Tonight’s game was a contest that was almost exhausting to watch. The Thunder and the Cats squared off and the refs just mostly let them go at it. Few fouls were called, bodies were flying, shots were clanging and the Thunder were lucky to walk away with a victory. Not lucky as in they didn’t deserve it, for they worked hard and gave really incredible effort, but they fell just one shy of their season record for turns with 24. The one game the Thunder got 25, it cost a coach his job. To win a game when you give the other team roughly 25% more scoring opportunities is a rare thing.
I’m sure Kev will be along shortly to give a better defensive analysis, but my impression was that the Thunder really clogged up the lane and defended the post and high post. The three point shot was there all night for the Cats, but once they came inside the arc it seemed like Thunder bodies were everywhere. Kyle Weaver was a MAN tonight: 9 points on 4/5 shooting, 5 boards, one dime, 4 steals and 3 blocks in 22 minutes. The Pac 10 all-defensive team player, who was a draft pick of the Bobcats gave the Bobcats a handful.
The Thunder were hot shooting in the first half (55%) and the Cats were cold (35%). It looked like everything was going the Thunder’s way except that it kept coughing up the ball-15 in the first half. Still the Thunder managed to get an 11 point lead.
In the third quarter the shots quit falling for the Thunder and they were only able to sink 6 field goals and score 16 points. Meanwhile the Bobcats were able to take a bit of advantage of the continued turns (6 more in the third) and poor shooting and close to within three points at the end of the third. What’s crazy is that it never even should have been a game. The Bobcats never shot higher than 39% in any quarter.
Seemingly just to make it interesting the Thunder let the Bobcats get a small lead at 67-66. Then, about halfway through the 4th quarter Durant picked up his fifth foul. Thabo was already out injured, Weaver had just come out for a breather, Livingston and Westbrook were already in the game, I was horrified at the thought of Brooks sending KD to the bench and bringing in Chucky Atkins or Damien Wilkins. Thankfully Brooks gambled and left KD in; rightfully so as he nailed the Thunder’s only three pointer a few moments later to get the lead back to 75-71.
Krstic, who had one of his finest games in Thunder blue nailed a deep jumper with 48 seconds left to get the lead to 5. It was followed by a D.J. Augustine three with mere seconds left.
The final sequence was big time as Westbrook held the ball at the top of the arc until there was just a few seconds left on the shot clock and then drove to the hole. He missed and the Cats’ Boris Diaw got the rebound and began the break. He got the ball to Ray Felton on the left wing who immediately drove to the basket. Krstic rotated over to help and wound up falling down. Felton attempted a little runner that was blocked by Green, off the backboard. Nobody got the rebound and so it fell into the hands of Krstic, who was still on the floor – ball game! The Cats still got a shot at the bucket after Durant missed one final free throw but the Thunder sealed the deal and ended the home finale with a win and played the role of playoff spoilers for the Bobcats.
Bullets:
- Despite the Thunder’s great first half shooting and 47% overall, their offensive efficiency was a terribly stinky 88.4 and the Cats were 85.3. All of those turnovers in no way help your ability to put the ball in the hole.
- The game opened up with a Vladi Radi/Kevin Durant matchup. I was loving it. Having seen Vladi for his years in Seattle I just knew he would shoot them right out of the game, but Larry Brown is no dummy. He got Vladi out of there and kept him at 18 minutes on the night. He was 1-5 by the first timeout in the first quarter.
- Despite Charlotte being one of the slowest (4th) teams in the league, this game still used a quick 95 possessions. The Thunder were the aggressor, running frequently off of defensive rebounds and steals.
- In the second quarter the Thunder used a lineup of Rose (Collison was out), White, Green, Livingston and Weaver. I didn’t catch the numbers but it was very effective.
- The Thunder again reached the 50 rebound mark. Some of it was the poor shooting of the Cats, but the Thunder really collapsed on the rim defensively and gang rebounded; much like this team was doing in January.
- Thabo must have the same hair stylist as Ben.
- I can’t remember a game that had so many missed dunks and layins; mostly from the Bobcats. I mean they must have failed to convert 15-20 close shots.
- 19 of the Bobcat’s 37 first half points came off of Thunder turns….wow!
