Thinking Basketball The Thunder are too good
This sub worships Thinking Basketball and hates the Thunder so this is hilarious lol
I hate how the thunder play but there also no denying that they are good.
They go hand in hand imo, I hate how they play and recognize they are good enough to not need to play that way to still dominate. It’s your friend that won the lottery asking you to venmo him $5 after he paid for your coffee, like I know it is technically fair and not against the rules but c’mon man is this really necessary?
Lakers flairs trying to straddle the narrative line is so ridiculous. The Luka trade was technically not fair.
Don’t worry I’m a casual Lakers fan just here for the playoffs, I’ll disappear in a few weeks
yep exactly that
What exactly is it about their play that you hate? (Aside from the free throws that everyone says)
When selling fouls will get an extra 20+ per game it’s a very important skill set to have and be good at. Do I wish that wasn’t a thing? Yes. Do I have an irrational hatred of OKC for being good at it? Yes.
They’re so good that they don’t need to do the extra stuff, that’s what I don’t like about them.
Not really. The thunder are good, we just hate them.
People say that but before every series there is a sizable contingent of fans who pick the opposing team and call them frauds whenever they lose.
Then after the thunder win people say they are a super team.
It’s very obvious who watches clips and who actually watches the games. It’s really fun seeing the narrative in the game threads change from game to game. A lot of people realize oh they aren’t floppers they are just really good. Always going to be those people with their heads in the sand but what can you do?
People like to do the thing where they say the team is overrated before they play them then say they are a super team after they play. The supporting cast is simultaneously the best in the league and can’t be relied upon to make open 3s.
Its weird.
It’s like when the hockey guy on youtube did a video saying “maybe the panthers are just good and there’s no conspiracy” before they won their second cup and then goes into a deep dive to support that claim
Nobody thinks the Thunder are bad.
Them being loaded now and for the foreseeable future is a big part of why it isn’t fun watching them play the way they do
Do people actually believe that OKC is not a great team? Lmao
I hate watching okc and will obviously bitch in the moment but cmon people, they are incredible. If you don’t think the thunder are an amazing team and the best team in the league, idk what to tell you. We can call out flopping and still be real about their talent, and to take it one step further, they don’t win because of flopping or anything. They win because they’re better than the rest of us and we can’t handle it lol.
I’m a hater but I’m not a stupid hater
Less free throws than Spurs and still won, they clearly are way better
Your a hater with common sense and brains that I can appreciate.
Big OKC hater but they’re simply the deepest team in the league
respect
I love talking shit about other teams. But when it comes to reality, like you said, you have to give props when due.
they don’t win because of flopping or anything
This is true and also the exact reason why the flopping makes people so angry imo
Well, every team does it so it’s weird that people feel like OKC should handicap themselves just cause they’re better. Big participation trophy energy with that line of thinking.
That’s a fair point, but I still don’t think it should be surprising that the back to back MVP and his all time great team get more criticism for it
I commented that they’d 4-0 Lakers and everybody else and got a lot of hates lol. Like I’m a wolves fan but I know that they probably sweep us too with how good they are. Even without sga, they probably easily make playoff and go to 2nd round.
I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone who seriously thinks they arent an incredible team.
I also think there are valid reasons people who are not OKC fans root against them besides that they are really good.
Every day it’s the same discussion and everyone except unhinged OKC fans agree: they are good, and they flop egregiously and sometimes play dirty. Both are obviously true.
Respect. The Wolves always play us tough, it’s just about matchups.
Lots of people believe that especially older fans. They think OKC’s only good because of flopping and the refs lmao. NBA fandom is at an all time low and probably developmentally disabled
I feel like the whole narrative is driven by children tbh
I’m an older fan and like okc, I like that it’s self built, I like shai. Obviously this might just be me but I always felt like it’s either children a young adults that feel that way because all they want is players like steph or lebron or luka.
My old head friend is a Curry fan and doesn’t want SGA getting two finals MVPs so he hates on the Thunder and says they just flop.
It’s not the older fans, narrative is almost entirely driven by younger fans on social media and reddit imo
I think the Thunder, Spurs, and Knicks would all smoke teams from 10+ years ago. The game is just played at another level right now.
If by another level you mean the way the rules are interpreted then yes.
Lolol bring back hand checking. No more flopping shit.
