Daily Thunder.com

Oh and the recap is up. Sorry for it being late. I-35 traffic was really a pain in the ace tonight.

@justin
I've got a decent host, but the two times it's gone down, one, my IP address was being transferred so it was just maintenance. The other time, the game thread was really pumping (I think it was the night OKC played Dallas on ESPN) and the site had just been linked by Deadspin, which basically just buried me.

But you're right, I might need an upgrade if we're playoff bound.

@RH
Plus if any of us happen to come up with something that Royce hasn't he makes sure to post it.

A forum is a double edged sword.. much of the quality of this blog is the fact that the content is controlled to a decent degree by the posts. Moderating a forum is annoying, especially when you get opposing team's fans and whatnot involved. Royce and others seem to put a lot of work already into creating the content that drives discussion here on the blog; I'm not sure it'd be worth it to invest even more time into moderating a forum.

This format works quite well, IMO..

I like it this way. Guaranteed intelligent posts.

@Aenema

Royce claims it's in the works...

I'd really like to see a forum addition to this site, since it's the only site that really has much traffic for the thunder (at least that I've found). It would be nice if posters could start threads and such.

i think away games have a better chance of more comments, i dont comment on home game til after cause im there and im sure a few other regulars are too

I've had it go down twice.. can't remember when but there were a couple times where traffic was high and I got database errors.

@andrew
Traffic on I-35 my but ;-)

justin :
If we make the playoffs or are close to making the playoffs near the end of the year I think you might need to look into better hosting, you’re going to get hammered.
Really amazed at the traffic on this blog for such a relatively new / small fanbase..

i havnt seen any performance issues on the site, and i am very impatient with the internet

I think Royce is purposefully delaying the game recaps to inflate the comments on the pregame primers :).

I think a playoff game thread could beat that... Let's hope.

I'm happy for you Royce regardless. Anything over 100 comments on most fan sites is huge. We are getting to the point that 70-80 is average for any full length post. This site is really one of the best fan sites of any sport I've found around the internet.

Or if Presti makes a big trade..

@Royce
653, to be precise.

If we make the playoffs or are close to making the playoffs near the end of the year I think you might need to look into better hosting, you're going to get hammered.

Really amazed at the traffic on this blog for such a relatively new / small fanbase..

clarkem :
Is 470 comments a record?

I think we had something like 700 the night of the draft.

the letter "FFFFFFFFFFF"

Is 470 comments a record?

Westbrook still has time, Paul shot 43% his first 2 years, and he played a lot more in college. Not saying westbrook will become the same shooter but he should take a big leap his 3rd year, like durant has. I was at the game as well, I'm not sure if it's brooks or the players but someone needs to help KD and westbrook, they can't do it alone. Where is the harden we started to see a month ago? He started driving to the hoop and disappeared, the shooter has yet to return.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct

Agreed about James. As much PT as he had in crunch time, I was surprised he didn't really do anything offensively. We were really looking to Durant and Russ in crunch time, but if we're not going to have Harden shoot, aren't we better off putting in another big guy to help guard Blair/McDyess?

@Kev

Great, thanks. I figured you were going to address it, but I thought I'd throw it out there.

I'm guessing you also ranted on our pick and roll switches and how we were torched on the P&R in the first quarter?

And how it seemed our defense improved on Parker in the 3rd when we started to collapse and double and triple-team more?

Mark! :So does Uncle Jeff guard Timmy?
He should break his season high in rebounding (17), and I would be shocked to see him break his career high (25)

Whoops! My mistake. Timmy didn't play. Oh well!

Recap's coming. Traffic on I-35 was HORRIBLE.

@f5alcon

The refs do swallow the whistle with only a handful of seconds left on the clock. Well, unless you're Kobe.

Maybe with a little more experience, Russell will learn to create something else when he's in busted play mode.

Also, just because KD is standing still waving his arms doesn't mean he's open necessarily. I just want to reiterate that no one else on the floor was working to get a shot. After Russ got the ball, everyone else mostly just ball watched.

James had to have played close to 30 minutes tonight. We need him to take more than 5 shots in 30 minutes. That's how much Thabo shoots in 30 minutes. That's just not spreading the floor like the team needs.

RW didnt lose this game for us, 25 points and 13 assists is a good stat line. The fact that we gave up 21 offensive rebs and blair had 10 by himself did it

@Jared

BZZT. The Knicks are 8th in the league in Pace Factor, and have been one of the slowest teams in the league since their 1-9 start, with a Pace Factor of 92.9 or something slow like that. The misconception that Lee's numbers are inflated by D'Antoni's system is ridiculous, since his rebounding percentages and field goal percentages remain excellent independant of what the pace of the game is.

