Uninspired, uninterested, unmotivated. You pick the word. It all fits for this performance.
I had to keep telling myself to understand what I was watching. This is a team that doesn’t really care and they’re just looking forward to summer vacation. It’s kind of like a college freshman that has a guaranteed “D” in his biology class and while he still has to take the final, it’s not going to really change anything. So does he study? No, he just shows up, fills in some circles and leaves. That’s what the Thunder’s doing right now. And they were playing the kid that’s got a 4.0 and can get a 95 in his sleep. While it’s not exactly what you want to see, it is what it is (whatever the heck that means).
I could rant about effort and intensity and place blame on someone, but is it really worth it? Come next season, I don’t think we’ll look back and point at this game and say, “See! If they just would have brought effort here, they’d be competing for a playoff spot!” It’s just loss No. 59 in a season full of them. Sure it was pretty ugly, but this has been a long year for a lot of young guys and I’m sure they’re worn out both mentally and physically.
I know what you’re thinking, and you’re right there’s no excuse for it. But does the fact that the team has been uninterested and uninspired this last week and a half mean that all the good things that happened the past three months be ignored? Even though I knew exactly what was happening and I tried to tell myself that was the way it was going to be before tip, it didn’t make it any less frustrating. I was still bothered and agitated at each turnover, each defensive collapse and each Greg Oden uncontested dunk.
But regardless of all that, I honestly don’t feel as if it’s a huge deal. Of course I would have rather watched a tough, gritty 48-minute war like we’ve gotten accustomed to. But this is the last leg of the marathon and we’re crawling backwards to the finish line. And I don’t think it’s any one person’s fault. It’s a collection of things. Sometimes people forget that players have to play. Scott Brooks can’t go out and man-up on Brandon Roy. Kyle Weaver’s got to do that. Sure Brooks can “motivate” him, but in the end, Weaver’s got to do the job. And the mental hangover of knowing that you’re playing for absolutely nothing against a team that’s won eight of nine and has its eyes on the biggest prize adds up to uninspired basketball. And to me, that’s not that big of a deal.
Again, of course I’d rather the team have played better put you have to keep it all in perspective. It’s not like they’re fighting for a playoff spot. They’re playing for nothing. And they have been playing for nothing for six months now. I’m sure that wears on them. I think they’re incredibly excited about next year and in fact, they may be looking ahead to it already. They may be just kind of saying, “Ok, let’s get through these games so we can get to the draft, then summer ball and then NEXT YEAR.” Sure it sort of sets a bad tone for next season, but I think they’ve made the progress they needed to make in January, February, March and even some of this month. To stumble down the stretch like this doesn’t do much to my mindset other than frustrating the crap out of me while I try and watch.
- Shaun Livingston played 18 minutes and was productive again, but more importantly, I think he’s growing more and more confident in his body. He looks much better laterally and he looks comfortable going to the rim. Like Joe said after the Milwaukee game, I’m loving his post-up game. He’s 6’7″ so it just makes sense. He’ll have a shot almost every other point guard in the league and if he can get consistent with that, he’ll be a great late game option. Now he just needs to add a little running jump hook to his game…
- Kind of crazy how similar this game was to the last one. Same first quarter score, similar halftime score, near identical final margin. Again OKC couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat and the Blazers were very efficient.
- Robert Swift checked in with four minutes left in the third. Translation: bad sign.
- Jeff Green was a -31 in the first half. Holy crap city. And he has got to get stronger on the boards. Four rebounds from the power forward position in 29 minutes is just unacceptable.
- Kevin Durant started the game 0-6 and didn’t score a point until 3:45 in the second quarter. Not a good sign from your leading scorer.
- One guy that didn’t quit playing was Russell Westbrook. Sure he went 4-16, but he had 15 points, seven assists, three boards and three steals. And he was diving on the floor wrestling Joel Pryzbilla for a rebound late in the third while OKC was down 30. I can appreciate that.
