The third time's the charm - First Round Series vs Portland

[Pillendreher]

And, to your point, the reason the pick-n-roll worked so easily is because not only was it Adams or Noel constantly being switched onto Lillard, whoever was guarding Lillard kept going over every ball screen...even though it kept working for the Blazers over and over.

That's the point though, isn't it? Our guards are not going over the screen. In fact, they try to, but trail the play within just one or two seconds. Which leaves the bigman on an island (especially if he isn't positioned correctly) and gives their guard too much space to work with. That's why I keep thinking that our guards should go under the screen. You're not sticking with the guard anyway. Just go under it and you're quicker to be in position.

[ThunderBolt]

lol at PG13 saying ''next question'' when asked about why he made that dunk.

I dont think its funny at all. Makes OKC look like a bunch of dickheads.

Portlands media have made quite alot of comments on how hard OKC has been to deal with

I’m not really a fan of the media but the Tramel/Westbrook thing is a little bit ridiculous. It’s gained national attention. Tramel has stated on more than one occasion that he thinks there is some fatigue inside the thunder organization with how russ acts. Even if you dislike Tramel I don’t believe he would make stuff up. He’s usually pretty complimentary of all things thunder, including Russ despite his mistakes.

[Pillendreher]

Something that hasn't been talked about as much is that Portland has been riding their guards making tough shot after tough shot even though we have played good defense on them most of the time. Just a couple of stats:

Points per touch:

In the regular season, McCollum averaged 0.393 points per touch (24.6 FGA per 100) and Lillard averaged 0.318 points per touch (25.5 FGA per 100). In the 3 games of this series, McCollum has averaged 0.438 points per touch (26.4 FGA per 100) and Lillard has averaged 0.364 points per touch (25.4 FGA per 100). So even though they're not shooting more, they're scoring more on average against potseason defense than against regular season defense.


Defender distance:

In the regular season, Lillard and McCollum had the following shooting splits based on how closely they were defended on their shots:



And this is their postseason so far:



If you applied their regular season averages to the shots they've been getting/taking so far, Lillard would go from 55.6 eFG% to 52.6 eFG while McCollum would go from 54.0 eFG% to 52.0 eFG%. Now that difference is not insanely big, but at the same time it's big enough to matter in the postseason.


----------------------

There are other things as well. McCollum scoring almost 0.8 points per drive or having an eFG% just short of 80 on catch and shoot shots. Sequences where Lillard suddenly scores on every possession no matter what you throw at him. Now of course both are great players, but at some point one has to assume that the law of averages will at least bring one of them down to earth. Yesterday e.g. Lillard and McCollum drained 7/14 Pull Up 3s. That's 21 points on 14 shots they'd normally nead 20 shots for based on their regular season percentages.

We haven't seen a game yet where one of them struggles, but if we do, we'll have to be ready to pounce.

[RalphSampsonJr]

Portlands media have made quite alot of comments on how hard OKC has been to deal with

So their media is as whiny as their team? Imagine my shock.

Yea but now PG acting like a douche to okcs media as well. It helps the rest of the NBA create that stigma about Russ who "leads" the team.

Just be professional really. It makes the team look weak imo

[Pillendreher]

Portlands media have made quite alot of comments on how hard OKC has been to deal with

So their media is as whiny as their team? Imagine my shock.

Yea but now PG acting like a douche to okcs media as well. It helps the rest of the NBA create that stigma about Russ who "leads" the team.

Just be professional really. It makes the team look weak imo

Meh. I couldn't care less. It's all just stupid platitudes these guys offer anyway.

EDIT: But I agree insofar that they could just go along with this nonsense after the game and be done with it. This way it's just pushing attention away from the game and onto this nonsense.

[Pillendreher]

Schroder was defending the best player

Per stats.nba.com, Schröder defended Lillard for 28 possessions in which Lillard scored 10 points on 4/5 shooting and the Trail Blazers scored 39 points as a team, ie 139 points per 100 possession. Not exactly something to brag about.

[Revived]

lol at PG13 saying ''next question'' when asked about why he made that dunk.

I dont think its funny at all. Makes OKC look like a bunch of dickheads.

