Thunder Half Court Offense

[lurker23]

The way I see it, the Thunder have two major modes that they use in their half court offensive sets:

1. Iso/two-man ball- a.k.a. the Durant and Westbrook show. This is their default mode, where they run a lot of iso for their two big scorers, and the rest of the team rarely touches the ball. If the Thunder stick with this offense, I feel the Spurs have a great chance of winning the series. Between Kawhi checking Durant (not stopping, but slowing down) and Westbrook chucking up countless shots, I don't think the Thunder can be efficient enough to beat the Spurs in this set over the long haul. The Spurs will dare Westbrook to take 15-21 footers and other off-balance contested shots, and he'll generally oblige them.

2. Motion offense- a.k.a. everyone gets involved. The Thunder run these kind of sets less frequently, but it is truly their best chance to beat the Spurs. This is what the Thunder turned on beginning in Game 3 of the 2012 WCF, and it was highly effective. If the Thunder find ways to get Collision, Fisher, Ibaka, etc. involved, it makes their entire offense more effective and opens up more lanes for Durant and Westbrook. The good news for the Spurs is that this offense was most effective with Harden on the court, and is only impossible to beat when players like Ibaka are shooting lights out from mid-to-long range. That said, this is an offense that they still have in their repertoire, and was successful when they used it in Game 6 against the Clippers.


What other wrinkles do you expect the Thunder to throw at the Spurs?

[Harry Callahan]

It would be nice if a few moving screens get called on Methlahoma.

Baynes and Ayers need to be put on the floor for a few minutes in order to "compromise" the Thunder's ability to compete.

[Captivus]

Gotta stop those ISO somehow...they penetrate most of the time and get fouled.
No idea how...but whenever a not 3PT shooter is in the corner I would double team the ISO player, and if they pass...well...RUN back.

[Trainwreck2100]

3) Dribble dribble dribble bad shot ref bailout

[Old School 44]

Bring Cory Joseph in to play Westbrook. Declare him a "Westbrook stopper" in the media. This will drive Westbrook into full iso chucker mode.

[DPG21920]

By far, to me, the biggest changes are 1) No Harden & 2) Tiago to guard Ibaka.

Ibaka is a jump shooter and although he's a much better athlete than Dirk/LA, he's not a post player. If Tiago can effectively crowd him, he shouldn't get the looks he did before which killed the Spurs (largely jump shots). The difference is, OKC, unlike Dallas/Portland, don't just dump him the ball and watch him go to work which is why Tiago was so good. He's a floor spacer that gets his looks because guys help onto Westbrook/Durant. So it's a challenge for Tiago IMO because it's not defending the same type of offense (big man trying to back him down, take those jump shots). He's catch and shoot.

Spurs struggle defending iso ball for some reason (I guess everyone does with Lebron/Durant/Harden) when it comes to great players. It's amazing that a crappy offense that iso-centric like HOU kills the Spurs when it really shouldn't. OKC not having Harden is a big plus. Having Kawhi/Danny helps a lot in blowing up OKC's strategies. If Kawhi can defend without fouling that is huge.

Also, just like against POR, if TP can somehow manage to run the offense while also doing a good enough job on Wesbrook (like he did on Lillard), that allows Danny to key in elsewhere and is a MASSIVE advantage.

[testies]

Bring Cory Joseph in to play Westbrook. Declare him a "Westbrook stopper" in the media. This will drive Westbrook into full iso chucker mode.

:lol:lol

[DPG21920]

Bring Cory Joseph in to play Westbrook. Declare him a "Westbrook stopper" in the media. This will drive Westbrook into full iso chucker mode.

lol

[look_at_g_shred]

Bring Cory Joseph in to play Westbrook. Declare him a "Westbrook stopper" in the media. This will drive Westbrook into full iso chucker mode.
:lol but i'd bet it work :lmao

[4down]

3) Dribble dribble dribble bad shot ref bailout
Yep. This is about a third of their offense the rest is KD being KD and Westbrook or Jackson in transition

[Old School 44]

I'm really not too concerned with OKCs half court offense. I'm more worried about them turning "defense into offense". The thing that stands out for me is the OKC's overall defensive team speed, starting with Ibaka's help defense. I think they should attack Ibaka on the pick and roll with TP. Make him the primary defender vs. the help defender. When our guards drive, and try to kick out to shooters, OKC seems to be waiting to deflect/steal these passes which ignites their break. The Spurs just need to protect the ball and understand that this team is quicker to the ball than everyone else they've faced.

