LAKERS -at- THUNDER - 4/24 - Thoughts and :-(( Ratings

[DancingBarry]

No Country For Old Men... They roar non-stop at the Thunder Dome. On their feet most of the night. You can't see what's happening inside, but you know it isn't good.

Once again, the crowds stream out in celebration. You wait until they clear. You aren't alone.

A lone Death Rider, the Bulldog, the man who can kill you in 0.4 seconds, returns to look at the blood and carnage. "The crime you see now," he says as if he's channeling an old Sheriff, "it's hard to even take its measure."

He admits to his errors and says he should be taken out of the battle if he commits some of them again. You've never heard this talk from him before. Is it his will breaking or his will stepping up to the challenge?

You ponder this.

As you leave, you stop at the sign. "Closed. Come Back Later." Yep. You will be returning. Beneath it, DancingBarry has scribbled a note again:

"The Horsemen were here. Their opponent imposed their will upon the Horsemen. Speed, hustle, focus. It was a slaughter.

I will continue to track them..."

The Thunder have their confidence.

They found it in the third quarter of game three. It carried through to game four as the Lakers didn't match the Thunder's intensity, focus or effort (not to mention freethrow shooting). The result was a 110-89 thrashing.

This is why you play for home court advantage, and the Lakers are going to need it. The Thunder fed off their home crowd. The adrenaline and frenzied atmosphere that the Thunder tapped into won't be there for them on the road. It's up to the L.A. to use that to turn the tables.

The Lakers were on their heels early in this one. The Thunder pushed tempo and crashed the glass. They were out-hustling the Lakers, getting to the line and knocking them down. Meanwhile, the Lakers couldn't make the most of their trips to the line. They went 3-12 at one point. Phil thought they could have held the line had they made those.

"They took it to us tonight. They beat us to balls. They ran the court. Even their freethrow defense was good tonight," Phil joked.

The Thunder beat the Lakers in a number of categories: Fastbreak points, of course, but also rebounding, steals, blocks, threes, fewer turnovers, 20 more FTAs. "Wow, we're up on the Lakers by 29," Scott Brooks laughed afterward. "...you don't expect that. This is the defending champs. A lot of pride. A lot of talented players." Surprisingly, the Lakers had a hair better shooting percentage.

"It's going to be a dogfight. Now more so than before," Kobe said. "They have a ton of confidence. They know how to play against us. They know what match-ups they like."

Staples has got to be a hostile environment. Can the Lakers bring the energy to match?

"They are on their third run," Rick Fox said afterward. "I think back to 2002 when we ran our third championship how out of gas we were and how we just squeaked past the Sacramento Kings to get to the finals."


Kobe -- -- "I was managing the game exactly how I wanted to," Kobe said. "Unfortunately, it got away from us." Kobe looked to get others involved from the start. The Lakers established their bigs, but that was it. He wasn't much of a threat for stretches of the opening quarter and the Lakers were quickly on their heels. Need to find the mix. Defensively, he had the misfortune of fouling a couple of three shooters (Phil mentioned the one to start the half afterward). Two shots for 7 points on those Kobe fouls, that's just fuel on the fire. Kobe didn't play in the fourth. He went to the locker room with 5:27 to ice down his injuries. "No one is going to convince me that he's not really laboring with his leg," Stu said. Before the game, the stat was given that in 128 post season performances, Kobe only had 4 games in which he didn't shoot a freethrow. Sure could have used those points in the last game. That was the one to steal. "It's going to be a tough fight. Should be fun," Kobe said. The Stats: He had 12 points on 5-10 shooting (1-1 frmo three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 4 assists, 3 turnovers and 3 fouls in 32 minutes. He was a -16. The Action: He attacked and kicked to Pau for a jumper. He was stripped, dunk the other way. He was whistled for a touch foul to give up FTs. He didn't shoot and had 2 assists in the first quarter. He jump passed to Lamar for layup. He drained a three, his first attempt with 3 minutes into the second quarter. He missed a long jumper at the top of the arc. Perfect entry over the top of the defender and Drew dunked it easily. He was whistled for a 4-point play foul on Harden out of a timeout (DFish wouldn't get the same call shortly later). Way off on a lefty runner. He swished a tough high-arching baseline jumper with the shotclock low. He was fouled on a pull-up, he made one FT. He attacked off the screen and scored a layup. He was stripped almost looked like a foul but called for a travel, until he got the refs to discuss it and finally overturn the call. He had 8 points on 3-6 shooting, 4 assists and 1 board. Second Half: He fouled Thabo on a three, horrible start to the half. He sank a pull-up from the elbow working off the Bynum screen. He missed a face-up bank out of a timeout. He attacked, took contact and banked. He got tapped on a short wing jumper. Poor pass to Pau who was in a crowd, turnover.