Portlands media have made quite alot of comments on how hard OKC has been to deal with

I’m not really a fan of the media but the Tramel/Westbrook thing is a little bit ridiculous. It’s gained national attention. Tramel has stated on more than one occasion that he thinks there is some fatigue inside the thunder organization with how russ acts. Even if you dislike Tramel I don’t believe he would make stuff up. He’s usually pretty complimentary of all things thunder, including Russ despite his mistakes.

Why exactly does Westbrook hate Tramel so much?

I think it’s sort of unfair, Tramel is simply doing his job. He gets paid to ask those questions and that’s how he feeds his family. Sure Westbrook isn’t obligated to answer his questions but he is obligated to be at that podium so can’t he at least give an effort at answering? Especially considering Tramel is an older gentleman who’s probably been working in the media longer than Westbrook has been playing basketball (or born).

I understand Tramel perhaps crossed the line once during an article or an interview question or something but I’ve noticed he gives out fair and easy questions and Westbrook still treats him like dirt.

It’s sad that Paul George is starting to copy Westbrook instead of just being a professional.

Even other coaches are taking notice

Because Tramel was in Portland for Games 1 and 2 and the nation got to hear Westbrook offer his typical treatment to Tramel, in the formality of an interview room rather than a locker room, it’s become a bit of an NBA topic.

Just in the last few days, Tramel has been a guest on NBATV, Dan Patrick’s national radio show and Colin Cowherd’s national radio show to talk about it.

Also, when former Sooner standout Terry Stotts, who is head coach of the Trail Blazers, entered the pregame interview room on Friday, the first thing he said was, “Go ahead, I’ll answer your question, Berry.”

The room broke up.

https://www.normantranscript.com/sports/national_sports/thundernotes-westbrook-tramel-has-become-a-national-story/article_2ab97a01-5c35-5695-902b-fab71a544edd.html

[ThunderBolt]

I dont think its funny at all. Makes OKC look like a bunch of dickheads.

Portlands media have made quite alot of comments on how hard OKC has been to deal with

I’m not really a fan of the media but the Tramel/Westbrook thing is a little bit ridiculous. It’s gained national attention. Tramel has stated on more than one occasion that he thinks there is some fatigue inside the thunder organization with how russ acts. Even if you dislike Tramel I don’t believe he would make stuff up. He’s usually pretty complimentary of all things thunder, including Russ despite his mistakes.

Why exactly does Westbrook hate Tramel so much?

I think it’s sort of unfair, Tramel is simply doing his job. He gets paid to ask those questions and that’s how he feeds his family. Sure Westbrook isn’t obligated to answer his questions but he is obligated to be at that podium so can’t he at least give an effort at answering? Especially considering Tramel is an older gentleman who’s probably been working in the media longer than Westbrook has been playing basketball (or born).

I understand Tramel perhaps crossed the line once during an article or an interview question or something but I’ve noticed he gives out fair and easy questions and Westbrook still treats him like dirt.

It’s sad that Paul George is starting to copy Westbrook instead of just being a professional.

Even other coaches are taking notice

Because Tramel was in Portland for Games 1 and 2 and the nation got to hear Westbrook offer his typical treatment to Tramel, in the formality of an interview room rather than a locker room, it’s become a bit of an NBA topic.

Just in the last few days, Tramel has been a guest on NBATV, Dan Patrick’s national radio show and Colin Cowherd’s national radio show to talk about it.

Also, when former Sooner standout Terry Stotts, who is head coach of the Trail Blazers, entered the pregame interview room on Friday, the first thing he said was, “Go ahead, I’ll answer your question, Berry.”

The room broke up.

https://www.normantranscript.com/sports/national_sports/thundernotes-westbrook-tramel-has-become-a-national-story/article_2ab97a01-5c35-5695-902b-fab71a544edd.html

This particular incident stems from a game where Tramel asked him about his free throw shooting after a game where russ made important free throws. I think Tramel said something about him hitting the shots despite his struggles. Russ didn’t want to answer the question and Tramel said, “you don’t even want to talk about the ones you make?” Ever since then it’s been “next question”.

I’m sick of it. I don’t care if you hate Tramel or what but this kind of crap is why any good media person leaves OKC, i.e. Fred Katz. Maybe Tramels comments where poking the bear ever so slightly but russ and the other thunder players live inside a bubble from the media here in okc. I’m not even siding with the media but it’s all about checks and balances. I want a member of the media to press russ on his free throw shooting struggles. I want them to ask him if he thinks rocking the baby is the smart thing to do when he’s nit been playing well. I want russ to answer those questions too.

