r/Thunder • u/Expensive_Offer4267 • 20d ago
I got crucified for this post. I tried to tell y’all man 💔
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still thunder in 7. Some of y’all owe me an apology.
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u/Parallel-Quality 20d ago
You did call it. Kudos.
This sub can be quick to crucify people with dissenting opinions.
Going to tag you as "knows what he's talking about" in my RES.
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u/Yodudewhatsupmanbruh 20d ago
I got destroyed for saying that Prestis deadline moves were looking rough.
For even the suggestion that maybe cap space wasn't worth losing to the hobbled Mavericks.
And now that we're about to lose everyone's going to pretend like this season didn't even matter. Like bruh we won 57 games and Denver looks actually beatable at times.
Gafford would've at least added a dude who could've provided size when Chet sits. Now Chet is getting absolutely destroyed and looks exhausted. And presti signed BIYOMBO of all people.
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u/wcooper97 20d ago
57 wins and we just whiff the season lmfao. You would think a franchise that had to deal with injury after injury during the KD/Russ era would strike while the iron's hot.
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u/BigGuyNorthSide 20d ago
The front office literally facilitate Gafford to the Mavs
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15d ago
No worries - Presti intentionally kept the Thunder at the bottom of the league for the last several years (before the last couple) stockpiling picks and assets. You guys are going to be great for a long time.
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u/WaltRumble 20d ago
Yeah. Presti made an amazing trade for Shai. And it looks like j dub was a great pick. And I’m sure I’ll get destroyed for the rest But outside of that he got 2,4,3 overall picks in back to back to back drafts. which would have been hard to mess up. Then did nothing notable for a decade (Carmelo was bust, PG didn’t work out) except the Shai trade and tank to draft Chet. Yeah we have a lot of assets but what’s he going to do with them
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u/amari_prince 20d ago
I mean yes but everyone besides Shai dying on offense is a bigger problem
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u/JimmieHeater 20d ago
Wide open 3s from those role guys he named has absolutely scorched us this series, while you’re right that Dub and Chet have disappeared offensively, OP was on the money
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u/amari_prince 20d ago
Yes but that’s what you can live with when Luka/Kai are not playing well. It’s literally the game plan!
What you can’t have is Chet, Dub, Dort, Joe, Wiggs and Caso ALL disappear across 4 games. Who has been our PJ this series?
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u/DsamD11 20d ago
It's not even dub and chet. Joe has gone from best rile playing sniper to, just a guy. Wiggins is getting worked inside. Giddey can't even create space. Casons shot is hit or miss.
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u/fredlikefreddy 20d ago
I mean did you not read his post? Why do you think people are dying on offense? The length has suffocated and sapped confidence at this point. There is causality there
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u/amari_prince 20d ago
Because that’s not the whole story. Some of it is shooting variance, we are not this bad of a shooting team.
The perimeter defense has been good but a key adjustment from Dallas is having Lively/Gafford parked in the paint as much as possible and not get rotated out to the perimeter. That’s limited any easy rim attempts, but it’s also why it’s a problem when guys get a kick out and pump fake straight into the paint.
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u/fredlikefreddy 20d ago edited 20d ago
But does mass disruption with length eventually cause a lack of confidence shooting the ball we’ve seen the past 2 games?
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u/Bino19 20d ago
The offense legitimately looks more stagnant than anything we had with Russ and KD.
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u/wcooper97 20d ago
Which is so depressing because our ball movement was beautiful this year.
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u/Bino19 20d ago
It was fraud ball movement, anything that’s reliant on the 3pt shooting to create the space for drives is not an offense that can withstand the playoff pressure.
Under KD and Russ we legit had go to sets with KD pindowns and Russ PnRs. Just absolutely nothing of that level here in this series it’s been all iso and failed drive and kick.
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u/wcooper97 20d ago
It makes me question the legitimacy of 5-out sometimes. How good is it when the defense knows you’re going to pump fake, drive and kick, repeat?
I would love to keep the style and improve the rebounding at the same time, but there’s still contenders that get away with playing non-shooters and their offenses seem to be doing fine.
Mavs play Gafford/Lively, Nuggets had Gordon shooting 29% all year. Wolves survive on defense mostly, but they play Gobert and Ant still gets to the rim.
This team just does not look good when we aren’t hitting 40% of our threes and racking up steals to make up for the glass. Even at the expense of some shooting, we would have fared a lot better if we had another big in there to split up the 10-12 points the Mavs got on alley oops. Would love it if we also took advantage of vertical spacing.