Gasol -- -- Pau started the game by missing both shots from the line. That was an omen. At one point the Lakers were 3-12 from the line, while the Thunder sank about 20. Pau didn't impose his size in this game. No second-chance points and a very poor job controlling the defensive glass. Granted, the guards did a very poor job in helping. Offensively, the Lakers did a much better job in setting up open post opportunities. They were able to negate a lot of the fronting by setting up weakside, running off a screen to the post while the ball was waiting to make the quick pass. If you are looking for a positive in this game, it was the Lakers ability to set up the post with a lot more ease. The Stats: He had 13 points on 5-10 shooting (3-6 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 2 turnovers and 2 fouls in 30 minutes. He was a -22. The Action: He came weak to strong, took the post entry, pumpfaked and drew FTs on the first possession, he missed both to the roar of Thunder fans. He swished a baseline jumper off the Kobe kickout. He sank a 15-footer trailing the break. He airballed a reverse and wondered where the foul call was. Nice interior feed to Drew for a dunk in early offense. He sank a short hook over a double team. He missed a 16-footer. He came weak to strong, took the post entry and scored an easy jumphook. Bad pass out of the post and he was then whistled for the foul. He had 8 points on 4-6 shooting. He missed a turnaround, but Ron cleaned it up (that was it for the second quarter). Second Half: He missed an elbow jumper short. He missed a lefty jumphook, not getting low enough position on the block. Aggressive attack next time down, quickly off the catch and he drew FTs, he made both (finally!). He sank a short lefty hook on the quick attack off the post entry. He was called for a charge on a pass off. He drew FTs and made one.

Bynum -- -- One of the few Lakers who had some life in his game. Bynum was blocking shots and anchoring the D. Unfortunately, the Thunder got up and down the court and the Lakers D struggled to get set. The team also didn't have enough effort from others on the defensive glass. The Stats: He scored 13 points on 5-10 shooting (3-4 from the line) to go with 10 boards (3 offensive), 1 assist, 3 blocks, 1 turnover and 4 fouls in 28 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: He was blocked under the hoop. He slammed in a missed drive by Ron. He swatted Green on help D. Not close on a short one against a double team. He dunked off the Pau interior feed. He blocked his man to save a hoop. He missed a jumphook. He had 4 points on 2-5 shooting and 2 blocks. He ate up a man with another shotblock. He grabbed a Lamar miss and banked. He sealed his man, took a high entry over the fronting defender and dunked. He missed a short bank in the paint, got it back, spun and drew FTs, he made just one. Nice challenge on Durant's jumper to force a miss. Good position and he hit a short jumphook. He had 11 points on 5-9 shooting, 7 boards and 3 blocks, leading the Lakers in all three categories. Second Half: He was blocked from behind on a slow developing jumper from the FT line. He posted up and hit a cutting Shannon for a layup (more please). He drew FTs on a spin move, he made both. His pass was stolen.

