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

[SecondTake]

Anyway, I think we're perfectly set up to win game 7 now.

They're going to be on fire to win game 5. OKC will not lose 2 straight at home so we're also winning 6. Once tied up at 3-3 they're going to have a ton of momentum on their side, while POR will be crumbling under the pressure. It's the best setup for a game 7 possible.

All these games will also help PG warm up nicely for the second round.

Would have been nice to win, but I think we're sitting pretty if we take game 5, which I expect we will. I already got $100 on it.

[SecondTake]

Terrance Ferguson has been outscored by McCollum 105-22 in this series and it's such a massive mismatch that OKC really had no chance. You're simply not winning a playoff series starting a 20 year old scrawny kid like Ferguson who just isn't ready to be a starting NBA shooting guard, much less in the playoffs where it's much more physical. They should have gotten somebody for that starting role instead of Schroder who is basically the same player Westbrook is. Their roster is just flawed. This series is over.

That's like comparing PG's numbers to Aminus... IDK why you would compare their second star to our 5th rotation, second year guy. PG vs CJ and WB vs Dame is really our star matchup and we're losing because we're getting destroyed in those matchups.

[SecondTake]

so this seems like a westbrook / handler thing rather than an inability to find adams thing.

Russell Westbrook Pick and Roll Ball Handler: 85 possessions vs Utah, 40 Freq%, 21/68 from the floor, 0.6 PPP | 27 possessions vs Portland, 25 Freq%, 6/21 from the floor, 0.59 PPP

Adams Pick and Roll Roll Man: 19 possessions vs Utah, 33.3 Freq%, 12/18 from the floor, 1.26 PPP | 15 possessions vs Portland, 32.6 Freq%, 9/14 from the floor, 1.20 PPP

Kanter has finished more possessions as the PnR Roll Man than Adams in this series btw: 21 possessions for 16 points, 0.76 PPP.

relative to last season. does nba.com link to the clips of these possessions? last time i looked they don't do that for the synergy ones anymore. it'd be nice to rack all the pnr possessions into a single video.

Unfortunately, they don't.

it's obvious i think to anyone and i'm sure to the thunder that getting adams the ball in pnr with kanter the big defender would be strong. i have not watched the series closely enough to know for sure but i suspect their defense is selling out on this and living with everything else we might do as a result. it seems like we are getting a lot of open three point attempts, for example, for better or worse. we're attempting 6+ more open / wide open threes per game this series v. last year against utah, for example.

Cant do the PNR when our two handlers are being guarded about a mile out due to disgusting shooting. WB being unable to finish at the rim isn't helping either, since nobody even bothers to help off Adams anymore.

[Kizz Fastfists]

WB being unable to finish at the rim isn't helping either, since nobody even bothers to help off Adams anymore.

When has Westbrook ever been able to finish at the rim in the playoffs? He is shooting 52% at the rim this series compared 53.8% for his playoff career. You not being intellectually honest if you think Russ is the solution and not the problem. The really sad part is that at 30.4% Russ is shooing ABOVE his playoff career 3pt% this series. This is will be the 3rd straight year that OKC will have had virtually the same team from a talent level stand point. This will also be the 3rd straight year that they go home in the first round.

Maybe you need to go to your 3rd take that OKC is capped at a first round exit and needs to do a complete rebuild before they have a chance to get past that. Those who would rather watch the Russ and PG show and be entertained and lose in the first round I have no problem with, although we definitely disagree on the direction the organization should go. Those how think OKC can somehow become a contender from where they are with what they have to work with are being proven to be the idiots I have said they were since the day kd ran off to worship at the alter of Draymond. That was the day OKC's run ended. There was nothing left to do at that point except enjoy the Russ show and never win a playoff series until he retired and the team bottomed out at that point or trade Russ and rebuild then. I don't enjoy a team willfully being on a treadmill. That fact that Presti is content to not only be on the treadmill, but be on it with an insane tax bill is infuriating to me and shows his complete incompetence about being able to evaluate where his team is in relation to the rest of the league.

[SecondTake]

WB being unable to finish at the rim isn't helping either, since nobody even bothers to help off Adams anymore.

When has Westbrook ever been able to finish at the rim in the playoffs? He is shooting 52% at the rim this series compared 53.8% for his playoff career. You not being intellectually honest if you think Russ is the solution and not the problem. The really sad part is that at 30.4% Russ is shooing ABOVE his playoff career 3pt% this series. This is will be the 3rd straight year that OKC will have had virtually the same team from a talent level stand point. This will also be the 3rd straight year that they go home in the first round.