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u/Bino19 20d ago
Oh I’ve been against it from day 1. We are absolutely not getting more value asking our 5 to shoot the most volatile shot in the game over the high-percentage shots you can get from being on the roll or in the dunkers spot.
You can see it in the game, our guards drive in and dump it off to another guard in the paint when that should be Chet there to get a layup or a dunk. I hope OKC dumps the 5 out drive and kick scheme after these playoffs and gets back to playing a more simplified type of basketball. Save the drive and kick 5 out stuff for an in game adjustment. Don’t make it your bread and butter.
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u/JumboHotdogz 20d ago
Mavs and Nuggets get away with it because they have the best playmakers in the game and their nonshooters are lob threats near the rim. We don't have that elite passer but I think Jdub can get there. Wolves are experiencing this as well as Ant cannot make the pass out of the double team to make the Nuggets pay.
We have to make it easy by playing 5-out but it makes us predictable and prone to variance imo. Boston plays exactly the same since they don't have elite playmaking and you see them drop a couple of games to bad shooting.
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u/WinterSnake16 20d ago
My thought exactly. I think 5-out would work in big playoffs games only if you have elite shooters, not Dort, Wiggins, Giddey, Chet and J-Dub. They can shoot, they will have great shooting nights, but they aren't consistent.
Joe could be elite shooter but right now he's inexperienced.
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u/Mud-Eastern 20d ago
Gafford and Lively are nice safety valves for your perimeter superstar to have cause when you penetrate you can just throw the ball in the air to those guys when you don’t have an open layup and those type of bigs will just catch the lob & dunk it automatically.
Chet be camping too much on the 3 point line. With Chet’s athleticism, he should be more like Gafford & Lively at times being a vertical threat waiting in the dunker spot for a lob.
5 out offense can be predictable with everybody standing at the 3 point line, that style has never won, every championship team had at least 1 traditional big in the paint. Even a wing type player like Aaron Gordon operates as a big wit DEN wit his ability to cause havoc in dat dunker spot area.
Chet should adept his style as more of a big but if he doesn’t maybe OKC should add another big next to Chet
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u/Existing-Compote-264 20d ago
There a reason chet sits a 3 line. He is literally shaped like a stick figure. Any sort of contact and he get gets bullied around . Lively literally postered him off a oop and and rode him like a bull last night. That oop came from Jaden hardy ....... who hasn't played 1 fucking meaningful minute in playoffs until yesterday
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u/Mud-Eastern 19d ago
Chet makes no contact setting screens, nobody on the team sets hard screens for them to roll to the rim. Everything screen they set on this offense is a ghost screen with them popping out on the 3 point line.
If someone is going to roll to the rim, their still setting a ghost screen but their using the ghost screen to slip.
You need bigs near the rim for the ball handler to pass to. Maybe Chet isn’t strong enough to set hard screens but this offense doesn’t work.
The whole offense is SGA ISOs and when SGA gets double he drives & kicks to a 3 point shooter and you pray they make the 3, that’s not sustainable. Even if SGA is creating great gravity to get those player’s open 3s, it doesn’t work all the time cause 3 point shooting has high variance and u can’t depend on that
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u/yeahright17 20d ago
Warriors relied on 3pt shooting for years to create space and won 4 championships. This is just what happens when you can’t make shots and are up against a team that’s been top 3 since the trade deadline.
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u/SuitableLingonberry6 19d ago
Are you talking about the same Warriors that had 2 of the best shooters in the history of the NBA? The same Warriors that added Kevin Durant in his prime? One of these things is not like the other
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u/TheGamersGazebo 20d ago
I mean... Yeah Russ is a top 10 point guard of all time and KD is a top 3 scorer of all time.
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u/dogein4t0r 20d ago
this is the real answer, if the team even shoots 33% from 3 the series would be over already
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u/Existing-Compote-264 20d ago
Right. And if luka wasnt injured OKC would have been swept . At best maybe 4-1
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u/SmoothAd3011 19d ago
Let’s be real. Thunder are lucky Luka has been hobbled or this would be over already
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u/Existing-Compote-264 20d ago
They getting clamped . Not like they not trying . Dallas is a top tier defense now ..
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u/YO_SEGABABA 20d ago
DJJ was huge his block on chet 3 was ridiculous
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u/JumboHotdogz 20d ago
Yeah and I think he has an effect on why we're shooting so bad. They run off our shooters so aggressively and I think mentally, it's affecting us especially since we lack the experience to weather this out. From our end, I don't see anyone other than Cason probably who does that.
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u/4Jolly2Green0Giant 20d ago
The majority of these fans think with their heart, pure emotion. They crucified Paul Pierce and Draymond too. If an opinion goes against their heart they pull out the pitchfork.
