Andy Kamenetzky of ESPN LA on OKC’s future: “Time will tell whether Harden puts his money where his mouth is, how Ibaka feels about his situation, and whether those two taking below market value leaves Clay Bennett enough financial wiggle room. But I imagine Lakers fans, Heat fans and anybody rooting for anybody other than OKC would have preferred Harden to say something along the lines of, “Yeah, I like Oklahoma City, but I can always visit. And I love KD and Russ like brothers, but that’s why God invented unlimited text and calling plans, plus Skype. Pay me,” then drop the mic and exit stage left in a huff.”
Berry Tramel: “Dynasty is a fun concept, to think that Oklahoma City could rule basketball the way Boston or Los Angeles or Chicago have over the last 50 years. But before the Thunder can win a series of titles, it has to win one. And as we saw last week, that will be hard enough.”
Chris Bernucca of Sheridan Hoops on Scott Brooks: “Although Brooks doesn’t have a contract for next season, he was Coach of the Year in 2010, reached the conference finals in 2011 and played for the title in 2012. The belief here is that ultimately he will be re-signed, although the length of his new deal may be an issue. It should be noted that in the last 10 years, Byron Scott didn’t get a contract extension after consecutive Finals trips and Mike Brown was fired after consecutive 60-win seasons. There also have been whispers about the idea of bringing in a bigger name – perhaps even as big as Phil Jackson – to get the Thunder over the top. One thing is certain, however. Brooks didn’t exactly strengthen his negotiating position over the last two weeks.”
Darnell Mayberry on Tibor Pleiss: “One one hand, that’s a positive for the Thunder from the standpoint that he has a chance to be a more polished player whenever he does come across the water. But it also could be a drawback because continued improvement by Pleiss will only drive up his price. Remember, he was a second-round pick, which doesn’t subject him to the first-round rookie scale. Even if the Thunder can get him over without difficulty down the road (think Ricky Rubio), there’s the possibility that OKC might not be able to afford his price tag (think Tiago Splitter). Stay tuned.”
Kurt Helin of PBT on the coaching rumors: “The Thunder players believe in Brooks. The Thunder players play hard for him every game. And while he seemed unsure of how to counter the Heat with lineup adjustments in the finals, in the round before he made the adjustments that beat Gregg Popovich. Again, this is not the time to make the change. Brooks and the Thunder will get a deal done. He will be back next year. Everything else you hear is negotiations.”
Perk on his groin injury: “My groin hasn’t bothered me since about the Lakers series,” Perkins said. “It’s gotten a whole lot better. It’s probably been about a month and a half now. It feels a whole lot better. It won’t affect me (this summer) at all.”
Bill Simmons on OKC’s heartbreak: “Brooks pulled Harden a few seconds later. He wandered over to the corner to stand with Westbrook, with Durant eventually joining them. They stood there with their arms wrapped around each other, watching their season tick away, soaking in every image for those days in July and August when you’re tired of shooting jumpers in an empty gym and need a trigger to keep pushing yourself. It was my favorite moment of the series. Down the line on the other bench, LeBron was hugging teammates and smiling broadly for the first time since … god, when was the last time we even saw LeBron smile? The final buzzer sounded, confetti started falling, and Durant and LeBron quickly found each other for a prolonged hug. You have to believe the rest of the decade is headed that way: summer workout buddies, Olympic teammates, natural rivals. They will see each other again.”
Zach Lowe of SI.com: “The Heat exposed just how much growth is needed on defense. The Thunder ranked a solid 10th in points allowed per possession, but they were inconsistent against teams that moved the ball well and weren’t overwhelmed by Oklahoma City’s athleticism. Sefolosha is the closest thing the team has to a wing stopper, but he was too small to deal with James. Sefolosha also hurt the Thunder’s offense — opponents simply don’t guard him. Westbrook’s jumpy aggression is great for ball denial and contesting shots, but it leaves him vulnerable to back-cuts as he closes out. Harden has similar off-ball issues. Ibaka, for all of his brilliance as a shot-blocker, has miles to go before he reaches the same level against pick-and-rolls and in complex rotations.”
first off i remeber a few years back nba experts predicted the portland trailblazers were setup to be a dynasty and take after the spurs. with there big three brandon roy, lamarcus aldridge and greg oden. but seeing how oden never played a full season and brandon roy has since retired there is no telling what the future holds, its a little early to talk about a dynasty. but the thunder are set up for the next 10 years to contend for titles,but only time will tell if they are good enough to win rings or bring more heartache to the city and its fans. first order of business is to improve on defense. after the lakers were destroyed in the nba finals in 2008 to boston they knew they had to improve on the defensive end and preached defense the next year thats what the thunder must do. they need to start holding guys accountable more missed assingments and bad help defense . but it is amazing this group is already in the nba finals at such a young age. you look at micheal jordan he didnt get to his first finals til he was 28 durant and westbrook are only 23 years old. they have time on there side but they must improve everywhere next season because the fact is that miami are champs and that team is signed on for 3 more years which means if the thunder are to get back to the finals they are probably going to have to play the heat again.
