooks. A guy who has been handed a team with multiple All-NBA caliber players yet consistently underachieves.

They just picked up his option. Presti's buddy isn't going anywhere.

1bigfan13 wrote:The thing that's frustrating me the most these days is the total lack of effort and efficiency we see from the team at the start of games. Every game it's the same thing and it doesn't matter if the opponent they're playing is a quality opponent or a lottery bound team.....OKC will, without fail, fall behind by 8-15 points then spend the better part of the game scrambling trying to play catch up.

Does anyone remember the last time OKC actually got off to a fast start and jumped out to a quick 10 point lead? Maybe in January or late 2018. The point remains.....VERY RARELY does Billy Donovan have his team ready to play at the opening tip.

The last time the Thunder had a doule digit lead after the 1st quarter was February 11 vs Portland (36 vs 26). They've managed to win the first quarter just 3x since 2/1 out of a total 14 games. Overall, they've been outscored 9.3 pp100p in the first quarter since 2/1.

Thanks. I knew it had been a while since they actually put up a strong 1st qtr.

acheema0 · Post #3086 » by **acheema0** » Wed Mar 6, 2019 8:35 pm

"The fire inside Westbrook is always burning, and the last thing anyone wants to do is turn up the temperature on a maniacal competitor who can turn a game around by himself, so [head coach Ryan] Saunders pleaded with Towns and Saric to turn it down a notch, even as Westbrook berated them both.

"'Get to the f--king playoffs before you speak to me,' Westbrook barked."
(From the Athletic's Jon Krawczynski)

Quite a take by Russ here considering KAT made it just as far into the playoffs as Russ last year, and Saric actually went further than him. Also, the Wolves are 3-0 against us this season.

1bigfan13 · Post #3087 » by **1bigfan13** » Thu Mar 7, 2019 1:22 pm

acheema0 wrote:"The fire inside Westbrook is always burning, and the last thing anyone wants to do is turn up the temperature on a maniacal competitor who can turn a game around by himself, so [head coach Ryan] Saunders pleaded with Towns and Saric to turn it down a notch, even as Westbrook berated them both.

"'Get to the f--king playoffs before you speak to me,' Westbrook barked."
(From the Athletic's Jon Krawczynski)

Quite a take by Russ here considering KAT made it just as far into the playoffs as Russ last year, and Saric actually went further than him. Also, the Wolves are 3-0 against us this season.

In case you haven't noticed by his on-court decision making, Westbrook isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

Post #3088 » by **ThunderBolt** » Thu Mar 7, 2019 2:38 pm

1bigfan13 wrote:
acheema0 wrote:"The fire inside Westbrook is always burning, and the last thing anyone wants to do is turn up the temperature on a maniacal competitor who can turn a game around by himself, so [head coach Ryan] Saunders pleaded with Towns and Saric to turn it down a notch, even as Westbrook berated them both.

"'Get to the f--king playoffs before you speak to me,' Westbrook barked."
(From the Athletic's Jon Krawczynski)

Quite a take by Russ here considering KAT made it just as far into the playoffs as Russ last year, and Saric actually went further than him. Also, the Wolves are 3-0 against us this season.
In case you haven't noticed by his on-court decision making, Westbrook isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

That’s the love/hate relationship with Russ. He does so many things wrong/frustrating but the guy who did everything right went to the warriors. Russ stayed. Before anyone blames that on Russ I think we have to also acknowledge that the same person looks like he’s leaving the warriors.

I don’t think anyone gets more frustrated with russ’ on the court play than myself. However the reality is that the okc can’t be picky about their superstars, especially if they want to stay here.

1bigfan13 · Post #3089 » by **1bigfan13** » Thu Mar 7, 2019 4:53 pm

ThunderBolt wrote:I don’t think anyone gets more frustrated with russ’ on the court play than myself. However the reality is that the okc can’t be picky about their superstars, especially if they want to stay here.

I think this is why most of the OKC fans and media are scared to voice their dissatisfaction with Westbrook's style of play. Most are scared that voicing fair criticism of him will label them a bad fan base, and given that OKC isn't exactly a desirable FA destination they go out of their way to acquiesce to Westbrook and other OKC players.

Sucks that we didn't have a firmer Head Coach in here during Russ' early years. I think he'd be a much more effective player if he had a disciplinarian in charge of him, someone not afraid to to put him in his place when he decides to go rogue with a string of bad shots and such.