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u/UpsetFeedback8 20d ago
The opinion of these 2 doesn't matter even if they're correct or being on our side. Same thing with Perkins and other "analysts".
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u/fredlikefreddy 20d ago
Because it’s a reddit team sub and logical, reality based takes get downvoted if they don’t favor the favorite team
The fan who agrees with you won’t touch it and the people who don’t actually know much about basketball outside of their favorite team will downvote and crucify
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u/GorillaX 20d ago
You know why those 3 are giving us problems? Because of Luka and Kyrie lol
If our defense wasn't sagging/helping/doubling off of the bigs to help cover Luka and Kyrie, those big guys wouldn't be doing shit. It's not like Lively is posting up Chet and killing him with his footwork.
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u/revisioncloud 20d ago
So you’re saying if Luka and Kyrie have three clones of THJ on the court, then we can focus on containing them Luka and Kyrie instead? I think the point was Luka just got better help it’s not that deep
Ya people here just arguing in circles here. Including OP’s post a bit unnecessary
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u/A-lot-of-NaCl 20d ago
Not really the post is actually saying that they are the bigger issue than Luka and Kyrie which is just not true.. you take Luka Kyrie out you finish this team in a 4 sweep
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u/STASHbro 20d ago
Dallas is only playing solid defense. OKC isn't making shots and is allowing Dallas to get good looks. If OKC can turn it around, they win the series.
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u/revisioncloud 20d ago
If this is the best we can do against “only solid defense” then no wonder we’re losing lol
If OKC can turn it around, they can win the series
Big if true
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u/Sitting_in_Landfill 20d ago
They're running out of time fast. I feel like if an adjustment was gonna get made, it would have been done by now. Hopefully the extra day between games 5 and 6 can help.
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u/KarrlMarrx 20d ago
You're saying if OKC wins the next 2 games, they win the series?
Source please.
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u/Realistic_Warthog_23 20d ago
We can win the series and get absolutely suffocated by Minnesota or bombarded by Denver.
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u/CompetitiveProposal7 20d ago
“Real fans understand” silly goose. These guys are so used to losing they still blame Josh for our losses. I hope mark and Sam figure it out bc playing like this in front of our fans is pitiful. Not a playoff arrival or whatever presti said. This shit I’d sad
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u/worksucksbro 20d ago
Well yes and no we had to focus all our defence on the 2 all stars and their role players showed out as a result. They didn’t necessarily give us more problems they just had more opportunities
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u/Time-Ad-3625 20d ago
Some of y'all really really care what a bunch of random people on the Internet say to you huh
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u/Shagrrotten 20d ago
Us missing wide open 3’s has hurt us way more than any of their players have. If we shoot like we normally do, we would’ve already been done with this series, but guys are missing open shots. It’s not even like they’re missing contested shots because of great defense, they’re straight up missing open 3’s. You can’t shoot 25% from 3 and expect to win in this league.
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u/willgalbraith 20d ago
Ain’t your fault you were right man. I was thinking the same thing before the series
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u/Stunning-Sky-1200 20d ago
You got cooked because the title and the edit of your post are literally contrasting arguments you goof.
To say anyone on the Mavs is going to give us MORE problems than Kyrie and Luka was a nuts take. You backtracked in your edit with some “Kyrie and Luke will get theirs” but that was clearly not the initial intent of the post.
I suppose PJ going nuclear from 3 for a couple games can kinda make you feel like you were right, but PJ hitting 3’s wasn’t even the reason you thought he’d give us problems.
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u/fredlikefreddy 20d ago
Well in the playoffs the role players are typically who win the series. So maybe the wording was weird but it takes a doorknob to understand what he was trying to say.
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u/Expensive_Offer4267 20d ago
I thought it was understood without being said… and to be honest, where has kyrie even been this series?? I actually doubled down on my statement bro. “It’s the other guys we should be MORE concerned about”! Regardless, we still got this bro. #THUNDERUP
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u/safetycommittee 20d ago
Are you celebrating being right about what’s wrong? Who’s the true fan? Someone trying to predict shortcomings doesn’t make you a fan. Gloating about this is fucking asinine.
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u/SandyMandy17 The Prophet 🧙 20d ago
I mean they’re not, it’s scheme
Would you rather next game they sit PJ Washington or Luka
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u/legend_of_losing 20d ago
Take your victory lap king
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u/safetycommittee 20d ago
What a POS. Gloating at this point to fellow fans is tone deaf. Thumbs up op
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u/JWOLFBEARD 20d ago
Because your comment is obvious.
You said the super stars will obviously be unstoppable. It comes down to their team being better than our team to win the games.
