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This forum sucks
All you ever had to do to prove it was post a paypal receipt showing you paid...somehow you could never do so, so why would anyone believe you over DPG?the sooner DPG admits he lied and got paid the sooner you can stop making asses of yourselves...
Kool won't pay twice....
I see you lurking Deep..baby....
And what the are you doing in a thread about a bet anyway, welcher?
This forum sucks
That could be true in which case I'm wrong, but their perimeter defenders aren't playing defense like they were last year. Durant and Westbrook went into last season focused on OKC being a defense first team, this season they haven't had that mentality, but Perkins might have brought it back.
Perkins, Ibaka, and Nazr all provide valuable low-post D. Sefolosha is a pretty damn good perimeter defender who can guard Kobe better than most (although Kobe will still get his). Harden off the bench has been a beast since Green left and he's another quick guard the likes of which LA has a hard time defending. Add to that a PG who rapes us on the reg (RW), and the scoring champ (KD) and you have a legit contender. If Ron-Ron can bottle up KD and Kobe can handle Westbrook, I still say the Lakers can beat them (you reading this, Kool?)...but only after OKC has battled it out with SAS first.
ya it went from like 102 ppg to 91 ppg
Perkins is kind of a strange player. If you just watch him and only him during games, he doesn't do anything that impresses you at all. He's not a great shotblocker or leaper and doesn't ever score but he obviously impacts the game greatly.
Yeah he's just an anomaly of an impact player. He doesn't even have a jumpshot to draw bigs out either. His low-post defense is invaluable though. He almost never lets his man catch the ball too close to the basket, he rarely gives up anything on the baseline, and his big body and wide frame wear down players over the course of a game (moreso over a 7-game series).
That's a good way of putting it.
Also, I think his determination to go out there and bang with the other team's best low post threat feeds off on his teammates and they're motivated to play harder. When Rummpd would bash Perkins and call him overrated, i kinda saw where he was coming from but the numbers just don't lie for when he's in there vs when he's not
Didn't your thread le say "maybe both" at some point?
I swear it did.
Oh, my bed, that was your OTHER post.
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=176756
yeah, "maybe"
Would you like me to provide a definition of that word for you, or should we just agree that your ill-fated attempt at a burn didn't work?
I know I have this unfair reputation as a welcher, but I was just trolling Cobbler pretty hard when at the time and I was pretty successful tbh.
But Ill take this bet seriously. I dont know the full mechanics of this bet, but I'm sure it ain;t rocket science. If any Laker fan(s) here wants to bet against the Thunder beating the Lakers or Miami Heat not WINNING the le this year, now is the time to man up and put your dollar bill and reputation on the line.
Kori, I'm more than willing to provide all the necessary info you need from me to make this work and ensure every party involved will come through. I don't need the money and although Kori most likely don't need $100 too, it would be a nice gesture for us to give something back to her.
Pretty much this. Just look at the difference in play between BOS and OKC since the trade. Boston went from EC favorite to a probable 1st round dogfight followed by a 2nd round loss. OKC has made a run at a possible 2nd or 3rd seed and look better everyday.
Didn't read the thread, but yes....... OKC will bounce SA
out of the playoffs. LA???? Keep dreamin lil
the lakers will probably be in a different bracket as the thunder and wouldn't meet them until the wcf ..... the spurs would probably be eliminated in the 2nd round by them but i dont see that happening.......
Spurs-Heat Finals...BOOK...IT.
That would be the perfect scenario, everybody wins.
When Oklahoma City made its trades at the deadline to bring in Kendrick Perkins from Boston and Nazr Mohommed from Charlotte, it was clear what the intention was: offense for defense.
Out went two quality offensive starters in Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic and into the starting five came two defensive experts in Serge Ibaka and Perkins.
The Thunder, who won 50 games a season ago mainly on the legs of terrific defense (6th in efficiency) slipped drastically from that (15th now), winning largely behind a most efficient offense. Last year, OKC gave up 98.0 points per game. This year, that number rests at 100.8 ppg, but had risen as high as 103.
It really doesn’t matter how you win, as long as you win. This isn’t Brazilian soccer. OKC isn’t inclined to win beautifully with perfect offensive execution and wonderful defense. Just have more points at the end, no matter the cost. But in watching this Thunder team for the first 55 games, it was pretty obvious that the team was kind of getting by just by the skin of their teeth. OKC was winning a ton of close games and almost seemed fortunate to be so successful. And as a result, optimism for a deeper postseason run wasn’t great.
