OKC finally puts the dagger in someone else’s heart

I see your point, and it is taken. But, at this point, we've kind of worked ourselves into a circle, so yeah.

Ah! You're the Vancouver guy! Nice to finally meet you on the net, man!

True, Wilcox could have been useful in the up and down style of the game. This argument is kind of circular. For me it comes to who do I want getting the minutes. Long term I see Kristic as part of Presti's overall plan. He spreads the floor on most teams and plays decent defense on bigs, neither of which Wilcox does. Kirstic is already averaging almost 10 and 5, which is much better than he played after returning to the Nets from his original injury. If he continues he could put up the 16 and 7 numbers he was putting up prior to the ACL tear (or whatever happened to him). To me giving him the minutes to get his legs back underneath him is far more important than taking a chance on Wilcox having one of his "good" games.

Back to the whole BlutBlitz thing. I was excited when I realized it was you who ran that blog. I'd seen you a few times at games wearing Vancouver Grizzlies junk... so being from Vancouver myself I thought it was kinda cool.

You do make very good points, but if he feeds off of energy, then shouldn't he have been excellent in a game where we ran with the Warriors half of the time? Yeah, I know, I'm going back on what I was saying about him because I wanted to utilize him in half court sets, but that's still being pretty useful.

Anyway, if it was my decision, I would have started Collison, then when it was time for him to come out, then put Wilcox in. Run a few dunks for him with Watson (who has also subbed in) and see if he can score in the first 5 minutes or so. If he proves to be ineffective, then just put Krstic in.

Nevertheless, the Thunder won, so I should really stop complaining. Still, when we face the Warriors who will have Biedrins, Ellis, and Bellinelli back in the lineup, I'm not so sure we'll have the same result.

Thanks for the thanks! I appreciate it! Not a lot of people know that I run Blue Blitz, even though I do occasionally mention who I am in the blog. The guy who did the Ad was kind enough to put Blue Blitz in the text of the program, so hopefully that generates some traffic. Again, thanks!

Royce, thanks for the D-League update. Any chance of one or two of those guys helping this season ?

Zorgon :
Look, I’m not saying that we should start Wilcox, or even play him in other games. It’s just that this game was a perfect opportunity for any scoring big man to take advantage of the fact the the Warriors tallest guy on the floor is 6′10, and, beyond him, it’s all guards. The goose was good for the gather for a good low post scorer to step in and just eat those guys alive. First of all, Krstic is NOT the type of guy to do that. He hardly ever goes inside, usually resigning himself to midrange jumpers. Collison is that guy to an extent, but he just didn’t get that many oppotunities. There would have been nothing wrong with benching Krstic in favour of Wilcox and then just having Wilcox contstantly attack the rim. Now, on nights we’re NOT playing the Warriors? Absolutely not. Wilcox is too much of a defensivew liability to play any kind of heavy minutes, especially not over Collison or Krstic. But I think I’m safe in saying that tonigh was a night that Wilcox could have been used as the X-Factor to make this a winnable game.
Go to my post about it on my blog for more details if you need them. We ran with the Wwarriors way too much. (Not trying to advertise, just trying to get my point across.)

I see your point, and in theory it works. A down low post presence would have been really nice against a team like this, it most certainly would have slowed the pace down which should have (emphasize SHOULD) gone in our favor. However, the Thunder tried to slow the pace of the game down in the 3rd quarter, the result was them beating us by 10 in that 12 minutes. Now the counter would be, "EXACTLY, CAUSE WILCOX WASN'T IN!" My problem with wilcox is he's a player who feeds off of energy. 1 Big dunk and he's in it, but if he never gets that dunk than he plays LAZY basketball, on both ends of the floor. He doesn't even try to roll of of picks if it isn't Watson who's going to be passing the ball. Plus, he's strongest in transition. Getting up and down the floor and being a big body running at the bucket. Once you get into a half court set he plays nearly useless basketball. Though his size and position (and athleticism for that matter) lead us to believe he should be a good half court low post player, he just isn't. Collison is a better down low (his post moves are better!) player. I see where you're coming from and I do agree the pace favored the Warrios... but we did win!

PS. Congrats on getting featured in the Thunder hand out program thingy! I noticed you right away, I never made the connection that you run BlueBlitz! Keep up the good work.