Artest -- -- The bigmen pulled Ron aside after practice and worked with him on post-entry sequences yesterday. The team seemed to be a little more on the same page in that aspect despite the troubles. Ron was shooting blanks from three as he has been since hurting his hands. As big as the missed freethrows were by the team, they really needed him to hit a couple of those threes during some key stretches before the game got away from them. Ron had some nice drives in the paint, too, but struggled to finish, as usual. Durant said he's learning how to play more physical and harder in the playoffs. The Thunder offense has certainly been growing stronger by the game. The Stats: He scored 5 points on 2-9 shooting (0-4 from three, 1-2 from the line) to go with 3 boards, 1 assist and 3 fouls in 28 minutes. The Action: He attacked down the lane, missed but Drew slammed it back in. He drew a push-off foul on Durant. He scored a layup on the breakaway with Fish. He attacked and missed a lefty layup. He missed a three with the shotclock winding down. He drew Durant's second foul on a push off and was in a lot of pain in his left hand on that play. He cleaned up a miss by Pau. He missed an easy reverse after a drive past Durant. He drew FTs trying to attack around Harden, he made just one. He had 5 points on 2-5 shooting. Second Half: He attacked and kicked to Fish for three. He got tapped from a corner three. He missed a three with the shotclock low, dunk the other way. He lost the handle on the break (Kobe open), then missed a three.

Fisher -- -- He called tonight's game a "good old-fashioned butt kicking." He wasn't the only one. In the first half, Westbrook had 16 points on just 6 shots. There were times when the Lakers were trying to make a run, but Westbrook got easy offensive boards that led to scores or would waltz in for a layup. "I personally told Phil he can take me out of the game on Tuesday night the first time I don't box out Russell Westbrook on the shot," DFish said. He mentioned he hasn't played against a point guard who crashes this much since Bobby Jackson. (There is no threat of a Laker break from Fish, so Westbrook is taking advantage.) Offensively, he was hitting his threes, but somehow he caught the FT shooting bug and missed both of his attempts, too. "When things get a little tough you have to continue to look in the mirror, continue to hold yourself more accountable. Collectively, we have to hold each other accountable and not feel as though we are failures because the series is tied 2-2," he said afterward. The Stats: He scored 11 points on 4-7 shooting (3-6 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 4 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 turnovers and 1 foul in 29 minutes. He was a -15. The Action: Too fast on the post entry and it went out of bounds. He scooped up a loose ball and gave it to Ron for the layup. He missed a three on a kickout. He missed a long three with the shotclock low. He swished a three on a kickout from Pau to stop a 12-0 run. He missed a long jumper from the wing. Poor post entry, not on target, turnover. He swished a three with the shotclock low (hit with no call, unlike the Thunder). Westbrook got an offensive board with no box out. Westbrook got an easy layup next time down (these are bad breakdowns when the Lakers are trying to make a run). Westbrook had 16 points on 5-6 shooting. Fish had 6 points on 2-5 shooting. Second Half: He sank a three on a kickout from Ron. He drew Durant's third foul in transition, smartly getting contact, he missed both. He sank a teardrop attacking off the three line. Westbrook missed a jumper, got his board and set up a man for an And-1.

Lamar -- -- It seemed like he started the game trying to be active without much purpose. As the game went along, he was able to attack in some spaces and look more effective. Each of the four Laker impact players shot 50 percent in the game. They combined for 21-42 shooting. Lamar had the most shots in that group in the fewest minutes. Perhaps, he is slowly starting to see the floor a little better. He needs to avoid the poor quality attempts. Defensively, he's got to elevate his game. The team wasn't getting the one-and-out possessions that you need in the post season. He's got to lock in on that end, too. The Stats: He scored 12 points on 6-12 shooting (0-1 from three, 0-2 from the line) to go with 6 boards, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block and 5 fouls in 22 minutes. He was a -14. The Action: He missed a step-back jumper out of a timeout. Next trip, down, he wasn't close on a drive, hitting backboard then rim on a runner. He grabbed a rebound and his shot was blocked. He missed a 19-footer from the wing. He attacked from the wing and reversed. He threw a rebound off a man to save a possession. He scored a layup off the high-low from Kobe. He took the corner entry, got his men in the air and drew FTs, he missed both. He missed an open corner three. He had 3 points on 2-7 shooting and 3 boards. Second Half: A moment after he got in, he took a frustration foul on the offensive glass to give up FTs. He faced up in the post, attacked and scored a layup. He spun and hit a jumphook. He attacked, took contact and finger rolled a scoop before going down. He was blocked at the rim on a fallaway. He attacked to his left, took contact with no call and scored a layup, then yelled at the refs. He lobbed to Bynum who spun for FTs.

