OKC Doesn't Deserve Durant

[Rosco917]

OKC derives too much of it's scoring from two players. Many times if one of those two suddenly goes cold he either tries to shoot his way out of it, or the other player takes the burden of scoring upon himself, and the offense gets ragged and predictable.

As we see in Boston with IT that seldom works. OKC as a team needs to get a lesson in Spurs type of ball movement, look for the best opportunity more often...or Durant needs to look for a team in the east that has a similar style as the Spurs.

I have a suggestion...

[PhoSita]

Your Washington bias is showing.

[Monkhouse]

OKC derives too much of it's scoring from two players. Many times if one of those two suddenly goes cold he either tries to shoot his way out of it, or the other player takes the burden of scoring upon himself, and the offense gets ragged and predictable.

As we see in Boston with IT that seldom works. OKC as a team needs to get a lesson in Spurs type of ball movement, look for the best opportunity more often...or Durant needs to look for a team in the east that has a similar style as the Spurs.

I have a suggestion...

The Atlanta Hawks?

To be honest, our ball movement isn't as crisp as Hawks/Spurs, but that's because we don't have definitive and impactful passers located at every position. Millsap, Horford, Korver, and Teague are all intelligent passers.

I also think its chemistry/trust. OKC doesn't trust their bench to make or take the tough shots, which is why Durant/Westbrook are more willing to take the shots necessary, or feed Ibaka from the 3pt, (WHICH I'M EXTREMELY ADVERSE ON!)

[trickybilly]

At least Westbrook seemed contrite after yesterday's loss.

I believe he's maturing as a player....he's rarely been able to point finger at himself before but he seemed willing to take most (if not all) the blame yesterday.

"Execution. That starts with me," Westbrook said. "I've got to do a better job of executing and putting guys in position to score the basketball, especially late. And especially against good defense. You've got to find ways to move the ball around and that starts with me, so I've got to do a better job leading into the next game."

"I turned the ball over, especially with the game on the line," he said. "Just got to do a better job, man, lock in. I take responsibility when the ball is in my hands to make plays for my teammates and I didn't do that tonight."

"Just too many shots," Westbrook said. "Honestly, man, I've got to do a better job, like I said before, getting guys shots. Steven [Adams] got one shot. Got to get other guys involved, especially to beat this team. Even though I had some shots I made, I've got to read and find ways to get guys shots. I take the blame."

http://espn.go.com/blog/okc-thunder/post/_/id/1527/russell-westbrook-takes-the-blame-for-the-thunders-game-3-loss

I have no doubt that he will continue to mature as a player and when he does it will be something special. However, I seriously doubt that he and Durant will be enough to beat San Antonio (or GSW if they should get by the Spurs).

Even Michael and Scotty had Rodman. And they had Prime Phil. Serge is no Rodman even though I like him a lot.

SA are engineering their D so that westbrook takes 30 shots. Brooks and Donovan same style of offence. Admirable sentiment from russ though - one of my least favorite guys in the league.

[KGs Knee]

I'm not sure what the OKC fans did wrong here?  They had nothing to do with the Sonics leaving Seattle, other than being good fans of a temporary transplant team (Hornets).

Blame the ownership, sure, but saying the fans don't deserve Durant is wrong.

Seattle should have a team though, those 90's Payton/Kemp/Schrempf teams were my fav non-Celtic team.

[kraidstar]

aside from labor disputes and rigging games, i'll remember david stern best for his support for failed NBA markets.

can't support a team in new orleans? ship the hornets there! then start a new franchise back in charlotte, the place the team moved from in the first place!!! then help your buddy bennett ship the sonics from seattle to OKC, a market that is sure to fail pitifully once durant leaves!

then have a major work stoppage because of supposed cash losses in the same small-market teams you created!

it was a nice excuse for the owners to hold the players over a barrel, though, good job, dave!


edit: oh, i forgot to mention, also, dave, good job making sure those small market teams got crushed by your crooked officials in the biggest moments of the playoffs - after all, the best method of propping up small markets like the jazz, kings, and pacers is to make sure they never beat the lakers, bulls, or heat when it counts!

[passesofftodj]

Personally I was disgusted when the Sonics went to OKC.  The fans in OKC root hard so I give them some credit there, it is not their fault the NBA is so sketchy.

Westbrook is a phenomenal athlete who makes jaw dropping plays but is an unintelligent basketball player.  After many years of playing together he and Durant are not on the same page at the end of games.  Too many turnovers, too much hero ball, too many times late getting into the set, too many poorly jacked threes.  It is multiple coaches now.

They are a spectacular regular season pair but I do not see a scenario where they will win the championship.  They have more depth now, a new coach, some quality young guys, more athletes and a better bench yet they still look like the same confused bunch when the truly important moments are decided.

I do hope Durant leaves, I actively root against the Thunder and I don't like Westbrook's antics.  They still don't seem to truly know how to play together and that is on the PG more than the coach and Durant.

[MJohnnyboy]

I just really hope Durant thinks and long and hard about what he really wants to do because its a legitimate possibility he may never even reach another finals if he stays in OKC because the Warriors are not only historically good but their core guys (Curry, Thompson, Green, Barnes if he stays) are all still under 30. Not only that but the Spurs are still going to be amongst the best in the league as long as they have Kawhi, Aldridge, and Green all spend the prime of their careers there with Poppovich. He also needs to remember that Minnesota is a potential juggernaut just scratching the surface of its potential. Now that Thibs is there, I seriously believe they are going to hit that potential sooner rather than later.

Not only that but think about what OKC has done since Durant's played there. They traded two of his best friends in the league, Jeff Green and James Harden, in two very atrocious deals (No matter how you feel about the Jeff Green trade, OKC would take that deal back 10 times out of 10) and haven't adequately replaced what those two brought to the team. They didn't keep Thabo Sefolosha who was a valuable 3&D member of the team. They didn't trade for Courney Lee when  he could have very well been the last piece and tried to make up for it by trading for an aging Randy Foye. He's never played for a good coach, and even if he and Westbrook are BFF, they've never fully meshed. They made it work at their best when they had Harden coming into his own because the Beard was able to keep Westbrook in check with his scoring ability, but his absence took that away. Durant could have very well had a championship by now had he played under stable management and a good coach, but neither really happened.

The most underrated what-if of the past 10 years is what if the Tyson Chandler trade to OKC doesn't get negated? OKC's season was already done in 09 and they were still a bad team, so I like to think they still get Harden in the draft. They would have had a rotation of Westbrook-Sefolosha-Durant-Ibaka-Chandler-Harden-Green-Collison. Considering OKC started hitting its potential in 2010, that team could have been very dangerous to play against.

[greece66]

Based on my online interactions, OKC fans are nice guys; they and Toronto are friendlier than your average NBA fan... NYK are the worst IMO btw

But yeah, the move away from Seattle was horrible and unfair.

As for the current mess the team is in, I blame the front office for failing to i/get a good coach and ii/make Westbrick listen to the coach. Does Russell think the series against SAS is an exhibition game?

[loco_91]

That management team doesn't deserve him. They shipped Harden out of town for peanuts to avoid the luxury tax. They had Durant, Westbrook, Harden and Ibaka all on rookie deals simulateously, and they managed to get zero banners out of it. I'd say they were the new Clippers, if the Clippers weren't still the Clippers.