Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

[RolePlayer]

Funny to see you rate yourself as overrated

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by RolePlayer

Funny to see you rate yourself as overrated

I honestly believe we are too high. We aren’t very consistent in either side of the floor and we are scary thing at the big man position with Chet Holmgren as our only true center and even he is too thin to band with the true bigs of the west like we saw against the Grizzlies.

We have a glut of bigs in Aleksej Pokusevski, Darius Bazley, Tari Eason, Keegan Murray and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl. I haven’t been able to figure out how to maximize Poku or Bazley, both rookies are undersized for the PF position and JRE is small and is not a strong rebounder to play center.

We need to consolidate and bring in a true center that may even slide Chet to the four.


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[R1zzo23]

Shai Taunts, Flaunts and Dances All Over Pelicans





Tasked with guarding the reigning NBA Finals MVP in Zion Williamson (16 pts, 8 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl), Aleskej Pokusevski (4 pts, 4 reb, 1 ast, 3 stl, 2 blk) was up to the challenge early as he utilized the no goaltending rule to his advantage. Zion got the ball up off the glass as he was able to drive past Pokumon but Big Al still swatted it clean before it got to the rim.



Showing off his streaky scoring ability, there were two separate occasions in the game that Brandon Ingram (22 pts, 4 reb, 4 ast) got in the zone and was hard to stop like on this pull-up over Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (47 pts, 2 reb, 12 ast) and Mikal Bridges (19 pts, 3 ast).



Payback for the early block against him came soon after as Zion completely discards Poku before tomahawking on his back.



The reigning assist king from last season, Shai finds his big man rolling hard and hits Chet Holmgren (22 pts, 17 reb, 2 ast, 5 blk) with a perfect lob for the two-handed flush. After tonight’s performance, SGA is now sitting 3rd in the league in assists at 9.3 per game behind Minnesota’s D’Angelo Russell (81) and his 9.7 and teammate Josh Giddey’s (11 pts, 6 reb, 8 ast, 1 stl) with an even 10.



On top of dominating on the offensive end, SGA came out and was looking to terrorize the Pelicans and their ball handlers as C.J. McCollum (11 pts, 3 ast) found out the hard way as he struggled to score his 11 points on 12 shot attempts. Mike Conley (5 pts, 5 ast) didn’t do much better as he was just 2-6 from the floor.



With just five minutes remaining in the 1st quarter, Shai finds Bridges coming off of a deep curl, losing Ingram in the process. Bridges rose up, fired and drilled a three-pointer that gave the Thunder 25 points in just seven minutes of play as the rout was on early.



After a full season under his belt, it’s clear that Chet has fine tuned his timing on the defensive end as he swats Jaxson Hayes’ (9 pts, 8 reb) layup attempt two feet above the rim.



Another drive and finish as SGA blows past Trey Murphy (1 pts, 1 reb, 1 stl) and throws down an off-hand hammer to go along with the barbaric scream! Shai was out to show to the Western Conference and the rest of the league that he was out for blood this season and the defending champs were going to be made an example of.



Pull-up J’s and threes were mostly Ingrams go-to scoring options but a rare blow by on Bridges resulted in a reverse two-handed slam for the lanky scoring forward for New Orleans.



Not to be outdone, Josh Giddey shows off his hops as well with a reverse dunk of his own! This was the final bucket of a personal 7-0 run in the 3rd quarter for the 3rd year star.



When McCollum finally thought he got a step on SGA, Holmgren was rotating from the weak side and swatting the ever-living crap out of the shot attempt for his 5th blocked shot on the night.



McCollum’s nightmare continued into early in the 4th quarter as SGA attacked relentlessly. Even while fouling the Thunder superstar, he was in the midst of a supernova performance and was able to finish the finger roll through the heavy contact for the and-1. The ensuing free throw would give SGA 47 points and his final shot attempt on the night.



Oklahoma City absolutely kept the pedal to the mettle and ran no matter what the score was. SGA pushed the rock up the middle of the floor and as the Pelican defense retreated to the paint, Bridges filled the lane on the right wing, took one dribble to collect himself and drilled a 5th three on the night. The Thunder connected on 14-32 threes compared to New Orleans’ 7-17.

[studbucket]

Shae was great, but it also looks like your defense effectively limited what NOP was trying to do.

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by studbucket

Shae was great, but it also looks like your defense effectively limited what NOP was trying to do.

