OKC Thunder fall FLAT in Atlanta, Rotation questions, A run too little too late
The Oklahoma City Thunder come out flat against the Atlanta Hawks what went wrong for the Thunder as they tried to Rally a little bit too late there’s rotational questions and how are the Thunder going to make some key adjustments down the stretch we’ll talk about that all coming up on today is
Locked on Thunder podcast you are locked on Thunder your daily Oklahoma City Thunder podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day let’s get it going on the lockdown Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your teams every day I am your host media member editorinchief over at thunderus
Intentions. Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter Ryland Styles follow the show on Twitter at l thunderpod email the show thunder.com on today’s show brought to you by FanDuel we’re diving into the Thunder falling flat against the Atlanta Hawks the rotations left some questions for Mark and the Thunder and much more
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Lockon to get started and in this game you know the the thunder come in it’s the second night of a backto back a home road backto back so travel was involved the travel didn’t go so well the Thunder didn’t get in until past 400 a after that Boston game which went right down
To the Y obviously an emotional game to the best NBA teams going at it last night in Oklahoma City into this game where you get in past four am and obviously you not going have your legs on the second night of back toback and both sides were healthy the only players
That Thunder didn’t have with them were Usman Jang and keante Johnson uh which is impressive for back toback Atlanta fully healthy except for DeAndre Hunter is out still but the huge rest Advantage laid with Atlanta not only just due to the Natural flows of the Thunder being on a backto
Back Atlanta hadn’t played since Sunday and it showed in this game where Atlanta was just the the more energized team the fresher team the faster team and so on the Thunder never grabbed a lead in this game they never tied this game except for when it was 00o like this was just
Not a game for OKC the Hawks once led by 20 points the Thunder L up a tenno run right out of the gate and for 98% of the games of the game the Hawks just did a great job of taking care of business when when you
Have a a schedule loss and there’s a reason that that phrase exists in the NBA this is commonplace I know that that whenever you’re in it and whenever whenever you it’s fresh right it feels disastrous it feels like there’s a billion things to get upset about
Sometimes this is just the way it works in the NBA and the Hawks for 98% of this game did a great job of taking advantage of it and the Thunder would make a run they’d cut it to five they cut it to seven they’ cut it to 11 and then boom
It gets right back blown out to 18 points and then at The Bitter End the Thunder were able to uh make their biggest push but overall for 98% of this game it was the Hawks doing their job and the Thunder had awful energy awful effort awful defense and even with as
Bad as the Thunder played and as bad as it feels that they’ve played the Thunder shoot 55 5077 shooting split you have to make your free throws this is an entirely different game an entirely different conversation if you just simply make your free throws like like forgetting all the other things that you
Can pick apart forgetting all the other things that we’re going to dive into today you make your free throws things change in Atlanta meanwhile a shot 50 35 and 93 but uh when you look at this game the Thunder Weare plus 10 of the paint but my goodness uh they just had no
Resistance when the Hawks wanted to get inside the Hawks were plus three in Second Chance points which it’s three-point game that’s that’s a big margin uh to to make up whenever you’re giving up these boards and the Thunder had two more turnovers than Atlanta the
Thunder were able to get out and run a little bit in the Fast Break later on in the game so it kind of skewed the fast break points but ultimately the Thunder had two more turnovers and we’re out rebounded by 12 and so when you give away 14 possessions you’re not going to
Be able to win a lot of ball games and then thunder only got off 91 shots compared to Atlanta’s 95 shots and the Thunder had no legs like you saw it from the the beginning hren had a rebound ripped away from him Josh Giddy and L
Dort in the midst of of the got to have it seven minute stretch they saw a rebound taken away from them from behind by dejonte Murray sluggish bad transitional defense to start this game and they didn’t show a ton of signs of life until the start of the third
Quarter and then it went away and then the you know of course the latter stretch of the fourth quarter really helped but the the Hawks threw some massive counter punches and they did a great job but overall this game still still came down to the Thunder going on
A 17 to4 run to close out the fourth quarter and getting this game within three so you have this game within three call A Time mount with three seconds left and draw up this beautiful atto to get Isaiah Joe in the corner for a wide open three at the buzzer that just rims
Out and so in the midst of the travel the midst of the back toback the midst of a billion minute delay to figure out which J Jay Williams deserves the foul and who has three fouls who has too the Thunder were still able to compete at