- Greg Oden fouls all the time. He only gets called about half the time, but every rebound he’s pushing and grabbing. He really doesn’t move his feet all that well and has to reach grab to get himself back in position. And he’s really not that skilled around the basket. It almost looks like he’s thinking about the post moves he was working on earlier as he’s holding the ball on the block. OK, coach says drop step, head fake and go up with the left hand? Or right hand? Crap, what is it? The guy’s got talent and I think he’ll be good, but his offseason assignment needs to be footwork and offensive post moves. He’s not going to be the player everybody wants him to be just by dunking the ball.
- OKC was outscored 29-15 in the first quarter on 6-20 shooting, digging themselves into a major hole. Didn’t help that they followed that up with a 6-18 second quarter for 16 points to trail 62-31 at halftime. Awesome!
- In the long line of awesome Thunder stats tonight, how about Portland outrebounding OKC 54-36.
- The Blazer bench did all the damage tonight. Brandon Roy had 20 and Travis Outlaw 21, but the other three Portland starters combined for 17 points. The Blazer bench had 55.
- Maybe it’s shallow, but is anyone else really bugged that KD’s scoring average is getting destroyed here late in the year? Going into tonight, he was tied with Danny Granger at 25.5 ppg for fifth in the league. And after 10 points on 5-15 shooting, he’s dropped under that. I liked “Kevin Durant: Scoring Machine” much better.
Even though the Thunder looks like they’ve fallen on their faces lately, it’s still been a relatively successful season and a lot of good things have happened. Seriously, don’t hit the panic button, don’t make rash judgments and don’t form opinions on this season based on this last week. Step back, understand the situation and take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay.
One day off and then a game at the Clippers to close this season. And then we get to be optimistic again and talk draft and what could be. Fun!
point taken - I'm just saying that us getting killed repeatedly (hopefully) motivates us to get better - hopefully the team is concentrating on getting better vs being upset over what people are saying . . .
@Kev
I don't see how us playing poorly and getting obliterated twice in a row somehow makes Greg Oden a 7 foot version of Sonic the Hedgehog.
Just because he makes us look like kindergarten girls doesn't mean much.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
come on Jax - you're better than that . . .
hey OKC fans, we just got killed by 30 - are we that sensitive to criticism??
torridjoe has a point - we did get killed in transition - it hurts to say, but its the truth - the Thunder players have play better . . .
It had to have been rockets. Surely so. I mean, for a minute I thought I was watching Dwight Howard play in an NBA game that counted for something, but then I realized it was just Greg Oden playing a game that only his team cared about.
But still, watching Greg dominate Robert Swift really got me to wondering why so many people think this Oden guy isn't living up to all his hype. Not everyone can dominate Robert Swift. For reals yo. That wasn't Mouhamed Sene out there, that was a serious competitor, someone who can really play ball, someone who is really legit, you know?
Folks got this fleet-footed Oden kid all wrong.
Doesn't move his feet well? What was propelling Oden down the floor ahead of all of the Thunder players--rockets? Because he was embarrassing OKC repeatedly on transition.
This ain't much but if we could just have kept winning at least the team wouldn't have ended up in the cellar of the NW Division. That would have been an improvement.
That defense played on Travis Outlaw was awesome, he looked like a future allstar.
@Ryan
I didn't mean for it to sound like sour grapes. It was more along the lines that Oden doesn't seem to control his body very well. Nenad Krstic fouls all the time too, but that's because he'd have no chance on the glass if he didn't. Oden just seems to hook and bump and push more than most.
"Greg Oden fouls all the time. He only gets called about half the time, but every rebound he’s pushing and grabbing."
This sounds a little like sour grapes to me. All the good rebounders push and grab for position. Just because he's stronger and bigger than 95% of NBA players doesn't mean he's fouling when he bodies someone for position.
"He’s not going to be the player everybody wants him to be just by dunking the ball."
Shaq made a living off of good footwork, being big, and dunking the ball on people. He eventually incorporated a decent jump hook but that was a few years later. If all Oden does is work on his footwork and learn to not pick up cheap fouls, he'll easily be a 15/12 guy (while leading the league in offensive rebound rate like he does right now) next year and a threat that you have to double team against.
