Daily Thunder.com

Rebounding is also about mental effort. If KD put half the mental effort into rebounding that he does into scoring and defense, he'd be great.

Great rebounders study the other team and understand where the ball is going to go based on the trajectory and the usual bounce pattern from the given shooter's shots. Rodman always talked about that.

Given how intelligent Love is, I bet if you watch film, you'll see that he gets a lot of rebounds by going to where the ball is going to be before anyone else does.

After the first half I went around the house and kicked everything I could - good thing no one was home. I have never seen the coach look that mad and he certainty didn't give his usual short interview with ESPN.
I bet all hell broke loose in the locker room. My complaint with the guys is they hate to get beat up under the basket, not like Serge and Nick. Now that changed in the seconded half - they battled hard - and probably are sore all over today. I think KD said it best one time - there are no excuses for a team when someone is out injured - everybody has to step up - The Mavericks just didn't do it in the seconded half -good for us.

@Bryan

I didn't realize Cole had knee trouble.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Man, those puny knees wouldn't last a single road trip if he added 40 lbs....

Being 'chubby' is a GREAT way to be an outstanding rebounder. Throw that big booty around and block out half the league. It's been that way for ages too. Guys like Barkley and Tisdale were undersized, but they didn't even have to jump to rebound because they were the only one in the area.

Randolph and Blair and Love are just the current examples that same thing. I think Aldrich could rebound and putback just like Randolph if he could gain about 40 pounds of diesel in his caboose. With broomsticks for arms and 280 to throw around - that's stout. It's not like his game is dependent on his athleticism anyway.

Hollinger just wrote a long article about how bad the Suns are...maybe we could pillage Gortat from them...

justin :

Bryan :@DizzyDai That kid is just ridiculous.Where are all those people who said his skill set wouldn’t translate; that he couldn’t handle the ball; that all he could do was make put back dunks and rebound? Huh? Where are they? Cuz I want to gloat a little.

I am surprised how successful he has been offensively. The rebounding is above where I thought he’d be as well. I don’t think anyone thought he’d be this productive so soon.

Sometimes with a player you just know. I watched every game he played at OU. And I have watched college basketball practically all my life. and you just don't see guys like Blake. He's so strong, agressive, coordinated, athletic and fast. He has a better handle than Kevin Durant. More power than half the league's centers and hops like Serge Ibaka. And to top it off, he has that ratre thing called footwork..... I just didn't see any way he wouldn't be at least a poor man's Amare' Stoudamire... if not more.

Now his defense..... that might take a minute.

popcorn machine's game flow

http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/gameflow.cgi?dat...

Also thanks to all for the congrats!!

@Daniel Plainview
Rebounding is about effort, but there is also a skill involved. KD rebounds well for a small forward. Honestly, you don't want KD averaging 10+ rebounds a game, because to rebound, you need to be down low blocking out. I'd rather have Ibaka/Green/Collison rebound and KD be 1/4th of the way up the court ready to run...

I hope you weren't poking fun at Kevin Love calling him chubby and then correlating Love's rebounding proficiency to KD. Love is a great rebounder, maybe the best. He has a talent for rebounding and a desire. KD could never do what Love does. He also sacrifices parts of his game (defense) to be in position to rebound...

Yeah I'm a dude just so everyone knows (gap) and you should definitely be envious(gap again). As my friends dad would say I "out kicked my coverage" on this one. Hot dr. Thats a huge thunder fan and let's me plan vacations that involve going to thunder road games. Livin the dream. Haha

Bryan :
Taking a second just to dream a little…..
D. Howard, Ibaka, Aldrich
Griffin, Ibaka, Collison
Durant, Green, Casspi
Harden, Thabo,
Westbrook, Maynor

The salary cap had better go up. ;)

I see 5 $10 million/year players on that squad: KD, Westbrook, Griffin, Ibaka, and D12.

However, I think we actually do have a legitimate shot of landing Blake in 2014 considering he's from here. All we need is for the Clips to continue their current levels of suckitude.

@DizzyDai
Was it Reece Davis? That guy went from a FLint (Small time) to Espn over night and he SUUUCKED in FLint. He had a special called "reeces Pieces." And everyone hated it

@Jeff Allen

That means someone actually listens to Bryan Davis. How sad. :(

They just called serge ibaka dr. nasty on sportscenter

Actually, if u think of it, the Thunder should have won by more considering dallas played without two of their best players (Nowitzki and Butler). OKC had many more guns than the Mavs with KD, Russel, and Jeff Green.

@Daniel Plainview

Love plays down low and Durant plays on the wing?

I have annoyed many a friend with my obsession with Kevin Durant. He is teh back drop to my smart phone and my computer. I think he is flawless. Since his first game at Texas I have never been known to critisize any aspect of his game. However, with all this talk about how much he loves basketball and how dedicated he is to his team, even so much as attending every summer leage game of his teamates, is there any reason he cannot average 8 rebounds a game? His length, talent and heart should quell any arguments about his position or role. Chubby Kevin Love can bring down 33, why cant one of the worlds greatest athletes in basketball bring down 8 a game, with every now and then grabbing 15 or more? Is it a matter of effort?

