Andre needs to cut more, he will randomly do that sometimes and we are deadly, then he will just camp on the 3 line and of course not even be guarded.

I noticed the random movement as well and it paid off a lot more than the camping in the corner. Having said that Denver seemed to dedicate a person to him more than other teams have so far.

i'm a bit worried about KU's ability to penetrate on offense. Malik Newman looks clumsy as hell when he drives, and Graham has always been more of a spot up guy. I'm not saying the offense will be bad, just that it seems like the team will miss Jackson's and Mason's ability to create off the dribble.

I'm more worried about the defense this year than the offense and our lack of depth in the front court.... No way Fort Hays should have hung with us as long as they did, especially without a player taller than 6'-7", but I think Vick's going to have a breakout year and he can play the 4 like Jackson did.

Will get a good look at what the D can do next Friday against SDSU because they have a kid that can flat out score..... I'll actually be at that game.... And then the next day I get to suffer through a beating with my OU friend at the football game but we're going to have fun making a weekend of it.

OKC and Russ are getting murdered in the (social) media today. Melo even taking some heat.

We badly need a win tonight against the Clippers to just boost team morale. I feel bad for Russ, but he is in his own head right now. He needs to get back to dancing and having a good time. I think he is trying too hard to get the other guys involved and it is creating a weird funk. He needs to just flow and find the open shooters regardless of who they are. The possessions when he dribbles top of the key and passes to a guarded Melo @ 10 seconds to shoot is the KD iso play we are all used to seeing. But Melo obviously isn't KD.

OKC need more movement off ball. The current schemes are way too easy to guard.

OKC need more movement off ball. The current schemes are way too easy to guard.

That's unfortunately been the problem for years.... Probably my most frustrating Thunder issue is watching another team go down and run offense and then watch us come back up the court and jack up a contested shot only making one pass or less at best.... Was really hoping the problem would go away when Donovan was hired but starting to think it's not just a coaching problem...... Maybe Presti can really pull off a huge one and get Pop to come up here and teach this team to run an offense..... Well I can dream at least.

Defense is suffocating tonight!

Russ has to do better with finishing at the basket!

Another game with a blown lead that led to a loss. The offense simply implodes after awhile almost every game. It's still early, but it's something that definitely needs to be fixed.

Either the players ignore Donovan's offensive gameplan or he doesn't have one. Either answer isn't good.

Free throws are our Achilles heel:


Thunder 14-21 = 66.7%
Spurs 22-29 = 75.9%

Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400974974

If this keeps up to All-Star Break, there's a solid chance Billy is gone. He has not shown any ability to coach a talented team of individuals in clutch situations and our ownership knows it's now or never. Knowing that our ownership has paid above and beyond what they could / should have to put us in the position that we are in now, I wouldn't be surprised if our next aggressive move is replacing Donovan. It has been a relatively short time, but we are in do or die scenario right now.

My friends and I have discussed this in depth (and while obviously not experts), we don't foresee what other move Presti has in his pocket for this year. 4 out of 5 starters are not moveable, and this year determines if PG / Melo stays going forward. We have recently shown some uncharacteristically aggressiveness on the free agent / trade side this summer for the purpose of locking Russ down and I envision us continuing that aggressive approach throughout this season to ensure we resign at least PG or Melo. We have the talent there, I just don't think we have the leadership (whether it's Billy / RW / PG / Melo). Someone will step up soon or there will be a move in hopes to rectify that.

I'd insist that defending the corners/wings was an issue too.

Holy crap another game where we torch them and get ahead by 20+. Lose the lead by the end of the third, then play catchup to only fall short by less than 10 at the end.

This has been like basically every single loss this season.


Am I crazy to say that Donovan's job could be on the line by AllStar break?

