I know there has been talking of trading him out there. Would OKC get better with him?
Would adding Blake Griffin to the Thunder help or hurt the team?
- Thread starter BawlzDeep
- Start date
No, scoring isn't their problem and Blake has never been really fond of playing defense.
OKC and the Clippers are one in the same. Lots of talent, one great rim protector. Fold on the big stage.
I don't think adding Blake would make a difference.
I don't think adding Blake would make a difference.
OKC with top 3 players healthy has a winning playoff record against any team they have ever played in the Western conference. Including Spurs and Clippers. I dont know that they fold on the big stage like Chris Paul does.
Coming off injury = well-rested
OKC will meltdown in the playoffs when they're toe to toe with everyone else in fatigue. That's the plague of a team that can't grind a game out. Spurs are scary in that regard. Duncan, Diaw, Aldridge and West are going to put the hurt on some teams inside. They're built for 7 game series.
Made no sense. OKC hasnt gotten playoff injuries because of fatigue.
OKC is well suited for playoffs with no back to back nights and they can extend minutes for Russ and KD. It takes 2 weeks to play a 7 games playoff series. Depth is less important when you you play less guys, but OKC has probably better depth than they have had before. And check out how Russ and KD perform when they do make a game 7. Russ with multiple game 7 triple doubles doesnt seem too tired. .
Spurs havent been impressive against the other contenders GSW, CLE, OKC, LAC.
And they only going to be older come playoffs. Timmy's game looks to spiraling downward last month. Parker will be 34 and cant hang with the other PGs.
And they only going to be older come playoffs. Timmy's game looks to spiraling downward last month. Parker will be 34 and cant hang with the other PGs.
When the playoffs come and teams start to slow down, play defense and grind it out, the Spurs will be the only team capable of slowing the Warriors pace and throw lots of depth at them.
"Coming off injury = well-rested
OKC will meltdown in the playoffs when they're toe to toe with everyone else in fatigue. That's the plague of a team that can't grind a game out."
Like I said, you made no sense to me. OKC has proven in playoffs the ability to grind out a game for a win.
2015 - No Playoffs
2014 - 2-4 Spurs
2013 - 1-4 Grizzlies
2012 - 1-4 Heat
2011 - 1-4 Mavs
The fact is they get worked every year in the Playoffs by a team that can grind it out and play good basketball every game.
This year, they're 1-4 against the Top 4 teams in the league; Warriors, Spurs, Cavaliers, Raptors. Their one win against the Top 4 came against San Antonio in the first game of the season at home, and they only had a 2 point lead with less than a minute to go.
Oh, and I found this write-up that breaks down the Thunder woes and ridiculousness better than I ever could:
http://www.poundingtherock.com/2016...ghest-potential-second-round-opponent-for-the
2015 - No Playoffs
2014 - 2-4 Spurs
2013 - 1-4 Grizzlies
2012 - 1-4 Heat
2011 - 1-4 Mavs
The fact is they get worked every year in the Playoffs by a team that can grind it out and play good basketball every game.
This year, they're 1-4 against the Top 4 teams in the league; Warriors, Spurs, Cavaliers, Raptors. Their one win against the Top 4 came against San Antonio in the first game of the season at home, and they only had a 2 point lead with less than a minute to go.
Oh, and I found this write-up that breaks down the Thunder woes and ridiculousness better than I ever could:
http://www.poundingtherock.com/2016...ghest-potential-second-round-opponent-for-the
That article was written by a Spurs fan for bleacher report. Not exactly great source. And came after the worse performance of the season for the Thunder. I completely agree with him saying Dion Waiters "didn't look like an NBA player out there". Good thing is Dion is back out of the starting lineup and would be hard to imagine things going worse than that game. Looks like Billy Donovan was embarrassed enough by the Cavs loss to stagger Russ and KD the way he should have been doing all along and limiting some of the deficiencies. I would favor GSW to beat OKC in a series but I think OKC matches up well with Spurs and beats them. Spurs only have 1 Leonard and need 2 against the Thunder.
2015 - No Playoffs
Lost way too many guys to injury including Durant but others as well. It was like OU 2009. Spurs on the other hand lost 1st round to the Clippers.
2014 - 2-4 Spurs
OKC beat a good Clippers team in 6. They ended up losing to the World Champs with the team collapsed from Ibaka injury. NBA isnt really a next man up league. No one else on the roster was starting power forward caliber player. If Leonard goes down instead of Ibaka Thunder wins that series easily. With both at full strength history would have favored the Thunder. Then I think Cleveland would have beaten OKC. OKC has much tougher time with Lebron than Spurs.
