Western Conference Finals

[td25er]

Losing a 15pt lead with less then 5 mins left in a WCF is unacceptable, they deserve to lose the game. However, the true definition of a good team, is a team that can get back up when they are knocked down, when they are at their lowest point. I don't think OKC will win this series, but it will be interesting to see how they play tomorrow night. The Thunder have never been in this situation, facing elimination this year.

One of two things will happen tomorrow night, either they will lay down, and give the game to Dallas, or they will come out and fight, and give it their all, as now they have to play every game hard, because it could be their last.

The good thing is that the series is not over, they still have an opportunity to win, and at least force a game 6 here in OKC! Go Thunder, I am still with you, don't write them off just yet!

I'm pretty sure game 7 against Memphis counts as "facing elimination".

When the f will the Thunder come up with something better than 30 foot chucks on potential game-winning shots? I can think of one game winner by Durant against NY. Any others? 1 in three years in OKC? If that is the best Brooks can come up with (or if he's too stubborn/stupid to TRY SOMETHING ELSE), 30 foot chucks, he doesn't need to be our coach.

Westbrook, you seriously can't make 1 freaking free throw?

KD and WB, 15 turnovers?

[modernism]

What mean by "facing elimination" I mean being down in the series, and having to win on the road. Even though Memphis forced a game 7, we were still the better team, and had home court advantage. This situation is totally different. I also don't understand why Scott Brooks called for a 3pt play at end of regulation. The game was tied, we only needed a 2 to win the game. Westbrook should have drove to the basket, which would have increased our chances of winning the game dramatically. One of three things would have happened, he either would have got fouled, made the shot to win the game, or miss the shot to go into overtime.

[G.Walker]

I'm pretty sure game 7 against Memphis counts as "facing elimination".

When the f will the Thunder come up with something better than 30 foot chucks on potential game-winning shots? I can think of one game winner by Durant against NY. Any others? 1 in three years in OKC? If that is the best Brooks can come up with (or if he's too stubborn/stupid to TRY SOMETHING ELSE), 30 foot chucks, he doesn't need to be our coach.

Westbrook, you seriously can't make 1 freaking free throw?

KD and WB, 15 turnovers?

Our chances were a lot better against Memphis, as we had home court. Now we have to go on the road and win in Dallas, we will truly see how tough OKC is tomm night. The only thing we have on our side is that fatigue my start to set in on Dallas, as they are the older team.

[Of Sound Mind]

Wow! How quickly we turn on the team! Wow!

[Pete]

That was of course extremely disappointing but I'll be very interested in how the team bounces back.

It would be nice to beat them in Dallas and get another crack at home. Can't believe we lost both those games in OKC.

Still, the Thunder are a team of unprecedented youth and we all tend to forget that some times.

[Jesseda]

Im not a crazy basketball fan, but i am proud of our Thunder, they made it this far, they gone a lot farther then a lot of other pro teams.. Im proud of the thunder no matter what happens.

[bombermwc]

It's great we are at this point...but we have to stop playing like college kids and play like professionals, meaning play the entire game! It's so frustrating to see them lose the game in the end or have to go into overtime after they blow a 15-20 point lead in the last 5 minutes. I don't understand why the players can't learn that lesson and stop goofing off at the end. In the NBA, there is no such thing as a sure thing...especially at the end of the game...otherwise we'd have another 7 or so wins under our belt this season and would have gotten a higher place in the playoffs.

[G.Walker]

I don't think it had to do with goofing off. I think it was greed! We had a 15pt lead, so there was no reason for us to focus on scoring, but we kept forcing bad shots, and trying to increase the lead. I mean what the the hell are you taking 3pt attempts when you have a 15pt lead? All you have to do at that point is milk the clock and play some defense. But the Thunder were greedy, they wanted to show off, and be "stars" on a big stage, and it came back to bite them.

