Who? Who says we won’t win 50 games? (Will): Who’s to say we wont have 50 wins this season. If you break the past two seasons down into trimesters (just over 25 games) we have staedily improved over every time period. and the last 25 games we have gone 16-9 (.640 win percentage). Apply that percentage to the next 32 games (thats the rest of this season) and we come out at about 20 wins (20.48 really), which puts us with 49 wins. Couple that with the previously mentioned improvement and…… 50+ wins…

Also, last game Russ had a steal and clear breakaway in which he turned around and gave the ball to an ICE COLD Kevin Durant, which truly got him going. Without that, KD ends the 25 point streak with a very underwhelming game.

If KD really wants to make his mark historically he’ll have to either learn how to distribute the ball better or he’ll need to slide to PF to get closer to 10RPG and become a versatile defender.

I think the latter is more likely but KD has good court vision and his handle is improving.. he’ll go down as one of the best scorers the NBA has seen easily, even if he keeps up his current production his entire career he would be Top 10 all time in that regard, but if he can add either play making or rebounding / defense as another dominant facet he’ll be a legit all time great.

Is it true that if you don’t use it, you lose it? (Jax Raging Bile Duct): It is a waste of cap space if you don’t use it. You are allowed to go over the cap to resign your own players. You can’t go over the cap to sign a free agent. You have to do a sign and trade to get a free agent in that situation. The least we could do, if there are no good options available to use our cap space on, is to sign a good player on a good contract. You can always find a way to trade a good player with a good contract.

Go inside the paint young man. And score. Score points. (Mark!): Throwing my hat into the Jeff Green discussion… My biggest gripe with Green isn’t his offensive style, size, ability to defend in the post, or his rebounding rate.

And while I love his locker room chemistry, work ethic, potential and versatility… I think he has to be the guy to take the ball inside, get hacked and pull us through in tough games like the one last night against Cleveland. No one wanted to penetrate, and we gave up the game trying to match 3s with a team on fire from deep.

I can’t get mad at a guy like Durant — who has amazing shooting ability and a slight build — for not wanting to pound the ball in crunch time. He’s our super star, his skills are elsewhere, I *want* his body preserved. But Green is athletic enough and skilled enough that he should be able to take it to the hole and get the fouls. If he’s going to make his mark by being a “jack of all trades” he’s going to have to want the win more than anyone else.

The only player we have on our team willing and ready to play this way is James Harden. I wonder if the game would’ve turned out differently if he had been subbed in sooner in the 4th (he sat by the scorer’s table a long time waiting to come in.) Jeff has to be willing to do this. I’m not sure what else he can bring to the table that makes him long term viable unless he makes a miraculous turn around on his per-minute production compared with other players at his position. I think that’s an unrealistic expectation.

Interesting. Indeedy. (justin): Interesting thing I found. In the last 20 years, only 16 times has a starting point guard shot less than 40% from the field and had an A:TO ratio worse than 2:1. Only two point guards did this more than once, Gilbert Arenas and Allen Iverson.

But ESPN’s Trade Machine says this Thomas/Weaver/White for Dwight Howard would work. (Vince): I find it highly unlikely that we’ll trade for a big-time center. They’re very rare right now, and hence at a premium. Guys like Biedrins and Gasol simply won’t be had for mid-first round picks. And trading a member of the core seems unlikely.

And to repeat myself (though I posted it at the tail end of an older thread), I’m not sure why a team that’s fifth in defense, above-average in rebounding, and fourth (at last check) in blocks has a big man as its most pressing need. OFFENSE is our most pressing need. I submit that if you get improvement out of the young perimeter players, that a signing like Dampier or Camby can position us well. If you’re running out Green/Ibaka/Camby/Collison/2010 Draft Pick (or some version thereof) I think Brooks can mix and match enough to have an edge at the 4 and 5 over most teams (most of whom, remember, don’t have a quality big man either).

I still say our most pressing need, right now, is the backup 1 (and, no, Weaver is not the answer; if he were, he wouldn’t have lost out in camp to Kevin freaking Ollie). #1, Brooks needs to have some leverage over Westbrook, which he doesn’t with journeyman vets behind him; #2, our second unit offense has less movement than your average pickup game; and #3 I did like Westbrook playing off the ball last year a bit and I think having a solid backup 1 would allow Russell to do that again.

I think they just need to build a little confidence with a few good wins at home and they will be fine from then on.

