Yeah, Wemby was fairly well neutralized in the 2H and OTs.
Feels like Spurs are going to struggle without Fox.
Feel like Iâve seen a lot of âwell Wemby played the game of his life and Spurs barely squeaked throughâ in the Twittersphere .
Did he? He basically matched his regular season per 36 numbers, maybe a little higher on rebounds, and little less on blocks and assists. Seems like it was a normal performance for him, we simply got 20 more minutes of freak show.
1 Like
We will see if itâs sustainable. They have to figure out how to get him the ball more cleanly instead of low percentage flip lobs in the middle of the court. They look awesome when they work. 21 turnovers on the night.
Yeah, Fox being out certainly hurts their half-court offensive flow. And OKC figured some things out later in the game. But San Antonio has coaches too, so Iâm sure theyâll make their own adjustments. Looks like it could be an all-time series.
2 Likes
I have to say, as someone who doesnât really follow any basketball between Spurs conference finals appearances, that itâs very funny to me that the likely emergence of what could one of the biggest rivalries in memory is between fucking San Antonio and Oklahoma City. How did the NBA let this happen?
One of the worst shot decisions Iâve ever seen.
Thatâs why it isnât a normal performance though. Can he keep that level up playing extended minutes in what is likely a 6 or 7 game series? Can he stay healthy? We will see. We donât know he has never done it.
I think the narrative that the league pulls the strings behind the scenes is simply false. Presti grew up with the Spurs and once the whole Durant and Westbrick thing blew up his 2nd build from scratch he went with the Spurs model which favors more depth, defense and character over the Big 3 model we saw dominate the league ethos until now.
In many ways these two teams are enormously similar. One obvious mega star (Wemby and SGA) surrounded by a ton of talent and incredible defense. The Spurs donât have the treasure trove of 1sts that the Thunder have going forward but they do have a pick swap and a bunch of extra 2nds and they control their own 1sts. In other words they didnt trade the farm for some pipedream trade like the Lakers or Clippers have done. You could easily argue these two teams have the best front offices and it isnât close.
Well the Spurs tanked for Wemby, which the NBA freely lets happen.
A fair point. The Thunder benefitted from their brief tanking stint as well.
One thing that is hard to overstate is just how terrible a good chunk of the front offices in the NBA are. Teams like the Lakers who have all the structural advantages in the world cant help but do terrible things like trade away all of their 1st round picks on mostly garbage. Luka is probably the one exception but even he is potentially a disaster if he never stays healthy. The Thunder have literally feasted on dumb and desperate teams. Even if you forget SGA was in the trade aging Paul George for 4 1sts is so hilariously bad I canât imagine the celebration when Presti got off the phone.
When they put a little on Wemby, why doesnât he just walk to the basket and hold his hands up? Why is he standing at the top of the key?
3 seconds calls(which rarely happen) I assume? Thatâs a good question. Also how worthless is Hartenstein for the Thunder if he cant play in this series. You would think put your biggest guy on Wemby and let him maul him until he fouls out and Hartenstein seems like the guy for the job but he is so slow he canât even come close to defending him.
Thatâs the real problem for the Thunder. He and Chet canât guard him. Chetâs body language around him is completely defeated looking and horrible. So your next best option is the swarm of gnats approach with Caruso and Dort. Will that work? I really have no idea.
Just making a joke really. Obviously that the NBA is not fixed by the league has long been evidenced by; New York Knicks, entire history of.
1 Like
The ironic thing about the NBA and the Thunder is that they canât land free agents because OKC is not a desirable place for an NBA player to live. But that actually helps them because free agents are mostly not worth their contracts. The smaller market teams are forced into the correct front office strategy by the reality of their situation.
Thunder also benefited massively from getting robbed in the PG/SGA trade.
The Lakers have a superstar fetish thatâs basically baked into their DNA at this point. Every title theyâve ever won since moving to LA has been on the back of some huge trade or free-agent signing (even the pick that netted them Magic came via trade), and theyâll keep going back to that well until the heat death of the universe despite the fact that itâs the hardest way to win a title in todayâs NBA.
Anyway, thatâs their excuse, I donât know what these other dumbass teams are doing.
2 Likes
10?? titles in 46 years? Bulls second at six. Celtics and Spurs have five in that span??
trying from memory maybe missed something here or there
11, no one wants to count that COVID season title 