Is the Sky Falling on the OKC Thunder? Reading their press clippings? How to fix the Thunder

Is the Sky Falling on the OKC Thunder? Reading their press clippings? How to fix the Thunder

On today’s locked on Thunder podcast the Oklahoma City Thunder drop a game to the Brooklyn Nets is the sky falling after a really poor effort from Oklahoma City we’ll talk about it all on today’s show 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 Med and chief over at Thunders in.com Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter Ryland Styles follow the show on

Twitter L thunderpod email the show thunderpod atg.com on today’s show we’re diving into the oklah City Thunder just having no effort no energy no juice for this game in Brooklyn and falling for the second straight game is the sky falling in Oklahoma City we’ll go outside and see OKC will be looking to

Get back on track against Washington but how can they rebound from this effort against Brooklyn let’s dive into it this game was another case of not Oklahoma City’s night and we’re going to go full bore into this contest you know Tuesday the Thunder knockoff Boston Wednesday they fall to Atlanta rallied late but

Just for the majority of the contests played really poor basketball didn’t get into Atlanta till 440 you know till 4:15 travel issues back to back you had all the explanation you needed for why that contest occurred against Atlanta typically throughout Mark’s career throughout throughout this time with the

Thunder even whenever they were at their lowest points of the last few years the Thunder have done a really good job of responding to situations like Atlanta they didn’t do that against Brooklyn they came out with terrible effort they came out with terrible execution on both ends and they were missing some good

Looks offensively but compounding that problem with very bad defense compounding that problem with very bad effort on the rebounding uh situation and ultimately the Nets hit some tough shots but the Nets also Gunner some open shots just by you know going through the motion so to say because that’s how bad

The effort was for the majority of this game the Nets you know led by 32 points at one point and there’s only six lead changes four ties in this one and whenever you look at this game the late rally by OKC to make this respectable get it down to Seven Points

Uh late that that seven minute burst in the fourth quarter you know is almost um even more discouraging because you were capable you had that level of gusto in you today it wasn’t as though you were just completely drained you had that level of basketball in you but didn’t

Play that way for 40 minutes and had you played that way for 40 minutes you would have been able to pull off a victory and pull off a you know a game to get you back on track there are a few key areas of this one that really stick out first

Of all free throws forget about any other context forget about you know traveling forget about compound you know the the building frustration of the a game whatever they shot 66% from the charity Strip This is the best free throw shooting team in the NBA on Wednesday they’re the best free

Throw shooting team in the NBA now they’re in Brooklyn shooting 66% at the free throw line SGA who is usually phenomenal 90% free throw shooter missed five free throws on his own JB missed one chat missed one you know these guys you know that typically hit these free throws

Just who were uncharacteristically bad at the free throw line then you go to the three-point line 29% from Beyond The Arc so right there you’re not going to win very many games when your shooting splits end with 29 and 66 you’re just not going to win very many games then

You head up to the to the rebounding battle Brooklyn wins at 5136 let’s start right there a lot of people today are going to be freaking out about the the complexities of this team and how they’re construct did and what the Thunder need to do and who they should

Add and how they should change their construction and how they should change their roster because they can’t rebound yes rebounding is an issue guys like Kelly o linck and others would would really help fix that issue however in this game specifically you should not be ripping their lack of

Size you should not be ripping um you know the need for an an additional big or rebounder or whatever you want to call it you should just be simply ripping their effort like this is a game where they gave no effort I mean they 13 of those rebounds came from Dennis Smith

Jr Off the Bench Dennis Smith Jr who stands 63 got 12 rebounds in 24 minutes a 63 guard got the biggest rebound of the game over two Thunder players to to to just disting distinguish extinguish extinguish a thunder run that is pure effort that is pure want to that is pure

Trying something that Thunder have been have been pretty good at is their is their consistent effort it has not been good the last two games and so yes we can talk big picture what the Thunder need to do on the glass but in this isolated contextualized game

