Math-Basketball geek, analytics, video, data science. On monday I am on @DownToDunk to talk nerdy basketball - Thunder After Dark
Somewhere
Joined September 2010
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This is a crucial analysis, especially the SGA part.
Both LA and SAS went over the moon to disrupt Shai’s drives. I rewatched LA: the space Dort, Wallace and Caruso had was staggering.
Increase gravity w playoffs-ready guys like McCain, Ajay and Dub and these number will change
I am reading a lot of post about how Chet Holmgren has to prove himself.
I watched the finals, so yes I know he did not perform well enough against San Antonio.
But let’s pump the breaks, shall we? He is awesome and played like an All-Star up until that moment.
There are..1/n
I see lots of “Ajay needs to come off the bench” because Shai needs to have the ball. Shai plays the entire first quarter and likes A LOT to start slow, playing off ball and then take command of the offense.
So, on top of what I said on the pod, there’s value in bringing…
I love to talk about the NBA. It’s natural to have controversial/wrong takes
I like the ability of Micic to score, pass, create and add size
I don’t like Dort’s lack of shooting gravity and lack of rim pressure
I am ok being wrong while sticking with these principles for now.
I think Hartenstein vs Ajay is about durability and availability.
Cason is a tough one, but i think the impact Hart had last year was superior.
Next season? They can be both better.
Tem um Hartenstein ali entre os tais 5 melhores jogadores que esse cara está falando? É isso mesmo???? Eu falo que esse cara é superestimado
Onde que Hart é melhor e mais impactante que Cason e Ajay?
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I think most people don’t remember that, over three years, Okc signed to extension:
- Shai
- JDub
- Chet
- IHart
- Caruso.
So, yeah, they committed to pay for the top 5 players on their roster max or premiere salary for the position.
Not cheap.
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Guess what…I agree with West and wanted to actually support the point!
Analytics are saying something intrinsically true: rim&3s are the most efficient shots.
That said, there are a lot of things that part of the analytics community sees as “bad” (mid rangers) that are just 1/
Proving his point while replying is insane and why y’all should be working for Windows or Wells Fargo and not the fuckin NBA
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Post ups and mid-range are inefficient…in general. Training those shots/plays to be efficient is EXTREMELY hard. It is much easier having a 36% 3pt shooter than a 54% mid ranger.
It is about honing certain skills to elite levels. So, yes it is very much nuance, style, skills!
I think Steve has a good point. Joe is a release valve for the RS, making things so easy for Shai, but then PS arrives and you struggle in finding reliable offense w/o him.
Now, i think JMac will play a TON so i am not sure we’ll have less shooting overall.
Lu? Different story
Trying to decide if this thought is crazy: Joe and Wiggs were very helpful in the RS but then becoming unplayable in the Offs made them more harmful than helpful. We’d obviously be better off with shooters who can play PS, but we’d even be better just removing 82g shooters so
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I love @TheAthleticNBA produced by @AndrewKSchlecht so much.
The top 5 bigs in the draft was a blast. @JustEsBaraheni is a superb host, his convo with @AlexKaraban is so so good.
Also, Karaban being a math-number guy makes him my draft crush. He would be perfect for #okc
I miss covering the draft, life gets busy and i can’t squeeze in the time.
But @OKCDreamTeam with @Rylan_Stiles, @AndrewKSchlecht and @DParkOK helps me a TON!
You should also check DP’s YouTube channel, i just watched this one and it is awesome!
youtu.be/5-jFWsFIzeA?is=tBRq…
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Magari 25 no, o meglio, non subito.
Però 17-20 con efficienza e buona difesa sì.
Io credo che però non debba andare molto lontano o aspettare molto per giocarne 32-33 di media…
Sono fortemente convinto (non da oggi) che Ajay Mitchell, a livello di talento puro, sia quello che ne ha di più ad OKC. Poi questo non vuol dire che sia il più forte o il più efficace sempre, ma con la palla in mano fa paura. Con 35 minuti fa 25 di media in 26 squadre NBA.
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Ajay manipulation of the Lakers “defense” was something else tonight. This guy is awesome.
And yet, I think two of the best plays he made were on defense. Reading passing lanes, being physical.
Just a fantastic game.
I actually screamed WOW a couple of times this morning rewatching the third quarter.
These last two games would have been 2025 grind it out slogs but thanks to Jared McCain they were double digit wins. No question here just gotta hit a @MikyBerra WOW
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Forgive me, English is my 2nd language so i probably use wrong words here and there.
I think that there are a number of players in the league that are as physical as Okc is. Not sure there is any team that does that with as many players and can do that as consistently as okc.
What makes me scratch my head is when words like "unprecedented" are used to describe OKC's physicality when there are a number of teams & individual players that are committed to pressure,showing their chest,moving their feet...essentially playing the way a coach teaches defense
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This, is a very good point.
If you go back 4/5 years and put Draymond Green in the tweet instead of OKC, or Bruce Bowen, or many other great defenders on championship teams, it works!
Okc just has a collection of defensive superstars and plays HARD most of the time.
My algorithm is ~60% people complaining about the OKC whistle right now.
I understand why it annoys Thunder fans, but their most common responses ("why would the league rig things for small-market OKC?!" and "look where we rank in free-throw attempts!") misses the point.
The reaction is more about the difference in the way the Thunder are allowed defend and the way their opponents are.
And no one (at least not that I've seen) has come out and said the league is intentionally rigging games for OKC. That is, as the Thunder fans seem to think, ridiculous. But anyone who watches with a shred of objectivity can see the difference.
It's a product of a couple things. First, for decades, the NBA has allowed more physicality from players who establish a defense-first reputation early in their careers (think back to Bruce Bowen). The Thunder have several of those players. Second, OKC is incredibly consistent (one of their team strengths!) about holding, grabbing, hacking, embellishing contact from offensive players from opening tip to final buzzer, and that's a tactic that certainly isn't exclusive to the NBA. They employ the "if we just foul everyone all the time, the refs can't call all of it," strategy to stunning effect.
None of that is to suggest OKC is cheating or undeserving of its success. The Thunder are an incredibly talented, perfectly built, well-coached, well-oiled machine, led by one of the greatest guards in NBA history. They're almost certainly going to win their second straight championship.
But it's not hard at all to see why people have a hard time watching them play.