Month: May 2016

I’ve seen every game the Thunder have played in their eight seasons in Oklahoma City. A ton of big games in post season with important ramifications, but none like tonight. This is just Game 5 of the Conference Semi-Finals, yet it feels like the entire future of the franchise could depend on the outcome of tonight.

So much talk about Durant potentially leaving to become a Spur at the conclusion of this season. And, btw, as Kevin Durant’s internet uncle my advice to him would be if you’ve decided you have to leave then San Antonio would be the smart choice. The coach, the culture, the championship opportunities with Kawhi and LaMarcus, plus maybe even a surrogate father relationship with Gregg Popovich. It’s a serious lure and I would completely understand.

But there’s also this, Kevin Durant is a student of the game. A historian. Part of me thinks he would truly love to be one of those special players who stays in one place his entire NBA career. Like Bill Russell, Magic, Bird, Kobe, Dirk, Wade, and Tim Duncan–just to name several.

Kevin Durant is the Oklahoma City Thunder franchise and tonight is the most important game in the history of the franchise. Sam Presti has tonight and Game 6 to make his selling point for why Kevin Durant should stay in Oklahoma City.

This is Sam Presti’s creation and much of it is very good. In fact, you could even make the conclusion the Harden trade wasn’t all that bad given what Steven Adams has become as a player. Enes Kanter has shown he’s not that horrible defensively. And even the most ardent Dion Waiters haters on Daily Thunder would have to admit he has his moments.

But tonight, Sam Presti’s creation is solely in the hands of one Russell Westbrook his point guard from UCLA who no one ever dreamed would become the player he has to date.

No one who watched Westbrook at UCLA would have ever dreamed he could do some of the things he has done. Sam Presti, Scott Brooks, and the entire Thunder organization gave the car keys to the Thunder to Westbrook and in this series he holds what could be the literal future of the organization.

Russell Westbrook now needs to show he can drive the car against the likes of San Antonio, Golden State, and Cleveland. Regular season triple doubles against the Kings, Bucks, and Suns are fun, but can Russell Westbrook drive the Thunder car against the Spurs, Warriors, and LeBron when it’s for the O’Brien Trophy?

Can Russell Westbrook calibrate his game to the point where he makes sure Durant, Ibaka, Adams, Kanter, and Waiters get their touches and orchestrate the game like a post season championship point guard? Can he gear his throttle back and slow the game down in  the final four minutes? Can he make sure the best offensive option in the game today in Kevin Durant gets his quality touches? Can he remember not to forget Adams, Kanter, Ibaka, and Waiters when it matters?

Can Russell Westbrook do what all great point guards do and make sure OKC gets quality possessions coming down the stretch?

If the answers to all these questions turns out to be yes then there’s no reason for Kevin Durant to become a Spur because the brand argument is bogus. Durant and Westbrook already own two of the brightest brands in the NBA playing for the Thunder. Besides, Kevin Durant said money isn’t that big of a deal, right?

So tonight in San Antonio at the AT&T Center we’ll be witnessing a game which could change the face of the league ultimately.

A game which will decide the fate of the Oklahoma City Thunder and a city which has embraced Kevin Durant as one of their own.

Russell Westbrook’s decision making in Game 3 was in a word…..bad. He elected to shoot the ball 31 times going 10-31 in the process. He missed more shots than Kevin Durant attempted the entire game. Durant went 10-18. Steven Adams got one shot after his breakout performance in Game 2.  Westbrook had two horrible unforced live ball turnovers in the final four minutes as OKC allowed a four point home lead to turn into a Game 3 home loss.

To Westbrook’s credit, he did take responsibility in the postgame interview. But the question remains….did he learn anything from this which we’ll see in the final three games of this series?

Skip and Stephen doing what they do after Game 2.

