ducky
Well-Known Member
Odds are they win a series and are done. If they don’t it’s not the end of the world but would be disappointing. At this point the only thing that can affect the outlook for next year is to the positive if they do well. They are ahead of the curve in that aspect, losing at whatever point won’t impact the outlook at all. I just take issue with those that act like the Thunder will underachieve in the playoffs because that is what young teams do. The Thunder are doing things that haven’t been done. I know not everyone believes that but the stats say otherwise.
It is one thing for a young team to be beat in a first round of a playoff series.
But on the flip side, it is rare that a team that is as good as the Thunder (and my Wolves) have been beat early in a playoff series. These are two teams that are going to win 55+ games.
People dont seem to understand the dominance that these two teams have had this year and just how much better they have been compared to the teams that they will be facing in the 1st round of the playoffs.
If both the Wolves and Thunder are healthy heading into the playoffs, they are significantly better basketball teams than anyone they will see in the first round of the playoffs. And in both cases they are significantly better in one area that people overlook but is absolutely critical to playoff success: Defense.
The bottom of the Western conference all are average at best but closer to bad defensive teams. The only team I don’t want in the first round that would scare me a little would be the Pelicans. They can defend and have the some good players that can score consistently in the half court tight defense the playoffs bring. All the other teams in the bottom half of the conference have some major weak links defensively that will show up in the playoffs.