Daily Thunder.com

@andrew
Haha. I think Van Pelt was cut off saying "Hi, Youtube."

http://talksportsphilly.com/?p=1642

NBA Power Rankings

http://www.twitvid.com/D9D97

This is what i was wondering about. If anyone cares haha.

@I am the DON

Kevin Durant is not Kobe, and a final shot isn't what I'm even talking about.

I don't argue for the sake of arguing, I've been talking this point consistently since November 3rd, 2009 when we lost to the Lakers. Our offensive execution at the end of games will not win close games in the long run.

You're citing one game, I'm citing Kevin Durant's FG% in the clutch, his % from long range compared to our success in the paint, Phoenix's ability to run their offense successfully going to the basket, etc. Instead of telling me I'm 'throwing a hissy fit' how about addressing the points I've made or just don't post a reply at all.

Btw, here's a nice tweet from Taylor Griffin after the fact:

"Great win for us in OKC 2nite! Great atmosphere too, OKC luvs their bball! Makes me proud 2 claim this city! Back 2 PHX!"

Nice complement to Ford Center.

Good night

I'll just take this debate victory and call it a night now

*hits the showers*

Did anyone just catch what Brian Westbrook said on ESPN? All i caught was something about David Stern's prostate, and they cut him off and went to Scott Van Pelt who stared at the camera incredulously..

@andrew

*doesn't suppress chuckle*

*gets sick pleasure from portland failblazers' misery and makes no apologies for it*

Please hurry up and put up the recap because this will last all night on this thread!

@justin

Check all those shots vs. the knicks in the clutch and tell me again those are bad shots

Check the contested 3 tonight by kobe and tell me that's a bad shot

You're just throwing a hissy fit over the fact that the shots didn't fall tonight in conjunction with the fact that you just want to get the last word in and like to argue for the sake of arguing

For the 100th time, naturally, shots in clutch 4th quarter situations will be toughly guarded. Apparently that's news to you

Camby went down with ankle injury tonight. -suppresses chuckle-

@I am the DON

Check that 21 footer and tell me again it's an open look..

And yes, the Suns will take Kevin Durant getting an open look from 20 feet over Kevin Durant or anyone else getting to the basket and either getting fouled or getting a shot attempt. Even James Harden, who shoots horribly at the rim, has a higher shot percentage there than KD does from 20 feet.

@I am the DON
I'm glad because we, as fans, have less time to sulk before we have another opportunity to get out there and get a win. A win tomorrow night can wash away all the sorrow. Looking ahead to this 5 games in 4 days streak, I really thought it would be a success if we could win 3 of 4. We still have a shot. I didn't think there was any way we could beat Phoenix and SA on a back to back. I really hope we can steal a win tomorrow.

I agree with justin, we should change it up a bit have Russ take it to end the shot clock/game and let him either drive, pull up or dish.

@justin

The suns were thrilled seeing KD getting healthy open looks on a night where he already had 36 points on high percentage shooting from the field?

Surely you're joking

You're overlooking the entire team. We need experience as a team finishing games. They won't get that watching Kevin Durant operate. The Suns operated as a team, didn't go away from their offense to get back into the game. The Spurs run plays to end games and always look to move the ball if it's warranted. We don't do that.

I agree that many positives can come from a loss like this, but many negatives come from it also. We are re-inforcing bad execution in crunch time, and it's gone on continually the whole season. A lot of times our defense bails us out, once in a while Kevin Durant bails us out, but our offense is most succesful when we're moving the ball, getting looks on penetration. No reason to go away from that at the end of games. Last shot? Sure give it to KD and see what happens.. otherwise, we're just building a losing culture instead of a winning one.

I actually am glad that they don't have the chance to let this game register because they have to play tomorrow

We are usually good at bounce back games, particularly on little rest. I'd be more worried if we had a 2 day gap between this game and the next

We have a whole team. Why use the team to get offense for the first 8 minutes of the fourth quarter then completely go away from it even if it's successful?

I agree that if there's a last shot, a clutch shot. Then give the ball to KD and let him work like the Suns did with J-Rich. But we basically halted our offense with three minutes left and force fed KD, not really looking for offense from anyone else. No real ball movement.. that's not winning basketball. The Suns were getting killed by our penetration and ball movement, trust me, they were thrilled seeing Kevin Durant taking the shots he was taking.