When Dennis Smith Jr is ripping down 12 of those boards I don’t want to talk about roster construction I want to talk about effort he got 12 Nick Claxton got 13 that’s what I want to talk about effort and there was not a lot of it until the very end of the

Contest and as the frustration grows for the fan base you Zone in on on rotations like I don’t agree with playing Lindy Waters but he only played three minutes one of those minutes came at the end of the first quarter which is a fine strategy there was 51 seconds

Left into the first quarter Mark put Lindy Waters in th pons because it was off of a Nets free throw so you’re going to get the ball back you’re going to go two for one you’re going to trade out one defensive possession for the chance of two threes you know and putting two

Additional floor spacers in to try to hunt threes it ended up not working they combine for 0 for two in for in in 51 seconds in that stretch they can buy for 0 for two but the thought process at least is explainable what I disagree with is that in the fourth quarter Lindy

Played three minutes you know had three minutes played you know in the fourth quarter and Wiggins had played six and he finishes with with just under eight minutes Aaron Wiggins in a game where you do not have a worth a anything effort when you do not have anyone giving you consistent energy or

Anyone giving you consistent play on either side of the ball on either side of the floor Aon Wiggins should not be the guy who has under eight minutes because if there’s anything that we’ve consistently seen from Aaron Wiggins no matter what role he’s put in if he’s put

In as a swing guy if he’s put in at the end of the fourth quarter after not playing the whole game as he was was last year whenever he won the Thunder a game that way if he’s in the starting lineup no matter what situation he’s in

He comes through in big moments and he comes through with playing hardnose defense that’s switchable an offensive play that that really connects things for a group that at times looked lost and could use some connecting could use some cuts for easy buckets could use what Aaron Wiggins

Provided so playing him under 8 minutes I will never understand me personally now I’m not the coach I’m just an undefeated upward said coach who’s now a podcaster I’m not going to be a coach in the NBA sadly if I was we’ll see what I would

Have I would have uh been able to pull off but I digress you know they wouldn’t hire me to run your high school program but I think anyone can see the impact that Wiggins has made and so him under eight minutes in a game like this specifically we can talk

About whenever things are going good and you’ve mixed and matched and found a good Groove and then it just so happens that Wiggins only gets eight nine 10 12 minutes but in a game where you desperately from the word go needed a jolt like think about how fast this game

Got out of hand by the end of the first quarter you were down 20 you’re down you’re down 18 by the end of the first quarter this game got out of hand in a hurry and you got on 32 points and and and one of your best players to give you

A jolt consistently over the last few years has been Wiggins and he barely plays I I I don’t see how that is fruitful I think that he’s earned the opportunity to turn games like this around with the way that he’s played prior and so you know you look at some

Of the minutes that were dis that were distributed it it’s tough right I get it though because this is kind of what this is kind of what we were discussing in the off season of this Thunder team you know you’re just going to have to flip through and find who had

The hot hand tonight and sadly for the Thunder nobody had a hot hand right like even as ad played 19 minutes he he made one shot in 19 minutes that’s going to be very rare for him he’s typically going to make a bigger impact offensively than that you know Jay will Lindy Davis

Didn’t have it meic was was was was good in his stretch but overall it comes down to the Thunder just waiting until it was too late to get going waiting until it was too late to turn it on and that leads into the next big topic you’ll hear so you’re going to hear

About the rebounding then you’re going hear about well are the Thunder reading their press clippings I don’t know I don’t know the Thunder you know they they saw all the hype and now they’re just H they’re resting on their Loyals because you know they by gosh you know

Stephen A Smith was talking about them did you see that did you see that folks I I like to think um that I have a pretty cool job I appreciate everyone who does listen I appreciate anyone who listens and retains anything I say um I appreciate appreciate you all who listen

