OKC Thunder 2013 - 2014

[dcsooner]

Right now you're looking at a 4 game sweep by the Spurs. And what is most irritating, the Thunder players don't seem to be bothered by all this too much.

The Thunder team is not as GOOD as SA, they know it, I know it, you should know it, accept it and move on to next year where hopefully this team will get 3 more players to make this a team instead of a batman and robin show

[Just the facts]

Embarrassing.

More like humiliating. Not competitive on any level. At one point in the 4th quarter the Spurs were shooting 80% in the second half.

[Just the facts]

Hypothetical, and it might have been discussed already, say Brooks is let go. Fisher is being discussed for a coaching position somewhere. Would he be a good (or bad) choice for OKC to have some ease in the transition or would it just be awkward?

The Thunder have too much name recongnition to get a rookie coach. OKCs next coach will need to have won an NBA championship already. I don't see Brooks (or Perkins) being around next season.

[dankrutka]

Ask yourself this question -- if Chris Bosh gets injured, does Lebron allow a game like this to happen? Do the Heat lose by 35? No chance. The "team" aspect went out the window when Presti traded an all-star away for pennies. No elite, championship-caliber team suffers double-digit deficits in 9 of its 15 playoff games. It is clear a change at the top is necessary. Plain and simple.

Yes. The Heat lost game 3 of the 2013 NBA Finals WITH BOSH 113-77 - 1 point worse than this loss.

While there are reasons to be concerned with the Thunder in this series and the future, it's important not to get carried away with sweeping reactions. The Spurs are an incredible team and we lost a really good player. It's certainly not looking like we're getting through this series, but the Thunder aren't as far off as some are making it.

[dankrutka]

I don't see Brooks (or Perkins) being around next season.

Perkins almost for sure will be back. He's not getting amnestied in the last year of his deal. Besides, Perkins is probably playing the best he's played with the Thunder right now. He's the least of the team's problems.

[Anonymous.]

Dam... Team is straight up broken without Ibaka. Sad.

We could get swept off our own floor at this rate.


Brooks won't make any adjustments until game 4 when we are down 0-3. I was shocked to see Jones get some minutes. However, the starting lineup is a joke and he brings the same crew out everytime after halftime. We are losing these games in the bottom half of 2nd and start of the 3rd. Two games in a row without rotation adjustments other than tossing PJ in there for a test run. JOKE

Even if Brooks was coaching perfectly, I still don't think we beat the Spurs. They are at their healthiest and best right now. Green is back to torching us, as usual.


This 4 day break before Sunday's game almost seems cruel at this point. Just give us the bullet and move on!

[dankrutka]

Here's my two cents on the state of the Thunder.

I don't think the Thunder as an organization are that far off from winning a title. That doesn't mean it will happen, but it could. Here are the problems in my mind. First, as much as everyone is knocking Brooks for his rotations, he's actually been really flexible in trying everything. He's throwing different lineups out there, but nothing is really working. The problem in my mind is the lack of discipline and structure. Westbrook jacked up numerous 3s last night and defended them in the post game. Great coaches don't allow their players to play undisciplined by taking low percentage shots. Why can't Brooks get his stars, particularly Westbook but KD at times too, to learn to take better shots? This is year 6. Secondly, whenever things start to break down, we just don't have enough offensive structure to get players besides KD and Russ good shots. If the Thunder decide to move past Brooks because of this I think it would be justified. However, we have to remember that while Brooks is not a great X and Os coach, he's good at a lot of other things - development, consistency, player trust - that his players and the organization value. Still, I'd be happy with a guy like Jeff Van Gundy who would have no problem telling Russell that if he's going to shoot 3s then he's going to sit on the bench (a conversation that should have happened in training camp).