This article actually puts the Thunder's future is good perspective. KD will grow, Westbrook will need to defer to KD, and draft picks are the least of their concerns. Cap space on the other hand is a major concern:
http://chasing23.com/2012-nba-finals-recap/
@workhorse23 You like sharing links to your blog a lot.
@Jooseppi @workhorse23 nothing wrong with promoting a free read. i took a look and found a few interesting things there
@Crow
Rather long, but if you can overlook the tired Westbrook-needs-to-defer sentiment and the harsh remarks concerning Harden, the rest is pretty good. Your mention of Russ' Sesame Street pajama shirts and Stern's 27 different ways of saying "bullsh*t" brought a smile. All in all, I like this writing style.
According to Woj, David Vanterpool (head scout) could be promoted to assistant GM with Hennigan gone
@diddoff that would be really fast. been with the organization less than 2 years.
@diddoff i wonder if he is a source to woj and getting a promotion hype as a returned favor
I didn't see this mentioned by Byron Mullens won't play in the Olympics due to a toe injury. News was a few days ago so I'm sure I missed it.
A normal offseason monday on DT:
"idk about dynasty but we have to get better on defense , first and foremost."
...
"but man if Nash wanted to sign here for the right price, do you think Presti could say no? [...]
Our end game lineup would be
Nash - Westbrook - Harden - Durant - Ibaka."
@diddoff I don't think there's a "right price" when you're talking about Steve Nash. He would command a lot more money somewhere else and get a lot more playing time. He would be a backup to Russ in OKC (unless we moved Russ to the starting 2) and most importantly, he wants to sign a 2-3 year deal to finish out his career. Considering how strapped for cash we will be starting in the 2013-14 season, we'd have to have two franchises' cash flow to make that work
@diddoff
For those of you looking for a brief respite from C-SPAN....Check out local TV guy, Dean Blevins sporting a "Lyle Lovett" last night (1st video, or "Dean's Take On The Future Of The Thunder"):
http://www.news9.com/category/219810/oklahoma-ford-sports-blitz
@diddoff lol why you quote me man.. and that sounds like a terrible defensive roster my god nash harden durant OoO
@Lost Ones @diddoff lol, our end game lineup will be Harden - Durant - Ibaka/Collison/Perk in the middle unless we sign an all-world defensive specialist that isn't a hole on offense.
I think Nash would be a better fit than Maynor, who wasn't exactly known for his defense anyways.
Also, I think having a conundrum of Nash - Westbrook - Maynor at point guard would be the kind of problem most coaches wish they had.
I know we're set at point guard with Maynor and Westbrook...but man if Nash wanted to sign here for the right price, do you think Presti could say no? Like a 1-2 year deal at 5million.
I'm just envisioning how Westbrook looked during the all-star game when Nash was feeding him with some amazing passes.
@alvarex There's a realistic limit to how good an offense can be.
@Jooseppi And during the Miami series, we were definitely not reaching that limit. The major problem was ball movement, and I think having Nash here would help with that.
@alvarex I'd love to have Nash on the team. Everybody in the NBA would. But he's a luxury for OKC, not a need.
@alvarex There's not much to support the offense struggled down the stretch. If anything, it was fantastic down the stretch and struggled early in games. Outscored Miami in the fourth in 3/5 games. In the two games Miami outscored OKC in the fourth, the differential was 6 combined.
@Jooseppi Yeah we looked great in every series but Miami. But against Miami our offense faltered down the stretch in every game but game 1 (and to some extent Game 2). We're geared to beat any team in the west (this playoff being an example), so we have to be prepared to face the ones out east in the chance we make the finals again.
Our shoddy defense had to do with rotations, effort, and more importantly, a Miami team that was on fire from home. I also think that the Miami series was not indicative of our defensive woes, but it was for our offense.
And the thing about metrics, they are a nice average over the period of a full game. But how can anyone who watched game 3, 4 and 5 like how our offense executed?
@alvarex OKC averaged a 110.58 ORtg in the Miami series (three games at 110, one at 100, one at 120). That was better than our regular season average. That was better than any team over the playoffs other than us with our pesky 111.8 ORtg. Putting up 110.58 ORtg on a defense that gave up 101.6 is good. Very good. Enough to win the series.
Problem is the team allowed Miami to score too easily and too efficiently. Open 3s will do that.
That wasn't my point in any case, but if you want to bring up the Miami series...
@alvarex pass he might not even make it next season.
