Grizzlies vs. Thunder: Game 2 Pregame Primer

UMM YES

dylan :
So funny to see people on twitter calling for maynor to start when he was much worse than westbrook in game 1

dylan :
So funny to see people on twitter calling for maynor to start when he was much worse than westbrook in game 1

Umm no..

@Skeletor
That is the next important progression from Ibaka (I think it's too late for Perkins). 8 stone hands at the PF/C positions.

The one thing I hope Maynor and RW do next game is not dump it off to the bigs in the last second when driving to the hoop. Just take the layup or the foul when you're that close

should read *in a lot of ways i like that in the playoffs

So funny to see people on twitter calling for maynor to start when he was much worse than westbrook in game 1

James Church :

Thunder S :
the thing with the media’s opinions on our team is that they havent watched all our games and chances are they just started watching in the playoffs and decide that they are experts. thats one thing i appreciate about this board- we may not agree but at least we have informed opinions.
for example, theres a lot of buzz on the twitterverse abt maynor starting, but if westbrook starts to have good games, this narrative could change. KD was clutch bcuz of his game at denver, but if he misses some free throws late in a game that could chance as well.
Its like an old saying “Theyll like us when we win.” I’m glad the team (organization at least) is not overreacting to the different media narratives or trying to radically change what we do this late in the game.

It helps the organisation has realised most of the media are morons. Maynor isn’t in the same stratosphere as Russ. Russ is just a bit off since Game 4 of the Denver series. But for real, if Russ hits 3 more of his shots tonight? Everyone says he had a great game.

I agree, and i also think, as much as we bemoan the stubborness/lack of innovation of Scott Brooks, in a lot of ways that in the playoffs we are not grasping at straws each and every game. Instead of radical adjustments, he is emphasizing things like screen better (happened today), be more physical, play w/ more effort, which means players dont have to be stuck in their heads all the time and can just play.

On the other hand, this lack of innovation hurts us at the end of games, so i guess its a double edged sword. but still, it is useful insofar as its predictable for players- which allows them to give their best effort each and every night out.

Wilbon's comment which was referenced earlier is probably just him nitpicking in order to raise Rose (whether consciously or subconsciously). They're so much alike, when Westbrook's stock falls, Rose's elevates.

Thunder S :
the thing with the media’s opinions on our team is that they havent watched all our games and chances are they just started watching in the playoffs and decide that they are experts. thats one thing i appreciate about this board- we may not agree but at least we have informed opinions.
for example, theres a lot of buzz on the twitterverse abt maynor starting, but if westbrook starts to have good games, this narrative could change. KD was clutch bcuz of his game at denver, but if he misses some free throws late in a game that could chance as well.
Its like an old saying “Theyll like us when we win.” I’m glad the team (organization at least) is not overreacting to the different media narratives or trying to radically change what we do this late in the game.

It helps the organisation has realised most of the media are morons. Maynor isn't in the same stratosphere as Russ. Russ is just a bit off since Game 4 of the Denver series. But for real, if Russ hits 3 more of his shots tonight? Everyone says he had a great game.

shiki :
This game give me some confidence.We can guard their big men but they cannot guard KD.And I still hope Z-bo can play like Nene who had a great G1,a decent G2,worse and worse in rest game.

Wow. I didn't realize that Nene went downhill that much. I now have hope that we might be able to do the same to Memphis; although, not really a lot of hope. The combination of Gasol in there will make it harder to shut Randolph down.

the thing with the media's opinions on our team is that they havent watched all our games and chances are they just started watching in the playoffs and decide that they are experts. thats one thing i appreciate about this board- we may not agree but at least we have informed opinions.

for example, theres a lot of buzz on the twitterverse abt maynor starting, but if westbrook starts to have good games, this narrative could change. KD was clutch bcuz of his game at denver, but if he misses some free throws late in a game that could chance as well.

Its like an old saying "Theyll like us when we win." I'm glad the team (organization at least) is not overreacting to the different media narratives or trying to radically change what we do this late in the game.

BenAU :
I don’t understand the scheduling at all
Bulls/Hawks and Mavs/Lakers tomorrow
Thursday nothing (cinco de mayo not sure how big that holiday is not from the states) but fair enough whatever…
Friday Bulls/Hawks and Mavs/Lakers again…wth
Saturday Us/Grizz and Heat/Boston
Why have us and the boston/heat on the Friday and then the other games on the saturday…that way both series have a 3 day break instead of 2 of the series having a rythm destroying huge 4 day lay off

The weird thing is that you'd assume OKC/Memphis and Boston/Heat have a much larger chance of going 7 than Dallas/LA (less so now) and Atlanta/Chicago. You'd think they'd put us + Celts/Heat first in case it does stretch out and we're left with empty days because Hawks and Mavs have bailed out.

This game give me some confidence.We can guard their big men but they cannot guard KD.And I still hope Z-bo can play like Nene who had a great G1,a decent G2,worse and worse in rest game.

wow tom thibadeau saying derrick rose doesn't get calls

Daniel Plainview :Word on Ibakkas injury?

Right knee and left ankle (or the other way around?).
I thought they said he should be ready for the pratice tomorrow!?

Daniel Plainview :
Word on Ibakkas injury?

He was on the bench towards the end, he should be fine.

Word on Ibakkas injury?

Rose MVP well deserved and great acceptance speech

*why NOT have

Stick to stats. I ll make the game time analysis

I don't understand the scheduling at all

Bulls/Hawks and Mavs/Lakers tomorrow

Thursday nothing (cinco de mayo not sure how big that holiday is not from the states) but fair enough whatever...