Nothing you can do about it now. That ship has sailed.

Post #3090 » by **bondom34** » Thu Mar 7, 2019 5:39 pm

Maybe minor, but I really think saying Durant did everything right is a big stretch. He was, and is at times prone to the same tendencies. He just has an insane amount of talent around him. Westbrook was always the criticized one. Durant was the angel.

Also, it's trash talk. It doesn't have to be perfectly logical. It usually isn't.

SecondTake · Post #3091 » by **SecondTake** » Thu Mar 7, 2019 8:58 pm

ThunderBolt wrote:
1bigfan13 wrote:
acheema0 wrote:"The fire inside Westbrook is always burning, and the last thing anyone wants to do is turn up the temperature on a maniacal competitor who can turn a game around by himself, so [head coach Ryan] Saunders pleaded with Towns and Saric to turn it down a notch, even as Westbrook berated them both.

"'Get to the f--king playoffs before you speak to me,' Westbrook barked."
(From the Athletic's Jon Krawczynski)

Quite a take by Russ here considering KAT made it just as far into the playoffs as Russ last year, and Saric actually went further than him. Also, the Wolves are 3-0 against us this season.
In case you haven't noticed by his on-court decision making, Westbrook isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

That’s the love/hate relationship with Russ. He does so many things wrong/frustrating but the guy who did everything right went to the warriors. Russ stayed. Before anyone blames that on Russ I think we have to also acknowledge that the same person looks like he’s leaving the warriors.

I don’t think anyone gets more frustrated with russ’ on the court play than myself. However the reality is that the okc can’t be picky about their superstars, especially if they want to stay here.

Huh? What did Durant do right? Durant hasn't done anything Russ hasn't done without at least 3 all stars around him. Durant is useless without another superstar.

Post #3092 » by **ThunderBolt** » Thu Mar 7, 2019 9:01 pm

SecondTake wrote:
ThunderBolt wrote:
1bigfan13 wrote:In case you haven't noticed by his on-court decision making, Westbrook isn't the sharpest tool in the shed.

Sent from my SM-G960U using RealGM mobile app

That’s the love/hate relationship with Russ. He does so many things wrong/frustrating but the guy who did everything right went to the warriors. Russ stayed. Before anyone blames that on Russ I think we have to also acknowledge that the same person looks like he’s leaving the warriors.

I don’t think anyone gets more frustrated with russ’ on the court play than myself. However the reality is that the okc can’t be picky about their superstars, especially if they want to stay here.

Huh? What did Durant do right? Durant hasn't done anything Russ hasn't done without at least 3 all stars around him. Durant is useless without another superstar.

I’m speaking from a media perspective. Durant was the golden child and Russ was the one who got most of the heat with a few exceptions.

Post #3093 » by **Dadouv47** » Fri Mar 8, 2019 4:07 pm

Well we need to speak about serious stuff sometimes. Who will defend Russ on his racism allegation lawsuit made by Slick?

https://streamable.com/p1d7l

Pillendreher · Post #3094 » by **Pillendreher** » Fri Mar 8, 2019 5:31 pm

The Synergy data is back at stats.nba.com (Freq%: Higher = more; PPP: Higher = better):

Notable single player mentions:

