Oklahoma City Thunder 2022-23 Season

[Laramie]

Los Angeles Lakers 123 @ Oklahoma City Thunder 117

Box score https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401469095

Attendance: 17,114

[Laramie]

Friday, March 3, 2023
Utah Jazz @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Paycom Center, OKC
Bally Sports Oklahoma, 7:00 P. M.

[bombermwc]

Not really. Surely you trust LeBron’s basketball judgment? He thinks we’re in a very good spot because of the leadership:

“Josh Giddey is really, really good, man. Obviously, a tall point guard. He is a triple-double-type of playmaker every single night because of his ability to rebound at his size, his distinctive passing, and he has the ability to score in the paint. I think he is going to continue to get better and better. They have a really good young core over in OKC. They do not even have Chet [Holmgren] there just yet. Josh [Giddey] is a really good player, along with the other rookie that they have this year. Obviously, we know first-time All [Star] Shai [Gilgeous-Alexander] is really good, and the rest of that crew over there. Pretty good player, for sure. You guys should be proud.”

Source: https://thunderousintentions.com/202...c-thunder/amp/

LeBron is a player evaluating a player. Giddy is good, yes. He's got some development to do so we'll see (including staying healthy). But the team can't be built on one newbie.

This 13th spot we're in is not just this year. This has been consistent. I know KD left on his own. But Presti traded Harden, as only one example. With Westbrook/Harden/KD all together, they had "pressure" to relieve the salary burden. 3 strong personalities conflicted a lot, but we were at the top of the game. Every time we seem to get someone that the crowd gets behind, they get traded away for less quality and the team record suffers. It was absolutely part of his strategy to be at the bottom to get those draft picks. My opinion is that we didn't have to cut off our head just to make some deals. Being more surgical would have allowed us to be more of a contender. Do we need to be #1? No. But consistently in the bottom spots sucks. Years now in the bottom spots.

Presti's decision making skills on how best to develop the team, are what I question. He's not going to build some sort of MoneyBall team here. Being in a small market, he has to do work to bring talent here and he's failing at it.

[BoulderSooner]

LeBron is a player evaluating a player. Giddy is good, yes. He's got some development to do so we'll see (including staying healthy). But the team can't be built on one newbie.

This 13th spot we're in is not just this year. This has been consistent. I know KD left on his own. But Presti traded Harden, as only one example. With Westbrook/Harden/KD all together, they had "pressure" to relieve the salary burden. 3 strong personalities conflicted a lot, but we were at the top of the game. Every time we seem to get someone that the crowd gets behind, they get traded away for less quality and the team record suffers. It was absolutely part of his strategy to be at the bottom to get those draft picks. My opinion is that we didn't have to cut off our head just to make some deals. Being more surgical would have allowed us to be more of a contender. Do we need to be #1? No. But consistently in the bottom spots sucks. Years now in the bottom spots.

Presti's decision making skills on how best to develop the team, are what I question. He's not going to build some sort of MoneyBall team here. Being in a small market, he has to do work to bring talent here and he's failing at it.

you understand that after presti traded harden the Thunder were the best team in the league and were the favorite to win the title until Westbrook got hurt in the playoffs right ? ie the thunder were better with a better record after trading harden

[catcherinthewry]

Every time we seem to get someone that the crowd gets behind, they get traded away for less quality and the team record suffers. It was absolutely part of his strategy to be at the bottom to get those draft picks.

You should probably leave this thread. The more you post the more you accentuate your lack of NBA knowledge. Watch this video to see what an outstanding and innovative GM Presti is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFKtWw8lZqo

[catcherinthewry]

This 13th spot we're in is not just this year. This has been consistent.

This kind of comment is why a lot of die hard NBA fans think Oklahomans don't understand basketball. We've only missed the playoffs the last two seasons and only 4 times since the Thunder have moved here. They've made the POs 10 out of 14 seasons. Most NBA teams would love that kind of consistency, but we've been spoiled from the start and think we are entitled to be in the playoffs every year. Sam Prtesti has been the leading reason why we've had so much success.
Here is an article that ranks Presti as the no. 3 GM, not currently, but of all time.

https://sportsbrief.com/facts/top-li...-managers-nba/

[okatty]

“But consistently in the bottom spots sucks. Years now in the bottom spots.”

