Hear The Thunder

by TwoDeep on Feb 7, 2009 9:27 AM PST

I like that team, how they play and how they're coached. They've got some exciting guys in Durant, Green and Westbrook. I've always like Collison. They also have a top notch General Manager who has set them up nicely with what he has already accumulated, his future draft picks, and the huge gift that was handed him by KP in the 2007 draft. They are a team to be reckoned with and will provide very stiff competition for the Blazers over the coming years. They are easily my second favorite NBA team. I'm happy they moved because I would never let myself root for a Seattle team ..... I just couldn't be responsible for doing that. But now I can allow my enthusiasm to run rampant while following these ex-Sonics. Too bad their owner is a dildo though.

On a side note of sorts, I love how Brooks lets his team play free, loose and easy. They are fun to watch and are having fun themselves. Carlisimo was a Nate type coach ... heavy handed and controlling. That is the right style for some teams, but not for ones loaded with young, athletic, fast racehorses like the Thunder and especially the current Blazers. Nate has our young team thinking too much, not allowing them to use their basketball skills and instincts. Time for him to finally show some flexibility .... or hand the reins to another coach who is willing to free-wheel. Hmmm, I still can't get out of my mind how/why Nate didn't sign an extension last year.

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completely agree with your impressions of the Thunder

Those guys are good. Even Jeff Green is cming along. Last year I thought he was going to be a dud but this year he is proving that he deserved to have been taken as high as he was (or at least almost as high).

The Thunder are going to be playoff material in a couple years. Durant is flat out unreal in what he can do. He can score from literally anywhere, downtown and at the rim and literally any point in between. When he starts his drives he can stop and let go of the ball at any spot on the court and the ball will go in the net. Pull up jumpers, runners, hooks, tear drops, fadeaways, lay ups, dunks, you name it. He can mimick all the moves of all the best players in the game, and he has the physical tools to pull all of those moves off without a hitch.

Collison is a serviceable, reliable big man, kind of like Przybilla. He gets the job done with brains and muscle and determination. If Westbrook can make the transition to NBA PG and they pick up a dominant center (or at least a center who can play 35 minutes per game of tough D), then look out Western Conference.

And it’s true what TwoDeep says: they are definitely fun to watch, especially Durant.

Truth comes as a conqueror
only to those who have lost the art
of receiving it as a friend.

Rabindranath Tagore

by dwarfgoper on Feb 7, 2009 10:05 AM PST reply actions

I think the Thunder isn't bad as their record, but they are still bad

Playing against the Blazers D tend to make you better than you really are. Westbrook looks like a combo guard pretending to play the position of PG. Watson was the one keeping the team together. Durant and Green are nice pieces for a running team, but the team lacks an interior presence for a half-court game. BTW, Scotty Brooks is playing Durant and Green basically 40+ minutes every game just to stay competitive.

The cake is a lie. Do not bake it.

by blzrfan on Feb 7, 2009 10:14 AM PST reply actions

I hate them and hope they all get cooties

It's not offensive until someone reads it.

by Dragline on Feb 7, 2009 11:39 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

I agree with you on nate's coaching style

However, the loose, “let them use their instincts” style can be just as bad too. I think a happy medium, of telling the guys to just go out there and have fun, don’t overthink, but still using discipline is a the best, either way not very easy with guys like rudy and travis, who are kind of basketball savants.

Don't Redeactivate Shavlik Randolph

by appel82 on Feb 7, 2009 12:03 PM PST reply actions