While Brooks deserves a lot of blame so do Westbrook and KD for not playing smarter. Also, I've been saying for months that I'm not even sure Thabo is an NBA-level player. His offensive regression has been so severe that I can't think of another team in the league that would give him meaningful playoff minutes. He's okay (not great) as a defensive specialist, but we need two way players. Unfortunately, the Thunder are already grooming a Thabo replacement in Andre Roberson who is even worse offensively. He has absolutely no offensive skill. The off season will be interesting. Do we re-sign Reggie? I hope we can get him for a reasonable amount. Do we let Thabo go? Probably. But who do we get? Bring back Caron? We have a lot of decent assets (e.g., PGIII, Lamb, Roberson, 2 first round draft picks), maybe we could flip them for a veteran. There's a reason championship contenders don't play young guys much. Despite the disappointment now, I still think the Thunder just need to play smarter, develop a better offensive system, and sign a veteran than can score consistently to seriously contend next year. If Adams continues to grow and Reggie improves any more than we'll be in really good shape.

This 0-2 deficit is very unlike 2012 and I don't expect the Thunder to come back, but let's get loud at home and get a win and see if we can get some confidence.

[dankrutka]

Brooks won't make any adjustments until game 4 when we are down 0-3. I was shocked to see Jones get some minutes. However, the starting lineup is a joke and he brings the same crew out everytime after halftime. We are losing these games in the bottom half of 2nd and start of the 3rd. Two games in a row without rotation adjustments other than tossing PJ in there for a test run. JOKE

Why do people keep saying this? I've seen multiple people express this sentiment. Brooks has made tons of adjustments by trying multiple lineups. Brooks' adjustments are not working, but it's completely inaccurate to say he's not making adjustments. You could actually make the case that Brooks has made too many adjustments with his lineups.

[Of Sound Mind]

The Thunder will not win a championship under Scott Brooks. He's demonstrated repeatedly that he has taken this team as far as he can take them. There has to be major changes if the Thunder hopes to ever win a title. The clock is ticking for this team, with free agency looming in a couple years and our stars begin to seriously evaluate their options. I had a lot of respect for Presti, but that is diminishing as well. How long before he pulls the trigger to make some very important changes to give this team the best chance to get a title (or two) before Durant's current contract is up? If little changes and/or if the Thunder doesn't win a title before then, I wouldn't blame KD for leaving to find the best chance for him to get a title ring (or two or three) before his career ends.

[OKCisOK4me]

The Thunder will not win a championship under Scott Brooks. He's demonstrated repeatedly that he has taken this team as far as he can take them. There has to be major changes if the Thunder hopes to ever win a title. The clock is ticking for this team, with free agency looming in a couple years and our stars begin to seriously evaluate their options. I had a lot of respect for Presti, but that is diminishing as well. How long before he pulls the trigger to make some very important changes to give this team the best chance to get a title (or two) before Durant's current contract is up? If little changes and/or if the Thunder doesn't win a title before then, I wouldn't blame KD for leaving to find the best chance for him to get a title ring (or two or three) before his career ends.

Major changes like having a 100% healthy team? Now you know how this team would look had we kept Harden instead of Ibaka. CLEARLY HE'S A BETTER DEFENDER OF THE INTERIOR THA MOST THINK.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S5

[SoonerDave]

Hypothetical, and it might have been discussed already, say Brooks is let go. Fisher is being discussed for a coaching position somewhere. Would he be a good (or bad) choice for OKC to have some ease in the transition or would it just be awkward?

Don't think Fisher would be the kind of coach they need. I'm not sure about this, but was there not a defensive coach on the staff just a couple of years ago who got a head (or higher-level) gig with another team? And I don't think he was explicitly replaced? Not sure, but the point being that we may have evolved to a defense-by-committee situation.

Hey, I have no problem admitting the Spurs are better. It would be foolish not to. Neither OKC, nor most any other team, could take the hit they've taken the last two years and expect to perform at the same level. Sucks. Rotten breaks. But that's how it goes. But that doesn't mean that you should be OK with giving up a 35-40 point loss in a division championship final. Surely pride comes into play at some point and you play some kind of defense, because a lot of what I saw last night was just the Spurs being patient until someone didn't rotate and cover and offer up wide-open look after wide-open look when they weren't just driving the lane. Yeah, that's part of what Ibaka does, but good grief, there has to be the notion of defense on the whole team, not just one guy.

