How The Thunder Are Dominating the NBA

How The Thunder Are Dominating the NBA

After a 40 win season and second round play in exit expectations for 2024 were pretty high in OKC you’re adding Chad holgren getting another season of development from Shay who just made the all NBA first team jdubs heading into year 2 just lots of things to be excited

For but if I told you that they’d arguably be the best team in the league before the allstar break would you believe me because that’s exactly what we’re looking at a team that’s been Elite on both sides of the ball and Performing against the best competition which begs the question just what’s made

Them so good and can they sustain it come playoff time any discussion about the thunder has to start with Shay there’s nobody better at driving the basketball just applying constant pressure to the paint at all times where he’s not just a threat to finish but is also a masterful foul drawer I don’t

Think you can make a defend in a lab that would be able to stop sheay from beating him off the dribble and when help comes he’s good at reading it so he’ll hit the open man for some easy offense and in the rare event that he

Does get cut off or the paint is packed he can fall back on an S tier mid-range game with the space creation and shot making needed to absolutely torch any defense in addition to his perimeter attack he can also operate out of the post he’ll especially use this back to

The basket game as a way to attack mismatches where he can fade over either shoulder has incredible footwork and perfect use of up fakes so again just so many different options when it comes together you’ve got arguably the best one-on-one player in the NBA currently scoring about eight points per game on

An absurd 1.23 points per possession on either isolations or post-ups and this ISO game is pretty much the building block for OKC’s entire offense when you have a guy who’s that good at creating his own shot is so efficient inside the ark but can also make plays for others

Without turning the ball over as long as you surround him with guys who fit both your floor and ceiling are through the roof there’s been an especially strong synergistic effect with Chad holgren primarily due to his ability to space the floor you can see that value on a

Play like this where Shay’s Drive pulls Rudy go bear away from the top of the key having a seven-footer who can consistently knock down that shot makes things way harder on the opponent it’s not just the outside shooting though he can finish plays in so many different ways here’s another Shay drive that

Draws help but this time chat’s in the dunker spot and finishes a lob he moves really well for his size so when spotting up on the perimeter you also have to worry about him as a cutter Shay draws two in the post and hits him where is length allows him to easily finish

Over help in addition to all of that he’s also comfortable putting the ball down on drives this one again starts with Shay drawing extra attention in the post and when he moves it to cat there’s a lane to attack getting all the way to the rim for a finger roll there are so

Many different ways to weaponize a skill set like this one thing you’ll see them do quite a bit is run him off of flare screens in early offense if nobody jumps out to him he’s stepping into one of those automatic jumpers but as soon as a

Big comes out to close that space he’s attacking the close out and showcasing some more of that incredible interior finishing where he makes his presence most felt though is in the Twan game with Shay Shay’s never really had a true scoring threat to run pick and roll with

And chat’s about as multifaceted of a screener you can think of as a roller he’s quick to get downhill and because Shay’s so good at pressuring the defense he gets quite a few freebies and in the event that Shay draws a more aggressive coverage like a blitz he’s someone who

Can consistently catch and finish through traffic of course what defenses have to worry about most though is the pop he’s shooting 40% from three off the catch and that’s good enough to stress the defense which then makes things easier for Shay the Hawks again put two

On the ball but capella doesn’t want to leave Chad open so he attempts to recover which then leaves Shay with a lane to attack downhill as he gets to a floater pretty much the principle of OKC’s scheme is answering the question how can we make things as easy for Shay

As we possibly can the Twan game with chat does exactly that but another thing you’ll see is that they really like to use their smaller players as the screener that way he can turn the corner and attack a mismatch just in case his one-on-one game wasn’t hard enough to

Guard these actions can also be used as a way to create advantages he uses the screen to get the sadique bay switch but Jaylen Johnson’s a touch late to react so he’s shoveling it into the rolling Wiggins and when it’s a shooter like Isaiah Joe you’ll often see them slip

The screen where that quick two-on-one is all it takes to get three more points on the board everything I’ve talked about up to this point works together you’ve got Joe slipping a screen which forces Wiggins to switch leaving Shay with a mismatch to attack he of course

Beats him off the dribble draws help down low and leaves it for who else but Chad diving in from the corner or how about this one that starts with Shay getting blitzed hitting Chad in the middle who makes the right read on a short roll kick out to Jaylen Williams

From there job can either shoot or attack the close out and decides to lob it right back to the big man I guess now’s a pretty good time to focus on JB who’s been looking like an Allstar this season of course with Shay dominating The Rock most of his time is spent off