2013 - 1-4 Grizzlies
OKC was best team in the West and had #1 seed. It was over when Westbrook season ended with a cheep shot knee injury. Still dont know if they had enough to beat Miami if healthy.
2012 - 1-4 Heat
OKC swept the Mavs, only lost 1 to Kobe/Bynum/Gasols Lakers, then beat the Spurs in 6. They did that with top 4 players 22-23 years old. No team in NBA history has won it all with that young of a core. They were ahead of schedule. And they had a Perkins at center.
2011 - 1-4 Mavs
They were even younger and no one could guard or was allowed to touch a white hot Dirk that year. Still they made it to the conf finals.
That's probably the dumbest thing I'll read all week.
Every season Carlisle gets a new pieced together group and manages to get them to the playoffs with an aging Dirk.
2012 swept by OKC 1st round
2013 no playoffs, 17th best record in the league
2014 8th seed 1st round loss
2015 7th seed 1st round loss
2016 Danger not making playoffs.
Those are facts. Most coaches with that 4+ year history are losing their jobs. I think he is an upper tier NBA coach but he won a title because he had an Dirk in a zone.
Rondo is now leading the league in assists an starting PG for championship teams. Carlisle could not figure out how to reach him or use him. Dallas also had to dump Monta Ellis who was a top 5 starting shooting guard in the league last year. Has Chandler Parsons become any more effective or better under Carlisle?
Chandler, Dirk, Parsons, Ellis, Rondo. 1-4 non competitive 1st round playoff loss. Does that scream top 5 coach in the NBA? I think he is better than most but the way people talk about him vs the facts from the last 4.7 seasons, he is overrated. Would still trade for him over Billy Donovan in a heartbeat.
2013 no playoffs, 17th best record in the league
2014 8th seed 1st round loss
2015 7th seed 1st round loss
2016 Danger not making playoffs.
Those are facts. Most coaches with that 4+ year history are losing their jobs. I think he is an upper tier NBA coach but he won a title because he had an Dirk in a zone.
Rondo is now leading the league in assists an starting PG for championship teams. Carlisle could not figure out how to reach him or use him. Dallas also had to dump Monta Ellis who was a top 5 starting shooting guard in the league last year. Has Chandler Parsons become any more effective or better under Carlisle?
Chandler, Dirk, Parsons, Ellis, Rondo. 1-4 non competitive 1st round playoff loss. Does that scream top 5 coach in the NBA? I think he is better than most but the way people talk about him vs the facts from the last 4.7 seasons, he is overrated. Would still trade for him over Billy Donovan in a heartbeat.
You act like there should be better results because of Rondo, Ellis and Parsons. Are you serious?
Rondo is talented but a "me" player. He was never gonna work in the team oriented organization Dallas has been running since Carlisle arrived.
Ellis is a good scorer. Full stop. Nothing more. Not an elite scorer. No defense.
Parsons has had some injuries but still at his best he's hardly one of the league's stronger 2nd option guys.
And all this while Dirk gets older and older.
That Carlisle gets these rag tag groups to the playoffs all but one year, plus won a title, is nothing short of a miracle. That's why those that know what they're talking about routinely rank him as the 2nd best coach in the league behind Pop.
Put Rick Carlisle as the man in OKC and the Thunder would make the Warriors look like a JV squad.
Rondo is talented but a "me" player. He was never gonna work in the team oriented organization Dallas has been running since Carlisle arrived.
Ellis is a good scorer. Full stop. Nothing more. Not an elite scorer. No defense.
Parsons has had some injuries but still at his best he's hardly one of the league's stronger 2nd option guys.
And all this while Dirk gets older and older.
That Carlisle gets these rag tag groups to the playoffs all but one year, plus won a title, is nothing short of a miracle. That's why those that know what they're talking about routinely rank him as the 2nd best coach in the league behind Pop.
Put Rick Carlisle as the man in OKC and the Thunder would make the Warriors look like a JV squad.
A JV squad that hits a ton of 3's. Man, Curry throws up shit from mid-court and it swishes about 8 times out of ten. I'm suspecting some kind of pact with Beelzebub.
Dallas made the playoffs last year because they stayed healthier than the Pelicans and the Thunder. Not really what I call a miracle and not really what I call rag tag.
