They will make the playoffs, no doubt in my mind. (Unless Westbrook gets hurt) But it would be hilarious if they don't.
They have no bench and the west is stacked. I'm not so sure. Current top 8 in the west: Houston GSW SAS PDX Minny Denver NOP Utah Really any of the bottom 4 could drop out, I guess, but they all have more depth than OKC.
Well you make a good point, but as much as I hate Westbrook everytime we play against him.....I love his competitiveness. So if he is on the floor, they will make the playoffs.
Yeah but Westbrook also missed 15 games, and even though they missed the playoffs they still won 45 games. When he played.....they did well.
So why were the Dwight Howard Lakers so bad? Talent 5-10 matters, and OKC has none. If talent is close, then chemistry/cohesion/effort is the deciding factor. And OKC won't have an advantage in that department. I'm just saying, maybe you don't take that enough into account. Seasons are very long, but that's what they said with the Dwight Howard Lakers, who finished 7th. They could still easily finish ahead of us, but based on this early season it's not crazy to think they won't.
I don't care what THEY demand. They can demand all they want... I'm still not going to give it to them. Just like dealing with a spoiled brat - you give them what they deserve.
Two new "superstars" same Chokelahoma City Blunder. OKC is 0-9 in games decided by 8 points or less. Durant's last season in OKC they lost an incredible 15 games that they led during the 4th quarter, and followed that up by blowing a 3-1 lead in the WCF. The common denominator: Russell Westbrick and his unique brand of hero ball that results in terrible shot selection, unforced turnovers, starving out his teammates and stupid, inexplicable fouls. How a team with one of most efficient scorers, one if the biggest mismatches in the league and a four time scoring champion can blow fifteen 4th quarter leads is unfathomable - until you actually watch Westbrook's play in those situations. I've been criticising Westbrook for his selfish late game hero ball style costing his team games going all the way back to the 2011 playoffs when he froze out both Kevin Durant and James Harden in the 4th quarter of several games. That got me labeled a Westbrook hater and accused of being blinded by my hatred. My position has nothing to do with hate, it is based entirely on results, and the results speak for themselves. All the triple doubles in the world don't mean a damn thing if you can't win close games. New cast of "superstars", same results. The Thunder will most likely finish with a winning record and make the playoffs, but they won't be nearly as good as most " experts" and many forum members predicted they would be. BNM
If OKC is still under .500 on January 1, is Donovan's job at risk? I can't imagine he lasts past the all star break if they haven't turned it around by then. If this experiment fails, someone has to be held accountable. Presti gave Donovan two more "superstars". It's up to him to figure out how make the pieces work. BNM
Didn't the Miami Heat have a real bad start the 1st season of The Heatles? Like 8-9 or something. I think there is too much talent on their roster to not figure this out.
Talent maybe, but do they have the intelligence to figure it out? As I posted above, this is the same Westbrook we've seen going back all the way to 2011 and he's never learned how to win close games. Doesn't matter if he's teamed up with Durant and Harden or George and Melo, the results are the same, a terrible record in close games and constantly blowing 4th quarter leads. You got that backwards. The Heat started the season 9-8 and other than 0-1 never had a losing record. OKC is the opposite. They started the season 1-0 and haven't had a winning record since. BNM
BNM - you seem to lay the entirety of the blame at Westbrook's feet. I was wondering if that's actually the case, or if you're only expressing a portion of your opinion in your posts. Basically, I wonder whether you feel the coach has anything to do with Westbrook's play and how he impacts the 4th quarter. Personally I think Westbrook is a phenomenal player - without looking at the current PGs in the league, I'd say he's a Top 3 PG. But I agree with you that his play does end up hurting his team late in games. However, I see this as almost entirely a coaching issue. Westbrook puts his team in a position to win games throughout the first 3 quarters - without him they'd be awful. But he clearly doesn't have the mental or leadership qualities to see it through in the end. That's EXACTLY what a coach is for - recognizing players weaknesses/strengths and maximizing/minimizing them. That's not being done with Westbrook and is a huge coaching failure.
Paul George gets a phone call from Dame this summer, in which all Dame says is, "Want to play with grown men instead of children?"
Excellent read. Thanks for the link. He goes into much more depth than I did, but reaches the same conclusion: "Westbrook has stayed the same. And that’s the problem." BNM