The end but it was too little too late they they ran out of time by the time they started playing well it was like a 1997 Toyo Corolla that was over 100,000 miles in it it’s in the dead of winter yeah eventually you can get it started
But you’re probably going to be late getting to where you want to go if you don’t plan accordingly down 13 points to start the fourth quarter with no SGA I thought that that was impressive to keep it a ball game by the time SGA came back
In uh the Thunder did not have some overwhelmingly great run with SGA they only they only netted about two points the SGA came back in with seven minutes down 11 but to not just wither away in that stretch was it was another way to highlight a constant theme for the last
Two weeks that we’ve been talking about here about the non SGA minutes end of the day no losing streak you know no winning streak lasts forever and even if you look at the Pistons no losing streak last forever uh but this was a scheduled loss and it happens however there are
Just some things that have left uh the fan base uh with a lot of questions specifically the rotation and I want to dive into that I want to dive into SGA because I think that this will feel like whenever you’re thinking back in your head that this was one of the worst SGA
Games and and by his standards it probably was but but it was also really impressive to see him turn it around and finish with the statline that he did which we’re going to talk about that I think that jdub was a picture perfect image of what he brings to this team in
This contest a Josh giddy adjustment that I want to dive into plus how the bench performs so there’s still a lot to cover from this game all coming up but first I want to say right now better good friends over at betterhelp check them out today at betterhelp because
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So throughout this game one of the constant themes was where is blank and you can just throw in any player who did not play uh into that line even some players who are inactive that way we’re being thrown out kri Williams didn’t play coach’s decision Davis pans didn’t
Play coach’s decision Trey man didn’t play coach’s decision bames didn’t play coach’s decisions olivar didn’t play coach’s decision and then the players that were out poku ke and new were all out inactive uh us and kante are down with the g-league poku is just a healthy
And active because uh you got to get down to 15 active players per game the Thunder are really healthy right now so that that means that somebody has to be a healthy scratch but the biggest talking point is the fact that Lindy Waters got 20 minutes
And I think that you got to separate art from artist on this conversation because in general Lindy Waters played a fine game today and we’re gonna dive into that after we after we get over the overarching picture here but it’s just the principle of ker swims didn’t play
And ker swis is one of your best players now the quote that’s getting everyone excited right now from my man Joel of the Oklahoma uh asked Mark about why K didn’t play and Mark said flat out this was not so much a rest thing as it was
Kind of a reward to Lindy Waters and you know that that can be taken multiple different ways you can take it at face value you can try to read deeper into it I’m not so sure which is the right direction to go even but let let’s do
Both so trying to read into it you know coaches oftentimes try to protect their guys and often times you know they won’t exactly say the full picture and and that’s not a mark thing that’s just coach thing Ken Williams is a 29-year-old who had to miss a large
Chunk of the start of the season with back spasms so in a vacuum Ken ways not playing the second night of a back toback is not shocking is not some just Revelation and oh my gosh can you believe this happened but when you say it that’s not
The reason why he didn’t play then it changes the discussion now now is part of the reason why you said you know that that rest wasn’t the thing to to protect kri in any way of like maybe he he doesn’t want to be viewed as like hey I needed a rest day whatever
Maybe that’s it but but you know we can only go with the information provided and so if this decision truly was just a reward for Lindy Waters or just to play Lindy Waters I do not agree with that decision I don’t really um you know see the value in that necessarily because
One Lindy Waters also played yesterday yes it was in the afternoon so that helps a little bit but but it’s not as though he is spared from the back-to-back fatigue number two he he’s he’s just overall not quite an NBA player I know that Mark loves him Mark
Trusts him this organization loves him and trusts him but at the end of the day he’s he’s a shooter in theory that cannot play defense at at a high enough level consistently enough uh to to really make a lot of noise in the NBA and right now he’s a two-way player
That’s ineligible for the postseason so even if you do find something or unlock something with ly Waters find the pathway to convert him to a two-way deal from from a two-way deal to a standard deal it could be as easy as trading poku you know kind of like you did with
Basley but you nonetheless as of this very moment even if you did feel like you can unlock something with Lindy Waters who I don’t think has a ton of of room to grow you still couldn’t make that a fixture of your of your team right now
But again I I want to separate Lindy from this in this particular game because I I I don’t think he played bad in this particular game but it’s just the principle of not playing kenrich every night to me if kenrich is healthy if kenrich is you
