I just can’t believe how many times I’ve seen people assert that OKLAHOMA CITY is the league’s chosen team. You know, the team that did not even get a Christmas Day game despite being the 1 seed the prior year.
Sam Presti in 2020:
OMG Blaze and the Monster Machines. I also have a 3 year old who is obsessed. So many pop-punk bangers lol.
A lot of people talking about the OKC 2 big lineup not working… they were -1 in ~10 minutes with iHart and Chet together today. Double big lineup was not really the problem. Honestly they could’ve used even more of it, as they didn’t go to it when Shai was off as they had been.
Alex Caruso and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have shared the floor for 1071 non-garbage time possessions this season. OKC’s net rating over that sample: +22.7. When you add just one of Hartenstein (+26.7) or Chet (+36.2) it goes even higher lol.
I’ve seen this idea from tons of smart people and it’s frankly crazy to me to decide that these guys would only get credit for the offensive rating and not the defensive rating. Not having a weak link to attack is *so* important in today’s NBA, and so is being scheme versatile on defense.
OKC shot 76% at the rim yesterday. Denver shot 54.8%. That’s the game right there. It’s really quite damaging to your team to have a center who can’t protect the rim!
It was really insane. They did Jokic elbow, endless talk about Aaron Gordon, then Windy makes a quick mention of OKC being impressive while Bontemps wonders if OKC role players can make threes in the playoffs. Rusillo was great on this point: “well, that’s the league right?”
OKC continued their dominance against elite teams today. Their net rating against fellow top 10 netrtg teams is +12.0. This is not only far & away best in the NBA this season, it’s easily the best in the Cleaning The Glass database (goes to ‘03-04). 2nd best is 15-16 GSW at +9.5.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging the fewest turnovers per game (2.5) of anyone in NBA history who has scored 32 or more points per game. Only Michael Jordan (and Shai last year) have ever scored even 30ppg with 2.5 or fewer TOV per game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander without his team’s 3 best players (JDub, Chet, iHart) this season: +29.9 net rating, 997 possessions
Nikola Jokic without his team’s 3 best players (Murray, MPJ, Gordon) this season: +4.7 net rating, 267 possessions
Per CTG
Almost everyone in OKC’s rotation is shooting more 3s than they did last season. The most significant increases in 3PA/36:
Shai: 3.8->6.1
Aaron Wiggins: 3.7->6.5
J Dub: 3.9->5.4
Joe: 8.8->10.4
Aaron Wiggins works so well together with Isaiah Hartenstein. Their games are just meant to fit together. Lineups that include Aaron Wiggins and Hartenstein on the court WITHOUT Shai have a +15.6 net rating in 300+ possessions. They need to play together even more than they have been.
If OKC plays only .500 basketball for the rest of the season, they would equal their win total of 57 from last year which put them number 1 in the West.
It sounds crazy, but Ajay Mitchell basically was that guy before he got hurt. He should’ve gotten even more opportunities than he did before the injury. If you pair him with Shai and Dub in a closing lineup, he would absolutely kill it playmaking from the second side.
Shai with none of Chet, Hartenstein, or J Dub on the floor has a +27.4 net rating over 700+ possessions per CTG. Just preposterous stuff. You want to try to tell me he has some transcendent supporting cast with those dudes off the floor? He is the MVP man, just is.
I would say that effort has always been an issue, it was just much worse last season than previously. I expect him to be pretty good, but he will definitely infuriate OU fans at times by playing passively and disappearing.
The GOAT. Between this episode, the Dr. Phil one, the smoking episode, the real crane… iconic.
Honestly, my biggest worry coming out of this game is Mark Daigneault’s coaching in big games, which I never expected to say. He got legit outcoached by Doc Rivers in this one, got thoroughly outcoached by Jason Kidd in the playoffs. He’s made some really weird choices.
Defensively however, I thought they were kinda bad! Mark not going to Dort on Giannis despite Giannis dominating early was quite puzzling. The rotations and communication also just weren’t nearly as crisp as we’ve come to expect, and it wasn’t a great plan to begin with.
Furthermore, OKC won J Dub’s minutes in this game without Shai at a +12. So the “need another creator” argument falls flat for me here. In the playoffs, you’re always going to have 2 of Shai, Chet, iHart, and Dub on the floor, which is going to really juice the bench lineups.
J Dub got sped up a couple times on drives to the rim and clanged shots off the backboard, but he also missed several middies and open catch and shoot 3s that he usually makes. I don’t think this game was like the Mavs series for him where he was more reticent to shoot.
Just rewatched the game last night and I’m pretty shocked to say that I think OKC’s offensive process, outside of a few forced Shai pull-up 3s, was mostly decent? They had several unforced uncharacteristic turnovers, but mostly the shots they generated were their usual shots.
Lol wtf is this Warriors lineup? GP2-Pat Spencer-Lindy Waters-Draymond-TJD
I’m “a Nebbiolo hates to see me coming” years old
Hartenstein on the short roll ❤️
OKC is getting legit hammered at the rim and zero calls, but still up 13. Could easily be 20 if a few of the really obvious plays got called.
OKC missed 10 free throws tonight. The last time they missed more than 10 free throws in a game was April 1, 2022. This was the starting lineup in that game.
It’s not even Cam Spencer! That’s what I thought too lol. It’s some dude named Pat Spencer! Unserious ass number 61 NPC