Say what we want after a Thunder loss, there’s just not that much difference between these two teams. In the OKC Thunder era the teams are now 8-8 in sixteen post season games to date. We talk about Gregg Popovich being the second best coach of all-time, but Scott Brooks and Billy Donovan haven’t seemed overwhelmed by it all.

Billy Donovan, like his superstar, had a great Game 4. He went with Kanter and Adams late. It worked. He went with Randy Foye as the backup point guard in the second half and it paid a huge dividend with a big Foye three in the critical fourth period. He continued to show faith in the mercurial Dion Waiters and that worked as Waiters was superb going 7-11 for 17 points. He apparently got through to Russell Westbrook he needs to be more of a distributor than a shot chucker. And, of course, when your alpha stud hoss goes for 41 in a must win game—the coach always seems smarter. Never forget, players make the coach.

So now back to San Antonio for Game 5 and these games are now being played in shorter day intervals which one would think would be to the Thunder’s advantage with their youth.

Tim Duncan looks dead. He literally looks dead right now. We’ll see if being home will help him out in Game 5 or if Steven Adams continues his domination in this series.

Danny Green, like Tim Duncan, didn’t score a point in Game 4. That can’t happen  from a Spurs’ standpoint.

LaMarcus Aldridge came back to Planet Earth in Games 3 & 4 going a collective 16-39 as the Thunder’s defense has been pretty solid since the Game 1 nightmare.

Tony Parker continued his steady play in Games 3 & 4 and remains my Spurs’ X Factor. Dion Waiters is my Thunder X Factor, and yes, that makes me nervous as a Thunder fan. But still, he rocked in Game 4.

But this series will be about Russell Westbrook from this point forward. Is he ready to take this Thunder team to the next level? Is he willing to play defense, distribute the ball, quit chucking threes, and make sure the alpha stud hoss and others get the ball in their sweet spots on the floor?

I’d much rather have 14 point, 15 assist, 7 rebound Russell Westbrook than 31 shots Russell Westbrook every day of the week.

If Tony Parker is Peyton Manning in this series then Westbrook is Cam Newton.

Cam Newton needs to get his alpha stud hoss his touches and Steven Adams involved.

Best two out of three now. Most of us had this series going either six or seven games so we shouldn’t be surprised.

 

 

 

 

Oklahoma City Thunder 111 – San Antonio Spurs 97

Series tied at 2-2

It was a combination of good things for the Thunder in the fourth period on Mothers’ Day night inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena. First and foremost the Thunder entered the fourth trailing 81-77, but instead of withering and shrinking from the moment…the Thunder roared like a lion.

Make no mistake about this, if the Thunder had lost this game their season was over. It was a time for the stars to lead, yet get others involved. Mission accomplished on multiple fronts.

Kevin Durant was superb tying his career post season high with 41 points of which 17 came in the fourth period when the Thunder got it going and won the fourth by a score 34-16.

Durant was 14-25 from the field and looked like a player who could be talked about as being one of the three best players on the planet in this game. He was unstoppable. He got to his spots, made his shots, and led his team to a win in a game they couldn’t lose.

Russell Westbrook had another horrible shooting night going 5-18, but he did other things, like making sure the stud hoss got the ball. Like making sure Steven Adams, Dion Waiters, Enes Kanter, and Serge Ibaka were part of the offense.

In all, five Thunder players scored in double figures. Adams double doubled with 16 and 11. Dion Waiters was magnificent scoring 17 points on a 7-11 shooting night. Enes Kanter scored 11 and snagged 8 rebounds.

Westbrook all told had 15 of the Thunder’s 23 assists doing what your point guard is supposed to be doing…namely, distributing the ball.

If Serge Ibaka had scored two more points the Thunder would have had six different players in double figures. Make this clear, the Thunder need Durant getting the most touches, but they also need Adams, Waiters, Ibaka, and Kanter involved offensively.

Randy Foye played the backup point guard minutes in the second half and chipped in five points after rookie Cam Payne went scoreless in his first half minutes.