That's what just scares me about how this team is structured...okay, "scares" is too strong a word, but it just seems so dad-gum fragile. Glass jaw. House of cards. Pull out one card, and the whole thing just tumbles to the ground.

I'm basketball stupid and I freely admit it, so that's surely a naive analysis, just what my eyeballs tell me. They brought in Perkins a few years ago to give the team some physical toughness, but part of me thinks now they need something to bring in some mental toughness. Thought when they were up 36-32 in the first quarter that what I'd been thinking was finally happening - the bench was playing above expectations - and then it all just imploded like the Hindenberg. No counterpunch. Nothing.

Frustrating, disappointing, and all that. Losing Westbrook last year the way we did, now losing Ibaka when we did, about the only thing worse would be getting all the way to a Game 7 final next year and Durant spraining his ankle during warmups...

[Of Sound Mind]

Major changes like having a 100% healthy team?

Rarely, this late into the year does is a team 100% healthy. The key is DEPTH. What depth do we have? That's on Presti and Brooks. What discipline do we have? That's on Brooks. Where's the defense? That's on Brooks.

[Anonymous.]

Why do people keep saying this? I've seen multiple people express this sentiment. Brooks has made tons of adjustments by trying multiple lineups. Brooks' adjustments are not working, but it's completely inaccurate to say he's not making adjustments. You could actually make the case that Brooks has made too many adjustments with his lineups.

Ibaka going down and forcing someone else to start does not = adjustments. If anything, Jones should be starting for Ibaka, he is the closest replacement.

Brooks set us up for this disaster by not playing Lamb, Jones, Adams (hell even Roberson) in any regular season meaningful minutes. Lamb had that random spurt of games where he got minutes, then stopped knocking down shots. Brooks removed him and never gave him another chance.

Brooks only makes a change when someone was hurt, that's why guys this season got minutes. Not because Brooks wanted to build these players to shine on the big stage.


Look @ Green for the Spurs. That is our Lamb. From scrub to star, but not under Brook's watch.

[warreng88]

Here's my two cents on the state of the Thunder.

I don't think the Thunder as an organization are that far off from winning a title. That doesn't mean it will happen, but it could. Here are the problems in my mind. First, as much as everyone is knocking Brooks for his rotations, he's actually been really flexible in trying everything. He's throwing different lineups out there, but nothing is really working. The problem in my mind is the lack of discipline and structure. Westbrook jacked up numerous 3s last night and defended them in the post game. Great coaches don't allow their players to play undisciplined by taking low percentage shots. Why can't Brooks get his stars, particularly Westbook but KD at times too, to learn to take better shots? This is year 6. Secondly, whenever things start to break down, we just don't have enough offensive structure to get players besides KD and Russ good shots. If the Thunder decide to move past Brooks because of this I think it would be justified. However, we have to remember that while Brooks is not a great X and Os coach, he's good at a lot of other things - development, consistency, player trust - that his players and the organization value. Still, I'd be happy with a guy like Jeff Van Gundy who would have no problem telling Russell that if he's going to shoot 3s then he's going to sit on the bench (a conversation that should have happened in training camp).

While Brooks deserves a lot of blame so do Westbrook and KD for not playing smarter. Also, I've been saying for months that I'm not even sure Thabo is an NBA-level player. His offensive regression has been so severe that I can't think of another team in the league that would give him meaningful playoff minutes. He's okay (not great) as a defensive specialist, but we need two way players. Unfortunately, the Thunder are already grooming a Thabo replacement in Andre Roberson who is even worse offensively. He has absolutely no offensive skill. The off season will be interesting. Do we re-sign Reggie? I hope we can get him for a reasonable amount. Do we let Thabo go? Probably. But who do we get? Bring back Caron? We have a lot of decent assets (e.g., PGIII, Lamb, Roberson, 2 first round draft picks), maybe we could flip them for a veteran. There's a reason championship contenders don't play young guys much. Despite the disappointment now, I still think the Thunder just need to play smarter, develop a better offensive system, and sign a veteran than can score consistently to seriously contend next year. If Adams continues to grow and Reggie improves any more than we'll be in really good shape.

