Deputy Travis Junior said:

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Ulrich said:

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OKC has more talent than people give them credit for. Oladipo is overrated, but Adams/Gibson/Kanter/Grant is stout.

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Agreed. Most teams in the league would trade their bigs for OKC's straight up.

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Ten years ago I would have agreed 100%. In today's game, I'm not sure that's accurate. It's hard to get away with playing two cloggers at the same time. Thunder spent alot of the season playing two of Sabonis/Kanter/Adams at the same time. That's suicide against teams like the Rockets. Like trying to play Archie Manning, Nuhrada Manning and Justin Warren at linebacker against a Mike Leach Texas Tech team.

Gibson/Grant have given Donovan a little more optionality, but hard to rely on them for offense like we do with Kanter. Presti has some work to do this summer to modernize the roster.

Kanter works pretty well in the mid-post, right? Gibson has to be covered out to midrange. And Grant can shoot the baseline three. Adams is definitely a clogger, but regardless I'd be running more pick and rolls and off-ball screens with the aim of developing good post position rather than everything being for Westbrook to get a shot or an assist. I'd also be trying to grab a couple better shooters at guard/wing if I couldn't move anyone but Adams for a stretch 4 because a decent closeout on Oladipo is winning defense and you don't even need to close out on Roberson to win in the long run.

Ulrich said:

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Kanter works pretty well in the mid-post, right? Gibson has to be covered out to midrange. And Grant can shoot the baseline three. Adams is definitely a clogger, but regardless I'd be running more pick and rolls and off-ball screens with the aim of developing good post position rather than everything being for Westbrook to get a shot or an assist. I'd also be trying to grab a couple better shooters at guard/wing if I couldn't move anyone but Adams for a stretch 4 because a decent closeout on Oladipo is winning defense and you don't even need to close out on Roberson to win in the long run.

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All fair points. I actually think Grant has the potential to be a solid NBA scorer. Wouldn't mind seeing him be a bit more assertive. Difficult right now because he rode the bench most of the season (ironically behind guys like Sabonis/Kanter... who can't play against the Rockets).

I think the Thunder will have to let Gibson/Roberson walk after this year. Can't afford their market values. But need to get some shooters to replace them (like you said).

Cavs getting torched by Pacers 74-49 at halftime.

If I were a thunder fan I'd hate to see Roberson walk. But I like the gritty defenders with dubious offensive skills. Bowen, Tony Allen, Roberson, etc.

CFTXAG10 said:

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Cavs getting torched by Pacers 74-49 at halftime.

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Guess Cleveland is finding it hard to just flip the switch and play defense

Ulrich said:

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If I were a thunder fan I'd hate to see Roberson walk. But I like the gritty defenders with dubious offensive skills. Bowen, Tony Allen, Roberson, etc.

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He is way more valuable than some OKC fans give him credit for.

gougler08 said:

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CFTXAG10 said:

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Cavs getting torched by Pacers 74-49 at halftime.

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Guess Cleveland is finding it hard to just flip the switch and play defense

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Uhhhhhh yea, it will be interesting to see how hard they try to mount a comeback here in the second half. They don't play game 4 until Sunday.

Pahdz said:

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Ulrich said:

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If I were a thunder fan I'd hate to see Roberson walk. But I like the gritty defenders with dubious offensive skills. Bowen, Tony Allen, Roberson, etc.

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He is way more valuable than some OKC fans give him credit for.

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I think every contender needs a hard nosed defender who doesn't care if he ever touches the ball on offense and will set an example for his teammates. The other four guys can score, someone has to be ready to square up on a premier scorer and devote all of his energy to making that scorer's life difficult.

They just showed Pop trying to outrun the backpedaling TNT camera guy with a big smile on his face. Clearly worried about the Grizzlies

Edit to add video:

The Cavs are playing like they are content to let this one go.

Ulrich said:

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The Cavs are playing like they are content to let this one go.