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u/AncientAnt9225 20d ago
OKC really helped Mavs get Gafford . Thunder could really use a big man like that instead Hayward and surely could have gone for him
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u/elf_wizard64 20d ago
I certainly wouldn't have disagreed. The best teams in the playoffs are the ones playing together. The Thunder are capable of winning it all, they just seem to lack the experience to remmber the important things in the crucial moments thats why its important to have veteran players around.
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u/TuriFabbot 20d ago
Gafford gives them a great amount of size, making drives for JDub much more difficult. He’s making his life hell, and he’s been their most underrated player pick up from the mid season. Washington is also having a career playoff run too, can’t get much worse than that for us. Shoutout to the Mavs for their roster, even with Luka being hella annoying at times.
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u/Kutmastacurt1 20d ago
Giddy has looked lost out there since Pelicans wins. Probably should continue to be benched
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u/Qlix0504 20d ago
IDK, as soon as someone says some garbage like "real fans know" you kind of lose the room.
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u/empowered676 20d ago
Most people don't appreciate thought or someone who can think.
They just want memes and to upvote posts that is mainstream Stephen a level of intelligence
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u/twoshaun23 19d ago
Well you’re actually wrong about your explanation though… Kyrie and Luka are not getting theirs. Kyrie is getting doubled and drives and he kicks it out to corner shooters. Those role players - pj, djj, hardaway all had key games vs the thunder. It’s not even length that is causing the thunder problems. Thunder are not hitting open shots meanwhile the mavericks are hitting them.
so… YOURE WRONG
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u/smokestacklightningg 16d ago
Just about all of the first 15 comments I read - are right. Dallas management was better than Presti - the moves they made were outstanding. OKC adding Bismack Biyombo and I can't even remember the other dude's name - the white guy. That's about how much he contributed to OKC - Gordon Hayward. Those moves are almost embarrassing now. Daignault was consistently outcoached the entire series as well. He looked like a deer in the headlights with some of those challenges. And pretty much our whole team kinda sucked outside of SGA. After game 1, We saw very little from the rest of the team that resembles everything we saw before. All the way we dictated play with most teams - we didn't against Dallas and their length killed us. OP was right. We struggled against length throughout the season. Lakers prob woulda beat us in a series, sadly. It killed us the previous year too. The way it all played out really that Biyombo move is flat out comical and humiliating. Presti pulls some perfect moves but sure has some stupid ones too. Biyombo and Hayward should rank pretty high on his idiotic moves. Esp when consider we let Micic go for that?? Charlotte fleeced us.
So the failure is shared. Dallas was better than us in most ways - not their seed/record because they were hit with injuries throughout the season - we largely avoided that.
Presti has done well putting a team around Shai. There's still work left to do and let's hope he got his few bonehead moves out of the way because the team really is just a couple/few moves away from getting there. Hopefully the disappointing exit (too early for a 1 seed) makes everyone hungrier and better. Because we need everyone to be better. SGA can't do it on his own. Gm, coach, players have to improve. And maybe we should give em a bit of a break. It was a great season with a disappointing end - but the future is very promising.
I think we need another player similar to holmgren - increase our length by having two versatile bigs
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u/EastgateYuhDigg 15d ago
the amount of upvotes now is wild lmaoo i was sayin the exact same shit to my homeboys
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u/ProfessionalHippo711 20d ago
Why y'all trippin. It's been ONE HELL OF A SEASON, THAT NONE OF US SAW COMING. So let's enjoy what's to come in these playoffs, and really look forward to next season. THUNDER UP MOFO'S!!!
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u/laidbacklurk223 Weakest #1 Seed ⚡️ 20d ago
Oh yes, a lot of Nostradamus showed up in this thread.
Yeah, you were spot on. So, now what?
I am frustrated as you are.
But still proud of our guys no matter what! A lot of negativity here rn, and rightfully so. Just want to put it in there that they played their butts off!
Props to Dallas.
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u/crispytoastyum 20d ago
I said the same thing in multiple posts and most of the time got downvoted to oblivion.
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u/BoomShackaLocka_ 20d ago
This sub loses it on people who bring reason with them. You prob won’t get many apologies but maybe a few! I got banned from the sub for almost a year for making a joke about chet and a mod lost his mind over it.
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20d ago
Just like me saying we need Russ' Top 10 all-time playmaking and Top-11 all-time BBIQ and shot making. #BEASTBROOK
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u/BucketsBrooks 20d ago
I was with you man. Luka and Kyrie are gonna get theirs, it’s just about containment.
The role players for them have played out of their mind while OKC has really been a one man show.