OKC Thunder 2014 - 2015

[Laramie]

Why do you assume Durant would 100% leave OKC if Brooks were replaced? People said the same thing when Jeff Green and James Harden were traded because they were his friends. What if KD loved the new coach? If another coach came in next year and led OKC to a title then I think KD would be far more likely to stay.

Having said that, I think Brooks is a steady players coach who is generally good at developing players and keeping the team together. However, his Xs and Os coaching leaves a lot to be desired.For example, playing Perk in the 2012 Finals when Miami went small put OKC at a competitive disadvantage. Just absolutely no excuse for such a boneheaded move throughout a series. In the end, Brooks is an average coach at best. He may be the reason KD leaves or stays. None of us know.

Green & Harden (players) vs. Scott Brooks (coach). If you guys want an 'in-your-face' coach like Popovich; you should have kept P. J. Carlesimo.

We don't know 100% if Brooks will be replaced...

Do you have any idea as to why he played Perkins; you don't know or do you?

[dankrutka]

It doesn't matter why he played Perkins? He did and it hurt the ability of the team to compete for a championship. He's made many other similarly boneheaded Xs and Os decisions. Everyone knows Brooks is not a good X and Os coach. M

I'm not anti-Brooks. He's good at some things. But to suggest that KD would leave town without Brooks is speculation without any basis. Is it possible? Sure. Could it be wrong? Absolutely.

[Laramie]

It doesn't matter why he played Perkins? He did and it hurt the ability of the team to compete for a championship. He's made many other similarly boneheaded Xs and Os decisions. Everyone knows Brooks is not a good X and Os coach. M

I'm not anti-Brooks. He's good at some things. But to suggest that KD would leave town without Brooks is speculation without any basis. Is it possible? Sure. Could it be wrong? Absolutely.

He did and it hurt the ability of the team to compete for a championship... ...Everyone knows Brooks is not a good X and Os coach.

You seem to know more about the team than Scott Brooks; who should he have played?

You brought up the question; now answer it...

As far as a good X and Os coach, who would you like to see replace Scott Brooks that's good with X and Os?

[Laramie]

Let's clear the air of something... ...this is spilled milk, lost opportunity. Dead horse, beaten twice...

1. There is no 'I' in team. Meaning, you can't put blame on Scott Brooks' decisions for the Thunder's championshp finals loss to Miami in 2012.
2. Miami loss to Dallas in the 2011 finals. They had the experienced player personnel (battle tested) when the played an inexperienced Thunder team in 2012.
3. Credit Miami, they stole Game 2 in OKC, 100-96 with the next three games on the Heat's home court.
4. Heat roster: franchise players: LeBron James, Cleveland, Chris Bosh, Toronto & DeWayne Wade, Miami; 8 yrs/exp., each.
5. Thunder roster: Durant (4th year), Westbrook (3rd year) & Harden (2nd year).
6. Miami Heat GM Pat Riley was the Heat's head coach when they won their 1st NBA finals championship in 2006; Wade was Finals MVP.

Note: Wade (Finals MVP) led Miami to their first NBA Championship in 2006 (post James, Bosh); so we can't say Wade was not afranchise player.

The 2012 finals were 'uncharted waters' for Coach Scott Brooks and a very young Oklahoma City Thunder team.

[dankrutka]

You seem to know more about the team than Scott Brooks; who should he have played?

You brought up the question; now answer it...

As far as a good X and Os coach, who would you like to see replace Scott Brooks that's good with X and Os?

I'm not sure what you're looking for here. Brooks played Perkins because he stubbornly stuck to his normal rotations instead of adapting to Miami's small ball lineups. Perk was totally incapable of guarding Bosh or Battier and lacked the offensive skills to make them pay on the other end. Those lineups with Perk got destroyed in the series and could have cost us making the series competitive. It wasn't just a bad decision in hindsight. Everyone knew Brooks had to adjust if Miami went small. It was an inexcusable failure.

I can name a ton of X and O coaches I'd rather have from Mike Budenholzer to Jeff Van Gundy to George Karl.

I don't think Brooks is an awful coach, just a bad X and Os coach. Coaching is more than that though. Could the Thunder win it with Brooks this year? Yes. And I hope he does.

[Jake]

Brooks is a good players coach, not a good X's and O's coach like dankrutka says. I think Brooks is a nice guy, and the players apparently like him a lot, however Brooks' lineups are so awful sometimes, it doesn't make logical sense. Him playing Kendrick Perkins against the Miami Heat was/is indefensible. Him refusing to play smallball lineups this year is confusing as well.

Brooks is well...Brooks. If the Thunder win the title it'll be because Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are on the team, not because of the coach.

[Laramie]

Thunder (15-16) look to get to .500 as they travel to Dallas to take on a very crafty Mavericks' (21-10) squad. Dallas has become an interesting I-35 rival. Tune in starting @ 6:30 p.m., from American Airlines Center (FoxOklahoma).

Good luck Kevin Durant, we need you...

[Jake]

Russell Westbrook almost singlehandedly blew the game for the Thunder. Well done.

[Jim Kyle]

Russell Westbrook almost singlehandedly blew the game for the Thunder. Well done.

