Thunder upside?

[bocabull]

What is the upside of this team? Do they have any? If the 2 games vs the Heat have shown us anything it's that they still live & die by jump shots. The win in Miami was a fluke with Fisher & Lamb throwing in 3 after 3.

They are really at a crossroads and with each passing year they remind you more & more of Dirks Mavs.

I don't see them getting out of the West with zilch post offense.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

I believe the Thunder are top ten in point in paint per game.

While the Thunder likely won't have many games where they shoot it as good as they did against the heat in miami, they also won't have many games where they shoot it as poorly as they did in OKC.

I wouldn't call beating the heat on the road by double digits after being down double digits as a fluke. especially considering that westbrook didn't play.

The game last night showed me nothing except the thunder weren't ready to play. I don't take anything from it.

Also it's kind of funny that the team with the best record in the nba lives or dies by the three when they are in the bottom half of the league in 3 pt %.

I think anyone can see the upside of this team and I would be pretty surprised if the thunder don't make it to the finals.

 

[bocabull]

So what is the upside? Other than having a good night shooting jump shots? Those points in the paint stats from the regular season are meaningless. 20 of those joke teams won't be around when the real season starts. You can either post up and get easy buckets or you can't. Slashing and driving vs inferior teams means very little.

 

[coolm]

agreed. They live and die by the jumper. It will catch up with them.

What's sad is I dont think it has to be that way. With a concerted effort they could balance that offense out a bit. But it never becomes a priority until it's too late.

 

[NickZepp]

Miami technically is the same way. Outside of LeBron they live and die by the jumper. Even Bosh mostly shoots outside jumpers. But both the Thunder and Heat have LeBron and Westbrook that are unstoppable at getting to the rim at best. Durant also has a great all around game. Wade when healthy also has the same thing but he's got no knees right now. Miami is better on defense that's it.

I kinda expect a few off games for the Thunder adjusting back to having Westbrook in the lineup.

 

[bocabull]

Lebron is 3rd in the nba in fg% at 57.7%, Wade is 6th at 55.1%, Bosh is 14th at 53.4%. Lebron is #1 in the NBA in post up efficiency. It's a lot more than defense that separates these teams.

A thunder grizzlies first round series could be very interesting if the Griz are 100%.

 

[playmakr]

Their upside is probably related to who wins the East. The only team in the NBA they wouldn't be favored to beat in the Playoffs is Miami. (Not my opinion, Vegas)

And a healthy Memphis vs. any team would be interesting.

The only two teams that have an even remote chance of beating OKC in the West are the Clippers and Grizzlies.

I'm never been a big Doc guy, but his commitment in keeping Jordan on the floor and getting Blake to face up more give them a shot in the West. Defense is still shaky at times.

 

[SilliSooner]

Perkins is out for six weeks so it might cost them a batch of games.

If you were the Thunder and you have a roster spot open, what would you do? You might have two spots open for six weeks or longer. Do you buy Danny Granger from the Sixers?
Do you go after Metta WP? Try to get a center from a foreign league? Can you get Osby on a ten day?

 

[Max Power]

Perkins is out for six weeks so it might cost them a batch of games.

If you were the Thunder and you have a roster spot open, what would you do? You might have two spots open for six weeks or longer. Do you buy Danny Granger from the Sixers?
Do you go after Metta WP? Try to get a center from a foreign league? Can you get Osby on a ten day?

Osby is still hurt i believe, and they most likely wont do anything and continue to play like they did tonight

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Looks like Butler will sign with THunder. He will prob take minutes from lamb and fish.

Heard one rumor that they are looking at ben gordon too. I don't really think he would fit

 

[bocabull]

Butler is a stud and very important addition. This puts the thunder above the finals team from 2 seasons ago. Westbrook, Durant & Ibaka are all better and if healthy Butler will be better all around than Harden was then.

Butler is a warrior. He's one of those guys just slightly below elite. A perfect 4th man on a title caliber team.

 

[bocabull]

The only two teams that have an even remote chance of beating OKC in the West are the Clippers and Grizzlies.

The Spurs, Rockets, Thunder & Clippers all have an equal shot. The Rockets have the best record in the NBA in 2014.

 

[playmakr]

The Spurs, Rockets, Thunder & Clippers all have an equal shot. The Rockets have the best record in the NBA in 2014.

Vegas disagrees with you. Pretty strongly, actually.

