2019-20 OKC Thunder Regular Season Thread

[Thunder Up]

Bazley can **** hoop

[NaturalThunder]

Don't get me wrong, the top 6 in the West at full strength are still considerably better than us in my opinion.

However, we're closer to being in 2nd place in the West than we are being out of the playoffs.

[Pillendreher]

Don't get me wrong, the top 6 in the West at full strength are still considerably better than us in my opinion.

However, we're closer to being in 2nd place in the West than we are being out of the playoffs.

All this talk about how talented the league is when in fact >50 % of the league is complete trash and most of the contenders are actually pretenders.

I miss the pre 3PT bombing NBA.

[slick_watts]

darius bazley is a jerami grant clone.

[jambalaya]

... except for toughness / intensity, ft rate, turnover rate, shooting quality, defensive knowledge...

perhaps some will improve with time...

He has better defensive rebounding numbers (because of ability and / or role?)

[slick_watts]

... except for toughness / intensity, ft rate, turnover rate, shooting quality, defensive knowledge...

perhaps some will improve with time...

He has better defensive rebounding numbers (because of ability and / or role?)

FTr is pretty much the only divergence as rookies. very poor offensive impacts despite some skills as big players with some interesting defensive numbers.

[jambalaya]

Lost some edits to my post for some reason that indicated a focus on later Grant.

But yeah, not as much difference as rookies... if people actually remember rookie Grant with Sixers.

He'll have to improve quite a bit in the several named areas to match later Grant or pass him. Right now he is very weak sub quality. Major negative on ORPM. Pretty good on DRPM (mainly on shot defense) . Not as bad on LA-ORAPM or as good on LA-DRAPM.

[spearsy23]

Why are we looking at rookie rpms again? Worthless.

[jambalaya]

Not a measure of current rookie talent or ultimate potential talent but not worthless as a measure of how and how far they need to improve.

[1bigfan13]

Don't get me wrong, the top 6 in the West at full strength are still considerably better than us in my opinion.

However, we're closer to being in 2nd place in the West than we are being out of the playoffs.

All this talk about how talented the league is when in fact >50 % of the league is complete trash and most of the contenders are actually pretenders.

I miss the pre 3PT bombing NBA.

Same here.

I don't know if it's just me overly romanticizing the NBA that I grew up on or what.....but it felt like players were a lot more complete back in the day.

[Pillendreher]

Don't get me wrong, the top 6 in the West at full strength are still considerably better than us in my opinion.

However, we're closer to being in 2nd place in the West than we are being out of the playoffs.

All this talk about how talented the league is when in fact >50 % of the league is complete trash and most of the contenders are actually pretenders.

I miss the pre 3PT bombing NBA.

Same here.

I don't know if it's just me overly romanticizing the NBA that I grew up on or what.....but it felt like players were a lot more complete back in the day.

The game has become gimmicky. It surely has improved in some ways, but this current version of the NBA is just not appealing to me in the way that it was back when I first started watching condensed replays twice a week on a German sports channel back in 2003 or so. And hell, I even had fun following other teams back in the early 2010s during the Playoffs. Now it feels like everybody's just spamming the PnR and bombing 3s. Stats have also become inflated as hell, up to the point where you can't take stuff seriously anymore.

[Dadouv47]

I hate Schroeder but he deserves to be in the MIP conversation.

[slick_watts]

it's over-romanticizing for sure. the nba is better now than it ever was. stats aren't 'inflated', players are just individually superior. what's the comp for 19-20 year old luka doncic? no player like this has been in the nba this young before except lebron james. or james harden attempting half his shots from three and a .500+ FTr? you may not like it aesthetically but it's a realm of dominance unique to him. if it was unique to the era everyone would be doing it. players are better per possession than before also because minutes are managed better. no more 40+ minutes per game for anyone. not since thibs murdered deng and noah.

the first team i really loved, the early to mid-90's sonics, played full court press defense! talk about gimmicky. the bulls of course were known for the triangle, a gimmicky offense. don nelson, coaching legend throughout the 80's / 90's and early 00's was the gimmick king. SSOL? gimmick. you had the loyola-esque nuggets teams with 120 pace. twin towers teams. the league was full of gimmicks and gadget teams before; less so now. teams learning that three point shots are worth more than two point shots... is that really a gimmick?

i expect that there will be some changes to rules, eventually. maybe some limitation of camping in the corners. three shot fouls are probably gone. small changes. but i have a lot of fun watching the current nba.

[spearsy23]

i expect that there will be some changes to rules, eventually. maybe some limitation of camping in the corners. three shot fouls are probably gone. small changes. but i have a lot of fun watching the current nba.

Changing 3 seconds to 5 seconds, narrowing the paint, and adding a foot to the three point line all seem like viable 'solutions' that don't have wide ranging impacts.

[slick_watts]

i expect that there will be some changes to rules, eventually. maybe some limitation of camping in the corners. three shot fouls are probably gone. small changes. but i have a lot of fun watching the current nba.

Changing 3 seconds to 5 seconds, narrowing the paint, and adding a foot to the three point line all seem like viable 'solutions' that don't have wide ranging impacts.

i'd be surprised if they added any distance to the 3pt line.

[spearsy23]

i expect that there will be some changes to rules, eventually. maybe some limitation of camping in the corners. three shot fouls are probably gone. small changes. but i have a lot of fun watching the current nba.

Changing 3 seconds to 5 seconds, narrowing the paint, and adding a foot to the three point line all seem like viable 'solutions' that don't have wide ranging impacts.

i'd be surprised if they added any distance to the 3pt line.

I think it's the most logical step if the powers that be believe there's a problem with current play style, plus there's historical precedence.

[spearsy23]

An gimmick that would never happen, but would be pretty cool, is to let teams dictate distance on their 3 point line within a set range (like baseball does with outfield walls). Say 22-26.5 feet, then you could build your team around your homecourt advantage.

[Pillendreher]

stats aren't 'inflated'

They are inflated, simply because it's an era in which "Give player xy the ball and the rest of you guys spot up" has become more of the norm than ever before amd because teams are bombing 3s while moving away from less efficient shots.

players are just individually superior.

No, they are not. They're just benefitting from playing in this era. Just like other "eras" shaped the players during that specific timeframe. The main difference is, though, that this "trend" we've seen in the last couple of years has been taken to the extreme over a very short time frame.

[NaturalThunder]

All this talk about how talented the league is when in fact >50 % of the league is complete trash and most of the contenders are actually pretenders.

I miss the pre 3PT bombing NBA.

Same here.

I don't know if it's just me overly romanticizing the NBA that I grew up on or what.....but it felt like players were a lot more complete back in the day.

The game has become gimmicky. It surely has improved in some ways, but this current version of the NBA is just not appealing to me in the way that it was back when I first started watching condensed replays twice a week on a German sports channel back in 2003 or so. And hell, I even had fun following other teams back in the early 2010s during the Playoffs. Now it feels like everybody's just spamming the PnR and bombing 3s. Stats have also become inflated as hell, up to the point where you can't take stuff seriously anymore.

100% agree. The analytical age, while "smarter" has created an extremely gimmicky NBA. It may be better for the casual fan, but for the diehards, it isn't as enjoyable.

[jambalaya]

Chriss on waiver wire. I'd consider taking if they get a chance. Not sure if they can. Several guys that could be released without regret but haven't checked the money details & rules.