Western Conference Finals

[Stan Silliman]

Are you Green's brother, or something. Jeff not shooting the three with Harden, Cook and Mayden taking those shots is the reason our winning percentage rose after the trade. Green was .296 3pt at trade; Harden .350; Maynor .385; Cook .422. Simple math. We needed Green to quit shooting 3 pt shots and he wouldn't.

By the way, Bulls were outscored by 15 points with 3 minutes left. It happens. You can't sit on a lead in the NBA. You have to stay aggressive, keep getting to the foul line, run plays and don't turn down open shots.

[Kerry]

LOL 918Town - if not for 5 minutes of bad basketball over 3 games OKC takes Dallas 4-1 and we play Miami next week. This team can get a lot better, but it only needs to get a little better to go to the Finals.

Game 3 - despite nearly 1.5 quarters of bad basketball, we have the lead down to 4 in the final 2 minutes. We stopped Dallas on the 3 consecutive trips in the final 1:30 but fail to score any points on offense.
Game 4 - blow 15 point lead in final 4 minutes
Game 5 - blow 8 point lead in final minutes.

[918Town]

Don't hate me for pointing out the facts. That's why I usually only read and not post. Now I rarely come here because most people on this site are closed minded to anything that points to areas where OKC needs to improve, whether its sports or real life.

Tonite against Miami Dirk and the Mavs tried to do thier thing again, close the game out against poorly coached, poorly executing, poorly led teams. And for everyone that pointed out that OKC had leads in the series against Dallas, OKC is the youngest team in the league, Dallas was and is the oldest team in the playoffs. OKC was going to have leads against just about every team in the NBA due to thier youth. But here's the catch an older experienced team can save thier wad for when it counts, at the end of the game. Which is exactly what the Mavs did against the Thunder. I believe its called crunch time. I know I'll get hated on but, anyways, I'll say it again:

1. The Mavs went into a zone. OKC couldn't shoot over it. Miller, Chalmers, and even James and Wade hit big 3s.
2. Dirk started hitting and making his run late. OKC couldn't stop him, or Terry, or Kidd. Miami's Coach (omitted due to sp) called time outs whenever Dirk started to get in rhythm.
3. During the Dallas runs in crunch time OKC folded nobody hit a shot and the teams body language reflected defeat. After Dirk hit shots and started going to the line coming out of a TO (that the coach called) I heard Wade yelling at HIS team, "Thier not coming back against us..." Oh yeah he also hit a big 3 over Kidd, blocked a shot and pushed the fast break to Bosh to push the lead back up. In other words he made plays.
4. In crunch time Maynord was taking 3s, in crunch time Bibby and Chalmers and Jones were on the Bench!

I could go on but why, its falling on hard hearts. Also before I forget, stop focusing on Green, the point was the outside shooting and another scorer that could get his own shot. (You guys pointed out yourselves that the Thunder couldn't score at the end of games, most people outside of OKC would call that Choking!) A lot of shooters struggle at times especially during the regular season. Look at Miller and Chalmers for Miami. Hell, even look at D-wade.

Like I said, I was just offering the light of constructive criticism through the fog of dillusional granduer. The Thunder don't need to get a little better. The Thunder need to get BETTER! Good luck picking up the needed pieces in the off season and improving on those weaknesses.

I now realize that constructive criticism is frowned upon in this establishment.

[Easy180]

Just constructive criticism that starts with you guys don't know shizz about the NBA...Rest of your post was insightful

[dmoor82]

Don't hate me for pointing out the facts. That's why I usually only read and not post. Now I rarely come here because most people on this site are closed minded to anything that points to areas where OKC needs to improve, whether its sports or real life.

Tonite against Miami Dirk and the Mavs tried to do thier thing again, close the game out against poorly coached, poorly executing, poorly led teams. And for everyone that pointed out that OKC had leads in the series against Dallas, OKC is the youngest team in the league, Dallas was and is the oldest team in the playoffs. OKC was going to have leads against just about every team in the NBA due to thier youth. But here's the catch an older experienced team can save thier wad for when it counts, at the end of the game. Which is exactly what the Mavs did against the Thunder. I believe its called crunch time. I know I'll get hated on but, anyways, I'll say it again:

1. The Mavs went into a zone. OKC couldn't shoot over it. Miller, Chalmers, and even James and Wade hit big 3s.
2. Dirk started hitting and making his run late. OKC couldn't stop him, or Terry, or Kidd. Miami's Coach (omitted due to sp) called time outs whenever Dirk started to get in rhythm.
3. During the Dallas runs in crunch time OKC folded nobody hit a shot and the teams body language reflected defeat. After Dirk hit shots and started going to the line coming out of a TO (that the coach called) I heard Wade yelling at HIS team, "Thier not coming back against us..." Oh yeah he also hit a big 3 over Kidd, blocked a shot and pushed the fast break to Bosh to push the lead back up. In other words he made plays.
4. In crunch time Maynord was taking 3s, in crunch time Bibby and Chalmers and Jones were on the Bench!

I could go on but why, its falling on hard hearts. Also before I forget, stop focusing on Green, the point was the outside shooting and another scorer that could get his own shot. (You guys pointed out yourselves that the Thunder couldn't score at the end of games, most people outside of OKC would call that Choking!) A lot of shooters struggle at times especially during the regular season. Look at Miller and Chalmers for Miami. Hell, even look at D-wade.

Like I said, I was just offering the light of constructive criticism through the fog of dillusional granduer. The Thunder don't need to get a little better. The Thunder need to get BETTER! Good luck picking up the needed pieces in the off season and improving on those weaknesses.