Brown -- -- He's never been great on the break unless it was finishing. When he's forced to create or make decisions then those SF skills in a PG/SG tweener body start to show. He fumbled away a one-on-one and was blocked on another layup. The injured hand, of course, can make for more adventure than desired in those situations. Shannon was able to get to the line and actually hit his shots. Even in a poor shooting game, he was still able to get to double digits. He seems more capable of that than anyone else on the bench besides Lamar. One thing the Lakers miss are the weakside dives when the post guys get the ball. The team is letting the help creep down. Got to keep them honest. Shannon did that once. The Lakers need it more than that. The DFish/Artest lineups won't give you that. The Stats: He scored 10 points on 2-8 shooting (0-3 from three, 6-6 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover and 5 fouls in 21 minutes. He was a -9. The Action: He hit the rim on a 70-footer at the buzzer. He was blocked on the break. He was stripped one-on-one on the break. He missed a 20-footer. Second Half: He drew FTs in transition, he made both. Finally a weakside dive from someone and Shannon scored a layup off the pass from the Bynum post. He attacked off the three line and drew FTs next trip down, he made both. He missed a corner three with the shotclock low. He attacked and drew FTs, he made both. He sank a baseline jumper. He missed a wing three.

Farmar -- -- Pretty much a garbage game from Farmar. His backup counterpart on the Thunder had 13 points on 5 shots. Jordan couldn't hit anything. His one score was on an off-ball cut for a layup. More of that please. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 1-7 shooting (0-5 from three, 2-3 from the line) to go with 2 boards, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 1 foul in 19 minutes. He was a -13. The Action: He missed a 20-footer. He airballed a long three at the buzzer. Second Half: He missed a wing three. Not close on an early offense three. He gave up an And-1 layup. He missed a chuck from the corner. He cut weakside, took a pass and scored an And-1 layup, he made the FT. He drew FTs, barely hit rim on the first, made the second. He missed an early offense pull-up for three, trying to cut into that 25-point lead. He stepped on the baseline on a drive.

Luke -- -- Luke did a cartwheel in the air before landing hard on the floor for a foul, ouch. Quite possibly the Lakers most spectacular play of the night. Just one of those plays where you get in the air and come down on someone's back who you thought was going up for the shot. With a pinched nerve in his back, that can't be good. The Stats: He scored 2 points on 1-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 1 board, 2 assists, 1 turnover and 2 fouls in 9 minutes. He was a -3. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: Bogus foul, Durant was pushing off Luke 30 feet from the hoop and the refs didn't like it. Luke then picked up a tech (probably Luke's best move of the night). He missed a corner three. Turnover trying to thread a needle. He sank a wing jumper. He was short on a turnaround jumper.

Powell -- -- Phil opted to go to Powell briefly for Bynum/Lamar at the end of the first half. Lamar had two fouls. Nothing Phil hasn't already done in this series. Powell then got more run when garbage time hit. The Stats: He didn't shoot, had 3 boards and 3 fouls in 6 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He was called for a foul, looked like a decent block on Durant. He was ticked. Second Half: He gave up FTs with a shove on a rebound.

Mbenga -- -- Phil probably should have gone to Mbenga a little earlier in the fourth. The game was out of reach and Bynum didn't need the extra minutes. I wouldn't mind seeing a brief minute of Mbenga/Pau at the end of the first half (instead of Powell) if Phil tries to protect his other bigs from picking up an extra foul. He can set screens for Pau to get post position, then crash the offensive glass. On the defensive end, swat or foul hard to send a message. The Stats: He scored 3 points on 1-3 shooting (1-1 from the line) to go with 3 boards and 1 foul in 5 minutes. He was a +5. The Action: He did not play in the first half. Second Half: He was shoved away from the ball on a Shannon make, he made the FT. He didn't draw iron on two consecutive shots on one trip down court. He swished a 19-footer.

