Yet another team hoping to copy the Thunder model:”In Oklahoma City, the Washington Wizards see a team they would like to be; one that recognized the need to start over from scratch and reached relevance after an initially gruesome beginning. The Thunder (42-23) has yet to win a championship or a playoff series for that matter, but it already has created a team-building strategy that is referred to around the league as “the Oklahoma City model.”
From Elias: “Russell Westbrook scored 20 points in 24 minutes and watched the entire fourth quarter from the bench with Kevin Durant as the Thunder cruised to a 95-75 victory at Cleveland. Westbrook shot 10-for-16 from the field, but it was the first game this season in which he didn’t score from the foul line, snapping his streak of 67 games with at least one free throw made dating back to last April. Not to worry, Thunder fans, Kevin Durant made all six of his foul shots, extending his streak to 117 games with at least one point from the line.”
Russell Westbrook’s surprise dunk versus the Cavs.
Darnell Mayberry:” It’s starting to feel a little weird seeing the Thunder not just take care of the teams they’re supposed to take care of, but also destroy them. Of the last five teams OKC has played that fall in that category — Cleveland, Detroit, Indiana, the L.A. Clippers and Sacramento — the Thunder has won by an average margin of 21.4 points. There’s your latest sign of the strength of this team. Makes you wonder what’s in store Monday night at Washington.”
Also, Mayberry has an idea for Westbrook’s next evolution: “Here’s an idea for Russell Westbrook. Develop a floater. Most of the NBA’s best point guards have that shot in their arsenal. Steve Nash. Rajon Rondo. Chris Paul. Tony Parker. Westbrook should be next. “Have you seen his floater?” Thunder coach Scott Brooks exclaimed, almost appalled at the thought. “I’ve seen it three times. It’s not pretty.” In time, though, that added dimension could make one of the game’s most explosive point guards even more effective. Westbrook, however, has yet to buy into that belief. “That’s not my focus,” said Westbrook, reasoning that he gets his shot off just fine without owning a floater. “Why would I shoot a floater when I can dunk on you?” No holes in that theory.”
Perspective on Russell Westbrook joining an elite club. Could he be on a Hall of Fame path?
Marc Stein’s power rankings: “It’s too late for a real Sixth Man Award push but a welcome development in OKC given that Perkins hasn’t logged a minute yet: Harden is averaging 17.6 ppg off the bench since Jeff Green was dealt to Boston.”
NBA.com’s rankings: “After losing their final three games of February, the Thunder are 6-1 (best in the West) in March. With Jeff Green gone, James Harden has stepped up, averaging 18.3 points on 51 percent shooting off the bench, while registering a team-high plus-73 in the seven games.”
John Krolik of Cavs: The Blog: “One question to think about. Harden has finally started to come into his own for the Thunder — in a bizarro world where Varejao had been healthy at the deadline and the Thunder had been willing to trade Harden for him (they wouldn’t have been, and given that they got Perkins, that was probably the correct course of action), how happy would you have been with Harden instead of Varejao?”
Berry Tramel writing again on the Thunder’s shared history with the Sonics: “Give Kendrick Perkins No. 43, and someone could use it as means to reopen the court case. Claim that the Thunder has broken the agreement, even though most Sonic fans would prefer the revered numbers be used in Oklahoma City. Most Sonic fans consider it an abomination that the Thunder would try to hold onto any Seattle ties, particularly when it comes to honoring their heroes.”
Looks like several players were perfect for at least 2 full seasons. I don't think anyone was perfect for 3 full seasons recently so the recent record of probably something between 165- 246, unless you allow for injury absences and there was a key one, and then maybe it was more.
@Deseps
I don't know about all-time consecutive record but 16 players in the last 25 years have done 82 straight games in a season with 1+ free throw made.
http://bkref.com/tiny/Ip2X3
Speaking of Durant's free throw streak, what's the record for games with at least one point from the charity stripe?
Krstic was slightly negative with Westbrook, more negative with Maynor. Maybe it was more a bad fit of Krstic with the system and the way it was run (pnp over pnr and other things) than the personnel or maybe it wasn't as good as Boston on either... for him.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Right, context, system and strategy matters a good amount.
So far Krstic in Boston is a massive team +/- success with very major player pair including Rondo and now Arroyo too.
Small sample but something to watch for various lessons.
College tourney pool time. Whats everyones picks?
Its pretty obvious that Krstic had it in him. He handled DH last time he played him. Also he is the post up guy in Boston where as he stood around on the outside for us. Better coaching, Better utilizing, Better team = a better recipe
I don't seem to recall Krstic being very successful posting up when he did so. Maybe some moderate success at times with the correct matchups. More than anything, I think he's benefiting from the ball movement of the Celtics. They really have no ball stoppers with that starting group.