- It was like a mash unit for awhile. Thabo hurt his hand, Westbrook got clobbered in the back of the head. Green I think got a hard elbow in the back and asked out of the game, and Weaver got hit in the face.
- Again, Weaver was impressive. First he looked into the eye of the beast and held his ground as a charging Gerald Wallace came at him under the basket. Weaver was able to get a hand on the shot and block it. Next he got a steal and led a fast break with an awesome bounce pass to Green in stride for a dunk. Later he closed out on a hot shooting D.J. Augustine at the three point line and blocked the shot without fouling.
- During a few sequences in the second half, Livingston was going right at the tiny backcourt for the Cats. He would either post up D.J. or shoot over him down low. It was just excellent coaching sending him down there when he has 8 inches on DJ and close to as much on Felton. He hit a couple of great baskets down low and forced Larry Brown into doubling Liv in the post.
- The Bobcats starter’s were a combined 20/67-29%.
- The Thunder as a team had an assist to turn ratio of .7!
- The Thunder blocked 11.4 % of the Cat’s field goal attempts!
- Don’t look at the box score, you don’t even want to know how many turn overs Westbrook had….
Any win is a good win. It looked like the Thunder fans at the Ford Center were having a rocking time. Royce said it was “loud and crazy”. It was a great way to close out the 41st and final home game of the season.
Good luck Crow - you will be missed . . .
We're all different. My multiple posts bug some folks and I understand that but it just me thinking and sharing in a way that is natural to me when ideas come to me bit by bit. And repeating myself is largely saying the pattern still holds, because not all patterns do, so checking making sense. To me that output still seems within bounds but I've had a high appetite for basketball talk til now as relaxation / recreation and I've also pursued and am still pursuing possibly doing basketball analysis professionally so it isn't simply just casual chit-chat, it is in some ways training and testing my thoughts with what I see from Presti.
But I had my run for awhile with the Sonics and the early stages of the Thunder and have other outlets including dialog with another GM.
Old habits are hard to break.
While I've sometimes felt like I should be able to post whatever I want just like anybody else does I don't want to annoy other fans or write and often not get read fully or get understood.
So I'll step back and maybe visit on the occasion of big events or touch base with Joe who I've had good conversations with over time. He has made the transition smoother than I could but for what it is worth I guess I was another Sonics fans who didn't really have a beef with OKC fans and couldn't help taking about the team that passed from us to you.
I enjoyed being part of the conversation here for awhile and have learned good points from many. Other stuff is calling harder now.
Good luck. "Crow"
I always enjoyed your comments here Crow. You always gave me lots of insight and good thought provoking conversation. You are always welcome. If you want to go another route, I understand. I really do. Us former Sonic fans are sort of in a no mans land. I've found I really love this latest incarnation of the team, but I understand if everyone doesn't feel that way.
Anytime you have anything to say at all, about anything, and if you don't want to post, just email me if you'd like ok? I'd still like to get your feedback on some things from time to time.
Joenewell66@gmail.com
@Alex@Crow
"Half-Glass Empty Report." I enjoy some of his posts but when it comes to 9 posts in a row and all of them are talking about the same stuff game after game (even if the comments are warranted after the team's play) it becomes a little too much. I know we, as readers, don't have to view the comments, but I like what most people after say even some of Crow's posts.
I say either give him his own admin rights for his post-game report, or sign him to a 3 year deal to coach the team...
It is alright Alex. The comments in this thread were part of the trigger but the die was pretty much already cast. My stepping back was going to happen. It is not my team in the way it used to be. I'll probably check in on or after the Draft.
I'm sorry Crow. I was just joking...I usually enjoy your posts...They're important because they force us to look at things we sometimes don't want to acknowledge...I was just really pumped about the win but don't let my comment get you down...Keep bringing it!
I formed solutions. I gave a complete lineup rotation several times.
But thanks Kev. You and others can handle the stats and the visual and come up with your own solutions.
It's a shame if you left - the more (diverse) points of view - the better - to be honest, your posts where you use pairs and +/- were mmost confusing . . . also, you rely more on those numbers than actually formulating a solutiuon . . . still, if you go, you will be missed . . .