Morrison -- -- Garbage-time run for Ammo in the blowout. Nothing to analyze here. Hope the next time we see him is in a blowout in the Lakers favor. The Stats: He scored 4 points on 2-3 shooting (0-1 from three) to go with 2 boards in 4 minutes. He was a +4. The Action: Brief appearance with 4.3 seconds left. Second Half: He cleaned up a Mbenga miss with a putback. He missed an open wing three. He missed a wing jumper.

Phil -- -- The Lakers ran their bigmen off screens weak to strong to get in the post early. Much better execution... The Lakers trailed 13-12 when the first timeout came with 5:15 left in the first. Bynum and Gasol had 10 of those points on 5-9 shooting... The Lakers trailed 19-14 when Lamar came in for Bynum with 3:28 left... Down 7, they called a timeout. Phil sat Kobe for Brown. Out of the timeout, the Lakers missed a step-back jumper from Lamar. Not a good shot... The Thunder went on a 12-0 run in 4 minutes to take a large lead. This is where the Lakers lost control... The Thunder led 29-17 after the first quarter. The Lakers shot 8-22 (1-5 from three, 0-2 from the line). The Thunder made 10-19 (8-8 from the line). The Thunder won the second-chance points 9-2 in that quarter... Lamar missed the Lakers next two FTs 4 minutes later. They start 0-4 from the line. The Thunder 11-11... Down 40-28, they brought back in the starting five with 6 minutes left... Freethrows now Lakers 1-6, Thunder 18-18... Phil brought in Powell, Farmar and Morrison for a very brief stint to save fouls... The Lakers trailed 55-42 at the half. The Lakers shot 40 percent (18-45, 3-10 from three). The Thunder shot 43.6 percent (17-39, 2-6 from three). Difference from the line: Lakers 3-10, Thunder 19-20. Thunder had a 14-2 advantage on the break. Thunder bench had 17 points, the Lakers had 4 on 2-12 shooting... Coaches told team not to panic. They wanted better effort on the glass and better D without fouling... First defensive stand of the half, Kobe fouls Thabo shooting a three... The Lakers lost the first 5 minutes by 5 points to trail by 18. Phil sat Bynum for Lamar... Down 19 Phil went to a Pau, Lamar, Kobe, Shannon, Farmar unit. Kobe on Durant... The Lakers trailed 86-64 heading into the fourth... Phil started a Bynum, Lamar, Luke, Shannon, Farmar unit. He let them run... He pulled Bynum/Lamar midway through the quarter to run the Mbenga/Powell garbage-time lineup... The Thunder had 23 second-chance points. They had a 24-2 advantage on the fastbreak. They shot 42-48 from the line, the Lakers shot 17-28 (9-10 in the fourth when the game was out of hand)... Phil called it a "meltdown."... Suddenly, it's a 3-game series...

Game Flow -- LINK -- I don't think we've seen a first half ever where there were no Laker runs. Not only is it rare, it's a sign of the Lakers being unable to impose their will for any stretch.

[LakerLanny]

You are a good man DB, a good man indeed.
_________________
Love, Laker Lanny

[srm90]

[mhan00]

ugly, ugly game for the lakers. nobody really played very well, with the possible exception of bynum. pau was due for a stinker after a long string of great games; let's hope he's back to form on tuesday.

edit - oh, and games like today are why thursday loss hurt so much. if only we could have transplanted kobe's game today with his game on thursday, and we would have won that one. we just threw the one we had in the bag away with poor decisions in the 4th quarter.

[OregonLakerGuy]

Bad game, good recap. Thanks DB

[thurloly]

DP just made me even more depress.

I am worry now for our boys.

