Series Thread: Western Conference Finals: OKC Thunder VS Golden State Warriors

[gordontrue]

It won't be close. Warriors win in a route and all the idiots will say the Warriors will sweep just how they overreacted when the Spurs destroyed the Thunder

Yeah... so we agree. Re-read my post.

I said one or the other is happening.

Either the Warriors win a close game OR there will be a massive overreaction.

 

[LAD]

What has he done besides that little shimmy dance?

I feel like I'm missing something.

Won the MVP 1st place vote UNANIMOUSLY.

 

[LAD]

I think.Westbrook will hero ball the Thunder into a Canelo vs Khan beating....

Oh my...that was terrible, just terrible. He put that fool to sleep with his eyes still open.

 

[ATL96Steeler]

Again this is tough.

I thought the OKC bigs matched up well vs. the Spurs...

I kinda think the OKC bigs matchup really bad vs. the Warriors.

I guess the key thing is- who can dictate the style of play. Can the Warriors dictate a small style of play so Adams and Kanter are ineffective and have to be sent to the bench? or can the Thunder dictate to the Warriors and force them to go big to counter?...

i gotta go with the Warriors dictating to the Thunder. As much as I hate to say it I think this will be Warriors in 5 unless Curry's ankle flares up from the increased wear and tear a tough series will put on it.

when in doubt pick the team with the best player. OKC had the 2 best players in the previous series- and won.....GSW has the best player in this series....

When you get this deep into the playoffs, your star players have to play like stars and that's where GS has the edge...although a little banged up, they have the 3rd spoke to the wheel in Drymond Green. The rank and file players are usually the difference...if Adams can be effective...the series should go 7....if not, maybe 6.

 

[CitySushi]

I think the Warriors will try to force the ball out of Durant's hands and try to let Westbrook and the other role players try to beat them. If I'm Kerr, I game plan around sending a secondary defender at KD from the guy guarding Ibaka or Roberson (which will likely be Draymond or Curry). I'd let Klay play Westbrook straight up and tell him not to hedge or help on defense.

The Warriors will be willing to let Roberson do whatever he wants. If he beats the Warriors, they will live with this. I'd also consider throwing Draymond as the secondary defender because of his ability to recover, after the weakside help shifts, but more so to provoke Ibaka to camp out on the perimeter. If he does, it'll draw an additional offensive rebounder away from the hoop.

 

[LAD]

I think the Warriors will try to force the ball out of Durant's hands and try to let Westbrook and the other role players try to beat them. If I'm Kerr, I game plan around sending a secondary defender at KD from the guy guarding Ibaka or Roberson (which will likely be Draymond or Curry). I'd let Klay play Westbrook straight up and tell him not to hedge or help on defense.

The Warriors will be willing to let Roberson do whatever he wants. If he beats the Warriors, they will live with this. I'd also consider throwing Draymond as the secondary defender because of his ability to recover, after the weakside help shifts, but more so to provoke Ibaka to camp out on the perimeter. If he does, it'll draw an additional offensive rebounder away from the hoop.

Interesting....so you think they should double KD and not RW? So you're saying you think Klay can handle RW man 2 man without needing much help?

I think Klay is an EXCELLENT defender and originally thought they should double RW instead of KD. But seeing your assessment I might have to change my mind.

 

[gordontrue]

The cross matchups in this series are going to be crazy. Klay on Russell, Russell on Steph. Roberson on Klay, Draymond on Roberson, etc, etc

This will probably favor the Warriors since they are so lethal in transition. If the Thunder are constantly caught trying to find their matchups, Warriors will kill them early in the shot clock.

There's going to be so much switching in this series... Thunder would do well not to worry too much about getting to their correct matchups, just getting set on someone.

The defensive versatility of both teams allows for a lot of adjustments/changes from the coaches.

 

[CitySushi]

Interesting....so you think they should double KD and not RW? So you're saying you think Klay can handle RW man 2 man without needing much help?

I think Klay is an EXCELLENT defender and originally thought they should double RW instead of KD. But seeing your assessment I might have to change my mind.

Yeah, as I said in a previous post, I think Klay has been one of the better guys to guard Westbrook in the past. Here's what Westbrook's numbers with Klay guarding him were for the 3 regular season games:

8-22, 27 pts, 3 TO's
10-29, 26 pts, 7 TO's
8-24, 22 pts, 2 To's.
Overall FG 34.6%

Conversely here are KD's stats:

12-25, 40 pts, 5 TO's.
13-26, 37 pts, 5 TO's.
11-17, 32 pts, 9 TO's.
Overall FG 52.9%

I just believe KD to be the much more efficient player, which is why I want him touching the ball as minimally as possible. The biggest knock on RW his entire career has been that he is prone to hero ball and volume shooting. Additionally, Russ isn't near the level of outside shooting that KD has. If you double Russ, you're taking the ball out of one of their worst perimeter shooters hands and playing 4 on 3 with KD lurking. If you double Durant, instead of RW, you allow yourself much more recover time on the help defense because you don't have to close out as hard on RW on the perimeter. If you double Russ, you'll have to close out much harder on KD, which makes the defensive rotations much harder. At least that's how I view it.

 

[WiggyRuss]

be Afraid.

 

[Mecca]

View attachment 118382
be Afraid.

Curry be like...

 

[LAD]

Curry be like...

View attachment 118387

Warrior fans be like.....

 

[calsnowskier]

Warrior fans be like.....

Cavs fans be like...

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Mecca]

Warrior fans be like.....

Steph Curry the Hog Hunter.

 

[Wishbone]

So about the same chance as OKC had to beat the Spurs. Cool

 

[Montalban]

Dubs not playing particularly well the Thunder on fire. I see that big lineup dominating the boards and them winning the series in six. If it does happen to go seven though I like the Dubs at home in that seventh game.

 

[Shanemansj13]

HATERS ALLOWED!!!!!!

Says the Lakers fans

 

[Shanemansj13]

lol can we get some hardcore examples?

Well the champagne comment is a good start. He would have never said that before the MVP, I can guarantee that. He wasn't even forced into the answer. That just isn't him. I understand he has the great but be yourself. Seems fake to me IMO.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I think tonight will be a pretty close game either till the end or the last 3 or 4 minutes or so. I think it is high scoring, the Thunder need to keep these games somewhat low scoring to be able to pull off the upset. Hope it isn't a shitshow lol

 

[CitySushi]

Well the champagne comment is a good start. He would have never said that before the MVP, I can guarantee that. He wasn't even forced into the answer. That just isn't him. I understand he has the great but be yourself. Seems fake to me IMO.

Yeah, he seems like a real jerk. Being confident after winning a championship and having aspirations for another one seem like a total douche move. The only thing worse than that would be if he guaranteed multiple championships before he won one. And I'm not talking about just guaranteeing not just one or two I'm talking about not four, not five not six.