****Official 2012/2013 Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball Thread****

[dankrutka]

Just reading this thread and some people need to learn a little more about the NBA before they talk. The Thunder are a top 10 defensive team. Liggins is only helping that with his playing time the last 2 games.

The NBA season is long and every team has a ton of talent. Every team has bad games and bad stretches. Every team will have a Wizards-like loss or two. Don't overreact to individual games, but focus on long-term trends if you want to gauge the state of the team.

[Teo9969]

How about Perkins the last 2 games? 12 and 13 rebounds each game. I think it shows how intelligent of a player Perkins really is. He knows Ibaka is not out there, so he gets in there to do the work that Ibaka would otherwise be doing.

Perkins catches a crap ton of flak throughout the season because of his poor offense and his lack of a stat sheet, but this little trend with Ibaka not suiting up should be very encouraging to the Perkins haters. I just hope they realize that as soon as Ibaka comes back, those numbers will start looking crappy again.

[OKCisOK4me]

Wow. You're really smart.

30-8

Wow, like totally. Like, during the first season, I predicted their final record....like Oh My Gawd. It was totally tubular. And I, like, won an autographed ball because I like kinda follow basketball...

Dudes, you can't get em all right, lol.

[ljbab728]

Wow, like totally. Like, during the first season, I predicted their final record....like Oh My Gawd. It was totally tubular. And I, like, won an autographed ball because I like kinda follow basketball...

Dudes, you can't get em all right, lol.

That's why I rarely make any specific predictions. LOL
We can hardly resist gigging someone who is brave enough to do that though when they're wrong.

[OKCisOK4me]

Hell, I'm glad they got to 30 wins before 10 losses. The whole point of it is that when it was the same timing last year, I'm pretty sure we got to 10 losses before 30 wins. Them being where they are now is a good sign. With the stretch of road games we're in, it bodes well for our team. Also, I think Liggens starting the other night and Collison starting two games in a row, just tells you how deep our team is. It may not be the usual rotation but it worked. That's a valuable asset.

[dankrutka]

How about Perkins the last 2 games? 12 and 13 rebounds each game. I think it shows how intelligent of a player Perkins really is. He knows Ibaka is not out there, so he gets in there to do the work that Ibaka would otherwise be doing.

Perkins catches a crap ton of flak throughout the season because of his poor offense and his lack of a stat sheet, but this little trend with Ibaka not suiting up should be very encouraging to the Perkins haters. I just hope they realize that as soon as Ibaka comes back, those numbers will start looking crappy again.

It is encouraging, but Perkins has needed to rebound more for a while. I hope he continues with better numbers (of course not this high though) when Ibaka returns.

[dankrutka]

Hell, I'm glad they got to 30 wins before 10 losses. The whole point of it is that when it was the same timing last year, I'm pretty sure we got to 10 losses before 30 wins. Them being where they are now is a good sign. With the stretch of road games we're in, it bodes well for our team. Also, I think Liggens starting the other night and Collison starting two games in a row, just tells you how deep our team is. It may not be the usual rotation but it worked. That's a valuable asset.

It's been fun seeing Liggins and Collison get some run, but the bench is one of my biggest concerns with this team. Reggie won't keep his minutes in the playoffs with this play (maybe we'll make a move or give Maynor another shot). I am excited about the development of Liggins though. We can only hope he turns into the next Tony Allen...

[Teo9969]

It's been fun seeing Liggins and Collison get some run, but the bench is one of my biggest concerns with this team. Reggie won't keep his minutes in the playoffs with this play (maybe we'll make a move or give Maynor another shot). I am excited about the development of Liggins though. We can only hope he turns into the next Tony Allen...

Honestly, I think the biggest problem with the bench is minutes played. They are never going to be cohesive if they don't get minutes together. Reggie has seemingly tapered off since his initial takeover, but he's shown some great flash too, particularly on the defensive end where he seems to be playing with more energy and physicality than Maynor. I'm still not thrilled with our depth at the 1 or the 5, but I do think it's adequate to win a Championship, if they play up to their demonstrated high level. I think Reggie will suffice for the rest of the year. We can make a move in the off-season after we know what will become of Kevin Martin's future.

[OKCisOK4me]

It's been fun seeing Liggins and Collison get some run, but the bench is one of my biggest concerns with this team. Reggie won't keep his minutes in the playoffs with this play (maybe we'll make a move or give Maynor another shot). I am excited about the development of Liggins though. We can only hope he turns into the next Tony Allen...

Have you been listening to the sports animal? I like the idea of getting JJ Barea on our team. Maynor is a great guy but he's shell shocked. We need a backup point guard that can handle his load. JJ has that.

[dankrutka]

Honestly, I think the biggest problem with the bench is minutes played. They are never going to be cohesive if they don't get minutes together. Reggie has seemingly tapered off since his initial takeover, but he's shown some great flash too, particularly on the defensive end where he seems to be playing with more energy and physicality than Maynor. I'm still not thrilled with our depth at the 1 or the 5, but I do think it's adequate to win a Championship, if they play up to their demonstrated high level. I think Reggie will suffice for the rest of the year. We can make a move in the off-season after we know what will become of Kevin Martin's future.