[venturalakersfan]

I have to ask the question that I have repeatedly asked this season, why does everyone assume Artest has to shoot 3's? Why can't he shoot a 15-footer instead? Since he is generally open, taking a couple of dribbles toward the hoop would be the smart thing to do.
_________________
RIP mom. 11-21-1933 to 6-14-2023.

[terrafirma]

[WASP]

So Fish will not start on Tuesday?

[A Mad Chinaman]

DB - thanks for the great, but depressing game analysis. This is one of the few games that I was so disgusted with the effort that I turned off the game early in the fourth quarter.


Questions and Points

Re: Being Taught a Lesson
It was good that Phil let the team get a big ki.k a.. whupping to wake them up and play their game. When the Lakers didn't respond in Game 3, a game they should have won, it appears that the Thunder is this year's equivalent of last year's Rockets (sadly). It is crazy, but if the Lakers act as inexperienced and a lack of energy - they will get beaten in this series. Laker Team - Does Phil Jackson now have your COMPLETE ATTENTION!

Re: Westbrook
Why didn't somebody stay in front of Westbrook to make him give up the ball or at least slow down. It has to be DFish/Kobe/RonRon that is rotated over the cover the other end of the court.

Re: Jordan
This game highlights why Jordan will always be a backup guard for any elite team that he plays for. Bad decisions, little defense and ineffective/inappropriate/"early clock" shooting are just part of his game. Lakers have PG issues, but Jordan is definitely not the answer. It would have been nice to have him tail Westbrook all over the court so that he doesn't have these unimpeded mad full court dash to the hole. Question is how and where to use Jordan with his deficiencies.

Re: LO
The invisible transformer needs somebody to buy him a ton of candy to wake him up- or at least not feed him at the 3point line. Only for a brief time where he seemed engage in the game to drive to the hole did anybody even know he was playing. I think any expectations for him to be more than what he has shown throughout the season should end. Maybe they should ISO LO at the top of the key (ala LBJ) to highlight how bad he is playing then start taking more PT away from him since his 22 minutes were a complete lost.

Re: Lakers' Energy (Mistake: No Energy Play)
Champions don't get outhustled. Champions show pride - even when getting their butt kick. Excuse me, the Lakers are not acting like Champions - probably because they might not be this year's Champions?!?!

Re: RonRon on the High or Low Post
Could rotating RonRon into the post help him get more involved with the offense? He is passing on shots and making it harder for the offense to work.

Re: Heart of a Champion
Isn't it sad that the Thunder have taken their pride and heart. Stu Lantz was surprised that the Lakers coaches shared that they shouldn't panic in this game. The Champions are panicked when facing the 8th seed team? How did this "Super Team" get so old, so inexperienced and panicked in four games

[tw-lakbfan]

Phil has to be called out too.

Above all, so many years with the Lakers, and he still can't get the team to play foundamental defense?

[Gallofa]

Thanks, DB!

I thought about avoiding the board after this loss, knowing what happens after a loss this big, but it seems people are behaving. Somehow, that worries me more than if everyone was in here shouting and screaming about Kobe, Gasol and PJ.

Let's put this one behind us and focus on the next one.

[lakerboy]

thanks db

this team has written "done" all over them (much like their leader)

[jmark]

As Stu said Kobe's knee is the issue. Anyone that has watched him over the years knows it is really bothering him. He has no lift. It will take a team effort to win this series. He can't carry them right now.
_________________
"I appreciate all those who have supported me. Thank you for believing in me. My family and I are going to need your support and prayers now more than ever." Kobe

[LuciusAllen]

The worry for me is, now that it's a compressed best-of-3 series, it's hard to tell whether OKC will actually feel the pressure that often afflicts a young inexperienced team at this point.

I'm not a big believe in the adage "they really have nothing to lose." Of course they do - they've gone all out and tied the Lakers in a best of 7 series. Now it's time for one of these teams to close it out. And only the Lakers have gone through that before.

But OKC is just so ... young. They can go out there and play hard and use their speed, and the pressure might affect them when they're shooting the ball -- but the chaos they create may affect the Lakers just the same.