Again, the media can be jerks too but russ needs to answer basketball questions. Heck, even when Katz(?) asked russ a softball question about what he did in his day off he responded that “I minded my own business.” There are some cool stories about good things russ does. I don’t think he’s a bad dude but I’m kind of fatigued with this stuff myself.

[CROklahoma]

Schroder was defending the best player

Per stats.nba.com, Schröder defended Lillard for 28 possessions in which Lillard scored 10 points on 4/5 shooting and the Trail Blazers scored 39 points as a team, ie 139 points per 100 possession. Not exactly something to brag about.

He played good D on him for most of the time.
Per nba stats I can imagine Kanter owned Adams for most of the time aswell, right ?

[Pillendreher]

Schroder was defending the best player

Per stats.nba.com, Schröder defended Lillard for 28 possessions in which Lillard scored 10 points on 4/5 shooting and the Trail Blazers scored 39 points as a team, ie 139 points per 100 possession. Not exactly something to brag about.

He played good D on him for most of the time.

He really didn't. He tries, but he rarely actually affects the possession in a positive way.

[RalphSampsonJr]

So their media is as whiny as their team? Imagine my shock.

Yea but now PG acting like a douche to okcs media as well. It helps the rest of the NBA create that stigma about Russ who "leads" the team.

Just be professional really. It makes the team look weak imo

Meh. I couldn't care less. It's all just stupid platitudes these guys offer anyway.

EDIT: But I agree insofar that they could just go along with this nonsense after the game and be done with it. This way it's just pushing attention away from the game and onto this nonsense.

I guess im just annoyed by it because i missed the game and wanted to hear some post game insight from the team instead i get posts of PG and Russ being **** all over my feed!

[Pillendreher]

USG% of all rotation players so far:

1.Russ - 30.9
2.George - 27.9
3.Schröder - 19.0
4.Morris - 18.0
5.Noel - 17.7
6.Adams 16.3
7.Ferguson - 12.9
8.Grant - 12.3
9.Felton - 10.4

Adams is playing 35+ minutes a night vs the worst Center rotation in the Playoffs and he's getting fewer shots when he's on the floor than in the regular season (16.4 in the regular season).

Other teams play to their strengths. We help those teams hide their weaknesses.

[Dadouv47]

Yea but now PG acting like a douche to okcs media as well. It helps the rest of the NBA create that stigma about Russ who "leads" the team.

Just be professional really. It makes the team look weak imo

Meh. I couldn't care less. It's all just stupid platitudes these guys offer anyway.

EDIT: But I agree insofar that they could just go along with this nonsense after the game and be done with it. This way it's just pushing attention away from the game and onto this nonsense.

I guess im just annoyed by it because i missed the game and wanted to hear some post game insight from the team instead i get posts of PG and Russ being **** all over my feed!

No need to overreact about this. PG13 is very professional when it comes to the media. The point was that Westbrook just did his ''next question'' thing and PG13 is smart enough to know that he couldn't find a smart answer for his worthless/stupid dunk, that's why he jumped on Westbrook's type of answer.
99% sure that he would have answered something else if the reporter asked him why he's shooting so badly.

[Thunder Up]

Thunder Up!

It would be really cool if we had a real basketball coach that would run some offense through Steven Adams at least 15+ times per game in this series, as well as Morris in the post at least a handful of times because neither of those guys can be guarded by their counterparts in the post. This would almost certainly generate at least 10-15 more points that we otherwise may end up with a turnover or poor quick shot attempt instead.

[SecondTake]

Meh. I couldn't care less. It's all just stupid platitudes these guys offer anyway.

EDIT: But I agree insofar that they could just go along with this nonsense after the game and be done with it. This way it's just pushing attention away from the game and onto this nonsense.

I guess im just annoyed by it because i missed the game and wanted to hear some post game insight from the team instead i get posts of PG and Russ being **** all over my feed!

No need to overreact about this. PG13 is very professional when it comes to the media. The point was that Westbrook just did his ''next question'' thing and PG13 is smart enough to know that he couldn't find a smart answer for his worthless/stupid dunk, that's why he jumped on Westbrook's type of answer.
99% sure that he would have answered something else if the reporter asked him why he's shooting so badly.