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What a moron!

And to add on to what Deluxe mentioned about OKC's bigs....they are fine against most of the league, with the exception of three teams (off the top of my head, maybe forgetting one), Houston, Golden State and Phoenix (watch out for them soon, they are scary). Then, if OKC doesn't run any offense through a guy like Kanter when he's in, it's even worse. There was one game this year against GS where they ran a lot of offense through Kanter while he was in and he killed them. OKC still lost, but you saw what you had to do to make his minutes worth it.

I love Adams, but he's been disappointing this year on the offense end. WAY too soft, need to see more assertiveness out of him. I have high hopes for Grant, I think if Gibson walks they are okay with Grant long term.
I would have rather been the 7 seed and played SA than faced Houston. That's not a slight at SA, but we are just a better match up by far against them. The Rockets and Warriors are hands down the worst matchups in the entire league for OKC.

Cavs back within 7 to start the 4th

LeBron caught fire for a brief few minutes. Kyrie having an off night. They could use his help.

We've got a ball game in Indy

Pacer fans on suicide watch

Shows Larry Bird on screen (screaming internally)

Still difficult to see any other outcome this season than Cavs vs. Warriors Round #3 in the Finals, unless maybe Durant has nagging injuries issues throughout the duration of the playoffs. Even without Durant, the Warriors are clicking really good, but still probably need Durant to win the whole thing.

Cavs will get through the East. Just not enough firepower on any of the other teams over there to take out LeBron.

https://streamable.com/dgnh8

One interesting thing to monitor tonight:

Russ had a four game stretch earlier this year where he averaged 32 shots/game against mediocre teams and the Thunder lost all four. The final game of that stretch was a home loss to Portland where he scored 58 but took 39 shots.

After that Portland game, the Thunder went on a five game win streak (including wins over SA, Utah and Toronto). Russ averaged ~20 shots and ~14 assists in those games.

(For reference, the Thunder were 6-9 this year when Russ took 30+ shots and some of those wins were ugly wins against bad teams)

Anyway, I'm sort of expecting "pass-happy"/"shot-reluctant" Russ to emerge tonight and potentially for the next couple games. Will it matter in terms of Ws and Ls? Not sure. Even with his horrible finish on Tuesday night, the Thunder were still +11 with Russ on the floor (-15 in the 7 minutes he was on the bench). The Rockets immense second unit advantage will still have to be overcome.

Deluxe said:

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One interesting thing to monitor tonight:

Russ had a four game stretch earlier this year where he averaged 32 shots/game against mediocre teams and the Thunder lost all four. The final game of that stretch was a home loss to Portland where he scored 58 but took 39 shots.

After that Portland game, the Thunder went on a five game win streak (including wins over SA, Utah and Toronto). Russ averaged ~20 shots and ~14 assists in those games.

(For reference, the Thunder were 6-9 this year when Russ took 30+ shots and some of those wins were ugly wins against bad teams)

Anyway, I'm sort of expecting "pass-happy"/"shot-reluctant" Russ to emerge tonight and potentially for the next couple games. Will it matter in terms of Ws and Ls? Not sure. Even with his horrible finish on Tuesday night, the Thunder were still +11 with Russ on the floor (-15 in the 7 minutes he was on the bench). The Rockets immense second unit advantage will still have to be overcome.

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This is great news because we have been assured many times by posters on this board that Russ has a rec league team around him.

Rockets should win by 50.

If the Rockets are +15 every 7 minutes Russ is off the floor, that means the Rockets would win by 105 if Russ didn't play. Maybe that is rec league caliber

Hubie Brown is 83 years old.

https://streamable.com/4s3jo

That was a positive sequence

Pahdz said:

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That was a positive sequence

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Harden getting backdoored at the end is hilarious. Such epically bad defense.

At first I thought you just posted it for the transition bucket, but I went back to watch the entire thing and saw that