Presented without comment, the Denver Post’s Mark Kiszla:
As a championship contender, Oklahoma City is a fraud. The Thunder is a collection of soft jump-shooters and irritable hotheads. This young team has undeniable basketball ability but a lot of growing up to do.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder’s best players, received technical fouls by whining at the refs for perceived injustices.
The jump shot of Durant, who doesn’t like to get dirty, has betrayed him for most of this series. He is soft and adds little besides scoring. Wasn’t that the rap on Anthony in Denver?
That’s not a chip on the shoulder of Westbrook, but a whole bag of Hershey morsels. Here’s betting he will implode when push comes to shove in later postseason rounds as the tension builds.
These flaws won’t cost the Thunder against the Nuggets. No team in NBA history has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in a playoff series.
But Oklahoma City cannot beat San Antonio or Memphis this way, much less the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers.
Not related to anything, but just if you’d like to know, Mark Kiszla’s email address is mkiszla@denverpost.com.
@justin
We definitely need someone who can be a viable option behind Serge, Collison and KD at SF/PF.
If one or more of them sits out for some reason, it really hurts the rotation. I don't mind small ball as much as you do. But with one of those guys out, Thabo would play a significant role in the small line up - which we both know is not the greatest use of resources.
I think we could also look for Nick Collison insurance in the draft. I'd be happy if we could get Faried, or even Justin Harper.
I don't know that I'd be all that stoked about Nolan Smith. Don't get me wrong, he's obviously a good player. But, he's also a senior and probably pretty close to his ceiling.
We also have 4 pretty good PG's on the roster at the moment. I know Nate will probably leave and Ivey is just okay. And I suppose we could use a quality 3rd PG in the event someone goes down. But I would just rather find a PF/SF who could give us more depth and knock down a three.
Outside of the top 3-5 picks, I don't really believe the the "best player available" theory. I much prefer best fit available.
Marc Stein (the idiot who picked Denver in 6) referenced OKC on his Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/STEIN_LINE_HQ/status/62380495643742210
"RT @SekouSmithNBA: I owe @zaza27 and @Al_Horford an apology for doubting the Hawks. (MY APOLOGY TO OKC IS ZAZA-SIZED)"
Haha thank you! Nice message hopefully all this will stick it to him!@Caleb
Nice to know a friendly Thunder fan has my back :)
I couldn't help it... my response to the article:
A perfunctory inquiry into why you are so undeniably stupid:
"As a championship contender, Oklahoma City is a fraud. The Thunder is a collection of soft jump-shooters and irritable hotheads. This young team has undeniable basketball ability but a lot of growing up to do."
Yes, the Thunder do have a lot of growing up to do. However, that is only because their best players are still very young, not because they are "irritable hotheads". In fact, I would only say that one player on the Thunder is a hot head: that being Kendrick Perkins, who is purposefully irascible so as to intimidate his opponents. However, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Serge Ibaka... these are players who have been repeatedly cited for their high-character. Furthermore, the assertion that this team is full of "soft jump-shooters" contradicts reality as only Kevin Durant and James Harden could be considered jump-shooters on the roster (However, both possess a high free throw attempt rate which demonstrates that they are in fact very aggressive offensive players). As for soft, I personally would not want to get into a tangle with Russ, Ibaka, Thabo, or Perk; indeed, all of these players have attained a reputation for being tough players in the NBA.
"Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, the Thunder’s best players, received technical fouls by whining at the refs for perceived injustices."
First of all, with the league's new policy regarding player-referee interaction, the entire league has experienced an increase in the amount of technicals received by players. Just because Russ and KD received technicals in one game does not indicate either player as being a whiner or somebody in possession of an ill-tempered character. More importantly, the Nuggets contain several players that are in possession of embarrassingly cantankerous characters: J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin, Chris Anderson, etc..
"That’s not a chip on the shoulder of Westbrook, but a whole bag of Hershey morsels. Here’s betting he will implode when push comes to shove in later postseason rounds as the tension builds."
This assertion seems particularly trivial to me, considering that Russ has exhibited no actions that would indicate that he would implode "when push comes to shove". If your assertion considers adversity to be the predominant variable, then you are completely disregarding the fact that the Thunder lost against the Lakers last year in a series full of adversity for the Thunder, and Russ was able to handle himself perfectly fine in the face of such adversity.
Look basically, the reason I wanted to refute what you have written is because you are stupid and this article sucks.