[ceperez]

I'm really not too concerned with OKCs half court offense. I'm more worried about them turning "defense into offense". The thing that stands out for me is the OKC's overall defensive team speed, starting with Ibaka's help defense. I think they should attack Ibaka on the pick and roll with TP. Make him the primary defender vs. the help defender. When our guards drive, and try to kick out to shooters, OKC seems to be waiting to deflect/steal these passes which ignites their break. The Spurs just need to protect the ball and understand that this team is quicker to the ball than everyone else they've faced.

Good comment about making Ibaka the primary defender. He can cause a lot of chaos (and turnovers) if he's helping out and stopping a lot of Spurs easy baskets.

[spurraider21]

OKC's transition offense is the most frightening aspect of their team. If we can avoid that we win. Low turnover, more shots from our bigs (I don't care how well Perkins defends Duncan. Shots close to the rim don't tend to give up transition buckets), and Leonard attacking Durant towards the rim (taking Durant closer to their own baseline as opposed to leaking out in transition) will be keys

[Horse]

I like the idea of kahwi making durant work, he's much more confident and maybe can tire him out a bit if he's concerned with Leonards offense.

[exstatic]

:lol The Thunder have NEVER run motion offense, either to beat us or otherwise. What they ran to beat us was one play: Harden feeding a Westbrook/KD pick and roll. We couldn't lay off or crowd Harden, a triple threat player, so they got a mismatch every time. If we doubled it, they kicked out.

The problem for OKC, and it's huge, is that Harden is no longer there.

[lurker23]

:lol The Thunder have NEVER run motion offense, either to beat us or otherwise. What they ran to beat us was one play: Harden feeding a Westbrook/KD pick and roll. We couldn't lay off or crowd Harden, a triple threat player, so they got a mismatch every time. If we doubled it, they kicked out.

The problem for OKC, and it's huge, is that Harden is no longer there.

Yeah, I realized that the term "motion" was a misnomer, and thought about editing it. Sorry about that.

What I really meant was ball movement. When they want to be, the Thunder can be a very good passing team. Harden was a big part of that, but elements still exist that allow them to swing the ball around the court, make the extra pass, and find the best shot. A good example of this last night was the three pointer that Collison made at the end of the 3rd quarter. When the Thunder actually get everyone involved and pass the ball, they are a much more complete team.

[Mugen]

If the Spurs can keep OKC in the half court and limit their FT parade + fast break opportunities, then they would be in great shape tbh. But those are two strengths of the Thunder and why they are a very difficult matchup for San Antonio.

[Leetonidas]

So Green on Westbrook since Sefolosha will most certainly be on Parker? Thunder better hope Ibaka comes back fine or they're in trouble, likewise with the Spurs and Tony Parker

[Solid D]

Nobody in this thread has even mentioned Reggie Jackson. He was an absolute assassin vs. the Spurs this season. The Spurs had no answer for him. He has got to be defended differently or the Spurs will suffer dearly.

[Mugen]

Nobody in this thread has even mentioned Reggie Williams. He was an absolute assassin vs. the Spurs this season. The Spurs had no answer for him. He has got to be defended differently or the Spurs will suffer dearly.

With good reason....

[Solid D]

With good reason....

Haha. Reggie Jackson. Thanks, Mugen.

[Mugen]

No prob. But agreed, Reggie Jackson will have to be a big point of emphasis for the Spurs heading into this series. Green saw some time on him in the last game and was effective in spurts.

If TP can at least do a decent job on Russ like he did on Lillard then that would allow Green to guard Jackson down the stretch.

It's really simple, if the Spurs can somehow avoid foul trouble to Green/Leonard/Manu and limit turnovers, they'll have a chance at winning every game.

[lurker23]

Nobody in this thread has even mentioned Reggie Jackson. He was an absolute assassin vs. the Spurs this season. The Spurs had no answer for him. He has got to be defended differently or the Spurs will suffer dearly.

It will be especially interesting to see what the Spurs do defensively when Jackson and Westbrook are on the court at the same time. Can Parker consistently guard either of those players? Who do you assign to Danny Green? Do you give spot minutes to Cory Joseph for defensive purposes?

[Brazil]

With good reason....

:lol