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But that pails when you see Adams had 15 and 11 for a fraction of the price, with better defense and on 11 less shots.

I like Aldridge, but he has a long way to go to fill Duncan's prime shoes.

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This is ridiculous. Adams is a roll playing big man. He has no post game and can't hit jumpers. Is love to have him but he doesn't carry 1% of the responisibility of LA.

Well, there's always the argument that he's been a center for forever.

From what I have always gathered, it's not the questions so much as the timing of these press obligations. Though sometimes it is the questions, because there really are some dumb ones.

He just hates having to get up there right after a game. He hates having to take time in between quarters. He doesn't hate the press. He just hates the dog and pony show aspect of it.

It's part of the job, but this is who Pop has always been on camera.

Now that it's football season, I'm anxious to see what kind of offseason moves we make. Don't need a whole lot but it's obivous we were old. Need a younger shooting guard who can obviously shoot it well but can take it to the basket too, which green cannot do. Basically a guy like Manu, to replace Manu? I really think Timmy comes back one more year but I think Manu is done.

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I think the Spurs lost because the Thunder took the game to the Spurs. they were more aggressive, and the Spurs didn't play like a team. they look disjointed and old. Donovan surprised everyone with his moves, his sub pattern was EXCELLENT considering you could tell the Thunder were gassed. why? because they didn't let up. relentless. and the 2 best players were on the thunder.

thus thread, 95% of the posts for the last 2 games are complaints about the refs. in reality, 95% of the reason the Spurs lost is because they didn't have the stamina to keep up with a team playing like they nothing to lose. Spurs played like they had a ton of bricks on their backs, and those bricks weren't the refs.

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This is mostly true. The more athletic and physical team won because they were allowed to manhandle their opponent. Even the national media noticed that Aldridge and Leonard were getting pounded. You tend to wear down when that happens and those guys aren't old.

Obviously, I don't expect LA to be Tim Duncan, but we are paying him to take over that roll the best he can as the dominant big. He looked awesome for a couple games and then fell off the map, as did the Spurs.

Hopefully, he learns and grows from this experience. It usually takes a bit to mesh in the Spurs system, so I am not quitting on him. It is just disappointing that Adams was a bigger factor overall than LA in this series (at a much younger age and for much less pay).

I just don't get why we are so iso heavy now on offense. It makes players like Diaw, Manu, Mills, Green and Parker much less effective than they could be. The Spurs have never won that way, and the game isn't heading that direction overall (ironically due in large part to the Spurs). I don't understand how we add an Aldridge type talent and lose offensive efficiency and go away from that offense. Maybe everyone just got old overnight, but it seemed to me like our offensive philosophy was just terrible this series.

LA had a great series overall. He just couldn't carry the load all the way through against a very deep and physical front line. It's tough to do that. Which is why I agree the offensive philosophy was bad. I was thinking that all year, actually, and it doesn't surprise me that it bit us in the ass come playoff time. The problem is they won 67 games and the offensive efficiency stats were still really good. Every Spurs fan I know was kinda disappointed in how the offense flowed (or didn't flow). There was also a noticeable downturn in reliable outside shooting probably due to there being less movement.

We saw glimpses of how effective LA can be as a pick and roll big man. He can be damn good and also gives you the pop option. The issue is you need a guy running the play who is good at it. Tony, Kawhi and Manu all had their moments but they all have a flaw that gets exposed if you ride them too hard (Tony can't shoot for long stretches, Manu has slowed down too much, and Kawhi isn't a quick twitch ball handler capable of turning the corner consistently). Kawhi also still appears uncomfortable doing it. Luckily, he will probably get better still but I worry about him having to play so hard at both ends. I thought his fatigue level was noticeable in this series and it manifests itself mostly on the offensive side of the ball.

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I just don't get why we are so iso heavy now on offense. It makes players like Diaw, Manu, Mills, Green and Parker much less effective than they could be. The Spurs have never won that way, and the game isn't heading that direction overall (ironically due in large part to the Spurs).

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Much respect as always for the Spurs. These two teams do not disappoint when they are matched up in a playoff series. I wish it had been the WCF and not the semis.

- Andre Roberson...what the hell man? Save some for the next series
- If you would have told me a month ago (or whenever it was this series started lol) that Waiters Island would have been a key cog in the Thunder winning the series and actually played smart basketball, I would have laughed in your face
- For as great as our bigs were this series, if we don't keep it close or get a lead against GS, that strategy is useless.
- I could not tell last night if Duncan was expecting Pop to take him out, but they way they kept showing him looking at the bench it was confusing. Glad he left him in, but would have liked to have seen the OKC crowd give him a nice ovation (like the fans seated near the tunnel did as he left). Completely different vibe between these two teams as compared to the first round versus Dallas

My counterpart at work is a huge OKC fan. Huge. And all of us were talking so much crap to him before the series. Luckily I realized after game 2 that this was going to be a tough series so I kept my mouth shut, and then ate my crow this morning. I continually said we were the better team, but Durant/Westbrook are so good, that if they could put everything together, this is a toss up series. Though I did not think, whatsoever, that they would have played as good as they did defensively for 5/6 games...and that we would get absolutely nothing out of our bench, one of the best in the NBA for 82 games, for the majority of the series.