Bring back illegal defense too, Shai and Brunson would FEAST on that
Bet. Bring back MJ. He would feast them
Arguably the greatest player of all time would be great?
Incredible analysis
Let’s not forget carry
It is pretty crazy. Im an OKC hater but im not gonna act like they’re not the most talented team in the league. The amount of plus players they have is ridiculous. Not to mention they have every single type of role player you could want.
Im old i dont think that
Older fans? Negative.
I didn’t think that’s right, most “haters” fully understand okc is very excellent. That’s what makes the consistently bad officiating so much more frustrating.
I do think some people go too far with the greatest defensive team ever or whatever, but to flat out believe they are carried by refs is crazy. My stance has more been that the lvl of play in the league right now is not as crazy high as some younger fans are making it out to be. It’s definitely trending up tho, i’m very excited to watch the next 20 years of hoops
Watch the Thunder play the spurs and then watch literally any playoff series from 10+ years ago and your point is proved wrong
You think the play in this series is better than the play in the Warriors Cavs series?
Whatever, OKC fans mass downvoting us lmao. The recency bias is so crazy. Apparently, me saying they are not the greatest team ever is outrageous. People confuse the evolution of the style of play and the talent of individual players. Just imagine this OKC frontcourt going against Tim Duncan and David Robinson LMAO. But we’re supposed to believe this team is better than anything we’ve ever seen. What a joke. And I wasn’t even trying to hate but this is getting ridiculous
Edit: Keep downvoting but don’t answer how you think chet/IHart would do vs the Admiral and Duncan!!!
Talk about recency bias. Oh man. I’ve watched a shit ton of great series over the last 35 years of watching ball. What the eff are people even smoking? The OKC team was taken to 7 games by Indy last year. And the refs (of course ) helped them get to 7 to begin with. This thunder team is historically deep and a great team. That’s it though. Nothing that fucking special. We saw other amazing teams over the years and will see others.
It has nothing to do with the Thunder, all teams are better now. All teams are deeper now. I’ve watched a metric shit ton of basketball too, and if you can’t notice the difference just go back and watch some old series.
I disagree so, there you go
Ball moves faster, margin for error is smaller, almost every player is a 3 level scorer, handles are better, defenses are stronger and smart.. the list goes on, it’s called evolution.
There are people on here that think they are legitimately a bad team.
There are also people on here who think the world is flat. Let them talk.
jaylen brown is here?
There were people that think Lakers have a chance. Lol, even with healthy Luka, thunders would still absolutely smash them. The team is just too deep and stacked
Watching the Thunder run out 12-13 players in the playoffs when we have about 7 playable guys total is so infuriating.
Stop it, yall have like 5 players deep and even your 5th best player may not even get minutes on this Thunders team lol. Watching the sixers this playoff is like yall got non existent bench. Probably the most lethal starting 4 in the East but gonna need 2-3 rotation players to compete.
our fifth best player is literally getting massive minutes on their team brother lol
Not anymore he ain’t. Thanks to your management…
Bro who are you counting as playable. Both our backup centers were terrible, are you talking about Dominick Barlow? Justin Edwards?
We ran a short rotation and even the not top 5 on that rotation were pretty ass.
Theoretically Grimes should have been better but I count 7 players I’m happy to see on the floor. Meanwhile the thunder are using 11th and 12th guys because they’re actually good and useful.
You’ll be shocked how Many people think so
No one sane believes they’re not a great team.
It’s the “poor gamesmanship” narrative. Casuals and people who don’t know ball are going to whine that OKC’s tactics are the only reason why they win, which is objectively false.
People just want to hate on greatness until it’s gone.
LeBron. Jordan. Brady.
Patriots. Golden State.
I think they’re going to be remembered like the bad boy pistons. Everyone hates the way they play, but anyone who’s being objective can acknowledge that they are a well built team that changed the game
Roster construction is miles ahead of their competitors, Presti is running circles around the other GMs in the league. Their style of play is not fun to watch though. People don’t think they’re bad they think the style of play is bad.
Define fun to watch. Im 55 and think they are a blast to watch.
Due to their deep bench they can foul constantly on defense, either preventing the other team from getting into a rhythm and turning the game into a free throw contest (not fun to watch) or getting turnovers that should be called fouls (not fun to watch). On offense, they fall and flop constantly, this is statistically backed up, which is also not fun to watch. I’m not saying it’s dumb, obviously it’s a smart way to play with the depth they have. But it makes the games all about the refs and I don’t like that. I prefer a flowing game like the Warriors used to play.