Know ready to go then he should be in every single game and you work around that you experiment around that now it’s an 82- Game season you can’t play the same guys over and over and over again even if they are healthy and Mark made that known well in
Advance but if you’re gonna try lendy in a game where for the majority of it you were down 1820 points then what’s stopping you from trying Trey man who who who at least looked to improve defensively and and playmaking wise and looks to still be getting better what’s stopping you from
Playing DAV bans who I’m not the biggest advocate for of getting minutes if you listen to the show you know that but in a game where nobody’s defending a lick anyway I know that D bons can’t defend a street light but no one else could
Either today so so throw him in for a couple three bombs and and see what can happen now the mitches thing I know that he has a ton of supporters a ton of fans he’s a 29y old who who Who’s a struggling NBA athlete and and is and is
Having a hard time adjusting to the PACE not playing him in the back toback makes a lot of sense especially when you’re asking a 29y old just in general for for getting uh however you would evaluate his minutes to this point but a 29y old
In general to go from not playing at all to now over the last couple of games he’s been a fixture of starting the second quarter and a fixture of the rotation that’s tough on your body anyway but but to ask him to play two games in a row you know back toback days
Is really tough so I I don’t think that that that the meish thing is egregious at all I do think though that that if you’re telling the truth and that Kish Williams was fully available you know not not playing him and instead playing Lindy in a game where you needed to
Spark and a game where you needed some of that intensity in a game where you needed somebody to grab you by the shirt collar and wake you up which is an expression that Marcus used to describe kri Williams a lot I I believe that you
Should have done that if he was able to uh go now again just be protecting kenrich and and and the best thing for kenri and the best thing for the team is to set him on a second night of back toback because you know he he he’s
Dealing with back spasms and uh at the beginning of the season and and you don’t want to you don’t want to push them too hard right now I I I think that people also uh mistakenly read into a lot of of Chets minutes only getting 24 minutes to me I
Think that the chat minutes thing you should not condemn Mark for that or the rotations for that because heading into the year it was a serious question a question that the organization did not mute and did not and did not turn their nose up at like from Sam prey to Mark to
Chat all the way down nobody said oh there’s there’s no restrictions there’s no there’s no Deb is gonna play all the back toback so to say uh you know there was no like predetermined plan but they didn’t know if they were going to have
To or not have to rest him uh on second nights so back toback so I said that to say this it was NE it was never guaranteed even that he would be able to play back-to-backs in general so so off of such a mega injury which I think that
Because he’s playing so well through 30 games we forget just the the kind of levels to AZ Frank fractur and how hard it is to overcome how hard it is to rehab from how hard it is to just get back to where you were much less look
Better than you did the last time we saw you on the floor uh and and much less you know hold up and and play uh to the sheer usage and and sheer intensity that he’s played you know playing him 24 minutes on a back toback on a random uh
Wednesday in January I think it’s a smart decision I really do so I don’t have that same Affinity towards uh Mark you the same I shouldn’t say what what I’m looking for I don’t have the same the same vile uh feelings toward you know chat’s low minute numbers in this
One because I think that that was smart it’s just the the quote about kenrich if he’s healthy you gotta play him and I know you want to reward Lindy but Lindy hasn’t even been the best you know g-league player that you’ve assigned so to say you know KY Johnson’s been been
Better than him in the G league so I I don’t know I I just think that again you got to separate Lindy because let’s talk about Lindy real quick the only downfall to Lindy today was that he was he was a step slow on defensive rotations at
Times but I don’t really put that on Lindy as a player in this game because the Thunder playay very tough style it’s very tough to just gel and fit right back into it the blue try to match that try to match that style defensively but but you’re playing with totally
Different players who have totally totally different preferences and abilities and and just coverages and so you know he was a steps SL defensively you you can get on him for that but I don’t think that that was really um a huge deal ultimately in this game he was
A plus five in this game in his minutes on the floor he was three for six from three three rebounds an assists a turnover he really played his role well didn’t do too much uh and he played well so again as I that’s why I started off this segment with separating the two
Lindy Waters in this specific game played well it’s the playing kenrich over Lindy Waters that is the problem for me uh especially with where that I view Lindy Waters as at now Mark has more insight Intel uh basketball knowledge everything else than I do but that’s