Maybe you need to go to your 3rd take that OKC is capped at a first round exit and needs to do a complete rebuild before they have a chance to get past that. Those who would rather watch the Russ and PG show and be entertained and lose in the first round I have no problem with, although we definitely disagree on the direction the organization should go. Those how think OKC can somehow become a contender from where they are with what they have to work with are being proven to be the idiots I have said they were since the day kd ran off to worship at the alter of Draymond. That was the day OKC's run ended. There was nothing left to do at that point except enjoy the Russ show and never win a playoff series until he retired and the team bottomed out at that point or trade Russ and rebuild then. I don't enjoy a team willfully being on a treadmill. That fact that Presti is content to not only be on the treadmill, but be on it with an insane tax bill is infuriating to me and shows his complete incompetence about being able to evaluate where his team is in relation to the rest of the league.

Woah man, you're talking like the series is over. It's just getting started. We'll see what tune you're singing once we win this in 7. I'm not relying on Russ's shot. I'm relying on PG improving and Russ playing more like the 20pt/15ast Russ from a few months ago.

[1bigfan13]

WB being unable to finish at the rim isn't helping either, since nobody even bothers to help off Adams anymore.

When has Westbrook ever been able to finish at the rim in the playoffs? He is shooting 52% at the rim this series compared 53.8% for his playoff career. You not being intellectually honest if you think Russ is the solution and not the problem. The really sad part is that at 30.4% Russ is shooing ABOVE his playoff career 3pt% this series. This is will be the 3rd straight year that OKC will have had virtually the same team from a talent level stand point. This will also be the 3rd straight year that they go home in the first round.

Maybe you need to go to your 3rd take that OKC is capped at a first round exit and needs to do a complete rebuild before they have a chance to get past that. Those who would rather watch the Russ and PG show and be entertained and lose in the first round I have no problem with, although we definitely disagree on the direction the organization should go. Those how think OKC can somehow become a contender from where they are with what they have to work with are being proven to be the idiots I have said they were since the day kd ran off to worship at the alter of Draymond. That was the day OKC's run ended. There was nothing left to do at that point except enjoy the Russ show and never win a playoff series until he retired and the team bottomed out at that point or trade Russ and rebuild then. I don't enjoy a team willfully being on a treadmill. That fact that Presti is content to not only be on the treadmill, but be on it with an insane tax bill is infuriating to me and shows his complete incompetence about being able to evaluate where his team is in relation to the rest of the league.

The first half of the year I scoffed at the idea that this team needed a hard reset. Paul George was playing at an MVP level; Terrance Ferguson looked like he was developing into a viable 2-way player; and Westbrook had dialed back his shooting. Things were legitimately looking up.....these weren't the same old Thunder the first 2-years after KD's departure.

Then the second half of the season happened. George and Ferguson regressed and Westbrook backslid back into me first mode. Gone was the emphasis on running the offense and creating open looks for his teammates. 22 shot per game Westbrook reemerged right around the All-Star break and things spiraled downhill faster from there.

It's definitely not ALL on Westbrook but he's the engine of this franchise. And when the engine goes bad it impacts the entire team.

Unfortunately OKC has so many bad contracts on the roster they have no room to improve either via trade or FA for the next few years. And unfortunately there's just enough talent on the roster to sneak into the playoffs as a 6-8 seed so they won't even have a shot at drafting a potential franchise player in the lottery. Basically we're stuck in NBA purgatory until some of these contracts expire.

The only way I see things playing out differently is if new coaching and management is brought in and they choose to take a hard stand with Westbrook and actually force him to adapt to a new style of play where he takes a backseat to George and dials his own shot attempts back down to roughly 16 per game. Very unlikely something like that will happen because OKC doesn't operate that way.....but someone in the charge of this organization needs to finally grow a pair and acknowledge that it's okay for the tail to wag the dog in some cases (the Lebrons, Wades, and Currys of the league) but every star player doesn't have the intellect, skill set, and self-restraint to operate with full autonomy on the court. Westbrook clearly needs to be guided by a firmer hand but OKC ownership and management are reluctant to put those control measures in place. That's probably the most frustrating aspect of this franchise to me. The way everyone sticks their heads in the sand and ignores the elephant in the room.

[Kizz Fastfists]

Woah man, you're talking like the series is over. It's just getting started. We'll see what tune you're singing once we win this in 7. I'm not relying on Russ's shot. I'm relying on PG improving and Russ playing more like the 20pt/15ast Russ from a few months ago.

I just can't help feeding you, troll. You are one of the good ones. Are you also waiting for Adams to play more like the 20pt and 20 reb Adams from the same fictional time line as 20 pt and 15 ast Russ?

[JustOneFix]

What a disaster. I was never, ever so much in disbelif and stunned in a playoff series in my 30 years of following this league. I have never seen anything like this (maybe Dirk sweep over Lakers & Kobe). I can not belive this team is down 3-1 against a team that got swept by a frikkin Pelicans last year...This is just unbelivable.