This 0-2 deficit is very unlike 2012 and I don't expect the Thunder to come back, but let's get loud at home and get a win and see if we can get some confidence.

Just a quick point of clarification of this one: we have Reggie signed through the end of next season and then he becomes a RFA.

The only players who are up at the end of this season are Thabo, Fish, Caron and the other lower paid players like Reggie Williams, Royal, Mustafa Shakur and Grant Jerrett. Thabeet is on a team option and with his lack of playing time, I don't see us resigning him for $1.25 million.

[dankrutka]

Just a quick point of clarification of this one: we have Reggie signed through the end of next season and then he becomes a RFA.

Yes, but Reggie is eligible for an extension THIS offseason. This is same point in Harden's career - with one year left on his rookie deal - when we traded him.

[trousers]

You can win in the regular season playing street ball which is what we generally play.
The first two game agains the Spurs show that a less talented team that plays with a real game plan will win. If you took our team and applied 1/3 of the Spurs structure we would be a pretty amazing team.
The Spurs apply basic b-ball fundamentals that we sorely lack.

[Just the facts]

If you took our team and applied 1/3 of the Spurs structure we would be a pretty amazing team.
The Spurs apply basic b-ball fundamentals that we sorely lack.

[Urbanized]

Right after he invented the pass he invented the flop.

[warreng88]

Yes, but Reggie is eligible for an extension THIS offseason. This is same point in Harden's career - with one year left on his rookie deal - when we traded him.

According to Hoopshype, he is not eligible for a qualifying offer until after the 2014-2015 season. Here is the direct link:

HoopsHype - NBA Salaries - Oklahoma City Thunder

And according to Realgm.com basketball, he is a RFA in 2015.

Reggie Jackson Player Profile, Oklahoma City Thunder, News, Rumors, NBA Stats, NCAA Stats, D-League Stats, Game Logs, Bests, Awards - RealGM

[warreng88]

My mistake, you are saying they can extend him an offer this season, got it.

[trousers]

The Spurs consistently apply basketball principles that you are taught in junior high which we rarely, much less consistently, use.
--block out
--it's faster to pass the ball down the court than dribble it. This is why the Spurs set up their offence so much faster than we do.
--in the half court...stay spaced. We have some of the worst spacing I have ever seen...which is what happens when you don't run plays and people are just standing around
--we throw temper tantrums like little kids

[Laramie]

We have several players (Collison, Sefolosha, Perkins) of late who are hesitate about their shots; that may factor into why they miss. When they are wide open; they need to go ahead with the shot--instead they look to see if someone else is open. Opponents lay off these players; they know they're a non factor.

Individual players need to rely on their own confidence. Durant & Westbrook are targeted; once they become non factors, the game becomes academic. Glad Brooks threw in the white flag; Durant and Westbrook will need rest until the team can adjust without Ibaka.

"Oklahoma City looks oh-so pretty... ...as I get my kicks on Route 66." --Nat King Cole.

[Bill Robertson]

Brooks was sitting on the bench in the 4th qtr....how does he do that? ... that is accepting defeat.

I guess they are just gonna "flip on the switch in OKC" and play better.

Brooks, you may need put a fire under them or SA will sweep ya in 4.

Not just the 4th quarter. I went ballistic in the 3rd quarter when the Thunder were down by 20 or so. They showed Popovich for a few seconds and then went right to Brooks for a few seconds. Popovich was on his feet, waving his arms and screaming at someone. You would have thought SA was down by 20. Brooks was in his seat looking lost. I've been a Brooks defender but I'm beginning to think he really is lost.

[Bellaboo]

Still Thunder, different topic. Mods, please move if this doesn't apply to this thread -



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