@Crow
Sammy and I were chatting about this the other day. Sammy noticed that the Celts don't really use Krstic on PnP plays, but more PnR. We used him for PnP plays mostly. I know we also wanted him to help us stretch the floor.
I know that spacing will be very different for Krstic between the two lineups. Russ and Rondo have nearly opposite styles of play, and the defense has to pay attention to Ray Allen where they used to sag off of Thabo, and upgrading from Green to KG is a huge difference as well.
We used Krstic to space the floor, when all along it looks like his game would have flourished if the floor were spaced for him instead.
clarkem :@Daniel@KFM
I’ve seen the first Okie Noodling Documentary. I’ve yet to see the second one. I assume that’s what you’re talking about. It definitely is crazy. I would never try it (terrified of snakes), but it’s perfect for my project!
Took the survey yesterday.. hope it helps!
clashes 'o the titans tonight:
Spurs vs Heat
Lakers vs Magic
I'll take Spurs. They're likely still smarting from the Lakers loss and want to prove they're still top dog among elite teams. And they beat down Miami last time, so they have a psychological edge.
Magic are surely underdogs, but I'll take them. Largely on the idea that Kobe either won't play or will be not in good form on his questionable ankle.
@f5alcon
@justin
Krstic with 50% more frequent at the rim shots is a big difference. Would be interesting to see how much where he sets up initially on plays has changed or when he gets the ball. Whether he can sustain it will partly depend on how much these early results are from defenses going off old scouting reports and being surprised. If they expect the inside moves Krstic might become less like his recent games and shift back more to his previous pattern. Unless his Coach and teammates keep pushing him to make plays inside and they and he refuse to let him revert back.
hopefully hornets beat nuggets tonight and magic beat lakers
Thanks so much for taking the survey guys! @Daniel Cool my girlfriend is a Psych Senior as well. @KFM I've seen the first Okie Noodling Documentary. I've yet to see the second one. I assume that's what you're talking about. It definitely is crazy. I would never try it (terrified of snakes), but it's perfect for my project!
probably. I was hoping it was true.
Hawaiian Rob :
not sure if thats jeffcapel real twitter account. If it is, then he sounds like hes having a mental breakdown.
I think the Lost Ogles have tricked you.
@TempBoy Brandon
I was why there isn't a Russ shirt as well. I would absolutely buy one.
I like the Perk design.. It's simple, but cool and kinda vintage looking.
To do that, you'd prefer a PG who is good at pulling more positive out of others on offense.
@justin
Krstic probably won't maintain this level of offensive efficiency.
Part of it comes down to the relative power of context. Some don't think context matters a lot, some do. Boston's context may help Krstic's shooting efficiency. How much long-term I don't know.
Complete Adjusted +/- addresses impact of context and impact on context but all rolled together with everything. Factor level breakouts of Adjusted +/- can help with seeing more details though there is still a chicken n egg paradox. Boxscore stats reflect impact of context but not impact on context.
Perkins in Boston was negative on single season Adjusted +/- every year but one (2006-7). He didn't fair better on multi-season traditional Adjusted +/- but he did on regularized Adjusted +/- because that version moves people closer to neutral and RAPM moved him to neutral. Whether that means much or anything is up to anyone. Boston was generally happy with him. But they also traded him. The trick will be getting defensive improvement without offensive fall-off canceling it out or more.
not sure if thats jeffcapel real twitter account. If it is, then he sounds like hes having a mental breakdown.
Jimbo Slice :
I’m sadly a little underwhelmed with the Perk shirt. Was hoping for something maybe relating to the scowl or something, but I guess seeing that he hasn’t played a game with us yet, there’s not enough inside jokes to throw on a tee.
Seems underwhelming to me as well.
@PNT
yeah green thinks he is a shooter but isnt.
@Crow
once his ts% comes back down he will be a slightly better version of the krstic here
Where did my avatar go? Curses. I don't even remember how to fix it.
From True hoop Blog Celticshub.com...
"•Erratum: Andrew Bogut looks tentative, nowhere near the force he can be. Jeff Green’s favorite spots on the floor seem to be: all of them. Carlos Arroyo seems a good bet to get spot playoff minutes, one way or another. He looks incredibly comfortable out there."
They are realizing what we knew... Green's a chucker.
Krstic is getting more shots at the rim, that's all.
justin :
I wouldn’t bet on Krstic not maintaining this level of offensive productivity. Even before the injuries and playing with Jason Kidd, he wasn’t this efficient.
