2013-2014 NBA Thread - IND @ WAS and OKC @ LAC on ESPN

[worldbeefreeg]

Blaming Russ is such a shortsighted conclusion. Those tweet from Bomani hit it on the head.

 

[captainsneakerhead23]

Why do OKC fans keep thinking Kevin Ollie is leaving UConn right now, it's not happening.

I hope he has higher aspirations.. And figures he won't get a better opportunity in the near future.. He knows Durant, Westbrook, ibaka, collison and thabo (having been with the team in 09)

Coached lamb.. Played against fisher, butler and Perkins (if any of them are here next year.. Ditto thabo)

Why won't he get a better opportunity in the near future? He's only 41 years old.

He just came off a national championship at his alma mater and he has made it clear that UConn is his dream job. He's going to continue to build that program up so I don't see him leaving for the NBA any time soon.

2 top 10 players.. A great 3rd option in ibaka.. Talented young guys.. Familiarity with the organization and the players.. Multiple picks in this upcoming draft.. Hell, even Perkins horrendous deal could be a trade chip next season (since it's the final year)

So you're just going to disregard the fact that he has his dream job already?

I agree with your reasoning, OKC would be a great situation for pretty much any coach, but you shouldn't focus your coaching search on Kevin Ollie because it would be a waste of time.

 

[blastercombo]

Blaming Russ is such a shortsighted conclusion. Those tweet from Bomani hit it on the head.

It's from guys who've only seen OKC play during these playoffs and a couple other times during the regular season

 

[datznasty]

Create for who?


Every game he has 1 or 2 turnovers because Perkins can't even catch the ball.. An allergy that Durant now seems to be afflicted with


Brooks whole offensive game plan is for the bigs to be screeners.. But you hardly have an roll movements.. It's literally just to free up Westbrook or Durant.. I'm convinced collison is our only bring man who gets that you should roll off of it.. And westbrook gets ibaka a ton of wide open mid range shots


I mean he did have 13 assists last night

I just think this is a lame excuse.  I mean I understand the Thunder don't have a ton of offensive talent outside of KD and RW, but most NBA players are capable of putting in open shots and layups.  Each of these guys has a way he can score if someone else puts him in the position.  Thabo and Butler on 3s, Ibaka on midrange, Adams and Collison on layups, Perkins on nothing.  You can't just say "create for who, these guys are all useless"...  That's just not how good NBA offenses work.

I think you could admit that creating shots for others and running an offense isn't RW's priority or strong suit.  

Have you been watching any of the games? Thabo's shot is trash this year plus takes 5 seconds to get it off, when he is on, yes he is primarily all off assists from WB since he just shoots out the corners. Ibaka scores midrange jumpers, again with like a 70%+ assisted rate by WB and KD.

Collison was 0fer last night, Fish was 2 for 6, Butler was 5-10 which would be his best game, Thabo was 0-2, here are their entire playoff shooting splits


Fisher is 30%FG and 22% from 3
Butler is 34.4% FG and 44.4% from 3
Sefolosha is 41.5%FG and 31.6% from 3
Jackson is 38.1%FG and 30.8% from 3
Collison is 40%FG
Perkins is 64%FG (on 2 attempts)
Ibaka is 58.8%FG and 40% from 3
Lamb, PJ3, Roberson, and Adams are sleep on the bench

The only one with any sort of efficiency is Ibaka who I would like to see take more shots absolutely, but he has a tendency to pass them up especially in the 4th quarter.

Jesus passing these guys the ball isn't going to make any difference when shooting like that.

 

[bhzmafia14]

From a poster on the Grizz boards....made a ton of sense:

You are definitely not seeing fool's gold. Just about everyone knows OKC's offensive sets are non-existent, but most of the analysts would rather focus on the talent of Durant and Westbrook and how they win even with their poorly structured offense. And then when OKC loses they point fingers at Westbrook, and not on the offense where the blame should be. Westbrook gets way too much blame IMO, but I'll stop there. With Memphis being healthy and their level of defense it should have been obvious Memphis could win the series. That's why I felt they would win in six and after Game 3 could win in five if they kept doing things the way they had. Unfortunately they turned in another horrible offensive game.

Do they have a big game around the corner? Honestly I would say no.

First their offensive sets, or lack thereof, do not put them in the best positions to maximize scoring opportunities. They pretty much have to depend on run-outs and elite-level players' abilities to score. They occasionally run a basic PnR, use a lot of iso, and create passing opportunities through driving and other defenders leaving their man due to help defense. I've been focusing more on Memphis so after this thread I'll probably look more at what else they might do, though I'm not expecting much if anything more at all.