Here's the thing no one wants to talk about: Russell has been really bad this season. He's shooting terribly and just straight up not trying on defense. Andrew Schlecht of Down to Dunk had a series of tweets today detailing how few shots Russ has contested this season and it's pretty stunning. While there are other reasons (e.g., Abrines is giving nothing, Patterson started slow, late game isos), Russ better figure it out because he's the primary reason this team isn't reaching its potential right now.

With the state of this team I don’t think i can watch tomorrow night. Just don’t think I can stomach KD and Curry’s mouthpiece in a Warriors blow out right now. Risking missing a great win for the Thunder but it’s a train wreck out there.

With the state of this team I don’t think i can watch tomorrow night. Just don’t think I can stomach KD and Curry’s mouthpiece in a Warriors blow out right now. Risking missing a great win for the Thunder but it’s a train wreck out there.

i don't see us having much of a chance tomorrow. the offense is just a complete disaster. it's way too obvious where all of our shots are coming from and who is going to shoot them. Adams goes 7 of 9 from the field last night. He obviously needs more touches, but instead we would prefer for our Big Three to shoot 40% on almost 60 attempts. That's insane.

Andre Robertson, still shooting less than 40% from the foul line and 23% from 3 point. I don't want to hear how hard he is trying to correct his stats. I don't want to hear how he tried to shoot underhanded. I want to see some improvement, irrespective of his stellar defense.

I'm holding out hope that this is still part chemistry-seeking and part Donovan experimentation; though I don't see the line-up tinkering I saw in '15-'16. Not sure if I am the only one who remembers at this point, but during Donovan's first season the vibe seemed to be off and it seemed like the Thunder were going nowhere until playoff time, when it became evident that the entire season Donovan had been experimenting with line-ups until he was able to dial-in exactly what he wanted come post-season. This of course was the season when they took GSW to 3-1 before KD threw the series (I know, I know...that part is just how I prefer to remember it) and beat it out of town like the coward that he is.

Seriously, Donovan looked like a bit of a chump all season, and a genius by the WCSF.

If this keeps up to All-Star Break, there's a solid chance Billy is gone. He has not shown any ability to coach a talented team of individuals in clutch situations and our ownership knows it's now or never. Knowing that our ownership has paid above and beyond what they could / should have to put us in the position that we are in now, I wouldn't be surprised if our next aggressive move is replacing Donovan. It has been a relatively short time, but we are in do or die scenario right now.

My friends and I have discussed this in depth (and while obviously not experts), we don't foresee what other move Presti has in his pocket for this year. 4 out of 5 starters are not moveable, and this year determines if PG / Melo stays going forward. We have recently shown some uncharacteristically aggressiveness on the free agent / trade side this summer for the purpose of locking Russ down and I envision us continuing that aggressive approach throughout this season to ensure we resign at least PG or Melo. We have the talent there, I just don't think we have the leadership (whether it's Billy / RW / PG / Melo). Someone will step up soon or there will be a move in hopes to rectify that.
Melo will be on a player option year. No worry about losing him as who would want a guy that old for that much money. For better or worse, he will be here. PG is a different story and there are to many variables in play to make even a guess at what he will do.

I'm holding out hope that this is still part chemistry-seeking and part Donovan experimentation; though I don't see the line-up tinkering I saw in '15-'16. Not sure if I am the only one who remembers at this point, but during Donovan's first season the vibe seemed to be off and it seemed like the Thunder were going nowhere until playoff time, when it became evident that the entire season Donovan had been experimenting with line-ups until he was able to dial-in exactly what he wanted come post-season. This of course was the season when they took GSW to 3-1 before KD threw the series (I know, I know...that part is just how I prefer to remember it) and beat it out of town like the coward that he is.
Seriously, Donovan looked like a bit of a chump all season, and a genius by the WCSF.

Do you think the players listen to Donovan or is Donavan not coaching?

Do you think the players listen to Donovan or is Donavan not coaching?

Donovan does a great job as an analyst as he critiques his own team; at some point if this team doesn't turn around--Billy could join Mark Jackson & Jeff Van Gundy on ESPN NBA with the blessings of many Thunder fans. The blame game is right around the corner--slowly creeping up on this team.