The only surprising thing to me is the uptick in rebounding.
Whoops. Unintentional double negative.
@justin
We all knew that Krstic wasn't a bad center: he just needed to be next to a Kevin Garnette and not a Jeff Green.
I probably should have left it at in bigger roles here. Looks like they are mainly just getting more minutes. Shots per minute for Krstic are the same as in OKC and %assisted was actually higher with the Thunder. White is getting 10% more shots per minute but a lower assisted% in Charlotte.
I wouldn't bet on Krstic not maintaining this level of offensive productivity. Even before the injuries and playing with Jason Kidd, he wasn't this efficient.
The only surprising thing to me is the uptick in rebounding.
Tramel is now blatantly trying to get his name known nationally by continuing to push the retired numbers debate with Seattle. It kinda reminds me when Traber tried to go after Simmons.
@kfmsooner
Krstic and White is bigger roles (and a different PG) outperforming past numbers.
@kfmsooner
nenad +7 mpg +6ppg +3.3rpg +8% ts
green -14mpg -5ppg -3.6rpg +4% ts
versus here
I thought Darnell's floater piece was appropriate. If Westbrook is going to raise his game it would be a helpful tool to have. Especially for later when he is older and maybe has taken a few bad falls or just after taking a lot more pounding. He is not little, he is very strong and durable, but going inside a lot and all the way is not free.
@Jimbo Slice
im currently have my friend make a shirt with just perkins head on the front with the words 'perk is a man.' may do another one that has his scowl and have it read, 'perk does not find that funny,' or something of that nature. Ill post it when its done.
@kfmsooner
Not a surprise
@kfmsooner
I'm happy for Nenad and White--the latter especially. I hope that White can now show that he's a legitimate enough player to have a decent little career.
@kfmsooner
I'm happy all three of them are getting some good burn, in better positions-especially DJ
@Daniel
Psychology major*
Interesting stats since the Trade:
Nenad: 28.3 mpg, 13.5 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 61.3 TS%, 117 ORTG
Green: 22.4 mpg, 10.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 57.5 TS%, 88 ORTG
DJ White: 20.5 mpg, 8.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 58.6 TS%, 110 ORTG
Guess Capel couldnt find another Blake. They couldnt wait another season. Now we buy him out.
I know there are legal pieces involved, but I really think its silly to have some continuity between the Sonics and the Thunder-other than the fact the Sonics signed KD...et al.
And of course the few Sonics fans who have switched (in a major show of patience and humility) to cheering on OKC.
Otherwise-it's a whole new history as far as I'm concerned.
I'm curious though how Charlotte/New Orleans handles the Hornets/Bobcats?
I'm a big fan of Darnell, but his Russ floater piece is just so completely random and out of nowhere. I think maybe mentioning it in his Rumblings would have been good, but a lead story in which he poses the question to Russ, Brooks and the other players seems so off the wall. Did anybody else feel that way?
On another Russ note, we still need a Tree and Leaf Russ shirt. I mean, even our new guy who hasn't touched the floor yet has one, but our other All Star player doesn't have one yet!
Chocolate Ginobili :“Why would I shoot a floater when I can dunk on you?” – Awesome quote
I think the Cavs would agree.
I somewhat agree with Russ' quote, except some teams seem to be figuring out that it's pretty easy to draw a charge off Russ. That's one reason why he could use a decent floater...to keep defenders from camping out under the basket, waiting on Russ to run them over.
@clarkem
Whoops, forgot to reply to you last night. I'm a Psychology here at OU.
@Jimbo Slice
at least a picture of a cup of coffee or something should be on there
I'm sadly a little underwhelmed with the Perk shirt. Was hoping for something maybe relating to the scowl or something, but I guess seeing that he hasn't played a game with us yet, there's not enough inside jokes to throw on a tee.
Wall gets a good rate of steals but otherwise his rookie defense wasn't been anything special on average. I can agree it probably will get better as he has that potential. How much depends on focus and desire to do it over the long-run (and not just one year).
@clarkem
I am probably the only person from Oklahoma who hates fishing and noodling sounds absolutely crazy. However, surveys I can do.
andrew :
I am too young to really have any memories of Gary Payton, but how do we feel about a Gary Payton/John Wall comparison? I think Wall is going to be an elite defender at the PG position, but probably will score less and assist more than Payton ever did.
Here is how unique John Wall’s rookie season has been:
http://tinyurl.com/John-Wall-s-rookie-season
I think it's impossible for a PG to have the kind of defensive impact GP did in this era, post hand check.