This was a rare case where our length really bothered their bulk in the post as both Zion and Valanciunas never really got going. Obviously SGA hounded both McCollum and Conley while Bridges had the task of showing Ingram to the best of his ability. All in all, an amazing effort on both ends of the floor for us in an absolute statement win.


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[kibaxx7]

That Shai-Chet combo is going to be very dangerous, very soon...

[R1zzo23]

Quote: Originally Posted by kibaxx7

That Shai-Chet combo is going to be very dangerous, very soon...

They are already very, very dangerous. The first two training camps I had SGA work on outside shooting and Chet work on defense. I think I’m going to flip those for the next training camp has SGA is an offensive juggernaut already but I’d like to see hi lock down on D a bit more. And for Chet, if I could get his jumper to be that much more dangerous than he will be very difficult to guard.


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[R1zzo23]

SGA Flexes All Over Spurs





It looked early that San Antonio’s plan on offense early on was to drag Chet Holmgren (17 pts, 15 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk) as far away from the basket as possible with Brook Lopez (10 pts, 3 reb, 1 ast) facilitating a bit at the top of the key. It worked early as he was able to generate a three for Devin Vassell (8 pts, 3 reb, 3 ast) with Holmgren out of help position.



One of the guards that gave SGA trouble last season on both ends of the floor was Dejounte Murray (16 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 3 stl) as he’s seemingly a mirror image of the Thunder’s combo guard. Murray was able to shake free of SGA early and get open in the corner for his lone triple of the game.



Seeing some earlier playing time than he typically does, Keegan Murray (8 pts, 3 reb, 3 blk) made his presence known with a clean block, his first of three on the game, on the baseline. Playing up to the crowd, he points to a young fan in the crowd dawning his #15 Oklahoma City jersey in appreciation.



The trade of Draymond Green (3 reb, 1 blk) two seasons ago made sense to bring in a veteran presence to fit in with the defensive culture in San Antonio, but his age is showing as he was clearly a step slow at all times against Chet who got to the rim with ease.



Lopez slipped a screen at the top of the key as Holmgren got caught deciding whether to switch or hedge, freeing himself up for a wide open pre-game practice three from the wing that he knocked down with ease.



No matter the length, size, or height of the defenders in front of him, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (39 pts, 8 reb, 12 ast) was scoring at will as he was able to put just enough arc on this mid-range jumper to get over the fingertips of Lopez.



A rare highlight from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (5 pts, 1 reb) as he fooled the defense on a screen and roll as the scouting report naturally showed that he almost always pops for the jumper. SGA hit him with a smooth bounce pass for the one-handed throw down.



The “Mastermind” behind this roster, Greg Popovic, stares in disbelief as his defensive juggernaut of a roster was being victimized time and time again by the Thunder. From all three levels, OKC could not be slowed down.



It’s always important to have someone on the floor to do the dirty work and Tari Eason (2 reb) is looking to be that guy. While he missed all three of his shots and logged a turnover, he won the Thunder an extra possession by crashing the offensive glass and getting Vassell to tip this out of bounds. His defense and position versatility in the front court has proven to be a valuable commodity early in his rookie season.



After banging a triple on the prior possession, there was no doubt that SGA was feeling it. On the ensuing possession, he came down, crossed over Gary Trent Jr. (8 pts, 2 reb, 1 ast, 1 stl) and fired another three that found nothing but the bottom of the net. The league’s leading scorer, now at 38.3 points per game, is proving to be an impossible guard on defense.



Draymond’s nightmare game continued late into the 2nd half as he found the rock in his hands with the shot clock winding down. Knowing that he needed to get a shot up, Holmgren elevated and nearly swallowed the ball up before it left Green’s hands for a block and shot clock violation.



Seemingly floating in the air like…I can’t believe I’m about to say this…Michael Jordan, Shai’s mid-range game is proving to be as lethal as his ability to score in the paint. With the range now extending beyond the arc, there isn’t a spot on the floor where he is not a threat.



In a blow out game where Draymond Green couldn’t score and Brook Lopez was clearly not getting it down, the 24th overall pick of the draft Coby Butler (3 reb, 1 stl, 1 blk) came in and provided very little positives in his 11 minutes of play. With an aging roster with limited upside, Butler needs to pan out or else this Spurs franchise is in serious trouble in the future.