Just kind of the way I see it uh from from where we at but get a big three even to to cut this down to single digits like Landy Waters in this game played well if you’re gonna experiment if you’re going to try new things why not
Dip into try man why not dip into Davis pans now you can mention positionally you know you can play Lindy Waters in a lot of other spots than you can play treay Man fine but the D paton’s thing would have been interesting however you know to to give and present both sides
Which I think is fair the the goal of D Paton minutes would be to go three for six from three so like you did get the Davis Paton production with assuredly better defense we we we we picked the part you know the slow rotations at times Lind waters for
Sure played way better defense than Dev pons would have played so bton you can cancel out MIT you can cancel out it really just comes down to Kenny hustle you know and and you can make an argument of course for tryman who we’ve advocated for to get minutes
On this show plenty throughout this season but ultimately it’s a rotational decision in the midst of an amazing season for Oklahoma City and it’s something that I think that people overall overreact to because you just don’t give Mark I don’t think enough credit of how good of a coach He Is We
Like this is not going to be a thing in the postseason this is just a way to patchwor an 82 Game season in the midst of a brutal January stretch so it doesn’t necessarily matter it’s just when you give that quote you’re going to have to you’re going to have to
Live with people running with with this opinion and running with these feelings so it was a tough game scheduled loss yada yada yada we talk SGA I think that jdub proved exactly who he was and exactly what he means to this team uh in in this game we’ll talk about that as
Well and a key adjustment for Josh giddy to really unlock things here in the next couple of games we’ll talk about that coming up but first want to say right now good friends over at fandel FanDuel is awesome and FanDuel right now is a perfect time to hop in there because you
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Late I think that with SGA you’re just not going to be able to hold him in check for the Long Haul of a 48 game you know 48 minute game you know you look up and he’s got 33 points 13 boards 8 assists and two turnovers and for the
Vast majority of this game it felt like you know he just couldn’t get a killing it felt like no no one on the team could hit water out of boat but he ended up shooting 45% from the floor which is just really good two for three from
Three 10 points in the fourth is where he really started cooking 10 points in the fourth three rebounds an assist he actually did make a technical foul free throw which is really good and it’s something that the Thunder have struggled with I wonder if the Thunder could petition the league to like hey
Could we just let our guys fill the lane on technical foul free throws because something funky is going going on uh with the Thunder and and missing techical foul free throws and it’s been going on for two a back toback andone sequence which really sparked one of
Those Thunder runs he came back with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter OKC down three and when you look up at the very end it was a three-point game and you had one of the best atto coaches in the NBA drawing up an atto to try to
Get an open three it did get an open three and you had a chance to tie it and go to overtime and you know a 17 to four run to close the fourth quarter the Thunder finally looked like they kicked into gear you go to overtime you know
Anything can happen you it’s not a guaranteed win but goodness you feel good about your chances you feel really really good about your chances so uh the fact that he was able to come in down 11 and make this happen just really showed uh how important he is how impactful he
Is and he was clearly drained he was clearly taxed but he still found a way to produce and that’s what MVPs do that’s what superstars do and that’s what SGA is but I think that job showed exactly who he is and it was easy to talk about it last year the games
Were a bit lower stakes and it was just an allaround house money year but for to continuing the year two I think is what is showing you that this is truly who jdub is and that is an energy giving player and you’ve heard us talk about that all throughout his rookie season
But for a team that is so poised is so under control I don’t want to call him nonchalant because I feel like that has like a negative connotation but nonchalant as in like how they present themselves even SG after hits like the wildest shot just kind of looks like it doesn’t
Matter Jaylen Williams jdub gives them so much energy gives them so much emotion where’s that heart on the sleeve is pumping his fist after an an1 a massive an1 pumps his fist guys get hype guys get going SJ hits a three cuts the lead to five now the Hawks did a great
Job of rallying and and pushing that lead back out but that’s one example had a really good pass to chat to make it 11-point game in the fourth that’s when R got back in and from there it was off the races I think that J is one of the
Best players in the NBA at just racing the length of the floor in no time you blink once and he’s down the floor and he scored two points and it preserves so much time and that’s what makes comebacks like this possible like if the Thunder had that three from Joe go in
