Coach Mark might be the x-factor when it comes to the OKC Thunder’s success. To get this many young players to buy into an idea and then actually have that idea be nearly immediately productive and win a ring is… kind of unreal when you actually look at it?

3 years they’ve been #1 seed, 3 years they’ve swept the 1st round, and most of their roster are still under 28 y/o, and are still ramping up in experience and reps together. Some of this roster are going to move on and gather bigger checks from other teams, and I think once that’s occurred enough times we’ll be able to see how these players perform in other systems.

Another aspect of OKC’s culture as a team is how respectful they are toward their competition. They never see any game as an easy one, and if they do, you definitely don’t see it from their Coach, Mark is honestly giving me Pop vibes in his demeanor and coaching style. Presti also has done a great job of giving Mark the players that Mark knows will work in his system and with his other players, which also makes drafting a lot less stressful on Presti, due to the Coach not simply wanting the consensus “best” players, but would rather have players that fit the team’s culture and system “best”.

Chet is the only top 3 pick they have on their entire roster. Topic was initially thought to be a top 5 before he tore his ACL, Wallace being the only other top 10 pick they have. This isn’t just talent being found, this is a coach and culture that can seemingly bring out the best of anyone.

Im a big supporter of Mark and think hes getting shortchanged for what hes done. You dont get a team like the Thunder just by drafting the right players – you have to have great coaching. But jts never brought up how good of a coach he is when folk talk avout the Thunder.

Youd think a year when half the team was injured half the season would get him some notoriety. But so far I really havent seen it.

Because we see dudes no one wants go over there and suddenly look like prime 3nD wings

This looks like a bit of an overreaction lol, who are these players you are talking about?

McCain is a good example of this. He was their weakest link on defense and sometimes got pulled or had limited playing time because if it. But there were a lot of possessions where he was playing excellent team defense, knowing immediately when to switch, when to hedge, when to fake the double, and when to close up a driving lane while staying close enough to his man. He’s only been there a few months!

You could argue the Celtics are close system/process wise

Just with less talent

I think it starts with Sam, mark, then Shai

Shai was a genuine bad defender 5 years ago, now he’s elite

You just will not get played if you can’t hang

Is it a surprise that everyone who goes there suddenly grows into another level defensively?? I think it’s not luck it’s the system.

Who are you referring to?

Italian pg. Collin? He’s like 27

They have great chemistry

Who tf is the Italian point guard? Haha

Italian Point guard.. lmao you mean Marco Belinelli?

That’s what it seems like Ott is trying to do, cause he really loves playing Oso in particular.

The guy that was getting cooked by everyone that went at him and was -82 for the series?

Have you ever watched Oso play ? Lmao

As someone who watched him all season, please God no.

dude FUCK NO I cannot stand oso

Also one of the reasons playoff Caruso is a thing is because he’s going against the same offense 4-7 games in a row so he gets so in tune with the opponents offense.

OKC is ahead of the defense revolution in the NBA the same way that Golden State was ahead of the 3 point shooting revolution. Other teams like the pistons, Spurs, magic are also catching on

if you’re watching basketball games and still complaining about smart physical defense, you’re behind the ball

Defence is becoming the new meta instead of jacking 3s and foul baiting and I think most casual fans and a chunk of non-casuals don’t like it. Look at the reaction to Cavs v Raps game 4, people hated that game and yes the offence was ugly but the defence that whole game was fun to watch

yup, the reason other teams don’t play defense like this isn’t because “they want to play ethical ball”, it’s not because of rigged referees, it’s simply because they don’t have the guys who can do it.

They are also a team full of nerds. Nerds that are very smart about Basketball. J Dub, Caruso, Chet, Shai, iHart, Diagbol, Sam Presti… From top to bottom. They probably memorize their sets and the other teams’ sets and it’s just like the level of focus is very high especially with obsessives nerds that are very good at basketball.

I noticed this big time in the T-Wolves series last year. It felt like every game thread just decided that Ant had to be getting beaten with hammers because he couldn’t score like he usually does.

Like they can’t fathom a defense being good enough that a player like Ant can’t still get 30 every game anyway. It has to be something broken/illegal against him in their minds.

You just nailed the difference between good defense and great defense… anticipation, instinct. Sometimes it takes a risk for one individual to anticipate and miss, but when every single person on that team recognizes it and steps in, that is truly special, defensively and why I say they are super scary on defense when locked in.

I’m not even worried if they play the spurs, I think they baited the spurs in thinking they are better during the regular season. Sure, they probably wanted to win, but they weren’t going to show that squad everything and save it for the playoffs.

This entire thread sounds like Okc circle jerk sub lol

OKC gets called for lots of fouls, too

OKC does not get called for a lot of fouls this season. That’s the primary issue everyone on both sides seems to ignore.

We’re physical. The Magic are physical. We’re 30th in fouls and the Magic are 25th. OKC used to be 25th, 19th and 24th and suddenly they’re 7th. They’re still playing smart, physical defense but all of a sudden Caruso is getting significantly fewer fouls called than he used to, even when we can see them happening.

Dort and Caruso are both at career lows in fouls and it doesn’t look like they’re playing any differently. The only explanation I’ve seen is the Thunder aren’t having to use as many small lineups this year as last year, so they’re not mismatched as often.

Either way, the Thunder can’t claim to be a heavily called team anymore because they’re simply not. The championship team last year 100% was. This year is not.

If NBA refs could just be consistent, then OKC would still be a really good team and wouldn’t be the most hated.

The shame is NBA ref ball makes it hard to enjoy SGA’s skill, and seeing Dort get away with anything makes it hard to appreciate their overall great team defense. 

Gillespie!

Gillespie is not a building block lol. Not to a successful playoff team anyways

Was better in the box score than real life

He made shots but last game he was a -26

Jalen green? 35m a year Jalen green? Lmao

Flip Booker’s supermax into 3-4 hungry dogs and picks and that is a team.

Refs told Book to dribble fat at half court so Shai could steal it and get a dunk! I knew it!

JordanLaughing.Gif

ConnorStalionsReadsSigns

The only hope is a guy whose head also reaches the stratosphere.

As a second round pick? Amazing. IQ, passing, ball handling, switchable - better than you can wish for pick 40.

As an undersized starting centre that can’t shoot playing heavy minutes on a small team? Yeah not so great.

it was a super rough start to the year, where it felt like ott(our coach) just thought he was “the guy” - I’d compare it to pods and the warriors - but then something just snapped about 1/3rd the way into the season and he started playing much more confident. Haven’t watched much of moussa diabatte but that’s my comp(with putting little thought into it). Just plays with a dawg in him at times and catches teams by surprise with his ball handling, passing, and aggressiveness

They’ll face the rockets lakers next round not wolves nuggets

Na it just wasn’t funny

Its not as funny when its the third yeat in a row saying em

We want new material

So you’re saying the players play worse when the defense knows their plays? Holy shit.