I can hardly believe it, but with 22 games already behind the Thunder, Oklahoma City is already more than a quarter of the way through the season. That means it’s time for a look at a few things that bode well for the boys in blue and a few things that don’t as we ponder their 14-8 record.
BAD THINGS
1. The Thunder’s point differential is -0.4 points per game. This is the thing that worries me most about Oklahoma City going forward. The Thunder is one of only two NBA teams with a winning record but a negative point differential. (The other is Phoenix, which sits at 11-9 and has a -0.6 differential.) Plenty of stat gurus will tell you this is perhaps the most important team stat in basketball. OKC has won only three games by at least 10 points and lost four by at least that many, including losses to the lowly Clippers and Raptors. Read more…
Kevin Durant on Scott Brooks’ benching of him: “I back him up 100 percent. I love Scotty. He does a great job for us, motivating us and always pushing us every day. So I’m just going to back him up whenever he does something … I want to be the best teammate I can be. I think I can learn a lot from what he did. I could be a better teammate. And that’s what I tried to do, spark my guys from the bench.”
Cole Aldrich on his D-League stint: “I thought I did well. I really wanted to focus on just a few things, not only keeping up my conditioning and getting reps in the games, but also staying low defensively. I wanted to see the floor a little more, react better and kind of just go out there and play a little bit.” Read more…
If you turned off your TV about halfway through the third quarter, I don’t blame you at all. Not only was that some ugly, frustrating basketball, but you weren’t even getting to watch the Thunder’s best players play.
I’m not an NBA coach and I don’t think I could win 50 games in that role. So I don’t question Scott Brooks much. But it’s hard not to wonder why Kevin Durant and Jeff Green only played two minutes and 46 seconds in the third quarter.
When the two checked out, Oklahoma City was down 60-54. The Thunder weren’t playing well, but they were in the game. What was hurting OKC was the lack of any offensive rhythm. So when Durant and Green went to the bench with over nine minutes left in the third, it was curious. But you were thinking, “OK, quick blow here and they’re coming back.” Instead, they sat the remainder of the quarter. Read more…
For shame we can’t say the Thunder’s well rested coming into this back-to-back game against the Bulls. But because of a crappy finish against the Warriors, Oklahoma City’s starters had to play their usual fill of heavy minutes and now will get a rested Bulls team on the road. Read more…
UPDATE: The team has officially announced Aldrich has been recalled.
It looks like Thunder rookie Cole Aldrich has been recalled by the team. Aldrich tweeted Monday morning, “Airport. Heading to Chicago to get back with the fellahs.”
There hasn’t been an official release yet, but I assume Aldrich isn’t pranking everybody. He spent almost two weeks in Tulsa and appeared in five games for the 66ers. In 27.4 minutes a game, he averaged 7.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game.
Aldrich saw some much needed floor time in Tulsa and was sent down to develop some of his offensive game while also hopefully using the time to grasp some of the Thunder’s offensive and defensive system. It might not be the last time Aldrich is sent to Tulsa this season.
But with D.J. White out with an ankle sprain and Nick Collison sitting out of Sunday’s game against Golden State, the Thunder is probably looking to rebuild some depth on the front line. Aldrich might not see any immediate playing time, but he’s back with the team and at least available.
Anthony Macri of HoopsWorld with some Thunder analysis: “It seems a feature of the young Thunder squad to constantly be on the attack – an attribute that will serve them well as they grow and mature. While it may occasionally get them into trouble against the best defensive teams in the league–forcing drives into strong defensive teams tends to yield bad shots and turnovers–it will serve them well against the rest.”
Amar from SLC Dunk says don’t believe the hype with the Thunder: “You know all about potential, right? The post-RUN TMC Warriors had loads . . . or AI’s Nuggets . . . or the Dubs . . . or Webber’s Kings . . . or like LeBron in Cleveland, and so on. Think upon this before signing your life savings into the ‘savior’ of the NBA Kevin Durant. Remember we used to think that Kobe, LeBron, and Bosh had no faults when they were young too! Hope and optimism elevate the Thunder to adoration they have yet to deserve. In my language, this is hype. What’s that Chuck D?” Read more…
I kept telling myself that this game was never going to be in doubt. As the Thunder’s lead kept shrinking from 21 to 13 to eight to five and finally all the way down to three with under a minute left in the fourth, I didn’t feel like Oklahoma City was about the blow the game.
The fans in the arena obviously felt that way too as they kept filing out. Heck, I think the team didn’t think there was any way this game would get anywhere near close. They sort of checked out with about eight minutes left.
