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@justin
We've all talked about it before, but teams finally got a chance to scout us over the offseason. Now they know that if they can stop the ball and keep an eye on cutters (as the Spurs did the other night) that the Thunder will chuck bad jump shots all night long.

Without some offense in the post or on PnR's, I don't see how the Thunder solve this problem.

Mercury :@justin
Offensive stats have changed much pre and post all-star 2010 game?

I don't have the numbers in front of me but yes, the offense did improve after the All Star break, and we are ranked 8th in the league offensively this year. It's a little misleading, though, because the team still can't shoot.

@justin Offensive stats have changed much pre and post all-star 2010 game?

During shoot arounds and such, he just never seems to care. I know a lot of guys on the team joke around and have fun, but I've never seen Cole look like he's interested in anything else.

He told the Oklahoman a while back that coach Self was a lot harder on his players and really got after them about the little things. He said Brooks is a lot more laid back.

I just get the impression that he might not have the right attitude for OKC, Where hard work happens because the players want it, not because the coaches are putting pressure on them. I could be way, WAY off, but $20 says Cole is the first to leave practice every day.

@Bryan
Immature because he jokes around with his teammates and has fun? Or something else?

@DizzyDai
I said after we drafted him that he had the potential to go either way... pretty good or really, really bad. I honestly think he's just not mobile or athletic enough to make up for his rookie shortcomings. He also seems to be a bit on the immature side and therefore having problems focusing on basketball (just observations from being at games).

He still has some potential, but I'm growing less and less hopeful every day.

I'm not encouraged with Cole's D-League stats. :(

Josh Smith!

Carl Landry is available. Very much do want.

Floppy Punch! :@Snick

Why does Justin live under your bed?

hahahaha

@Snick
Why does Justin live under your bed?

justin :@DizzyDai

How would you feel about the team having the same record as last season after the next seven games?

You really want people to join you in your misery, don't you. Well, I don't much care to watch Thunder games from beneath my bed.

Tonight's success was against the O"Neals. That is against advance age but also as much size as anybody has.

@justin

A couple more weeks will probably do a lot to say if it is real or not.

He can opt out this summer if he is going good.

@justin
"Where'd his jumper go" is what I keep asking

@GB
Thanks for tix! Awesome to hear that you're as fanatical as me and read this site.

Look at DJ White. Two low minute seasons with very high scoring efficiency, high PER, etc. This year his PER is barely above 10.0, but according to some advanced metrics he seems to have high defensive value (previously seen as a weakness).

Ok your skeptical on this, that's reasonable given his career to date. I'm surprised by and interested in the strong uptick. Time will tell if it lasts.

Crow :
Dorsey has doubled his block rate, cut his foul rate to a career low and posted a current PER higher than Evans ever did. Probably won’t get him or even try but it was something to throw out there.

How meaningful is PER with this kind of sample? I'd put less emphasis on numbers and more on scouting with these kinds of sample sizes. I'd be skeptical of anything he's doing except the rebounding since he was good at that in college.

Grizzlies is leading now.They are not a playoff team with Marc + Zach + Guy + Mayo,it is strange to me.
If we have Marc + Zach,we are the best team

@f5alcon

I agree we haven't really improved and we have regressed in many ways statistically. The only major improvement that I expected coming into the season was Cole and Cook's possible contributions. What a disappointment.

I am not surprised Dorsey's jumpshots were all short jumpshots. It is usually good to avoid longer mid-rangers anyways, especially from a guy like him. Sticking to what he should be doing is another plus.

Dorsey has doubled his block rate, cut his foul rate to a career low and posted a current PER higher than Evans ever did. Probably won't get him or even try but it was something to throw out there.

@DizzyDai
having less wins is not necessarily regression either if we get a better seed. If we are a 5th seed with 49 wins, that would still be better, however we have made virtually no improvement so far this year, westbrook and ibaka and harden improved, but our defense regressed.

Mayberry has an article about KD in the post.

http://www.newsok.com/kevin-durants-post-up-game-continues-to-grow/article/3528862?custom_click=pod_headline_nba-thunder

KD's little turnaround shots around the block have been really consistent lately.

justin :@DizzyDai

How would you feel about the team having the same record as last season after the next seven games?

I'd be okay with having the same record as last season. I never bought into the preseason hype. I just didn't want the team to regress. Having the wins and losses record as last year is not regression.

Now what I expect is something else. We should win 3 or 4 of these games. With Dallas ailing and OKC ready for payback, I'd expect a win in Dallas. Both Memphis games should be wins. We have decent chances against Houston and Denver. The only game I'd be surprised if we won is the Magic.

f5alcon :
butler out for mavs for 2 months possibly.

That's if it's a partial tear. If it's a full tear he's done for the year.