And won in overtime that race down the floor by jayob is like the turning point of what was possible in this game he shot 73 I’m sorry he shot 75% from the floor and went one for one from three with zero legs under him I mean his first shot was just horrendously uh
Short and I don’t say that as like a criticism of jdub I I think that players of course are going to um you know deflect these you know quotequote excuses and not want to give any excuses but like clearly these guys were drained clearly these guys were fatigued so to
Still muster up an ability to shoot 75% and you know in this game was really impressive from J 21 points six assists three rebounds four Steals and and those four steals oftentimes turns into points for OKC one was a coast to coast slam for him one was a eurostep finish in the
Paint uh 75% from the floor one for one from Deep improving his three-point percentage by over 6% uh so far this year from his rookie season whenever you see him and he kind of looks like a different score this year especially on ball I think a lot of
It has to do with it’s it’s easy to notice his over overhauled you know body from his rookie year but a lot of it has to do with his improved footwork like I’m not saying that it was awful last year but like it is just really taking a
Step up it’s really taking you know an advancement at his footwork and his ability to get to areas on the floor where he feels feels comfortable and one of his best shots of the night happened with 90 seconds left and he just hits this tough catch and shoot movement
Three which again is another play that you look back on and had that run gone differently to where we would have remembered it you know years years on the line so to say uh that one would have been another Turning Point play for JB and for the thunder so the biggest
Point about J and about the center team I think is how much it’s how important it is to have an A an emotional leader an energy supervisor so to say for this team because this team clearly lacked energy for the majority of this game but it’s impossible not to feed off of what
Jadb does on the floor and I think that he showed that in this one let’s talk Josh giddy who is just shooting so well from three over this last stretch of games you know 40% from three over this last stretch of games the only bad part about his game
In this one was that he struggled to to to defend there was just not a good matchup for him because the Hawks you know their big man is too big for Josh dard Jaylen Johnson is too good for Josh dard down there and Deon Murray is too
Good for Josh dard so like it was it was really hard to find that hide him option for the majority of his minutes so he he did not play well defensively but you’re not going to like expect Josh to play well defensively but still it was it was
Bad from him on defense uh the other area is what I think is the biggest key for him and we talked about this all summer long the biggest key is how bad he has been inside the ark it’s not been his three-point shooting because Josh goody has shot 40% from three over this
Stretch and he’s shot two for three from three today and it’s not changing the defense’s mind because he’s just not going to get enough threes to to Really force a change right even if this is who Josh giddy is like let’s say Josh giddy is a 40% three-point shooter from now
All throughout the rest of the year all throughout next year like this is just who he is he’s still going to only take three of them or four of them you know a game like he’s not going to get up to uh the the margins that you need him to uh
To to to prove costly for the opponents and if he did get up those margins the percentages would change just simple math and so in the summertime let’s take you back there to feeo where he is dominating the World Cup the the biggest praise that that I was
Giving him all summer long was his mid-range Game and his Rim finishing because those two things are what’s going to unlock his game because you’re just not going to change the way that the defenses guard you uh on the on that low volume of three but whenever he was able to hit
Those turnaround jumpers in the mid-range those Dirk Fades and able to get to the rim stronger in feba and and had the floater working like he did in Denver you know even a couple games ago much less going back to FBA like that stuff is what changes for Josh and so um
I’m not going to say he had a bad game today I don’t think he did I think he I think I think he played fine obviously we mentioned the defense the defense was rough uh but this is just a tough match up for him nine points three rebounds
Four assists and a steal I think that people kind of missed the plot when they just talk about his three-point percentage yes it’s good you’d much rather make your threes uh than than miss them but the actual uh kind of hidden aspect of this or the actual uh
Key to unlock his success is going to be inside the arc and what’s encouraging about that if you’re a thunder fan is if he can do both if he can hit his his low volume threes at a at a 37% 40% clip and he can get back to form inside the AR
Which we’ve seen him do uh on big stages such as feeba I think that people might undercount how how important feba is for players and how important uh you know feba was for for Josh Giddy and for SGA and for these other players so you can
Go back and listen to our summer podcast from the the team Australia games where we were recapping all of his team Australia games and how uh we were explain this exact theory that Josh giddy might actually need to be better inside the arc than outside the ark but