Every single day who subscribe and comment and interact and uh and are engag in our discussions I can promise you nothing I say nothing Colin goard says nothing Stephen A Smith says nothing anyone says is factoring into if the Thunder are going to put it on cruise control or

Not if the Thunder went out and lost to Boston and the entire Sports landscape was calling them frauds it would not change what happened this week Atlanta was a byproduct of the schedule and a byproduct of delayed travels and and and a tough travel schedule and then this game was a

Byproduct of the NBA and I think that it’s easy to get zero in on one team because it’s 82 games if you really make yourself a DieHard fan of one team and you watch all 82 of their games they’re at the flow of life for a common you

Know casual fan who doesn’t do this for a living who doesn’t who has a family who has other obligations it’s tough to watch the rest of the league because you’re you’re if you’ve already dedicated a few hours a night every night almost to one team it’s tough to

See the bigger picture but this happens all the time in the NBA take just today for example Philadelphia got blown smooth out on their home floor against New York New Orleans got blown smooth out on their home floor against the Clippers who traveled across the country Rockets got blown smooth out by

Minnesota on their home floor right Utah now this is to a lesser example but Utah who was playing good basketball blown out not even remotely competitive against Boston after playing a really good stretch know Atlanta who who who just had their best shooting night of the Season what it felt like on Wednesday

Against Oklahoma City ran out of the gym by Indiana that’s one night of basket this stuff happens no matter how good you are even the most title Contender of title Contender teams are going to face stretches like this and games like this you’re going to see you know the Thunder last year for

Example no one in their right mind would call last year’s team anything except for a tremendous success anything except for um a a a huge stamp of approval and yet last year’s team had multiple multiple four game losing streaks I think there’s a five game losing streak in there last year’s

Thunder team dropped crucial games down the stretch to Indianapolis to Indiana and to Charlotte and and and dropped a couple Pistons games you know had to beat the Pistons on a on a buzzer beater at home dropped the Pistons game on the road you know they they were just awful

Losses and in the time it felt the same way you feel right now but you look back on it and it was just part of what happens in the NBA it was just part of what life is like when you play 82 games and so I think that Marcus is

Still a great coach I think this team is still really great with a collection of really good talent and uh has a really bright future I just think that they’re in one of these situations I mean Sam pry at the end of his press conference at the end of season press conference

Last year said the sky will fall on on an NBA team any NBA team twice a year now this might be the start of the first go around of that for Oklahoma City it certainly appears that way on on social media right now but nonetheless you can’t overreact to it

You can’t over overindulge in it you and and and you’ve gotten some help by the way you know Wednesday I believe it was it was Minnesota’s loss today the Denver lost so like even you know your losses are being um kind of helped or or offset a tiny tiny bit uh

By what’s happening around the association so I I I just think that like even Boston for example opened up their season with a uh with a uh situation where like they were down to the wire and almost lost to Charlotte in Charlotte on the second night of a back to

Back and then did lose to Charlotte in the second night back to back I should say so like even Boston who is undisputedly a title Contender undisputedly off to a historic start this year they still have not lost a home game this year Oklahoma City handed in their sixth

Loss seventh loss of the year on uh on Tuesday but even they lost a second night of back toback in Charlotte just like the Thunder lost a second night of back toback uh in Atlanta and so losing a couple home games in a row is not the biggest of

Deals what is the biggest of deal is our good friends over at game time check them out today at game time because you can go there right now uh and get last minute tickets lost prices garanteed when you do they’re going to help you out they’re going to hook you up at game

Time I think that game time can be perfectly described so it has concerts it has movies it has sporting events NBA NFL everything you want uh but the whole entire you know selling point of game time I think can be described with the NBA if you’re an NBA fan you know these

Guys just randomly pop up on the injury report sometimes sometimes you could be planning on going to see two teams and by the time tip off rolls around all of a sudden so and so is out and it changes if you want to go watch that game in