Ball and he’s a serious threat for one the guy’s shooting 45% from three so good luck leaving him open to help in the paint but the main thing is his slashing he’s extremely good at getting into the defense on drives especially off the catch even when there isn’t a

Big advantage or aggressive close out to attack and it’s not just his athletic finishing that you have to worry about but also his passing he’ll pressure the rim and continue to create for others in a similar manner to Shay what stands out about all of this though is how

Efficient he is you won’t ever see him waste a possession by taking a bad shot or making a poor decision everything he does is intentional and it makes him a perfect number two next to a volume scorer he’s more than fine taking 10 to 13 shots a game and he’ll make more than

Half of them won’t turn the ball over while still offering some much needed secondary creation all those ways in which I said SGA can set up their offense JB can do as well you’ve got the one-on-one game he’s big athletic and skilled from all three levels that’s

Helped him to 1.09 points per isolation up there among the more efficient in the NBA there’s also the Twan game with Chad like I said he can pressure the defense and pass so those actions still commonly lead to the same set of scoring options and then of course the ball screens from

Guards and wings he’s a big time mismatch for smaller Defenders so getting him those switches is a way to generate some high efficiency offense the big three of Shay job and Chad is the key all three are supremely skilled play off of each other perfectly and allow all sorts of flexible lineup

Choices you’ll typically see Lou dor in there with them more for defense which we’ll get to but on offense he’s having by far the best outside shooting season of his career at 30 9% and although he’s not much of a Creator at all will occasionally put it on the deck when he

Sees a lane to attack rounding out the starting five is Josh giddy now in one of my most recent videos I talked about how Minnesota caused a ton of problems for their offense by just simply ignoring giddy as a scoring threat altogether he’s not just a below average

Outside shooter but a below average finisher a below average athlete doesn’t know how to use his body to create contact or get to the line basically what I’m saying is that he doesn’t really apply pressure on the defense with that said I do think he has some

Valuable skills for one he’s the squad’s best passer by a landslide meaning that when they want to set up some action he’ll make the right reads he’s especially good on Sidelines out of bounds plays they get some free buckets just off of the sheer Precision of his deliveries but his game sometimes feels

Like a square peg trying to fit into a round hole you don’t want him taking on ball possessions away from Shay and job but off ball he’ll probably be played off the floor come playoff time so you’ve got some tough questions to answer there to get more shooting on the

Floor next to their Stars they’ll replace giddy in the lineup with Isaiah Joe by far their best threat from outside he’s shooting just under 45% from three off the catch this season just incredible and he’s one of those guys who really makes defense’s second guess how they approach Shay double him

Early and one pass away You’re basically giving up a layup from the perimeter pick your poison the five of Shay Joe Dort jdub and Chad has actually been by far OKC’s best lineup this season and the one they usually close with outscoring opponents by 38 points every 100 possessions with an incredible

Offensive rating of 138.4 another guy they can go to for some more shooting is Rook Cas Wallace he too is shooting nearly 44% from three off the catch not with the same level of difficulty in versatility as Joe but still capitalizing on the opportunities he’s given with that he can also do some

Really nice things off the catch showing a little in between game finishing at The Rim at a high level moving the ball well just another solid piece to put next to a star Creator in very limited minutes you’ll also find a guy like Aaron Wiggins every every single time I

Watch this team I’m shocked by how little he plays an athletic lengthy Wing who can do pretty much anything on the court but gets passed up routinely or you’ve got kenrich Williams shooting good from three but not a huge threat from out there a capable slasher really

Good extra passer and I think by this point you have to be picking up on a theme the key to everything they do is simple skill on the court it sounds obvious but I’m serious they aren’t doing anything crazy with their scheme there’s no motion offense they aren’t

Using their big as the initiator like Denver or Sacramento they aren’t throwing seven pin downs and six flare screens like Utah they’ve got their Elite one-on-one guy they’ve surrounded him with like eight players who can all make plays some of which are making threes at a near League best rate and

That recipe has helped them to the second best halfcourt offense in the NBA scoring 1.1 points per possession I only really have two big concerns with this offense come playoff time one is the sustainability of some of their three-point Shooters right now they’re third in the NBA at 39% from three so

It’s a pretty big part of their effectiveness but can guys like Dort or kenrich shoot almost 40% from three consistently or is it still a sample siiz thing Joe can be inconsistent at times will he go cold at the wrong time and the second concern I have is

Everything I talked about with giddy can he play Big minutes or any in the playoffs especially against teams like Minnesota I do have my concerns but still there’s no denying how high powerered this offense is and Shay has shown time and time again to be virtually immune to top defenses so I

