ESPN logoTrueHoop Network
An ESPN Affiliate

Daily Thunder.com

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Team
    • Salaries
    • Roster
    • Schedule & Events
  • Commenting Guidelines

Inside the Thunder’s 11-game winning streak

by Royce Young on December 19, 2012 at 1:41 pm 144 Comments

Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images

When people start talking about winning streaks, it makes me nervous. It just always seems that they come to an end right when everyone notices them.

John Schuhmann of NBA.com took a closer look at the Thunder’s last 11 games and what’s went so right.

First, the offense has been ridiculous. OKC’s scoring 115.9 points per 100 possessions during the last 11. (OKC’s first in offensive efficiency at 111.3/100.) Interesting thing about the offense though: The Thunder are actually playing a little bit slower right now than usual. In the first 13 games, OKC played at a 95.5 pace. Over the last 11, 93.5.

I asked Scott Brooks about why the team is playing slower following the game against the Kings. His answer: Keep Reading…

Wednesday Bolts – 12.19.12

by Royce Young on December 19, 2012 at 10:56 am 129 Comments

Justin Kubatko of ESPN.com says KD’s the early MVP: “Once again acknowledging the imperfection of the available data, there is nothing to suggest that Anthony has any kind of defensive advantage over Durant. In fact, the evidence points to Durant being the better defender. Win shares is a statistic that attempts to summarize all of a player’s accomplishments in a single number. Durant currently leads the NBA in both win shares (5.5) and win shares per 48 minutes (.280), while Anthony is 11th and 12th (3.0 and .204, respectively) in these categories. None of this is meant to be an indictment of Anthony as a player — it is an indictment of the primary argument being used to support him as MVP. Durant’s clearly better season, coupled with the fact that Oklahoma City has the best record in the NBA, negates the “best player on the best team” argument. If you’re looking for the MVP of the first eight weeks of the season, look no further than Durant.”

Tom Ziller of SB Nation on assists: “In the end, on the question of the value of the assist, it turns out that the correlation between assist percentage and offensive efficiency (points per possession) is basically nonexistent. How well you shoot determines roughly half of how good your offense performs. Turnover rate is about 20 percent. So it makes sense that while assists have a smaller impact on shooting than on turnover rate, the outsized impact of shooting on an offense overall makes them even out. Again, it’s all in the execution. If there’s light to be shed here, it’s that passers who can rack up assists without committing turnovers are perhaps most valuable. Free Brevin Knight.” Keep Reading…

Film Study: Backdoor Lob City

by Royce Young on December 18, 2012 at 2:27 pm 903 Comments

You can pretty much count on it: At some point during the Thunder’s 48 minutes on the floor, Russell Westbrook will find Kevin Durant on that subtle backcut lob. It’s an incredibly simple read and react thing between Durant and Westbrook, one of those plays that comes from knowing each other and having a mental connection.

My question is: Why does it always seem to work? Keep Reading…

KD on LeBron, Russ and himself

by Royce Young on December 18, 2012 at 12:12 pm 39 Comments

“People want us to clash, and fight and hate each other. I think we hate each other once we’re playing each other on the floor.” — Kevin Durant on his relationship with LeBron

Tuesday Bolts – 12.18.12

by Royce Young on December 18, 2012 at 10:28 am 96 Comments

David Thorpe of ESPN.com: “All three accomplishments came about because of the Thunder’s improved play on both ends of the court, and of course thanks to Kevin Durant, who is quietly trying to wrestle “Best Player in the World” status away from LeBron James. The reality is the Thunder are coasting through many of these games — easing to leads often, then fighting when necessary to finish the game. When they have stayed locked in from start to finish, the Thunder have embarrassed opponents.”

Ben Golliver of SI.com: “Ibaka is a nightmare cover for a Spurs’ frontcourt that has plenty of talent overall, just not the right skills to neutralize him consistently. Ibaka’s athleticism, length and leaping ability present a tough match-up for a vast majority of the league and San Antonio is no exception. Boris Diaw, DeJuan Blair and Stephen Jackson simply can’t compete athletically; Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter stand a better chance but face other match-up issues if they play together and OKC goes small. Like teammate Russell Westbrook, Ibaka is at his most effective when he’s maxing out the relentless meter. That was the case here. He gets love for being able to hit the mid-range jumper, and he was 5-for-8 on jumpers, but he cleaned up inside too through dogged effort, with five baskets in the restricted area. Again, like Westbrook, Ibaka has the ability to wear on his mark and, as a game or series progresses, wear on the opposing team as a whole.” Keep Reading…

This One Goes To 11: OKC shreds the Spurs, 107-93

by Royce Young on December 17, 2012 at 10:54 pm 194 Comments

BOX SCORE

It’s been 46 days since the Thunder and Spurs played each other in both their season openers. Oklahoma City struggled mightily that night on the offensive end, grinding out just 84 points while shooting under 40 percent. It was four days after the Thunder traded James Harden and maybe only the second or third time the team was on the floor together with their remade roster.

Things are the same, but different now.

The Thunder trotted out the same team Monday night, the same players to take on essentially the same Spurs team. This time around — again 46 days later, that part’s important — the Thunder didn’t look like the same disjointed, discombobulated group that choked in crunchtime. It’s like the Thunder got better or something. Keep Reading…

Spurs vs. Thunder: Pregame Primer

by Royce Young on December 17, 2012 at 4:48 pm 1,768 Comments

vs.

San Antonio Spurs (19-6, 11-4 road ) vs. OKC Thunder (19-4, 13-2 home)

TV: FSOK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 114.0 (1st), Spurs– 109.3 (5th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 104.0 (12th), Spurs – 101.2 (4th)
Pace: Thunder – 91.9 (15th), Spurs – 94.3 (3rd)

View from the enemy: 48 Minutes of Hell

Two big things that are important about this game: 1) The Thunder are two up on the Spurs in the loss column and could make it three with a win and 2) the Spurs took the first meeting so in terms of a tiebreaker, have a leg up already. Keep Reading…

Thunder Player Power Rankings: Moving on

by Royce Young on December 17, 2012 at 2:12 pm 67 Comments

Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images

WEEK 1 | WEEK 2 | WEEK 4 | WEEK 5 | WEEK 6

Of all the weeks of the Thunder’s season, this one was probably the most uneventful. Two games, both at home, playing the Hornets and the Kings.

Entering the week, the Thunder were riding an eight-game win streak and if that were to come to an end at home with those two teams coming to town, that would’ve been a pretty solid disappointment. Instead, it’s 10 straight and a pretty 19-4 record, the best start in OKC franchise history.

But things are about to get tougher and the Thunder are going to get a bunch of opportunities to start validating that record. It starts tonight at home against the Spurs, then at the Hawks, at Minnesota and at Miami. If this winning streak goes to 14, then something special is going on. Keep Reading…

  • « Previous
  • 1
  • …
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • …
  • 515
  • Next »
Back to Top

Headlines

  • Fisher’s lawyer claims conflict of interest for Hunter
  • Russell Westbrook is off crutches, says ‘I’m back’
  • Gervin on KD: ‘I think he’ll be much better than me’
  • Report: Mo Cheeks hired as Pistons head coach
  • Nike donating all profits of KD V Elites through 6/15
  • Report: KD dropping agent, expected to change to Jay-Z
  • Mo Cheeks the ‘frontrunner’ for the Pistons job
Daily Thunder
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Copyright © 2008-2012 DailyThunder.com
Designed by iThemes Creative & Hosted by Site5