But even he agrees, the way the Thunder played in this series is the longest they've sustained such high intensity, effort, focused basketball on both sides of the court. I have never seen this Thunder team play as well for as many games as they did against us. I always knew they had the potential, but I did not think that they would get it done against the top teams of the West.

The combination of the Thunder playing defense for 4 quarters multiple games in a row, our bench doing absolutely nothing whatsoever (and I put a part of this on Pop too), our best defender also being 40, and probably some 4th quarter fatigue was just too much to overcome.

I don't like the Thunder enough to root for them against GSW, but I will acknowledge that they played a damn good series against us. I only wish that Timmy and Manu could have walked off at home.

The benches were key. OKC didn't go very deep but got great contributions from Kanter, who we knew we could rely on, plus Waiters (about a 30/70 shot you get a good game) and Foye (who's been hot garbage since we got him).

The fourth quarter last night for SA was what I like to call "old man fight," the old adage where you say your dad could probably whoop someone's ass if he only has 5 minutes to fight. It was impressive and I knew it was coming, just glad we had the cushion we had.

That old man 4th quarter was awesome. And if that's how Tim, Manu, and Miller go out, then why the hell not? While I would have loved to have come out of that with a win and a trip back to SA, that wasn't the worst send off that could have happened...with it being on the road and in a loss, that's probably about the best we could ask for.

I'm shocked that they got it as close as they did and started to believe a little bit, but no dice.

Marc Stein wrote a good piece on Duncan.

Whatever Duncan decides, fans should celebrate his greatness

What hurts is if the Spurs averaged all of three more rebounds per game they are getting ready for Curry and co.

I have to disagree with those of you that are criticizing Pop for his press conferences. It's who he is. He has always done it that way and he isn't going to change now. Moreover, if the reporters don't realize that by now then they are idiots. They know what they're going to get when they ask. You can tell from the exchanges that they know they aren't gong to get a straight answer.
He is a highly intelligent man. He isn't going to conform to the norm just because it is what is expected from him. I know not everyone appreciates it but I love it.

His reaction to statements is hilarious and correct, but his "are you coaching now?" Response was sour the other night.

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His reaction to statements is hilarious and correct, but his "are you coaching now?" Response was sour the other night.

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Take the W and move on.

Salty are we? Just a discussion. I like Pop, but if people are gonna ***** about Cam Newton then Pop is not above the same critique. Like I said, his responses to "talk about...." Are completely acceptable and hilarious.

I think you forget that when healthy the Thunder have consistently been a, if not the, top team in the West. 4 WCF in 6 years. The Spurs on the other hand have 3 in 8 years. We had 3 straight years of not being healthy and that's part of the game. But to act like the Thunder are new arrivals is a little off, Imo.

I was curious from the start that the Spurs were so confident in this match up. OKC has the athletes to make SA uncomfortable. The Spurs are a system team for sure and in the playoffs there's more time to strategize to what they do. Once you take away the 3s and ball movement there's only so much they can change. And to ask guys in their late 30s or 40s to adjust to a level of athleticism they aren't used to seeing on the fly can be tough. I thought Pop was spot on when he said the better team won.

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I think you forget that when healthy the Thunder have consistently been a, if not the, top team in the West. 4 WCF in 6 years. The Spurs on the other hand have 3 in 8 years.

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Nice try to skew the stats. Use the same amount of years for both teams. Since 2011 both teams have been in the conference finals 3 times. Now 4 for the thunder including this season. So 3/6 for the Spurs vs 4/6 for the Thunder. Not disagreeing that the Thunder are one of the top teams, but there's not much difference with just one more conference finals appearance.

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I think you forget that when healthy the Thunder have consistently been a, if not the, top team in the West. 4 WCF in 6 years. The Spurs on the other hand have 3 in 8 years.

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Nice try to skew the stats. Use the same amount of years for both teams. Since 2011 both teams have been in the conference finals 3 times. Now 4 for the thunder including this season. So 3/6 for the Spurs vs 4/6 for the Thunder. Not disagreeing that the Thunder are one of the top teams, but there's not much difference with just one more conference finals appearance.

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There is a big difference. And it's trips to the finals and championships won

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I think you forget that when healthy the Thunder have consistently been a, if not the, top team in the West. 4 WCF in 6 years. The Spurs on the other hand have 3 in 8 years.

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Nice try to skew the stats. Use the same amount of years for both teams. Since 2011 both teams have been in the conference finals 3 times. Now 4 for the thunder including this season. So 3/6 for the Spurs vs 4/6 for the Thunder. Not disagreeing that the Thunder are one of the top teams, but there's not much difference with just one more conference finals appearance.

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There is a big difference. And it's trips to the finals and championships won

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Well I was trying to be nice, but to be THE top team, it usually includes winning that small event called the NBA Finals.

Since 2011....

Playoff series record
SA 10-5
OKC 10-4 (10-5 if you count missing the playoffs as a loss)

Head to Head
SA 1-2
OKC 2-1

Finals appearances
SA 2
OKC 1

Other WC teams series wins over that span
GS 7
Memphis 3
Dallas 4
LAC 3
Hou 2
LAL 2
Port 2

Thanks for being nice, but my point was the Thunder are in the conversation for the top team in the West over the past 6 years.

I don't think anyone is arguing the Thunder aren't a top team. If they are they're ignorant.

I also don't give a crap about those stats, I want a title.