Are the Thunder Western Conference Favorites?

Are the Thunder Western Conference Favorites?

Uh things shifted a little bit at the top of the West Oklahoma City beating the Suns 118 110 and of course now they’re in that top spot s 35 points eight rebounds nine assists it’s his 45th 30-point game this season Beal had 31 and nurkic 14 points 31 rebounds

Which broke a franchise record in most in a game in 14 years um thundero on the road beating the Suns and somehow also overcome 31 rebounds from nurkic Welcome Back Lou I’ll go you first you had a rest oh what did you make of that I thought this young team played

Well and and it’s the tale of two teams right so we talk about Minnesota being a young team having issues and clutch situations and and that being a little concerning I don’t have this concern at all with this Oklahoma City Thunder team they play well together they move the

Ball they play fast they play at a great pace and at the same time they’re able to execute in half court offense you know it looked like this team this young team got it really figured out and they may be the real deal and they’re going

To have to be a team that you got to deal with coming out of the West so for nerk to have 31 rebounds and this team still outplayed him with a Kevin Durant on the floor with a brad Bal on the floor and they just look like the better

Team they look like the the more equipped team going into this playoff run and so you got to give them a lot of credit very impressive win for the um OKC Thunder and and by this is what we talked about kind of that hole in this

Thunder team if there was one it’s the size right go get a bio but playing CAD at the five he he’s going to get banged up he’s going to have nights where he’s going against just a physical brute like nurkic and he’s going to have his way

With him on the glass which he did last night 31 rebounds is is shocking like that that’s crazy but that is the that is the weakness I think for the they’re a little thin up front outside of you know they can go small with Gordon Hayward and I’ve SE Lou Dort and and

Jaylen Williams at the four but they don’t have that physical Andre Drummond type guy to go and bang with a nage in these situations so they’re talented they’re more skilled they’re more youthful than these teams but that would be the the kind of weakness if you look

At this team that they’re going to get killed on the glass subn nights but I think their talent will still overcome that it makes me a little nervous that they’re in that top spot because it feels very fun right now and I’m sure the fans are having a blast but it

Almost feels like this young Squad is being set up for something crazy come playoffs Chandler am I is that wrong or are we buying them yet yeah they this could be the first round matchup for them and if the suns are are healthy this could be a real damper on a

Great season for them if they get you know you know beat in the first round to the Suns it’s and think about it the Suns the Mavericks the Warriors the Lakers if they stay in that one seed it’s G to be one of those teams and none

Of those are gon it’s not going to be a sweep it’s going to be a competitive series it’s going to be a tough series and all of those teams have size they have physic they they physical teams so all of those teams are going to present some sort of challenge now they also

Present crazy challenges to them with the way they can shoot the ball the way they can score the ball their quickness with their guards and transition uh they have they have a lot of things on their side as well but yeah this team this team could be a mismatch problem for a

Lot of these these situations that they’re going to get in in the playoffs just because the West is so so so stacked the days of like a one seed versus an eight seed is being like an automatic sweep that’s not happening this year in the Western Conference they

Are all going to be competitive Series yeah I’m I don’t know if I mention it but I’m excited Lou um okay can we talk about nurkic for one second because we’ve mentioned the 31 rebounds he still wasn’t happy though after this one because he had said he had 13

Offensive rebounds and 16 shots and zero free throws so if you hear that Lou do you think to yourself all right he might have an actual point here uh he may have a point he may have a point but a lot of those offensive rebounds were getting kicked out um and

Some were finishes around the rim and right there like it’s not much contact I don’t no fouls here so again those are offensive rebounds he’s working but I don’t see a lot of fouls I don’t honestly I don’t yeah he’s banging seems good yeah yeah seems good seems good to me he’s

Banging you know he makes a point there there can be some contact but clearly we’re looking at these clips you don’t see a lot of fouls being called it look like he’s initiating a lot of the contact that’s how you get yourself to a 30 rebound game I don’t I don’t see what

The what the beef was here um he could make a point if you didn’t look at the clips but obviously the clips tell a different story so I don’t know here yeah I know right just by the words that’s what I was gonna say derkin is a

Guy that he kind of brings the fight to you right he starts the physicality a lot of it and then he tries to sell it so I don’t agree with him on this point also like Dage you you’re you you took 16 shots how how many more shots how

Many more shots do you want now if it’s a about the fouls and then not getting the whistle that’s another thing but like we said he’s the one that’s initiating he’s the one that’s grabbing holding he’s the one kind of tying up a lot of those shots that he even tried to

Put back up their Shooters that’s the best three you can get off an offensive rebound so he he honestly two or three or four of them he shouldn’t even have shot it he should have just kicked it out to the Brad Beals to wide open for a

