How bad did Sam Presti mess up OKC?

[StartOrien]

I get that you don't like the structure of their offense, but it is still very effective. I still believe that the offense that you dislike is mostly a result of having a scoring PG like Westbrook.

Brooks has tried to reign him in, remember the benching he got in the playoffs? But a coach can only do so much when the guy is a max contract player who plays a certain way. And westbrook is one of the best players in the league playing ugly. Even ugly he's becoming a better assist man etc too....

I'm a Westbrook guy. I think he's capable of even more than he's shown at his top level. I think Brooks holds him back by giving him absolutely nothing to work with.

[Fafnir]

I get that you don't like the structure of their offense, but it is still very effective. I still believe that the offense that you dislike is mostly a result of having a scoring PG like Westbrook.

Brooks has tried to reign him in, remember the benching he got in the playoffs? But a coach can only do so much when the guy is a max contract player who plays a certain way. And westbrook is one of the best players in the league playing ugly. Even ugly he's becoming a better assist man etc too....

I'm a Westbrook guy. I think he's capable of even more than he's shown at his top level. I think Brooks holds him back by giving him absolutely nothing to work with.

Given how often Westbrook breaks plays and goes nuts I think the only way to get "more" is by taking the ball out of his hands more frequently.

His absence has shown why Brooks doesn't do that.

Man I spent far too long defending Brooks just now, the same Brooks who is playing Fisher constantly in crunch time (AND DID SO LAST YEAR WITH HARDEN ON THE TEAM) *shudder*.

[Moranis]

Scott Brooks is the biggest problem with the Thunder.  He just isn't a good coach.  Heck Brooks was the reason the Green trade was made.  Had Brooks actually better utilized the roster, Presti never would have made the Perkins trade.

[StartOrien]

I get that you don't like the structure of their offense, but it is still very effective. I still believe that the offense that you dislike is mostly a result of having a scoring PG like Westbrook.

Brooks has tried to reign him in, remember the benching he got in the playoffs? But a coach can only do so much when the guy is a max contract player who plays a certain way. And westbrook is one of the best players in the league playing ugly. Even ugly he's becoming a better assist man etc too....

I'm a Westbrook guy. I think he's capable of even more than he's shown at his top level. I think Brooks holds him back by giving him absolutely nothing to work with.

Given how often Westbrook breaks plays and goes nuts I think the only way to get "more" is by taking the ball out of his hands more frequently.

His absence has shown why Brooks doesn't do that.

Man I spent far too long defending Brooks just now, the same Brooks who is playing Fisher constantly in crunch time (AND DID SO LAST YEAR WITH HARDEN ON THE TEAM) *shudder*.

And ignores every statistical analysis that shows that Kendrick Perkins is even worse than what the eyeball test shows.

[Fafnir]

I get that you don't like the structure of their offense, but it is still very effective. I still believe that the offense that you dislike is mostly a result of having a scoring PG like Westbrook.

Brooks has tried to reign him in, remember the benching he got in the playoffs? But a coach can only do so much when the guy is a max contract player who plays a certain way. And westbrook is one of the best players in the league playing ugly. Even ugly he's becoming a better assist man etc too....

I'm a Westbrook guy. I think he's capable of even more than he's shown at his top level. I think Brooks holds him back by giving him absolutely nothing to work with.

Given how often Westbrook breaks plays and goes nuts I think the only way to get "more" is by taking the ball out of his hands more frequently.

His absence has shown why Brooks doesn't do that.

Man I spent far too long defending Brooks just now, the same Brooks who is playing Fisher constantly in crunch time (AND DID SO LAST YEAR WITH HARDEN ON THE TEAM) *shudder*.

And ignores every statistical analysis that shows that Kendrick Perkins is even worse than what the eyeball test shows.

He cut his playing time down a ton against Houston, but against Memphis he has to play him a lot. Collison is a walking foul and Thabeet is worse.

Can't have Durant banging with Gasol or Randolph for long minutes.

[D.o.s.]

Interesting thing about this series--it's completely exposed the differences between LBJ and Durant. We always expected LeBron to carry his team all the way every year when he was in Cleveland. There was always the sense that he could do more.

The talk around KD is the exact opposite--"the kid is playing his ass off, let us lament his lackluster help!"

[j804]

I get that you don't like the structure of their offense, but it is still very effective. I still believe that the offense that you dislike is mostly a result of having a scoring PG like Westbrook.

Brooks has tried to reign him in, remember the benching he got in the playoffs? But a coach can only do so much when the guy is a max contract player who plays a certain way. And westbrook is one of the best players in the league playing ugly. Even ugly he's becoming a better assist man etc too....

I'm a Westbrook guy. I think he's capable of even more than he's shown at his top level. I think Brooks holds him back by giving him absolutely nothing to work with.

Given how often Westbrook breaks plays and goes nuts I think the only way to get "more" is by taking the ball out of his hands more frequently.

His absence has shown why Brooks doesn't do that.

Man I spent far too long defending Brooks just now, the same Brooks who is playing Fisher constantly in crunch time (AND DID SO LAST YEAR WITH HARDEN ON THE TEAM) *shudder*.

And ignores every statistical analysis that shows that Kendrick Perkins is even worse than what the eyeball test shows.

He cut his playing time down a ton against Houston, but against Memphis he has to play him a lot. Collison is a walking foul and Thabeet is worse.

Can't have Durant banging with Gasol or Randolph for long minutes.

Perk is their best big man post defender isn't he??