The most frustrating part about the Thunder is that they’re talented enough to win without all the bullshit they do
They are awesome team that plays dirty gamesmanship basketball. That pisses people off. Also a lot of EU people here that don’t really understand NBA rules, i think that is where most of cheaters and carried by the refs accusations are coming from.
No. They hate that they flop. Both can be true
We know they’re a great team, but that’s not where the hate comes from. It’s the unethical brand of hoops they play
But we dont elbow smash people in the throat. How exactly does that work?
Where did I say anything about elbowing people being ok you mouth-breathing troglodyte?
This is it. They’re a successful team that plays dirty and flops.
Plays dirty is quite the stretch. You are taking the Dort plays (particularly the Jokic one) and the Hart hair incident and projecting that over the whole team for every game they play.
On the flopping are you also calling out the Spurs,Lakers, Knicks, etc for flopping every game? Why is OKC the special team that everyone continues to bring up on that when everyone does it and that has been part of the game as long as I can remember.
If everyone is calling out one team, maybe it’s the team. Maybe it’s not exactly the same as every other flop. Maybe it’s more than one egregious flopper on a team. Maybe it’s more than one or two dirty plays. Maybe it’s the team culture.
First its not everyone and second if everyone jumped off a bridge would you?
The problem, I think, is that they are a very good team—like, on the border between great and good—from a pure talent perspective, and an “honest” basketball sense.z
But what tips them into “great” results (again: they are likely the best team in the NBA straight up. The talent they’ve built is bonkers) is the manipulation of a relatively unsavory part of the rules. In some sense, the hack they are using is no less offensive than Curry bombing 3s: it’s always kinda been part of the rules, and OKC is the first to really push the limits of what is allowed. But this particular manipulation has the feel of being less ethical—even if it’s no less a part of the rules than anything else.
They win this year they are great. Win again next year and its dynasty
Being a top team in a period of low talent isn’t that big of a flex. All of the top players are old nowadays and these newer players like SGA are straight booty cheeks when compared to other great players.
“Straight booty cheeks” lmao that’s crazy
The nba is the strongest it’s ever been from an average talent standpoint. Anyone that thinks it’s a period of low talent is on crack cocaine.
I would say the Jordan era was probably the lowest modern ebb in talent with 4 expansion teams in two years with minimal additions of global players.
Yeah, between 88 and 95 the NBA expanded from 23 teams to 29 before the explosion of international players and high school/one-and-done players. There were a lot of great players still, but the overall talent pull was really low with many 4th/5th starters who frankly would struggle to even make a roster these days.
Video’s getting downvoted lmfaoooooooo
Thinking basketball content with 40% downvote is insane lol
One of the best basketball analysis channels on the internet and people still can’t overcome their hate for one video. NBA fandom is so cooked right now lmao.
I mean if that doesn’t speak to how unlikable this team and their play style is what does?
It’s a testament to the power of the short form video content and confirmation bias combination
i would hope americans would understand that a majority supporting something doesn’t make it right but 🤷♂️
They’re downvoting you but the sentiment is correct, people not understanding that this visceral level of reaction to OKC as a team is bad for the league is kinda ridiculous. Like, there’s normal levels of “man this team is great but god I’m tired of them winning” and OKC hate is way, way beyond that in a fairly short period of time and lots of people don’t want to acknowledge why.
No idea why you are getting downvoted to oblivion, because yes, yes it does.
Ben is genuinely great at what he does. When I first watched their vid content and subbed to the podcast I immediately became a Patreon supporter because I want content creators like that to get paid. The down votes are insanity.
It’s positive about OKC so I guarantee you it’s getting reported relentlessly too until automod takes it down.
Lmao even the sorry internet, they really knew people wouldn’t engage with this shit in good faith
The hell are you talking about? Lmaoooooooo
r/nba suddenly gonna hate on Thinking Basketball
Don’t worry they already hate him because of a 2 year old jokic video about how he was a cerebral enough defender at the time to someone make up for his shortcomings.
