Brian Scalabrine criticized the Thunder for playing 11 guys in their regular season loss to the Celtics. And he may have been right for one game. But he assured us that the Thunder would have to tighten the rotation in the playoffs. Stamina and anaerobic exhaustion have become much bigger factors these days. The game has changed.
Note that it isn't "baked in" that the Thunder have a better bench. Just deeper. When Stan van Gundy was discussing a short list of candidates for the 6th Man of the Year award, 3 were on the Spurs, and one (now injured) was on the Thunder. I think this 5 game sample is still statistically insignificant to tell who is the better team.
Totally. I started to write something similar before excising it because it was tangential to the piece, but I totally agree that it's not like the Thunder bench is stacked with uber prospects. Guys like Cason Wallace and Jaylin Williams may well have been buried on other teams -- hell, nobody even wanted Isaiah Joe! It's the lack of pigeonholing and the willingness to let guys play ball through mistakes that helps, I think.
I'm really curious to see what happens when this team inevitably has to start shipping off guys for cheaper replacements. Can they maintain the Thunder Development Pipeline? Will any of their current players live up to expectations elsewhere? There's a real possibility that this becomes like a Miami Heat situation, where these guys earn themselves contracts in free agency but aren't able to replicate their OKC success elsewhere.
I'm really not sure, but I'll be watching closely over the next few years.
And agreed about a five-game sample, especially given the significant injuries to important players!
I actually think they should try starting Topic next game and have McCain come off the bench. Assuming Jalen W is still hurt. Topic was drafted specifically to be a creator. Perhaps he isn’t a good enough spacer, but having him drive and dish to SGA and Chet for 3s might actually work. But boy if that went wrong, would Daigneault be in the crosshairs (like last year when Ajay looked like a shadow on himself in the playoffs).
I don’t hear it mentioned much but OKC has head coach and gm synergy. Presti is great at drafting players outside the lottery and is aggressive in improving the roster. Mark is experimental with his rotations, facilitates the defensive culture, and adapts the offense to who is on the floor.
Yeah, as a coach, you need to have the security and the freedom to experiment. Presti has always had Daigneault's back, so it's fine if he loses a few games here and there because he just wanted to see if could roll out SGA and four centers, or whatever. It pays off in the long run.
And it's props to the players, too. How many times have we heard gripes about not knowing roles or complaints about playing time? Never a peep out of OKC, even when they were losing.
Cason Wallace is so damn good. How many times did he simply take the ball away from a very strong, elite driver like Harper this series? How many threes did he make when Holmgren was scared to even shoot? Alex Caruso is an unbelieveable defender. He is not, however, a shooter. And the anomaly of his making threes is the only reason the Spurs didn't win in 6. But McCain? He can score. Yawn. He's so replaceable. 76ers did not make a mistake.
Great piece. The Thunder’s quality of depth but also its versatility (JayWill’s shooting, McCain’s off the bench scoring, the defensive guards and Caruso’s ability to do whatever’s needed of him as you pointed out) have been a superpower for sure. As a Spurs fan here, watching Caruso go crazy has been especially soul sucking. It’s especially impressive that the Thunder have been able to get such good scoring without their two main secondary ball handlers in Mitchel and Jdub injured. The Spurs lack of ball handlers (ironically) due to injuries has left them with not enough answers against the Thunders waves of perimeter sharks.
Yeah, I think you nailed it. Against good defenses, the best answer is more ballhandling. The Spurs, when healthy, have great options. But two guys being hampered has exposed the back-end depth in a way OKC hasn't struggled with.
Brian Scalabrine criticized the Thunder for playing 11 guys in their regular season loss to the Celtics. And he may have been right for one game. But he assured us that the Thunder would have to tighten the rotation in the playoffs. Stamina and anaerobic exhaustion have become much bigger factors these days. The game has changed.
Note that it isn't "baked in" that the Thunder have a better bench. Just deeper. When Stan van Gundy was discussing a short list of candidates for the 6th Man of the Year award, 3 were on the Spurs, and one (now injured) was on the Thunder. I think this 5 game sample is still statistically insignificant to tell who is the better team.
Totally. I started to write something similar before excising it because it was tangential to the piece, but I totally agree that it's not like the Thunder bench is stacked with uber prospects. Guys like Cason Wallace and Jaylin Williams may well have been buried on other teams -- hell, nobody even wanted Isaiah Joe! It's the lack of pigeonholing and the willingness to let guys play ball through mistakes that helps, I think.
I'm really curious to see what happens when this team inevitably has to start shipping off guys for cheaper replacements. Can they maintain the Thunder Development Pipeline? Will any of their current players live up to expectations elsewhere? There's a real possibility that this becomes like a Miami Heat situation, where these guys earn themselves contracts in free agency but aren't able to replicate their OKC success elsewhere.
I'm really not sure, but I'll be watching closely over the next few years.
And agreed about a five-game sample, especially given the significant injuries to important players!
I actually think they should try starting Topic next game and have McCain come off the bench. Assuming Jalen W is still hurt. Topic was drafted specifically to be a creator. Perhaps he isn’t a good enough spacer, but having him drive and dish to SGA and Chet for 3s might actually work. But boy if that went wrong, would Daigneault be in the crosshairs (like last year when Ajay looked like a shadow on himself in the playoffs).
I don’t hear it mentioned much but OKC has head coach and gm synergy. Presti is great at drafting players outside the lottery and is aggressive in improving the roster. Mark is experimental with his rotations, facilitates the defensive culture, and adapts the offense to who is on the floor.
Yeah, as a coach, you need to have the security and the freedom to experiment. Presti has always had Daigneault's back, so it's fine if he loses a few games here and there because he just wanted to see if could roll out SGA and four centers, or whatever. It pays off in the long run.
And it's props to the players, too. How many times have we heard gripes about not knowing roles or complaints about playing time? Never a peep out of OKC, even when they were losing.
They could use another big Vassell game too!! My favorite jumper in the league, so unique how much lift he gets and the high release
I've loved Vassell's season, especially on the defensive end. I wrote a big piece on him three-ish years ago, and he's come a long way since then.
They do need him to get hot in a hurry.
I've never seen "half again" to mean 1.5x. I like it.
Cason Wallace is so damn good. How many times did he simply take the ball away from a very strong, elite driver like Harper this series? How many threes did he make when Holmgren was scared to even shoot? Alex Caruso is an unbelieveable defender. He is not, however, a shooter. And the anomaly of his making threes is the only reason the Spurs didn't win in 6. But McCain? He can score. Yawn. He's so replaceable. 76ers did not make a mistake.
Great piece. The Thunder’s quality of depth but also its versatility (JayWill’s shooting, McCain’s off the bench scoring, the defensive guards and Caruso’s ability to do whatever’s needed of him as you pointed out) have been a superpower for sure. As a Spurs fan here, watching Caruso go crazy has been especially soul sucking. It’s especially impressive that the Thunder have been able to get such good scoring without their two main secondary ball handlers in Mitchel and Jdub injured. The Spurs lack of ball handlers (ironically) due to injuries has left them with not enough answers against the Thunders waves of perimeter sharks.
Yeah, I think you nailed it. Against good defenses, the best answer is more ballhandling. The Spurs, when healthy, have great options. But two guys being hampered has exposed the back-end depth in a way OKC hasn't struggled with.
I’m happy to subscribe because of your honest analysis and at 71, I’m still learning that I have a lot to learn. Ha!
Thanks, and I hope I have your same intellectual curiosity down the road!
Great article. This is why I resubscribed another year 😁
Thanks a lot, Cameron, and glad to have you onboard!