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There it is, another drive by Durant and another no call despite ticky tack contact.
I'm loving this Rockets vs OKC game...
I saw several reckless drives by Durant that the refs have awarded free throws for in the past. The difference in this game? For whatever reason the refs are choosing not to award him those ticky tack free throws.
There it is, another drive by Durant and another no call despite ticky tack contact.
Asik gets free throws but I'm half surprised they didn't award Harden free throws on the drive. That's another perfect example of ticky tack contact that refs have awarded free throws for Harden in the past.
OKC shoots better from the field, better from 2, better from 3 and attempts more field goals and still loses the game. Welcome to how the spurs feel every time they play OKC.
They'll just chalk this one up to a modest night from KD and the lack of Westbrick.
Thunderfan is so oblivious to questionable free throw advantages in games. It's a joy to see them on the wrong end of the stick so they know what it feels like being jobbed of a game that they probably should've won.
James Harden had as many free throw attempts (20) as the entire OKC team combined (20).
Although granted, you can never simply look at the total number of free throw attempts and determine that there was an unfair advantage. You have to just watch the game and do your best to classify each play.
If one team legitimately fouls another team such that the other team gets 40 FTA vs 20 FTA, then that's fine. The number is just a red flag - it's not an outright indication of foul play.
Probably doesn't bode well for a potential Semis matchup between the Spurs and Rockets.
I was thinking the same thing... OKC vs Hou in the 2nd round would been the most ideal....
Sometimes you eat the bear...
and sometimes the bear eats you.
My ideal standings were
1. Spurs
2. OKC
3. Rockets
4. Clips
5. Portland
6. GSW
7. Dallas
8. Memphis
Spurs have dispatched this iteration of the Grizz countless times with ease in the last 12 months, Dallas could give OKC fits in the first round. Let the Clips walk through Portland to face the Spurs, which is a better matchup for SA than Houston. Meanwhile OKC gets past Dallas to earn a dance with the Rockets, another tough out, before ultimately advancing to the WCF. Or, Houston straight up knocks them out.
But Houston lost the race for the 3 seed long ago.
How about the Spurs just improve transition D and limit turnovers. We win against anyone. the standings.
Defense and foul calls are intimately related. The fact is that there is some form of contact pretty much 99% of the time in any given basketball possession. The question is what the refs set as the threshold beyond which contact is called as a foul. If the refs set that threshold to be arbitrarily low for one team and relatively higher for another team, no amount of "improved defense" is going to help.
Our defense on Durant looked awfully similar to the defense the Rockets played on him on several possessions. The only difference? Durant was awarded +6 or so FTA against us on 3 ticky tack foul calls while refs did not award Durant those 3 ticky tack fouls against Houston.
That's not to say that Durant still wasn't awarded ticky tack free throws on occasion against Houston. Jeff Van Gundy mentioned one of them..."There was awfully little contact on that play.."
looks like thunderfan is at least somewhat aware of the issue:
From an OKC thunder forum -
so Rockets get alot of 3 point free throws and we cant get a call when Garcia is putting his hands all over Durant. Cool.Yep. Rockets fans can't complain about the refs tonight. They've (mainly Harden) have gotten a lot more "bull****" calls than we have.I don't give a crap that he was a big part of our run to the Finals in 2012. I absolutely can't stand James Harden and the way he plays basketball. Yes, I'm aware Durant gets his share of superstar/BS calls, but Harden is in his own league in that regard. I counted at least three times tonight on a fastbreak where all he did was put his head down, barreled into a Thunder player, made absolutely no attempt to even throw the ball at the basket, and got rewarded with a trip to the FT line. Also got a trip to the FT line because apparently Fisher wasn't allowed to just stand there when Harden shot a jumper.Burn mother er, burn.Yeah, they got their token one win where Harden got gifted a ton of FTs and scored a lot of points. Sure, they didn't have HOward, but we didn't have Perkins who is actually useful against Howard, and obviously we didn't have Westbrook so it kind of evens out. The Rockets don't concern me if we meet them in the playoffs. Both of their wins against us the last two years came at home and Harden needed a 40ish point game...and tonight they got us in a perfect "letdown game" on the second night of a back-to-back. I actually thought we'd lose tonight but it was frustrating losing the way we did when it seemed like Harden was shooting FT's every 3 or 4 Houston possessions.
OKC is faster in transition than anyone on the Spurs roster. The trick to beating OKC is to eliminate transition entirely. The Spurs' defense works best when it's set, and in order to be set OKC needs to play the ball from out of bounds. The Thunder like to trap the point at the top of the key, where Parker traditionally likes to set up the offense, and force TOs there or right inside the 3. From there, the fast break has the minimum amount of distance to cover and the defense has the entire court to make up, limiting the amount of help that can be provided. We saw bits and pieces of the Spurs anticipating the fast break last night, it's why there was never anyone under the basket to collect a rebound - everyone was already moving downcourt to prepare for a Westbrick or KD blitz.
The Thunder offense doesn't rely on organized pieces moving to confuse a defense - KD, Westbrick, and Jackson are pull-up shooters and only need to be given space to fire. The Spurs offense, on the other hand, thrives on confusing defenses when not in transition. OKC tends to overwhelm the Spurs because 1) they never ing miss, eliminating fast break opportunities, and 2) they cut off the extra pass by closing out on shooters quicker than most other teams OR by attacking the point before the play is even run. The fact that they can't seem to commit fouls against the Spurs certainly doesn't help.
I say we throw our game April 14 against the Rockets if it means the Rockets get the 3rd seed over the Clippers.
The Spurs should throw it anyway, they'll likely have the 1 seed almost locked by then. The Clips won't cough up the 3 seed, but losing in Houston won't hurt other than giving another West rival a 4-0 season win against the Spurs.
tmtcsc with the goods, and of course the best avatar on ST
I'm not too mad. We'll be alright. Let it all out Spur fan. Live vicariously through other teams' victories over the Thunder.
Fear the beard, es! OKC can feel their shot at that #1 seed slip slip slipping away...
I mean, it helps preserve the lead the Spurs have over OKC, I feel like that doesn't require any explanation.I'm not too mad. We'll be alright. Let it all out Spur fan. Live vicariously through other teams' victories over the Thunder.
There is a forum wide cloud amongst your kind tonight. It goes farther than seedings, it's gotten personal for yall.
OKC has won exactly zero NBA world championships.I'm not too mad. We'll be alright. Let it all out Spur fan. Live vicariously through other teams' victories over the Thunder.
We could be a lottery team this year and still, as a franchise be better off than the Methlahoma City Thunderefs.
Lol! Thunderkids are going ape destroying their winebagos (homes) while their single moms are trying to find a new dad.
Truth...
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