[D.o.s.]

Personally, I felt that the error with OKC's team was that they should have trade westbrook for a high tier pass first point guard, and kept Harden. That is how I felt last year.

When CP3 was being shopped for a new home two summers ago, I had thought for sure that OKC would be interested in a deal.

And then last summer I had thought that they would find a point guard who did not shoot more than your teams leading scorer. But they shipped Harden over Westbrook.

I am not a Westbrook fan. I think that he is Gilbert Arenas but with an amazingly talented teammate.

Gilbert was a much better scorer in his prime than Westbrook right now.

And I say that as a fan of both players.

[Fafnir]

Interesting thing about this series--it's completely exposed the differences between LBJ and Durant. We always expected LeBron to carry his team all the way every year when he was in Cleveland. There was always the sense that he could do more.

The talk around KD is the exact opposite--"the kid is playing his ass off, let us lament his lackluster help!"

I think the talk around LeBron against the Pistons and the Spurs was similar. Lets not forget that when he was losing to Boston, the Magic, and Boston he was putting up numbers just like Durant has been despite the criticism.

Plus the timing of the injury, I think people would expect more from Durant if he'd had a whole year to adjust to playing without Westbrook. This will give Durant a pass is my guess, if this were to continue next year then people will start into Durant.

[Kane3387]

I don't think you can really ask this qyestion until we see what the lottery  pick they got from Toronto turns into. Kevin Martin was not the main piece in the Harden trade. This pick was.

If they pick Saric and he turns into a great player then how can you say he messed up?

OKC is a small market team. They can't support three max guys and place quality role players around them. The next CBA really doesn't allow any team to have three max guys anymore.

Also it's not that smart to be so top heavy in regards to your contracts. Look at the Lakers. One guy goes down and you're done.

If Westbrook doesn't get hurt and they're on their way to the Finals is this even a question?

[D.o.s.]

I don't think you can really ask this qyestion until we see what the lottery  pick they got from Toronto turns into. Kevin Martin was not the main piece in the Harden trade. This pick was.

If they pick Saric and he turns into a great player then how can you say he messed up?

OKC is a small market team. They can't support three max guys and place quality role players around them. The next CBA really doesn't allow any team to have three max guys anymore.

Also it's not that smart to be so top heavy in regards to your contracts. Look at the Lakers. One guy goes down and you're done.

If Westbrook doesn't get hurt and they're on their way to the Finals is this even a question?

I actually think Memphis could beat a healthy OKC in Seven. They're better than they were in 2011 and OKC is worse.

[slamtheking]

I think the 2 questionable deals by Presti were:
1. the Green/Perk trade.  hated the deal for the C's but Presti committed a lot of $ to Perk without knowing how he'd recover from injury.
2. the Harden deal.  too little return for who I really considered their second best player.  I really thought they should have dealt Westbrook instead.  Harden's a better scorer and plays a position you want to score and Westbrook could have been replaced with a competent PG that looks to primarily distribute rather than score.  They need to do very well with Toronto's pick to add another cornerstone player because K-Mart ain't it.

[Kane3387]

I don't think you can really ask this qyestion until we see what the lottery  pick they got from Toronto turns into. Kevin Martin was not the main piece in the Harden trade. This pick was.

If they pick Saric and he turns into a great player then how can you say he messed up?

OKC is a small market team. They can't support three max guys and place quality role players around them. The next CBA really doesn't allow any team to have three max guys anymore.

Also it's not that smart to be so top heavy in regards to your contracts. Look at the Lakers. One guy goes down and you're done.

If Westbrook doesn't get hurt and they're on their way to the Finals is this even a question?

I actually think Memphis could beat a healthy OKC in Seven. They're better than they were in 2011 and OKC is worse.

I disagree. These games have all come down to one possession in the last two minutes of every game. I believe Westbrook tips the scales in OKC's favor considering how close these two teams are as is.

[CoachBo]

I don't think you can really ask this qyestion until we see what the lottery  pick they got from Toronto turns into. Kevin Martin was not the main piece in the Harden trade. This pick was.

If they pick Saric and he turns into a great player then how can you say he messed up?

OKC is a small market team. They can't support three max guys and place quality role players around them. The next CBA really doesn't allow any team to have three max guys anymore.

Also it's not that smart to be so top heavy in regards to your contracts. Look at the Lakers. One guy goes down and you're done.

If Westbrook doesn't get hurt and they're on their way to the Finals is this even a question?

I agree with the premise, but ... Presti overpaid wildly for Perkins and didn't get anything remotely close to value for either Green or Harden.

He isn't the genius people have made him out to be ... Ainge also stole his wallet in the Ray Allen deal ... although he's held harmless for the Westbrook injury. Clearly, those things happen.

[CelticConcourse]

I don't think you can really ask this qyestion until we see what the lottery  pick they got from Toronto turns into. Kevin Martin was not the main piece in the Harden trade. This pick was.

If they pick Saric and he turns into a great player then how can you say he messed up?

OKC is a small market team. They can't support three max guys and place quality role players around them. The next CBA really doesn't allow any team to have three max guys anymore.

Also it's not that smart to be so top heavy in regards to your contracts. Look at the Lakers. One guy goes down and you're done.

If Westbrook doesn't get hurt and they're on their way to the Finals is this even a question?

I actually think Memphis could beat a healthy OKC in Seven. They're better than they were in 2011 and OKC is worse.

With Russ, OKC are overwhelming favorites and win in 5, or 6 tops.