I would also say that the Thunder seem to genuinely strugle with teams after they have played them once already… it’s a small sample size but it’s starting to look like a trend. Five of the Thunder’s eight losses were to teams they had already played. They are 0-5 in the second half of two-game series.

Sometimes it’s that simple. (Sammy): Comparing the gross number of assists in wins vs. losses does little to help us, since, by your own admission, it’s natural that we scored more in wins than we did in losses. More helpful, I think, would be to compare team assist percentage from wins vs. losses (that is, # of assists/# made fgs).Often times in losses, I think we look for things to blame and decide ‘we didn’t share the ball enough’ or ‘we didn’t rebound enough’ because the actual answer is crappy and boring: we didn’t shoot well enough. For some reason, I think we like to blame ball movement or rebounding or defense more than missed open looks because the first three sound correctable but third is just bad luck.

You see, Joe is very smart. That’s why his thought goes here. (Joe): I think it’s the offense. Seriously. Our defense is very very good, top 6 or 7 actually. You can’t be unhappy about that. The offense shoots considerably more midrange jumpers than the NBA average while simultaneously shooting much less at the rim or from three than the NBA average. We take much more of the least efficient shots in the game and much less of the most efficient shots. It’s really that simple. Our offense is largely predicated on drive and dish, and the shot that results is usually a midrange. We need more better shooters to up our efficiency (Thabo stands out) or to tweak our offense.

The thing KD needs to realize is that this is not last year’s team. He doesn’t have to carry the load when everyone around him is playing at the level they did that night. He needs to understand that you don’t ALWAYS have to be the guy…. at least not for a couple more years. I think all the great ones go through this same thing, the guy is barely 21 and everyone expects him to be Lebron or Kobe already. It’s too much for him right now, but eventually it will give him those icy veins that Kobe showed against the Thunder and again against Houston.

Pressure again, et cetera, et cetera. (Dan): The team is just too young, and they have no experience playing meaningful games against the best teams in the league, they are melting under the pressure. The contrast between the Sac game and tonight’s game says it all, when there isn’t pressure, Westbrook is patient, doesn’t seek to force anything, Durant and Green get open looks, obviously against a poor defense, but Westbrook, and to an extet Durant and Green, try to force the ball inside too much in crunch time.

If you watch good playoff teams, they are patient all the time, they keep their rhythm, and, because of experience, know that forcing the ball, doesn’t win games. Sure Westbrook and Green drive against 3 guys and make it once in a while but there were far more needless and sloppy turnovers. If we eliminate those kind of plays and are more patient, we can hang with anybody. And if KD is actually on for the entire game, we can beat anybody.

Failure for young players can destroy their confidence, but KD is a different breed, and if the past is any indication, the league should be afraid of his new reason to work and play harder. If the first 3 games are what Durant looks like when he is off, then I can’t wait to see what he looks like later in the season. Also, Harden needs to be on the floor more, he plays like a seasoned veteran on offense and is starting to get it defensively, Thabo is just playing too well to give his minutes to Harden.

Mmmm, roasted toast. (Andy Sweeter Than Candy): that is one thing that roasts my toast, some people, especially lakers fans that dont understand the game, are always under the impression that kobe can do no wrong, and are surprised when not everyone else agrees with them, kobe commited 5 fouls enough said, the whistle blew, get over it, true most of the time refs swallow the whistle for superstars and i think that spoils the fan in thinking that said star is allowed to get away with fouls or able to play more aggressive without fear of consequence…although one of the fouls commited on thabo was a little suspect to me…

oh well that always seems the case that there is a”their guy gets away with fouls all the time and our guy just gets whistled for being a good aggressive defender” bias, i know my grandpa flips #@*$ when cole aldridge gets away with being a “big goon” when he plays ou but when he plays against osu or texas is just good defending…guess we just need to get used to the othersides’ bias, bc u know we have one of our own.

I am personally a HUGE Thunder fan, and happy Oklahoman, but I do not share the illusion that our PAID. PROFFESIONAL. NBA. ATHELETES (or their brothers) have to drink the cowboy kool-aid in order to give me my season-tickets worth on the court! This is their JOB people, and I might have to move to New Jersey for my job(heathen, hell-hole of bad manners….) but I bet if I like my job and the people I am working with, I will find something to like about it!