Three so I I think as a big guy that bangs and and and hits the offensive glass as hard as he does it’s hard to complain about not getting the whistle when you’re the one initiating the contest this uh this Suns team by the way they’re snake bitten as far as I’m

Concerned because somehow someway one of the big three is missing in a lot of games this season of course this time was Booker uh I don’t know Lou it’s it’s an easy question is how important is it for them to all play together but is it vital are they good enough and Veteran

Enough that let’s say this is sort of how the season plays out that they would be okay come playoffs no this is It’s Gonna it’s going to be vital because this is a this is a team that very much like the clippers for them to be successful

They’re going to have to be hold everybody that they had on their roster needs to be accounted for and needs to be part of what they need in order for them to be successful going into this postseason and we’re yet to see um this team complete we’re yet to see that

Chemistry they hadn’t went on one of those runs yet where you know they strike fear in some teams where you say wow this is a this is a team we really got to deal with you know like they just lost last night to the OKC Thunder there

Are teams that are playing better than them that has more chemistry in them and we just hadn’t seen it from this Phoenix Suns team yet and so that’s a that’s slightly concerning for me but they’re veteran enough where I feel like they can turn it on usually a team doesn’t

Have one of those switches where you can just start playing really well start getting your chemistry and getting everybody on the same page but they got enough talent to do it and so I’m not counting this team out but there are teams that are playing better basketball

Together than they are so we really need to start seeing these guys on the floor um together as The Big Three adds their unit as they start to build out and try to get all the pieces around them together as well from the bench players to the role players everybody that’s

Gonna play a role in them trying to win a championship but we’ve yet to see it gota be frustrating Chandler to to each night sort of have to deal with something yeah it’s tough and and this is this is this team is built to win now and those three guys that’s where all

The hype all the expectations come from from those three so if anything I think there’s light at the end of the tunnel because they are treading water they are hanging in there without being fully healthy and they did just make moves like getting a royce O’Neal and Eric

Gordon’s been solid I think they should free B Bowl I think they should get him more minutes because when he plays he’s effective uh you know and he’s talented he presents numerous challenges for the for the defense but yeah this team is going to go they’re going to live and

Die by this big three and unfortunately they haven’t been on the floor together it reminds me of that Brooklyn big three a little bit where they just haven’t got the Reps um and all the expectations of winning a championship come with those three so hopefully we see it hopefully

They get healthy soon at least in the postseason because this team fully loaded is is a monster uh the the strategy in this one was it’s very similar to what we saw in that Celtics game but this time as you guys mentioned Josh giddy was not

Respected um he did make two of four from three he had 10 points I guess you could make the argument Chandler this is better this strategy worked out much better well yeah this isn’t this this this is Jay this isn’t Jaylen Brown this guy and he’s guy shooting 31 32% from

The three so I think when you’re playing against a team like this and you have a Jaylen Williams you have an SGA you have a Chad that are so good offensively this guy’s kind of he’s that he’s kind of the weakness it’s like playing off Draymond Green but it’s a

Give and take this guy’s such a good passer when you give him space to operate he’s tall and he can see the floor that also makes his job easier remember Garden Rondo back in the day he couldn’t necessarily shoot effectively from the field but you almost it hurts

You more playing off him sometimes because then you just give him the freedom of dropping dimes and seeing the entire floor sometimes better to pressure the guys that can’t shoot just to kind of be physical with him and force them away from the basket this worked out sometimes he made a couple

Last night uh I don’t really like this strategy against anybody because it’s you’re just you’re giving them too many options and this guy he’s a point guard he can pass the rock he’s a smart player so it’s going to work sometimes I think

On a close out on a swing swing if if he has the ball you kind stunt and fake at him and let him take the shot but just to violently play off anybody in the NBA they’re going to make some day Chandler I think both of these

Teams screwed it up they both they both teams lost giddy shot 50 from the field won the game and like you mentioned very much like Rondo you opened up passing lanes for him to attack attack your RAM and get kick outs and it worked for him

I think both of these teams got it got it tragically wrong last even though gidy is not as his is not as crazy as Jaylen Brown’s it still worked in the favor of the OKC Thunder so I disagree with this game plan as well it would

Piss me off and hurt my feelings all at once it’s a crazy thing to see in video form but here we are disrespectful I think it is more of a shock and almost like an embarrassment when you see your defender in the paint it’s almost like

God damn this is what you think of me EXA exactly that that’s hurtful uh we take a quick break when we come back that man has a family back running back run it up running back run it up

On today’s episode of ‘Run It Back’ on FanDuel TV LIVE co-hosts Michelle Beadle, Shams Charania, Lou Williams, and Chandler Parsons talk about the Clippers and if their win over the suns make them the western conference favorites.

Full Episode: https://youtu.be/xKCHSS5GLfo

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