JJ Redick on OKC’s physicality postgame - “They have a few guys that foul on every possession…they’re hard enough to play. You gotta be able to just call it if they foul and they do foul”
I think a huge part of OKC’s defensive strategy is using the fact that refs rarely call fouls off the ball
They basically use the classic anti-Steph Curry gameplan against all teams 24⁄7 where the moment a star player gives the ball up they have to fight through the entire team to ever get it back
aren’t the Lakers doing the same exact thing with Shai on the perimeter? Especially Marcus Smart..
Yes lol
Both teams are doing the same thing, yet the whistle only goes one way you say?
In this series so far…
Marcus Smart: 8 fouls
Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso COMBINED: 9 fouls
Same thing, vastly different results??
How many of those calls are offball?
They are SMARTER about their fouls. Also the refs magically don’t call them on OKC for some reason.
You’re so close keep thinking it will start clicking
Yeh but they got 3-5 Marcus smarts. Dort is unprecedented. Smart looks like an Angel in comparison.
That’s the old 90s Bulls style of defense that I thought everyone loved and wanted to see back in the league
Yeah we do if everyone is allowed to play it, not sure how that’s hard to understand
I want Boston to be able to play 90s Bulls defense and no one else.
Finally some honesty.
You should start rooting for OKC. Then you’ll get your wish!
Just be consistent. Why is that so hard for you guys to understand? There is a foul on SGA in this game that would also not be called in the 90s. You can’t have 90s defence and 2026 defence on two different possession depending on which teams is bringing the ball up the floor.
Refs consistency has absolutely nothing to do with the teams that are playing. Have you watched a single.game where there hasn’t been inconsistent calls?
Yes but it would be nice if we could both play like that
Shai’s averages this series are proof that you can and are playing like that.
Yet he shot more than 2x as many free throws as LeBron
Compare it to Reaves.
He average low because the defensive plan of the Lakers is to double him and make him pass the ball.
Tbf they learned it from the pistons haha
Then don’t bitch, moan, and flop everytime a call doesn’t go your way on the other end. No one would be complaining about them playing physically if they weren’t also the softest team in the league
No they don’t call them because they have all gotten a defensive reputation
People always say that defense is too weak in this current era yet when Defense gets some slack People complain about how it is just fouling?
Because you can just watch the game, both things are not exclusive lol.
All teams guard star players like that now it’s nothing new
I mean this all started back when the warriors were king…. The amount of dirty screens dray did was crazy. Now it’s common practice to have moving screens that never get called especially when it’s a smaller player doing the screening.
Frankly all of them now do this stuff. Guards are pushing off others before they move off switches…
Yup. Kerr, Draymond, Bogut, Zaza all knew they could spam illegal screens and holds because they knew refs were going to swallow their whistle in tight playoff games. Might as well take advantage, playoffs is about winning at whatever cost - and OKC knows this too
I mean you allow mauling off ball it’s a natural progression. Only way to get dorts bear hug off bron is to set a moving screen. Especially when Dort is actively pushing bron off his spot so that he can clear the screen. All of that is a foul. But I’m fine with none of it being called. Just don’t let Chet fake a hit or reaves flail or SGA attempt a backflip at the slightest contact and blow a whistle on that
No mate it started with the Cavs in 2016
None of that is what people are even upset about on this thread.
They foul on ball all the time too. Cason Wallace literally grabs and holds ball handlers wrists all the time and they never seem to call it.
They’ve figured out how to game the system at every turn.
I thought it was only Shai who was a flopper, but the entire team is really good at flopping. They must be doing team acting classes or something. It’s really hard to play against.
A take that has no self awareness or the awareness of how all teams play in the post-season.
Redick definitely getting his money’s worth on that fine
Usually I laugh at coaches who bitch and whine after the game
But after watching this game I’m bitching and whining with him
This is funny coming from a Warriors fan. 10 years ago it was your team that was getting this treatment.
