Let that sink in Thunderheads. Taste it, savor it; delicious.
Thunder 94 Atlanta 91. Box Score.
The 23rd win is pretty cool in itself. Thunder fans have taken a lot of crap and had to live with a lot of humble pie for the last year and a half, but what makes it even more interesting is that today’s 23rd win came against one of the best teams in the East with a 16-4 home record, and it came in game number 41; the dead center middle of the season. How cool is that?
It was a game of runs, bricks, big shots, highlight reel plays and “oh my gawd” moments. So basically it was one you couldn’t sleep through, especially in the fourth quarter. For much of the fourth it looked like a scrum under and above the basket. Neither team was shooting well and all ten guys were in there ripping and snarling for rebounds and putbacks.
Case in point: after shooting 51% through the first three quarters the Thunder managed only 6/21 in the final frame (28.5%) en route to 15 points. Atlanta was 6/22. As a result the Thunder gobbled up 17 rebounds in the fourth and the Hawks snared 13. Loose balls, bodies flying and arms flailing.
But the game got tight at the end when the Hawks pulled even on two Josh Smith free throws at 88 apiece with just two minutes and a bit left after trailing since the first quarter. Then finally, with the Thunder up by two with 19 seconds left, one of those “most amazing plays of the season” happened.
Durant was inbounding from the sideline and the defense was especially tight. Green came to meet Durant and receive the pass just a few steps inside the half court line with Josh Smith on his hip. Green secured the pass, hesitated for a second to freeze Smith, and then just took off at a dead sprint for the hoop. Smith was with him the whole way and nobody from the Hawks gave help. Green just elevated and completely extended with his right hand as he was falling out of bounds and dunked it hard as he was fouled and ended up plowing into the padding around the hoop support. AND1.!
It was just amazing. Two of the most athletic, young combo forwards in the league going mano-a-mano. Dominique Wilkins who was doing the color for Atlanta said ” he finished that the way a big man is supposed to…with authority”.
But that wasn’t even the end of it. Up by five they left Bibby open in the corner for a three. Then up by just two Durant, who was 14-14 from the line missed the second of two free throws, which left us with a three point advantage instead of four points.
The final play was almost a carbon copy of Atlanta’s final play the other night against the Suns where Jamaal Crawford hit a very very deep three over Jared Dudley at the buzzer for the win. Crawford got that same shot over Jeff Green today, and it looked good enough to make my heart miss a beat, but in the end it just missed. Thunder win Baybee.
- I’m not the biggest Jeff Green supporter in Thunderland, but I have to admit this game isn’t a win without him. The big shot notwithstanding, his 11 rebounds were a huge key to victory. For the last three years I’ve been comparing Jeff Green, or what kind of player I think he could become, to Josh Smith. Tonight Green was every big as important to us as Smith was to Atlanta, and statistically he did more than enough to make the comparison.
- Collison was out with a knot on his head from the Miami game so Nads Krstic got more than his usual minutes and he turned in a very nice performance. His jumper was money, he had 7 boards (5 offensive) and an assist, and 16 points in 32 minutes.
- Ibaka was a rebound hound in the fourth quarter from both big positions in the frontcourt. He had 8 big boards in 9 fourth quarter minutes. He finished with 6 points and 10 boards in 24 minutes. Paycheck earned!
- I’m still trying to get my mind around the fact that Russell Westbrook only took 2 shots in the fourth quarter and only 9 for the game. Wow. He had 9 assists to 3 turns.
- Did you notice Bibby trying to guard Sefolosha in the post. Not going to happen. Sef has a post game and long arms. Crawford was immediately brought in whereby he posted Jamaal and kicked out to an open Durant for a three.
- Lord Byron Mullins Mullens got a little look tonight. Statistically he was a non factor other than getting called for a few fouls, but I like the way he moves his feet and defends the pick and roll. He did get touch in the post where the switch left him being guarded by the point guard Bibby. Mully made a quick spin move and hooked Bibby for the offensive foul.