Think there’s still a very good floor with all of that said I’d actually say what makes me so high on OKC is their defense and how I expect that to hold up come playoff time the name of the game is simple size length and athleticism just think about the players I listed on

Offense Shay’s the point guard he’s 66 with a 61 wingspan and has arguably the best hands in the NBA next to him is Dort a bit shorter at 6’4 but rediculously strong with a 68 wingspan then you’ve got JB 65 with a stupid 72 wingspan giddy 6’8 chat a lengthy 71 the

List goes on and on asiah Joe Cas Wallace Aaron Wiggins kenrich Williams all athletes with long arms when you have those guys on the floor together all of a sudden the floor shrinks passes that should be available aren’t anymore leading the league in deflections at over 16 a game driving lanes that look

Open are getting reached into and po Ed out and the result is a team that forces an absurd amount of turnovers they currently lead the league at 16 forc turnovers every 100 possessions and also lead in points off of turnovers so that’s an example of Defense directly impacting the offense size length and

Athleticism also means that they always have someone rotating down to the rim Shay their point guard is one of the best shot blocking Wings in the NBA same thing from JB another another guy who can rotate down and they also happen to have Chad who from day one was already

One of the best Rim protectors in the sport again when that comes together you’ve got a team holding their opponents to just 61% shooting at The Rim also first in the NBA so you’ve got a team that’s been the best Rim defense and forces more turnovers than anyone

Sound good to you because it sure does to me but another big thing is the fact that they have a bunch of guys who can execute different roles firstly you have options at the point of attack dorts their go-to guy pretty much always matched up with the opposing team’s best

Player and like I said he’s really strong so if you need him to switch one through four he’ll do it he’s an absolute Menace on the ball phasing through screens and when screeners try to set it harder well he’s probably drawing an offensive foul if you do

Somehow get him with a good screen to get the switch onto someone else who are you attacking job Shay I guess you could say giddy but again he’s got the size of a power forward with multiple capable Rim protectors behind him when dorts not out there they can go to Cas Wallace or

Kenrich Williams at the point of attack two more great on ball guys who if Switched Off will continue to affect the offense by sitting in lanes and while all of that’s going down you’ve got Chad in the middle he’s more of a traditional drop big in the sense that he wants to

To protect the paint but definitely isn’t stuck to that coverage you want him hedging trapping switching he’s a fluid enough athlete to make those things happen the makings of an elite playoff defense are there multiple on ball options with very little weak links if any to attack tons of length and

Athleticism forcing everyone on the offense to make tough decisions and operate in traffic multiple Rim protectors always someone to rotate down to the basket and it’s all built around one of the game’s biggest interior presences there are really only two other things I want to quickly mention I

Talked about how their defense often leads to easy offense well that isn’t just off of turnovers it could be after rebounds two they’re leading the league at 27 points a game in transition led by Shay who’s first among all players at almost eight next to Shay they have multiple transition weapons like Chad

Jdub and giddy we’re talking about a legit force in the open floor but there’s also the fact that offense can lead to easier defense with the way they typically set up the floor Chad spends most of his time at the top of the key that means when a shot goes up he’s the

First to drop back so they always have their best rim protector in position with that they also don’t really crash the offensive glass much at all placing more of an emphasis on limiting transition opportunities thanks to thinking basketball’s website we actually have numbers that track this type of thing and the Thunder allowed

Just 1.11 points per possession after being stopped on offense which is the best in the NBA as for their overall defense allowing about 113 points every 100 possessions fourth in the league you throw a top four defense in with the top five offense and that’s where you start

To see results here’s a look at the offensive and defensive rating of every team in the league as of February 1st Boston’s the standard but OKC isn’t too far behind at a plus 7.7 net rating and Philly is the only other team that’s been truly Elite on both ends of the

Floor after all there’s a reason the Thunder are as good as they are Shay’s an MVP candidate chat’s a rookie of the year candidate jdub’s an All-Star candidate Mark dagnal a coach of the year candidate and they have great role players on both ends of the floor how

Does that hold up in the playoffs only time will tell but this team is the real deal so if you haven’t bought stock make sure you do it now if you enjoyed this breakdown make sure to drop a like subscribe and turn my post notifications

On to be first on more content if you’re interested in my more in-depth research make sure to check out my website and social media profiles you can find those links in the description feel free to let me know down in the comments what you think of the Thunder as always I

Hope you all have a great day and I’ll catch you guys in the next one

The Thunder have been arguably the best team in the NBA this season, but what’s made them so good, and will it translate to the playoffs?

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