10 years ago the 73-9 Warriors were 22nd in free throw attempts a game in the league with 21.8
The team in your flair, the Rockets, were 1st in the league with 23.2, and James Harden led the league in attempts per game.
It’s not about how many fta they get it’s about how they get them.
2018 rockets were just as worse. Before there was SGA there was Harden’s whistle.
Revisionist history
Yeah it’s worth it though…
I get that selling it is part of the game I guess but what’s not fair is they absolutely maul the other team and get away with it…
If other teams played OKC how OKC plays defense against other teams the entire team would foul out… this has been going on for years now and I don’t get it
Dort only getting one call off the ball for riding LeBron like a show pony was nuts
Lu Dort was literally the LeBron backpack tonight. Absolutely insane whistle.
OKC definitely coaches that they are 12 guys deep and they can’t foul everybody out, but the refs don’t have the balls to foul one of them out.
Honestly a smart strategy though. Play rough until you reach the limit. You know when dort or Caruso is at their limit they play a little differently
Shams Charania: The league is imposing a $50,000 fine to JJ Redick for his verbal statement to the officials last Thursday.
Every conversation on this sub is about officiating
It’s the what the league has become. Officiating has been a dominate force in these games.
No fucking shit? Did you watch the game last night? I had to turn it off midway through the 4th with how bad it was.
Seems like most people agree. Even Lil Wayne and other celebs online have been posting about it. It’s the story of this series.
When it’s a problem this big, it’s worth discussing.
It is the inconsistency that is driving everyone mad. And it is not inconsistency game by game. It is from 2 opposing teams.
It is the playoffs, it will be better if they let them play a bit more physical and set the tone early that flopping will get then a tech.
It’s ruining the sport, what do you want us to do?
I’ve been here for nearly a decade and it’s been like this for a while. This seems egregious though since it’s being put on full display like this in post game pressers/social media.
It’s exhausting. I’m convinced /r/nba doesn’t even enjoy ball they just enjoy complaining.
It’s why they will keep rigging it for us. You guys are driving nba content like I haven’t seen since KD was on the warriors.
Maybe because officiating in the NBA sucks and instead of wanting the product to improve some people just love to glaze the nba and act like nothings wrong with it
I mean the Lakers are grabbing Shai on every possession as well, it’s cool to me, physical Defense.
I keep seeing this argument trying to seem smarter than everyone then explain this, if Lebron is getting grabbed every possession and Shai is getting grabbed every possession, how does Shai end up with 5 more free throws on 5 less shots? Also while playing 11 less minutes.
Because SGA has a better whistle? its obvious
Ok that’s a legit complaint then if 2 guys are fouled equally but it’s called differently
Simple, Lebron isn’t getting grabbed every possession
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Neither of those are counters.
Lakers were in the bonus half the night
Yeah I don’t get it lol. Selective outrage but it’s the lakers so they the victims. I truly don’t care if they get shafted this series cause they have been in the benefit of reffering for how long now
45 years
Exactly, I had no issue with Brooks doing it in round 1 either. Play through it.
I hate the idea that a foul in the regular season is not a foul in the playoffs. It should be called the same way regardless of what game is being played. If a player fouls out, that’s on them. You can’t change the whistle.
The game is just different in the playoffs though. Completely different game.
And sometimes it changes mid-way through the 3rd.
Okay, I’ll bite. What’s the difference between what Dort was doing to Lebron and what Smart has been doing to Shai? Shai is getting wrapped up with two arms when he doesn’t have the ball pretty regularly?
The difference is Smart received 5 fouls and Dort received 2.
Edit: Dort + Caruso have had 4 PFs combined this series. Smart has had 8.
I’m done with this place man. Like I really can’t read some ppls comments. Shai shot 5 more free throws despite the fact he played 10 less mins than Bron. It’s like they didnt even watch the game.
I think Shai does what Kobe and plenty of other superstar SGs have done for decades.