Second the Grizzlies' team and individual defense takes Durant and Westbrook out of rhythm. I believe Bruce Bowen said something along the lines with Durant that it wasn't rhythm, but lack of space. I can't remember exactly what he said, but I would disagree in that to me what he said is exactly a part of rhythm. From receiving the pass or taking a dribble to the landing after the shot is all about rhythm. TA is disruptive from the beginning to the end of that process on Durant and occasionally Westbrook, though he's gotten some fouls (some questionable) during the end part of that. Both Conley and Lee have done well disrupting that rhythm against Westbrook.

Third is Durant is logging a stupid amount of minutes. He's currently first in the NBA with 46.5MPG (Marc is surprisingly 4th with 44.8MPG by the way) in the playoffs. So while that is helped by the OT games, he is essentially playing all of every game. And going back to the regular season and the game they lost to the Pacers, he is averaging 45.1MPG the last seven games. I decided to look back ten years of playoffs to see who has logged a similar amount of minutes and I had to go back all the way to 05-06 where Arenas with WAS and Lebron with CLE played around the same amount. Neo mentioned the same thing happened in the last playoffs, he logged 45.8MPG against the Grizzlies there.

As crazy as it might sound I have a very tough time seeing Durant and most likely Westbrook being factors the rest of the series. I don't think Durant has the legs to be a factor combined with the defense that TA is playing. And I don't see Westbrook being given the opportunity to get in a rhythm. I said before the series that I believed that if the Grizzlies held OKC to around or under 45% from the field they can/will win that game. They have far exceeded that IMO. Their team FG% has declined every game to where it was 36.7% in Game 4. So the Thunder are going to have to prove me wrong as I believe they have a very big hill to overcome.

This is why I don't see a big game coming from Durant and/or Westbrook. The only way they have a big game is if they are hitting unbelievable shots consistently. I can guarantee you right now that Durant is mentally and physically drained.

Durant only has an 18.6 PER during the 1st round of this series.

 

[tyonenine]

Butler killed me last night when he caught the ball in the corner for the open 3, looked at the rim, waited a few seconds for the defender to come to him then proceeded to launch a contested shot.

 

[datznasty]

After last game, Durant is at 47 minutes and 36 seconds per game. He played over 3300 in the regular season, by far the most of any player and as the poster mentioned, no rest or taper down of minutes going into the end of the season. If they trade Westbrook and literally don't do anything else, we'll be back here next season having the same conversation, in fact could get worst if you really get a Rondo or Rubio or other non offensive threat type PG who then allows the defense to go 5 on 1 at KD. And Brooks is still trotting out those predictable *** pin down plays which don't even work because Grizz bigs just double into the passing lane.

But our defense is more the problem anyways, deploreable to be getting destroyed like this by a #27 offense while basically neutralizing their 2 offensive bigs but then the 3rd string pg is having games where he outscores our entire bench and Tony Allen somehow has the power to turn invisible then cut to the basket and turn back visible again and get a layup.

 

[IATT]

Why do OKC fans keep thinking Kevin Ollie is leaving UConn right now, it's not happening.

I hope he has higher aspirations.. And figures he won't get a better opportunity in the near future.. He knows Durant, Westbrook, ibaka, collison and thabo (having been with the team in 09)

Coached lamb.. Played against fisher, butler and Perkins (if any of them are here next year.. Ditto thabo)

Why won't he get a better opportunity in the near future? He's only 41 years old.

He just came off a national championship at his alma mater and he has made it clear that UConn is his dream job. He's going to continue to build that program up so I don't see him leaving for the NBA any time soon.

2 top 10 players.. A great 3rd option in ibaka.. Talented young guys.. Familiarity with the organization and the players.. Multiple picks in this upcoming draft.. Hell, even Perkins horrendous deal could be a trade chip next season (since it's the final year)

So you're just going to disregard the fact that he has his dream job already?

I agree with your reasoning, OKC would be a great situation for pretty much any coach, but you shouldn't focus your coaching search on Kevin Ollie because it would be a waste of time.

You're ignoring the fact that I started by saying "I hope".. And then say: "and figures he won't"

 

[keel252]

keep it simple TA has KD strapped up out there, and the lack of O Brooks provides dont make it any easier to get a bucket. If Memphis had one more legit bucket getter on the outside this series would be 3-1 or a sweep.

