Rob Mahoney for the New York Times: “Those Thunder role players aren’t going to put blinders on and shift into isolation mode; 12 of Oklahoma City’s 14 isolation possessions in Game 2, for example, were used by either Durant or Westbrook. That difference in approach gives this group of players an inherent advantage when it comes to efficiency. By eliminating one of the least efficient scoring avenues from their in-game repertoire, guys like Harden and Ibaka are free to focus on what they do best on offense without having to create against consistent defensive pressure.”
John Schuhmann of NBA.com: “Those are some strong words from Felton, and he has every right to believe in his squad. But looking from the outside, one can’t help but think that the Thunder are just the better team right now. Before the All-Star break, the Thunder had the fifth-best offense in the league. Then they traded for Kendrick Perkins and their defense improved without their offense suffering at all. With that in mind, you can certainly argue that Oklahoma City is the best team in the Western Conference.”
Henry Abbott predicts pretty confidently that no games will be lost to a lockout.
Emma Carmichael of Deadspin on Westbrook’s pretty play: “The play was just two points in a blowout, but I’m not sure there’s a better demonstration of Oklahoma City’s arrival as an elite NBA team, one that mixes recklessness and calculation in equal parts. A lot has been said this year about just how young this Oklahoma City team is, and just how inexperienced the Thunder are in postseason play, and just how much they tend to depend on All-Stars Westbrook and Kevin Durant, and how all that means we won’t see OKC advancing past teams like San Antonio and Los Angeles. It’s probably true. But George Karl had reason for saying to reporters before the playoffs started that he’d prefer facing a veteran, experienced team like Dallas in the first round than the Thunder.”
KD on a recent change in his life: “I just want to grow spiritually with the Lord,” Durant said. “It’s something I always talked about, but I never really got into it.”
Pretty fun little story about George Karl and OKC.
Arron Afflalo will play in Game 3.
Andrew Feinstein of Denver Stiffs pretty much nails how most Nuggets fans are feeling right now: “Optimistic Nuggets Fan: Come on. They barely beat us in Denver on April 5th. George Karl sat key players and held back his playbook in the loss on April 8th since we had nothing to play for at that point. The refs screwed us in Game 1 with that missed offensive interference call. And we just had an off night in Game 2. It happens. Like Coach Karl said on Thursday, we’ve only played 15 minutes of awful basketball in the whole series! There’s absolutely nothing to worry about. Pessimistic Nuggets Fan: You see, this is exactly why we’re losing to the Thunder. Always making excuses after each loss instead of making substantive adjustments for the next game. So I guess we’re really 4-0 against them in our last four games even though nobody else sees it that way?” Brilliant.
NBA Playbook with a look at why OKC is killing Denver on the glass.
Interesting post from Conrad Kaczmarek on HP: “It seems like everybody is ready to proclaim Derrick Rose the new face of the NBA, but wasn’t it mere months ago that we had given that title to Kevin Durant? When I hear people talk about Derrick Rose as the best point guard or even the best player in the league I cannot help but wonder if Chris Paul and LeBron James were simultaneously involved in a horrific accident.”
@dmcguire
Agreed, that lay up at the end of game three was baffling. He went by 4 pacers and avoided that behemoth Hibberta swat. It was beautful
@dmcguire
West Central, around the QC.
@TC_42
Extremely!
@Daniel Plainview
He really is fantastic though. I was watching the first pacers game with some bulls fans, and was celebrating a pacers win a little early, only to have Rose basically go Kobe on them. It was so frustrating, and reminded me on late game Kobe when he just hits everything (and gets every call he wants)
@dmcguire
Look, i love D Rose, but the hype is out of control. Hes great, but hes not head and shoulders above the rest like they make him out to be. Ive already seen some articles that refer to him as the actual MVP, not just the front runner. His agoy has been off and the pacers are playing them way to well for the writers not to be voicing major concern ovrr their legitimacy to get pass the second round
Chas :
Just don’t start from the beginning of the bible and read straight through that way. That shit about genocide, rape and corporal punishment will depress the hell out of you.
Pun intended?
@Bryson
Where in Illinois? I'm also from there. The D-Rose hype is killing me.
Speaking of Homers...I just read the NBA.com article about us, and just about everyone that posts on that site is a mega-tool, bandwagoner, homer, or wannabee expert.