What I take issue with is Dort and Caruso only having a small % of their fouls called.
Dort shouldn’t even be in the league
Kobe played physical as fuck. In his younger days he would drive into the paint against Duncan and David Robinson again and again. And more times than not it wasn’t a foul call. Defenders now lean away from SGA when he attacks the rim cuz they know it’s a foul. And they get called anyway. So no. Kobe absolutely did not ‘do what Shai does.’ It’s embarrassing to even read that
Kobe flopped, especially on 3s later in his career. He just didn’t do it nearly as much as SGA but he also didn’t need to. He was getting calls most of his career without doing it.
If you’re arguing other fanbases didn’t think Kobe got a generous whistle, I don’t know what to tell you. We did.
That’s because they don’t watch the game, they just look at the numbers after the game and the highlights, and base their opinions on that lol
Because we like lebron and don’t like SGA. Also LeBron is a frail 250lb 6’9, and Shai is a giant 6’5 210 pound behemoth.
Fair play.
Honest, I respect it.
“It’s okay to foul Lebron because he’s big.”
People didn’t watch the game or they’re bias. SGA wasn’t even SGA. Lakers did a good job containing him or what Smart was doing with his over aggressiveness. It was OKCs bigs that made the difference and won the game but here we are, talking about SGA foul baiting. I mean, Reaves had the most calls. At least wait until SGA gets a lot of free throws before we start this whining
the crazy part about that is that SGA still didn’t deserve most of the free throws he got
Difference is when it’s only one player doing it versus the whole team
Smart had a bunch of fouls called on him. That’s the difference.
Because LeBron shot less free throws, on more attempts, in more minutes.
SGA shot 9 FTA in 28 minutes played
Lebron shot 4 FTA in 38 minutes played
Now do Reaves
Neither of those is that bad you just don’t like shai
If you’d like I can direct you to compilations of LeBron getting hacked drive after drive this series with no call?
Go for it.
It’s game changing
Title funnily leaves out where he says “every good defense does”. Wonder why that’s left out?
Write the headline for the audience.
“They have a few guys who foul on every possession, and all the good defenses do” goes against the prevailing narrative on here.
He’s trying not to get fined. And he’s just saying it’s dirty and the whole purpose of it is to make it hard for the refs.
Why would that change anything?
Confirmed sarcasm from his comments a few days ago about them not fouling
He said right after this every great defense has them
That’s the point, a lot of great defenses get a better defensive whistle
Why’d you put in that ellipsis 😂
Only thing I’d say is if he wants these to be called than he’d also have to be okay with fouls being called on Reaves/Smart guarding Shai, they were hugging him and holding him while he’s dribbling but they were letting them play and not calling it so it’s a double edged sword.
Man is it the playoffs or what? OKC didn’t play especially physical the Lakers just cry cuz they know they aren’t as good as them lol.
Cry about free throws against OKC, and you get the masses on your side. Really can’t lose by doing it.
They playing for moral victories. Not NBA championships.
Get AI to call the fouls.
I don’t think enough people here know it’s an mlb reference lol taps hat
what’s Allen Iverson gonna do with officiating? /s
Smart has Shai in a hug 80 feet from the basket every single play - they can call that too if that want
We’d never have to bring the ball up the court we could start on our own half with an inbound every possession.
Why is JJ acting like they aren’t allowed to play handsy defense??
Shai is literally getting hugged anytime he’s off ball, Smart especially is constantly hugging/grabbing Shai full court
Edit: im personally fine with it being no calls, i just don’t get complaining when they’re essentially doing the same thing to Shai every possession
I mean he’s not wrong, OKC has perfected the defensive strategy The rockets tried doing last playoffs against The Warriors. Just foul the shit out of the opposing team, they can’t call them all.
