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Perk was interviewed before the game and said 7 to 10 days...if it were playoff time, he could go right now...just being precautious..

I just want Perk back by the time we play Miami

* and sef at the 3...

One good thing about this game is that at the begining they were predicting Perkins to be out only 7-10 days and not 2-3 weeks. Not that it will matter because my bet is that we start KD at the 4 and Perk at the 5 with Harden and Westbrook. It just makes me sad for the players that they are constantly not put in the best position to win.

I guess Brooks was going with what he knew in this kind of game, but I was disappointed not to see Nazr or Nate today. They were eligible to go.

Rob should be the backup to Westbrook

@justin
I think you are right. Knowing Brooks I think Nate better get used to hanging out down there with Ivey.

You're making Nazr Mohammed earn his minutes? Are you freaking serious? He's only been playing center for more year than Cole, Ibaka, and Collison combined

I don't think we have a spot for Krypto, even if I think he might be better for the team than Maynor in a lot of spots.

long time before a recap...

Royce must have headed straight to the bar and is getting roaring drunk right now

@f5alcon
That would suck. Rob and Nazr need reps

@okc baby
well he can just not play the new guys, make them earn their mins, the thing is we can beat the pacers with this lineup on wed.

37 points is fourth most point total ever on 13FGA or less.

I guess if you stopped watching the game after the 1st

@Keith
haha

Kevin Love has 37 points on 13FGA.

@Keith

Harden was terrific. I loved the flop.

DJ White getting minutes. 5 min 2pt

Wonder how the lineups will be when Nazr and Perkins can play. What kind of weird rotation can Brook come up with? Now that his favorite children are gone.

@okc baby
I don't know, I'd probably give MVP to Russ or Harden. Russ carried us through the first half, and Maynor was so bad it's hard not to see Russ in brighter light. Harden was probably our best all-around player. He shut Kobe down, just as well as Thabo in a game Thabo looked like old Thabo. Add in the boards, assists, and larger offensive role, and I can see an evolving role for Harden as our true third option.

@Mark!
Some of Aldrich's screens were flat out great. Give this guy some more experience and he'll be among the best in the league at that facet of the game. He just sets a good screen as far as actually contacting the defender before he breaks away and he's a fairly wide body for them to get around. I'd like to see more of him in there.

@Mark!

I think you hit the nail on the head.

@okc baby
ONe of the few good D nights for Thabo. He was MVP tonight.

@Thunderstruck
I think Van Gundy hit in on the nail. Jeff Green and Thabo dont have that much of a difference in 3 pt percentage. The difference is Green never hesitated he just shot it. Thabo has to make teams respect him. We have to include him. Kinda like how cook is evolving.

I feel like Brooks outcoached himself in this one.

In the early 2nd quarter, we had Collison/Aldrich against Odom/Bynum. During that time, Odom went on his 7 point tear and the Lakers went +9. We switched Ibaka back in for Aldrich and went +3 to close the quarter.

Ibaka/Collison started the 3rd quarter against Pau/Bynum and we slumped to a -5 start. However, this is where Brooks got too smart for his own good. Odom was subbed back in and KD spent the rest of the game guarding Odom. Collison/Ibaka were never paired together again (except for the free throw substitution at the very end) and Aldrich never came back.

From that point in the 3rd until the end of the game, we went -5 and struggled to find a rhythm on offense. I got the impression that Jackson picked up on this and chose to leave Odom in the game as a result.

Why didn't Brooks try Ibaka on Odom and put Nick or Aldrich in to guard Pau/Bynum? We did well when this happened earlier in the game. We struggled when it was Ibaka/Collison against Pau/Bynum (understandable IMO) and Aldrich/Collison against Odom (predictable w/ the slow foot speed).

KD guarding Odom wasn't really a problem, but our offense was shot. We became a jump shooting team without screeners or rebounders. I thought Aldrich did a great job setting picks while he played, I'm a little confused why he didn't play again (and I'm sure he is too.) I also thought Ibaka played well at the 4 beside either guy.

Very frustrating game.

Thabo was a beast today IMO. The defense he played on Kobe was good. "Holding" Kobe to 8 of 22 is a pretty good accomplishment.

This is my first year with the team so i'm curious, is the way Thabo is playing in the last couple of games about the way he played last year or better or worse?

Fun game. I like our chances against the Lakers in the future.

I'm not sure whether we'll get back to where we need to be defensively this year, but I think we might. Offensively though it's clearly going to take a while for the team to adjust to the personnel changes. Part of the adjustment issues are going to be player side, but a lot are going to be coaching side. Player side, Westbrook seems like a player who has to really work to get used to where his team mates want the ball and how to include them in the offense, and I think there'll be an adjustment period for him to start really including Ibaka the way he included Krstik. On the coaching side, I'm hoping Brooks can figure out how to handle our new rotations. Since neither Ibaka nor Collison are huge offensive threats, we can basically assume that the PF position will be one which doesn't draw a lot of defensive respect from the other team. Given that, we can really only afford to have 1 other player on the floor that isn't an offensive threat, and since both Thabo and Perkins are Fairly quiet offensively, it seems like we just can't have Thabo and Perkins on the floor at the same time. Maybe this changes if Ibaka really start becoming aggressive and consistent with his face up jump shot, but for now it seems like you can only have 2 of Ibaka, Collison, Perkins, and Thabo on the floor at the same time.

