State of the Thunder

[Scapegoat]

Were you the guy saying Donovan needed to get fired a couple of weeks ago or was it @Scapegoat ?

I don't remember saying Donovan needed to go. I have said that something needs to change because there is to much talent on this team for them to be as bad as they have been. Either here or on another site.

 

[CitySushi]

The funny thing is that coaches get far too much credit for winning games they should win.

OKC is the 2nd most talented team in the NBA. They should be winning. What has Donovan done to make them better during this stretch?

Just like when media was up in arms when the Cavs fired Blatt. He was not helping the team win. The Cavs were winning in spite of him.

I am not sure that is what is happening here, but winning a few games with a talented roster does not always equal good coaching.

 

[trojanfan12]

Not sure he belongs in that category. I tend to see him as more of a Marty Schottenheimer of the NBA. He is a guy who can turn your franchise around and get them winning...but he's not a guy who can lead you to a championship. Del Harris was like that too.

Okay to hire a guy like that, you just have to know when it's time to move on from him so that you don't waste the opportunity.

 

[CitySushi]

Not sure he belongs in that category. I tend to see him as more of a Marty Schottenheimer of the NBA. He is a guy who can turn your franchise around and get them winning...but he's not a guy who can lead you to a championship. Del Harris was like that too.

Okay to hire a guy like that, you just have to know when it's time to move on from him so that you don't waste the opportunity.

Didn't mean it to say he was overrated in general, it was more that people were up in arms after he was let go. It was clear to a lot of people that he had maxed out. But even after Kerr was hired and took the Warriors even further, they still gave Mark Jackson credit, like Kerr was just benefitting off of everything Jackson did. While Jackson laid a good foundation, there's absolutely no way he could have accomplished anything similar to what Kerr has done.

Felt like a lot of the mainstream sports media were giving Jackson way too much credit for stuff he did not accomplish.

Also he hasn't gotten an interview for any head coaching job since....

 

[trojanfan12]

Didn't mean it to say he was overrated in general, it was more that people were up in arms after he was let go. It was clear to a lot of people that he had maxed out. But even after Kerr was hired and took the Warriors even further, they still gave Mark Jackson credit, like Kerr was just benefitting off of everything Jackson did. While Jackson laid a good foundation, there's absolutely no way he could have accomplished anything similar to what Kerr has done.

Felt like a lot of the mainstream sports media were giving Jackson way too much credit for stuff he did not accomplish.

Also he hasn't gotten an interview for any head coaching job since....

That's going to happen just about any time you have a situation where 1 coach turns a team into a winner, gets fired and the next guy comes in and wins a title the next season. There's always going to be the "did they fire him 1 year too early?" questions. I know I got on the Warriors a little too about that.

I think the not getting another interview may have more to do with the fact that, if memory serves, he rubbed some folks the wrong way with the Warriors and it got out.

I think the only reason we didn't hear much of that when the Lakers won the title the season after they fired Del Harris was because Phil came in with 3 rings already.

Mark Jackson definitely made winning a title possible for the Warriors, they just needed Kerr to come in, make a couple of tweaks and install the right system for them.

That's not to diminish what Kerr did...often times those couple of tweaks/right system are the most difficult step and what the previous coach just couldn't get done.

 

[CitySushi]

That's going to happen just about any time you have a situation where 1 coach turns a team into a winner, gets fired and the next guy comes in and wins a title the next season. There's always going to be the "did they fire him 1 year too early?" questions. I know I got on the Warriors a little too about that.

I think the not getting another interview may have more to do with the fact that, if memory serves, he rubbed some folks the wrong way with the Warriors and it got out.

I think the only reason we didn't hear much of that when the Lakers won the title the season after they fired Del Harris was because Phil came in with 3 rings already.

Mark Jackson definitely made winning a title possible for the Warriors, they just needed Kerr to come in, make a couple of tweaks and install the right system for them.

That's not to diminish what Kerr did...often times those couple of tweaks/right system are the most difficult step and what the previous coach just couldn't get done.

I'm probably overly hard on Jackson. I thought he did a phenomenal job changing the culture and attitude of the organization. My problem with him began to fizzle when it seemed he had no interest in actually making any tweaks to the team to get them better. It was always "no excuses, we didn't get the job done." Well yes and no. The players could only do so much in his limited offensive system which he never altered. He fired Mike Malone who was a heralded assistant coach at the time because he was insecure. It felt like he just started to worry about his job security instead of pushing the team further, which fans could see.

That's the difference between him and Kerr. Kerr welcomes alternate opinions and actively seeks them out. He hired two of the best assistant coaches in the NBA at the time of his hire in Gentry and Adams. Mike Malone was only added to Jackson's staff because Lacob wouldn't hire him without a guy next to him with a great track record. Then when Malone started to disagree with Jackson, he fired him. It's also been well documented what went on with the rest of his assistant coaching staff.

Definitely agree with you on why he hasn't gotten any interviews. I was probably cherry picking that, lol.

 

[larryjohn]

I'm probably overly hard on Jackson. I thought he did a phenomenal job changing the culture and attitude of the organization. My problem with him began to fizzle when it seemed he had no interest in actually making any tweaks to the team to get them better. ...