Your last sentence shows how Rick Carlisle may be a great coach but is overrated. He cant coach a team past injury any better than Scott Brooks could. And if he cant get along with Rondo there is no guarantee he would work well with Russ. And if he cant get guys like Parsons or Ellis to perform on a higher level what guarantees he can turn around a Singler or Waiters?
There was no point in coaching Rondo. Everyone knows that Rondo has no place in the NBA the way it's played today. There is no point in having a guard that can't hit a free throw.
You profess Rondo's return to dominance as a point guard. His team must be really great then. Oh wait, they're 10th in the West.
Remember that horribly coached Carlisle team two years ago with no talent that took the champion Spurs to 7 games and were robbed out of game 6 by the officials? Yeah, the 8th seed took the champions closer to elimination than any team thereafter. I guess it was all of that elite talent Dallas had.
Carlisle isn't the GM. He doesn't pick his pieces. He just makes the ones that can help the team work.
And how did Dallas stay healthier last year? Rondo out, Parsons out, Devin Harris out or hobbled by turf toe.
Take the top 4 guys from the teams in avg minutes and were not traded
KD/Russ/Ibaka/Adams played in 228 games
AD/Evans/Gordan/Holiday played in 248 games
Dirk/Tyson/ Chandler/Monta played combined 298 games played last year
If the 3 teams were healthy I dont think Dallas makes playoffs. Dallas was older but healthier than those 2 teams last year. Dallas is 0-4 against Thunder this year. Last year they went 3-0 against Thunder when KD didnt play and the last time Dallas has beaten OKC the Thunder were missing 3 starters.
Wouldnt have been the 1st time or even the second time Pops got knocked out of 1st round by an upset. That make Lionel Hollins an elite coach for actually beating 1 seed San Antonio?
Didnt Dallas win game 6? How did they get robbed? Game 3 3 pt buzz beater to steal a win? Their wins were a lot closer than their losses and they lose a lot of credit for giving San Antonio a tough series by getting smoked in game 7.
You can blame the roster but plenty of times Dallas looks flat and just hasnt shown the fire or desire. To me that has to be some coaching. Maybe they got full after their championship. But nothing Dallas has achieved the last 4.7 years supports Carlisle being 2nd best coach in the NBA.
Dallas injuries were all at the end of the season when the playoff race was in full effect, and they held off the competition.
Overall season injuries weren't the point there.
I say robbed in the fact that Dejuan Blair led that game 6 comeback and win and he got ejected from game 7 on an obvious hustle play without intent.
Carlisle, being the great coach he is, found the key to beating the spurs that year, and the refs pulled that away from him.
I don't see coaching prowess as being as rewarding through the regular season as you're claiming it should be. The regular season is a whirlwind of changes making it nearly impossible to make one concrete plan that wins all.
Coaching ability rears its head in the playoffs when two teams are playing a series and the coaches have time to make real changes and strategy to turn tides.
It wasn't just about an 8 beating a 1.
It was about an 8 being the team that came closest to knocking out the eventual champions.
In 2011, the spurs were primed to be taken down in the playoffs..the west was pedestrian that year which helped Dallas.
That was the latest year that the spurs big 3 were still doing it on their own, but they were all relatively old. Since then, they have been pieces in a machine that relied more on the youth of Kawhi and Danny and the likes.
But in 2011, they led the west because they were still the big 3 veterans. They knew how to prepare night in and night out through the long season. They were business, but they were old. That showed in the playoffs when they weren't able to turn it up like younger teams. They were still playing regular season ball when Memphis was playing playoff ball.
The spurs didn't have the youth to kick it to a new gear.
Cool story. Except Blair never got ejected game 7 and Mavs still lost by more than 20.
I guess Carlisle lost the key to beating the Spurs in Game 7. Just like he completely forgot them against Thunder 2012 and Rockets 2015. Managed only 1 playoff win and 8 losses against those 2 coaches no longer even the league. If you gonna give him all the love for taking eventual champs to 7 you gotta give him some blame for not being competitive in series against teams that were not eventual champs.
The fact remains that every season the Mavs front office keeps piecing together a different roster around an aging Dirk in an attempt to strike gold again. Dallas doesn't have a Durant/Westbrook duo like most of the top West teams have.
The expectations around this were no playoffs and they're right in the thick of it.
The expectations around this were no playoffs and they're right in the thick of it.
Makes a big difference. Mavs were not robbed of a series win.
I was rooting for the Mavs that series. But Blair did kick his foot out. Even if it was a very weak kick.
And Spurs stopped messing around crushed Dallas when it mattered.