Friday Bulls/Hawks and Mavs/Lakers again...wth

Saturday Us/Grizz and Heat/Boston

Why have us and the boston/heat on the Friday and then the other games on the saturday...that way both series have a 3 day break instead of 2 of the series having a rythm destroying huge 4 day lay off

Darn it. If the Rangers would just beat Seattle tonight today would be a perfect "screw you" to Seattle. Stupid bullpen.

Defence on Gasol and Randolph was great... Perimeter defence was kind of crap (mainly due to us giving up w/ a 20pt lead)

Turnovers are the key to this series...Game 1 18-8 we lose Game 2 13-12 we win...

Man TNT apparently has jumped off the THunder bandwagon. THey are discussing why Memphis is better than us...?

Harden and maynor were great. Harden was aggressive and maynor took the shots he should take. Collisin was the defensive player of the game for making Randolph work his ass off. Russ had a good game up to the missed dunk. Can't kill him on d because we wanted him to go under the screen and make Conley shoot it. He did and Conley made shots. Please keep the turnovers low and we should beat this team time and again.

We need Harden's talent to win this series.He is a good scorer and playmaker,so Brooks please give him ball and see the magic he create

RW had an amazing 3d quarter. Can we give this guy props at all or do we have to destroy him for everything?

justin :This has been a horrible close to the game.

Can not agree more... The whole game turned when RW decided to go show boating ended up with the missed dunk... Lucky the 2nd team pull the lead up to 20, otherwise, it would be really ugly.
I thought I was extremely happy with RW's game at the beginning but when he came back in the 4th, back to earth again. Still not where he should be in order to help the team win.
I seriously think Maynor was the main reason for the win, Harden chipped in and everybody else too. But, man... Mohammed has been pretty bad so far in the playoff...
It's a good win and now just need try and take one or both games from Memphis.

Joshua G :
The link on ESPN’s nba front page: OKC’s Big 3 Shine.
Why does every team have to have a big three?

Maynor, Harden, Collison?

The link on ESPN's nba front page: OKC's Big 3 Shine.

Why does every team have to have a big three?

TNT analysts are idiots: "This wasn't a blowout" - Yes it was. Up by 20 in the 4th. "Collison and Perkins cannot guard Randolph and Gasol." - Don't you mean Nazr. Collision did a great job on defense tonight.

James Church :
This game is about as relevant as Z-bo’s last performance going forward. Maynor won’t go off again like that. Z-bo won’t go for 34 again. The Thunder won’t go to sleep during the clutch because odds are next time it won’t be over with 5 minutes left. So meh, the first half is all that’s relevant. And that we evened it. Important part is the big men stepping up.

9-20 and 8-18 isnt really that great. Dont expect them to do that again.
Vasquez cant handle Maynor.

Stephen :
Thank you Thunder for the win. Now I don’t have to cry myself to sleep tonight. Yay!

It wasn't SUNDAY on ABC early in the day, No wonder we won!

LMAO

thunder bench played great on O, but this game was won on the defensive end. if we could rebound a little better (i think just holding on to the balll; our position was fine) and prevent second chance pts, that would be great for game 3. still, hopefully we can keep the effort up on the road.

Did somebody from OKC take a couple mill off of Barkely in a poker game? Such a h*ter.

Thank you Thunder for the win. Now I don't have to cry myself to sleep tonight. Yay!

nick :
Tonight was the first game all playoffs that Harden has had a USG over 20. That should be a trend.

Yep thrice!

James: 30 minutes
Thabo: 10 minutes

This, I could get used to.

Tonight was the first game all playoffs that Harden has had a USG over 20. That should be a trend.

I also think its funny that nobody makes mention of Rose's horrific shooting because "he has nobody else on his team and has to take them." REALLY? So its okay to shoot 21% from 3 and 37% from the field if your teammates suck? "Playing the right way" consists of jacking up 20 shots per game at incredibly low efficiencies.

That's my D Rose rant for the day. Back to Thunder basketball.

@Joshua G
By definition they were the opposites. Our ORTG for the game is their DRTG for the game and vice versa.

Collison was huge tonight

andrew :
Russ could go for 35-12-10, miss a pull up jumper with the game on the line, and get murdered for it the next day. With Rose, it would be “he was the only reason they were in the game anyways”

Because Rose's teammates aren't worth shit. /sarcasm

nick :
ORTG: 117.4
DRTG: 107.8
Defense kinda fell off in the 2nd half. Offense was pretty good throughout the game, kept the turnovers down in the 2nd half at least.

What were Memphis's ratings?

Russ could go for 35-12-10, miss a pull up jumper with the game on the line, and get murdered for it the next day. With Rose, it would be "he was the only reason they were in the game anyways"

This game is about as relevant as Z-bo's last performance going forward. Maynor won't go off again like that. Z-bo won't go for 34 again. The Thunder won't go to sleep during the clutch because odds are next time it won't be over with 5 minutes left. So meh, the first half is all that's relevant. And that we evened it. Important part is the big men stepping up.

ORTG: 117.4
DRTG: 107.8

Defense kinda fell off in the 2nd half. Offense was pretty good throughout the game, kept the turnovers down in the 2nd half at least.

W

Let's take back home court on Saturday!

Feels good

bouzi4real :
sounds like to me the media is looking to create some kinda storyline here in okc. i think they feel it is too good to be true. the media won rose his mvp and now are trying to destroy russ

Not trying. Succeeding. They've already latched onto that story, and will keep running with it as long as they can.