IDK why people get upset with guys taking last second shots even if the game is out of reach. So what? PG could dunk all over Dames face with 0.01 left and I couldnt care less. In fact, if it happens to piss off the Trailblazers and make them play out of character the next game then I'm all for it.

I also couldn't care less about how these guys are answering post game questions. They're playing a competitive sport, full of adrenaline and testosterone. Do we really need them to give political soundbites after each game?

If anything I hope Russ & PG win game 4, take turns dunking all over Dame in the last few seconds with the game out of reach and then p*** all over the Trailblazer media afterwards.

This isn't kindergarten pickup.

[1bigfan13]

he would make stuff up. He’s usually pretty complimentary of all things thunder, including Russ despite his mistakes.
Why exactly does Westbrook hate Tramel so much?

I think it’s sort of unfair, Tramel is simply doing his job. He gets paid to ask those questions and that’s how he feeds his family. Sure Westbrook isn’t obligated to answer his questions but he is obligated to be at that podium so can’t he at least give an effort at answering? Especially considering Tramel is an older gentleman who’s probably been working in the media longer than Westbrook has been playing basketball (or born).

I understand Tramel perhaps crossed the line once during an article or an interview question or something but I’ve noticed he gives out fair and easy questions and Westbrook still treats him like dirt.

It’s sad that Paul George is starting to copy Westbrook instead of just being a professional.

Even other coaches are taking notice

Because Tramel was in Portland for Games 1 and 2 and the nation got to hear Westbrook offer his typical treatment to Tramel, in the formality of an interview room rather than a locker room, it’s become a bit of an NBA topic.

Just in the last few days, Tramel has been a guest on NBATV, Dan Patrick’s national radio show and Colin Cowherd’s national radio show to talk about it.

Also, when former Sooner standout Terry Stotts, who is head coach of the Trail Blazers, entered the pregame interview room on Friday, the first thing he said was, “Go ahead, I’ll answer your question, Berry.”

The room broke up.

https://www.normantranscript.com/sports/national_sports/thundernotes-westbrook-tramel-has-become-a-national-story/article_2ab97a01-5c35-5695-902b-fab71a544edd.html

[/quote]

Westbrook is definitely being a jackass in this situation. He's in the wrong business if he can't take a little criticism from the media. And quite, honestly Tramel and the rest of the OKC media have been more than fair and have bent over backwards to kiss his ass over the years.

It's extremely rare that they write anything even remotely negative about Westbrook or the Thunder, especially after KD's departure.

If anything Westbrook should be grateful for the treatment that he's received from Tramel and the OKC media because if he were in a larger, more demanding sports media market he'd be eviscerated on a regular basis. Part of me would love to see him have to deal with the Boston or Philadelphia media . Maybe then he'd gain some levity on just how good he has it with the OKC media.

[Pillendreher]

I took a look at our 3rd quarter defense:

11:38 - Driving Layup by Lillard

Ferguson guards Lillard in transition. Grant sits on McCollum, so he can't help, but for the life of me I can't understand why neither Russ nor George didn't step infront of Lillard. Help has to be there.


9:38 - Lillard draws FTs

Westbrook trails the PnR defense by a couple of feet after just one second and Lillard attacks that empty space the lack of defense by Westbrook left early which gives him a direct lane to the basket. Ferguson steps in, but Lillard just runs by him and Grant actually gets out of the way instead of providing help. Both were positioned correctly imo though: You want to be close enough to the drive so you can provide help quickly.


9:11 - Lillard Pullup 3

Kanter sets a screen for Lillard, Westbrook is too slow and Adams too far away - wide open pullup 3 for Lillard.


8:49 - McCollum Pullup 3

George takes a horrible shot, McCollum grabs the rebound and uses Kanter twice (I think you could call the 2nd one a moving screen since he just bearhugs Grant) to shed Grant and walk into the open 3.


8:09 - McCollum catch and shoot 3

Out of a dead ball, Adams is fast enough to force Lillard to give the ball up, McCollum stepts into the catch and shoot 3 and drains it from 29 ft.


7:26 - Lillard draws FTs

Lillard gets the ball in transition, no help by the bigmen whatsoever for Ferguson who basically escorts Lillard to the rim and then fouls him while neither Grant nor Adams provide help defense.


6:22 - Lillad Pullup 3

Basically same play: Kanter sets a screen, Westbrook loses defensive ground immediately, Adams is too far out and Lillard drains it.