- Speaking of Mullins Mullens, he was out there with Harden, Green, Maynor and Ibaka for a 4 rookie lineup for about 5 minutes or so. I like the fact that the team didn’t sink or even lose ground while KD and Westbrook and the starters could get some wind.
- I didn’t like the way Josh Smith got to the basket numerous times. He just has a knack for that.
- The Hawks went small in the first half with three shooting guards (Evans, Johnson and Crawford) Smith and Horford. Brooks didn’t take the bait and likewise go small, he stayed with the bigger lineup and eventually Atlanta relented.
- I thought the overall team defense was about on par. Not our finest effort but certainly pretty good, especially against the 3rd best offense in the association. We held them to 40% shooting (42.2 eFG%) and 107 offensive rating, both considerably below their season norms.
- It’s funny how just in his third season 29 points by Kevin Durant seems so ho-hum and anticlimactic. We are being daily spoiled by his basketball greatness.
It was an awesome team win; one of the giants of the season. Find that video of Jeff Green’s slam in the fourth and watch it if you haven’t seen it.
A report from the game in ATL:
As everyone saw, the game was one of the best games of the season for the Thunder. The Thunder would always seem to come out of a break (quarter, timeout) and really have things together and start to pull away from the Hawks. And then the Hawks would realize that they needed to get it going and make the game close again. In particular in the third quarter when the Hawks were using a full court press it was really giving the Thunder some trouble, especially when Durant was on the bench. Everyone else seems to analyze the games much better so I will leave it at that.
Philips arena is quite nice. Much nicer than the Ford center. It is set up differently with all of the suits being on one side of the arena. The quality of the concourses and concession areas was impressive. It was much more 'busy' with many signs, posters, etc. The concession stands were all themed with fancy facades and names. It felt more like an event when you entered the arena. I like the Ford center and the latest round of improvements are great (The Ford center bathrooms are MUCH better than the Philips arena). I'm curious to see how the Ford center looks after this summer.
The arena was not sold out with many open seats. As the game progressed people moved down to the lower levels (where I was sitting, section 210) and it got much louder. I was one of the few Thunder fans in my section but I was yelling and clapping every time the Thunder scored or had a good defensive possession. I was not fearful for my life but there were some rather vocal people that were not happy with the Hawks performance at times.
I did see a few other Thunder shirts and 2 jerseys at various times. One of the jerseys was a Mullens one oddly enough. The best part was the end of the game (obviously). The entire arena was on its feet and screaming when Green threw down that monster jam. At that exact moment everyone around me went silent and I was screaming in approval. It was awesome. A few colorful words may have came out of my mouth at that time as well.
Overall I was impressed with the facilities there. They did not play music every possession like they do at the Ford center and there were less give-aways during the game but some of the entertainment was fun such the flame throwers they have above the goals.
I sat on the Thunder side of the arena and during warm ups it looked like everyone was in a good mood and having fun. The players were cheering each other on during the game. I did see Nick talking to Serge quite a bit about things he was doing on the court. I will say that I'm with the majority of the posters on this blog in that I have no idea what the deal is with Etan. He just sat around the entire game. He would be sitting when the other players were standing. It was like he knew he was not going into the game for sure.
Overall it was a good time and my friends that I brought had never been to an NBA game and they really enjoyed it. I will be attending the game in Charlotte in March and I can provide an away game experience write up for that one as well.
@The DON
Maybe he can find some monster of a man if some place where basketball is less popular like india, a billion people and not 1 is good enough for the NBA?
@The DON
When you say Presti will pick a foreign stud, you mean when he traded away Carl Landry for Sasha Kaun, right?
Sorry, had to say it. :)
@The DON
I agree. I think there will be a trade but i think i would bet my house that the trade will not be with a team from north of the border.....
Between this trade deadline and this summer, some big things are gonna happen with our franchise. BOOK IT.
There is no way Presti takes on 2 guaranteed contracts from the 2 1st round picks we have. Couple that with our cap space and a few expiring contracts at our disposal, and you can pretty much bet your booty Presti will put something together. I am so excited to see what these moves will be.