It should be very interesting.

[Rick12322]

Thanks, DB. How do I turn off these video commercials off? They don't have controls on them?

n e way, just to add my 2 cents to your marvelous recap, there are three things the Laker's need to learn between now and game 5.

1. how to box out. They have had this horrible habit all year of only looking at the shot at the rim, then some player comes flying from behind them like superman and takes the rebound away. Either they should turn their body sideways so they can at least use some peripheral vision to track them, or players who have less chance at the rebound need to turn around and find some OKC bodies to box out. Make it a team effort.

2. How to take a charge. There's no better way to stop an athletic freight train like this than taking charges on them. They've got to anticipate the lanes and beat them to their spots.

3. Most of the Thunder points are generated off our long misses or turnovers in fast breaks. I think that most of their foul shots are generated off the fast break also. The Laker's proved they could get Pau and Bynum the ball in the post and we were successful there. We've got run an offense that keeps OKC in front of us. When they rebound our misses, we've got to keep them in front of us by hedging them, make them zig zag, just don't grant them a runway.

Do those things and maybe we'll turn this mess around. Don't do them and Kobe will get his rest and re-cooperation much sooner, and Jerry Buss will crap his pants that he extended Kobe, and won't have the anticipated post season revenues to pay for it.

[targetman]

I thought it was interesting that Cleamons mentioned that he was impressed with how coachable the Thunder are and how they seem less interested in what others are doing and more interested in meshing as a team and doing what their coach asks them to.
_________________
Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.

[Rick12322]

[StuLantz#1]

Literally everyone here knew Westbrook was the biggest problem, but it's just wild looking at the stats. He's averaging like 22pts against us through 4 games (against his 16pt/game season average), but here's where it's just insane: He shoots 41% during the season, and now he's up to 55%! That's sick. On one hand it would technically be an upset losing in the first round, but anyone that watched the team in the second half can't be THAT shocked if they get bounced by anyone at this point. It's sad to see how much this team has fallen (coupled with indifference--just losing that drive to win they use to have).

Either way, no matter what the Lakers are doing wrong, the skewed refereeing is disgusting and has gone a huge way in bringing the THunder back 2-2 after dropping the first two games, and what's worse is it seems to happen to this team all the time. One of my favorite threads last night was the one that compared against the FT differential for the other night's games. I always track playoff box scores around the league, and it seems losing teams don't seem to have this kind of massive FT hurdle to deal with as consistently (despite the fact we're regularly outscoring our opponents in the paint). It's true the Lakers have their own problems as far as picking it up out there, but again, you rarely ever see any teams ever winning when there's this big of a discrepancy. There's no doubt in my mind even people that hate LA realize the Thunder are getting the massive majority of the whistles in their favor (not that they want to acknowledge it though).

[wolfpaclaker]

Houston series all over again.

We'll take this in 6 or 7.

[RVCdesigns]

Thanks DB

[PopcornMachine]

[superboy]

[Addicus]

When a team knows they can attack at will on both ends and don't have to worry about getting called, their confidence really grows. The Thunder are at that point right now. Every contested jumper and drive sends them to the line while they are able to highly contest all entry passes and shots with no recourse. When you couple that with their great health, talent and physical abilities it's a disaster for any team they play. As much as we'd all love looking for scapegoats the simple truth is the Thunder are winning these games at the free throw line deservedly or not.
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They were up 25 points in the 3rd last night while making one less field goal then our offensively inept Lakers. We pounded the ball inside the whole first half so what are the excuses now? Andrew and Pau took turns dominating in the low post and Kobe was very effective when he shot. Lamar attacked the rim over and over and over getting contact but the Thunder had free reign to be physical with him. There is no doubt we are getting killed in transition and in the half court set @ the point. Transition points have to do with rebounding and aggressiveness on the boards which is a direct result on how physical teams are allowed to be.
_________________
Stop crying and start doing.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/addicusbrown

[DancingBarry]