I actually agree jokic can be a good defender slightly in the regular season, teams target less effectively, more bad teams faced, amd just rebounding and doing good offense [aka preventing full court offense] can make someone a bit of a plus
Is just when he is tested in a playoff setting…that reverses into a negative instead, it was pretty evident vs minnesota which may just be his worsr defensive series allowing absurdly high percemtages at the rim and allowing a lot of shots at the rim
Jokic is also getting older. Not everyone is Steph or Lebron or KD.
Lebron, Steph and Durant have ruined everyone’s expectations for aging stars. Those three are the exception.
idk, i dont think anyone can have the same longevity but i think the knowledge is there for a lot of pkayers to reach it
I mean, he’s only 31 and defense has always been his biggest weakness. It’s just that people kept gassing it up for years now, when it was that Gordon helped cover Jokic’s poor defense
There’s something to this, but I definitely thought his individual defense looked better some years ago. His hands looked quicker and that wasn’t just Gordon. 31 is not a young age for a defender, either, especially not a guy operating on the margins like Jokic.
He did also happen to have the first real injury of his career that forced him to miss time
31 years old. The excuses made for him are on another level.
Those poor lifestyle habits eventually catch up
Meh the Timberwolves are just a horrible match up for him. He’s okayish against most of the other playoff teams.
The Timberwolves own the nuggets because their lengthy aggressive wings completely shut down Murray (and in the past Porter), so Jokic had nobody to pass to which is the entire Nuggets offensive system. Even with Jokic’s piss poor defense the Nuggets are usually able to keep up with anybody by going bucket for bucket, but the Timberwolves snuff that right out.
Other than the Timberwolves, Jokic’s other playoff losses the past 7 years are to the Lakers (won the title), the warriors (won the title) without murray or porter, the suns (made the finals) without murray, and the thunder (won the title). The nuggets were the underdog in all of those, and the only series where Jokic’s defense might have cost them was the thunder series
Gobert is also probably the best Jokic defender we have seen. I don’t think the Nuggets consider an iso against him to be that worthwhile of a shot in most cases. Maybe once he’s worn down. Otherwise, I’d give him the most credit.
People completely misunderstood that video (because they didn’t actually watch it). It was explaining how Jokic is a statistically positive defender despite not having the traditional traits of a good defensive center. He even outright states Jokic is a bad rim protector.
Honestly prefer this (even if the title a bit clickbait) type of breakdown over Jxmyhighroller who’s vids are now just a lot of narratives back by some basic stats you can find on basketball-reference.
How is the title clickbait? I don’t think the title is sectionalizing the topic or is misleading. The internet do hate watching the OKC thunder, a good portion of them do think OKC, is not that good. If anything it speaks perfectly on the moment at hand and the video provides evidence on why the online community are wrong about the thunder.
So what, most people dont even look at basic stats. Jmyxhighroller does it in a well flowing and entertaining package.
I mean you can like it, I ain’t stopping you. It’s just not my cup of tea.
I wish lol, he’s a God here
He calls his channel Thinking Basketball because he couldn’t call it Playing Basketball if he was being honest.
Basketball is played on spreadsheets and narratives bro
nooooooooooooooo
When he was younger he could dunk. He’s probably played at a higher level than you ever have
Nobody really talking about the video lol. Just talking bout people disrespecting the video. So here’s my takeaways:
- they can run offense through the bigs if they need to. Guys like hartenstein and jwill don’t seem like they can, but they can be trusted where there were whole stretches of the game where jwill was the offense focal point (what is he the 11th man?!), a section with the bench mob where hartenstein was the focal point on dribble hand offs at the top of the key with shooters coming off screens, and then the 4th where SGA and hartenstein did like 6 variations of the pick n roll to extreme efficiency. They’re so versatile they can see what’s working and go out and chess match every situation.
- The scram switch - OKC defenders seemingly teleport from perfect guarding position and almost always make the correct read and switch. And if they don’t, they’ve got 2 or 3 other elite off ball defenders on the court at almost every moment - Caruso, Wallace, Dort, Mitchell and then even SGA, jdub (not this series obviously). Those close outs are actually insane, those 3 of Dort Caruso and Wallace can go from the key all the way to the shooter in the corner so fast without running past the shooter. Their close outs are incredible. The way the video showed how those elite off ball defenders guard the scram vs the way hobbled Fox and Harper did was night and day, which leads to the next point…
- Then the whole teleporting thing happens on offense too, where these same exact players in Wallace, Dort, and Caruso constantly moving in super high bbiq ways, filling open space and confusing the defense. SGA has otherworldly talent at breaking the double team at elite efficiency seemingly always finding that open man after creating the space. Both this year and last SGAs playmaking goes way up in the playoffs.