Person or not and so with game time that’s where you can come in clutch and wait it out because game time gives you last minute tickets Flash Deals and Zone deals it has the best bang for your buck with this last minute tickets lowest prices guaranteed you get a view from

Your seat so you know exactly what you’re going to buy and they have the lowest price guaranteed they have event cancellation protection they have job loss protection and more to help you out so check it out today that’s game time go download the game time app create

Your account use code locked on for $20 off your first purchase terms and conditions apply create your account where the code locked on l c k d o n for $20 off Go download the game time app last minute tickets lowest prices gun teed at game time we’re back on the lockdown the

Podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your teams every day thank you so much for making us your first listen every single morning every single day we’re here for you taken Thunder basketball folks the Thunder just didn’t have it in Brooklyn they were blown smooth out of the gym we’ve talked about their

Rebounding Wes we’ve talked about uh their their shooting Wes from three and free throw they were just obliterated in Second Chance points 30-7 that is just disgusting it really is that is Icky uh for for Brooklyn uh tied in fast break 13-13 so when you really dissect this

Game The Fast Break which is typically the thunderers bread and butter getting out and running in transition that was neutralized 1313 the second chance points what typically the Thunder struggle in but try to keep it competitive they were just blown out of the water in Second Chance points you

Know and actually you know due to even with their lack of size Thunder have been winning points in the paint by by a fairly substantial margin this season that continued in Brooklyn the Thunder even turned Brooklyn over two more times than the Thunder give it away they only

Gave it away 13 times but still when you go back to setting a tone after the first quarter the Thunder were 0 Freight from three in five turnovers and they were down 18 points that’s not a recipe for Success on the road and I think that you lost this game

At a few different stages it was you know to close the first quarter didn’t get any closer you actually got further away so obviously SJ is going to rest to start the second quarter then to end the second quarter you know it felt like the Thunder might

Have turned a little bit of a corner whenever that that lead dipped down uh closer to round 13 once the quarter began and then it dipped down again a little bit closer to 15 uh you know closer to like 18 I should say uh about Midway through the you know the second

Quarter whenever SGA typically checks in and the fact that you couldn’t get that chip down to that 10 range before the end of the second quarter felt even worse for where this game stood but then in the third quarter you know you know you got half time you’ve had a

Disappointing game in Atlanta and a terribly disappointing start in Brooklyn and Brooklyn still lands the first punch in the third quarter and extends their lead to their biggest of the night 32 that felt like the the true yeah this game’s over this team doesn’t have it

Tonight this is just not their night and and I think that it’s it’s a tough selling point I get it to to a fan base that’s frustrated but while it is frustrating that they had a not your night night after an explainable loss in Atlanta that is what

Happened this just wasn’t their night they they for whatever reason they did not have their regular effort they did not have their regular energy I don’t believe it was the Press clippings because I I promise you they were not listening uh to Colin coward and said

Well since he says we’re good I guess we can just Coast it was not the case I guarantee you that it was not uh Brooklyn listen to Colin cord praise the Thunder a different conference team and say well you know we gotta really gear up and beat these

Folks what the media says does not matter when the ball’s in the air it was just the natural state of NBA basketball it was the natural state of how this goes every team regardless of talent level has games like this and I think that that is what is the most important thing to

Remember and when you look at Brooklyn you got to give them credit too like Dorian viny Smith was awesome three for five from three Spencer did we was awesome you know 58% from the floor and just got to a spots and got whatever he wanted Royce O’Neal was a nice

Contributor Off the Bench Dennis Smith Jr was 13 points 12 rebounds seven assists and two steals Off the Bench like Dennis Smith Jr was a plus 14 and was what allowed the N the Nets to really take control and Nick Clon now Nick Laxton who was you know

Not that impressive earlier this week against Oklahoma City who you know in this last week did not lose anyone or make a trade for a big man or lose a big man the same team but this time he comes in 23 points 13 rebounds three assists

