The Thunder lost a very winnable game tonight to an injury riddled team which barely had enough healthy bodies to field a team. It’s a shame the Thunder couldn’t muster up a little perimeter defense and hang onto the ball a little better and this thing could have been a completely different story.
The boys in Blue were killed by deep jumpers. Countless times the Clippers ran the drive and kick right down our throats. Playing without a real point guard for three quarters didn’t even seem to bother them a bit. They ran Fred Jones at the point, Ricky Davis, a banged up Jason Hart a few minutes and Eric Gordon handled the rock quite a bit. What’s really sad is that Ricky Davis is one of the most shot happy players in the NBA. He doesn’t like to give up the rock at all; but tonight, playing good minutes at the point he dished for 11 assists against our poor defense.
Eric Gordon showed why he was a lottery pick, one that I actually thought might go to us in the draft ( I never really thought Presti would reach for Westbrook at #4 when we already had Watson and Ridnour). He was just incredible offensively. He has the total package and is likely going to be rookie of the month for January. Westbrook, Watson and Mason all got schooled by EG. Al Thornton also played the best game I’ve ever seen him play. Green and Durant both shared duties on him and neither did much to slow him down.
Also sad is that when I saw the starting lineup with Ricky Davis, Thornton, EG, Mardy Collins and DeAndre Jordan, I snickered to myself and thought we might run away with this thing because that lineup doesn’t sound like it will play any defense. Well, it’s true that they didn’t really excel defensively, but they did a much better job than we did.
After only scoring 19 points in the third quarter, OKC came out and put 32 on the board in the fourth on the strength of Kevin Durant getting fouled and going to the line. He was 8-9 from the stripe in the fourth, but only 3-10 from the field. Still it wasn’t enough to close the gap while allowing the Clips to shoot 10-17 and score 30 points in the fourth.
Random thoughts
- I’ve never seen Nick Collison “almost” get so many rebounds in one game. He finished with 6, but I bet he firmly had his hands on 7 or 8 more that got poked or slapped out of his hands. His rebounding looks bad on paper, but he was in position and got his hands on them and just couldn’t get them down. Maybe some of our other players could do a little boxing out?
- I would have liked to see Mason get a little more time on Eric Gordon defensively, but he kept picking up cheap fouls and never got much playing time. The way Gordon was playing, it probably would have been about like the effort Mason had against Dwayne Wade the other night-a valiant effort, but poor results. Nobody else could stop Gordon.
- Kyle Weaver continues to impress me. Tonight I saw him execute a little pick and roll with Green and hit him in just the right spot to get the AND 1. He also came off a little curl and buried a 18 footer in rhythm. DeAndre Jordan crushed and rolled over Weaver’s ankle in the first half. It looked ugly on the replay, but he was back to his smooth self in the second half.
- Brooks used a funky lineup for a few minutes of Westbrook, Watson, Weaver, Mason and Krstic, which means Mason was likely playing Power Forward.
- The Thunder shot a lot of jumpers tonight, and gave a lot less effort getting to the rim. Durant was probably the exception.
- On League Pass, listening to the Clips announcers, on a shot of all the injured Clipper players dressed in street clothes commented “all of the really good (Clipper) players are over there wearing suits”…
- Jason Hart tried to run an alley oop for Thornton and the only defender back was Durant, yet Durant played it beautifully and got up about 13 feet in the air to snag the pass.
- The last play of the first half had Russell Westbrook totally at a loss with what to do with the ball. There was 10 seconds left and he just dribbled and dribbled and then decided he would drive it right into the crowded paint…….turnover.
- We got to witness travelling calls on back to back possessions by Watson and Green.
- Did I mention our perimeter defense. How do we figure to win close games when we can’t close out on the shooters? We repeatedly left the perimeter unguarded, allowing the Clips to really stroke the threes and long twos.
- Our last play of the game made no sense to me. Maybe I am missing something, but we are down by three with 6 seconds left. Green is making the inbounds pass. Collison comes to take the pass and is immediately fouled. Why? Not the foul, why Collison? Why isn’t Collison or somebody else making the inbounds pass to a shooter like Green, Durant, or maybe Westbrook. That way they can launch if they think the foul is coming, or just take a good shot. Why not have Durant do that little thing where he jumps up and brings the ball into the defenders hands and gets the foul and ties it up from the line. I suspect that it was going to be a give and go, where Collison gets it and immediately passes it back to Green and kind of screens a defender for an open shot to tie. You’d have to think that with the Thunder having no timeouts, the Clips would likely foul Collison and live with the free throws rather than let Green make another game winner wouldn’t you?
By the numbers
- We had 114 scoring opportunities (field goal attempts + free throw attempts) to the Clips 103. This despite turning the ball over 18 times. We again crushed our opponent on the boards 48-31, and 17-8 on the offensive glass. All those rebounds gave us more cracks at scoring , but the Clips were more efficient with their offense.
- Our offensive efficiency was 116.9. Theirs was 120. The pace was a pedestrian 89 possessions.