The only thing we can hope for at this point is the Clippers to be the Clippers. They want to lose (better chance at top pick) and are perhaps the best team in the league at snatching defeat from the claws of victory.
After the beating we took from Portland at home, I figured we'd give more effort than this. But it was about the same.
Durant makes Travis Outlaw look like twice the defender Bruce Bowen is.
I think we mailed it in after our first win over the Spurs. We did gather some effort for our second Spurs win, and the Bobcat's win at home for the last home game, but other than those two games, we haven't played with any energy or desire.
I don't expect that to change against the Clippers. But maybe it will.
No Defense for this Defense
1) Kudos to the big guys - all four of them (Krstic, Collison,White and Swift) they were very active around the basket, and you could tell they didn't pack it in. Some of the blocks were just awesome! Unfortunately, they shouldnt have been as busy as they were. The perimeter defense was awful.
2) I brought this up several games ago, but it bears repeating. Westbrook (and his coaches) have to change the way he plays transition defense. It's subtle, but it affects the way the rest of the team has to defend. I am bringing it up now because it seemingly happened on every trip last night. After a miss (and on many makes), RW woud take a swipe at the ball AFTER the Blazers had SECURED possession. Of course he was going for a steal, and he even picked up a couple this way. BUT, the other upmpteen times he did it, he allowed Blake (or Rodriguez) to be free upcourt; then someone else had to pick up Blake; then that person's man had a wide open shot. Yes it was the next to the last game, but you can't leave your team hanging like that on the defensive end.
Keith :@Royce
We just have to remember to pace ourselves a bit. A few big days of discussion in the beginning are great, but we’ll have to slow down and change directions from time to time as not to get stale. Just look at the NFL draft right now. I don’t think I’ve heard anything new since the end of the combine. I almost wish the NFL draft would be over just so people would stop saying the same thing over and over, rather than because I actually want to see what teams get which players.
Absolutely. I don't want to start talking like Mel Kiper Jr. or anything.
@Royce
We just have to remember to pace ourselves a bit. A few big days of discussion in the beginning are great, but we'll have to slow down and change directions from time to time as not to get stale. Just look at the NFL draft right now. I don't think I've heard anything new since the end of the combine. I almost wish the NFL draft would be over just so people would stop saying the same thing over and over, rather than because I actually want to see what teams get which players.
@Keith
o yes please that sounds like a fantastic idea
@Royce
So whoever the thunder will draft next June, Thabeet or Blake Griffin, the question arise : will Thabo remain in the starting lineup next season ? Or is he going to be moved to the sixth man position ?
@Keith
Oh we've got plans. This offseason is going to be full of discussions just like you described. Oddly enough, I think we have more content running up to the draft than we did throughout the season. I've got lots of ideas. :)
We should turn Thursday into our own unofficial draft day - in a manner of speaking. As there won't be a lot else going on for the Thunder, we could have a few starting articles and everyone could discuss different plans and strategies regarding what players are worth drafting, what our guys now need to work on in the offseason, what trades could and should go down, and ideas for next year's lineup. There are probably better distinctions, but with 3-4 starting points it could be a very fun day discussing things with everyone.
I am clear you brought up the draft. we still have something to look forward to.
Big Fred :
I guess the team is missing Thabo. Without being a great scorer so far, he seems to be the new Thunders collar bone. Do you think so ?
I would agree. He brings a ton of intensity to the defensive end and moves extremely well without the ball. I think a lot of it is disinterest, but missing Thabo is definitely something that shouldn't be overlooked.
@Keith
Hear hear.
I guess the team is missing Thabo. Without being a great scorer so far, he seems to be the new Thunders collar bone. Do you think so ?
Go team.
@Joe
Haha. I'm a bit of a hopeless optimist so I tend to try and convince myself things are just fine.
Thanks for talking me back from the ledge I was going to jump off. :O)