Everything they are doing right now is without their all nba caliber 2nd star. The regular season 10th man McCain can come in and splash 24 points. OKC has this next man up mentality with 12 guys who can come in and play 20+ playoff minutes. Some series it’s Joe and Wiggins as those 8-9th guys up (after Caruso and Wallace), this series it’s McCain and jwill so far.
Their roster is built for the Modern game, Bigs with lots of versatility, great shooting, perimeter defense, Tall PG and enough depth for the playoffs. OKC is what I daydream of what I think the perfect exciting team should look like.
Sounds like good analysis. I’ll watch it soon.
One thing I’ve been most impressed with is how quickly McCain has been integrated on defense. He’s staying in front of guys, applying pressure and making the right rotations on time. Yet he’s only been there for a few months!
That has absolutely shocked me, I assumed he’d be barely playable in the playoffs let alone the wcf because of his defense. He’s improved a lot from when he first joined the team already.
He’s been playing better defense as well. His intensity and on court personality is really good for the team.
Don’t forget they are really good at getting away with fouls
You’re talking about San Antonio’s guards getting away with bear hugging SGA every time he touches half court, right?
Truth
Based username
Anyone who watches the games, instead of just cherry-picked videos of a couple flops from the worst angles, can see that the Thunder are an impossibly talented team playing incredible basketball.
I root against them every series and it sucks they got so lucky with all their trades and draft picks but the people who say they suck or call them a bunch of floppers and frauds are clearly not even watching. And yes, SGA deserved the MVP this year. He has the best footwork since prime Steph and he does everything right on both ends.
The thunder are incredible. Win or lose the spurs are way ahead of where they should be and i’m proud of that. The thunder are better in every aspect down to the coaching staff but i’m hopeful for our future. But i will continue to hate watch SGA for the rest of his career lol
Wemby/Castle/Harper will be unstoppable in a year or two
Respect. The Spurs terrify me because they are us from a few years ago but bigger and Wemby is a wealthy mans Chet. It’s crazy how similar the teams are but our superstar is just at a different position.
“Everything right” would imply he doesn’t flop
I mean in terms of winning basketball, not subjective ethics.
Also the only basketball that I find unethical is when someone tries to injure another player. (and when players shill for awful companies)
Flopping is just part of the game. If you don’t like it, get mad at the refs because they set the tone. It’s the players’ job to win in the context of the paradigm created by the refs and the rules.
Actuallly basketball analysis being dismiss because it speaks glowing on the “villains”, yeah this sub is long gone
I miss when this sub was actually about basketball and funny comments… back in the day this used to be one of the funniest subs in terms of comments but everyone is so salty now that it’s not even fun
Same. Like I hate the thunder because they’re so damn good, not because of the other shit and I kinda don’t like the fan base but it comes with being the king. Does some of the antics annoy me a bit? Sure but I will never lie about their greatness. They way they defend, their flexibility, their depth (I mean, Kenrich Williams is a NBA caliber rotation player and he’s like the 12th man on that team), the coaching staff, it’s all elite basketball man. I’m a Heat fan second, basketball fan 1st and they are a joy to watch imo.
People just need to be objective. Yes we can we hate the flopping but also acknowledge how OKC is running a wheel like offense so the off ball players can force the spurs to execute various kinds of switch defense, all allowing SGA to get deeper in the paint and forcing their spurs to on time in their rotations.
Edit: People get caught up in the narratives. Hate what they do but acknowledge the tactics they deploy or biomechanics advantages of falling.
Seriously, like other more knowledgeable fans feel free to disprove me, but I am pretty sure that whomever OKC’s top 5 bench guys are, they would be a playoff-contending starting lineup in the Eastern Conference.
I don’t know if they are that good. I will say that OKC top 5 bench players changed depending on matchup, while each are providing a skill that opens up the game for other player.
Jaylin Williams was not a big factor on the lakers serious but in this series killing em with his shooting. Isiah joe while not lighting it up, is forcing a defender to stay attached to him, giving more space for their better ball handlers to attack the rim. Carson isn’t the best ball handler but with the extra spacing, he can attack more in a straight line and get to the paint. McCain is not the best defender but he’s strong and with Caruso and Wallace, as long as he is attached to his man and fight over screens, they can scam/peel switch him off certain matchups and let him leak out. Ajay is struggling this series but he’s the best shot creator out of the bunch (he’s a sketchy corner store version of SGA) and can generate good looks.