Go Thunder!
sigh. never ceases to amaze me that people think that ALL of oklahoma are stupid :P or riding around in horse drawn carriages. OKC is a CITY you know, with stuff like oh i dont know, MODERN TECHNOLOGY lol. My buddy said it best, denver HAS to stir up drama to give themselves some self esteem.
If David West is healthy,hornets can give Lakers more trouble.
@Caleb
He was the ACC player of the year, and a strong candidate for AP player of the year...he also lead Duke to the Elite 8. He's damn good.
I hope KD and Honey Badger were watching the game and learning how to be clutch like CP3 and not heroes. That would really take this team to the next level
If the Hornets want to win this series THEY HAVE TO WIN GAME 5, they won't beat L.A. in Game 7, they'll have to do it in Game 5. Then bring it back home.
Jackson playing real gutsy with Kobe, Kobe's ankle is obviously bothering him, and playing him in this last minute may make him aggravate it more, or he may reinjure it even worse.
@nickgibson9
Haha nice... I never write to people like that but couldt
Resist myself... Of course u disagree with thr maybe we can't beat the spurs or Memphis!!! Here is what I said
Hahaha you are truly a dumb ass and do not deserve to be perceived as a professional in any way or form of writing... You call durant a "soft jump shooter" wow I would love to have one of those put up 41 in a game and be the youngest NBA player to ever achieve the scoring title. You have made asinine prediction after asinine prediction which has proven false leaving you to only speak out of your ass, appearing as that is the only thing you can do... Have you even looked unto the number of tech's receieved by okc this year in comparison to the other NBA teams? I'm guessing not... Please think before you write another article... You will never achieve fame by just merely writing against the grain at every chance you get... I never have written to a writer before but I felt this was more than warranted...
Sincerely a concerned reader,
Caleb
Kobe tries to make a good pass, but they ignore that because of his tweeked ankle, when he took his first step with that same foot, it wasn't as quick as it should be, and that led for the defenders to close in out on Gasol, and distract him from grabbing the pass right.
If Kobe has to miss the next game, then all of a sudden i see New Orleans winning it.
This is what I wrote to the head writer:
I really hate the words you used in the Denver Post. How can you say the OKC are frauds? Your calling us hotheads, look at your self, the Denver Thuggets, J.R. Smith was whining after he got 'fouled' which he clearly did not, Nene was just pushing and shoving, look at the headlock he gave Russell Westbrook moments after the 4th sounded. I think you need to look at the Thuggets and see who the real hot heads are buddy. I also see Durant leading both teams in scoring, adding in rebounds and assists, with Westbrook chipping in on all three. Sure we might not be able to beat the Spurs, or maybe even Memphis, but neither can you, and we don't whine about it in our blog posts. You labelled this series as the 'best first round playoffs' and that the Thuggets could win in 6 or 7, now your complaining that were 'frauds' and 'soft'. You'r 3-0, deal with it and stop complaining.
Oh and by the way, J.R. Smith clearly needs a passport after that lame ball he took to tie the game. Biggest travel I've seen it a while. Your just lucky the game finished before he could get a technical.
Don't complain about the OKC winning in another blog post.
@Bryson
Don't follow college to much.. What type of a player is he? Of course I will prob google
It right after I post this haha
If James Harden's not starting next year then something wrong.
@Dr. Thunder
Sorry if that came out that I was slamming on Thabo... I appreciate what he does for this team and if harden coming off the bench works best then that's fine.. I wasn't really making the argument for harden to start necessarily even, just would like to see sef step up his O Atleast... And I feel like he is a step below what he was doing last year... Granted I have heard some rumors of injury that are reason being for him not playing "up to par"... Anyways wasnt trying to offend you but a lot of people seem to care actually and feel as though Thabo is our week link... I like the guy though and sometimes wonder even though he is 26 maybe he hasn't hit his ceiling and can step up his D as well becoming more of an offensive threat to spread the floor more... Just what if's.. Love the thunder either way obviously
Just a quick e-mail to the writer for the Denver Thuggets :)
@Caleb
I think we're gonna end up with Nolan Smith in the draft. Thats what all the mock drafts say...so I think we're gonna start giving him some minutes, and I believe he will develop into a fine player.
@Caleb
if you start sefolosha, you get to use his excellent d on the opponents starters.
if you get harden from the bench, he gets to use his excellent playmaking and offense on the opponents bench.
both of these positions work towards the players specific skillset, and if harden gets starters minutes.. who cares?
@David
And Ron Artest leading scoring for lakers, tied for first in whole game. What is this?