I almost felt, while watching his performance in the last quarter, that he should have been named as Dallas's MVP. My wife said she wished she had nerve enough to say that, here! (She's still a bit shy, on line, unlike myself in that respect.)

[Laramie]

Westbrook has torn his draws (underwear) and exposed his bottom with the officials just too many times to often. He & Kendrick Perkins need to quit the complaints about the officials' calls and weather the storm; these guys have brought the officiating wrath upon themselves...

Durant, we're praying for your return. Stay healthy!

[dankrutka]

No semblance of an offensive system in tight games. Same problem game after game, year after year. That goes back to the head coach. Why are changes, adjustments never made? Russ was bad tonight, but who allows hero ball to reign supreme? Scott Brooks.

[Laramie]

Thunder blew free-throw opportunities 12-21 (57.1%), 12 made, 9 missed. Dallas got all the touch fouls 24-28 (85.7%). This game was decided at the charity stripe.

Now I will say this: Perkins & Westbrook need to leave the officials alone. They were assaulted and didn't get the calls; play ball, leave the officials for the NBA to review.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Dallas Mavericks - Box Score - December 28, 2014 - ESPN

[Anonymous.]

No semblance of an offensive system in tight games. Same problem game after game, year after year. That goes back to the head coach. Why are changes, adjustments never made? Russ was bad tonight, but who allows hero ball to reign supreme? Scott Brooks.

This. And Dirk was torching the Thunder at the FT line and had 5 fouls for the entirety of the 4th quarter. Yet we have ZERO post ups against him with Adams or Ibaka, who had a great game, but was forgotten about in the 4th (per usual). You attack Dirk in the 4th, and you either have a lot of uncontested points, or Dirk out of the game.

Sometimes I think Brooks is watching league pass games instead of his own.

[s00nr1]

This. And Dirk was torching the Thunder at the FT line and had 5 fouls for the entirety of the 4th quarter. Yet we have ZERO post ups against him with Adams or Ibaka, who had a great game, but was forgotten about in the 4th (per usual). You attack Dirk in the 4th, and you either have a lot of uncontested points, or Dirk out of the game.

Sometimes I think Brooks is watching league pass games instead of his own.

This same BS has been going on for years now. Might as well get used to the fact we win based off the greatest of elite talent in spite of our head coach. All you have to do is watch ball movement by teams like Dallas, SA, and Golden State -- it's the same reason we struggle mightily with these types of teams that move the ball and shoot the three at an above average clip.

[OKCisOK4me]

20 turnovers is usually gonna lose you a game...

[Bellaboo]

Free throws, you'd think Nick Collison could hit his free throws, missed both badly, with the last one getting stuck on the rim, resulting in a jump ball with 'can't get off the floor' Kendrick Perkins doing the jump, which is obscene. Russell made 4 and missed 3. Adams missed his first 2 and made his last 2. Robes split the difference. 57 % for the team, 9 misses........ you'd think they'd take some extra free throw practice.
And 20 turnovers, many unforced, didn't help either.

[DocThunder]

Why did the Coach Brooks pull Ibaka ? ....and not keep feeding him the ball when he was "HOT" ?

[Anonymous.]

Why did the Coach Brooks pull Ibaka ? ....and not keep feeding him the ball when he was "HOT" ?

Because for some reason Brooks (maybe the team?) only sees him as an option for the first 3 quarters. Seriously look at the stats, Ibaka is either not on the floor, or is never touching the ball down the stretch of games. This has been the norm for the last 3 years. It is insane and a good coach would never allow phantom isolation like this to develop.

[dankrutka]

Good article by Anthony Slater on the Thunder's lack of a late game offense beyond iso/hero-ball: OKC Thunder: Numbers never lie, and the Thunder has a late-game offensive problem | NewsOK.com

The big point for me is that even with KD, who might be the best iso-player in late game situations, it is not effective in the playoffs and that's what the Thunder should be building towards - playoff basketball.

[Urbanized]

Coaching.

[Jim Kyle]

More than half a century ago, military service burned two significant principles into my mind: Teamwork isn't the important thing, it's the only thing that wins in the end. And authority is inextricably linked to responsibility; one in authority is responsible for the actions of everyone subject to his commands. In other words, the buck stops here.

Those principles apply everywhere, not just in the military.

Continuing hero ball is totally destructive of teamwork. Permitting it to continue is an abdication of responsibility. Allowing such abdication is, itself, a greater abdication (but must be balanced against possible long-term gains). The future looks interesting, for Chinese values of interesting...

[warreng88]

Kevin Durant to play tonight.

OKC Thunder: Kevin Durant will play against Suns tonight | News OK

[Jim Kyle]

WOW!!!

Several records set tonight, and some of the best (and some of the worst) play I've seen since the days of Bird, McHale, and Parrish in the Garden...

[Urbanized]

The 2nd technical on Russ (and resulting ejection) was a bad call, IMO. Especially when you consider that he didn't do a lot to earn the first one; it was one of the stupid offsetting techs that they spinelessly call when an altercation happens. He was trying for a hustle play (yes, perhaps too aggressively) and was thorn to the ground and swung upon for his efforts. Len should have been ejected and fined.

[dankrutka]

The refs lost control and then lost their cool. No way Russ should have received that second tech.

Such a fun game. It was really impressive to see the arena full through the OT with New Years Eve just a couple hours away.