The Thunder are 5/4 to win the West. I guess you will have to short sell that one. Don't know many people that would place an "equal bet" against a 5/4 favorite, but I'm sure any sports book in Nevada will take your action lol. They might even let you keep the juice for having the temerity to wear a blue paisley shirt.

As an update to a previous post I made, the Pacers have moved slightly ahead of Thunder in Vegas.

 

[NickZepp]

Clippers are really the only team with a shot IMO. Heat and Pacers could beat the Thunder in a series. If Perk and Thabo come back 100%, they will be tough to beat.

 

[bocabull]

Vegas disagrees with you. Pretty strongly, actually.

The Thunder are 5/4 to win the West. I guess you will have to short sell that one. Don't know many people that would place an "equal bet" against a 5/4 favorite, but I'm sure any sports book in Nevada will take your action lol

Hey genius, assuming Vegas odds were efficient instead of a gimmick for suckers, the Thunder paying 7:5 to win the west mathematically means they have a 5 in 12 chance of winning or 41.67%. That means the chance of somebody else winning is 58.33%. The fact that people are split on who that other team is does not matter.

I wouldn't expect you to understand math. Vegas loves suckers.

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Hey genius, assuming Vegas odds were efficient instead of a gimmick for suckers, the Thunder paying 7:5 to win the west mathematically means they have a 5 in 12 chance of winning or 41.67%. That means the chance of somebody else winning is 58.33%. The fact that people are split on who that other team is does not matter.

I wouldn't expect you to understand math. Vegas loves suckers.

problem is this wasn't what you said earlier. Let me quote

The Spurs, Rockets, Thunder & Clippers all have an equal shot.

 

[playmakr]

ArdmoreBull,

Don't get mad at me that you are the one who supplied this statement:

The Spurs, Rockets, Thunder & Clippers all have an equal shot.

Wrong.

LOL at the guy trying to explain how Vegas works when he thinks those teams all have an equal shot since they have the Thunder under 50% chance of winning. You know, since I'm a nice guy and I like Ardmore, I'll get it all out there for you. Chances of winning based on odds from Bovada:

OKC- 44.4%
Spurs- 18.1%
Clippers-15.4%
Rockets-14.3%

So tell us Newton, which one of those three teams has an equal shot?

Again, any sports book in Nevada will happily let you place an equal bet against a 5/4 favorite. I can see it now, "hey the guy in the blue paisley shirt, what's that? Yea he really is. He wants to put a $1000 bet on the Clippers winning the Western Conference wanting 4/1 odds. Haha yea I know, he doesn't realize he could get them at 11/2 right now. Yea I tried to tell him, I guess he's trying to teach us something about odds. Yea, I'll give him a handful of drink tickets and offer a free night's stay, we need to keep this guy here."

Vegas would be happy to keep your $1500 (feel free to check my math) you gave up wanting even odds with those 4 teams.

 

[bocabull]

problem is this wasn't what you said earlier. Let me quote

There is no problem. I, like anybody with a brain, do not consider Vegas odds efficient. They are simply a function of money flow and we know the money to Vegas is flowing from extremely unsophisticated dopes.

Any team that wins 40 games before they lose 20 is a title contender. The teams who fit that category and are most suited half court offense initiating as close to the basket as possible have the best chance.

The Thunder may have the best record in the west, but they have the worst post up offense.

 

[bocabull]

Chances of winning based on odds from Bovada:

OKC- 44.4%

Hey Cletus, 5:4 = 4 in 9 chance of winning which equals 44.4%. I used 7:5 which was the latest odds. Same formula.

Guess what? The odds Vegas pays have nothing to do with those teams having an equal shot. Their payout is based on where other Cletus rednecks like you are placing their bets. Nothing more.

As for the Adrmore reference ... is it supposed to be an insult from an Oklahoma resident that your part of the state is less backwards than another part? Because I'm pretty sure every county voted for Sarah Palin. lol lol lol lol

 

[SoonerBounce13]

Hey Cletus, 5:4 = 4 in 9 chance of winning which equals 44.4%. I used 7:5 which was the latest odds. Same formula.

Guess what? The odds Vegas pays have nothing to do with those teams having an equal shot. Their payout is based on where other Cletus rednecks like you are placing their bets. Nothing more.

As for the Adrmore reference ... is it supposed to be an insult from an Oklahoma resident that your part of the state is less backwards than another part? Because I'm pretty sure every county voted for Sarah Palin. lol lol lol lol

Will you please post pictures from your golf trip?

Oh, and you are still wanted here: http://ouhoops.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27185