Nothing exemplified this more than when Caruso became the “Jokic stopper” last playoffs by just fouling the fuck outta Jokic anytime he was on him and the refs being too pussyfoot to call them all
Devil’s advocate, and asking this as a neutral that has no love for OKC -
Why don’t the Lakers just do the same thing?
Folks act like OKC has cracked some code that no other team could replicate.
OKC is physical and gets away with it.
What is stopping other teams from doing the same?
I’m not one of those that has a huge problem with “flopping” because I think it’s part of the game to an extent. But I also think OKC has mastered the art of “they’re not going to call every foul” so they push physicality right to that limit constantly.
A lot of it looks like fouls but it’s not like other teams don’t do it too. The difference is that OKC has also mastered the art of “selling” contact so it impacts the opposing team psychologically. They start second-guessing being physical themselves which means what OKC does consistently can’t really be done back to them the same way.
It’s basically a game within the game and they’re the best team in the league at playing it.
Real answer - they’re trying to do the exact same thing but only one guy (smart) can actually defend. OKC has about 6 guys that can fuck your shit up so they’re just rotated in and out and that causes this sub to lose its mind.
They are doing the same thing. Watch how they’re guarding Shai this series.
And somehow Shai is almost getting 10ftas per game while lebron has 4ftas in total lol.
I think LeBron’s whistle these last few years has been pretty bad fwiw. Shai is getting hard doubled every single time he touches the ball, tripled at times. There’s a reason he’s getting more fts
We don’t care Redick, stop playing Jake Laravia
Lakers continue to be the biggest victims in the league. A tale as old as time.
When will the little guy get a break?
OKC plays the defense my gym plays on Saturdays when there’s no refs or free throws
Why he ain’t just say Lu Dort, Cason Wallace, Wiggins & Caruso foul every play? Lol be a man JJ
You can see the ticky tack calls start to roll in when Lakers close the gap
Yup, it got really bad when they went up 6, and then again after Bron made that 3 to cut it to 6 the refs made sure that they wouldn’t keep that momentum.
This is nothing new. Draymond made a hall of fame career out of this even though his skills are about the same as a G leaguer
Talk about irrational they play aggressive good defense like the Spurs and Timberwolves you just don’t like them
I’ve been saying it since 2023-2024. How are they allowed to touch u up all the time?
OKC figured out that if you foul on every possession, the refs aren’t going to call them all. Then, if you flop every possession, they are going to have to call some of them.
Good. Let’s call a million fouls then. When SGA has 75 free throws you’ll really have something to complain about
Oh but when it happened to Denver we were ‘soft’
Did he steal this from the Doc Rivers playbook?
The amount of people that thought JJ was serious when he said “OKC doesn’t foul” was hilarious
Lmao this is how you know the series is over
Why didn’t the complete quote get posted. Had to put in the “…” to make sure the quote does numbers on here 😂
Wasn’t that the Pistons strategy in the 80s?
This is the whole Wemby “OKC plays unethical basketball”. It’s just horrible for the sport so I’m happy he will be looked at as the savior of the sport when we whoop Okc next series.
worse part is i bet OKC watching these clips using it as “fuel” knowing not shit will change
Imma need another high profile coach other than Finch to crash out on the refs on the big stage so refs stop this shit
Not an OKC fan but I hope they win the finals in a sweep to watch this sub seethe.
Get this guy back to podcasts and find a coach
I think the main problem is that OKC knows themselves they’re not gonna get penalized for fouls. They play like they’re putting the refs in a position to call it but the refs never do
Propping up OKC with no fouls will not save this league from the inevitable implosion thats just around the corner. Multiple gambling scandals, the flopping, the terrible officiating in every game no matter whos playing, the players who sit out without injury, the list goes on. This is all going to catch up to the league. People dont want to see this type of shit.
I’m surprised no ref has been punched yet
JJ is always complaining.
https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/s/qVvpXA5N7b
I don’t disagree really, but take your sweep and like it.
Are we acting like the Lakers weren’t just as physical with Shai tonight? The refs were inconsistent for both teams.
