This one is on Pop

[therealtruth]

I agree. Pop made some HORRIBLE ing decisions tonight. There were some real head scratching decisions out there tonight. But the #1 thing that pissed me off was at the start of the 2nd half the first sub he made was Bonner for Diaw at around the 9-8 minute mark. From there, the Thunder lead went from 12-13 points to 20 points. And no Manu? Why? When he FINALLY decided to bring Manu in at around the 3 or 4 minute mark (seriously?) the game was basically over, down 20 points. And yet, Bonner was STILL in there! Not to mention some of the match ups made no sense out there either...Manu on Durant? Parker on Sefolosha? WTF?!?!

I agree this series isn't a good one for Bonner.

[SA210]

No. Pop had some nonsensical lineups out there.

[racm]

OKC playing inspired by the home crowd and the Spurs going through the motions tbh

I think the winning streak got to their heads no matter how much they denied it tbh

[ViceCity86]

When your pick n roll is not working,you can always go through Duncan...oops those days are over.

[Fireball]

Play big and go with Duncan and Splitter ... Splitter could get Durant in foul trouble ...

[shingo_318]

Still believe spurs in 5. Maybe Pop deliberately loses this game to win the series. OKC will not play hungrily like this in next game, then its a great opportunity for Spurs to grab a W.

[boutons_deux]

" OKC will not play hungrily like this in next game,"

they know losing Game4 would be fatal. 1-3 going to SA.

[Admidave50]

Agreed, don't really understand what the he tried to accomplish today...

[GrandeDavid]

Honestly, we all knew the thunder would play exactly this way against the pick and roll. The fact that pop has no clue what to do against it is the most worrisome part

What's funny is 12 hours ago the same thing was being said about Scott Brooks. Pop will adjust and the Spurs will get results (slick reference to your avatar).

[The Reckoning]

What's funny is 12 hours ago the same thing was being said about Scott Brooks. Pop will adjust and the Spurs will get results (slick reference to your avatar).

maybe pop needs to hide a canteen on the sidelines to smooth out his decision making like olllllll harry.

[Obstructed_View]

Pop did what every good general does, he let his opposition ride the wave of excitement and intensity, didn't expend energy or wear out his finest to try to match, and once the emotions wears off for the opposition, you crush them because basically you are rested and baited them to show you their best early on, at that point, you know how to counter.

You lost a battle, doesn't mean you lost the war. The opponent who strictly relys on impulse to win, like last night, is the one who ends up on the losing end 99% of the time. Honestly, that is basic military strategy, which Pop uses alot in his coaching.

As long as nobody gets injured in game 5, I guess that's one way to go.

[Josepatches_]

Everybody is guilty and Pop is the first one because he's the coach.

[therealtruth]

What's funny is 12 hours ago the same thing was being said about Scott Brooks. Pop will adjust and the Spurs will get results (slick reference to your avatar).

You hope he makes strategic adjustments rather than just telling them to play harder. OKC played harder but their adjustments also helped them.

If the Spurs end up losing the series this would be on him because he couldn't match Scott Brooks adjustments. I still don't see how the Spurs weren't prepared for the Thunder's adjustments. SB showed his hand at the end of game 2.

[TJastal]

Play big and go with Duncan and Splitter ... Splitter could get Durant in foul trouble ...

Depends whose reffing tbh.

[Obstructed_View]

Depends whose reffing tbh.

Yeah, the refs seemed intent on taking Splitter out of the game, and the Spurs just let it go.

[silverblackfan]

Well, one could go with the theory that Pop saw the team was getting out played, and threw in the towel early. Why?
Send a message to his starters, that they need to play harder, smarter or lose their time.
Try out some combinations or ideas in the loss for next games strategy. (There will be small adjustments to running the plays)
Bring in one more home game revenue for game 5.
Its a gutzy gamble, but if the other team was way more committed to winning than your team... The Thunder were playing desperate and in the groove. Our guys were just too slow to figure out the solution before it got out of hand.

[ballhog]

[diego]

I havent seen anyone talk about it, because obviously we didnt lose just because of the refs. But if you remember, at the start of the game (when we were still in it) the thunder were putting their arms way into the ballhandler, and clocked manu and tony hard a couple of times. those got called, but its almost as if that set the bar and anything under that just became a no call. IMO that allowed them to play very physical the rest of the way, the spurs never matched that challenge. especially disappointing because manu used to get basketball revenge after taking a hit, but not this time...

[therealtruth]

Well, one could go with the theory that Pop saw the team was getting out played, and threw in the towel early. Why?
Send a message to his starters, that they need to play harder, smarter or lose their time.
Try out some combinations or ideas in the loss for next games strategy. (There will be small adjustments to running the plays)
Bring in one more home game revenue for game 5.
Its a gutzy gamble, but if the other team was way more committed to winning than your team... The Thunder were playing desperate and in the groove. Our guys were just too slow to figure out the solution before it got out of hand.

Yeah Pop may have been looking at the bigger picture. Their level of play had been getting sloppy and the loss and end of the streak might get them to refocus. The fun thing is going to see how the Spurs react to finally losing. If the Spurs are the better team which I believe they are OKC has just won their last game.