The final play of the game pretty much reflects the defensive effort given by the Thunder on Thursday night in a 127-124 road loss to the Nuggets. With 1.3 seconds left and coming out of a timeout and a side out inbounds, Russell Westbrook lost Gary Harris and allowed Harris to hit an open three point shot to send the Thunder to its second straight road loss.
This was a night which illuminates what the loss of Andre Roberson will mean to this ball club and what Billy Donovan’s limitations as a bench manager will mean as well.
Let’s not mince words. We all knew the loss of Roberson would be tough. I wrote as much. But I had no idea Billy Donovan would go full Rain Man mode and do something as inherently stupid as play Alex Abrines 29 minutes in an NBA basketball game. Twelve minutes is questionable, 29 minutes is a felony.
An NBA head coach has 240 minutes in a regulation game to orchestrate minutes and do it in a way which gives his team a chance to be successful. That’s part of the job description.
I had to leave the man room twice. And this was with the volume already turned down on the Fox telecast. Only God knows what I would have done to my flat screen if the volume had been turned up. Jesus Fucking Murphy….are you kidding me?
It just numbs the mind. Simply numbs the mind. Even if it was just a ploy to get some other NBA team to give the Thunder back a piece in return for Abrines in a trade—the Thunder needs wins to fight for a higher seed right now.
It would seem pretty simple to me even with Terrance Ferguson getting sick right before tip and only playing four minutes. Here’s what a coach does who knows he’s trying to reset his team’s defensive identity with the loss of Roberson.
What he does first is SHORTEN HIS FUCKING BENCH for this road game. Then, he looks to Jerami Grant and Josh Huestis on a night like this to absorb heavy minutes. They’re both young, give them some extended roll. See what they got inside them.
If you want to showcase Abrines for a possible trade do it in easier home games against the Pelicans and Lakers.
But no, what Billy Donovan opted to do was put his worst defender on his entire roster on the floor for 29 minutes against a Denver team which can shoot the three ball. And on this night Denver lit the three ball light 15 times with Gary Harris getting the game winner when Russell Westbrook didn’t stay with his man.
I mean, give yourself a chance. Calibrate your best defensive options on how to replace Andre Roberson’s defensive minutes. GIVE YOUR TEAM THE BEST OPTION FOR SUCCESS. That’s what coaches are supposed to do. If nothing else, limit your exposure to Abrines to home games against non-playoff teams. Fucking think about what you’re doing out there. Is that too much to ask?
On a bright note, Paul George was utterly fantastic scoring 43 points on a 19-26 shooting night. PG was great. Easily the best player on the floor last night. I loved when he barked after hitting the three which should have sent the game to overtime at 124 apiece.
So…this Thunder bunch is once again sagging and now 30-22 and have missed another glorious opportunity to draw near to the Spurs and Wolves by losing two games against teams they should have beaten.
Tonight, it’s the Pelicans at home without DeMarcus Cousins. What are we to expect? Thirty minutes from Alex Abrines?
Who would know…who would know?
But we know this… Billy Donovan can’t just buy his underwear from KMart in Cinncinatti, Ohio. That can’t happen because coaches in Oakland, Houston, San Antonio, and Minneapolis don’t just buy their underwear at KMart.