Daily Thunder.com

@The DON
Justin is rarely outclassed in this discussion. Even when I disagree with hi, due to his pessimistic leanings, he never attaches himself to hypotheticals like so many of us do, me included. The DON, I find that your propensity for vulgarity and calls for firing 6 games into teh season somewhat undercut your pretenses of superior basketball acumen. However, I do agree with your takes on Thompson and Thorton. My hypothetical included Jason Thompson at the end of last year. I would love Thorton too. Dude is a beast. Howeverm I would not pu Harden in teh trade mix. Hes 20 (or did he turn 21 2 mon ago?), has shown flashes of brillaince, and hsi style, if actualized will be a perfect component to our Thunder Machine

@Greg

Well... yeah. :)

justin :Giving up on your #3 pick a handful of games into his sophomore season is just stupid. See Chauncey Billups, Joe Johnson… etc. etc. Unless it’s part of a deal for an established star (which won’t happen), it’s almost always never worth the risk.

But if we flipped Harden and Jeff Green into Kevin Love, then slap me silly.

Giving up on your #3 pick a handful of games into his sophomore season is just stupid. See Chauncey Billups, Joe Johnson... etc. etc. Unless it's part of a deal for an established star (which won't happen), it's almost always never worth the risk.

@justin

I'm glad you consider me a "real man", but I'm gonna have to reject your advances. I am attracted only to teh femalez. Sawrry.

@Anonymous

Meh, an obscure specialist who is not a difference maker and is nothing more than a one trick pony that doesn't have much of an impact.

The days of small moves like that to acquire serviceable players that Presti specializes in are OVER. It's time for big moves now.

@The DON

Whatever you say. I guess it takes a real man to act tough over the internet, huh! :)

I think maybe we should run Ibaka at PF, Green off the bench and see what happens. There would be better opportunities at better prices around the deadline, anyway.

@justin

Every time you incorporate a smiley face in your posts, that's a dead give away that whoever you're responding to is in your head, that you're badly being outclassed in the exchange, and you're drowning in bitterness.

You're not fooling anyone with the "mask my bitternes with a smiley face" manuever. Please know that.

@OmahaOkcFan

Those aren't bad suggestions at all. And Thompson is now officially put on the trading block by Sacramento.

@OmahaOkcFan

I guess Jason Thompson who has a career 51% TS is the answer to our offensive woes, then. :)

No believe it or not Presti isn't doing his job and Harden is a bust that shouldnt start..crazy huh....

Is there a way to check the IP's of some of these posters? I've got a feeling some guys are shaking their own hands in these comments. :)

Both are available and being shopped

Wow, Kevin Love had a 31 point 31 rebound line tonight. So much for the pipe dream of being able to trade for him. They aren't giving that up for anyone less than Durant.

W

The DON :@Anonymous

I am very proud of this win too, but you know what I would be REALLY proud of? If Presti would pull his head out of his anal vortex and make a gutsy move to being in a low post player and a starting caliber SG who can really shoot

Marcus Thornton, Jason Thompson...Problems Solved

@OmahaOkcFan

I have to agree with you on Harden

Until further notice, he is dead to me as well

1:2 ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO!! 32% SHOOTING!!! = JAMES HARDEN!!! LETS START HIM!!!

@Anonymous

I am very proud of this win too, but you know what I would be REALLY proud of? If Presti would pull his head out of his anal vortex and make a gutsy move to being in a low post player and a starting caliber SG who can really shoot

Portland is not a top 7 or 8 team in the nba they havent even beaten a .500 team this year, they are 8th seed in west at best/if roy stays healthy, also harden has a 1:2 assist to turnover ratio and never shows any hustle, heart, or basketball IQ, he is dead to me

KD's last four games: 31.75 P/G on 62.7% TS

@nick

Right... I envision him with an Anthony Parker type role with the first unit. I don't think he's a bad defender, either; he's making the same mistakes most of our guys are making out there.

OmahaOkcFan :
Anyone else think Harden is too much of a pothead to be effective in the nba? that shit might work in the pac-10 but you cant play high in the nba, look at beasley he stopped smoking 10 minutes before tipoff and he’s putting up 30-40 a night lately..start smoking on off days Beard Guy and not on game days…****….p.s. Brooks motivational speeches during halftime make VinnyDelNegro look like Vince Lombardi..Go Thunder

Hey, that would explain a lot of his play actually. You clearly know your weed and its effects sir.

justin :

OmahaOkcFan :@nickHarden cannot start, would be disaster, unless he stops getting high

Go away.

If you watched the game tonight you would notice Harden plays without emotion,intelligence makes countless dumb plays and now that he creeping up on 30% shooting he should start?? Or maybe his 1:2 assist to turnover ratio is the reason he should start? The guy can't play and he brings nothing to the table..wake up little justin i know your 14 and don't understand basketball but starting Harden is not the answer, however starting Ibaka is one of the answers so your only half retarded...oh and GO AWAY

@nick
Boy do I need to proofread. Hopefully that still made sense.