[OKCJapan]

You are right about blowing a 15 point lead in the last 5 minutes. However, The officials gave the game to Dallas in the first half. I listened to the game on the internet because I am here in Japan and was not able to see it on TV. Pinto and Long repeatedly said that the officials were punishing the Thunder for their aggressiveness with silly foul calls that should have been no calls, thus putting Dallas on the foul line numerous times where they scored over 20 points in the first half. If you take half of the no calls away Thunder wins.

Just goes to show you that I still think that the NBA still decides who they want in the finals.

[OKCJapan]

You are right about blowing a 15 point lead in the last 5 minutes. However, The officials gave the game to Dallas in the first half. I listened to the game on the internet because I am here in Japan and was not able to see it on TV. Pinto and Long repeatedly said that the officials were punishing the Thunder for their aggressiveness with silly foul calls that should have been no calls, thus putting Dallas on the foul line numerous times where they scored over 20 points in the first half. If you take half of the no calls away Thunder wins.

Just goes to show you that I still think that the NBA still decides who they want in the finals.

[MikeOKC]

Just goes to show you that I still think that the NBA still decides who they want in the finals.

I don't buy that. That would be a HUGE story, too many would have to be involved. Talk about completely blowing the credibility of the NBA -- it would destroy the sport.

[Easy180]

Think the NBA might prefer KD and Westbrook over Nowitzki

[ljbab728]

Wow! How quickly we turn on the team! Wow!

No kidding. And now some want to get rid of our coach who was the coach of the year last year and brought our team from nowhere two years ago to the Western Conference Finals. LOL
You would almost think these were OU football fans talking.

[venture]

The joys of living in a college sports town...fans are so fair weatherish, it is disgusting. I remember in Stoops' 2nd year at OU. How fast those stupid window flags arrived when they were winning and headed to the National Championship. Nothing but a bunch of fair weather idiots that will vanish when things go bad. Opponent players love when they make a big play and silence the home crowd...perhaps that is when all the lazy asses should stand up and shout louder?

[betts]

No kidding. And now some want to get rid of our coach who was the coach of the year last year and brought our team from nowhere two years ago to the Western Conference Finals. LOL
You would almost think these were OU football fans talking.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner! Remember Barry Switzer talking about having to feed the beast? I keep the memory of the afternoon of New Year's Eve 2008 in my mind always. We were 2-29 at that point in time. It's almost unimagineable to go from that to the Western Conference Finals in two years, much less with one of the youngest and thus most inexperienced teams and coaches in the league. We should be thanking our lucky stars, no matter the outcome of this series or any game.

[OKCJapan]

I totally agree.

[okcpulse]

There is a difference between OU and OSU fans. OSU fans are loyal people. OU fans are not. I am hoping that the supermajority of Thudner fans are OSU fans, or are just neutral, which makes it easier for the Thunder to earn loyalty. Blazers fans were loyal people as well.

[Stan Silliman]

I don't think it had to do with goofing off. I think it was greed! We had a 15pt lead, so there was no reason for us to focus on scoring, but we kept forcing bad shots, and trying to increase the lead. I mean what the the hell are you taking 3pt attempts when you have a 15pt lead? All you have to do at that point is milk the clock and play some defense. But the Thunder were greedy, they wanted to show off, and be "stars" on a big stage, and it came back to bite them.

You can't milk the clock in the NBA. The 24 second rule negates any stalling. I don't think it was greed, it was about survival. If you do not increase your lead, you lose it. Stalling, or any kind of prevent offense, rather than running your best offense is the best recipe for failure. The reason we were hoisting threes, was because we weren't trying to score in the first 15 seconds of the shot clock with four minutes left in the game.

You can't apply college logic. The best thing we can do with a 15 point lead is get to the free throw line or trade baskets. Trading baskets is actually very desirable, even if it's a 15 second against 15 second transfer. It means giving them interior shots without fouling and forcing them off the three point line.