6:05 - Lillard Pullup 3

Lillard brings up the ball in transition, George and Grant kinda switch once Aminu sets the screen and Lillard drains a 3.


5:19 - Lillard misses pullup 3

Schröder guards Lillard, does a semi decent job of staying infront of him, then they successfully crowd him which forces the pass. He gets to go 1-on-1 vs Adams and misses the pullup 3.


4:24 - McCollum driving layup

McCollum brings the ball up the court, George gets caught in a screen, McCollum makes the layup over Adams' help.


3:55 - Turnover by Lillard

Schröder tails Lillard initially, but Grant shows hard which prevents Lillard from taking advantage of it. Lillard then penetrates while Adams provides help defense and the Trail Blazers can't complete the pass to a cutting Kanter.


3:39 - Westbrook blocks Lillard


Westbrook intially defends Lillard like he's funneling him towards a bigman that simply isn't there which gives Lillard an open lane towards the rim, but then Westbrook recovers quickly and manages to block the shot.


3:16 - Lillard draws FTs

Schröder picks up Lillard full court. Lillard blows by him, Morris is too slow to rotate over and Lillard is able to get to the line.


2:56 - Lillard hits long two pull up

After Morris misses on the three, Lillard gets picked up Schröder, blows by him and hits the step back midrange jumper.


1:59 - Lillard makes a layup

Lillard uses two picks up front to create separation between himself, Schröder and Noel and then finishes the difficult layup.


1:24 - Lillard driving layup

The Blazers set two picks yet again and Lillard uses those to get to the rim.


0:54 - Lillard assists on dunk

Schröder and Adams doing a good job of making Lillard pass which leads to the dunk for Leonard.


0:18 - Lillard driving layup

The Blazers use two bigmen way out yet again and Lillard manages to evade Grant and score.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I think the biggest issue was just a lack of pressure put on their guards. For whatever reason we stopped crowding them and gave them way more space than before. Yet at the same time, there's just not much you can do when they hit 30 footers and pull up 3s with a hand in their respective faces. They have been draining those shots so far and Portland has been riding that, but one has to hope that at some point they will regress to the mean a bit and we will get rewarded for the defensive work we put in.

I also think switching on those picks should be considered going forward. We did it a bit in the 4th and it worked. Should help avoiding getting pushed out of the play by their picks.

Overall defensively though, we have done a good job overall. Save for a total of 3 quarters (Q1 Game 1, Q3 Game 2 and 3) we have performed well:

Q1 Game 1, Q3 Game 2, Q3 Game 3: 154.5 DRtG
The other 9 quarters: 95.2 DRtG

Can't allow them to put 40 on us in a single quarter every game though.

[acheema0]

lol at PG13 saying ''next question'' when asked about why he made that dunk.

I dont think its funny at all. Makes OKC look like a bunch of dickheads.

Portlands media have made quite alot of comments on how hard OKC has been to deal with

I’m not really a fan of the media but the Tramel/Westbrook thing is a little bit ridiculous. It’s gained national attention. Tramel has stated on more than one occasion that he thinks there is some fatigue inside the thunder organization with how russ acts. Even if you dislike Tramel I don’t believe he would make stuff up. He’s usually pretty complimentary of all things thunder, including Russ despite his mistakes.

The Russ/Tramel thing is a whole different animal, and I dont want to get into that. However, in PG's case the reporter was pretty obviously fishing for a headline with the question and the way it was asked. I think it was fair for PG to pass on that question, especially considering he's been very open and accommodating in his pressers all year, giving thoughtful responses pretty much all of the time.

[slick_watts]

USG% of all rotation players so far:

1.Russ - 30.9
2.George - 27.9
3.Schröder - 19.0
4.Morris - 18.0
5.Noel - 17.7
6.Adams 16.3
7.Ferguson - 12.9
8.Grant - 12.3
9.Felton - 10.4

Adams is playing 35+ minutes a night vs the worst Center rotation in the Playoffs and he's getting fewer shots when he's on the floor than in the regular season (16.4 in the regular season).

Other teams play to their strengths. We help those teams hide their weaknesses.

portland's on their heels in pick and roll. adams isn't a guy who is getting shot attempts aside from off orb and assisted off pnr. are you suggesting they should isolate him?

[slick_watts]

i only just got to watch the game. we're decent when we make threes. that's going to be the barometer for the team offensively, for better or worse.