James Church :
Royce isn’t a homer. He’s supportive and speaking from a Thunder perspective. But he isn’t delusional or hyper critical of other teams. That’s what a homer is, loving to the point of irrationality and clouded judgement.
You must be talking about a different Royce. The one I'm married to is most certainly a homer.
Derrick Rose is the best PG in the league? Laughable. Think he carries the Hornets to the playoffs? That supporting cast around CP3 is worse than what Rose has had to work with in any of his 3 years.
The hype for Durant subsided b/c he didn't live up to the ridiculous expectations placed on him an the team. He had unreal expectations placed on him, plus you had Westbrook, Harden, and Ibaka improving their games and taking some of the load off Durant. The team was predicted to be the best in the west by more than a few "experts" and some even had the having the best record in the league. They were supposed to go from 50 win 8th seed to a 60+ win #1 seed in one offseason, all in one offseason.....and while being the youngest team in the league.....and those predictions came with the starting front court being Green/Krstic.
Anyone see the SI article: Lakers and Spurs aside, home teams got an early boost from the zebras. way to do your homework, SI
Yeah I realized this little forum is not a homer zone when I come on after what was a pretty stellar game 2 and still see plenty of thoughtful (and some not thoughtful) criticism of our play. Deservedly so, we nearly let them back in several times, but yeah, I think there's a good balance here. At least it almost never feels like trolls abound, and I get that feel from almost every forum on anything on any comment section on the internet.
I think that culture starts at the top, so kudos to Royce for always keeping the articles great and encouraging hopefully quality folks and discussion on here. Well done.
@gr8ball83
Not that I could find. Just the rumors on Denverstiffs. I was only guessing that was the most likely reason but who knows.
@Landstander
Yeah we're alright. And that Westbrook vs. Rose thing got some media attention so it wasn't completely irrational. Also, Artest line of the day;
'Shooting better due to practicing less.'
Ah... Ron Ron.
@beefman63
did the full story ever come out?
I actually think that this community is pretty rational when it comes to most teams. And like most people in OKC, we take offense when we think we're being completely overlooked -- which is when most of our "If you're looking at rose for MVP, don't you at least have to *mention* westbrook?" types of arguments come into play.
Go us, we're awesome! /imaginary high five
So does anyone know what the whole Birdman thing is about? Was somebody a little too harsh calling him out for his past or what. I figured he would get that kind of thing all the time.
Just don't start from the beginning of the bible and read straight through that way. That shit about genocide, rape and corporal punishment will depress the hell out of you.
Mark! :@kfmsooner
Do you really think this blog isn’t wildly homer biased?
I’m not suggesting that’s a bad thing. If Royce wasn’t a super fan, he wouldn’t be donating so much volunteered time for this thing.
I dont recall even our biggest Homers, me included, saying KD was the MVP
@Landstander
That sounds like all of us...
@JJJ
Kareem coached the Enid team. He did a coaches' show on the Animal. So hard to listen to, you could tell Kareem didn't want to do it. Brutal.
My memory of the Cavalry is Stevie Thompson (I think that was his name) who would miss layups/close shots on purpose to pad his rebounding stats. My buddies and I went to a game in the 90's, Stevie had a breakaway, and the other team didn't hustle back. 4 intentional missed shots, 4 offensive rebounds before he finally put it in...embarrassing.
@James Church
Remoh - the opposite of a homer. But it's two sides of the same coin -- loving the team so much you are hyper critcal of them but very rational when it comes to other teams.
@JJJ
It was the Oklahoma Storm out of Enid (although, I think they did play a year or two in OKC). NBDL - fun league, watched Doug Gottlieb play on the Storm for a bit. Saw Roy Jones Jr. come into town as a basketball player.
In speaking with a couple of the players on the team, Kareem had no clue on coaching.
John :@innocent
bystander
Nothing strikes fear into the heart of an opponent like the prospect of an encounter with a mighty “frost heave”
LOL... well I certainly wouldn't want a case of the "frost heaves"... doesn't sound too appealing
Royce isn't a homer. He's supportive and speaking from a Thunder perspective. But he isn't delusional or hyper critical of other teams. That's what a homer is, loving to the point of irrationality and clouded judgement.
