everything OKC does horribly they magically do well against the Spurs
part of the problem is the "system" tbh..
Spurs roleplayers never have to take contested shots
other teams scrubs have to take bad shots and if you can hit bad shots vs OKC you can beat them
Marco should thrive vs OKC since they jump at all his fakes and he can hit offbalance shots but he just looks shook after being with the Spurs for a while
It would be virtually impossible to win a series against a team that can successfully contain both Parker and Duncan, tbh..
Last year's playoffs, for example, the Warriors exploited Duncan, but Parker still dominated..the Heat exploited Parker, but Duncan dominated..
The Thunder consistently exploit both Tony and Tim, tbh..when a team can exploit the 2 players on your team that account for 25+ usage rates, respectively, it's going to be nearly impossible to beat them in a series..
Why the would anyone say he was trying to win at all costs when he rested Manu?
Oh yeah, Reggie Jackson. That dude sucks all the ing time but against the Spurs he's become the new Derek Fisher. Derek Fisher too.
Sadly this is the truth. We just have to hope we have home court.
People joke about about it but Manu really is the key then. No?
Kawhi picking up his 3rd on a routine out of bounds play was the turning point tbh. But the fact that the Thunder get those calls is just another part of why they match up well with the Spurs tbh.
Home court is huge against OKC and the saving grace in a series against them IMO.
The Spurs can beat them, sure, anything can happen..it's just unlikely IMO..
Matchups play a huge part in this league, obviously, as we see every year..
I agree about having Manu starting. he can also get ibaka into foul trouble if he tries to be overaggressive with his shotblocking, as manu is a crafty son
Diaw can still be a factor off the bench, and its also a matter of how many minutes Duncan/Parker can play. Belinelli has been accurately described by many here (including you iirc) has a secondary playmaker. He can't play the manu role of de-facto point guard.
Missing Manu was definitely huge tonight. The 2nd unit looked pretty bad at times without him to key things.
Also, Perkins just neutralizes Duncan.
The Spurs are one of like 3 teams in the league that Perkins can successfully play against..
My bad, dominating Kobe-esque performance tonight.
Actually, Reggie was pretty calm when Danny was on him... which was also expected.
Worst case scenario, OKC beats us and then inevitably loses to miami in the Finals. Either way, they lose so it wouldn't be the end of the world.
I don't think 5th game-7 days/rest Manu has strongly influenced tonight game.
Fast, strong, young, athletic guys, the Thunder looks like the classic bad matchup for the Spurs.
A difficult matchup doesn't mean a team is better than other, just the Thunder matches up with our best offensive threats.
If Clippers is a bad matchup for OKC and we not, so...Go Clips!
If they go back to the Finals they are going to become this generations Utah Jazz. The only positive out of seeing them lose in the finals again is that it will be a huge psychological blow to their egos and I think it will be the end of them as a team chemistry wise. Granted it doesn't help the spurs but it will be fun watching them implode next year.
Yeah but we don't have that guy on our team, and he is hurt! Lets go make him healthy and steal him form the Rockets.
This. The spurs have improved as a team while the thunder have improved individually a IE durant, Westbrook.
Harden not being there will be there downfall. They don't have a reliable go to 3rd scorer
So what is the consensus on who we all want the Thunder to play in the first and second rounds tbh?
First: Dallas? Memphis? Golden State??
Second: Clips?
Warriors and Clippers would be perfect..
Thunder are nothing without Harden tbh. They're a solid team but I don't think they can beat us in a 7 game series. Running and "being athletic" won't win games, scoring points will and our team's offense is better.
There were a lot of factors against us in this game. We just won 19 straight, this was a back-to-back, and Ginobili didn't play.
In good news, Patty was amazing out there in his minutes. It's not really a bad loss to have.
OKC with Harden is a really bad match up for SAS. But without Harden, OKC loses that edge. They're still a match-up problem for the Spurs, but I'll take shots from Westbrook determines the series for OKC, I'll gladly take that chance. GODDAMNIT, JUST START THE PLAYOFFS!!
OKC takes away the little pocket bounce passes off the pick and roll, which has been a huge part of our offense this year. We tried it over and over and it resulted in turnovers. Our offense against them can't be our pretty euro fancy passing/backdoor cut stuff. We have to be more gritty against their defense. Look at Kawhi today. Tough shots, but some hard drives, post ups, etc. Duncan has to be better. Perkins guards him well blablabla, Duncan was missing a lot of shots he could easily make, although he arguably got hacked a few times. When Westbrook is on Parker, TP is going to have to take those midrange jumpers we hate, because its a shot they often give him. Defensively, we do fine in the halfcourt. Yeah, they'll make some shots. Durant scores against perfect defense all the time, and Westbrook might have poor shot selection, but he still can get buckets regardless of the defense. Sometimes Ibaka will break free for a dunk. It's gna happen. We have to grind on offense and show more resolve than today, instead of folding after 2 turnovers. But we can get it done
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