@justin
I'm not talking about getting experience losing games, it's more directed toward experiencing these kinds of tight game, high pressure situations. On top of that, experience in letting these games slip away provides a great motivation for our guys. It allows us to step back and correct issues that made us lose the game and gets guys focused on those points instead of having the win act as a barrier against them learning from mistakes. These situations also help develop a player into a clutch shooter. KD has shown a ton of improvement in this in certain games this year, sadly this wasn't one of them. There is no changing the outcome, but many positives can come from a loss like this. As an organization, our future is much more valuable than our present.

@justin

yes he would say that, and in no way could that be interpreted as being the equivalent of him saying the shots he took down the stretch were bad shots, which is what you're doing. They just happened to not fall tonight. That happens. Get over it

Still a shock...

@Greg

That was an exagerration by me about wide open shots by green and them. But the reality is that those wide open shots by them weren't actually available in any of the possessions down the stretch, and I personally feel very comfortable with the sort of shots KD took down the stretch. He was 0-3 on the last 3 shots but all 3 were very makable shots for him and if nothing else he walks away with more experience of taking clutch shots under his belt and an increased comfort level taking shots in those situations. This will pay off for us in the future

These type of games test you as a player, if you bounce back from it you will only get better because of it. I have no doubts the players will bounce back.

I'm sure if you asked Kevin Durant if he'd rather win the game or get experience losing games he'd choose 'win the game'.

@girlballer
ROFL!!

@Aenema

Thanks for being the voice of reason

@I am the DON

Couldn't disagree more about taking a KD contested shot over a wide open look by Green, Russ or Harden. Green's knocked down plenty of loooks in the clutch. Durant is great, and more times than not I'm more than happy with his shot selection.

But I'd much rather move the ball around like we had been the whole game, setting screens and the entire team in motion. Rather than being STAGNANT, very stagnant. That's part of our problem is we stand around and watch KD try to make a play the last minute in our halfcourt O, (meanwhile Russ could be creating and dishing to KD, but we never do that at the end of games). I blame that partially on coaching.

@I am the DON-no argument here. I just wish we had kept the 10 pt. lead, so nobody HAD to take it. (I also believe world peace and a balanced budget are possible.....)

I am the DON :@justin

Contested jumper in the clutch by KD > wide open shot by russ, harden, green, thabo
He has a terrific track record recently of making them in the clutch too
And 1 of those 3 field goals was a drive to the basket and a shot from close range. A decent one too.
And the 2 jumpers were no defferent or any more contested than all the clutch jumpers he hit against the knicks. We will live with those because those are good looks. Mid range jumpers for KD where the defender gives him healthy amount of space to comfortably get his shot off = a good shot for thunder
Settle down please and be mad at the right person tonight: thabo, for that lazy reach

Be mad at Thabo for just one fault he has made? Remember, Thabo is that person who changed the thunder from a very very bad defending team in one of the best in the league. What do you want next? send thabo to the D-League? I wanna see one game without thabo and you wont be mad at thabo anymore.

@I am the DON
Exactly. Sometimes you have to lose games now to win them down the line.

I've always loved that line by MJ about how (paraphrasing) for every game winning shot he's made, he's missed 100 more. Or something like that. You have to put your star in position to make those kinds of plays so he can make them in the future, and make no mistake, he will make them someday.

@girlballer
:-)

@I am the DON

We had more than half of our points in the paint tonight. The closer you are to the basket the easier it is to score. The Suns showed us that they could get to the basket in crunch time and either score or get fouled. We showed we can rely on inefficient jumpers and pray they go in.

Just answer my this question, Kevin Durant shoots 38% on attempts from 16-23 feet on the season overall. We were shooting ~46% from the field against the Suns up to the 3 minute mark. How can that low percentage two pointer be the best attempt we can get against this team when over half our team's points were scored in the paint?

I don't have zero confidence in Kevin Durant. If there's a last shot that we need to tie or win a game, I have no problem with him improvising. But we had MULTIPLE chances to score and chose to do the same thing basically all three times and it didn't work. If we have one final shot, then give it to KD and see what he can do. But we took ourselves out of our offense which was rolling up to that point and put our money on inefficient offense.

Kevin Durant is not Melo or Kobe, he is not a good shooter in the 4th quarter. We need better looks than that down the stretch. Again watch what Phoenix did, then watch what we did. You will see the difference.

@girlballer

Yeah, KD needs to get comfortable with taking as many of those shots as possible right now because that experience will pay off for us down the line. I mean, it's already paying off for us now, it's not like he hasn't made a healthy amount of clutch shots this season in 4th quarters

GAP= ray of sunshine

On a good note, KD is league leader in scoring! :-)

Just saying.