Aldridge and Leonard both suffered tough shooting nights going a combined 15-37 from the field. Leonard and Tony Parker both scored 22 points on the night.

Of note, Tim Duncan went scoreless in a post season game for the first time in his career.

The series moves back to San Antonio for Game 5 on Tuesday night in what to date has easily been the best post season series so far this season.

Same things need to happen on Tuesday night. Stars need to lead, but at the same time give the other players a chance to get it going and keep it going.

Share the ball. Finish. Play their asses off.

If they do that and lose-no regrets.

Mike Jackson

 

 

Just read a piece by Anthony Slater over at newsok in relation to Kevin Durant lauding David West for playing for the Spurs for a ‘paltry’ $1.4 million this season instead of pocketing $11 million for another season in Indiana.

Yeah, I agree, cool. I’ve always admired Duncan, Parker, and Ginobli myself. The way they’ve taken less money to help the team with salary cap issues. The way Ginobli, unlike both James Harden and Reggie Jackson embraced the Sixth Man role to help his team win rings. I’m a throwback guy, I’ve always loved it. I love Popovich.

But here would be my questions to Kevin Durant, if David West had signed to play in Oklahoma City this season would you and Russell ever have let him touch the ball?

Would David West get more than the one shot Steven Adams got in Game 3 after his playoff career breakout game in Game 2?

Would David West have gotten more than the six shots the completely offensively capable Enes Kanter got in Game 3?

Would David West actually be allowed to touch the ball in late game situations?

My point is this, please give me a break, Kevin Durant.

Sam Presti has put together a nice stable of bigs in Serge Ibaka, Enes Kanter, and Steven Adams. All three, unlike Kendrick P:erkins, can catch and shoot. Adams has become a very nice pick and roll player. Kanter can either pick and roll or pick and pop. Ibaka is pretty effective on pick and pop. Yet, they never see the ball enough.

I know it’s Mothers Day, I shouldn’t use this type of language, but give me a f–king break. If it’s not about money, or ego, touches—then why isn’t former yacht party pioneer James Harden here doing the Manu Ginobli thing? Why isn’t self proclaimed minimalist Reggie Jackson here doing the Ginobli thing as well?

You know why. I know why. Because in our current culture both money and ego trump most everything else most of the time. If James Harden had stayed in OKC and embraced the Ginobli template we’re not even talking David West.

Please, spare me. I’m fairly certain Sam Presti was completely on board with Harden being Manu.

Granted, OKC has issues with their backup point guard position and they’re in need of a two way shooting guard with more consistency than Dion Waiters. But what really needs to happen is that both Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook need to trust their teammates.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook need to be finishing games in the last six minutes versus turning the ball over.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook need to be doing the little things like Kawhi Leonard which don’t get you triple doubles, scoring titles, or 40–50-90s. Little things which might not get you the top dollar endorsements, but gets your team a ring. Little things. Hard working things. Blue collar lunchpail things. Claw, scratch, and bleed things.

Durant and Westbrook need to be making plays in the last six minutes of close games because anyone who’s watched the Thunder knows the entire system of the Thunder has been set in stone with these two players getting the majority of touches.

So while my old Vince Lombardi, Red Auerbach,  or even Gregg Popovich heart is warmed by Kevin Durant saying money isn’t everything. I’m somewhat calling bullshit on this and saying you and Russell Westbrook need to start making plays in the last six minutes of games.

And while the David West story does warm my heart, I ask again, would he have ever touched the ball in Oklahoma City when it mattered?

 

Before this series started I wrote down Tony Parker as my X Factor in this series. Not because I think he’s still one of the game’s best point guards, but more because at this stage in his career I felt how he got the Spurs into their offense would be a big deal as this series moves along.

Parker wasn’t the player of the game in Game 3. That would be Kawhi Leonard who made the biggest play of the night with a series changing offensive rebound with twenty seconds left which clinched a hard earned 100-96 win for the Spurs.