Unless Reggie improves his play dramatically, he won't be getting minutes in the playoffs. We'll trade for a back up PG rental (not that hard to come by) or the bench will shrink... Same goes for Thabeet (fouling way too much). There are only 2 bench players that are guaranteed to stay in the playoffs rotation at this point IMHO: Collison and Martin. Everyone else will have to earn it.

[dankrutka]

Have you been listening to the sports animal? I like the idea of getting JJ Barea on our team. Maynor is a great guy but he's shell shocked. We need a backup point guard that can handle his load. JJ has that.

No, but I read Tramel's article though. I wouldn't mind Barea. There are some other PGs (e.g., Jrue Holiday) that could work too. I just don't see any of our young guards earning Brooks trust by playoff time. We'll see... Lot of ball to be played still.

[BoulderSooner]

Unless Reggie improves his play dramatically, he won't be getting minutes in the playoffs. We'll trade for a back up PG rental (not that hard to come by) or the bench will shrink... Same goes for Thabeet (fouling way too much). There are only 2 bench players that are guaranteed to stay in the playoffs rotation at this point IMHO: Collison and Martin. Everyone else will have to earn it.

jackson has been playing well this season ... he plays good D ... and either way no backup point is going to play much in the playoffs ... russ will average 42+ so a back up will play less than 6 min a game

[Bellaboo]

We may be able to throw Liggins into the playoff minutes also. I just wish he was 6' 8" so he could hound LBJ.

[Teo9969]

No, but I read Tramel's article though. I wouldn't mind Barea. There are some other PGs (e.g., Jrue Holiday) that could work too. I just don't see any of our young guards earning Brooks trust by playoff time. We'll see... Lot of ball to be played still.

No way we could afford Jrue.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Reggie sees 3 to 6 minutes of game time in the playoffs (depending on how close it is, how well he plays, etc.)...it will look something like this:

35: ~44
0: ~42
9: ~36
23: ~33
2: ~30
5: ~24
4: ~22
15: ~6
34: ~3

Obviously that will fluctuate a lot based on match-ups.

[SoonerBoy18]

31-8

[Praedura]

31-8

[OKCisOK4me]

It'll be interesting to see what comes out of this six game road streak. I told a friend last month that there were only 5 home games in January and he couldn't believe it. Next home game on the 31st!

[SoonerBoy18]

..And its against Memphis...... A team I'm 100% sure Thunder team, staff, fans despise.

[dankrutka]

jackson has been playing well this season ... he plays good D ... and either way no backup point is going to play much in the playoffs ... russ will average 42+ so a back up will play less than 6 min a game

Tell Barea and the 2011 Mavs that. The playoffs aren't a week long. They can be up to 28 games long at the end of a long season. No one should be playing 42 mins regularly. Russ averaged 38 mins in the playoffs last year and that's probably too much for how hard he plays.

Reggie is playing okay defense, but he's still too hesitant as a playmaker. For a title contending team he's not cutting it (yet). In the NBA playoffs you can't just try to get by with Reggie's play because the margin for error is too thin. If he doesn't show improvement I think Maynor will get another look and/or the Thunder will look for something at the deadline. Liggins might be playing himself into playoff minutes, but we still need another ball handler unless the coaches come up with something real creative.

[dankrutka]

No way we could afford Jrue.

I'm going to go ahead and say that Reggie sees 3 to 6 minutes of game time in the playoffs (depending on how close it is, how well he plays, etc.)...it will look something like this:

35: ~44
0: ~42
9: ~36
23: ~33
2: ~30
5: ~24
4: ~22
15: ~6
34: ~3

Obviously that will fluctuate a lot based on match-ups.

These numbers are ridiculous. You can't play KD and Russ that many minutes. You'll wear them out.

[Just the facts]

Why all the trade talk when the Thunder has the best record in the NBA?

[onthestrip]

Because our bench has regressed from last year, specifically our backup point guard play is suspect and probably not one that would help us win a title.

[Bill Robertson]

Why all the trade talk when the Thunder has the best record in the NBA?

1. You can always get better. 2. We really need a second point guard. Jackson could get there but probably not this year. Maynors' lack of pretty much any playing time looks like his days are numbered in a Thunder jersey. If a trade with Maynor and a draft pick or ? could get a Barea like guard without costing an arm and a leg then go for it.

[Anonymous.]

Brooks was quoted last night in regards to Maynor. "He wants to be out there and play, he still works and still looking for an opportunity, and usually it comes around."

I think we may see Maynor return before the playoffs, this looks like Reggie's time to shine.


Now I have a theory... Perhaps the Thunder is lowering Maynor's value by not showing what he has to offer other teams, and they can keep him for less $ after this season.


At the same time, watching the games, Maynor is always sitting next to the coaches and is actually doing some of the coaching himself. I know Maynor is still young and it is early in his career, but he could be a great assistant coach/head coach someday. I just hope his injury hasn't shortened his NBA player career.

[dankrutka]

I love winning a game so well with our bench that Perry is what everyone is talking about. Our 1st unit had a great game but since we were winning so handedly, it's almost like the 4th quarter was a game unto itself. Loved watching it.

I love watching the young guys play! I think Liggins has a shot to stick with the team long term. If he could become a Tony Allen type player (defense first guard) then he is a great addition. Reggie could still improve, but I'm just not seeing it. Lamb and Jones are unknowns still, but I still believe Jones has great potential. He needs regular touches. I think he could be goof for 6-10 points a game off the bench...