I voiced my displeasure with some of the moves Coach Mark made in the Thunder’s mind-blowing Game 1 loss. But much to my pleasure and surprise…it appears Coach Mark followed every single one of my nuanced suggestions for the Game 2 turnaround on Sunday evening inside of PayCom Arena.
So…I’m guessing maybe Mark has been reading okcthunderground.com and implementing some, if not all of my simple suggestions.
Basically, what I said following Game 1 was:
1 I don’t give a shit if Cason Wallace starts, but unless he’s able to knock down a couple of three’s there’s no way he should be getting 33 minutes and be on the floor the last six minutes of the game.
2 I don’t have a minutes number on how many minutes Chet and Isaiah should on the floor together, but at least throw that look out there a bit like a pitcher showing his changeup now and again to keep batters off balance.
3 Play Kenrich Williams a minimum of ten minutes in every game. His value goes on and beyond the stat sheet. Game 2 Kenrick played 8 minutes and was a +15 in those minues. Duh.
4 If Coach Mark and Sam can’t find Aaron Wiggins at a minimum 18 minutes a game then they should trade him to my Denver Nuggets this summer. Don’t give me the bullshit metric numbers that say Aaron’s a defensive liability. Was. Bobby Portis a a liablity for the Milwaukee Bucks several years back when he helped Giannis get his ring? Aaron Wiggins should be the second guy off the bench following only Alex Caruso.
5 Isaiah Joe is the defensive liability. He’s soft despite all the nonsense you people listen to on those absurd Thunder telecasts and blogs. Isaiah Joe only has inherit value if the Thunder fall behind by a double digit deficit and Coach Mark is desperate for someone to hit some quick bombs from beyond the arc.
6 Ajay Mitchell is a nice rookie who has a great future, but who also missed 30 games due to injury this season. When Coach Mark inserted Ajay into Game 1 in the first half…MJ’s cursing could have been heard halfway up our sleepy street leading to the Deer Creek mini-ranch. Are you kidding me? Play Kenrich and Aaron.
That’s pretty much about it. We don’t need to reconfigure the DNA molecule for the Thunder to win this series in five or six games and have an NBA championship parade in Oklahoma City.
The rotation goes in this order for MJ…1 Shai, 2 JDub, 3 Caruso, 4 Lu, 5 Isaiah, 6 Chet, 7 Aaron, 8 Cason, and 9 Kenrich. THIS IS THE NBA FINALS…nine players or maybe a tenth if there’s foul trouble or an injury. This is WINNING TIME.
Again…I could care less who starts. But I care very much who’s on the floor those last seven minutes.
Obviously…every game has a different script per se, but from my viewpoint to date…Chet and Cason are getting a little bit too much of either Sam or Coach Mark’s nerdy organic hoops love. Sometimes, actually…most times—winning is simple. You ride your hoss and some guys other guys ride with him.
Having written what I just wrote…I would concede Chet is the player I have circled. This dude’s team at Gonzaga did nothing in his one NCAA Tournament appearance. If Chet wants to change MJ’s narrative…then I would suggest he step it up and be the difference maker in this series from this point forward.
Show MJ.
Yeah, that’s my Game 3 suggestion. Do what it takes to make Chet Holmgren be the game changer the rest of these NBA Finals. Make things Break Good in a significant way, Chet Holmgren.
Mike J