Are about 10% of the people authoritatively posting on this thread ever going to learn that their whipping boy's name is Roberson... Without a "T"?

What a great night to start our W streak!

Just kidding, this will be a bloodbath, wonder if KD will shoot 80% again? Warriors have already planted the 'sprained ankle' narrative for him.

What is everyone drinking tonight?

Nola game was something else. Get rid of one of their best players and still come out with the L?

The team hasn't played well as a whole, but Westbrook has easily been the worst of the OK3. There have been times where I legitimately wanted Felton to end the game at point guard.

I'm not a big Donovan fan myself, but he's not the one making Westbrook shoot sub-40% from the field.

Do you think the players listen to Donovan or is Donavan not coaching?

I think the players DO listen to Donovan, AND I think he IS coaching. This article from Sam Amick describes pretty much exactly what I think/hope is happening here, with direct quotes from PG13, Melo AND Donovan: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/thunder/2017/11/22/thunder-not-cooking-yet-carmelo-anthony-paul-george-dish-early-season-struggles/886788001/


If only it were as simple as that night at Billy Donovan’s house.

Carmelo Anthony was the new guy in town, having been traded from the New York Knicks to the Oklahoma City Thunder just days before. So Donovan, the Thunder coach who overhauled his playbook after the late-June Paul George trade and was more than happy to do it again when they landed Anthony just two days before the start of training camp in late September, decided it was time to discuss it all over dinner.

The ingredients of the Italian dish came together beautifully, with Billy’s wife, Christine, playing the culinary role of Russell Westbrook as she ran point. The conversation flowed with Anthony, just as it had when George accepted the same invite before him. It was a win-win-win in every way.

But basketball isn’t played at the dining room table. And with a month of the regular season already behind them, and with George’s free agency future looming this summer as they attempt to become the NBA’s latest Super Team, Oklahoma City (7-9) has a bad taste in its mouth heading into Wednesday’s showdown against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.

Not only are the Thunder struggling to mesh early on, but this team full of would-be closers can’t seem to figure out how to close. They have blown leads of 10 points or more in six of their nine losses, including a lead of 23 against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday and 19 against the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday. Yet even through this early season in which they can’t seem to find the right recipe, and even with the spoonfuls of skepticism that are coming their way, this much remains true about this group that has so much potential: They’re taking the long view.

This dish, in other words, needs more time to marinate.

“After the first 20 games is when things really start to kick in,” Anthony said recently.

As shifts in style go, it doesn’t get much more drastic than this attempt to transform three ball-dominant players into one three-headed alpha-male monster. Westbrook, who set a league record for usage rate during his do-it-all MVP campaign (41.65, per Basketball-Reference.com), is now yielding to his co-stars (usage rate of 31.6) while sacrificing shots along the way (from a career-high 24 shots per game last season to 17.8). There have been only minor reductions in offensive chances for George (career-high 18 shots per game while with Indiana last season to 17.6 this season) and Anthony (18.8 per while with the Knicks to 16.6), but the problems with rhythm and flow continue.

“I'm just thinking a little bit too much,” George said.

Meanwhile, Donovan continues to work his way through a list of lineup possibilities that has been, well, hot and cold.

The good news for the Thunder, in addition to the fact that they have the league’s third-best defense after finishing 10th last season? Their starting five of Westbrook, Andre Roberson, Anthony, George and Steven Adams is just fine, with a net rating of plus-6.5. But a lack of bench consistency appears to be leading to an overreliance on that lineup, as it’s one of just seven across the NBA that have played at least 180 combined minutes together.

“I think they all understand that they can't do it by themselves, and I think they all realize that from the situations they're coming from, that now, ‘How do we figure out how to do it together?' ” Donovan said. “In order to compete at the highest level, you've got to have several really good players on your team. And there may be some truth to that, but I think people think that all of a sudden you take a collection of talent and just throw it together (and it works). … I didn't think it was going to be like, (snaps his fingers), and we're off and running.”

