Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

[marshdaddy]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Really like how you’ve found two tent-pole stars in Giddey and SGA. I think the rest of the roster has some role players on it, like Dort and Mann, but otherwise it’s tough to see many long-term pieces on the roster right now.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

LeBron, Lakers Soar in Rout of Thunder





Prior to the game Lu Dort (2 pts, 4 reb, 3 ast) found out he would be coming off the bench for the first time this season on Twitter. As a consummate professional and loyal member to this franchise, you can imagine this didn’t sit well with one of the “veterans” on this roster.

The move was to allow rookie guard Tre Mann (6 pts, 6 ast) to try his hand in the starting lineup next to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (18 pts, 9 reb, 4 ast) and Josh Giddey (15 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl). Let’s just say the way this game played out, the results could be thrown out the window.



After giving up a triple at the top of the key to SGA, sad Russell Westbrook (25 pts, 5 reb, 9 ast, 1 stl) turned into the Westbrook of old. He personally attacked Shai and anyone else the Thunder threw at him, was relentless on defense and got out on the break as often as possible. Russ was the catalyst for the blowout whereas LeBron James (26 pts, 9 reb, 7 ast, 2 stl) made sure that the Thunder never really made a dent into the Laker lead.



Josh Giddey thought he was getting off one of his clean, smooth mid-range J’s. He now realizes that when Anthony Davis (16 pts, 13 reb, 5 ast, 1 blk) is on the floor you are more covered than you ever realized as the Laker big man blocked a jumper seemingly from the low block.



One of the many dunks that LeBron slammed home in front of the “OKC crowd”, though there were arguably more Laker jerseys than Thunder in the stands. This game showed that while fun and exciting, this Thunder team isn’t close to being competitive with the league’s elite.



Not shying away from staying aggressive, Giddey continued to attack regardless of the scoreboard and got this big two-handed dunk for the and-one on Talen Horton-Tucker (2 pts, 1 ast). Giddey continues to be top-4 in the three main statistical categories for rookies including leading them in assists but his scoring has increased and launched him into the #2 spot for points per game among first year players.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Really like how you’ve found two tent-pole stars in Giddey and SGA. I think the rest of the roster has some role players on it, like Dort and Mann, but otherwise it’s tough to see many long-term pieces on the roster right now.

We definitely have two guys we can lean on heavily and get consistent production from on a nightly basis. We need Giddey to get better at defense and shooting, but that will take time.

Dort and Mann are definitely are best two role players but they both have major holes in their games that make them expendable when the time comes. Maybe bringing in a big time rookie and lessening the expected load on both of them will make like that much easier but we will see.

Assuming we leave the draft with either Chet or Paolo, our guard/wing rotation with SGA, Giddey, Dort, Mann and Hampton is still solidly in tact (assuming we re-sign Dort). It’s the front court that really needs a complete overhaul as none of Bazley, Roby, Poku or JRE have shown us they can be a full time starter on a playoff team. