Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

Wonderful preview. I look forward to seeing how the ping pong balls and records play out for the Thunder. I could see the Clippers being a high variance team and maybe not keeping up that 5-2 start.

Here's hoping that the ping pong balls fall in our favor. As the writeup shows, Chet Holmgren would be the perfect addition to this roster. We may need to make it happen regardless of where our pick falls...

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

Great move. Hampton fits in well, the move makes sense for both teams, and ever since I heard Hampton interviewed on a Ryen Russillo podcast ~2 years ago, I've liked him. I hope this helps your 3pt shooting issues too.

Quote: Originally Posted by Scuzz

I like the pickup, but not sure if he'll help the shooting woes...

I'm also a fan of Hampton myself as well and hope that I can develop him into a legit rotation piece. We desperately needed another athlete and ball handler and I think he fits the bill. His 3PT shooting looks good, so hopefully I can get his jumper down.

I know that Hampton may not help the shooting woes all by himself - it's mostly user issues - but he can't hurt it, right?

[studbucket]

Quote: Originally Posted by R1zzo23

I know that Hampton may not help the shooting woes all by himself - it's mostly user issues - but he can't hurt it, right?

Right

lol

[R1zzo23]

Giddey, Thunder Share the Love En Route to Win Over Cavs





The early billing for this game was Darius Garland (16 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast) going head-to-head against Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (17 pts, 3 reb, 8 ast) but neither lead guard dominated the game as expected. They had their moments going up against each other, including this early finish as SGA uses his massive frame to finish around and through Garland for an early bucket.



Instead of being led by the starting backcourt, the Thunder were driven by the early play of Darius Bazley (17 pts, 13 reb, 2 stl, 2 blk) as he was highly efficient from the jump. His activity over the last few games has continued to earn him more and more playing time and he’s rewarded the coaching staff with improved play.



The gaudiest stat line of the night belonged to Cleveland’s starting center Jarrett Allen as he was (nearly) unstoppable all game long. He connected on his first 11 shots, missing his final two down the stretch, on his way to 26 points and 17 rebounds. Many of his makes ended just like this one: at the rim and over a member of the Thunder. What is Tre Mann (8 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast) trying to do here?!?



Another big who played well was Derrick Favors (17 pts, 8 reb) as he was tied for a team-high 17 points on 7-9 shooting and 3-3 from the line. His stead play on both ends of the floor, including setting fantastic screens, has been invaluable towards the improved play of this team lately.



The Thunder were dead set on getting out and running and Lu Dort (12 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 blk) found himself in a foot race with the entire Cavalier lineup. Thankfully, he was able to beat them all to the cup for an easy finish.



Feeling bouncy, Lu Dort was able to score in the half court soon after the fast break (pictured above) and cocked one back with his off hand and finished before Jarrett Allen had a chance to challenge him at the rim.



Collin Sexton (15 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl) attempted to be the flamethrower off the bench for Cleveland as they were behind early in this game. With the shot clock winding down, a late challenge by Aleksej Pokusevski (6 pts, 1 reb, 1 blk) gave Sexton an open window for a triple that he buried. It was one of the few makes for Sexton on the night as he hit just six of his 20 shots to score his 15 points.



Pokumon wasn’t going to get fooled on the next defensive possession as he made a great effort to recover on a poor close out on Isaac Okoro (0 pts, 2 reb, 1 stl), meet him on the block and swat his shot into the stands. The young Serbian wing needs to learn the nuances of defense, especially on who he should be closing out on the wing hard and who not to. All night long, whenever Okoro was on the floor the Thunder were sure to not cover him on the perimeter and bringing his defender down near the paint to clog the lane.



Late in the game with the Cavs cutting the lead to just seven, Lu Dort buries a triple and let’s the visitors know that this is “OUR HOUSE!” The bucket all but put the finishing touches on OKC’s 2nd win of the season.



Not to be overlooked, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was the catalyst down the stretch. With just five points in the final quarter, he was integral in making all the right reads down the stretch. As the team allowed their premier guard to isolate at the top, he was able to find cutters to the rim or shooters on the perimeter after making his initial move on Darius Garland. This was the final bucket of the game as Josh Giddey (11 pts, 7 reb, 8 ast) found himself wide open after Caris Levert (6 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast, 1 stl, 3-22 FG) had to help on the drive by SGA.

Though the three-point shooting was still too erratic throughout the game (5-20 3PT), Giddey banged the 5th and final triple for the home team to put this one away for good.

[studbucket]

Awesome win. If you take away Allen, the Cavs shot a terrible 26-89. Was that good defense? Terrible shooting?

And I see that RJ Hampton decided to stop taking threes

Really good to see you win both the turnover and assist battle. That's a great sign for the team and their chances going forward.

[R1zzo23]

Timberwolves Slide Past Thunder in OKC





Though he was quiet for most of the 2nd half, Karl-Anthony Towns (12 pts, 9 reb, 2 blk) had this loud finish very early in the game to let the Thunder know that a two-game win streak wasn’t going to be easy to come by.



Off ball movement would prove to be incredibly important this game. In the first quarter, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (35 pts, 4 reb, 10 ast, 1 blk) came off a pin down from Derrick Favors (18 pts, 7 reb). D’Angelo Russell (19 pts, 2 reb, 9 ast, 2 stl) got hung up on the screen, while also not fighting too hard to get around or through it, leaving SGA open to knock down an early triple.



Like Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards (10 pts, 3 reb, 7 ast) didn’t have a huge game but made his shots count, including this one-handed finish in the lane.



While just scoring ten points, Edwards showed some playmaking ability with seven assists, including this back door pass to a cutting Russell as SGA got screened off by Towns. Since the Timberwolves’ big man was scoring early, Favors was glued to him and didn’t help off on the cut.



Leading the game with 35 points, Gilgeous-Alexander scored from beyond the arc, in the lane and also in the mid range like on this shot here. Taking Russell off the bounce, he was able to step back, collect himself and get incredible lift on this jumper to get a clean look from 15 feet.



At one point, SGA got some tunnel vision and kept attacking Russell. Little did he know that Towns was patrolling the paint and came for a weak side block that would initiate a break to go the other way for an easy layup.



Trying to figure out how to best utilize all the pieces on this roster, the coaching staff has to like what they continue to see from Darius Bazley (14 pts, 10 reb, 2 blk) as he posted another efficient double-double. While he did most of his damage at the rim, this jumper from about 20-feet shows his potential as a more dynamic scorer than just an athletic finisher.



One of the players the Thunder targeted before finalizing a deal for R.J. Hampton (4 ast, 0-3 FG), Malik Beasley (10 pts, 5 reb, 1 stl) showed off his shooting touch by knocking down both of his triples. While Towns and Edwards combined from just 22 points, the rest of the squad picked them up and hit timely threes to keep the Thunder from really threatening to tie it up down the stretch.



Another defensive lapse by the Thunder as Josh Giddey (6 pts, 7 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl) was too busy ball watching, allowing Towns to cut in front of him for an easy dish and finish at the rim.



Once again, off ball movement plays a role as SGA plays off the ball and finds himself on the receiving end of an Aleksej Pokusevski (2 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl) dish from the top of the key.



Quickly becoming a fan favorite, Darius Bazley records an impressive block of Towns as he pinned this layup attempt off the backboard late in the 4th quarter to give the Thunder a chance at making a comeback.



The comeback wasn’t meant to be as a flurry of threes - two from Patrick Beverley (12 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast, 3 stl) and one from Taurean Prince (19 pts, 5 reb, 3 ast) - including this one pictured above killed any run Oklahoma City made late in the game.

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

Awesome win. If you take away Allen, the Cavs shot a terrible 26-89. Was that good defense? Terrible shooting? And I see that RJ Hampton decided to stop taking threes Really good to see you win both the turnover and assist battle. That's a great sign for the team and their chances going forward.

It was a phenomenal win for us for sure. We desperately needed it. To see a few different players filling the box score was a fun experience too. Jarrett Allen was cleaning up all their misses. I believe he had nine offensive rebounds on his own!

We played pretty good D, and as I said in the writeup we were able to help off a guy like Isaac Okoro to make things difficult on their drives. Even someone like Evan Mobley, who was out on the perimeter most of the game, we dared to shoot and mucked it up near the rim.

RJ Hampton was the shiny new toy I had on my roster so I'll admit I was far too anxious to put him to use. This was a much better game where he/I played under control and at a pace that allowed him to showcase his skills.

[studbucket]

This is such a perfect header image.

Quote: Originally Posted by R1zzo23

It is encouraging to see SGA pop off, even in a loss. It's another "experience" you've had in the game, showing you can have a great game with a good player.

It would be great to figure out how to keep maximizing Bazley's effectiveness. He just seems to do good things for you.

Also, your box score scores don't match. One says 100-86, the other says 107-100.

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

This is such a perfect header image. It is encouraging to see SGA pop off, even in a loss. It's another "experience" you've had in the game, showing you can have a great game with a good player. It would be great to figure out how to keep maximizing Bazley's effectiveness. He just seems to do good things for you. Also, your box score scores don't match. One says 100-86, the other says 107-100.

Haha I was so pissed when I saw him dancing after his three but I had to take that screenshot lol.

SGA is a monster...and I still have no idea how to do any dribble moves! I basically am just throwing the stick in every direction trying to break down my defender on the rare ISOs he gets. Once I figure out how to really use him to his full effectiveness, look out!

Bazley's length, athleticism and energy has been huge and we are starting to find him in spots to succeed. We have even ran a couple floppy calls for him to get the ball on the move towards the rim which has been helpful. That jumper he hit against the Wolves is a shot that I would love to see him take and make much more often.

Ahh, I forgot to update the quarter scores at the top of the box score. We indeed lost 107-100 to the Wolves.