Bryan :@DizzyDai

That kid is just ridiculous.
Where are all those people who said his skill set wouldn’t translate; that he couldn’t handle the ball; that all he could do was make put back dunks and rebound? Huh? Where are they? Cuz I want to gloat a little.

I am surprised how successful he has been offensively. The rebounding is above where I thought he'd be as well. I don't think anyone thought he'd be this productive so soon.

Taking a second just to dream a little.....

D. Howard, Ibaka, Aldrich
Griffin, Ibaka, Collison
Durant, Green, Casspi
Harden, Thabo,
Westbrook, Maynor

@DizzyDai
That kid is just ridiculous.

Where are all those people who said his skill set wouldn't translate; that he couldn't handle the ball; that all he could do was make put back dunks and rebound? Huh? Where are they? Cuz I want to gloat a little.

Green really can score in a variety of ways when he asserts himself. He can put the ball on the floor and finish with both hands in a variety of ways.

It's just too bad we always have him matched up against the wrong guys.

Perhaps Green can copy Griffin's post/spin/dunk move.

@Bryan
That why i say put more pressure on them down low posting up. With the long jumpers they can get position and with bigger bodies they usually will win that battle. In the post you get a closer shot maybe another big comes over to help leads them to be out of postition for rebounds just something like that. We don't want them just standing there waiting for the ball to come off the rim make them work.

All I know is I get excited whenever I see Jeff in the post, because it usually leads to a bucket. He's got a great baby hook with either hand and he's quick. I've never tracked it to when he posts up, i.e. only against smaller players, etc., but good things happen when a play starts with him with the ball in his hands on the low block. Mystifies me why they don't go to it more often, but again I've never tracked when and why it works, really.

@Bryan

I agree. Nenad did well last night. I think 6 points and 9 boards in around 20 minutes. I wish he'd do that more often.

@DizzyDai
I'm not saying change it completely I'm just saying they can run their stuff but see what they can get posting up. You can alway kick out to a shooter or kick it to a cutter when you post so it's not just one option. I think randolph defense isn't great so see what you can get but still run the regular sets.

@Jon

I'm okay with the change in offense. Keeping the defense off balance is rather important. If we consistantly post the defense will know what to expect.

Krstic actually had a decent game last night. But they really needed Ibaka in there to held keep Marion honest and to wrestle with Chandler.

@Jon
yeah... part of the reason teams like Memphis out rebound us (in my opinion), is because they are under no presure to defend our bigs and Krstic and Green are not consitent enough shooting the ball to draw them outside.

All Memphis had to do was sit and wait for the ball....

I really am starting to like Ibaka possibly starting more. I think him being in there with the starters locks the paint down because unless kristic is hitting jumpers he doesn't have the same energy Ibaka has to go get rebounds and defend the paint.

Yeah the Thunder don't to a great job of getting the ball to the player with the hot hand... unless, of course, it's Russ.

In the memphis game Saturday I think they need to put kevin or Jeff on the block. I say kevin cause he can shoot over whoever is guarding him. I say Jeff because even if Randolph is a bigger body everybody knows he doesn't play defense so make him play both ends of the floor.

Did anyone notice last night that when they went in the post and Jeff kept scoring then they went away from him. Even Steve Kerr was like why are they going away from jeff he has hit his last three buckets. This happens often too. I feel as thought whoever is hot whether it be russell kevin or Jeff keeping going right back to them until the defense makes a change to stop it. They wasn't doing anything to stop it they just went away from him after he made a couple baskets.

@Royce Young
I think that he can post bigger opponents. All he has to do is score a couple times and they will send the double team like they did last night. That would open it up everyone for open shots. From gtown jeff is a good passer.

@Anonymous

"So, let's say a domestic premium light beer from Texas is around 4 percent," said Robinson. "When you convert that to alcohol by weight, which is how Oklahoma's 3.2 percent beer is weighed, it comes out to be about 3.3 or 3.4 percent. So, it's really insignificant."

I thought Texas beer was 6 point. If so that statement is rather weak.

Daily Dime on teams that could unseat the Lakers...most everyone picked the Spurs, but...

"Chris Sheridan, ESPN.com: The easy pick here is San Antonio. The second-easiest pick is Dallas. And the pick I'm going to make is Oklahoma City because the Thunder gave the Lakers a tougher time than anyone except the Boston Celtics last spring, and they are the team in the best position in the West to make a substantial upgrade at a low cost before the trade deadline by offering a No. 1 pick the Clippers owe them (top-10 protected through 2015, unprotected in 2016) along with Mo Peterson's expiring contract for an experienced player who would be a better No. 3 offensive option for them than what they currently have."

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/dime-11010...

I really hope we are not silent at the deadline...

Congrats to Gr8ball83. Last night was my first Thunder game ever. Before that, I had been to one Hornets game. I'm glad we won, even if the Mavs were depleted.

Here's the thing about that, though. We have a history of not performing well when the opponent is depleted (like against Phoenix). A win is a win.