@alvarex Can you imagine small ball with Nash in there. Nash, Maynor, Harden coming off the bench. Now u see ball now you dont
@OkcBaby That would be an amazing lineup.
Our end game lineup would be
Nash - Westbrook - Harden - Durant - Ibaka.
Talk about firepower.
@Legendary_dork @OkcBaby With Nash out there we'd need some rim protection. Collison and Ibaka would probably rotate each game as the closing center.
@alvarex @OkcBaby or collison for ibaka, talk about smarts!
He hasn't said OKC is a destination for him though. Every other contendor is. I would really, really like him in a Thunder uniform for his swan song.
@alvarex oh wait..im forgetting that maynor was hurt at the time so..hmmm. he would have to split mins from russ or maynor
@alvarex I bet Nash would be a knock down 3 specialist 2
@alvarex He'd take Fish spot. Iam down for that
@alvarex hell he let fisher play 4534534534 mins a game so..why not :D
Dynasty yes I said it. Next year there will be no breaks for other teams. We will put a hurt on em all 4 quarters
@OkcBaby idk about dynasty but we have to get better on defense , first and foremost.
@Lost Ones translation: brooks needs to understand rotations more. i agree with okcbaby though, its on!
@Legendary_dork I think it goes way beyond that; we need more offensively competent big men. Otherwise, how can Brooks tailor the rotation to not stall our offense while keeping a good enough (read: smart) defense on the floor. Let's all pray that Cole can put the moves on opponents next year off the best. #Cole4MIP
@Legendary_dork I'm all for giving Brooks the credit he deserves for getting us to the Finals. But, I think it is time OKC management seriously consider an upgrade. I mean, we were out coached by far in that series. And, if the whole dynasty thing holds true, we will be seeing the Heat many more times in the future. I don't want a replay.
I don't know what Prest is thinking, but if he truly thinks it is "rubbish" to consider someone like Jackson or Sloan or whoever - he should think again. Being loyal is one thing, I appreciate that. But, if there are clear coaching upgrades, why not at least just THINK about it. Our guys need a coach that knows what he's doing, knows how to teach defense, but also will hold them accountable. We have a great, young team, but we shouldn't disqualify coach possibilities bc they have a system since our guys like to run. If we want someone to have them to run, hire D'Antoni. Except, we all know that'd be the worst thing ever!
I never liked SVG (#masterofpanic), but Presti should be considering potential upgrades.
@Lost Ones @OBoymuzik @OkcBaby if i ever heard brooks say that , id die lol. Thats why id love another coach, someone whom wont just baby them. they need to know when they are screwing up. like STOP HELPING OFF, FIGHT OVER the screen, not UNDER
@Legendary_dork @OBoymuzik @OkcBaby i actually agree with that approach.
@OBoymuzik @OkcBaby @Lost Ones it is scotties fault, he should grab KD by the ear and be like LOOK HERE ASSHOLE, dont ever LET THAT SWAGGALICIOUS bastard do that again, yaaa feel me~ lmao
@Legendary_dork @OkcBaby @Lost Ones I saw KD give up 3 consecutive 3's to nick young in a regular season game....damn you scotty
@Lost Ones @OBoymuzik @Legendary_dork Ron Adams
@Lost Ones @OBoymuzik @OkcBaby and not true, up until thabo got hurt we were defending the 3 point line very well, then cook entered and well....shit happen
@OBoymuzik @OkcBaby @Lost Ones yeah you shouldnt forget that, shesh, dumbass!
its still about starting lineups and ect. But brooks will never change his rotations unless someone is injured. or gets traded
@OBoymuzik @Legendary_dork @OkcBaby our guys have been terrible the entire season with perimeter defense, randomly stepped up in the spurs series.. and i wouldnt say stepped up cause stephen jackson shot like 70%
@Legendary_dork @OkcBaby @Lost Ones i'm talking about the whole season...not the last series....i forgot we went undefeated until we lost 4 straight to the heat
@OkcBaby @OBoymuzik @Lost Ones bosh practtically walking around perk to dunk it, yeah, its called rotations. and our guys get more and more pissed when that happens. I saw kd's face go OMG ARE YOU SERIOUS every time miller hit a 3
@OBoymuzik @Legendary_dork @Lost Ones example KD on Chalmers, Perk over Colli, Fish........
@OBoymuzik @Legendary_dork @Lost Ones It does if brooks puts out mismatches
@OBoymuzik @Lost Ones actually it does, when you dont have the right group to STOP the other guys then everyone just gets relaxed. when you have someone like thabo or sometimes even perk yelling at our guys and psyching them up, its a huge difference so. BOOOYA.
@Legendary_dork @Lost Ones lol brooks rotations have nothing to do with our guys falling asleep on defense