Oklahoma City Thunder 2017-18

[Anonymous.]

Well T Ferg pretty much just removed any hopes Abrines had of getting meaningful minutes, at least for now.

[warreng88]

Well T Ferg pretty much just removed any hopes Abrines had of getting meaningful minutes, at least for now.

Yep, although he can't be expected to perform like that for every game. I mean, the guy shot 75% from the field, 67% from 3 for 24 points and had three steals. His previous best game was against Dallas on 11/25 where he had 21 minutes and only seven points, 60% FG shooting.

[Rover]

T-Ferg plays way better defense than Abrines. He and Daniel Hamilton will keep moving past Abrines. Abrines plays defense from behind.... would have to shoot 60% from 3 to make up for his defense.

[Bellaboo]

I can see Abrines on the trade block. It would be a salary dump also. The Knicks wanted him but we gave them McBuckets instead.

[dankrutka]

T-Ferg plays way better defense than Abrines. He and Daniel Hamilton will keep moving past Abrines. Abrines plays defense from behind.... would have to shoot 60% from 3 to make up for his defense.

If Abrines shot 60% from three he'd be starting and getting 35 minutes a game. Lol. But, yeah, I think Ferguson will get a shot. It's easy to overact to one game so I'm interested to see whether he's ready to be a consistent contributor. I love his defensive intensity, but as he gets more minutes, more teams will take advantage of his slight frame and that could become a defensive liability. In regards to Daniel Hamilton, he absolutely has not passed Abrines in any way. He got garbage time minutes in one game when Abrines was injured, but he did look good yesterday.

[dankrutka]

I can see Abrines on the trade block. It would be a salary dump also.

I don't see Abrines being on the trade block because his value is so low right now, but the latter could be possible. It's hard to see the Thunder giving up on him already. Remember, Abrines is still only 24. I could still see him developing into a productive rotation player. But with the Thunder paying so much tax, maybe they'd dump him to a young team for an expiring player who could contribute this season.

[Laramie]

Terrance Ferguson SG #23 had an outstanding night against the Lakers.

[OKCisOK4me]

^^good stuff. Nice to see him shine!

[Laramie]

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Oklahoma City Thunder 127 - Los Angeles Clippers 117

Box score: http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400975313

[Anonymous.]

Well the Suns were on fire, but the lack of defensive effort is really bad with this team. I know we are missing a huge piece in Roberson, but it looked like OKC didn't care about that PHX game.

We now have horrible losses to Orlando, Dallas twice!, Phoenix, New York, Sacramento, Utah, Charlotte. These will come back to haunt OKC in the playoffs when it comes to home court.

[Roger S]

We now have horrible losses to Orlando, Dallas twice!, Phoenix, New York, Sacramento, Utah, Charlotte. These will come back to haunt OKC in the playoffs when it comes to home court.

How so? We have some pretty nice home wins too... Anyone remember that Golden State game? How about Houston? How about Toronto? How about Minnesota?

Something I've been wondering..... How much could LaVar Ball being toxic in LA influence Paul George to want to stay here?

[Jake]

The Thunder have the potential to beat anybody. They also have the potential to lose to anybody.

[Anonymous.]

How so? We have some pretty nice home wins too...

Because giving away "should-be" wins to teams that aren't even close to .500 is unacceptable on a regular basis. Sure the random off night is allowable where a tanking team has a player that has a breakout game against us. But the Thunder has a pathetic resume against these bad teams.

You get homecourt advantage in the playoffs based on your record against your opponent. Just think if back in 2016 that OKC hosted WCF game 7 instead of Oracle. The entire NBA landscape would likely be drastically different if we win that game. Home court matters in the West.

[Roger S]

Ok... You are right.... Let's just ignore all those home court wins against playoff teams.... They don't matter.

[Anonymous.]

I am not sure you are understanding my original post...

[Roger S]

I am not sure you are understanding my original post...

You are probably right as I re-read it now.

[OkiePoke]

We have a terrible record against the Suns for some reason.

[Thomas Vu]

I'll go ahead and hammer it home in the event there is a misunderstanding.

It seems like OKC happens to play to the level of their opponent, and have a really bad record against <500 teams.

With how the NBA is perceived, having a losing record against <500 teams will result in no home field advantage in the playoffs if even making it to the playoffs if losing to enough <500 teams.

Yes, the wins against Houston, GSW, and MIN are impressive. OKC is wasting the potential benefits for it though with these losses

[Roger S]

I'll go ahead and hammer it home in the event there is a misunderstanding.

It was simply a matter of a dyslexic reading of the word "home".

[dankrutka]

As of now, OKC looks like it's likely destined for the 4 or 5 spot. It'd be nice to get the 4 seed and play Minnesota with home court advantage, but most series do not come down to a game 7. As long as OKC keeps improving then it's not drastically important whether they're the 3-6 seeds in my opinion. Heck, OKC's best bet might be to drop to the 6 seed and match up against San Antonio in round 1 while avoiding the the Warriors until the Western Conference Finals (assuming they get the 1 seed). As for the 2016 Warriors series that was mentioned above. OKC actually had taken the homecourt advantage from the Warriors and had a series-clinching game at home in game 6 and it didn't matter. It's more important that this OKC team is playing its best ball in the playoffs than it is that they get homecourt advantage IMHO. NBA teams, especially veteran ones, can get wins on the road in the playoffs.

[Bill Robertson]

This morning on the radio I heard one of our guys doing an after game interview. I was doing paperwork so I was bit preoccupied and didn’t catch who it was. What did catch my ear was his answer to a question about what went wrong. His answer was “They just played with more intensity than we did”. So wait, you know they were playing harder than you and you couldn’t step it up a notch or 10?

[Bellaboo]

I'll go ahead and hammer it home in the event there is a misunderstanding.

It seems like OKC happens to play to the level of their opponent, and have a really bad record against <500 teams.

With how the NBA is perceived, having a losing record against <500 teams will result in no home field advantage in the playoffs if even making it to the playoffs if losing to enough <500 teams.

Yes, the wins against Houston, GSW, and MIN are impressive. OKC is wasting the potential benefits for it though with these losses

What ? It's strictly won / loss record with implications from the conference you play within. I'm not so sure if division winners means anything against a better record ?

[Bellaboo]

This morning on the radio I heard one of our guys doing an after game interview. I was doing paperwork so I was bit preoccupied and didn’t catch who it was. What did catch my ear was his answer to a question about what went wrong. His answer was “They just played with more intensity than we did”. So wait, you know they were playing harder than you and you couldn’t step it up a notch or 10?

That was Patrick Patterson - stating as a team the Thunder lacked effort.

[Jake]

Thunder looking like their ceiling is a 5-6 seed this season. Another bad performance against a team that doesn't have their best player. I think this might just be who they are.

[Anonymous.]

Our defense of 3 point shooting has to be the worst in the league. At a time when 3 pointers are @ their highest volume ever. #justthunderthings

Roberson, how you feeling?