I just REALLY want either an above average starting PF or an above average starting C on this team going into next season. That plus all the improvement from RW, KD, Harden, Ibaka that's gonna take place over the summer will make us so gosh darn mother freaking good I can hardly contain myself.
Oh and there's one more scenario I can really see happening with one of our first rounders. I actually think that with one of the picks Presti will pick some stud foreign prospect and wait a few years to bring him over. That way we won't be paying a salary for that pick until he comes over here in a few years. And whoever that pick is, I am extremely confident that once he is ready to come here we will have a stud muffin on our hands. In Presti I trust!
t w :
Obviously dumb ass we dont trade for Bosh unless he signs a contract for at least 3 years, we need a monster PF and/or C to get the ring.
you think there is a chance we will get a guarantee from bosh to sign an extension whit out testing the F.A. market and you think Toronto lets him go for 2 mid 1 rounders and D.J. white. You believe both of these fairy tales and your calling me a dumb ass.
The day that Durant takes 39 shots will be the day he scores 70 points.@Jax
Raging Bile Duct
@justin Green could get 20-25 minutes a game at the 3 and 4. Bosh would get 30-35 Durant could get back to 35 a game.
@Anonymous Jeff Green just had the six million dollar dunk yesterday, , I already said don't trade him, might be a bad move, unless it's for Wade or Lebron, but he needs to get stronger if he's gonna be a 20 point 10 board all-star.
Out of all the players we have talked about aldrich is the most realistic, lets say suns miss the playoffs, end up with 14th pick, we can trade up to 9 or 10.
Aldrich??? He ain't doing shit this year, can't jump, slow, nice shot, taller than most college guys, I bet Krstic could shut him down, ha. HE might even make Mullens look good, Looks like Presti missed one with trading for Mullens and skipping DeJuan Blair, Mullens looks retarded and thinks he's gonna be a perimiter shooter? Get under the basket , block shots, rebound and get a hook shot dude. Ibaka is already better and about to keep Mullens on the bench for a long time.
@Colin B.
If you don't think Bosh is worth a couple mid first rounders you are crazy, I think the thunder can afford to skip the draft for a year and be just fine, it's like they drafted twice the last couple years. I just wonder if any all stars will want to come to OKC? Bout to find out.
@Bryan
No. It won't happen. But it's still fun to talk about. :D
If we got Aldrich, that would be sweet. Honestly, that puts us farther over the hump than Wall would, imo. It's going to be weird watching the draft from a non-lottery standpoint, no?
All I can say is that if we are lucky enough to have to worry about picking or trading John Wall, then things are looking mighty good in Thunderland.
He is certainly an upgrade over Harden, and would be a better back up for Durant, then Sefolosha or Harden. If you plan on trading Green, someone like Wall we be a nice addition to help spell Durant's minutes. He would also give Presti the ability to package Green and Harden... who I'm sure would bring in a serious player.
But here's the rub... it will never freakin happen!
@The DON
Trade Turner or Aldrich? Sure.
I dunno if you trade John Wall. Not that it's an issue we'll have to worry about.
Is HE even interested in comming to the NBA? He's making good money now, why take a cutback?
Anyone interested in Tiago Splitter? Bonner + Finley/Mason + Splitter right for Krstic/Collison + 2nd rnd Minnesota pick
If we get Wall, I will trade wall + harden + krstic for Oden + Roy
Don't look now, but our Thunder is ranked sixth in Hollinger's Power Rankings.
SIXTH!!!
That's astounding!
I still like Solomon Alabi in the draft.
Jeff Green really stepped up his game tonight. His dunk made ESPN's top 10, coming in at #2.
Monte Ellis took 39 shots against the Bulls tonight. 39!!!
This was a top 3 win of the season. Beating Atlanta, on the road, is a big deal. Loved it.
1. Let's all hope that we aren't a lottery team.
2. Players drafted out of the top 10 rarely turn into starters, at least when you look at the bulk of them, for smart drafting teams the percentage is higher but overall, every team is just hoping for a diamond in the rough, especially since players have to go to college for a year, decreasing their risk, when they might go later even though their upside is really high.