But here’s what Tony Parker was and Russell Westbrook wasn’t– pressure time functional. Sure, he scored 19 points adding 8 rebounds and 5 assists, but what Parker did was more. He made sure his two big guns in LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard got their touches. He made sure the offence ran thru their shots, not his. He made sure the ball moved and the Spurs got into their offense at the most critical times in the game. In a word, Tony Parker did what your point guard is supposed to do in taking care of the ball and distributing the ball.

For those of you not keeping tabs, the aged Tony Parker now has 23 assists to 2 turnovers in the first three games of this series. Nothing spectacular, but functional. He understands his role.

Before this series started I also wrote ‘Can Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook Actually Do This?’ What I meant by this was can these two stars together lead the Thunder thru the tough spots in the last six minutes of pressure packed playoff games against good teams like the Spurs, Warriors, and Cavs?

On Friday night in Game 3 the answer was a resounding no. They withered in the game’s final minutes. They made three horrible live ball turnovers in the game’s final four minutes which you just absolutely cannot do against the Spurs. Plus, and let’s be candid, Kawhi Leonard just outworked Kevin Durant for that game clinching offensive rebound which sealed the game.

When it mattered most the game’s biggest plays weren’t made by Westbrook or Durant, they were made by Leonard, Aldridge, and Parker.

I’m not a Russell Westbrook basher, but his overall decision making on Friday night wasn’t good. Steven Adams got one shot in the entire game. Enes Kanter only got a handful more. Combined–Adams, Kanter, and Ibaka got 15 shots off in the game. Unacceptable, especially on a night when Russell Westbrook was 10-31 from the field.

Both Westbrook and Durant had five turnovers on the night. Again–Tony Parker has two turnovers in the series.

Do the playoff math. With this tough home loss, OKC would now have to win three of the final four games of the series. That’s a very tough assignment against a Spurs team with the better coach, the smarter point guard, and two stars in Leonard and Aldridge who are both having a very nice series.

This was a game Oklahoma City just really had to have and when it mattered most it was the same old Thunder we saw time and time again in the fourth quarter this season. Not a team making plays, but instead turning the ball over and shrinking from the moment.

Obviously, OKC is now in an absolute must win situation in Game 4 on Sunday night at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. If the Thunder lose this game the series is basically over in either five or six games.

Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have to show the world if they can ‘Actually Do This or Not’. It’s time to see if the two stars can be what Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard will be for their team–namely, a functional point guard and a play making superstar who can make plays in the last four minutes of games against good teams.

Mike Jackson

San Antonio Spurs 100 – Oklahoma City Thunder 96

Spurs lead series 2-1

Great game. Many things to touch on, but I’m tired. I’m doing my recap in the morning. So many little things in this game which added up to a Spurs’ road win in Game 3. Just little things, but the problem is they keep happening in the fourth period.

Just little things.

We all know San Antonio was a franchise best 67-15 this season while going 40-1 at home. On the road the Spurs went 27-14, but against Golden State, Cleveland, and OKC they were a collective 0-5 in these road games.

If you go through the Spurs’ entire season their best road win probably came at Miami or maybe the Clippers.

Until Tuesday night, the Thunder were winless in road games versus Golden State, Cleveland, and San Antonio going 0-5 as well. But the Thunder get Game 2 on the road and now the onus is on OKC to keep homecourt.

If you combine  2012, 2014, and this series with the two teams meeting, the Spurs are 1-5 on the road, while OKC is 2-6.

Road wins have been special when these two teams have met in post season. OKC won the iconic Game 5 in 2012 which propelled them to the Western Conference Championship in six games. In 2014, the Spurs clinched the Western Conference Championship in Oklahoma City in Game 6.

This week-end in on Mothers’ Days weekend should prove to provide some great moments. To date, OKC and the Spurs are overall 7-7 against each other in post season play.

2014 Game 6 in Oklahoma City