CBS Sports: What was the real problem with the Thunder last season?

OKC and Cleveland are the #1 and #2 obstacles to a Spurs repeat next season, barring injuries.

I am sure OKC will take a look at Spurs player development and minute management and take a page from it. Spurs proved less is more and GDP during first 20 minutes of each game can still match up against most other stars in this league.

Depth is created by playing your supporting cast critical minutes. A night off here and there for Durant/Westbrook, reduced minutes etc etc. OKC does not need home court to beat SA if they can keep their big three healthy and rested. Sam Presti came from SA after all, with SA's title this year he should have enough ammunition to cut through the politics and get a bit better passing, minute management and player development.

With GDP another year older, it is a 40-60 in OKC favor if both teams are at full strength considering Duncan/Ginobili being yet another year older (make no mistake about it, they carried SA in that critical game 6, a game 7, win or lose would have been disastrous for the Spurs).

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Originally Posted by hitmantb

OKC and Cleveland are the #1 and #2 obstacles to a Spurs repeat next season, barring injuries.

I am sure OKC will take a look at Spurs player development and minute management and take a page from it. Spurs proved less is more and GDP during first 20 minutes of each game can still match up against most other stars in this league.

Depth is created by playing your supporting cast critical minutes. A night off here and there for Durant/Westbrook, reduced minutes etc etc. OKC does not need home court to beat SA if they can keep their big three healthy and rested. Sam Presti came from SA after all, with SA's title this year he should have enough ammunition to cut through the politics and get a bit better passing, minute management and player development.

With GDP another year older, it is a 40-60 in OKC favor if both teams are at full strength considering Duncan/Ginobili being yet another year older (make no mistake about it, they carried SA in that critical game 6, a game 7, win or lose would have been disastrous for the Spurs).

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I'm sure Scott Brooks will look at the WCF and think he just didn't have Ibaka in Games 1 & 2 and will use the injury as an excuse for Ibaka's horrible Game 5. You give that little faggot too much credit tbh.

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Originally Posted by Mr. Body

Uninspired coaching? Ball-dominance by two of its players? Over-reliance on key veterans (who are no longer there) instead of developing young talent? Massive logging of minutes on its stars throughout the season? A chintzy ownership that forced their third star to be traded for dimes on the dollar?

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Ditto.

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Originally Posted by hitmantb

OKC and Cleveland are the #1 and #2 obstacles to a Spurs repeat next season, barring injuries.

I am sure OKC will take a look at Spurs player development and minute management and take a page from it. Spurs proved less is more and GDP during first 20 minutes of each game can still match up against most other stars in this league.

Depth is created by playing your supporting cast critical minutes. A night off here and there for Durant/Westbrook, reduced minutes etc etc. OKC does not need home court to beat SA if they can keep their big three healthy and rested. Sam Presti came from SA after all, with SA's title this year he should have enough ammunition to cut through the politics and get a bit better passing, minute management and player development.

With GDP another year older, it is a 40-60 in OKC favor if both teams are at full strength considering Duncan/Ginobili being yet another year older (make no mistake about it, they carried SA in that critical game 6, a game 7, win or lose would have been disastrous for the Spurs).

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Keep dreaming, brother. Brooks has been there going on his 5th season, I believe, and has done a terrible job bringing along or developing anyone not named Durant, Westbrook, Harden or Ibaka. He's ran Durant into the ground - with no quality backup in the prospect or amongst their veterans - every season he's coached (remember in the '12 WCF when Durant played the ENTIRE game) the guy. His offense revolves around Durant and Westbrook forcing their way into to the paint and either scoring or being fouled ("we're a free-throw team"). He's underdeveloped both Perry Jones and Jeremy Lamb, while Reggie Jackson - who does share some physical characteristics with WB - has been made into a 6th man carbon copy of Westbrook.

Then, there is Serge Ibaka who has all the traits to be an all-star caliber big man but he's been reduced to mop up duty on offense. There is also his insistent need to play too many washed up (Caron Buter, Derek Fisher & Kendrick Perkins) veterans or one dimensional (Thabo Sefolosha and Nick Collison) role players in his rotation. We saw first-hand how flawed and ineffective that strategy can be from 2008-2011 with our very own Spurs. I could go on but if they can't win it all this upcoming season, well then I think Presti will need to bite the bullet and dump Scott Brooks.

Pop wasn't pop when he first started. 2003 Spurs played Duncan 42.5 minutes a game in the playoffs. Pop was also very very pro-veteran early on.

Obviously not saying Brooks is anywhere near Pop's level, but he doesn't have to be when he has a much stronger deck. Spoelstra was considered a great coach until games 3, 4, and 5 of the finals. You don't need to be elite if you have elite talents. Brooks just need to pick up a little bit and they can get over the hump.

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Originally Posted by hitmantb

OKC and Cleveland are the #1 and #2 obstacles to a Spurs repeat next season, barring injuries.