David Lee can finish inside, that's what he does. He can shoot the ball too from inside twenty feet. His FG% is through the roof because he's excellent on the pick and roll and knows how to get the ball into the basket.

RH :Just got back from the game. I’m sure it’s been covered, but can someone fill me in if so?
It seemed we didn’t have an answer for Blair – he was just a matchup nightmare for us. I think Coach Pop knew that and created the matchup with about 7:00 in the 4th, and Blair had the 2 easy buckets. Collison couldn’t cover him, so he was pulled, but when Green is the biggest guy we have in the game, he can’t cover Blair either.
Thoughts?
Any reason Ibaka didn’t get a chance to play against him?

check out my Breakdown on the recap page which hopefully will be up shortly . . .

@Jared
Lee was averaging a double double before D'Antoni got to New York. Also, Minnesota is the 3rd fastest team in the league right now, faster even than New York.

Jared :How can you compare getting lee to getting jefferson?..getting lee would be zero help, honestly do you guys watch the games???…lee stats are inflated due to his coach, like everyone else who has played for him. the thunder are NOT a fast team, not suited to his style . if the game slows down and we throw it in the post at the moment there is no-one to give it to. lee isnt going to help this aspect at all!jefferson on the other hand…

I've seen plenty of Knicks games this year, and Timberwolves games for that matter . . .

Lee and Jefferson are different players - but Lee can play - actually, the Knicks are only 9th this far in Pace, so they are not really blazing up and down the court - Lee is still getting his points . . . Jefferson has plenty of warts (cant guard centers, mediocre passer, mediocre defender at bestk not a leader) on his resume . . .

Just got back from the game. I'm sure it's been covered, but can someone fill me in if so?

It seemed we didn't have an answer for Blair - he was just a matchup nightmare for us. I think Coach Pop knew that and created the matchup with about 7:00 in the 4th, and Blair had the 2 easy buckets. Collison couldn't cover him, so he was pulled, but when Green is the biggest guy we have in the game, he can't cover Blair either.

Thoughts?

Any reason Ibaka didn't get a chance to play against him?

@Jax Raging Bile Duct

yeah though i think westbrook shoud have tried to drive the lane and just dunk it, i doubt they call an offensive foul on the last play of the game

@justin
But sadly, that's all Miller ever really became, a spot up shooter. Harden could stay in the 35-40% range on threes, but could also be an incredibly effective shooter inside the arc if he was actually given the opportunity. Harden has some things Miller never did, like a PG-esque feel for the offense, and a hard-hat capacity to use his strength.

How can you argue with Russ' January statistically? 20 / 6.2 / 8.3 on 45% shooting and only 2.3 turnovers a game. I mean, he gets put into some awkward spots and isn't a great shooter, but if he keeps up that production..

Kev :

justin :Kev you’re the first Thunder fan I’ve gotten to share enthusasim for David Lee.. glad to know I’m not crazy

he’s really a good player, and not every team can get Bosh – Lee can play some ball . . .
admittedly I was not a fan last year, but after charting the last sixty Thunder games or so, I have seen (step by step) the transition (defensively) of Green and Durant – there is no proof that Lee can’t be coached to play defense (no character issues) . . .

he played under larry brown and didnt defend. he will never be a good defender

How can you compare getting lee to getting jefferson?..
getting lee would be zero help, honestly do you guys watch the games???...
lee stats are inflated due to his coach, like everyone else who has played for him. the thunder are NOT a fast team, not suited to his style . if the game slows down and we throw it in the post at the moment there is no-one to give it to. lee isnt going to help this aspect at all!
jefferson on the other hand...

My take on that last play: KD couldn't get open. Of course, they don't blow the whistle there, KD has to learn to fight that off. I was at the game, and didn't get to see a replay, but when it was obvious that the inbounds pass was not going to get to KD, NO ONE ELSE did diddly squat to get to the ball except Russell. Running up against a 5 second count, he was the only option, and he go the ball, and instinctively went to the open front court out of the crowd.

At that point you could see the OHS#!^ look on his face, the hesitation of not wanting to take the shot, not knowing where to go with the ball, and time was running out. At least he got an open look.

It was obvious that the play they wanted was a bust. Russell was the only one that worked to get open, and he couldn't create a shot to win. A few minutes earlier he hit a similar shot to force OT, so it wasn't the worst shot in the world.

Before Russell gets any blame for how this game went, we should be looking at why James only took 5 shots, or why no one who plays the 5 for us could keep up with Blair, or why no one who plays the 4 for us could keep up with Blair, or why in the heck Thabo is taking a fadeaway jumper with plenty of time left on the shot clock with the game on the line, or why Jeff Green can't take his man down low on the block, or why no one on the team seems to be willing to make something happen when it counts other than KD or Russell.