I think this was a good example of that because like he the stretch has been he’s been two for three from three but in the games where he’s able to hit inside like against Denver remember how he hit like five floaters and it was awesome like those have been the tell
All games for Josh kidy uh more so than the three barrage games because the three barrage games is only still two or three that’s going to be the bulk of his work will be inside the arc so I think he can do it I think he has a size to I
Think that he just needs to learn how to put it all together in the NBA talking about him as a just an on the court product case Wallace I think he was really good as 15 points scored matches career high three for seven from three tough mid-range shot uh two assists this
Is where I want to see kind of the Thunder stop process of taking this January stretch everyone is on the same page like this is a very tough January stretch everyone’s on the same page you know as if you know they’re going to need everyone they’re they’re going to
Have all hands on deck everyone’s going to chip in whatever you want to use as the verbiage there in the midst of that could you see case and Wallace’s World expand a little bit and and not necessarily just you know minutes expand not even you know not even saying play
Him more just as a sheer minutes load I’m just saying like his role because you know he had that one assist where he just flings it to the corner for Wiggins to shoot the three uh I want to see Cas rless play on ball more uh kind of as a
Facilitator and not just a facilitator but scoring on ball too like just running the show a little bit more than what we’ve seen I think that that can really help the Thunder patchwor together a 48 minute game especially in games like this where you need to change
Your rotations a little bit where guys need need need uh breaks and and guys don’t have their legs and on down the line so I would I’m interested to monitor if you start to see Cas Wallace get to um explore his on ball ability more because I find it fascinating that
Like whenever I asked Mark about um kind of managing players whenever they’re getting to that that College number Cas Wallace has now played more NBA games than he has college games in his career and he’s played really heavy minutes like it’s not as though he’s just willy-nilly getting into games he’s
Played bulk minutes for the Thunder throughout his career he’s started games for the Thunder throughout his early career you know and in the midst of that conversation of like how do you manage them from hitting that rookie wall Mark continued to reiterate that like this is
Not the player he’s goingon to be this is just like a starting point and he can be a different version of himself later on and and and obviously that was meant to be a more bigger picture thing but also like part of that Evolution for
Kase is going to be to do a little bit more on Ball and I think that that can really help the Thunder get through a pretty grueling January Isaiah Joe a play that really captal what we’ve talked about this the whole week goes in on three Hawks and creates an offensive
Rebound kicks it out for Lindy Waters three that was awesome tough finish at The Rim threw two Defenders off the glass or wind Defender off the glass nine points a rebound an assist a steal I I think Jay’s not gonna get enough credit for how good he was really good
Offensive hub for the thunder in the second half as a playmaker he had two assists but he had another one that led to case well free throws that he converted so you can you know quas count that as three assists two steals three boards three points all in 15 minutes uh
Of action I liked what I saw from jayw MVP this game let’s go with Shay let’s go with KAS you can go with whoever you want to MVP this game does not matter at all it’s a fake award folks they don’t gain anything they don’t care they don’t
Even know about it so who cares you can give it to whoever you want give it to give it to yourself for watching this game here in January but coming up on febru uh on February in February we’re still gonna be doing this podcast Lord willing but Friday we’re gonna have a
Mailbag podcast so place your questions on YouTube place your questions on Twitter _ Styles place your place your questions on threads Ryland Styles R lnor SES place your questions everywhere about the thunder about the NBA about life about whatever you want uh for our mailbag show on Friday on Saturday we’re
Going to recap the Nets game and away we go 2024 Daily Show about the thunder we’re going to continue to rock and roll here on lockdown Thunder subscribe anywhere you get your podcast from including on YouTube and until tomorrow be good and be good to one another
The Oklahoma City Thunder came out FLAT against the Atlanta Hawks on the second night of a back-to-back, which was expected after the OKC Thunder knocked off the Boston Celtics on Tuesday in the Paycom Center. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander turned it on late for the Thunder, but it was a little too late. Despite strong contributions from Isaiah Joe, Jaylin Williams, and Cason Wallace, the Bricktown boys still fell to the Hawks. Mark Daigneault chose to play Lindy Waters III over Kenrich Williams, reading into his quote and discussing a questionable rotation.
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26 Comments
What if KD comes back to OKC?