But the Warriors are a team that can make shots and make them in a hurry. I remember one of the games against them last season in OKC where we saw almost exactly the same thing. But I’m not going to lie, while I didn’t really think the Thunder would lose, I wasn’t exactly sure they’d win either. It’s a weird feeling to be unsatisfied with a good home win, but that’s kind of what happens when a 23-point lead gets blown. Especially when the Thunder has another game Monday night and had the opportunity to rest some starters in the fourth quarter here. Read more…
Coming home for a short little one game against the Warriors before the Thunder continues on with three straight on the road. In other words, they need to win tonight. Read more…
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(Happy Saturday Thunderers. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! /RussellWestbrook’d)
I would say, the very best mixer of Thunder videos out there is Yude Productions. All of their videos are stellar and the latest one is no exception. It’s a review of October/November which should pretty much be known as the Month of Russ. And the song selection is a nice touch. Enjoy.
If at any point you started wondering, “I wonder how good this team would be without Kevin Durant? Like, how valuable is he really?” then this game was a good answer for you. In the second half, Oklahoma City’s offense was just clueless. The Thunder had no idea where to look for points.
And they can get away with that sometimes. For instance, against New Jersey, the Thunder’s offense wasn’t that great. It stalled at times when Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green weren’t scoring. But OKC defended. They defended from the opening tip to the final third overtime buzzer.
But against the Raptors, the defense was light. Wait, light probably isn’t the right word. I think “terribleawfulsobad” is the word I’m looking for. Toronto has a list of good shooters and OKC’s defenders left them wide open a number of times. Then when the Thunder would get a stop, they didn’t secure a rebound or they fumbled the ball away. It really just wasn’t the Thunder’s night. Read more…
NEWS: KD is out again tonight with a sprained left knee.
The Thunder continue on to Toronto where they will again be without the services of Kevin Durant. And much like the New Jersey game, the Raptors aren’t some pushover that you should be able to walk by even without your best player. They’re playing tough and no doubt will see this as an opportunity to get a win over one of the West’s best. Read more…
It’s becoming more apparent every game. You can ride with Russell Westbrook anywhere.
He was last seen all over the court in the 48th minute he played of the Thunder’s marathon win in New Jersey. It was the shiniest of the stat sheet-filling performances he’s had this season. But Westbrook’s emergence in the upper stratosphere of NBA stardom through the first part of this season has shown more than just flashes of staying power. He’s played superbly without Kevin Durant, as he did last night, but also with him on plenty of occasions. Teams are carving out more time for him when they scout the Thunder. And it’s not working.
But it’s not just what Westbrook does on the court. It’s how he does it. He’s just a little bit mean. And it means a lot to his team.
Westbrook’s captivating, explosive athleticism gives his game an edge all by itself. A ritual following nearly any game for many of us is searching on YouTube until somebody uploads his latest vicious dunk. The Nets game was no exception. Neither was the game before that. Or the one before that. And to ignite the magical 8-0 run in Game 3 of the Lakers series last season. And so on. He’s the best in-game dunker this side of Blake Griffin, and the only reason why he’s not No. 1 doubles as a good argument for why he maybe should be: he’s half a foot shorter. Read more…
Cole Aldrich in his latest blog for Dime: Also, you may have heard that I’ve been playing in the D-League for the Tulsa 66ers. GM [Sam] Presti came to me one day and told me he thought it would be a great opportunity to get back on the court and get some serious minutes again … Even though I’m away from the team, I still talk to a lot of guys on the team. I talked to Kevin [Durant] for 20-30 minutes the other day, as well as Royal,Mo Pete and Byron [Mullens]. As I’ve said before, everybody’s really friendly, but Kevin always looks out for me. It’s tough missing the games. I watched the game last night on TV in Tulsa. You gotta watch the games to see what the team’s doing defensively and offensively. I’ve been cheering hard for the guys and want us to win every game. It’s hard not being there, so I’ve been working my butt off here.”
John Rohde of The Oklahoman: “Last season, Thunder starters missed a total of six games, all by center Nenad Krstic. So far this season, starters have missed 10 games. The Thunder is a combined 8-2 without its usual starting lineup of Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Thabo Sefolosha and Krstic, and 5-4 with the starting lineup intact.” Read more…
Recently, I just finished watching the greatest television show in history, The Wire. So right now, I take and every opportunity I can get to talk about it. Someone mentions the Baltimore Ravens and five minutes later I’m knee deep talking about Prop Joe and the co-op. It’s getting kind of ridiculous, I’ll admit.
And after the Thunder beat the Celtics without Kevin Durant or Jeff Green, Bill Simmons had an interesting tweet. Basically, he was asking if we could have a potential Avon-Stringer situation with Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. What? Two of my top current interests colliding? I have to write about that!
But it’s a question on the minds of Thunder fans and really, NBA fans everywhere right now, even if they don’t want to say it. Could Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant be too good for each other? Could they clash? I’d by lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about that as I watched Westbrook carry the Thunder to a number of wins as he dropped 36, 43 and 38 points while KD stood by. Truly, the comparison kind of sort of fits. Or potentially fits. Read more…
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