Raptors tried that but it didn’t quite work because it turns out at least a few of those 6’6”-6’11” dudes also have to be good basketball players (I.e. shoot the ball) as opposed to just being freak athletes with a specific body type.

Shai, JDub and Cason match this description. but many of our key defensive guys do not.

Hartenstein’s wingspan is good, but not huge. Caruso’s is only 6.6”, and they are two of our key defensive cogs.

Its more about the mental attributes than the physical attributes.

Okc are doing it with ball pressure and smarts and energy more than length outside of Chet. They’re playing 6’2 Cason, 6’4? Joe, Caruso like 6’4 or 5, ajay Mitchell like 6’4. They have wingspan guys sure but it’s not the only or main reason why they’re good.

It’s scary when you have oversized, uber developed, highly coordinated/athletic players on a team that can play positionless ball at will. They have so many different players who can bring the ball up, initiate a set, make reads, finish, knock down shots. It’s the new era of gen Z hoopers having access to elite skills coaches and biometric data. This has typically translated to poor team play, but incredible individual play. Specifically looking at US born prospects. But the system they are running in OKC is truly a juggernaut. I’m a nuggets fan and have faith we will meet them in another brutal 7 game series, most likely the WCF. And I have the ultimate faith in Jokic. But Jesus fucking Christ, this OKC team is just dominating their opponents in nearly every aspect of the game. And sure, Shai gets the bullshit whistle a lot blah blah blah. But, fuck his mid range is automatic.

Pat Riley wanted that in the 80s with Magic. They came close

My takeaway is that you need 12 good and trustworthy basketball players. Everything else comes after that.

They don’t have that many players in that height range though. The reason they’re good is because they have so many small guards who can handle, shoot, and score.

This is funny because OKC has like no players between 6’6 and 6’11

If anything, no actual wing sized player might be their only weakness

I don’t think shai has had to buy into anything, the guy has a drive to be the best at the game not just one side of it.

On another note, there is a short interview Daigneault did with Tim Legler where they talk about how the Thunder “coach” defense. Daigneault said that they don’t really coach but just help the players understand situations, the player they are guarding, who they are, what is happening in the game. So the players have the autonomy to make the decision, “this is who I am guarding and what I am capable of doing, what is the best thing for me to do.” So the players have a confidence in themselves and in their own decisions which expands to the team as a whole.

It’s based on opponents combined record lol.

It’s so silly to judge s.o.s this early. If OKC lost a few more games this season then the nuggets would have had the easiest strength of schedule. Guess they should’ve done it so these morons could be impressed.

Exactly. No one wants to give OKC credit. It’s okay though, we’ll receive our praise when we repeat this year.

depends on what metric you use. If its the difference to #2, sure, celtics got it. If its the more commonly used relative to league defensive difference, this OKC team is on pace to completely crush the record by 2 or 3 full points

Considering those teams were stacked with all the talent, and their only being like 8 teams this isn’t really that crazy

They have to do something with Dieng. But other than that, not much else.

Injuries are the silent killer.

The would still be good if they had the worst offense in the league

SGA is just an excellent fit for ensuring that is never the case

it’s super rare to have a pg who plays amazing offense and defense all game, i played PF and could make it through games no problem, but i had to play PG once cuz we were so shorthanded and god damn is it tiring, having to control the flow of the offense all game takes so much more energy, and he still plays great D, that’s rare

Probably Wallace, Dort or Caruso tbh

That’s as far back as the source I used for ORTG/DRTG on NBA.com goes

He doesn’t get soft calls he needs more

The “soft contact” you’re thinking of are blocking fouls bc he beat his defender and you don’t understand the rules of basketball

Well, once you build a reputation for having good defense and establish a baseline of physicality, you tend to get more favorable treatment (ex: Draymond Green). It’s smart, even if it’s frustrating to deal with.

Maybe they get away with roughing up opponents because they are better at it? Just an idea

Yah man it’s all a conspiracy 

I don’t disagree– they definitely take advantage of “they can’t call them all”, and the fact that they get some… “soft” calls on the other end can lead to a frustrating viewing experience

But that being said, I think they’d still likely have a filthy defense even if the whistle got a lot tighter, they’d adjust and are loaded with athletic, smart defenders.

Nuggets fans engage in the most one sided hate of OKC ever, what else is new?

Officiating already has adjusted. Fouls are up significantly this year than last. Teams everywhere foul more including OKC. And unsurprisingly OKC looks even better. Because its not about some convenient idea that they just get away with things. It’s having too many elite defender, on top of a legit two-way star.

It was also on a Zach Lowe show where it was mentioned that the Thunder have figured out the “science” of fouling, which is what other teams are trying to emulate.

I love salty nuggets fans so much 

Strength of Schedule (as of today):

OKC: .449

Denver: .460

Denver has the 2nd easiest schedule with 5 more losses.

You people are insufferable lol. Youre right there with them on strength of schedule and you’ve lost 5 more times. 

Only lost 1 game still which is still insane 

Don’t yall hate when people mention you played a bunch of low seeds in your championship run & always say stuff like “ we don’t pick who we’re matched up against”

But its not as good as having the easiest PO run of all time I’m sure you agree.

I don’t think a harder schedule would change much. It’s not like they are last years grizzlies they should still beat whoever they just know how to handle bad teams

Dont know about all time but they’re doing similar things in terms of defensive and offensive stats as last year with the exact same players. Because of that, it’s far less a sense of “they’re only doing this because of schedule”.

I mean they’ll probably fall off a little but their bench being as good as it is means they won’t have as many “scheduled losses.”

Idk if it’s all time, but it is the easiest so far this season. Here is the list:

• Oklahoma City Thunder: -3.11
• Minnesota Timberwolves: -2.07
• Denver Nuggets: -1.84
• Toronto Raptors: -1.29
• Detroit Pistons: -1.25

For reference, the Spurs are square (#16) in the middle at +0.00

Here’s the list of the top 5 sorted by SOS so far.

Nuggets have the second easiest schedule right behind OKC and have 6 losses btw

Yes but that doesn’t push the narrative, let’s see them repeat otherwise none of this matters.