Thunder were 44-28 in ‘19-20. And this year they have won far more games than expected and are on an upward trajectory in general without their top draft pick. Totally agree that everyone is entitled to their opinion but I can’t understand the very negative perspective based on the facts.

Go ask Philly fans about tanking - pretty sure they had a .500 or worse record 12 years straight. That qualifies for “years in the bottom spots.”

[bombermwc]

Well you would like to take a comment and read into it to support your ideas wouldn't you.

I never said that after Harden left, that we immediately fell apart. If you actually read what I said, was that as each high talent player left, we fell more and more. Shortly after, Westbrook was gone as well. Collison was gone, the names just kept leaving. We shortly had CP3....sort of again, but then he was gone. We were already struggling when CP3 came onboard, and it's been even worse afterwards.

You may not like what i'm saying, but i'm certainly not going to leave just because you don't agree. I would absolutely love to see someone make me a liar. Turn it around and throw it in my face with a 2nd or 3rd round playoff spot. Show me, don't tell me.


And the bottom spots are not just at .5. I'm talking about where the facts show we are. Last or next to last has been our comfort zone for a while now. That's not good for anyone. I'll give you a comparison. OU had a terrible record this year. Gotta go back to the Gibbs era to have a simliar record. However, we lost by fewer points in the combined losses, than Gibbs lost in individual games. A few touchdowns or field goals and the whole season would have looked different. Including the bowl game. The Thunder COULD be like that. They're back to the place they were before the original OKC rise. Close games, but can't ever seem to get it over the top....aka Choklahoma. OSU fans are familiar with this.

Again, show me the change. I'll keep rooting for them the entire time, but i'm also not going to blind myself to the reality of what the stats show. And no amount of passion (i salute it btw) is going to change that.

[sooner88]

Well you would like to take a comment and read into it to support your ideas wouldn't you.

I never said that after Harden left, that we immediately fell apart. If you actually read what I said, was that as each high talent player left, we fell more and more. Shortly after, Westbrook was gone as well. Collison was gone, the names just kept leaving. We shortly had CP3....sort of again, but then he was gone. We were already struggling when CP3 came onboard, and it's been even worse afterwards.

You may not like what i'm saying, but i'm certainly not going to leave just because you don't agree. I would absolutely love to see someone make me a liar. Turn it around and throw it in my face with a 2nd or 3rd round playoff spot. Show me, don't tell me.


And the bottom spots are not just at .5. I'm talking about where the facts show we are. Last or next to last has been our comfort zone for a while now. That's not good for anyone. I'll give you a comparison. OU had a terrible record this year. Gotta go back to the Gibbs era to have a simliar record. However, we lost by fewer points in the combined losses, than Gibbs lost in individual games. A few touchdowns or field goals and the whole season would have looked different. Including the bowl game. The Thunder COULD be like that. They're back to the place they were before the original OKC rise. Close games, but can't ever seem to get it over the top....aka Choklahoma. OSU fans are familiar with this.

Again, show me the change. I'll keep rooting for them the entire time, but i'm also not going to blind myself to the reality of what the stats show. And no amount of passion (i salute it btw) is going to change that.

Sounds like you need to find another sport to cheer for, NBA might not be for you. The Thunder turnaround has been nothing short of incredible in such a short period of time.

[Laramie]

Utah Jazz 103 @ Oklahoma City Thunder 130

Box score https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401469106

Attendance: 16,538

[Laramie]

Sunday, March 5, 2023
Utah Jazz @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Paycom Center, OKC
Bally Sports Oklahoma,7:00 P.M.

[Laramie]

Utah Jazz 119 @ Oklahoma City Thunder 129

Box score https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401469123

Attendance: 14,778

[Laramie]

Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Golden State Warriors @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Paycom Center, OKC
Bally Sports Oklahoma, 7:00 P.M.


Reminder: Exercise your right to vote: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 - 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

[bombermwc]

Sounds like you need to find another sport to cheer for, NBA might not be for you. The Thunder turnaround has been nothing short of incredible in such a short period of time.

