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Thunder are unquestionably le contenders
Not sure i agree with him about Rockets and Thunder worthy of le contender status, tbh...
http://grantland.com/the-triangle/ou...rs-of-the-nba/
Thunder are unquestionably le contenders
Their depth is questionable at best IMO.
and health..
Zach lowe seems to be hedging his bet when it comes to us..every now then he veers between "Spursorgasm" and "Tony Parker" themed talking point
Their depth is great.
In his podcast the other day with Jeff Van Gundy, Lowe said the Thunder hasn't lost series at full strength since they traded Harden..well, yeah the last 4 games of the Spurs series in 2014 doesn't qualify....I don't care about Ibaka, he isn't good enough make up a +50 points two wins blowout..The Spurs were simply the best team in the league that year by quite a margin..
He turned double-digit wins in to double digit losses when he came back, don't underrate him. We went 2-2 against the Thunder in the 4 games where they had Ibaka and 3 of those games were in Oklahoma so I think we would have won the series even if they had been at full strength but they absolutely could beat us if we face them this year.
I know what Lowe's trying to say, but it's a pretty flimsy stat, too, since the Thunder have played only 5 playoff series since the Harden trade -- 2013 WCFR v. Houston, 2013 WCSF v. Memphis, 2014 WCFR v. Memphis, 2014 WCSF v. Clippers, and 2014 WCF v. Spurs -- and the two series in which they've been whole were series in which they were the higher seed and should have won. As it was, they were taken to 7 by a salty Grizzlies team in 2014 that had to play Game 7 without ZBo, and got some help from Tony Brothers to get them past the Clippers.
So, they're technically 2-0 in series in which they have all their guys since the Harden trade, but it's not like they beat the 2014 Spurs (actually, they lost 2 of 4 when they had the chance to do that) and the 2015 Warriors in those spots.
The Thunder will be terrific again this year and they are worthy of being considered preseason le contenders; they might very well do a 2015 Warriors and rip through the season to try to prove a point. But the reason for that isn't that they haven't lost with all of their guys in a couple of playoff series; it's because they guys they have are really, really good and a new scheme might well be able to bring them into a greater structure that maximizes their abilities while minimizing their faults.
Lowe's anecdote is like saying that he ate five times at Golden Corral and avoided sickness on the two occasions when a particular cook as working, and concluding that the particular cook makes Golden Corral an unbeatable dining choice.
Good read. Thanks for the link.
Don't get the Houston love, but time will tell.
Lowe is clearly close with Presti.
He loves pointing this out, yet conveniently leaves out the fact that Ibaka only missed the first two games and though he was not 100% thereafter, he briefly turned the entire series around, so let's not act like he was Splitter in the playoffs last season, who couldn't move. He also conveniently leaves out the part where Parker, the Spurs' supposed best player (according to the mostly uninformed national media), sat out the majority of the game 6 clincher.
I always laugh at the Ibaka argument considering how they overlook Porker playing w/ a strained hamstring for the ENTIRE series & even had to sit out a game.
Gm 6 was basically in favor of OKC's:
-Spurs had to start 3rd stringer CoJo in the 2nd half
-Ibaka got away w/ a goal tending call on what should have been a go ahead basket by Manu w/ a less that a minute remaing
-OKC was up two w/ 30 seconds remaining
-Manu split FTs at the end of the 4th quarter leaving the door wide open for OKC to send the game into OT w/ 2 FTs
-Tim made a put back shot at the buzzer that was called off
-Game went to OT at the home court & they had the league MVP
The Spurs made plays in the final 30 seconds of the 4th & OT to pull out the win:
-Manu made a clutch 3 when the Spurs were down 2 & on the brink of losing the game
-Kawhi harassed MVP Durant into committing a turnover on a one possession game & forced OKC to intentionally foul giving the Spurs a 2 point lead meaning OKC couldn't win the game w/ 2 FTs
-Kawhi made an all-time defensive play to deny Westbrook of a go ahead layup on a 2-on-1 fast-break at he end of OT & also had the presence of mind to push the ball creating a mismatch (Reggie guarding Tim)
-Manu took his time & fed the ball to Tim who made the series clinching shot
-Last but not least, the MVP of the league was MIA in OT while Old Man River was doing work on Ibaka
They got blown the out in Gm 5 at AT&T w/ Ibaka after blowing out the Spurs w/ the same Ibaka that played in Gms 3 & 4. They were lucky to get out of the 1st round in 2014 as they needed miracles to beat the Grizz in 7 games even when they had a healthy Ibaka. Cp3 also handed them Gm 5 on a platter in the 2nd round when the Clippers had a chance to go up 3-2.
FYI: Conley/CP3/Tony were playing w/ a hamstring injury, Gasol hadn't recovered from a knee injury & Z-Bo was suspended for Gm 7.
Last edited by Kawhitstorm; 10-27-2015 at 10:14 PM.
Thunder are 100% contenders, can't really argue against that..with that being said, they're pretty overrated IMO, a ton of people are picking them to win the le, which is strange..Warriors are pretty undervalued, surprisingly..
The media always gives the Thunder the "they were injured" excuse, but never the Spurs. The Spurs also didn't get the "they were fatigued" excuse last season. They just decided they lost because other teams were better, when that same exact team was coming off of an all time great playoff performance.
Two things you left out, one of which went the Spurs' way: Duncan getting away with a moving screen on Ginobili's clutch three. The other, Fisher getting away with literally bear hugging Duncan on the play that led to Leonard's all time great defensive play.
I can't speak to odds, but definitely not in terms of perception. I don't recall a team in recent history with the media backing of this one. Anyone who doesn't consider them prohibitive favorites is ostracized.
Of the six team who could conceivably win the championship, the Warriors, Thunder and now Rockets, are the media darlings.
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