It’s literally the ENTIRE OKC team, even if smart and ar are being physical to the same extent. It’s their whole team doing it, bench and all.
Yes correct, nothing stopping the entire Lakers team from doing the same apart from a skill issue.
Thunders coach looks like fucking Mr. Bean.
He just said they don’t foul. Lol
That’s why ratings are low. Who wants to see players shoot free throws. All the time.
lol where do you get your stats? Same place as the Trump admin?
Funny how these sorts of tirades always come from the coaches of the losing teams
The clip from last year’s Finals of Cason Wallace grabbing and holding TJ McConnell’s arm in front of the ref is one of the most infuriating things I’ve ever seen.
OKC theater kids single handedly just fucking up the league.
Facts.
i thought the refs really did swallow their whistles early in this game and then called it super tight in the second half. officiating was much better game 1 imo. a lot of weird calls and non calls tn
Hahah he had to stoop to it
“and all the good defenses do”
I turned it off when LBJ got mauled by Dort causing a turnover at mid-court in a reprise of the finals last year, then OKC gets a touch foul and-1 at the other end. I just saved myself two months of watching this junk. Eff you Silver for stealing the sport, but with that and Infant-ino selling WC tix for down payments, maybe the whole pro athlete thing has just jumped the shark. But for real, eff you Silver.
What about the 2 continuations that were taken away? There’s no way this isn’t a ref rig job.
a few days ago redick had that clip like “the big thing about okc is that they don’t foul. they never foul so you have to be careful”
and we had so many clueless comments saying nonsense like “oh look, who knows better, a professional nba coach or reddit nephews”
As if it wasn’t completely obvious that he was being sarcastic and knows damn well what a bunch of hacks and floppers they are. Do better r/nba
They downvoted me for saying JJ was being sarcastic in the pre-series media appearance when he said: “OKC don’t foul”. They wrote think pieces about JJ Reddick recognising that our defenders play disciplined defense.
GG Lakers fans, I think your team deserves a lot of credit for how hard you’re competing.
“You can’t play physical defense” mfs when it isn’t their team
Lakers finally reaping Karma from that Kings series.
This is what happens when your team gets absolutely crushed two games in a row.
Okc is allowed to foul. Other teams are not. Why do people like JJ have such a hard time understanding this?
Lakers complaining about whistles man who would have thought
Lakers have led the league in fts.
JJ Redick 3 days ago: “They don’t foul, so the whistles aren’t gonna be there. You accept that going in. They don’t foul.”
JJ literally says in this video that he was being sarcastic when he made that statement
He literally said he was being sarcastic IN THIS VIDEO! Did you happen to not watch it?
It helps if you actually listen before commenting.
What ya gonna do? Call every single foul? 🤣🤣🤣
Yeah, that’s your strategy. “what you gonna call out every flop? Make use of every possession”
Yeah, this has been the problem with okc.
They get deserved foul calls but opposition doesnt get their deserved foul calls.
Calls favor one end, so it frustrates the opposition alot.
Atleast with prime gsw, u can say curry gets lesst free throws coz refs dont call out draymond’s illegal screens with okc there are none
Why do yall just regurgitate this like it’s so insightful or factual lol I bet you can’t find a single fact from anything to back this claim up
You provide real numbers, and they’ll just say it doesn’t pass their vibe check. It’s pointless.
I disagree. They don’t get deserved foul calls. They get absolute bullshit calls where there is minimal contact while they play an extremely aggressive physical defense on the other end and don’t get called for fouls
One of the teams tonight has the highest FT differential in the league by a mile for the past 5 years or some shit
And it’s not the Thunder lmao
hearing anybody tied to Lakers from their fans to coaches to players complain about fouls is so hilarious when there’s so much data showing they’re THE team who gets a favorable whistle year after year
Another bozo with no responsibility. Where do these people come from? Seriously.