Month: May 2016

The two most important rules to coaching. 1 Players make the coach. 2 You coach thru your personality.

Steve Kerr knows this well and it’s probably why he’s such an effective coach. Not to mention the fact Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green  play for him.

Billy Donovan is now 8-3 in post season in his NBA rookie coaching season against the likes of Rick Carlisle and Gregg Popovich. NBA Coach of the Year Steve Kerr looms on the horizon as his next coaching matchup.

Donovan has done a good job. He got Serge Ibaka off the floor in Games 4 & 5 and went with the Adams/Kanter combo. Not sure Scott Brooks would have pulled that trigger, but it was the right thing to do. Donovan has apparently settled in on Randy Foye versus rookie Cam Payne as his post season backup point guard as Foye has made a big three in each of the last three games of the Spurs series.

I like what Donovan has done with Dion Waiters as well with him manning some point responsibilities. After the Game 1 blowout loss, you’d have to say Donovan won the battle between the coaches. His team’s defense buckled down, Westbrook responded with three solid games after the Game 3 debaucle, and the Thunder’s bench made some tangible contributions.

Anotherwords, Donovan didn’t seem in awe of Gregg Popovich.

The matchup with Golden State should be fascinating from a coaching standpoint. Various intriguing matchups. Golden State’s small ball combos versus the Thunder’s bruising rebounding lineup. But OKC can go small as well if it needs to. Should be a great series.

Oklahoma City Thunder 113 – San Antonio Spurs 99

Thunder wins series 4-2

It would have been a crime for the Thunder not to win this series after the Game 5 win at San Antonio. It felt like an emotional bridge was crossed in that game for both teams with the Thunder growing up a little and the Spurs finally starting to show their age.

The Thunder put the self-doubt, the demons, and the Spurs away in Game 6 with a closeout 113-99 win to advance to the Western Conference Finals against the Golden State Warriors.

This marks the fourth time in the last six seasons the Thunder have advanced to the Western Conference Finals. This marks the first time since 2012 the Thunder will begin the Western Conference Finals with a healthy ball club.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook as usual led the Thunder to victory as they combined for 65 points in Game 6. Durant scored what has to be the quietest 37 points I’ve ever seen on a 12-24 night. For good measure he pulled in 9 rebounds as well. Durant didn’t have what would be described as a blockbuster series, yet in Game 4 and Game 6 he scored 41 and 37 points respectively as the Thunder won the last three games of this series and four of the last five after being humiliated in Game 1.

Westbrook was Westbrook as usual scoring 28 points and dishing out 12 assists. Consider this–if the Thunder hadn’t melted down at the end of the Game 3 home loss–it’s conceivable they would have rolled an inside straight against the Spurs winning four games in a row and ending the series in five games. Think about that as you start weighing the Thunder’s chances against the Golden State Warriors.

Steven Adams is my series MVP despite the heroics of Durant and Westbrook. To me, the series changed in Game 2 and Steven Adams was a huge part of that game and the others which followed. He was a beast and his competitiveness, toughness, and will to win was contagious.

Bill Simmons will have to come up with something other than the Harden trade from this point forward. Harden may indeed be a top ten player in the league, but Steven Adams gives this team something they’ve never had before in a center who can defend, rebound, and finish on the pick and roll with Russell Westbrook.

Andre Roberson scored 14 points in this game going 3-5 from behind the arc. Go figure.  You have to believe at this point the basketball gods are firmly in favor of the Thunder this postseason with Roberson hitting three threes in a game. Don’t discount destiny, karma, and good luck–the Thunder are finally getting some coming their way after a season of grief and despair of things going wrong beyond the pale of losing some basketball games in the fourth quarter.

OKC’s bench was quiet in this game, but the Thunder starting five scored a combined 102 points so it wasn’t a huge detriment as the Thunder led 55-31 at the half in this one.

Actually, what transpired tonight could have happened in 2013 if Patrick Beverly hadn’t taken out Russell Westbrook’s knee, or in 2014 when Serge Ibaka got hurt before the Western Conference Finals, or last season before Kevin Durant missed 55 games due to a Jones’ fracture.

But for historians, the bridge was crossed tonight–the Spurs look old even with Kawhi Leonard playing for them.

One bridge crossed. Another awaits named the Golden State Warriors of 73 regular season wins and in defense of their NBA championship.

This is the series everybody has been waiting to see, wanting to see, and hoping to see.

Throw out the regular season. It means nothing at this point. This is a new season for the Thunder. The season they’ve been waiting for almost to the point of four years.

Consider this in closing, Billy Donovan is no longer a rookie NBA coach. He’s now 8-3 against the likes of Rick Carlisle and Gregg Popovich in post season. Granted, players always make the coach, but Donovan has shown he can roll and change on the fly.

These Western Conference Finals hold the possibility of being epic. We can only  hope the play matches the expectations when all is said and done.

Mike Jackson

 

 

Footnote: Billy Donovan is 7-3 in post season play to date against Gregg Popovich and Rick Carlisle. He seems to be adjusting fairly well on the fly.

Oklahoma City Thunder 95  — San Antonio Spurs 91

Thunder lead series 3-2, Game 6 Thursday night at the Chesapeake Energy Arena

So I guess Russell Westbrook drove the car. I’m a fan before I’m a rogue Thunder blogger and right now I’m a very happy fan. Best moment as a Thunder fan since Game 6 in 2012 to win the Western Conference Championship. Now the Thunder need to close the deal on Thursday night.

It was just beautiful watching them compete. They never surrendered despite things going the wrong way there for a while. But when Billy Donovan finally got his five best players on the floor together there to close the game–it was beautiful.

I would think Sam Presti is a very happy camper right now. Three of his moves were validated tonight…. drafting Steven Adams as one of the key pieces in the Harden trade, paying Enes Kanter, and sticking with Dion Waiters.

Actually, in all candor, Kevin was the shakiest of the five Thunder players there at the end. He’s still the alpha hoss, but he has to know what just transpired.

You saw the game. You lived it just like I did with my father and brother. I don’t really feel like writing a conventional recap like an internet nerd at this moment. We have enough of those in droves already.

This was about life, hard work, sticking with it, and getting it done. Kawhi Leonard is still a hoss, but it was Westbrook, Durant, Adams, Kanter, and Waiters doing the blue collar work. Working through failure to see the light. This was a moment.

That’s a carload of young basketball talent Sam Presti has configured for Kevin Durant. My advice to Kevin Durant would be if you need Pop to be a surrogate guru figure, then text him from time to time. Sam Presti has put a nice team around you which just won Game 5 for you on the road in the biggest of settings.

That’s it for me tonight. I’m taking my old ass out on the back porch to smoke the victory cigar and drink several glasses of wine.

Winning is fun.

LET’S GO THUNDER!