I don’t know what to think about these guys.
Billy Donovan seems clueless. What in he world was he thinking in playing rookie Terrance Ferguson just under twenty minutes in Orlando? Not exactly the time to get a shaky rookie developmental minutes. That’s why they have the G League. The Thunder as a team had three assists in the entire second half against an Orlando team which had lost nine straight before playing the Thunder. From a coaching standpoint, it was such an act of overt coaching malpractice it made Scott Brooks look like Red Auerbach. Note to Antonio Daniels…you can use that on the show if you want. No prob.
Russell Westbrook looks like he has an acute ‘chasing Oscar Robertson hangover’. He’s not himself. Russell had an incredible year. He beat Oscar. He won the regular season MVP. He and his wife had a son. He then signed the richest deal in NBA history. But more than anything, he got to laugh at Kevin Durant when Peyton Manning dissed Cupcake.
Then Sam Presti brought Paul George and Carmelo Anthony on board to level the playing field. Both arrived at the OKC airport as if they’d done something heroically courageous in Desert Storm or something.
Through 20 games the Thunder are 8-12 and would miss the playoffs if the season were over today. The team is 2-9 on the road and losers of seven straight away from home. It’s more damning if you look closer, the Thunder are 3-9 versus Western Conference teams with the wins coming against Dallas, the Clippers, and the Warriors. So, basically what that means is one fourth of the way through the season and this team of stars with four players making in excess of $20 million has won one game against a Western Conference team which is going to make the playoffs. One game. Go figure that win came against the Warriors.
So that either tells one of several things…1 Sam Presti made a chain of disastrous decisions this summer, 2 Billy Donovan should still be coaching college basketball, 3 Paul George isn’t really as good as people thought with his pro career being in the soft East before this season, 4 Carmelo Anthony shouldn’t be considerer an All-Star caliber player any longer, or 5 Russell Westbrook is struggling and needs to refocus his game.
Would I fire Billy Donovan? No…because it serves no purpose at this juncture of the season. Would I retain Billy Donovan at the end of this season…let’s see how it goes till the trade deadline.
What needs to happen?
Russell Westbrook has to lead like the reigning NBA MVP instead of loafing during segments of games.
Paul George needs to prove to me he’s a real star who can play at a high level against Western Conference competition night in and night out.
Carmelo Anthony needs to be a more efficient scorer with his touches in what should be a role where he’s an offensive oriented power forward. I mean right now, to be honest you, I think the Thunder would have been better off keeping Enes Kanter in that both players struggle on the defensive end.
Steven Adams needs to play like a guy who’s being paid $25 million.
Actually, I’m okay with Andre Roberson, Jerami Grant, and Ray Felton. They’ve been fine for the most part.
Alex Abrines and Patrick Patterson have been acute disappointments. Rookie Terrance Ferguson isn’t ready yet. Josh Huestis and Dakari Johnson have done some decent things in minor roles.
But we know who the top seven dudes on this team are…Westbrook, George, Adams, Anthony, Roberson, Grant, and Felton. A good NBA coach should be able to make something out a team with those seven guys being the top seven. I’m not talking about winning a championship, but I’m talking about at least finishing in the top six of the West.
In the month of December, OKC plays 17 games of which 11 are at home where the Thunder are 6-3. The January schedule is friendly as well. This is very simple–like I’ve said this is a star driven league, not a coach driven league for the most part. Billy Donovan is a prime example in that he seems reluctant to ever say a tough love word. So knowing this, it seems clear to me Russell Westbrook and Paul George as professionals have to take ownership of this basketball season in Oklahoma City.
Tonight would be a nice place to start.