Hopefully Brooks figures it out, because I think we've now got the talent to beat anyone.

won*

We got to start valuing possessions alot more. Especially at the PG position. 12 To between our best players is not a so be it. Not even including the brick shots. Then the point spread is doubled if the opponent converts. Ridiculous. Another game that could have been one. Ready for Perk and Nazr to get in there.

@RWisMyFavThunder
maybe if we lost by 20 id say that, but a 3 point lose without our new players is acceptable.

the game could have been much worse, a 3 point lose tolakers shorthanded isnt really that bad, and with 2 days off, can get a few practices in get nazr out there for wed.

I wouldnt say we couldnt make it past the first round. We havent even seen our trade players yet. Thats just haterade

who cares. We got two good looks by two good 3 pt shooters.

@RWisMyFavThunder
Haters gonna hate, right?

@okc baby
I'm not saying Cook would have caught the tap out. I'm saying it is foreseeable that he could have and yet Scott chooses to have a guy in there who is a worse career 3 pt shooter. That doesn't make any damn sense. We aren't concerned with playing defense at that point. So far as I can tell Scott is one of the only coaches who doesn't change his lineups situationally.

A lot of hate on Daily Dime today, especially for Duarnt's "lack of clutchness". Zach Harper said we probably won't make it past the 1st round of the playoffs

@tarts
No, not so be it. Westbrook losing a game is not acceptable. Russ can single handily take over a game and lose one

I thought the offense looked pretty good with the two big guys on the court. There were droughts here and there, but the movement overall was nice, we got a ton of open looks from the perimeter, and it seemed the quality of shots was higher due to the screen setting and overall activity level of our bigs.

Whos to say Cook would have caught the tap out. Two weeks ago Cook would have been the worst person catching a miracle tap out for a shot:) Today, Sef or Harden was sufficient enough to take that shot. Kinda pulling straws there. Problem wasnt there.

okc baby :@tarts

Umm no…. KD didnt have a good enough game. He gets rattled by stronger defenders. Russ was the same Hero Mode. And we got man handled on the inside. Brooks does come out with the best lineups. Same old story

westbrook needs to stay aggressive and drive the lane... if he gets a few charges then so be it...Kd has always been a questionable ball handler, we can only hope he gets better....I'm still a little sceptical has to whether we have enough offense without green and kristc, but we hopefully won't need it with Perkins and a more defensive minded approach....Cook looked to fill Green's role quite adequately...

@justin
Remember when I was saying before that getting Nene or Gasol might be an effort in futility, that ultimately Brooks could ruin either of them? Certainly I think Brooks is going to play Perkins more, and that Nazr will eventually be a primary backup big. But it doesn't change that Brooks loves things that don't work (Green, smallball, Ibaka at C, Thabo starting). Personnel can't fix the guy in charge.

@justin
The thing I don't understand is why he doesn't take in to account the flow of the game, and how players are playing. I understand everyone is going to come back to their averages, but people have good games and bad games, and if someone is having a good game they should play more. Bad game play less. Seems simple to me.

@okc baby
Ahh, but it does. The ball was tapped out and Harden ends (who is a decent three point shooter) ends up taking a second shot from three. That could have just as easily been tapped out to someone else. Why, in the heck wouldn't you want your best shooters out there just in case. It says everything about Brooks and the way he approaches the lineups. Also, Cook could have at least been some sort of decoy. No one was going to guard Thabo in the situation.

@okc baby
there was a tipout, could have been to the guy that shot 50% from 3 for the game instead of the guy that was 0-fer

Sef shot well today. Brooks biggest malfunction today was not playing the right big men

Serge Ibaka was at PF the entire first quarter, and either Nick Collison or Cole Aldrich was on the court at center. Here's what Durant did:

3-5 from the field, for 7 points. Makes were at 13 feet, 13 feet, 17 feet.

KD was 1-2 in the second quarter, only playing 6 minutes, with Ibaka at PF.

In the first 7 minutes of the third quarter, Durant was 2-5 for 7 points. So at this point he had 17 points on 6-13 shooting, which is a decent night against the Lakers for himm all things considered.

After that, Durant was at PF the rest of the way and was 2-7 from the field with 3 turnovers.

Knowing Brooks, I don't think the Durant at PF thing will be going away. Lose one problem, gain another.

@Thomas
It wouldnt have mattered. He wasnt shootin the last shot anyway

Only difference is other players stepped up, like Sef, Cook

@okc baby
Case in point, was Cook in the game on that last play when we absolutely had to have a three? (Seriously, was he? I can't remember but I'm thinking no).

Id hate to say it. But I told you so. Wish they would prove me wrong