-Russ leads the leage in transitition possessions per game, but ranks in the 10th percentile. He's just making 49 % of his shots during those possesions and turns the ball over on almost every 4th of them. Schröder has been even worse scoring in transition, just making 42 % of his shots.
-Grant and Ferguson have been very good in transition, both ranking in the 82nd/85th percentile.
-Russ, George and Schröder rank 7th, 10th and 29th in isolation possessions per game. In PPP, Russ ranks in the 33rd , George in the 67th and Schröder in the 56th percentile.
-Grant, George and Adams all rank in the 85th percentile in isolation defense, although on a small number of possessions.
-George is absolutely killing it as a PnR Ballhandler: He's the only one in the Top 20 in possessions per game with a TOV % < 10, draws shooting fouls at a higher rate than James Harden and therefore ranks in 91st percentile.
-Schröder averages the 13th most possessions as the PnR ballhandler league wide and ranks in the 47th percentile, shooting just 42.5 % and drawing FTs on not even every 10th possesions.
-Russ averages the fewest PnR ballhandler possessions out of our 3 creators. He too doesn't draw fouls on even every 10th possession and turns the ball over on 22 % of the possessions: 34th percentile
-Russ and George grade out highly as PnR ballhandler defenders: Westbrook in the 70th percentile, George in the 87th.
-Steven Adams and Jerami Grant are among the top 50 in PnR Roll Man possessions per game. Adams is in the 61st percentile, Grant in the 65th percentile.
-Adams is the only Thunder within the Top 50 in defensive PnR Roll Man possessions per game. He's in the 57th percentile.
-Adams is 9th in Post Up possessions per game and ranks in the 60th percentile. Westbrook averages 2.8 post up possessions per game - 24th percentile.
-Both Adams and Grant rank in the 60th+ percentile in defensive post up possessions.
-George has been magnificent as a spot up shooter: Even though his volume is down according to synergy (From 3.6 possessions per game to 3.0), he ranks in the 95th percentile. Grant is leading the Thunder in spot up possessions per game and ranks in the 57th percentile. Ferguson is in the 66th, Schröder in the 70th and Westbrook in the 44th.
-Paul George has been excellent at defending spot ups as well: 81st percentile.

Post #3095 » by **Dadouv47** » Fri Mar 8, 2019 5:50 pm

When I look at Houston/Portland/Jazz schedule, I think it would be a GREAT achievement to finish 4th

Pillendreher · Post #3096 » by **Pillendreher** » Fri Mar 8, 2019 7:05 pm

These season has been so weird. It really has been Milwaukee being incredibly consistent and then the field being up and down all season long.

Post #3097 » by **slick_watts** » Sat Mar 9, 2019 3:27 pm

Dadouv47 wrote:Well we need to speak about serious stuff sometimes. Who will defend Russ on his racism allegation lawsuit made by Slick?

https://streamable.com/p1d7l

i'm happy that westbrook and the thunder settled with me, and now kids of all backgrounds can enjoy westbrook game worn sneakers.

Post #3098 » by **slick_watts** » Sat Mar 9, 2019 3:29 pm

it's pretty obvious that the last 2+ months there has been an andre roberson sized hole in the defense that for whatever reason wasn't there before. opponent turnovers are way down and opponent efg way up and even drb worse. all things roberson has had incredible impact on over the years.

Pillendreher · Post #3099 » by **Pillendreher** » Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:47 am

Read on Twitter

I think this is letting Adams off the hook at litlte bit too easily. Yes, Westbrook is not really defending the PnR, but hell, when has he ever done that? The last two games at least, Noel looked much more agile. And that's not on Westbrook or whatever guard is defending a play with Adams. More often than not, Adams has been in no man's land, ie not defending any action properly. If the schematic approach to the PnR is that Adams gets up into the ballhandler and puts pressure on that guy, he can't be giving the ballhandler 4 feet of space to operate while his man has a free lane to the rim. He has to commit to something. And lastly: When Schröder+Noel looks more proficient in the PnR than Westbrook+Adams, something's wrong with Adams as well, simply because Schröder isn't locking people up either. It's too easy to just point at Noel playing against 2nd units - Adams is making 25 million a year to do a good job against the best offensive players.

Post #3100 » by **ThunderBolt** » Sun Mar 10, 2019 12:20 pm

Pillendreher wrote:

Read on Twitter

I think this is letting Adams off the hook at litlte bit too easily. Yes, Westbrook is not really defending the PnR, but hell, when has he ever done that? The last two games at least, Noel looked much more agile. And that's not on Westbrook or whatever guard is defending a play with Adams. More often than not, Adams has been in no man's land, ie not defending any action properly. If the schematic approach to the PnR is that Adams gets up into the ballhandler and puts pressure on that guy, he can't be giving the ballhandler 4 feet of space to operate while his man has a free lane to the rim. He has to commit to something. And lastly: When Schröder+Noel looks more proficient in the PnR than Westbrook+Adams, something's wrong with Adams as well, simply because Schröder isn't locking people up either. It's too easy to just point at Noel playing against 2nd units - Adams is making 25 million a year to do a good job against the best offensive players.

That tweet from Horne doesn’t acknowledge that our “switch everything” defense gives opposing teams exactly what they want, Adams trying to guard Harden or whoever at the three point line.