And a steal and what was the most impressive part was that Nick Claxton went seven for 10 from the charity stripe now he missed two big ones at the end which the Thunder almost didn’t capitalize on because he gave up an offensive rebound off those free throws

Now luckily the the Nets missed the you know ensuing shot and the Thunder got the rebound then but still you know Nick Claxton even he was hitting free throws and and like you know even that went against what the Thunder were wanting so you got to give credit to the nets for

Being ready to play in the Thunder War warrant and the Nets did a really good job actually of handling that push it’s very very very easy as we talked about on Tuesday you know only more in a more jovial tone on Tuesday you know whenever

You make a push and and you get a huge lead this this time 32 down all all the way to seven right down all the way to to seven points and you’re you’re I think at one point it was a Sixpoint game it was a two possession game you

Know when you get it down there it’s so easy for the team who’s blowing that lead to get really super tight and nervous and make a bad play make a bad turnover make a bad decision you can you can see it with the Thunders you know layout of the Season

Go back to New Orleans of like that was their first time blowing a massive lead on ESPN you on a big stage look how they play then as the Pelicans started to chip that away chip that away chip that away so credit to the nets for handling

That run uh really well and still coming with the win uh in Brooklyn the miles Bridges thing with the travel at the end yes it was a travel for sure I totally agree with Mark for get a technical foul there because it not calling that travel into the game so giving away an

Additional point doesn’t matter especially for a team that clearly is in need of an injection of life into them you see your coach fight for you you see your coach get a technical foul you see your coach share that frustration that can really change things it’s why college coaches oftentimes like Bill

Self get just these blatantly obvious fake technicals where they’re just they’re not really mad at the officials they’re not really mad at the calls they’re mad at the circumstances and they want to just give that artificial energy to their team and and let the crowd feed off of it and so forth in

This case the the difference of that one point did not matter because they’re going to go to the line anyway for free throws and in the game so letting your frustrations be known I think was a good job by Mark as just a as just a coach

Managing a game that was a great job by Mark to get technical foul there um and they missed that even if they would have called the travel we’ll never know but like it probably wouldn’t have mattered anyway you’ve then got to though take that momentum and actually carry it into

Washington couple days off that’s going to help a lot but at the end of the day Washington is a no excuse game and we’ll talk about that coming up but first want to tell you right now but good friends over at FanDuel folks FanDuel is great new

Customers can get $150 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place a $5 bet that’s 150 bucks in bonus bets win or lose when you place a $5 bet at fand f.com lockon that’s f.com lockon check them out today I think it’s perfect right now to go to FanDuel because it’s

Saturday and there’s everything on you have college basketball on college basketball starting conference play a lot of fun matchups on you have the NBA on today and you even have the NFL uh happening with Pittsburgh and Baltimore going at it and the Anapolis and Houston

Going at it so you can go Place those money line bets if you if you’re a new customer you place a $5 money line bet you get $150 guaranteed when or lose from lock on whenever you go there right now at fender.com lockon that’s fender.com lockon check them out today to get started

We’re back on the lockdown Thunder podcast on the lockdown podcast Network your teams every day I’m your host Ryland Styles follow me on Twitter Ryland Styles follow the show on Twitter at L thunderpod this is your first ever locked on thunderpod check out the Celtics recap that was a lot more fun

And better but we’ll continue to rock and roll talking about this Net game I think that after this game against Brooklyn it happens frustrating as it may be it happens so I’m not going to tell you how to fan I’m not going to tell you how to how to react to this

Team I I understand it’s frustrating but I do think at the end of the day you just move on and don’t care the sky is not falling doesn’t undo anything that great that happened in December it doesn’t change the Thunder Outlook this season it doesn’t change the Thunder’s

Outlook in the future it’s just a game against Brooklyn on a random January evening and the Thunder were just awful tonight and spoiler alert they’re going to be awful again at some point this year it just was compounded by being awful as well in Atlanta now with that