Who do you think would start in place of Chet if he had to miss time, J-Will or Kenny Hustle?
Their on a road, back to back… lost by a few.. had a tough start.. Atlanta came out strong.. I think they played a great game.. Atlantas youth matches up.. but tbh they played a good game. They are still contenders.
I don’t know what’s his infatuation with Waters … I’m really not sure
Many reasons to pull the starters early, that was a long stretch of huge games, enjoying the pod, cheers
What’s the best lowkey way to attend a thunder game… lmao
10 minute delay didnt help either.
Does Lindy Waters know where Sam Presti buried the bodies?
He’s an absolute turnstile on defense who shoots at league average from 3.
I’d rather see Bertans play.
All star voting.
One more freethrow made and JDub can dunk to send the game to overtime rather then swinging it to Joe who shoots the three, a shot that you would trust him to take every time, it is far from a disastrous game and on a different day OKC wins despite everything going against them (e.g. arriving in Atalanta early morning)
Are we likely to see any of the two way players in the second half of the season if no injury crisis occurs, i haven't been watching the blue but is anyone pushing their envelope?
Jalen Johnson showed that he’s a future star in this game his performance really was the difference that’s better than just getting cooked by Saddiq Bey or something the Thunder will be fine. Three of the next four games are against bad teams that will not be able to matchup athletically with the Thunder they should go 3-1 at least I think
gotta play better defense and get jdub and chet more shots. we have got to stop resorting to lu dort for shots. he’s a DEFENDER.
I knew we were losing the game the moment Lindy Waters checked into the game. Why on earth is he on this roster??
Glad to hear you talk about J-Dub as a leader, because to be honest I think he is the leader of the team and not Shai… Shai is a superstar, but I don't see the team leader qualities in him yet and that is OK.. J-Dub is a creator, motivator, and puts his ego on the shelf to get everyone involved in the game. That being said… it drives me nuts that this guy doesn't get a minimum of 15-20 shots a game. His efficiency is amazing and he needs be a focus instead of Dort and Giddey throwing up shots every time they touch the ball… Frustrates me to no end, they are both good players, but Dort needs to learn that he is a great defensive player and needs to focus on that as he has a number of teammates who are much better offensively. Giddey has been good lately, but he gets the ball and goes straight into the paint with some really inefficient shots…. Can't get down on what the Thunder have accomplished so far, but they can be better and I think shrinking the rotation a bit is a good start…. I understand it's the dog days of the season, but our starters (besides Shai) play less minutes than most other teams. These guys are young and learning, they don't need minute restrictions… We also need to trade for a big… number one priority!!! Prozingus showed why the other night… we need some beef to work the middle next to Chet, trade Giddey, Dieng, Poku and picks for Siakam… PLEASE!!!
Officials stopped one of our runs.
Is it just me, or do the teams we play almost always shoot lights out from the 3 for about the first minutes of virtually every game. Most of the time we seem to be clawing back from an early deep hole.
It was an exhausting back to back. Was not expecting a win. Game was much closer than it should have been.
They've had so many great wins against great teams that they can't win them all. They've been through the gauntlet lately, and they still lost by only 3. They'll be back on track Friday. They grow every game.
We need to have JDub & not SGA taking the last shot of the 1st, 2nd & 3rd Qtrs. Shai is terrible taking that last shot. He usually runs up the court chaotically & throws up a bad shot. Or flubs it. Or turns it over. Lately he's been passing at 1sec & Qtr runs out.
Why don’t we see keyontae Johnson in these type of games
Marks an ace with 14 diff pitches. Over 182, even if you have the 105 4 seam, this is a slider game. Even if sure it’s not playoff ready, i don’t mind burning a game against the Rockies to get an inning eater some run against a familiar opponent and some pitch practice.
the 4 seam will still be there come April
Having a rotation with no big man is just crazy to me. Im sure Jdub does not want to play the 5.
They were all off. Obviously everyone was tired after a big stretch of important games. Hawks played out of their minds and OKC still gave themselves a chance to win in the end. Heck of a final inbounds play!
these types of loses i dont mind, with how competitive some of these inferior teams are, especially with how good we are, they will have alot of those 1st quarters if we are not careful. Great effort towards the end and we move on to the next.
There you go that's good for a young team: it's called tough love. Spare the losses spoil the team