For the record I have a distinct different between homers and fans. For instance I feel that I'm a fan of OKC, while some Nuggets fans are clearly homers because of how irrational they are on Nugget matters. Royce is a fan. Not sure who on this board is a homer... Definitely not Justin, he's like the opposite...
@Mark!
A 'wildly' homeristic blog? I don't think so. Things are presented from a Thunder point of view, and the posters here are homers, but Royce and the other contributers point out a lot of negative as well. Saying the Nuggets are 'really 4-0' vs. the Thunder is way over the top...
that incident with Karl grabbing the ball from the ref and kicking it into the stands is hilarious
wish an NBA coach would do that some time
I still remember the OKC Calvary. They won the championship like 15 years ago, then folded the next week.
Didn't Kareem Abdul-Jabbar coach them? (or maybe it was that Enid team, not sure)
@innocent bystander
Nothing strikes fear into the heart of an opponent like the prospect of an encounter with a mighty "frost heave"
The Calvary are folding too
and the Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry logo...
does that not look rather similar (ahem) to another basketball team's logo???
:)
and sadly... the Frost Heaves are no more
:(
sounds a little like a kid's breakfast cereal
Vermont Frost Heaves
PBL...
Manchester Millrats?
Vermont Frost Heaves?
ok, don't want to hear any complaints about the Thunder's team name ever again!
;)
*Premier* Basketball League
CBA - Continental Basketball Association
never heard of it
and OKC had a team in it -- the Cavalry... had no idea, never heard of it
and some searching reveals that the team still exists... sorta, but now as the Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry... which plays in the PBL
PBL - Permier Basketball League
never heard of it
I guess there's no end to my ignorance
@kfmsooner
I'm standing up to the hype machine aswell...In Illinois...
@thunderchris9
Pretty cool idea for a video dude. Well done.
"Then they traded for Kendrick Perkins and their defense improved without their offense suffering at all. With that in mind, you can certainly argue that Oklahoma City is the best team in the Western Conference.”
I love the last sentence here.
@Mark!
Ah, I get what you're saying, I thought they were one of those "network" blogs by ESPN or whatnot, makes a bit more sense now. Thanks!
@314thunder
Denver Stiffs is just a fan blog. We aren't exactly nice to posters from other teams who come on this board and don't begin their posts by saying they're big Thunder fans, want the best for the Thunder, Thunder is their second favorite team, etc.
Let them be fans. I've never been fond of the Nuggets, I dislike them more now because we're playing them. Just how it goes. I don't see why this is offensive in the reverse (other than hypersensitivity... which is fine, it's the playoffs!)
Well Denver's post-Carmello team is all stiffs so what can you say.
haha I enjoyed the pessimistic and optimistic nuggets fan thing. Yeah, Derrick Rose is great, but like said above, it's strange how the hype completely switched directions on Durant. My new video I made with a couple clips from Game 1 and scary THUNDERstorm warning sounds :).. Give it a watch if you have time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Ve9BxyJYs&feature=channel_video_title
@kfmsooner
Do you really think this blog isn't wildly homer biased?
I'm not suggesting that's a bad thing. If Royce wasn't a super fan, he wouldn't be donating so much volunteered time for this thing.
If I were Derrick Rose, I wouldn't even want the MVP at this point. Because I think he knows if he wins, all the "I'm sick of hearing about Rose" hate is gonna hit a fever pitch, and he could fall out of favor in the seasons to come.
Great bolts today. I'm glad someone is standing up to the Derrick Rose hype machine.
We have to stop referencing Denver Stiffs. They have no credibility. That's a worthless fan blog with no grip on reality. When the Thunder lose, Royce points out the negative with the positive. That's how it should be.
RE Derrick Rose, the funniest thing to me was how recently everyone's been talking about how Rose went straight from the FIBA tournament to practice with his team and look at how great he is for that, when in October, all the articles were about how great Durant was for doing exactly the same thing. All the praise about Rose's "intangibles" were all the exact same things people were saying about Durant 12 months ago, and it's like everybody forgot all of a sudden.
And yeah, neither was ever close the player LeBron is.
I don't think the writing for the Stiffs is as bad as we think, it's the over-the-top and borderline internet trolls of the commenters that bring down the site. The guys writing are definitely homers, but they seem to catch the right emotions coming from the fans, imo.
I...want to kill the Denver Stiffs with fire.