With that being said, and the series basically lost, this is a perfect time for major changes and desperate measures. I would put two most uselles guys in Ferguson and Adams on the bench, and start Burton and Noel. There is really nothing to loose. Denver lineup change made wonders for them (granted, Burton is nowhere near Craig), maybe we could have a similiar effect, because this is simply not working and having Ferguson on MCcollum is basically playing 5 on 4.

What a nightmare...

[oreojenkins]

I will say, I think there's a little bit of undervaluing the Blazers and overvaluing the Thunder for most. Portland has been pretty good, even since the Nurkic injury. Over the course of the season, they were a little better than the Thunder (h2h notwithstanding), but the last 15 games they were a lot better. This wasn't or at least shouldn't have been a totally shocking result.

I don't think it should be doom and gloom because we're getting beat by a better team. It's just, if they aren't going to reach a WCF with this draw, or even be competitive against a fairly/relatively evenly matched team AND their cap situation is effed AND their second best player might be in decline AND they've traded away a bunch of picks going forward THEN it really is doom and gloom.

I do think AD will probably go for less than most people think unless Kyrie stays in Boston, the Raptors want to offer Siakam+, or the Knicks get the #1 pick + KD + Kyrie. I wouldn't have thought PG was attainable with Oladipo on a near max + Sabonis, so who knows. I don't really see why Beal would be dealt barring the new GM just wanting to start over. Kevin Love is probably the most realistic option, but then you're banking on Westbrook and Love holding up for 1-3 years? Yikes.

All I guess I know is trying to build a slashing team around current Westbrook absolutely will not work. And any course of action that isn't that is fine by me. Personally, I don't think Donovan is a *major* problem, but I'm also not opposed to going in a different direction. I just don't see a coaching change providing magic results.

[SecondTake]

What a disaster. I was never, ever so much in disbelif and stunned in a playoff series in my 30 years of following this league. I have never seen anything like this (maybe Dirk sweep over Lakers & Kobe). I can not belive this team is down 3-1 against a team that got swept by a frikkin Pelicans last year...This is just unbelivable.

With that being said, and the series basically lost, this is a perfect time for major changes and desperate measures. I would put two most uselles guys in Ferguson and Adams on the bench, and start Burton and Noel. There is really nothing to loose. Denver lineup change made wonders for them (granted, Burton is nowhere near Craig), maybe we could have a similiar effect, because this is simply not working and having Ferguson on MCcollum is basically playing 5 on 4.

What a nightmare...

Yeah, I think if we played Burton & Noel we wouldnt be in this hole and our best chance of getting out of it is putting him and a mobile big like Noel in. Morris has been decent too. I'd pretty much blow up the rotations for a quarter and see what happens.

[spearsy23]

Wish more people would realize roster construction is the #1 problem.

right. for all of billy's faults, he did lead a team to a playoff win w/o hca v. the spurs in 2016 and the team nearly pulled off another major upset against the warriors. so we know, for a fact, that a team coached by billy donovan can be successful.

You mean for all of Westbrook's faults, right?

[slick_watts]

What a disaster. I was never, ever so much in disbelif and stunned in a playoff series in my 30 years of following this league.

lol what.

[Pillendreher]

Wish more people would realize roster construction is the #1 problem.

right. for all of billy's faults, he did lead a team to a playoff win w/o hca v. the spurs in 2016 and the team nearly pulled off another major upset against the warriors. so we know, for a fact, that a team coached by billy donovan can be successful.

You mean for all of Westbrook's faults, right?

You see the way to go on that was is to yell "HE HAD KEVIN DURANT".

Keep up.

[slick_watts]

right. for all of billy's faults, he did lead a team to a playoff win w/o hca v. the spurs in 2016 and the team nearly pulled off another major upset against the warriors. so we know, for a fact, that a team coached by billy donovan can be successful.

You mean for all of Westbrook's faults, right?

You see the way to go on that was is to yell "HE HAD KEVIN DURANT".

Keep up.

andre roberson, too. which is the point. our primary issue is roster construction / degradation. imo, a healthy andre roberson improves the team more this season than any realistic coaching change would.

like spearsy23 said originally, none of this has to be mutually exclusive.

[ducler]

Read on Twitter

[Thunder Up]

starts 3/4 with 5 assists and a ten point lead, proceeds to shoot 9 more shots and make one of them with 0 more assists

[1bigfan13]

Westbrook is such a head case. If I were his teammate I'd probably take a swing at him.

[QPR]

Literally being beaten by one player.

[NaturalThunder]

Westbrook already has a 5/20 game and a 5/21 game this series. He's currently 5/15 tonight.

That means in 10 of the 16 quarters played this series, he's shot 15/56 from the floor. That's a whopping 29%.

[Dadouv47]

Well congrats to Lillard...