[Grades] Grades v. Thunder 12/14/2012

[Tyndel]

It's pretty awesome when Serge Ibaka is a more reliable shooter than anyone on our entire team. I'd love a player or two that can actually hit shots on a semi consistent basis.

Open shots fall at a higher %. Getting open shots in the shooters favorite location will bump it up higher. It won't be every single instance but when you look at the total taken a better offensive scheme will result in high shooting %. Thats what shooting role players do they get to their spots and the stars suck the defense away from them and then get them an open look.

We have our guys still taking shots from their spots cisco from the short 3 jt from 14 - 16 at the elbow and so on but they aren't setup open shots so their % as a whole doesn't get that boost. How much of our shooting woes over the last 3 years have come down to we don't have guys that shoot(which is supposedly what we tried to address every offseason) and how much is we don't get our shooters into a position to shoot high %.

 

[The_Jamal]

I don't buy the whole "IT is a gunner who can't pass" storyline. Doesn't pass muster (no pun intended). Last year he was very good in assist/to's when he started. He can do the same thing this year if put into the starting lineup with guys that stretch the floor. He's still just in his 5th quarter of NBA basketball and people want to cement his career. Heck, people talk about Nash and how long it took him. What about Parker and how long it took him? Chauncy Billups? And there are many others. The point is not that IT will be as good as those guys, but that that it is near-sighted at this point to limit IT in how good he can be. Last night the team needed somebody to score, and that's what he did. Let's celebrate how good his performance was rather than lament what we perceive to be his inherent weakness at this point in his young career.

I don't think Robinson is very far away from having a mid-range game. He shot mid-range shots pretty good at Kansas, he has good form from what I can see. It's like I said before the draft - he's a project. I didn't expect him to do much in his first year, so I'm not dissapointed overall. I am mystified by him cruising one moment, and then being a disruptive force in the other moment. All I can come up with is that he's thinking a lot out there instead of playing, but he probably has coaches telling him all kinds of things he needs to do out there - like slow down offensively - so he's probably somewhat confused right now. It's way to early to worry about Robinson.

Amen. I don't understand why people freak out over young players struggling in their rookie and 2nd years; especially big men and PG's who have a much larger learning curve than the wing positions in the NBA. It's on Smart for not taking advantage of IT's game and having him rot on the bench. IT and Reke can be an incredibly explosive back-court that compliments each other well. They just need time to work together and how to play with one another as the starting back-court

I'm not worried about Robinson one bit. We've seen the potential he brings and the incredible athleticism and talent he really has. It's incredibly difficult though for a big to try and establish himself when he's only getting 16 MPG.

 

[bloom]

I know this is a couple games late but I was listening to part of Coach Smart’s post game interview and something bothered me...

Coach Smart said (regarding OKC bringing back their top players to win the game) “Scotty has the luxury of calling his big dawgs back into the game.” Um, I think this is the problem with our coach. He has two big dawgs on our team – Demarcus & Tyreke. And instead of constantly saying that we don’t have a “superstar” or in this case “big dawgs” he really does a huge disservice to this team. He’s not utilizing the two top players that we have.

But then again, I haven’t really seen him using those two as a tag team. You can do so much with those two and I haven’t seen it.

[You can hear him say it on the 12 second mark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp6u4NGAL74&list=UUSgFigczGdNMilV1K23JgUQ&index=1]

Anybody else have a problem with this?

 

[HereWeBoogie]

^yes I have a HUGE problem with it. And I honestly think most of the players on the team probably do to. All the players know who the best 2 guys are

 

[bloom]

^yes I have a HUGE problem with it. And I honestly think most of the players on the team probably do to. All the players know who the best 2 guys are

At least I know I'm not the only one. He's said this several times before (especially last year) and this was the first time I heard it this year but if this is his way of thinking then I know why Tyreke & Demarcus sit on the bench for way too long...From the start of training camp Demarcus came in and said that this is Tyreke's and his team. But I haven't seen the coach say the same thing.

I think it's way overdue but he needs to acknowledge who his top players are, who needs to sit and be a cheerleader and who should come off the bench. When momentum is starting to swing the other way, he needs to look at his starters and bring them back in.

 

[HereWeBoogie]

well i think Smart has proven he will never do that, which is why any other owners in the league would have canned his *** a long time ago

 

[bloom]

well i think Smart has proven he will never do that, which is why any other owners in the league would have canned his *** a long time ago

Which is also why our owners are keeping him..

 

[ParniValjak]

I know this is a couple games late but I was listening to part of Coach Smart’s post game interview and something bothered me...

Coach Smart said (regarding OKC bringing back their top players to win the game) “Scotty has the luxury of calling his big dawgs back into the game.” Um, I think this is the problem with our coach. He has two big dawgs on our team – Demarcus & Tyreke. And instead of constantly saying that we don’t have a “superstar” or in this case “big dawgs” he really does a huge disservice to this team. He’s not utilizing the two top players that we have.

But then again, I haven’t really seen him using those two as a tag team. You can do so much with those two and I haven’t seen it.

[You can hear him say it on the 12 second mark http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp6u4NGAL74&list=UUSgFigczGdNMilV1K23JgUQ&index=1]

Anybody else have a problem with this?

This is something that I have a MAJOR problem with and it is precisely the reason why we are failing as a team. Yes the pieces don't exactly fit BUT a good coach still would get the best out of this team and as a result would have a much better record than Smart does.

People used to whine here that Adelman used to ride the starters hard but you know what, these guys are starters for a reason. Every coach worth a pinch of salt identifies his main few guys regardless of how flawed they are and he will make it work. Smart does not do that. He doesn't believe in that and the only thing he believes in is the equal opportunity offence and treating everyone equally. That **** doesn't work in European basketball let alone in the NBA that is a star driven league.

I know I sound like a broken record but I have no doubt in my mind that if this exact team as it is constructed now was coached by someone like Pop or even Adelman, we would be have a MUCH better record and would be in contention of pinching the 8th spot in the west. But because we have Keith Dumb at the helm, we are a lottery bound team that is one of the worst in the league despite having some reasonable talent on the roster.

A lot of this falls on the ownership and front office as well who are without a direction and are running a lose ship. If the ownership and front office had any basketball IQ, coach would have been fired at the end of last season (ie his option would not have been picked up) instead of offering him extension on top of all that (2 more years all up).

Sometimes, I wonder if this imposter of a coach is doing exactly what the owners want him to do. Its the only reason behind their blind faith in him. Its the only explanation that makes any sense.