I now realize that constructive criticism is frowned upon in this establishment.

How did Tulsa's NBA team do in the playoffs?LOL,If you or anyone doesnt realize that this season was a HUGE success then you are looking at it with troll colored glasses!Most of The National media KNOWS that OKC will compete at this level for YEARS to come!

[kevinpate]

How's Tulsa's NBA team doing?

I'm guessing they are hoping to hire Kathy Griffin as head cheerleader.

[dmoor82]

Thanks for dropping your knowledge for those of us who just don't understand the NBA...You are right Presti and Brooks don't know what they are doing and need to go

Thunder just couldn't hang with Dallas evidenced by being up by 15 late in the 4th in game 4 and up late in game 5...Just never had a chance from the start

^^I know right,The same Sam Presti who put together the Spurs dynasty!He suck's and he's got to go!But ofcourse I'm just looking through rose colored glasses!LMFAO

[918Town]

Wow, what a way to build a fan base. I have never liked or followed the Thunder, but thought I'd give it a shot during the NBA Playoffs.
I was just getting on here to talk a little sports, bad move on my part. I'm a sports fan and I was just giving my analysis of the team, and I wasn't even being nasty. I have friends and family that love the Lakers, Cowboys, or whatever and I can give them a good ribbing with no problem. I can even talk a little **** to a stranger at a sports bar about their team without any hard feelings. But you guys full of this pride as of late, get your feelings hurt and act condescending to a Tulsan.

You guys fulfill your own prophesy with this OKC vs. Tulsa garbage!

Every city believes that they have a winner for the long haul. Just ask Portland, SLC, Sacramento.....
My wife always asked why I wasn't rooting for the Thunder. As evidenced in the posts above, The Thunder don't need or want me as a fan, as Oklahoma City has it all under control for YEARS! Like I said, I thought I would give it a shot talking Thunder basketball. I can now go back to not caring about OKC or the Thunder.
You guys would have more productive and meaningful discussions on this forum once you choose not to be so damn snide and acknowledge viewpoints that are counter to those expressed by the few proclaimed experts of all things that dominate this board.

[Easy180]

918...Always up for a good argument and your points about Green are definitely valid...Your initial post just came across douchey is all which is what prompted the responses...Again you might not want to start it with you guys obviously don't know anything about the NBA

Won't know if the trade was a bust for a couple more years even though the likelihood of resigning him was very low

[dmoor82]

From 918Town: "I can now go back to not caring about OKC or the Thunder" this is the Troll qoute of the week!Looks like you had it in for not only The Thunder but OKC in general from The getgo!

[betts]

You might enjoy the discussion on OKCThunderfans or Daily Thunder more. I don't use this forum to discuss sports very much and rarely even open sports threads. I was just curious as to why we were still discussing the Western Conference Finals. Now, I'm not saying people there will all agree with you, but they'll tell you why they don't. Sam Presti is all about the big picture and the long haul, and if you listened to his interview at season's end, he didn't trade for this year's Kendrick Perkins. He traded for the hopefully next year healthy Kendrick Perkins. Jeff Green as a person was my favorite player. But it wasn't even fair to be forcing him to play the 4, and at that position he would have gotten pushed around in the playoffs. I think the people who state that with Green we wouldn't have gotten as far as we did this year were probably correct.

But, if you're easily offended, and are going to use other people's behavior on a message board as a reason to be pro or anti-Thunder, I'd probably abstain from posting. I don't think there's a sports message board in this country that's consistently and uniformly kind. I also think you're always going to find optimists, pessimists and everything in between on a sports forum. Yeah, you'll find people who think the Thunder are going to rule the Western Conference for years, but you'll also find those who are sure every hangnail of every player spells doom and, as I said, everything in between.

[dmoor82]

^^I've visit OKCThunderfans almost everyday as a guest to take a glance and it is The best Thunder website imo!You guy's got very busy during playoff time and didnt slow down for day's after!

[OKCJapan]

It is going to be tough to win one of the two games in SA. There is no doubt, that the Thunder can accomplish that. Even if the Spurs were to win the series, I think the Thunder have surpassed its expectations this Season. 2 years ago, made the playoffs, last year advanced to the WCF. This year same as last year; the difference is last year they only extended the series to 5 games. This year, they would have extended it to 6, possibly 7. That in my mind is progress, especially against a great team like the Spurs.

However, the goal is the Finals and a championship. Go Thunder!

[MDot]

^^I've visit OKCThunderfans almost everyday as a guest to take a glance and it is The best Thunder website imo!You guy's got very busy during playoff time and didnt slow down for day's after!

I go to it just as much as I do OKCTalk and I totally agree, OKCThunderfans is easily the best Thunder talk forum out there. They know their stuff.

[Pete]

Here we go!!!

I have never, ever been this nervous before an NBA game.

[MDot]

Here we go!!!

I have never, ever been this nervous before an NBA game.

Same here. Glad they're coming back but they need to finish it.

[Easy180]

Looking like another KD three with one second left kinda game

[MDot]

same here. Glad they're coming back but they need to finish it.

nm

[bluedogok]

I bet my sister is going nuts, she ended up getting tickets for tonight's game.

[Easy180]

Wonder what Greg Oden was doing tonight lol

[bluedogok]

Wonder what Greg Oden was doing tonight lol

Healing another ailment?

[ljbab728]

A very good detailed analysis of the last game.

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/pos...s-closing-call