WCQF: Oklahoma City Thunder vs Houston Rockets | P1

[Galloisdaman]

Just as an FYI to everyone, I'm going to be stepping down as a moderator. Some of you may be contacted by Howard. Without going in to a lot of details, I'll just say that the political aspects of sports has really frustrated me. I understand there are problems and injustices in the world and I have my beliefs as to what will fix them. I'm sure each of you has his or her own beliefs as well.

For me, sports its a time to have some time to enjoy myself and not focus on all of the bad stuff in the world. Again, it's not that I don't care about those injustices but the nba is no longer serving the purpose for which I had it in my life. Maybe in the future things get back to a level of normalcy or maybe not. I don't know. For now, I want a break from it.

Many other people feel similar to you. They look to sports, movies, etc as a way to not stress out. I totally understand. I think you did a great job. It is a loss for RealGM.

[NaturalThunder]

Not a good start when it comes to getting the ball inside. Adams gets stripped/blocked, gets his rebound and misses the putback, gets fouled and misses both FTs. Gallinari, on our next possession, gets inside and gets bodied and blocked/stripped/bothered enough by the smaller defender to miss a point-blank shot.

[NaturalThunder]

Presti needs to just go **** himself. I'm done. Find some damn shooters and stop thinking these all-defense, no-offense guards/wings who couldn't shoot 40% from three in an empty gym with no defense can help your team win a damn championship.

[NaturalThunder]

Why is Dort still on the floor? We're 8 minutes in, D'Antoni's plan is working perfectly; they're ignoring Dort, hoping we'll get it to him and he'll shoot every possession, which he is pretty much doing, he's yet to hit a shot, and Donovan still has him on the floor 8 minutes into the period.

[Galloisdaman]

Why is Dort still on the floor? We're 8 minutes in, D'Antoni's plan is working perfectly; they're ignoring Dort, hoping we'll get it to him and he'll shoot every possession, which he is pretty much doing, he's yet to hit a shot, and Donovan still has him on the floor 8 minutes into the period.

Its been a good game plan but somebody could tell him not to shoot unless within 10 feet.

[Galloisdaman]

If you touch Harden its a foul but OKC guys get mugged inside and no call.

[NaturalThunder]

I'm at a loss with Donovan right now. He kept Dort in for nearly the entire damn 1st quarter while he continued to shoot us out of the game. I don't even know anymore what to think. I don't know what's worse: the fact that Presti thinks non-shooting, athletic, defensive-minded wings is the way to go in today's NBA, or the fact that Donovan apparently doesn't have the ability to make adjustments in playoff series.

It's 2-2 in a f***ing playoff series, and it's like Donovan is experimenting and just waiting for Dort to "shoot his way out of it". He's a bleeping 27% 3P shooter! He's not gonna shoot himself out of it Billy!

[NaturalThunder]

Why is Dort still on the floor? We're 8 minutes in, D'Antoni's plan is working perfectly; they're ignoring Dort, hoping we'll get it to him and he'll shoot every possession, which he is pretty much doing, he's yet to hit a shot, and Donovan still has him on the floor 8 minutes into the period.

Its been a good game plan but somebody could tell him not to shoot unless within 10 feet.

Sure, Donovan could do that, but apparently that's not in his plan. Next logical step should've been to bench is ass, but he continued to play for nearly 11 minutes of the 1st quarter.

[NaturalThunder]

When did Adams become completely and totally Enes Kanter-like unplayable on defense against smallball lineups? He's not even trying to rotate over and contest driving layup; and he almost never closes out on his man behind the 3P line against a team that has 5 capable 3P shooters on the floor at all times.

[NaturalThunder]

Buckle up. Dort is back in the game. Left with OKC down 10-12 and came back with OKC down 5.

[NaturalThunder]

I'll continue talking to myself.

So far Dort coming back in is going well. If only we could combine him and Schroder into one player.

[NaturalThunder]

After all that, after that really great 2nd quarter, Dort comes out and Dorts the start of the 3rd quarter, and we're behind by 15 which is our biggest deficit of the game.

[NaturalThunder]

What the ever loving f**k? 19-2 start for the Rockets in the 3rd. This game and series is over.

[PT416]

Bruh what is this quitting attitude. Donovan lost this game. Gallo didn't play a single minute in the 4th. WTF

[jambalaya]

Defense, no to little offense guards/wings? That is probably what Presti was. I don't remember all his stats at very low rated Division 3 Emerson but I seem to recall he wasn't much of a 3 point shooter. He was eventually a 23 -24 yr old senior there after a redshirt transfer.

[1bigfan13]

Gallo & SGA were way too passive. They're going to have to be more aggressive initiating their offense if OKC is going to win this series.

Also I don't know what possessed Lu Dort to take so many shots, especially from three point range. That absolutely cannot happen. One of the the worst offenive players on the team chucking up 9 shots in the 1st qtr and leading the team with 16 FGAs for the game. That's a recipe for disaster and honestly Donovan and one of the vets should have nipped that crap in the bud early in the game.

And what made Dort's shot attempts worse is that he was usually chucking up these bad shots when there was still over 10 seconds on the shot clock. He's gotta be smarter than that otherwise he can join Diallo at the end of the bench.

[1bigfan13]

When did Adams become completely and totally Enes Kanter-like unplayable on defense against smallball lineups? He's not even trying to rotate over and contest driving layup; and he almost never closes out on his man behind the 3P line against a team that has 5 capable 3P shooters on the floor at all times.

This is why I've made the argument that Muscala should be getting Adams' minutes. Adams has been a huge disappointment and give us little to nothing on offense and defense in this series. With him and Dort out there together the Thunder are stuck playing 3 vs 5 on offense; which is a huge reason why the other 3 guys are finding it difficult to operate on offense.

But if you throw Muscala out there in place of Adams, now you have a 4th shooter who Houston has to respect. Which equates to a lot more room for Shai, CP3, and co. to operate.

[mr570]

Gallo and SGA have no space to operate with. And that's not a result of a lack of shooters, though Dort is definitely not a shooter and any lineup with he and Adams is garbage offensively.

THEY DON'T MOVE THE *%*(#%ING BALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gallo is a great catch and shoot shooter. How many of those opportunities does he get in Billy Donovan's offense?

Done with Billy. Next please.

[1bigfan13]

Westbrook played about as poorly as I expected him to play but unfortunately the entire OKC team was worse.

[NaturalThunder]

Bruh what is this quitting attitude. Donovan lost this game. Gallo didn't play a single minute in the 4th. WTF

Not sure if you watched the other 3 quarters or not, but Gallinari was beyond terrible. He was 0/5 from the floor and had 4 turnovers. This was, without a doubt, his worst game in a Thunder uniform and arguably the worst game of his career.