The only thing Joey Dorsey is doing well that I think will translate out of this small sample is rebounding. That assist percentage seems flukey since he only had 81 assists in 3000+ minutes in college and is not a good passer. The TS% is expected for a player with such low usage and high percentage of shots at the rim. Considering how often he is turning the ball over, I don't think those offensive numbers mean much. He hasn't taken one shot beyond 10 feet this season according to Hoopdata and his free throw percentage has always been terrible.

Seems like his ceiling is Reggie Evans. Don't think we need that type of player right now...

butler out for mavs for 2 months possibly.

And coincidentally (I did not know this 'til now) it appears Dorsey went for the most minutes of his career and puts up a personal best 13 pts, 13 rebs with 2 assists, no turnovers, 2 steals and 1 block.

A bit more on Dorsey:

Offensive rebounding rate is almost double Ibaka's very good rate. Defensive rebounding rate is 16th best in the league among players who have played 200+ minutes. Assist% much better than any Thunder big except Green and only about 10% behind him and tied with Thabo. TS% almost equal to Ibaka and the eFG% is better including surprisingly on jumpshots. (Not that I am proposing him instead of Ibaka, but rather in addition to him). Steal% higher than any Thunder player besides Westbrook.

I think we'll win the two home games and one of the road games. Hopefully Denver.

@qrex

@Mem - Win@Dal@Hou@LAL@Den
- Los
Mem - Win
- We can't win there for some reason, but I'll say win.
ORL - Los
- Los
- Win

/shrug Dunno why, just think this way. We'll see.

Bogut is better than his stat shows.I hope we get him but I dont want to send Ibaka.
And Skiles is a good coach for us.He pays more attention in defense.I doubt whether he can keep his job if they cannot play playoff

justin :@MEM@DAL@HOU@LAL@DEN
Next seven games:
,

I'm curious which games everyone is penciling in as wins and losses.

@DizzyDai

How would you feel about the team having the same record as last season after the next seven games?

2-5 would be okay. That's not what I'd want, but I could live with it.

Would be okay with 3-4. Don't think 4-3 is out of the question. Disappointed with anything less, and pleasantly surprised with anything better.

Next seven games:

@MEM, @DAL, MEM, @HOU, ORL, @LAL, @DEN

4-3 over the next seven games would be a huge success, with 3-4 being a more realistic success.

If the team goes 2-5 over the next seven games, which definitely seems possible, the team will have the same record at that point as last season. How would you feel about the team if this happened?

FWIW, the Nets trade for Lopez is the one I would definitely do without question. I don't think he's as bad as he's shown this season. I think he's a PER20 center on this team, like he was last year. As much as I like James Harden, I'd be willing to let him go for that kind of front court productivity.

Andrew Bogut is much better than Lopez, probably the second best defensive center in the league currently. He's still recovering from injury, though, and I also hate Drew Gooden. A Bogut / Westbrook / Durant core is seriously enticing, but I'd be concerned about how we could build the rest of the team after that trade.

@justin
Nets dont want to trade Lopez although he is not good as they imagine.His FG% is low and only gets 6 rebounds.Maybe Kissing Disease influences him.For me,Green + Nenad are enough.

@Other Thomas
I understand we probably could not get him. In hypoland, Battier would take Thabo's minutes. I'd do a 3-man rotation with Harden and KD starting and Battier spelling them both.

@justin

I want no part of that second deal. I hate Drew Gooden. First deal i might do... but jeez, I like James Harden.

Nomnomnomnomnomnomnom. Nom Nom Nom Nom. Nom. Nom Nom. Nomnomnomnomnomnomnom.

Here are two fun trades I saw and talked about with the other team's fans. Not realistic, but interesting to think about:

New Jersey sends: Brook Lopez, Travis Outlaw
Oklahoma City sends: Jeff Green, James Harden, Daequon Cook

Milwaukee sends: Andrew Bogut, Drew Gooden
Oklahoma City sends: Serge Ibaka, James Harden, Nick Collison

Both cases have the Thunder taking back a bad contract and giving up at least one rookie scale guy (in the case of Bogut, two) with the hope of completing a legitimate championship 'core'.

One of these I'd do no question, the other I would be on the fence about. :)

@justin

I forgot about Curly-Q. What kind of realistic trade do you think Cleveland will go for?

Thabo and Green? I doubt they'd be interested in expiring contracts with the large trade exceptions they still have.

@Stephen

Where would Battier play? Really dont see how we need him. Also, Morey loves the guy and wouldnt part with him unless the deal was stupid.

Varejao and Battier please. I honestly believe with those two, they could compete this season.

@DizzyDai

Varejao.

I forgot Dorsey is as old as he is, 27. But that might not be a problem really given this team's age profile and this time-period. 27 is generally a pretty good age for big men. The turnovers and FT% might be too much to take for them to take on though. And not tall, though I think fairly good arm length. I was trying to find a different name. Not ideal, but still might be worth something as a modest bench piece to the puzzle. To get more, they'd have to give more.