Some of my posts are a bit unclear and I probably should have reviewed and edited them further for typos and poor wording but time is short. The above aren't my best. I am often trying to cover a lot of ground or difficult subjects. I have also been trying to pull some of my punches and they are meander abit because of that. I often could be and would be much more negative at times based on the numbers but I didn't want to overdo it and turn off folks off more.
I wasn't going to comment on the Thunder after they left Seattle initially then I found Joe's Thunderguru site and it seemed like a nice half-way house so I kept commenting because I was still interested in undestanding Presti's plan and liked the players themselves. Then I was going to quit when Joe's site rolled into this one but the team was still interesting and it still felt alright even though I am an outsider and have a different perspective. But I knew it could, probably would get to the point that I would have have to cut way back or out. With comments like Alex's and Nix's and the significant comments made that didn't receive any comments or further dialog I've probably come to the point where I should step out. Past it actually but that is the way it went. Thanks for those who tolerated it or appreciated it. Good luck to the fans. I might check in every once in awhile but I won't be doing so regularly any more. Your team, your site, your optimism. Enjoy. Sorry some for being a downer to some but I just try to work with the facts and understand them as best I able. I'll probably keep those thoughts mostly to myself now.
I've given up reading half his posts...
@Alex
it's cool to get a different take on the subject - Crow is not a guy to jump on the bandwagon - he usually has good points - and remember, we are the 4th or 5th worst team in the league (record wise) so he's got a case . . . now some of his posts are downright confusing; I wish he would write a little clearer . . .
@Crow
We should give Crow his own post-game write-up spot called "Glass Half-Empty Report with Crow"...
Someone needs to tell Thabo that his fro is awesome.
Weaver tied with Durant for the team lead in "help value" (Reb + Steals + blocks + assists - turns) with + 12. It was great example of the small minute guys contributing in all the little ways to get a W. He was also second in productivity as defined by the Popcorn Machine.
http://popcornmachine.net/cgi-bin/boxscore.cgi?date=20090410&game=CHAOKC
one of the best games i've seen in a hot minute. i hope that their defensive effort is a sign of things to come. it just felt nice to win a close game, and keep a team out of the playoffs. i really hope we keep scott brooks. if he's given the chance to grow as a coach with our core players, i think we'll be quite an interesting team for a while...
Sam has been called a perfectionist but it is hard to think that to me given this collection of sort good, sorta fit, sorta not guys or at least it seems unlikely to expect this lasts.
Westbrook, Weaver, Livingston and Sefolosha... and at least one more guy (a strong shooter) probably will or needs to be added to the mix. There are some other 5 guard rotations around the league but most are part of emphasize the 3 / small ball and most probably don't last. All four the current guys currently have an area of weakness. Would be nice of the next guy was more than just a shooter and was a complete player at one position.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Tonight was the most fun I've had at an NBA game. Period. Great game, great atmosphere and a great sendoff. I can't wait for next season either.
I thought the officiating was horrid. I'm not one to complain about officiating, as I think things find a way of evening out over the course of a game, but this crew tonight were terrible.
I still like having Shaun in the game, even if his defense is suspect. His ball control is a breath of fresh air after watching Russell run the show for a while.
Kinda sad leaving the Ford Center tonight. October is just so far away. Had a blast this year.
Defensive Dominance
`
1) Player of the game? Easy; it’s Kyle Weaver! He recorded 3 blocks, four steals, and he recovered a loose ball. Also, in twenty five possessions (guarding the off guard), he had ZERO mistakes! Just a great job of hustling and scrambling by him! My favorite play of the game was when he took the charge against Gerald Wallace. Wallace had been steamrolling down the court all game and no one dared to get in his way – until Weaver did. Kudos!
2) Durant also had one of his best defensive outputs. Amidst all of his blocks and steals, he also had six contests (being near a defender with a hand up during a shot attempt). He rotated a lot better than usual, and I didn’t see him go underneath a screen all night! It was Just an outstanding effort by him. I hope he takes this defensive intensity on the road.
3) Maybe it’s his leg, maybe it’s his passion, but Shaun Livingston turned in another poor defensive effort. He tallied six mistakes in only thirty four possessions, and had zero contests. I like his offense, but he has to step it up on D in a big way.