The following is perspective on this process, as told by Anthony, George and Donovan to USA TODAY Sports earlier this month ...

MELO’S MUSINGS

“I'm pretty sure (the early adjustment process) was more challenging for coach, because it all happened so quickly. Literally, overnight it happened. And I'm pretty sure that he already had kind of what he wanted to do (with his gameplan) going into training camp, what he wanted to implement as far as a system and what we were going to run.

“The game is only going to get simpler and simpler. I don't want to say (it’ll be) easy — easy is not the word. But the simplicity of the game will be (there) a couple of months from now. ...We'll look back, and be like, 'Man, that was hard.' Like, what we're doing now is hard.

“(The late-game approach is) a feel thing. … There's no pecking order when it comes to us, and we won't even allow that. That's something we do talk about. We won't even allow that to come creeping into the locker room, because that's just a mental game that we don't want to play, that we don't want to be a part of. (We discussed that concept) at the very, very beginning, before we even got on the court. … I mean, 'Russ, this is your team. You've been here the longest. You established this. You created this. We came here for you.' But there's no — there's no pecking order. We're all on the same page. We all want the same thing.”

PAUL’S PERSPECTIVE

“Getting lost in the game completely and letting the instincts take over (is the goal). I've been thinking about where I should be, where I should attack, instead of just playing. You've got a lineup with Russ and Melo out there, and all you've got to do is just play.

“(The coaching staff has) been great, honestly. I think with ourselves being out there, we're so used to — like in Indiana, the whole playbook, I knew where guys were going to be, I knew where my shots were going to come from, I knew where double teams were coming from. I just knew everywhere and everybody on the floor. Now, it's different being in a new system, having to figure out where guys are coming from, where double teams are coming, where's the help rotating at, how are the bigs going to guard me now that they can't really help off of anybody? I'm so used to catching the ball and coming off screens, and it's two (defenders) to the ball. It hasn't been the case here.

“So a lot of stuff is, I think, just trial and error. As we get into the hunt and the grind, we'll start to adjust. We'll start to know our niche, and I think that's when our talent will take over. But as far as the coaching staff, man, they've been great. They're doing their job and coaching us. That's one thing all three of us asked from Day One was, 'Just coach us. We like to be coached. Get on us for anything. Call us out for everything. Just coach us. Don't worry.'

“We're embracing this challenge of ultimately trying to get this team going upward and winning a championship. We're having a great time with this journey. The chemistry is unbelievable here. There's a real brotherhood here.”

THE COACH’S CORNER

“It's an adjustment for everybody. You're out there playing, and you're trying to figure out in a very unselfish way — 'OK, how do I fit in and make the group better?' But if we can get to a point where we're playing to a level and a standard that we want to play to, with the understanding that it's going to take time for all these guys to jell and mesh, (we'll be happy).

“Our chemistry is really, really good. ... Carmelo is a really, really personable guy. He's been really good with Russell. Paul is a great guy. (Free agent addition, forward) Patrick (Patterson), I knew (because I recruited him while at Florida). … But we've got to become more consistent. I think part of the reason we're not consistent enough is because we haven't played with each other enough. And on top of that, they're all coming from different experiences.

“I mean here's Russell, where all of a sudden he's got the weight of the world on his shoulders last year, and he's carrying the team. ... All of my questions (from reporters), every time, (were about) his usage rate, his usage rate. Well, no one has asked about his usage rate yet. And I think what happens is it speaks to the adjustment that he's trying to make as a player.