@kfmsooner

I wasn't thilled about Green's time in the 2nd half, but at least he was being productive. Brooks should have given Collison a few more minutes. I'm sure Nick could have handled Marion just fine.

I've seen the Marion play in tons of games, but I'm still not used to his ugly little shot.

Gr8ball83 :
Best Dallas trip ever. Got engaged. Sat 10 rows behind the thunder bench for a big win. No complaints (except Jeff greens missed free throws and the kid that dripped ice cream in my hair) GO THUNDER!!!!!!

congrats. i was 4 rows back of the thunder bench, and it was really awesome being that close to the players, and seeing up close how they act on the bench, during time outs, etc.

one thing that was interesting to me is how pumped up royal ivey is. every timeout, he was first off the bench to give high fives. he was always in the huddle saying things, clapping his hands. during play, he's jumping up off the bench and yelling and cheering all the time. man, he gets really into the game.

byron mullens, on the other hand, just looks bored. but maybe that's just his face.

also, late in the game after serge fouled out, a couple of young mavs fans were yelling "hey ibaka, you're outta here, son!" over and over. serge obviously heard them, turned to them, gave them a wry smile like, "how cute they think this bothers me." and then went back to the team huddle. their yells to krispy, however, were not acknowledged.

"0:06 Kevin Durant step out of bounds turnover"

Yeah that kinda bothers me.

Oh yeah, should we complain about how Stevenson was trying to pad his 3pt% in garbage time? Seriously three 3 pointers in a minute. How shameful. ;)

I was, of course, watching a lot of Green last night. I thought there was a lot of positive:

No 3pt attempts during the 'real' game, just one in the last minute.
Few long 2 pt attempts
Posted smaller players and scored
He got a rebound!!! Then followed that up with 8 more...
He sat for 11 minutes in the 1st half
Nice defense in the 2nd half on Marion

Negatives:
7-17...that's too many shots
He played the entire 2nd half, but he did D up Marion

All in all, pretty good management of JG. I hope the reason he played the 2nd half instead of Nick was b.c of Marion. Saturday night will be key for me as a fan. If JG logs 35+ minutes, then the questioning of Brooks should continue in earnest.

More pick and rolls with Green! With his feel around the rim, it just makes too much sense.

Thunder played more traditional last night. The bigs were the ones crashing the boards more often (although the guards still posted good numbers) and the guards didn't leave the 3pt shooters as wide open as last time (Dallas missed some open looks however). Much more sound philosophy this time.

I do like Green's ability to pass out of the post. Perhaps the team should explore that option.

I get annoyed when on of the national commentators says "You don't expect that" after Serge hits a jumper from 15-20. Actually we do expect that sir, where have you been? Did you not scout the team at all or watch any game film coming into this game? Last night it was Kerr who was guilty.

GAP :
I think it was last season that Carmelo or KD I can’t remember, but the player did a drill with an assistant coach, throwing a tennis ball that the player had to catch to help the hands with catching and rebounding.
I’m sure this could help Ibaka some with his hands being so stiff and concrete like.

FYI I've heard that Ibaka has been doing this already.

Mike Leach used a tennis ball bazooka to train his receivers at Texas Tech.

Mark! :@GAP
That was Carmelo. And that drill actually was about cultivating better focus. On the outside, it looks like an eye-hand coordination drill, but it’s primary purpose was to develop Carmelo’s ability to shut out distractions. More of a mental exercise than a physical one.
I only mention this because I read about it recently

Nice find Mark! Yeah, I thought it was a hand-eye coordination drill, but it sure looks as if it could work for Serge's hands as well.

@GAP

That was Carmelo. And that drill actually was about cultivating better focus. On the outside, it looks like an eye-hand coordination drill, but it's primary purpose was to develop Carmelo's ability to shut out distractions. More of a mental exercise than a physical one.

I only mention this because I read about it recently :)

@Royce Young

Green *can* post up bigger players, but we don't get the opportunity to see him do it very often so I think it's tough to say whether or not he'd be good/efficient at doing so.

We're pretty consistent with how we use Durant and Westbrook; some of us may disagree with the way the team uses them, but all in all I think we have a good idea of what they're going to do and about how successful they'll be doing it.

The only thing we can count on Green for is taking and missing a lot of long jumpers. I'm not sure if he's the one pulling the trigger on those shots or if Brooks is telling him to get out of the post and chuck, but the only thing we've seen Green consistently do is shoot. And I think it's safe to say that probably isn't going to be the skill that puts money in the bank for him.

So, going back to Green in the post. Yes, Green *can* post up bigger players, but I have a feeling that this is a similar brand of "can" as Green *can* shoot 3's.

I've always thought Green most unique/abusable skill has been his handle for his size. I'm shocked we don't see him try to take his man off the dribble more often, but we only see it on occasion. Maybe it's a coaching thing, maybe it's a lack of confidence or aggression thing, maybe he doesn't like contact, who knows? But I'd point to that before I pointed to Green's work in the post as a real possible point of strength.