I am sure OKC will take a look at Spurs player development and minute management and take a page from it. Spurs proved less is more and GDP during first 20 minutes of each game can still match up against most other stars in this league.

Depth is created by playing your supporting cast critical minutes. A night off here and there for Durant/Westbrook, reduced minutes etc etc. OKC does not need home court to beat SA if they can keep their big three healthy and rested. Sam Presti came from SA after all, with SA's title this year he should have enough ammunition to cut through the politics and get a bit better passing, minute management and player development.

With GDP another year older, it is a 40-60 in OKC favor if both teams are at full strength considering Duncan/Ginobili being yet another year older (make no mistake about it, they carried SA in that critical game 6, a game 7, win or lose would have been disastrous for the Spurs).

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Yeah, the Spurs have been doing that for a couple of years now, with really good results, and OKC has shown no inclination to follow.

To me, the key to the whole series was game 4. Our bench forced Brooks to play both KD and Westchuck over 40 minutes, because their bench was so pathetic, and let ours almost destroy their huge lead.

OKC would be much more dangerous if ibaka developed a go to post move like a jump hook. Unfortunately I don't think he cares that much on that side of the ball, or he's not smart/disciplined enough to follow rotations/plays.

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Originally Posted by CGD

OKC would be much more dangerous if ibaka developed a go to post move like a jump hook. Unfortunately I don't think he cares that much on that side of the ball, or he's not smart/disciplined enough to follow rotations/plays.

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...or Westchuck won't pass him the ball.

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Originally Posted by TheyCallMePro

This is absurd. The Thunder were the 2nd best team in the NBA this season, and if Durant makes a wide-open 3 in game 6, the Thunder and Spurs play a game 7 that's up for grabs. And there's no doubt in my mind the Thunder would have gone on to beat the Heat in the Finals if they had managed to win a game 7.

The Thunder have a GREAT team. Westbrook and Durant are two of the league's top five players. Ibaka is a top 15 player, and the league's best defender. And the Thunder have great role players. There was and is NOTHING wrong with them. The Spurs were simply the better team, and it's an insult to suggest what the Thunder's problem was. I hate how people do this. Blame the loser instead of giving credit to the winner.




And by the way, Matt Moore is a moron. He hates the Spurs and constantly assigns blames to other team's flaws to justify why his predictions fell apart. He's a hack writer. Check how many misspelled words are in his articles. He's plain-out unprofessional.

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The Heat would had beat the Thunder in 5 games. I give OKC maybe one game where WB or Durant goes off for 70 or some absurd number where either one couldn't miss for the night. Other than that Miami handles them easy.

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Originally Posted by florige

The Heat would had beat the Thunder in 5 games. I give OKC maybe one game where WB or Durant goes off for 70 or some absurd number where either one couldn't miss for the night. Other than that Miami handles them easy.

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Yeah, Miami was a terrible matchup for them.

They would have played right into Miami's hands of aggressive defense stealing dumb passes and being able to focus on 2 players instead of a collective unit of 5.

OKC would have lost in 5 probably, maybe 6 if OKC gets a 3rd scorer out of say Ibaka or Jackson. But they would have gotten thumped again.

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Originally Posted by Man In Black

They would have played right into Miami's hands of aggressive defense stealing dumb passes and being able to focus on 2 players instead of a collective unit of 5.

OKC would have lost in 5 probably, maybe 6 if OKC gets a 3rd scorer out of say Ibaka or Jackson. But they would have gotten thumped again.

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Yup...OKC would have had no shot at beating Miami this year...none. The Heat would've dropped them quite handily. The LeBron/Wade/Bosh Heat were just an awful matchup for the Thunder.

TBQH, the Spurs were one of the few teams, and possibly the only one, who could've knocked off Miami in the Finals this year.

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Originally Posted by EVAY

Far more concise than the article but equally impressive analysis, imo.

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concise is the word

just the facts ma'am

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Originally Posted by Dex

That, and Bonner is a seriously underrated post defender. He's not gonna jump out of his sneakers or swat shots or play help defense like the Ibaka's of the league, but he has deceptively good positioning, knows how to get into his opponents body, and stays straight up when he is defending one on one in the post. For a 4th-5th big, his defense is adequate.

The fact that he looks like a bagger from HEB probably doesn't help from guys trying to go aggressively at him.

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The stereotypical HEB employee is a tall ass white dude?

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Originally Posted by Dingle Barry

The stereotypical HEB employee is a tall ass white dude?

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Gotta be able to get that shit on the top shelf.

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Originally Posted by TampaDude

Yup...OKC would have had no shot at beating Miami this year...none. The Heat would've dropped them quite handily. The LeBron/Wade/Bosh Heat were just an awful matchup for the Thunder.

TBQH, the Spurs were one of the few teams, and possibly the only one, who could've knocked off Miami in the Finals this year.

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Spurs were without a doubt the only team mentally and both physically able to beat Miami. No other team would had come close to beating them. Miami would had destroyed OKC.

No competent offensive sets. That's it and that's all.