“One of the things I wanted to try to do (going into the season) is to find ways to help Russell be more efficient. The ball was in his hands so much last year, so how can we move him around in some ways to take advantage of some different things? Raymond (Felton) was there at the time (when we prepared our playbook before training camp), and we've got Patrick, different kind of shooting, and we're looking at different guys. And then here you've got one of the greatest scorers in NBA history (in Anthony) now comes on our team, and how do you implement him into the group in terms of what we're doing? But I give him a lot of credit. The first thing that he said to me, was he said, 'Coach, whatever you're going to do, whatever you're going to run,' he says, 'I'll adjust and fit into the offensive system. I can do that.' … He's been great from Day One. But that was a little bit different, just a day before training camp trying to figure that whole piece of it out. ... It was new.”

I think - and this is no offense to anyone here because I am guilty of it myself - the casual fan has no idea how complex the playbook is at this level. Basketbally LOOKS like a very improvisational game (and it often is), but to excel at the NBA level requires TONS of strategy, nuance, timing, and yes, set PLAYS, sometimes which emerge in the flow of the game as opposed to coming out of time-outs. If that timing is even a little bit off, those plays don't work. I think one of the reasons the Thunder has been more consistent defensively than offensively right now is because playbook knowledge and timing is still not fully there and line-ups are still experimental at times, while defense is often a result of individual athletic effort and hustle. The offensive cohesion will come, I still believe.

I think - and this is no offense to anyone here because I am guilty of it myself - the casual fan has no idea how complex the playbook is at this level. Basketbally LOOKS like a very improvisational game (and it often is), but to excel at the NBA level requires TONS of strategy, nuance, timing, and yes, set PLAYS, sometimes which emerge in the flow of the game as opposed to coming out of time-outs. If that timing is even a little bit off, those plays don't work. I think one of the reasons the Thunder has been more consistent defensively than offensively right now is because playbook knowledge and timing is still not fully there and line-ups are still experimental at times, while defense is often a result of individual athletic effort and hustle. The offensive cohesion will come, I still believe.

I agree and often contest that the Thunder "never ran an offense" under Brooks or Donovan "doesn't coach" crowd... but it is frustrating to see a coach like Brad Stevens take an almost entirely new team, after losing their best player to injury in game one, and run such a cohesive offense... and great sets out of timeouts.

OKC will be judged more by where they are at the end of the season, but there's reason to be concerned about Russ' play. You'd think the game would get easier with other stars, but he's playing way, way worse. But, again, the worst sign of all is that Russ is playing such lazy defense. He's been doing it for years, but it's been even worse this year. It's disappointing.

Well, that was one heck of a performance. And it was entertaining as all get out.

Looks like the team needs less deference and more “Why not?” from Russ.

That was incredibly fun to watch!

I hope that means this mental monkey is off our back.

Man this is wet dream material for OKC.

Hopefully this kickstarts the season. Russ was last year's Russ.

If they can beat the Warriors , they can beat anybody. I know this game is based on match ups, but in reality we need to beat the teams we are supposed to beat. Losing close games to below .500 teams will come back to haunt us in seeding during the playoffs.

I mean I know 4 games we should of legitimately won:

1. The home loss to MIN at the buzzer.
2. The away loss to MIN by 3.
3. The 4 point loss away at POR.
4. The 3 point loss away at SA.

We should be 12-5 right now.

I think the players DO listen to Donovan, AND I think he IS coaching. This article from Sam Amick describes pretty much exactly what I think/hope is happening here, with direct quotes from PG13, Melo AND Donovan: https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/thunder/2017/11/22/thunder-not-cooking-yet-carmelo-anthony-paul-george-dish-early-season-struggles/886788001/

Wow, All of these guys appear to be in this to be the best they can together, that is very encouraging.

I agree and often contest that the Thunder "never ran an offense" under Brooks or Donovan "doesn't coach" crowd... but it is frustrating to see a coach like Brad Stevens take an almost entirely new team, after losing their best player to injury in game one, and run such a cohesive offense... and great sets out of timeouts.

OKC will be judged more by where they are at the end of the season, but there's reason to be concerned about Russ' play. You'd think the game would get easier with other stars, but he's playing way, way worse. But, again, the worst sign of all is that Russ is playing such lazy defense. He's been doing it for years, but it's been even worse this year. It's disappointing.