Chris Paul almost has a triple double already. Wow
So I have a question.. If we do persist to keep harden on the bench even through next season... Do you feel upper management and brooks would be content at keeping sef as our number five man or would they maybe look for someone in draft or trade who could play defense as well as some type of specified in his arson on O, be it three point shooter or slasher? My initial thought is they would be fine with Thabo but personally I would just like someone who was a true defense specialist or someone that could bring another aspect of O to spread the floor...
Kobe has to make statements to his teammates. Game 2. You can be a winning player without scoring by playing defense. Today. You can be a winning player without scoring by passing the basketball
@JJJ
and 7 assists...who is this terrible Kobe impersonator?!
Wow no pts for Kobe in the 1st half...
Brew :
Ya, Durant is a soft bitch, and adds little outside of jumpshots. Yet he is a solid 10 as a player. Good job sports writer.
I noticed that too when I first read it. Just stupid.
Aaron Gray has some of the worst T-rex arms I've ever seen.
If you must write that sour puss, just right : hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhah
Turkoglu 2/12、Nelson 3/12、Redick 0/6、Anderson 1/6 in this game,and the whole Magics were 2/23 from 3.The great performance of Howard cannot save them.
It's interesting to me that a writer would be allowed to channel such ugly fan sentiment in a legitimate publication. It's also interesting to me that Denver fans are so angry at the Thunder. I'd love to call it a great new rivalry, but the nuggets have to be able to actually win on occasion.....lol
@ThundercatsKD35
Thats what I was thinking! But I think he will go a couple of picks too soon. I think we're gonna end up with Nolan Smith, which I think is pretty good.
Thunder looked really good last night. to hang tough and put a decent team away on the road in the playoffs takes some ONIONS!!! Thnder Up!
I personally would prefer Memphis in round 2 because we'd have home court.
I think Sammy is right on about Harden and the PnR it's been missing-but the corollary is it is sometimes because he is on the floor more. So we get one half better than nothing but not all of his best dimensions yet.
I'm curious again about tomorrow-hope we can close it out. Again, if we keep it close, I think we close it-Denver might fold if we keep control late in the game.
But the mistakes of us+Denvers still dangerous players should remind us of how they can still burn us
Skeletor :
What did Chuck and Kenny say about our win last night?
That Ibaka was great, Harden played clutch D, and that we'll have to face a much tougher opponent in the 2nd round, then they went on to talk about Spurs/Grizz. We get no time of theirs.
We should take Jimmer Fredette in the 4th round. I'm old school like that.
Imagine if the heat got Hinrich instead of Bibby. I'd be scared sheistless of them if that were the case.
billy white in round 2 please
Thunder should draft Kenneth Faried
What did Chuck and Kenny say about our win last night?
I wonder if Denver is defeated? or are they going to come out gun slingin
Maynor is excellent with this team. He is unselfish and gets his teammates shots. Doesnt have alot of time to do both. Iam a call him the balancer.
LOL Charles, he did a choking sound, then EJ said what was that? Charles responds, "The Mavs"!! HAHAHAH!!
KDs twitter has a replay to dailythunder's twitter feed. The feed it is responding to is dailythunder's posting of this article. KD's response to this article is "damn u can tell somebody is mad" At least, that is how I interpret the back and forth twitter affair between KDs account and the dailythunder account.
Sammy :
I was just looking back at Eric Maynor’s DraftExpress page. It is very wtf. His first three weaknesses:
- Out of control at time
- Shot-selection
- Turnover prone
Hahaha.
When Eric Maynor was at VCU he was a little more, eh how can i say it, he was more on the attack then he is now. He HAD to score for VCU to win, and sometimes his athletic abilities kept him from making plays which would lead him to turnovers. Thats and the people he played with in that team were real bad at reading the pass, so when he would make a difficult pass on a PnR, or a cutting pass, or even a kickout they would move out of the way. I've been a VCU fan because of Eric, so when they made that run this year i was stoked!
Odds are they like the current starter - bench framework and the way usage is balanced on each and Harden may continue to come off the bench all next season and perhaps beyond. It would have to stop working well enough, in a way significant enough for them to change the design. At some point it might bug Harden and his agent enough because of its potential impact on his next contract to prompt a change or at least a request for a change.
I was just looking back at Eric Maynor's DraftExpress page. It is very wtf. His first three weaknesses:
- Out of control at time
- Shot-selection
- Turnover prone
Hahaha.
@okc baby
Yeah, unless they made a major change in how they ran the offense, especially on the full starting unit.