[Stan Silliman]

There is a difference between OU and OSU fans. OSU fans are loyal people. OU fans are not. I am hoping that the supermajority of Thudner fans are OSU fans, or are just neutral, which makes it easier for the Thunder to earn loyalty. Blazers fans were loyal people as well.

Ridiculous statement. OU fans not only outnumber OSU fans, there's a waiting list of 5000 for football tickets. OSU, with some of their best football teams in years, is not even filling their stadium. Thousands of OU fans have had season tickets for decades.
By the way, I'm not disparaging Cowboys fans, just don't think they're any more loyal than Sooners.

[Bill Robertson]

There is a difference between OU and OSU fans. OSU fans are loyal people. OU fans are not. I am hoping that the supermajority of Thunder fans are OSU fans, or are just neutral, which makes it easier for the Thunder to earn loyalty. Blazers fans were loyal people as well.

Possibly true for some but not most. We went to most all OU home football games when they were great before, all through the years they were terrible and now that they're good again. Quite a few baseball and basketball games whether they're good that year or not. Will do the same for the Thunder and Barons. Why do OSU fans seem to always have to put down OU fans. Envy?

[G.Walker]

You can't milk the clock in the NBA. The 24 second rule negates any stalling. I don't think it was greed, it was about survival. If you do not increase your lead, you lose it. Stalling, or any kind of prevent offense, rather than running your best offense is the best recipe for failure. The reason we were hoisting threes, was because we weren't trying to score in the first 15 seconds of the shot clock with four minutes left in the game.

You can't apply college logic. The best thing we can do with a 15 point lead is get to the free throw line or trade baskets. Trading baskets is actually very desirable, even if it's a 15 second against 15 second transfer. It means giving them interior shots without fouling and forcing them off the three point line.

I disagree, you can milk the clock in the NBA. The strategy would be to use most of the 24 seconds as you can. Time was on our side, but not Dallas, there was more pressure on Dallas to score. So by using up most of the clock, puts more pressure on Dallas, and forces them to take bad shots, forces them to use valuable timeouts, and gives them a inadequate chance to win the game. With only 4:48 left, with a 24 second clock used, limits both teams possessions to 4.

[G.Walker]

Moreover, looking at the 4th quarter play-by-play Dallas had 10 possessions in the final 4:48, if we would have milked the clock, we could have brought those possessions down to say 5.

[OKCisOK4me]

Ridiculous statement. OU fans not only outnumber OSU fans, there's a waiting list of 5000 for football tickets. OSU, with some of their best football teams in years, is not even filling their stadium. Thousands of OU fans have had season tickets for decades.
By the way, I'm not disparaging Cowboys fans, just don't think they're any more loyal than Sooners.

I hate when a thread goes off tangent but why don't you compare some pricing options. OSU has way smaller a stadium than OU and to cover the costs (even after Boone's generous donations) you still have an overwhelming amount that goes over to the ticket holder courtesy Mike Holder's athletic plan. OU built their house because of greatness and traditions. That's why OU fans have a waiting list. In a parallel universe, OSU is OU and OU is OSU. Imagine that, lol.

[earlywinegareth]

I can't stand to watch another disappointing meltdown. I'll DVR it for later maybe. Probably go watch Big XII baseball instead.

[kevinpate]

I disagree, you can milk the clock in the NBA. The strategy would be to use most of the 24 seconds as you can. Time was on our side, but not Dallas, there was more pressure on Dallas to score. So by using up most of the clock, puts more pressure on Dallas, and forces them to take bad shots, forces them to use valuable timeouts, and gives them a inadequate chance to win the game. With only 4:48 left, with a 24 second clock used, limits both teams possessions to 4.

Your position assumes, amongst other matters, that Dallas would also take most of the 24 second clock for each possession. Not the best of assumptions. Run your math having Thunder burn 20-23 seconds each time, but still not shooting well, which is where they were at the end. Have Dallas move the ball rapidly, and remember they were fairly hot at the end of regulation time, so each possession gets 2 points or better.

Here's to the next game, may Thunderbolts fall true when and where they should.