The difference between the OKC situation and Boston probably has to do with the various offenses’ key players came from; that is, the Thunder’s big 3 all came from iso-heavy situations where they were featured players and are now working to mesh into an offense that features at least somewhat more ball movement.

They also have struggled a bit in that they are perhaps showing TOO much deference to teammates, trying to share the ball, get in that extra pass, etc.. Especially Russ. To me that is actually encouraging, as it means they’re all very much buying into the team concept, and eventually will find balance. Last night was the perfect example of the offensive balance they can achieve, with each of the big 3 alternating between ball sharing and being on the ball as the situation dictated.

If they can consistently trot out what they brought last night - in execution if not always in intensity, which would be impossible to maintain at that level - they can (obviously) beat anyone in the league.

Just one more thing: before last night’s game I was seeing TONS of comments on social media and elsewhere suggesting Scott Brooks was a better coach than Donovan. I vehemently disagree, though I love Brooksie and he will always hold a special place for me as a Thunder fan. Like I said in my previous post, I think Donovan is a mad scientist during the season, experimenting, tinkering, building and analyzing potential lineups with a long view for the playoffs. What we are (hopefully) witnessing is the painful, ugly “butchering of the steer” in advance of what will hopefully be a dinner of steak.

One of the reasons Brooks is gone was because of his reluctance to embrace analytics, which is pretty much the opposite of the way Sam Presti builds a team (thanks BoulderSooner for that revelation a couple of years back). I know they have to start compiling wins, but don’t expect every game to start looking like that game last night. Donovan will likely continue to tinker the rest of the season, and I’d look for this team to MOST consistently hit its stride come playoff time, which is the only thing that matters, frankly.

I agree and often contest that the Thunder "never ran an offense" under Brooks or Donovan "doesn't coach" crowd... but it is frustrating to see a coach like Brad Stevens take an almost entirely new team, after losing their best player to injury in game one, and run such a cohesive offense... and great sets out of timeouts.

I've been chatting about this among friends recently. A point that didn't occur to me until the conversation happened is that it's possible that more complex sets could be ran, and they may not be by design. Donovan could be trying to accommodate the players and come up with sets where everybody fits in more or less.

Marcus Smart--as of at least a couple of weeks ago--was considered one of the worst shooters given the amount of playtime. Whether Brad Stevens doesn't care or he has Marcus doing something else is undetermined.
We know that Roberson is more effective when slashing to the basket, than when he's sitting out on the corners. More often than not though he's an offensive liability which limits how complex the offense could be because not everyone can either
A. Make a play
B. Get a desirable shot

Welp.

The Golden State game was fun at least.

OKC is now 0-9 in close games, which is frustrating but also means they’re much better than their record. A lot of shots didn’t fall tonight. Need more from Abrines and Patterson on a regular basis. But, in the end, the big 3 shot poorly.

See, these are the losses I am talking about. There is no way they should of lost this game...smh Westbrook missed 19 shots & Melo missed 15, that is 34 between both of them...too many.

Another unnecessary 3 point shot to try to win when you are only down by 1. Plenty of time to get closer.

The Thunder (and by 'Thunder', I mostly mean Westbrook) does this thing where they just inexplicably leave the other team wide open for three multiple times in a game. And it's never like the oposing team's Roberson-type player, it's always like the one player you cannot leave wide open.

Well that was embarrassing! Like i said before this is a bunch of all-stars but no team. It boggles the mind how they can pretty much have their way with Golden state and then lay an egg against a 4-15 team. I know the season is still relatively early but how long is it going to take for them to figure this mess out. If something doesn't happen soon they will drop even further behind the west, frustration will set in and then the wheels could really come off.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-thunders-problems-are-fixable/

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-thunders-problems-are-fixable/

it's interesting that the defense gets so much worse as the game goes on. you'd think the "clutch time" defensive numbers would look a lot like the numbers at the beginning of the game since we're likely playing starters in both situations.