But post-trade and more specifically since Perkins assumed his spot in the starting five, Oklahoma City’s defense hasn’t just returned to form, it’s been the best it’s ever been. With Perk starting, OKC is allowing just 91.1 ppg, has only allowed a hundred once (against Minnesota) and is 6-1. In those games, OKC’s defensive efficiency is 100.7, which would be third in the NBA.
That, is improvement. And I’m pretty sure it’s not any kind of coincidence.
Zach Lowe of SI had an interesting tweet yesterday. “In 95 minutes (before Portland), OKC’s starting line-up has yielded fewer points per possession than the Bulls.” As he noted as well, those games had come against largely subpar opponents, but it’s hard to dismiss the numbers just because of that. Because in the 65 games without Perk in the starting five, the team looked different. In the 56 games before the trade, the Thunder’s defense was entirely average. Put the old starting five on the floor for these last seven games and I think OKC probably wins four or five still, but they come only because the Thunder outscored the other team. It has nothing to do with stopping them.
The Thunder are dominating games now. That’s not something we saw the first three quarters of the year. OKC’s point different is now at +3.6, which is the first time it’s risen higher than last season’s (+3.5). With Perk in the starting five, OKC is winning games by an average of 11.7 ppg. Again, mediocre compe ion, but still, the Thunder has topped Miami (by 11) and Portland (by nine) in that span.
Yes, the Thunder’s scoring a bit less, but the efficiency hasn’t dipped. OKC is just playing slower. With Perk, the team’s pace is right at 90.5, down from 92.7 for the season. But the offensive efficiency is still excellent. On the season it’s at 110.9, but the last five games it’s been at 111.6. So yeah, fewer points, but better points.
So what’s the big difference? Why has it all changed? Was Jeff Green really that terrible defensively? It’s simple: OKC is just more conventional. They match up well with everyone now.
The one game OKC lost during this was against the Raptors and that was mainly because the team was asleep 90 percent of the game, but also because Toronto is the rare team with a 3-point shooting center. Other than that, there’s no more, “OKC is going to struggle inside…” type things. Like Bill Simmons said, the Thunder just makes sense now. Great scoring point guard, all-world scorer in Durant, a shotblocker in Serge Ibaka, a paint plug in Perk and a good bench to go with it all.
The Thunder is a much better team than it was those first 56 games. Just inserting Ibaka has had an incredibly positive impact. I’ll admit, I was hesitant about it despite seeing the obvious benefit, but it’s impossible to deny how much better OKC is just with Ibaka starting and getting 30 minutes a game. Add one of the premier defensive centers next to him and you’ve got a team with one of the better front lines in the league. What a change from January, eh?
The sample size is still a bit small to draw any serious conclusions about exactly how much better the Thunder are now, in terms of how far they can go in the playoffs. Is the team a contender? Probably not. But are they capable of making a run to the Western finals? Absolutely. They make sense now. They match up well with everyone. Like any other team in the postseason, it’s about the Thunder’s best players just playing well. No longer is it about the Thunder getting beat just because they can’t match up.
If they play LA, I'll take the action..
That's it. I am booking it.
Ace, w/ the goods.
HH, I will not take that action if it's a WCF matchup--because if the Thunder have already beaten SAS, I would've already won my bet. If OKC-LAL meet in the 2nd round though, you're on...unless of course somebody takes my bet before you. This is a one-time deal.
Deads must be hangin' around with that f'in hump Venti.
Take the bet cubby. You need that $100
Thunder look great. They kinda remind me of an NBA version of the UCLA Bruins with the constant hustle.
They ain't getting past the Lakers or the Spurs this season.
Blind homerism is such a goty trait.
As someone who respects Perk probably more than Celticfan and who felt the OKC move was brilliant. It's a move that will secure them a top slot in the NBA for years to come.
But I'm not a . Not one of those ass s whose balls shrivel and shoot up into my stomach just because an opponent got better. avoiding OKC or any team, bring em on.
That old school dirty dog fight where 2 teams will get physical and in each other's faces from game 1 is exactly what I want to see. that phony horse of a rivalry that people think Dallas and San Antonio have; those pussies would blow each other if given the chance. They're both soft.
As a fan I want to face them but as a real fan I don't fear them and certainly wouldn't be betting my own fans that we're gonna lose, because again, I'm not a fan.
So would you like to take the bet? OKC only needs to beat one of them and I'm money.
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