It all just works so well together and possibly will not be as effective on other teams. Though, the argument could also be had that they are sacrificing their own game for the greater good of the team and could do more in an expanded role.
Wallace in particular imo, I imagine a full summer or two of Wallace working on shot creating skills and it’s honestly kinda crazy if he even becomes slightly above average.
When Zion was getting some allegations I saw one comment that was like “His trade value’s going to be at an all time high now that people know he’s doing off season cardio” 😭😭
Lmao see stuff like that, man. Can’t remember the last time I saw a comment like that. Now it’s just iPad kids screaming at each other
I have seen way more comments complaining that people will hate this video than people actually hating it. It’s the same way every time a pro OKC post is on the sub it’s an instant victim reaction.
Top like 15 comments are complaining that this sub will be mad lmao people are so fucking lame
Mods are gonna keep delete this, y’know.
Watching the first three games and thinking to myself ‘this might be the best defensive effort I’ve seen against SGA’ and then realizing he’s averaging 11 assists to 2 turnovers, JDub isn’t playing, the Thunder up 2 to 1 and the loss was a double overtime game.
If the Thunder win tonight…whoo boy. Soon we’ll have no choice but to start ranking them with the all time great teams.
OKC’s ability to sink and fill the paint with a weak-side defender and a helper peel-switching once committed is high-level defense.
Something I wish the Pistons did more consistently. It legit makes man defense feel like 6-on-5 basketball at times.
Yall got big duren and that brother has the defensive positioning and awareness of Hellen Keller.
Duren rotating is fine. Attacking teams will beat their man off the dribble, Duren helps, and the attacker drops off a pass to a cutter or another player in the dunker’s spot behind him.
That’s where OKC doesn’t falter. It’s not one player, but a team concept.
They hate us cause they ain’t us
OKC are an amazing team. Lol for anyone that has too much hate to see this. I have this hate but it does not cloud my vision from this bastard of a great team. Champs right, right?!?
I hate the flopping BS but they are objectively a great team. Shai especially does not need the grifting to be great, which probably makes it feel more egregious. I can’t wait for the Brunson Shai grift fest in the finals, if that’s how it goes. Throw in Tony Brothers and we could have epic 4hr games.
Keep note that Wemby was flopping too and at many points Spurs had more free throws. OKC are just a way better team
Facts. I don’t like how they all fall after there shot like it’s some performative requirement to get those fouls. Even more so when Shai just pushes off so it’s natural for the defender to react.
if they don’t flop then it’ll be a closer game and they don’t want to leave it to chance if they don’t have to. their whole thing is to exploit every loophole and edge, whether it’s flopping on offense or defense. obv a great team either way but this series could very easily be 2-1 instead of 1-2 w/o the flopping
Genuinely do not understand why people don’t like the thunder. Like do you not like watching the best perimeter defense ever and the second best guard of this century (after Steph) who plays mostly in the midrange and has unbelievable footwork? Like Brunson is obviously my favorite player and I don’t see how you could be a Brunson fan and not a Shai fan, they have almost exactly the same game except I think Shai plays at a higher pace
Great team. Largest collection of talent in the league, unquestionably. But god damn they just aren’t particularly fun to watch and their fan base makes the golden state fans from last decade look like the nicest people on earth.
They’re an amazing team that doesn’t have to resort to flopping, foul baiting, and cheap/dirty tactics. Yet they do. It’s a large part of their offense and defense for SGA, Dort, Ihart, Chet, Caruso. Shame really. It will really take away from their legitimacy if they continue doing this garbage and win the Finals.
Yeah, honestly that’s the frustrating part. They are by far the deepest team I’ve ever seen. The amount of talent they have from top to bottom is just insane. They are still a top team playing straight up, but instead they play an annoying style that’s hard to watch. Hell, growing up watching MJ and Kobe should easily make SGA one of my favorite players since he’s clearly modeled his play style after theirs, but he also clearly copied Harden a lot too and I can’t stand the bitchmade plays. If you want to bait fouls then do it like the old heads did, get guys to bite on a fake and then shoot through the contact to get an and one. Just leaning into a guy and vaguely tossing the ball in the direction of the hoop like CP3 and Wemby at the Skills Contest because you know the refs will reward you is lame. He doesn’t need to do that and it sucks that he (and the rest of the team) does.