 

[jinkazama]

Can't believe dudes in here are screaming trade Westbrook. OKC has more than enough talent to win a title. Second best player in the league...all star PG (like him or not), a good PF, and great role players. THEIR COACH doesn't have any idea, other than let Durant and Wes play hero ball, how to use these guys to the best of their ability.

You give the bulls coach this OKC roster and they'd win the West and give Miami all they could handle in the finals

 

[freeze]

Trade scenario my brother came up with, which I wouldn't mind seeing.


To Lakers:  Westbrook

To Celtics:  Nash  (Lakers 2014 1st round pick)

To OKC:  Rondo  (possible celtics 2014 17th overall pick)




What do you think ?

shouldn't have made it out the womb. it's never too late..get your Kane on

 

[do work son]

Can't believe dudes in here are screaming trade Westbrook. OKC has more than enough talent to win a title. Second best player in the league...all star PG (like him or not), a good PF, and great role players. THEIR COACH doesn't have any idea, other than let Durant and Wes play hero ball, how to use these guys to the best of their ability.

You give the bulls coach this OKC roster and they'd win the West and give Miami all they could handle in the finals

Or he'd burn the roster out by ASW

 

[freeze]

Can't believe dudes in here are screaming trade Westbrook. OKC has more than enough talent to win a title. Second best player in the league...all star PG (like him or not), a good PF, and great role players. THEIR COACH doesn't have any idea, other than let Durant and Wes play hero ball, how to use these guys to the best of their ability.

You give the bulls coach this OKC roster and they'd win the West and give Miami all they could handle in the finals

doubt it. all he know is defense. they have the worst scoring in the league. he'd have them playing lock down d, and with all that scoring potential, only scoring in the 80s. and you may not remember since it's been so long, but all he really ran was iso with d.rose. where's d.rose now? no, seriously, where is he? havent seen him in what feels like years. he need to be on one of those Oprah 'where are they now' specials.

 

[aepps20]

Or he'd burn the roster out by ASW

QFT

 

[coldcity]

 

[captainsneakerhead23]

You hear these fools bro

 

[blastercombo]

OKC wants the bulls coach?? LOL, the hell ya talking about

 

[100027]

Best coach in the league has made a point of resting his players during the season.

Yet Tom Thibodeau running his players into the ground is no big deal?

I think it's a serious problem...  And probably a big part of the reason they've won so many regular season games in the first place.

 

[duba169]

Crawford just iced Durant.

It aint the playoffs if Joey doesn't wanna steal the show.

 

[coldcity]

literally no one would be talkin this run's players into the ground thing if we had a little scoring to help get w's

the wiz couldve swept chicago(Basically did) BUT with a sneeze of actual CONSTANT offense they couldve been swept EASILY

 

[atransta]

KD blew the game last night and Scotty Brooks terrible *** offense. You guys are really blaming Westbrook? He shot terribly but at least he was playing with heart and hustle. He got a freaking triple double, while KD was half heartily sulking and giving no effort playing defense at times and not rebounding the ball. He also had at least 3 TO's trying to drive to the lane and did his stupid arm flail thing and look for a bail out call.

 

[herbshuttles15]

Thibs and his rotations

 

[100027]

literally no one would be talkin this run's players into the ground thing if we had a little scoring to help get w's

the wiz couldve swept chicago(Basically did) BUT with a sneeze of actual CONSTANT offense they couldve been swept EASILY

I'm just saying...  You pass it off as no big deal, but Popovich, who is the smartest coach in the league clearly thinks it is very important.  Why is it so easy for you to dismiss that criticism?

 

[captainsneakerhead23]

literally no one would be talkin this run's players into the ground thing if we had a little scoring to help get w's


the wiz couldve swept chicago(Basically did) BUT with a sneeze of actual CONSTANT offense they couldve been swept EASILY

I'm just saying...  You pass it off as no big deal, but Popovich, who is the smartest coach in the league clearly thinks it is very important.  Why is it so easy for you to dismiss that criticism?

What is he supposed to do when he has a lack of consistent offensive?

 

[100027]

What is he supposed to do when he has a lack of consistent offensive?

...Not run his starters into the ground?  Play his bench players?  It's not like his starters are consistent offense.

Maybe he's running his starters into the ground to mask the fact that his team isn't really that good.  Maybe that's where all this "overachieving" comes from, rather than any particular coaching genius.