@justin
Yeah, especially since most of the complaint about Harden have to do with his trouble when he tries to create going to the basket. When he plays with the 2nd unit he has to be more of a creator since that's so lacking. With the starters he just knock down 3s and just attack the basket off of closeouts and the like. It seems like even the people who want to complain about him would agree that would best play to his limitations. Again, its not like Thabo is stopping anybody anyway.

Or we can just suggest getting rid of him and firing Presti. That's probably more productive.

@Anonymous

NBA minutes are rough... and I'm talking mainly about someone like Krstic who probably hasn't played 40+ minutes since 2006 and now he has two 40+ minute games this week.

Young guys get tired, too. Aldrich in there for some of Krstic's minutes (or Thabo's) could have really benefited this team, IMO. Especially with the energy level on defense.

@andrew
Actually i never realized how much we need Uncle Jeff till his injury
Get well soon Uncle Jeff

OmahaOkcFan :@nickHarden cannot start, would be disaster, unless he stops getting high

Go away.

@nick

Agreed. Harden / Ibaka should be starting. Harden just plays so much better off the ball with the starters in (especially Westbrook), and Ibaka lets us play a lot more aggressively on defense. Green would also fit better in the 6th man role, playing a couple different positions.

Thabo makes some great plays defensively but he's not really stopping anyone early on, just like the rest of the guys.

@nick
Harden cannot start, would be disaster, unless he stops getting high

This game doesn't do much for the Jeff Green defenders, thats for sure.

Anyone else think Harden is too much of a pothead to be effective in the nba? that shit might work in the pac-10 but you cant play high in the nba, look at beasley he stopped smoking 10 minutes before tipoff and he's putting up 30-40 a night lately..start smoking on off days Beard Guy and not on game days...****....p.s. Brooks motivational speeches during halftime make VinnyDelNegro look like Vince Lombardi..Go Thunder

@shiki=4 seasons
Seriously, if we played a little bit of defense in the first 3 quarters we wouldn't need to create all these heart-attacks.

Having actually seen Serge start now, I am even more convinced that he should start over Jeff and Harden should start over Thabo (despite how bad James has been). With Harden actually waking up, he can offset the offensive loss of JG and Serge can actually bring an interior presence. Its not like Thabo is really stopping anybody anyway.

Check out LaMarcus Aldridge's line with Jeff Green not starting the game on him. I think Ibaka / Krstic did a decent job with him, the only glaring mistake being Ibaka losing him on that alley oop. He had to fight for almost everything and a few of his shots were contested jumpers.

The DON :

OmahaOkcFan :
And were 5-3 ….please trade Harden for any power forward with a pulse and lets turn this season around

I co-sign what you just stated kind sir

Thank You kind sir

andrew :I remember a lot of naysayers when I said I thought Russ can be the number 2 option on a championship team last year…

You would have gotten even more if you suggested he would shoot 45%+ from 16-23 feet and shoot 9+FTA a game. Unreal productivity from him right now.

We have won 3 games when we played D in 4th quarter。Why cannot we play good D more time?

I remember a lot of naysayers when I said I thought Russ can be the number 2 option on a championship team last year...

@justin
without looking, his PER must be off the charts good

@justin
To be fair, DJ went up against Dante Cunningham when he was in the game and still only put up 1 PF and 1 TO in 8 minutes.

Russ' TS% is now 57.3% on the year on ultra high usage. Pretty nuts...

andrew :I don’t have a problem with Westy getting 44 minutes. Maynor was godawful this game.

I don't either, we probably would have lost if he didn't get that much PT, you're right.

At least DJ White played! Played alright, too!

I still think Harden in the starting lineup and Green out of the starting lineup would make this team much much better.

Its crazy how talented of a team we have, I almost wish we would lose some of these games because wins do nothing to change a teams attitude with regards to defensive effort.

@andrew

I dunno, I think it has a lot to do with the bench lineups that were played. Aldrich in there for some of Krstic or Thabo's minute would have made some sense. Nenad looked gassed...

It was nice to see the defensive effort ratchet up towards the end and see the offense feed off that effort.

I don't have a problem with Westy getting 44 minutes. Maynor was godawful this game.

@ERROR

Yeah. Brooks went to some screwy lineups with Russ on the bench that just couldn't score against what Portland was doing. I suspect if Jeff Green were available it'd at least force Portland to defend the second unit differently.

@justin
Our bench players all had a negative +/-, whereas all of our starters had a positive one. interesting.

Don't think you can say these minutes will keep up when we are missing over half of our frontcourt minutes.

The offense looked a lot better with Russ out there, more movement, more meaningful passes, cutting... Blazers aren't a great defensive team but it was a nice night for the offense. Got some good shots.

@The DON
Have you been playing f5alcons drinking game?