- The 39 free throw attempts was the most this season. I am surprised we could get that many freebies and not win. It shows how sub par our shooting was.
- We shot 42.7% from the field, they shot 48%. Our eFG was 47.3%, theirs was 55.1%.
- We allowed the Clips to shoot a ridiculous 58% from the three point line (11-19).
Studs and Duds
- Durant carried the load offensively with 42 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block while only picking up 3 fouls and 2 turns. He was 24-26 from the line. His shooting % was a bit low (10-23, 4f3%).
- Durant averages 18 field goal attempts a night, but tonight he gobbled up 23, taking some from Collison, Westbrook and Green.
- Westbrook looked like a rookie tonight, getting more turns than assists. His defense was bothersome tonight. More than once I saw him gamble for a steal, then be out of position when he didn’t get it, leaving his man (usually Gordon) open for a shot or a drive.
- Green was quiet tonight with 14 and 6.
- Weaver really filled the space left by Mason’s foul trouble. He had 8 points, 5 rebounds and a block in 23 minutes.
As far as the game itself goes... disappointing. I thought Durant looked like he wanted the rock, wanted to do what it took to win. I thought Nick and Watson lost focus completely. I've seen High School point guards, HIGH SCHOOL point guards, point guards in HIGH SCHOOL, again, 16 and 17 year old kids in HIGH SCHOOL who play point guard, go the entire game without being called for the ball control trifecta (traveling, double dribble and carrying). IN THE SAME GAME. Yet Earl did it. Good job Earl.
It isn't that Earl isn't talented, but those nights when he loses focus, he can be awful.
And we made Gordon looks like the next coming of Allen Iverson. Maybe he is.
I thought Nick and Krispy did a poor job of taking it to a depleted roster. If you're not going to score the ball, at least make up your mind to out rebound a tired and foul plagued team. But no, they were just taking up space and going through the motions. I'd like to see some fire in their eyes from time to time. You know, some competitive drive, the will to win, that sort of attitude. I don't know what the Brooks to Bench politics are, but Joe Smith has sat the bench too long in my opinion, especially in that game. Put Weezy in the game, if he looks like tonight isn't his night in the first 3-5 minutes, pull him out for good. You might get a 20 point night ala vs Detroit.
I thought Durant took another step forward though. Driving every time, drawing fouls, frustrating the other team, calling for the ball, taking control. Maybe he took away from the other players opportunities, but when I looked in the eyes of Nick, Krispy and Watson, I didn't see anything that tells me they wanted the rock.
Durant: A+
Green: B
Weaver: B (I saw a will to win in him this game)
Westbrook: C
Mason: D (we needed you, all you could do was foul)
Nick: F
Watson: F
Krispy: F
I didn't like the way everything "worked out" either...and I don't really like bennett that much, but I can't imagine rooting for another them in Seattle...maybe the team from memphis or somewhere else...those guys wouldn't be the sonics either...I loved sonics bball all the way up to 2008...but (at least for now) its over....
but hey...drop it...an lets talk thunder!!!!!! haha, or I'll let you guys do the talking, and I'll read carefully ;)
No Worries. It's all good.
Just drop it.
Let's talk about Basketball.
Moving on? Royce and Joe dont want me to leave. You're the one who came here out of nowhere and started causing problems. And yes i do live in Miami, so stop talking out of your a** :)
No, this battle was fought , and its over .... and its time to move on. Not for one minute do I believe you are in Miami.
Your awfully misinformed. You have no clue why the Sonic franchise was forced to leave Seattle.
Now go away, jerk, we're moving on, its time for you to hit the F'n road.
Wasn't my job,i live in Miami and i have no allegiance to OKC or SEA. Come down its just conversation. Its jsut basketball.
AND SURE AS HELL, WHEN ESPN TOOK OVER JOE'S BLOG, IT WOULD DENEGRATE TO THIS DUE TO THE IGNORANT SEATTLE CRY BABIES.
I knew this was going to happen.
Somebody up there said this " When he bought the franchise he promised to keep it in Seattle " and you need to get the truth , and hear it now, and get over it.
Clay Bennett never promised Seattle diddly twat. You just weren't paying attention . He told you this on the day he announced the purchase of the team " YOU HAVE ONE YEAR TO GET AN ARENA PLAN IN PLACE OR IF NOT, I AM MOVING THE FRANCHISE "
It would not be hard to find this in the archives of your own dam newspapers.
I don't know what part of that you educatate Seattle folks failed to understand , BUT THE MAN KEPT HIS WORD AND DID JUST WHAT HE SAID HE WAS GOING TO DO .
IT WAS NOT BENNETT'S RESPONSIBILITY TO MOBILIZE THE COMMUNITY BEHIND A NEW ARENA , THAT WAS YOUR JOB, AND YOU FAILED MISERABLY.
NOW ,, SHUT THE F' UP AND GO AWAY.
Yeah, we won't. Its only fun conversation.