I have never seen it as egregious as now. Caruso can hack all he want and SGA is like harden 2.0.
The problem isn’t that OKC are good. The problem is theyre good and they play dirty.
who is that a problem for?
The league
How? This series already has the highest ratings in nba history ppl who love it joy watch the ppl who hate it hate watch. Everyone watches lol so how is it a problem for the league?
Youre proving my point. Letting people play dirty for views isnt a good thing.
Then stop watching take a stand. Most of you won’t.
Lol
They get to launch Castle into the 3rd row meanwhile if you breathe on Shai that’s a flagrant 2
Caruso is hideous
Fuck em
Edit: Knicks in 4
They’re all time good but unwatchable
They’re incredible. And that makes the dumbass foul baiting even more frustrating! They could kick people’s ass without it. It is like watching a world class boxer on the level of Mike Tyson but they headbutt and nut shot every opponent every game and the referee ignores it. Taints the whole performance because it shits on the sport you love.
I love that this is both downvoted by OKC fans and OKC haters alike. 🤣
Somebody post the picture of Hartenstein yanking Castle by the hair and SGA flopping like a fish.
That’s thinking basketball I guess.
Watch the basketball analysis video on the okc thunder pls
The clowns from thinking basketball at it again running defence for OKC. Not suprised since Ben is the whole circus with his moronic takes. SAS-esque.
Lakers fan
Nobody says the Thunder aren’t good, in fact its the total opposite. Everyone says the Thunder are an incredible, if not generational team. What they hate is the cheap tactics they use.
Nope. People on here genuinely say they arent good. I called people out about it on a thread saying it was an insane viewpoint and someone instantly got into an argument with me that it’s true and they aren’t good lol.
Someone on here was arguing the wolves are better defensively they just get called for fouls 😂
Love the part where they show Hartenstein getting roughed up and the Thunders bench crying. That is why no one likes them. Can’t be dishing it out but whining when it’s happening to you.
i mean that’s why they really hate the Thunder because they’re historically good and (finding the good word) unfair.
it’s “unfair” that they got to this point after getting the short end of the Paul George trade
it’s “unfair” that they had a 0.2% preseason odds in 2020 and took Houston to 7 games
it’s “unfair” that they only needed to tank for 2 years and got their floor raiser in Chet, and got Dub and JWill as a bonus in that draft
it’s “unfair” that they didn’t even need to spend any of their 1st round picks for a superstar and still ended up with a superstar in Shai
it’s “unfair” that they got Caruso and McCain without giving a 1st round pick to those dumb GMs
it’s “unfair” that the Knicks didn’t wanna pay Hartenstein so OKC was able to
Perfect storm of good timing, karma and work ethic. All too talented, all to unfair. I’d hate them too if I wasn’t an OKC fan.
I mean that plus that they still resort to flopping and playing dirty. No one but ignorant haters is denying that OKC is a great team, it’s that they shouldn’t have to play the way they do in order to win. They shouldn’t have to “metagame” the game when they’re already the most stacked team in the league.
I think most of this sub recognizes that OKC is good. We just don’t like their antics.
Yeah, take out all of the issues people have with this team (valid or not), and they’re still so good it makes you want to turn off the TV.
so you just don’t want to watch high level basketball at all? what
Do you know what hyperbole is? Same sort of thing as “so good it hurts”. Are you being intentionally dense?
This is not high level. Cheating at such an institutional level is awful to watch. It’s just a bad product and nothing you can say will change that for fans of the game. It’s not fun. Full stop. Jumping on the floor like a bunch of sissies every play is just whack.
Stephon Castle had 14 free throws and 1 made shot last game I think I know which team is jumping on the floor 😂😂
lmao
Just remove ref calls and holding arms before we make this call
I mean if they are so good , stop jumping on the ground
Also mitch Johnson fucked up running the same game plan three times in a row
Na Spurs are winning
I’m no expert, but they seem to be losing 2-1 right now and are getting worse each game, so where are you getting this information?
OKC is trash
To good at acting and flopping. Unwatchable garbage, OKC fans can be delusional and pound sand.
Kings fan