@justin

A mid range jumper by KD that is in no way altered by the defender = good shot for us

^^^ not debatable

You seem to have zero confidence in a man averaging almost 30ppg and with one of, if not the best, jumpers on the face of this earth but I do

Sorry but wide open layups don't just happen in 4th quarters of hotly contested games. Most of the time your star has to hit a contested shot like kobe did tonight, like melo did the other night over lebron, like KD did vs. the knicks the other day

I would like to see Russ creating at the end of games and nto relying on Durant so much. Russ is a much better creator off the dribble especially when the defenses are crowding them. His ball handling and decision making has improved enough to where I think Brooks can trust him making the right decisions with the ball.

@ DON--I knew it was close, so I checked it @NBA.com before I posted, but yes, that was AFTER the game ended.... Sad, sad for the guys, but I can't say I am MAD at any of them about it. BTW--I agree w/u about KD being the "man" even with a contested shot at the end. This is his team to do with as he may, for better or worse. And it WILL be for the better, I guarantee it!!!

@I am the DON

They aren't good looks, you make no sense at all. You're validating your argument based off one win, when it's clear that Kevin Durant, besides the fact that contested jumpers are a poor shot in those situations, is a poor shooter in fourth quarters period. He does not have a terrific track record of making those shots because he only makes them ~35% of the time.

Again, watch how the Suns played on offense to end the game then watch how we played. The difference is night and day and will explain what I'm talking about to you, because obviously you don't understand.

@girlballer

Suns weren't ahead of us coming into this game, but because of the outcome of this game they are

@justin

Contested jumper in the clutch by KD > wide open shot by russ, harden, green, thabo

He has a terrific track record recently of making them in the clutch too

And 1 of those 3 field goals was a drive to the basket and a shot from close range. A decent one too.

And the 2 jumpers were no defferent or any more contested than all the clutch jumpers he hit against the knicks. We will live with those because those are good looks. Mid range jumpers for KD where the defender gives him healthy amount of space to comfortably get his shot off = a good shot for thunder

Settle down please and be mad at the right person tonight: thabo, for that lazy reach

I am confused. Did we not just lose a VERY close, hard fought game against a team AHEAD of us in the standings??? It's not like we just lost a 1 pt. game to the freakin' Nets guys!?!?!

Yes, Collison was open in the paint, YES, Thabo seemed to disappear on defense from time to (game changing, critical) time. YES, we could have had a bit better shot selection any time after the 3 minute mark in the 4th quarter. BUT STILL!!!! Relax, fellas, we have a playoff contending team on our hands, and I for one, DO NOT FEEL WORTHY!!

justin :
We had 52 points in the paint in this game, over 10 points more than we average. Why shoot long jump shots to ice it? Makes no sense.

overconfidence thinking they can make long jumpers.

We had 52 points in the paint in this game, over 10 points more than we average. Why shoot long jump shots to ice it? Makes no sense.

Yeah and Thabo basically lost the game on that play, can't believe he did that. Richardson isn't exactly a spring chicken these days.

Wow they are grilling Thabo on NBATV right now for reaching on that last play

@I am the DON

Did you happen to watch the Suns on offense? They were getting shots going toward the basket, we weren't. The closer you are to the basket the more likely the attempt will go in. Kevin Durant taking a contested 21 footer is not a good shot when you're protecting a lead. Russell Westbrook three at the shot clock buzzer is not a good shot.

The fact that the shot was contested isn't what matters as much as the fact that it was a contested long two pointer, KD makes them far less than 40% of the time. I've argued with you about this before, and the proof is in the pudding. It's not the shot we want when we have a lead and we need to protect it. Chances are, it's not going in. Building up the 10 point lead we had Ibaka inside off ball movement, Russ to the line off penetration, Durant open three off penetration and ball movement, Durant three point play going to the basket. Durant jump shot inside the FT line extended. After the Suns started pushing back and we had to 'protect' the lead, we started getting everything on the perimeter besides the Green bail out.

@Matt

I agree, and that problem is not exclusive to just the last 3:30 of this game. Our ball movement in general is just very poor

Gap, i know what play you are talking about, but again, the plan was to wait for KD to fight through screens and get him the ball. Russ wasn't looking in Collison's direction because he was staring down Durant, waiting to get him the ball. When the coach handcuff's the players, stuff like that happens.

justin :

What about James Harden? Am i the only one who thinks he cost us the game?