Brian :
Like i said what i wrote was nothing against OKC fans. OKC NBA: You say that it wouldnt be fair to take franchises from Memphis and NO but fans rarely show up there. They showed up everygame in SEA. Second, i am not from either Seattle or OKC so i have no biases. I was just stating my belief that either NO or MEM should of moved to OKC not a storied franchise like SEA. Also, i wasnt saying that Payton, Kemp and McMillan are hall of famers right not (thought Payton will be), the point i was trying to get across is that SEA is like LAL, BOS, DET etc because they have all been in the NBA for a long time and are part of the history of the NBA since the merger.
Joe i didnt say it was the fans fault or the players fault. I dont know where you got that idea. I clearly stated “My little spiel here is nothing against OKC fans”.
Oh, no worries Brian. I didn't take it that way at all. I was just giving my take on it as a former Sonic fan. As long as we don't get into name calling and personal attacks, the discussion is very valid.
Thanks Brian.
Like i said what i wrote was nothing against OKC fans. OKC NBA: You say that it wouldnt be fair to take franchises from Memphis and NO but fans rarely show up there. They showed up everygame in SEA. Second, i am not from either Seattle or OKC so i have no biases. I was just stating my belief that either NO or MEM should of moved to OKC not a storied franchise like SEA. Also, i wasnt saying that Payton, Kemp and McMillan are hall of famers right not (thought Payton will be), the point i was trying to get across is that SEA is like LAL, BOS, DET etc because they have all been in the NBA for a long time and are part of the history of the NBA since the merger.
Joe i didnt say it was the fans fault or the players fault. I dont know where you got that idea. I clearly stated "My little spiel here is nothing against OKC fans".
Those who defend Howard Shultz are as guilty of bias as those who defend Clay Bennett...
It was what it was... and those who see it for that have moved on. Shultz had his motives as well.
Sam :
Butchelor - just so you know, everyone in America who was a Sonics fan has decided to root wholeheartedly AGAINST the Thunder.
Wrong!!! Only the bitter.
@Brian
I agree that Seattle is a great NBA city and deserves a team wholeheartedly. I truly hope they get an expansion team of their own, and not a team from some other city.
I also agree that Bennett didn't come out of this looking very forthright and honest. The emails that came out in the trial really are incriminating. No doubt he wanted the team in OKC.
That being said, it isn't the OKC fans fault, it isn't the players fault.
As a former Sonic fan, I had a choice to make, either give up the game I love to watch, find another team, or follow my team. I chose to follow my team, but I don't disparage anyone else for making a different choice, so why should they disparage anyone who continues, or is new to following their new team in their hometown?
As of January 24, 2008; All of Nate McMillan, Shawn Kemp, or Gary Payton have never been Hall of Fame members. The former owner who's name you forgot was Howard Schultz; and it's ironic that you want to do to Memphis or New Orleans the exact wrong which was done to you.
I cant believe Clay Bennet hijacked the franchise from Seattle. When he bought the franchise he promised to keep it in Seattle. Now i know all the excuses Thunder fans will make like "they couldnt get a new arena, "the city wouldnt upgrade the current arena" blah blah blah. But the Sonics were one of the greatest NBA franchises in Seattle and had hall of fame players such as Nate McMillan, Shawn Kemp, and Gary Payton. The Sonics fans always showed up to support their team and the Sonics former owner (i forget his name) would of never sold teh team to Bennet if he knew they would be moved to OKC. I hope that some franchise (probably Memphis or New Orleans) is moved back to Seattle soon so that the Emerald City can totally redo the look of the Sonics and start fresh.
My little spiel here is nothing against OKC fans. Yes you did deserve an NBA franchise but not the way that it happened. You should of recieved franchises that got little fan support like NO and MEM instead of a storied franchise like the Sonics.
Sam :Butchelor - just so you know, everyone in America who was a Sonics fan has decided to root wholeheartedly AGAINST the Thunder.
That's not entirely accurate... as we've seen several people who still support their team and their players...
Butchelor - just so you know, everyone in America who was a Sonics fan has decided to root wholeheartedly AGAINST the Thunder.
I've always been a Sonics Fan..was an exchange student in Oregon, and went to Seattle twice...nice city...and unfortunatly they moved to OKC...so for now I appreciate what the franchise did in Seattle, and move on with them to OKC :)
Awesome Butchelor. I live in Oregon myself; where did you go as an exchange student, Eugene?
Interesting point Tobasco. I have been thinking about that a lot lately: the shot distribution. This team will likely never get better if we see more games like last night. One player can't dominate a team game so thoroughly and have TEAM success. It just doesn't work that way.
Did Durant contribute to this loss by taking so many shots ? Or did he shoot more due to Green and Westbrook not shooting well ?
Welcome Butchelor. Thanks for the kind words. How in the world did you come to be a Thunder fan living in Austria??
Joe
Hey,
just wanna thank you for this very nice homepage...I think the coverage is very good...for me, an austrian dude, the perfect way to follow the Thunder :)