Billy Donovan right now

https://i.giphy.com/media/6abBwmZzj92Ok/giphy.webp

https://twitter.com/NBA_Math/status/934820296153997312

https://twitter.com/NBA_Math/status/934842942765838342

This team has only won 2 road games... Against the Bulls and Bucks. If we lose to [the tanking] Orlando Magic on Wednesday then we will have gone the entire month of November without a W on the road. Including losses to both the Kings and Mavs, who are tanking for lottery.

https://twitter.com/NBA_Math/status/934820296153997312

https://twitter.com/NBA_Math/status/934842942765838342

Pretty fascinating.

https://twitter.com/NBA_Math/status/934820296153997312

The big takeaway here is that Melo hurts the team more than helps it. He's the worst defender by this metric and a bad offensive player. Offensively, this isn't surprising since he insists on taking long, contested twos - the least efficient shot in basketball. I do think Melo could be a valuable player for this team if he would focus on being a spot up three point shooter, but rarely do players like him change their game all of a sudden. He's probably going to continue dragging this team down all season even if his game might translate slightly better in the postseason.

I don't know who the coach of the team is going to be by the end of this season, but I would bet my left arm it's not going to be Billy Donovan.

^^ Been saying it since like 7 losses ago.

He may not be the reason we are this terrible, but he will be a fall guy.

OKC officially loses every road game in the month of November.

EDIT: Just realized the DNP for Abrines, WTF coach.

These losses go beyond the, "but the Miami Heat were 8-10 when they first started" arguments.

The Thunder are simply a very, very bad team right now. It's honestly incredible.

Sensed some tension between Russ and PG tonight. Not great effort and a lot of stubbornness. I normally wouldn't be worried this early in the season, but the body language and issues were really, really bad. Either this will light a fire under the team or it might take drastic measures like firing Donovan to wake this team up. I get the sense the big 3 are just ignoring Donovan's advice and doing what they want, which is take a lot of long twos. Fred Katz tweeted that the Thunder 7 of 41 from the midrange in the last two games. It's not even a good shot if you hit it 40% of the time much less 17%. Good lord that's bad.

Everyone will be calling for Billy's head but if you watched the post-game interviews the problem is very clear. They players are not practicing what Billy is preaching. He preaches ball movement and not taking contested shots, yet the players don't apply that to the game. They take those dreadful long 2's and other terrible shots when they are clearly covered up. Sure Billy's lineups are questionable at times but the glaring issue is ball movement.

Everyone will be calling for Billy's head but if you watched the post-game interviews the problem is very clear. They players are not practicing what Billy is preaching. He preaches ball movement and not taking contested shots, yet the players don't apply that to the game. They take those dreadful long 2's and other terrible shots when they are clearly covered up. Sure Billy's lineups are questionable at times but the glaring issue is ball movement.

I understand what your post is saying. But I want to point out that players not listening to the coach is a telling sign that you don't have the right person coaching them.

Russell needs to shoot lights out on Friday to light a fire under the team. What he did in the 4th with all those threes was the Russell from last year. Just get us the W, brodie.

The off season was a hell of a lot more fun than the season has been so far. As much as I hate to say it, I'm becoming a little disinterested in the whole thing.

Right now this team stinks. Westbrook was 4-13 fg from two point territory. Antonio Daniels who had over a decade in the league blistered them in the post game.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/news/nba-oklahoma-city-thunder-antonio-daniels-paul-george-stats/1umksuqs2adak1fybkslxeutbg

Sucks. Russ was unusually efficient from 3, and Roberson pitched in too. Can't have your bench score 7.

There is no reason for this team to have this much talent & lose. I mean, they are losing to teams they should easily beat, this is crazy. At this point, its nothing but bad coaching. I am wondering how much patience Presti is going to have with Donovan???

If you’re Presti, who would you get to replace him?