It is interesting to hear Bob Myers talk about Jackson. (also Lacob) He is very courteous, but describes well how Kerr changed some things. Jackson was not well liked within the organization and didn't have a great staff. Kerr has no problem hiring really good assistants. I can see how orgs would hesitate to hire Jackson -- probably would only do it if they need a complete culture change and willing to give Jackson a lot of autonomy.

 

[CitySushi]

It is interesting to hear Bob Myers talk about Jackson. (also Lacob) He is very courteous, but describes well how Kerr changed some things. Jackson was not well liked within the organization and didn't have a great staff. Kerr has no problem hiring really good assistants. I can see how orgs would hesitate to hire Jackson -- probably would only do it if they need a complete culture change and willing to give Jackson a lot of autonomy.

Yeah, from what I understand Lacob said in another interview he basically gave Jackson a blank check on hiring a staff, but chose mostly yes men and his friends. He got rid of anyone who had an opposing view of his. He fired Malone, Scalabrine and Erman. Malone since then has had two head coaching job's and Erman is a highly regarded assistant, who's received high praise from Brad Stevens too.

Scal from what I recalled said to Jackson he thought the offense was inefficient and needed an overhaul and he immediately demoted him to the D-League affiliate.

Jackson seems to have burned a lot of bridges. If you're a top assistant, would you want to work for a guy who you couldn't have a say? Probably not.

 

[thunderc]

The Thunder are 1-0 against the Warriors this year, thst is the extent to which they should be discussed here!

 

[CitySushi]

The Thunder are 1-0 against the Warriors this year, thst is the extent to which they should be discussed here!

Probably not being discussed because the Thunder are the obvious favorites in the West. Warriors peaked and are overrated.

 

[DorianRo]

What do you expect would happen when you put 3 Career LOSERS on one team? WestSHIT couldn't even win a ring with Durant and Harden. Anthony has been a career Loser everywhere he's gone. George is your classic heartless loser. Always a no-show in playoff pressure situations.

 

[CitySushi]

What do you expect would happen when you put 3 Career LOSERS on one team? WestSHIT couldn't even win a ring with Durant and Harden. Anthony has been a career Loser everywhere he's gone. George is your classic heartless loser. Always a no-show in playoff pressure situations.

@HurricaneDij39 Looks like you and DRo have a lot in common.

 

[bksballer89]

Yea looking at their schedule, now is the time to gain ground. This is their schedule for the rest of 2017

VS DEN
VS UTA
VS ATL
AT UTA
VS HOU
VS TOR
VS MIL
VS DAL

Need to go at least 6-2

About to improve to 6-0 in this stretch. No reason for them not to go 8-0 at this point.

They should be able to go on a serious run. Just looked at their schedule for January. Pretty soft

AT LAL
AT LAC
AT PHX
VS POR
AT MINN
AT CHAR
VS SAC
VS LAL
AT CLE
VS BKLYN
VS WSH
AT DET
VS PHIL
AT WSH

That's 14 games. I think they should be good enough to pull off a 10-4 month which would leave them at about 32-19 entering February which would be very solid considering how poor they started

 

[trojanfan12]

About to improve to 6-0 in this stretch. No reason for them not to go 8-0 at this point.

They should be able to go on a serious run. Just looked at their schedule for January. Pretty soft

AT LAL
AT LAC
AT PHX
VS POR
AT MINN
AT CHAR
VS SAC
VS LAL
AT CLE
VS BKLYN
VS WSH
AT DET
VS PHIL
AT WSH

That's 14 games. I think they should be good enough to pull off a 10-4 month which would leave them at about 32-19 entering February which would be very solid considering how poor they started

Yeah, after the Lakers kick their ass, it should be smooth sailing the rest of the way.

 

[thunderc]

Starting 5 shot 40-66 tonight and had 105 pts, pretty strong.

 

[Scapegoat]

What do you expect would happen when you put 3 Career LOSERS on one team? WestSHIT couldn't even win a ring with Durant and Harden. Anthony has been a career Loser everywhere he's gone. George is your classic heartless loser. Always a no-show in playoff pressure situations.

 

[Scapegoat]

Probably not being discussed because the Thunder are the obvious favorites in the West. Warriors peaked and are overrated.

Funny. But we will find out. All the pressure is on gs. Cupcake isn't good in that situation.

 

[Scapegoat]

Gs, Houston and SA are still the favorites. But OKC looks like they are playing better. And they have enough talent to make it tough on whoever they run into in the playoffs.

 

[msgkings322]

Funny. But we will find out. All the pressure is on gs. Cupcake isn't good in that situation.

Cupcake looked pretty good in last year's playoffs.

 

[Wishbone]

Okc starting to come together.


"I think the fact that Russ is just playing -- not trying to defer to anybody, to any one of us -- just playing his game and letting us play off him ... I think he's much more effective by doing that rather than deferring to myself or Paul," Anthony said. "We know what we bring to the game. We understand it. We accept it. And by that, he's able to just play his game, relax and do what he does best. We need that. We need that Russ out there. Not the one who defers to us. Let us figure it out."