Look, I'm not saying that we should start Wilcox, or even play him in other games. It's just that this game was a perfect opportunity for any scoring big man to take advantage of the fact the the Warriors tallest guy on the floor is 6'10, and, beyond him, it's all guards. The goose was good for the gather for a good low post scorer to step in and just eat those guys alive. First of all, Krstic is NOT the type of guy to do that. He hardly ever goes inside, usually resigning himself to midrange jumpers. Collison is that guy to an extent, but he just didn't get that many oppotunities. There would have been nothing wrong with benching Krstic in favour of Wilcox and then just having Wilcox contstantly attack the rim. Now, on nights we're NOT playing the Warriors? Absolutely not. Wilcox is too much of a defensivew liability to play any kind of heavy minutes, especially not over Collison or Krstic. But I think I'm safe in saying that tonigh was a night that Wilcox could have been used as the X-Factor to make this a winnable game.

Go to my post about it on my blog for more details if you need them. We ran with the Wwarriors way too much. (Not trying to advertise, just trying to get my point across.)

Zorgon :
Personally, I think the Thunder could have played a much, much better game if they used Wilcox, but a win is a win.

Wilcox plays one good game against Detroit and everyone is in love. His inconsistency is terrible, the less he is in the game the better (for the most part). Collison has earned those minutes at the 4, Brooks would be stupid to give Wilcox a great amount of minutes because of 1 good game in Collison's sick absence. Bottom line is Wilcox hurts you more than he helps you, the only thing sucky about him not playing is we don't get to audition him for trades.

Also, this from Elias sports bureau:

THUNDER STRIKES AT THE BUZZER
Jeff Green's two-point field goal at the buzzer gave the Thunder a one-point win at Golden State. It was the franchise's first victory in a game in which it trailed in the final second since March 28, 2006, when Seattle's Ray Allen hit a game-winner against Memphis with three-tenths of a second left on the clock.

Count me as one of the ones who thought Westbrook was a stretch as high as he went. I am glad I'm not the talent evaluator. Green and Westbrook both have surprised me this year with their rapid improvement. Green never would have even gotten that last shot off last year.

Wilcox definitely has value. All said and done I am a Collison guy for sure, but Wilcox really can play inspired ball from time to time and I agree that Him and Watson get that Alley Oop and two man game going well. Ridnour used to really get him the ball in great spots.

I like Krstic on the Pick and roll, but what I wish he would do is after he sets the pick on the perimeter and Westbrook rolls to the basket, he should also move toward the basket also. Then when he gets the pass from Westbrook he is shooting from fourteen feet instead of twenty. He would just make his life a lot easier.

It was also interesting when we would run. We ran on steals and broken plays, and also on stops at the basket (which usually had Stephen Jackson not getting back on defense because he was crying to the ref about a foul), but on made GS baskets, we walked the ball up. On long rebounds, we sort of jogged up....

With PJ, we ran all game long like Golden State.

Where are all those people that thought Presti lost his mind drafting Westbrook 4th? It seems the planets are starting to aline. Did anyone catch Brian Davis during the half, "they just changed the nets during the half, they were scorched", he does come up with one once an a while. By far the best game to watch so far this season.

Well, I just think that it would have been easy pickings for him inside. His size combined with his athleticism would have easily destroyed the Warriors interior. I mean, I'm not telling him to play every night, but this was a prime situation for him to play. I think he would have at least outperformed Krstic, who was shooting jumpers just like all of the other guards.

Me too AD.

If you're going to play Wilcox, play him with Watson... they do seem to have some chemistry... but on the whole, I'd prefer Krstic and Collison.

The thing about Wilcox is he's good once every three games. He's either a major dud or he's a stud. He's just not that consistent. Collison played great minutes and Krstic was solid. I don't think we really needed Wilcox honestly.

Personally, I think the Thunder could have played a much, much better game if they used Wilcox, but a win is a win.

Can you feel the excitment building?... Westbrook is a stud... What a pick by Presti and he is devolping nicely under Brooks... Durant and Green are what we thought they were (thanks coach Green)... Collison and Krstic did their job and the more we see from Weaver the more I want him on the floor...