No thanks. I was there to see the Jazz Thunder game last night. The Thunder played well against an evenly matched team. That's in line with what I've been saying though. When you're battling for the scraps at the bottom with other scraps at the bottom, that's not exactly awe inspiring. The biggest thing that caught me was the size of the typical crowd, which is pretty low, honestly. There were 10-11k people there. And "Loud City" was definitely NOT that. Here, i'll go on a memory lane trip, get ready.

Look up in the rafters at the timelines of when we were conference champs. In that time, we had a FULL house every game. It got the Loud City name because it was so freaking loud that the announcers had problems. As Presti lost free agents and made bad trade after bad trade, we resulted in what we have now. We'll see what happens, but what we have now is not going to be fighting for a conference championship with 20k screaming fans. It's going to be a "hey that was a fun night" experience. If that's all the goal is, then fine. I just wish we had our sights a little higher.

But hey, it's also NBA. Every team goes from the top to the crapper bottom in cycles. You just hope you don't have someone buy your team out while its at the bottom, and move it (cough cough Sonics).

[BoulderSooner]

No thanks. I was there to see the Jazz Thunder game last night. The Thunder played well against an evenly matched team. That's in line with what I've been saying though. When you're battling for the scraps at the bottom with other scraps at the bottom, that's not exactly awe inspiring. The biggest thing that caught me was the size of the typical crowd, which is pretty low, honestly. There were 10-11k people there. And "Loud City" was definitely NOT that. Here, i'll go on a memory lane trip, get ready.

Look up in the rafters at the timelines of when we were conference champs. In that time, we had a FULL house every game. It got the Loud City name because it was so freaking loud that the announcers had problems. As Presti lost free agents and made bad trade after bad trade, we resulted in what we have now. We'll see what happens, but what we have now is not going to be fighting for a conference championship with 20k screaming fans. It's going to be a "hey that was a fun night" experience. If that's all the goal is, then fine. I just wish we had our sights a little higher.

But hey, it's also NBA. Every team goes from the top to the crapper bottom in cycles. You just hope you don't have someone buy your team out while its at the bottom, and move it (cough cough Sonics).

in the west this season 5-13 are separated by 3 1/2 games .. that is not fighting at the bottom that is a giant middle ..

[BDP]

in the west this season 5-13 are separated by 3 1/2 games .. that is not fighting at the bottom that is a giant middle ..

And that's with the two projected front court players being out all or most of the season. Shai just missed 10 games as well. Dort has missed about 7 games and Giddy about 5.

I don't think it's being overly optimistic or "blind" to think there are 3 or 4 more wins with those players available.

[April in the Plaza]

in the west this season 5-13 are separated by 3 1/2 games .. that is not fighting at the bottom that is a giant middle ..

Beautifully said. The Jazz sit just 3 games out of the #5 seed and that’s after dropping two straight to us.

[Laramie]

You ever get an opportunity, visit the Utah Jazz forum, it's interesting. They have a huge forum community:
JazzFanz.com https://jazzfanz.com/ They also want their team to TANK.

Like OKC, you have your homer, homie and hombre poster types. Some surprisingly good comments about the Thunder players.

Want to see the lethal combination of Gilgeous-Alexander, Dort, Giddey, JDub & Holmgren next season 2023-24--should bring in
a new chapter of Thunder-up.

[Laramie]

Reminder

Tuesday, March 7, 2023
Golden State Warriors @ Oklahoma City Thunder
Paycom Center, OKC
Bally Sports Oklahoma, 7:00 P.M.

Exercise your right to vote: Tuesday, March 7, 2023 - 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

[okatty]

^I’ll be there! I think JDub is questionable for tonight (wrist).

[April in the Plaza]

The State may not be smoking that Mary J, but OKC smoked the Dubs tonight.

[Laramie]

Golden State Warriors 128 @ Oklahoma City Thunder 137

Box score https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401469137

Attendance: 16,142

[Laramie]

Wednesday, March 8, 2023
Oklahoma City Thunder @ Phoenix Suns
Footprint Center, Phoenix, AZ
Bally Sports Oklahoma, 8:00 P.M.

[Celebrator]

The State may not be smoking that Mary J, but OKC smoked the Dubs tonight.

Man, it feels good to beat that team. Yup, I will always hold a grudge against GSW. Loathe them.

[okatty]

Really fun game - great win when Steph hits 10 3’s and scores 40. Best of both worlds - see the Steph show and still win!