Our offensive sets are not impressive. I've bagged on that all year. I hope to see an off-season devoted to improving it. I thought tonight it hurt us again in several instances. If it were not for Russell getting his own self open, we would only have two plays; a KD iso, and James running the PnR, which he didn't even do tonight.

I don't mean starting him, not yet. I just mean playing an offensive game that isn't 1 on 1 with 4 guys just hoping their defender stays with them. Harden can set screens, he can utilize them well, and he can read when the defense is playing off him. I'd like to see Brooks emphasize all that more. He'll nail shots when open, we just don't run anything to really get anyone open. I mean, can you imagine how good he'd be running the Rip Hamilton screen games?

555 :I had been on Westbrook’s issue for a while when he was not playing within his game. But, lately he is playing very good (not great but very good)… He and KD were the ones that put the game into OT for the most parts. And I don’t think it was his fault at the last possession at all. He was just forced into the situation.It was more of the way they played in the first quater; the Thunder weren’t able to shut down the 2nd chance and even 3rd chance basket by losing all those rebounds (just like how they lost most of the other games); the bad play by the coach at the end by putting Sefolosha on the court instead of someone else could spread the floor and able to make shot; And I still say the ref calls were really weird and questionable tonight.However, I just can say it was all because Thunder didn’t how to play the game in the first quater because they were playing a different Spurs team without Ducan. Kind of like, “what are we supposed to do since they don’t start their offense with Duncan, or something like that…” Also, it definately showed that they were able to play the Spurs because we saw that for the last 3 quaters and in the OT, but they lost the first quater by too much. I think coach Brooks was a step or two slower… And it also showed that why the Spurs was and is one of the elite teams in the NBA.And the dam Rocekets just won the game after 3OTs… Damn it…

they let down because Duncan wasn't playing - you could tell defensively . . .

Mike Miller is once of the best shooters of this generation.. I don't see James Harden developing that kind of shot.

@justin

i was going crazy that we didnt sign lee to a offer sheet last summer....would have gotten a great deal on him

justin :Kev you’re the first Thunder fan I’ve gotten to share enthusasim for David Lee.. glad to know I’m not crazy

he's really a good player, and not every team can get Bosh - Lee can play some ball . . .

admittedly I was not a fan last year, but after charting the last sixty Thunder games or so, I have seen (step by step) the transition (defensively) of Green and Durant - there is no proof that Lee can't be coached to play defense (no character issues) . . .

I want to see James Harden get a bit more consistent off the bench before starting him..

@justin
People don't like the Brent Barry comparison because he's a nobody now, and wasn't more than a no-defense sharpshooter in recent years. I think an of Harden as the successor to Mike Miller. People forget, but Miller won ROY honors and people thought he would be a real star. I think Harden is similar. He has all the tools, he just needs to be given the chance to be more than just a shooter in the corner.

If we don't utilize our #3 pick he won't lean how to become a starter. He's gonna have to learn at some point so, lets let him learn now before we have to force him into a starting role because of injury and such.

I had been on Westbrook's issue for a while when he was not playing within his game. But, lately he is playing very good (not great but very good)... He and KD were the ones that put the game into OT for the most parts. And I don't think it was his fault at the last possession at all. He was just forced into the situation.
It was more of the way they played in the first quater; the Thunder weren't able to shut down the 2nd chance and even 3rd chance basket by losing all those rebounds (just like how they lost most of the other games); the bad play by the coach at the end by putting Sefolosha on the court instead of someone else could spread the floor and able to make shot; And I still say the ref calls were really weird and questionable tonight.
However, I just can say it was all because Thunder didn't how to play the game in the first quater because they were playing a different Spurs team without Ducan. Kind of like, "what are we supposed to do since they don't start their offense with Duncan, or something like that..." Also, it definately showed that they were able to play the Spurs because we saw that for the last 3 quaters and in the OT, but they lost the first quater by too much. I think coach Brooks was a step or two slower... And it also showed that why the Spurs was and is one of the elite teams in the NBA.
And the dam Rocekets just won the game after 3OTs... Damn it...

Kev you're the first Thunder fan I've gotten to share enthusasim for David Lee.. glad to know I'm not crazy :)

justin :@Keith
Because Brooks is so conservative on offense..

they have Cheeks on the sidelines - why not let him come up with something???

justin :@Kev
I’d start Ibaka.. if he learns English and how to play defense correctly, Ibaka would be a nice player at center next to David Lee..

Ibaka needs to put on weight - he fared poorly against Hibbert - he's pretty narrow - Collison is short for a five but he has excellent technique . . . I'd keep Ibaka on the bench . . .