Tony-D is here supporting his bro’ and that is his job, but being a basketball fan is our job, not cultural ambassador to the city or the state! Different strokes for different folks dudes! And just for the record, I love DC too! I think it would be cool beans to go live there for a while. I would hope KD and his brother enjoy their time here, however long it is (hopefully VERY long!) but any predictions Durant has made about retiring in an OKC Thunder jersey are only as good as the paper his contracts are written on. It is our job as fans and OKC-residents to make it happen! So put your $$$ where your mouth is and buy tickets for tomorrow night if you haven’t already!

Bring ‘em over Mr. Bennett. (Bryan): Sure is great to see all the international fans in here… I’m going to repeat what I said earlier about bringing over fans from outside the US. For one, it’s relatively cheap, compared to some of the other public relations things the team does. For two, it’s just cool to bring over fans from other countries to show the world, and even Oklahomans, that what happens here is seen and read about all over.

Throughout the week some of you drop some brilliant or at least somewhat thoughtful comments and so this is a try at highlighting some of them. Disclaimer: It’s not that I necessarily agree with all of them, but they were interesting and for the most part, well put. Consider everything [sic’d].

You’re telling me you wouldn’t rather have Yi Jianlian? (Keith): Can anyone name a single player drafted since 2007 they would rather have than Durant right now? Even with a wonky +/-, he’s easily better than everyone from his own draft class. Last year, the stiffest competition would be from Rose and Lopez, but Rose doesn’t defend either and Lopez’s team was only mediocre because of Harris and Carter. Perhaps Griffin could ultimately be as good, but we are a stellar rookie campaign and huge follow-up away from even thinking about the comparison.

I’ll admit I’ve gotten down on Durant for these numbers, and that in general I like numerical analysis of human trends, but even I am not going to pretend Kevin is anything but great. Look at MJ’s early career. It took him years to be more than just the best guy on the floor. It took years for his teammates to adjust to him as well. If Durant has bad +/- numbers, I have to fault his teammates at least half. Look, everyone knows what Durant can do, and everyone knows the defense will be keying in on Durant entirely. If the entire rest of the team can’t get anything done when the opponent focuses in on one guy, it can’t be all that guy’s fault.

Breaking down a game just as well but in 800 fewer words than me. (RH): I went to the game tonight and yes, I agree, the Thunder Up slogan is brutal. They used it as a chant – the same cadence we used last year for “Go Thunder Go,” and you could hear the crowd collectively cringing.

The whole game-experience was much improved tonight. For starters, they revamped their entire soundtrack, so we get to hear something besides the same 5 songs the whole night. Secondly, they didn’t give away random gift cards and t-shirts for all of the promos – they gave away TICKETS. Which was great. So props for that.

Ibaka is awesome. Royce, you might have a crush on him, but you’ll have to get past Jay Bilas first. Ibaka is exactly the type of player that Bilas falls in love with: long, athletic, gives a great effort, and has a reasonably high ceiling. They had Harden jerseys and j-shirts tonight, but I think you might have to wait some for Serge.

Last thought. I realize we were void of our best weapons at the end of the game, but neither Livingston nor Ollie looked like they knew how to run an offense. It was brutal, and wasn’t encouraging for the future of the surprisingly-important-backup-PG-role. But maybe I shouldn’t complain. At least Earl Watson wasn’t out there tonight.

Seriously. What the crap Rumble? You ain’t gonna repeat with performances like this. (Floppy Punch!): I was disappointed in our 2009 mascot of the year. He lost in a game of musical chairs to a little girl. She was like eight! You gotta block those little ones out or they’ll squirt right past you.

The great observations you can have while sitting behind the bench. (thunder tim): Iblocka has all the potential but, my goodness, his teammates need to just let him play a bit. During every timeout when he was playing, he had multiple players and coaches coming over to him, talking to him, pointing things out, encourating him, etc., etc. It seemed like he was in information over-load most of the time. I guess that’s how you learn. My bet is that he starts in Tulsa so he can learn the game and let his talent develop, because he really is unsure of what he’s doing …

Russ was GREAT down the stretch, being extremely patient, finding open guys for dunks, jumpers, etc. He really is becoming a solid point guard and “floor general” for our squad. KD is amazing in the game, but you wouldn’t guess it by how lazily he gets warmed up. Whatever works, I guess! Overall, I LOVED this game and seeing it up close and am looking forward to an exciting (but up and down, I’m sure) season.

Now that’s a podcast name. (Dane): You should call it “Thunderin’ Up with Royce.”

You demand. I deliver. (Vega): I guarantee that New Orleans will ship Hilton Armstrong off to Sacramento or OKC. Put it in the Smart Thoughts or something so that it will officially be on the record.