Series Thread: 3) Portland Trailblazers vs 6) OKC Thunder

[blazer prophet]

Haven’t been able to watch... has Russ lost it yet?

Not really. He elbowed Dame pretty hard and the refs considered a tech, but he got the star treatment.

 

[blazer prophet]

Nice hot takes and Kanter had 20 and 18 the first game LOL

It must really suck having to pay RW all this money until the 22-23 season geesh. Tbh he probably earned it but the Thunder continue to have zero shooting around RW and PG-13

Aside from George, they really have nothing.

 

[bksballer89]

Aside from George, they really have nothing.

I don't get why they never addressed the issue of finding a 3 pt specialist.

Makes no sense.

 

[bksballer89]

Probably my favorite Dame play from last night.

 

[blazer prophet]

I don't get why they never addressed the issue of finding a 3 pt specialist.

Makes no sense.

A couple of thoughts.

First, they are hard to find and often don't pan out.

Second, the best place to find them is free agency and most don't want to play in places like OKC or Portland.

 

[OregonDucks]

If only these guys were still in Seattle this would be an even more intense series.

 

[trojanfan12]

Poor PG. You signed long-term with RW instead of with the King LOL

It would be interesting to see what he would do with a "do-over".

Pretty safe bet that if he had chosen to go to the Lakers with Lebron, he wouldn't be looking at the possibility of a being swept out of the first round and the Lakers wouldn't look like such a mess.

 

[bksballer89]

It would be interesting to see what he would do with a "do-over".

Pretty safe bet that if he had chosen to go to the Lakers with Lebron, he wouldn't be looking at the possibility of a being swept out of the first round and the Lakers wouldn't look like such a mess.

Sometimes I don't think Russ is the problem.

I think they need a better coach.

Look at the difference in the Bucks once they got a real coach.

I don't think Russ had a good coach yet.

Scott Brooks is mediocre and same for Billy

I would love to see what OKC do with a good coach

 

[Shanemansj13]

How deep do you think Lebron goes in the playoffs this year?

Depends how good the Monstars play

 

[bksballer89]

The Thunder offensive strategy in this series is just silly.

Too many 3's for a team that isn't any good at it.

33 in game 1 (only made 5) including 15 attempts from PG & 7 from Schroder. They made 4 out of their 22 attempts.

 

[Shanemansj13]

It would be interesting to see what he would do with a "do-over".

Pretty safe bet that if he had chosen to go to the Lakers with Lebron, he wouldn't be looking at the possibility of a being swept out of the first round and the Lakers wouldn't look like such a mess.

Still confused why he didn't. It would have changed everything for the Lakers. You keep your young assets and get a star like PG13. If they didn't win it this year they could still trade those young assets for a guy like Beal orand it would be a lot easier to pick up a FA this year. Imagine Lebron-PG13-Beal trio.

 

[bksballer89]

I think we see a better Russ in OKC because unlike previous playoffs series, his shot selection isn't terrible. He is simply just missing.

 

[trojanfan12]

Sometimes I don't think Russ is the problem.

I think they need a better coach.

Look at the difference in the Bucks once they got a real coach.

I don't think Russ had a good coach yet.

Scott Brooks is mediocre and same for Billy

I would love to see what OKC do with a good coach

Hard to say, imo.

Westbrook may not be the only problem, but he is definitely a big part of it. He kind of feels like a smaller version of Dwight to me in that, he's never really done much to improve his game and, in fact, seems to have regressed in some aspects.

I'm not saying that Brooks and Donovan are good coaches, but we also don't know if part of the problem is Russ not listening and doing his own thing.

The FO also seems more interested in catering to him than managing him. It's like they are so grateful that he stayed when KD left, that they are afraid of pissing him off.

 

[OregonDucks]

I think we see a better Russ in OKC because unlike previous playoffs series, his shot selection isn't terrible. He is simply just missing.

I fully expect OKC to win both games in OKC. I think this series goes 7 with the home teams winning the first 6 games, game 7 is a toss up.

 

[msgkings322]

Aside from George, they really have nothing.

Just scrubs like Adams

 

[msgkings322]

I fully expect OKC to win both games in OKC. I think this series goes 7 with the home teams winning the first 6 games, game 7 is a toss up.

Maybe, maybe not, but all Portland did was hold serve

So many hot takes already

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

Westbrook is awful, I'm sorry.

 

[trojanfan12]

Still confused why he didn't. It would have changed everything for the Lakers. You keep your young assets and get a star like PG13. If they didn't win it this year they could still trade those young assets for a guy like Beal orand it would be a lot easier to pick up a FA this year. Imagine Lebron-PG13-Beal trio.

Honestly, I think that it may have been a couple of things...emotion and shortsightedness/bad advice.

The emotion part is that, based on what he has said, he was overwhelmed by the way he was received by OKC's organization and fans.

I think the shortsightedness/bad advice (and kind of ties in with emotion as well) he said that the Lakers didn't try hard enough to trade for him.

I've never understood that. They had the cap space to bring in both him and Lebron, plus they had some good young players already and the #2 pick in the draft. He literally could have walked onto a contender that could have remained a contender even after Lebron started to decline or retired.

Plus, imagine what his offensive numbers could be like if he had Lebron to draw the defense and a combo platter of Lebron and Lonzo feeding him the ball.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I don't get why they never addressed the issue of finding a 3 pt specialist.

Makes no sense.

This pretty much sums up OKC. At least go out and get a veteran that can shoot off the bench. They have no shooting around their core and until they get this...nothing will change.

 

[Ickey Shuffle]

I don't get why they never addressed the issue of finding a 3 pt specialist.

Makes no sense.

Did Doug McDermott count? Probably not...