3. Our roster is already full of guys that are developing, white, mullens, weaver, we loose Thomas, Ollie, Harpring, but we will add a couple of vets too. While trading at the deadline isn't Presti's style, I think he can maximize the combined value of the picks + cap space + expiring contracts. So I almost expect a decent trade, not Bosh, but a decent veteran that might have a couple years left whose contract = thomas + harpring. It just makes too much sense, like the thabo trade last year. Dalemert is making $12 + mil per, signed through next year, I would think he might be a good target since Philly needs to rebuild, improves defense this year, expiring contract for next year, serves both purposes, takes up most of our cap space. Jason Richardson has a big contract for next year as well, but he doesn't help the team that much besides being a shooter off the bench. Gortat has a 3 year contract but he might be able to get thrown into this bunch too, seeing how far the magic are above the salary cap. Which ever way he goes, Presti has an eye for what is valuable to other teams. The problem is, is that there aren't many good defensive post players in the nba.
Adding Bosh as a FA is going to be difficult since we can't trade our draft picks that soon and we won't have any big expiring contracts for a sign and trade, which will eventually happen with Bosh. Unless we sign Bosh, I think Presti goes for a shorter contract with Boozer, or Camby, maybe Lee, but Lee is going to be expensive.
@Greg
That kid puts up numbers on quality talent, wouldn't mind picking him up.
Under the radar, big man steal we can get:
Art Parakhouski from Radford
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=41147
Phoenix is now only one game ahead of us, we may luck out and get a lottery pick out of them yet.
Let's face it, where we will be picking, and with the talent we already have, we are likely just looking for the best talent on the board. While I think Cousins has bust written all over him, I could us rolling the dice on his crazy talent. Same with Monroe. If they don't pan out (and we aren't using the picks in a trade), so be it. We don't have much room for upgrade from a late first round pick. We will buy low on huge talents and just hope one works out down the line (kind of like Mullens).
Here's Jeff's dunk from youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PcE1GDGDJg
And no, with Griffins knee injury, no GM in their right mind would trade a guy like Wall for him... unless for some reason they wanted to get fired.
Wait a minute, how are we seriously even talking about Wall in OKC, anyone seen Pheonix or OKC's records?
Anybody think we'd trade Wall for Blake Griffin? It makes too much sense for LA and OKC.
The DON :If we somehow, some way we luck out and land a top 3 pick and get a wall, turner or aldrich, we might actually be better off trading them for an established all star level player that fits our need. I don’t know, how about turner + kristic + 2nd rounder for horford + filler?
i love turner and actually think he will be better than a guy like horford, but horford would fill a desperate need of ours and might be more valuable to our situation
Just an idea, but IF we could draft Turner, I would trade Harden and filler for a big instead of Evan Turner.
I doubt we trade to get Bosh unless he promises to resign with us at the end of the season(off the record) and if we sign him its gonna be 5 or 6 years not 3.
Yes its unlikely we get a top 3 pick, or really even a lottery pick, i doubt the suns miss the playoffs even with their slide. If we ended up with the top pick i would kinda want to work a 3 way trade and end up with maybe picks 4 and 7, high enough to grab turner and aldrich.
The spurs got lucky with parker and ginobilli but i think ibaka will turn into that sort of value too.
@justin
The guy has lost ninety-three pounds since joining Texas. I think he has the work ethic to lose a little more if necessary.
Just random thoughts:
Think about how good we are on defense at such a young age and considering the fact that we have the worst defensive C and a SF masquerading as a PF.
Just think where this team could be if we had a combination of two solid post players between the C and PF positions. I'm not talking abut an all star C or PF, but just semi-above average ones.
*moisture*
p.s. the horford idea was random. I highly doubt ATL makes that trade considering they are up to their neck with versatile wing players
Really? We consider 3 YEARS "renting"? Wow!