Being said we talked about markting the technical foul we talked about the thunder making a push at the end of the fourth for that final seven minutes you’ve got to bottle up that final seven minutes against Washington I don’t care how bad Washington is I don’t care about

The jokes about Jordan P I don’t care about about how the Thunder are far superior to Washington on paper and they should blow this game out I do not care there you have to win that game against Washington good teams teams that are that are going to make good on the praise

That they’ve received you whenever you’re being talked about as a contender you’re being talked about as a team who could win a playoff series much less more than that you’re being talked about as a team that could be a top half of the Western Conference Team those teams end a streak at two

Those teams you know get back on track quickly those teams don’t let things spiral and those teams have a way of reentering and this is going to be the first test of that kind of whole youth adage thing there’s there’s a there’s a big Camp of people who believe that Thunder need to

Go trade for a veteran and a big Camp of people who think they should just write it out and I don’t I don’t you know you you know my thoughts on this I think that they’ve got to learn through it and learn through their own experiences I don’t think that there’s some magic

Veteran they can go get at the deadline that will then inour all their wisdom into all these guys brains and then from there on they’ll know how to win basketball games you only learn from experience and hands-on experience and going through situations like that but one of those situations is Monday

Against Washington this is a bad Washington team there there is no reason the Thunder should lose this game you’ve been punched in the mouse twice mouth twice in a row you should be focused you should be ready you should be rested focused ready rested that’s what you

Should be on Monday couple days off in New York heading to Washington playing a bad Wizards team they don’t have anyone who should be able to guard Shay they don’t have anyone imposing that that can exploit their their lack of bigs they don’t have any of that

They’re a bad basketball team make them look like a bad basketball team and get back on track you know I think that Monday is close to a must-win as you can get in early January just for the sake of showing that this team does have uncommon maturity which they’ve talked

About Shay’s talked about it cas’s talked about it Mark talked about it today mature teams handle their business you didn’t do that tonight but no team no matter how good or mature is perfect that’s fine but after two straight wakeup calls you can’t hit snooze again you can’t hit snooze in Washington

You’ve got to jump out of bed drag a comb across your head find your way downstairs and drink a cup and looking up you’ve got to look at the Schoolboard and say we weren’t late today we were able to get a win we were

Able to get a win that’s what you got to say if you’re Oklahoma City you’ve got to go into to Washington and Come Away with the W on Monday and then you end the road trip against Miami off day Miami is always scary South Beach flu

But you know we’ll see what happens in Miami then you get to return home for a game against Portland where you’re for sure going to win that game Portland’s awful and then a fun fun fun game one of the funnest of the month uh hosting

Orlando next week so a lot of fun stuff coming up next week as well Monday show we’re g to preview the week ahead in more detail as more things come out from practices and and uh more data comes out on what’s going to happen against Washington then we’re going to answer

The rest of your mailbag questions we did part one of the mailbag on Friday we’ll do part two on Monday and then on Tuesday we’re going to recap that Washington game and away we go with another week of lockdown Thunder thank you all for listening to Today’s Show

Subscribe wherever get your podcast from including on YouTube and until tomorrow be good and be good to one another

The Oklahoma City Thunder were awful against the Brooklyn Nets, and as the OKC Thunder try to get back on track is it fair to ask if the sky is falling on the Thunder? Have Oklahoma City been reading their press clippings? Is the Washington Wizards game a must-win game for the Bricktown boys?

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Hungryroot

Hungryroot is the easiest way to get fresh, high-quality food delivered to your door. They’ve got healthy groceries and simple recipes, all in one place. Just go to Hungryroot.com/LOCKEDON, to get 40% off your first delivery and get your free veggies.

BetterHelp

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNBA. Terms and conditions apply.

PrizePicks

Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.
FanDuel

Score early this NFL season with FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook! Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR MONEYLINE BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your team wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOThunder?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#ChetHolmgren #OKCThunder #ShaiGilgeousAlexander