[Almanza] Chet Holmgren on the Thunder getting labeled too young: “I feel like there’s never been a team that has had success who’s never had a narrative around them. I guess that’s the narrative that we picked up. It’s on us to prove them wrong.”
Chet Holmgren on the Thunder getting labeled too young: "I feel like there's never been a team that has had success who's never had a narrative around them. I guess that's the narrative that we picked up. It's on us to prove them wrong."
— Clemente Almanza (@CAlmanza1007) April 9, 2024
by Kimber80
35 Comments
It’s just unprecedented that a team so inexperienced would make the finals
respect the confidence but it takes a lot of experience to win a championship.
most of the greatest didn’t win until their late 20s.
but best of luck.
I mean. They probably are. Nuggets went through this. Although the Nuggets struggled more with health than being young. I guess we’ll find out!
Playoff basketball is a different game. The Thunder probably won’t win it all this year, but at the very least, they’ll gain meaningful experience.
Before the 2015 title, everyone dismissed the Warriors, before the 2021 title everyone dismissed the Bucks, before the 2023 title everyone dismissed the Nuggets. You have to disprove the narrative to be a first time champion. Being a first time champion is hard. Ask the Celtics who’ve fallen short on multiple occasions.
UNC starting five average age: 22.2
OKC starting five average age: 22.6
What they are doing is incredible. I love watching them play
They’re this good and they haven’t even cashed in any of their chips yet
Regular season is a young man’s game. Playoffs are an old man’s game.
That’s just facts.
i can see them winning a series or two This year. Next year tho they will REALLY be a threat for the chip
I’m so sick of the word narrative.
This will be the summer OKC finally trades some picks for a star player. As soon as a big hits the trade market they should make that offer.
I do think they’re a bit underrated on this sub
Like I kind of get the Lakers stuff due to bad size matchup but I’ve seen people say that the Thunder would be underdogs against the *Warriors* which is absolutely insane talk to me
One thing to say that you wouldn’t pick them to win it all yet(I wouldn’t either) but it feels like some people on here don’t even give them a chance to win a *series*
The west is deep but win a playoff series and that builds even more confidence.
History says people gotta lose first. Very few exceptions and none for a long time. If they do it this year, it’ll be rare. Going to be hella scary moving forward though.
Bro think he’s still playing march madness.
Chet and SGA deserve to fail due to that commercial that aired every 5 mins during Match Madness.
He and Wemby have been giving incredible responses to the press all year
That’s a pretty good answer to that question, IMO.
Though I think the more accurate narrative isn’t that they’re too young but that they’re too inexperienced for a postseason run; regardless of age and talent, teams with very little postseason experience have a high tendency to underperform their seeding. That’s potentially an issue for the Magic as well this year.
That said, I do think that they’ve got the potential to buck that trend. Obviously it’s a very different tournament format, but I think about how SGA looked like the most veteran player on the floor most nights at the Worlds last summer despite the lack of both playoff experience and international play experience, and I think he has the presence to cancel out a lot of that inexperience.
Thunder don’t believe in such a thing as “too young”
Who the hell is gonna eat Cinnabon at a Wendy’s anyway
Thunder vs warriors or lakers would be fun cuz if the age discrepancies and experience. The dubs thunder games have been good this year.
Too young isn’t really a bad label though. Lots of teams would like to be in the same position. That squad is primed for years to come.
They have the roster to win playoff series. The trope is that playoff basketball is quite a bit different. Most good teams need to learn from some tough series to break through.
Everything about their skill sets tells me they’ll be better in the playoffs
Only things I’m worried about is strength which comes with age
Abe Lincoln spitting facts
They are, but you gotta love seeing this kind of confidence from a young team, they have everything.
I really like this response.
Chet is right – Until a team proves they *can* do it, there’s always a narrative around them they can’t.
But he’s also not blaming the media or the take – he says it’s his team’s job to change that narrative.
Things like this is why the OKC team is so interesting. They feel much more mature than a team their age should be.
For those fans of Western play-in teams, who you hoping to get.
1. Nuggets
2. Thunder
3. Wolves
???
I mean I think this year is going to be our year of gaining experience and then we are going to be looking for that final piece to make us complete, kind of like the young warriors when they went in for Igoudala
It’s on them to prove that… they’re not young?
the new breakout team never does well in the playoffs, it’s a tale as old as time. The lessons you get from the playoffs pay dividends later in your career.
When did absolutely everything in sports have to be part of a narrative?
It’s a narrative because it’s extremely rare for star players younger than 26-27 to win championships. Just go look up stars from the current and previous era (basically the LeBron era). You dont see many teams led by stars younger than 27 winning.
They are too young, no one wins on their first try. You need a couple of tough playoff series losses before you figure out what’s necessary to win in the playoffs.
Is it a narrative when your team has an age that’s less than most of the league?
Fingers crossed they flame out first round.
Screams in Sacramento kings.