If we somehow, some way we luck out and land a top 3 pick and get a wall, turner or aldrich, we might actually be better off trading them for an established all star level player that fits our need. I don't know, how about turner + kristic + 2nd rounder for horford + filler?
i love turner and actually think he will be better than a guy like horford, but horford would fill a desperate need of ours and might be more valuable to our situation
Plus he looked like a marshmallow tonight.
Dexter Pittman's going to make a GM look really good or really bad. When's the last time a 300 lb center did well in the NBA besides Shaq or the 7'5"+ guys?
Is it too early to start a Dexter Pittman bandwagon?
As far as the draft goes, I like Pittman. He's a tough, physical guy who can block shots and vacuums in the rebounds. He would be a very nice compliment to Green and Ibaka.
I used to be a big Greg Monroe fan, but I don't think he's a good fit anymore. He's not very athletic, (Presti loves athletic players.) and he's soft-ish. I'll pass.
And as far as the trade speculation goes, I have a feeling that Presti will do something of a large-ish nature. There is no way he gets Bosh, but I can see him trading for an Okafor or Biedrins. With all of the assets we have, I simply cannot believe that he will stand pat. Some sort of trade will go down. I guarantee it.
I think it's pretty safe to say that the Thunder won't go after Bosh at the trade deadline. Now when it comes to free agency, that's another thing.
@Keith
I agree, I was just stating that Evan would be a good franchise type pick that's all. I think we should get a big in the draft, but I would take Evan IF given the chance tho.
Turner could be a star, for sure. He actually reminds me of a young Kobe. He is super athletic, he can shoot from anywhere, but he can also make a living on the defensive end. I mean, we have only a slightly better chance of getting him than Wall (which to say, almost zero), but he would be a fine pick.
Though if we are picking high, Ed Davis from UNC looks like the next Al Horford. He'd be the more likely pick, even if Turner has that superstar potential.
Guys more likely in our range: Greg Monroe (15-20 range), Larry Sanders (15-20, think taller Ben Wallace), Dexter Pittman (20-30 range). I don't think we'd be remiss picking up any of those guys with ours or the Phoenix pick.
www.NBADraft.net has us taking Pittman and this German dude...
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/tim-ohlbrecht
what do ya think about him? He sounds like a "Presti-type" of versatile player.
justin :Evan Turner’s nice but do we really need another wing that can’t shoot three pointers?
Just for conversation, Evans shot 33% as a freshman and 44% last year. This years % could just be an abberation because his range is way beyond the NBA 3pt line. Even draftexpress has his worst case as Thabo because his defense is exellent. Mind you he's fg% on the season is 58% (seriously) while averaging 9.4rebs and 5.3 assist.
Just saying. :-)
@justin
agreed. I still want Gortat or Javale Mcgee. Have the boats sailed on those big men? What about Murphy or even Blair?
Is there a big in the draft we could use to complement our current roster? Maybe Cole Aldrich, DeMarcus Cousins, Dexter Pittman, Jerome Jordan,...
And now the Spurs have DeJuan Blair who will probably have a hand in extending Tim Duncan's career a couple years.
Amazing..
@Cpt. C-Note
It's easy to build a team for longevity when you have the best big man of the generation and two low draft picks morph into All Stars.
Spurs got very lucky..
Even in the best of scenarios for this team, we'd be missing the 'best big man of the generation'. A trade or signing will have to be made eventually if we want to truly compete..
We won't get Bosh or a top 3 pick. Lets be real, folks! Presti has a plan and doesn't care about wins or even playoffs too much this year. Don't get me wrong, he wants to win, but IMPROVE is the key word here.
Win totals and a playoff series against The Lakers, Mavs, or Nuggets would be a tough road to win on.(all loaded with vets w/playoff experience, not to mention the 2 defenders that give KD problems. Artest and that dude w/ 5 names!)
We're a building a team for longevity,(like the Spurs did!), plain and simple. Patience, my brother and sisters...
I havent watched much Bosh but how tough is he? Does he have a good post up game and how is his defensive rebounding?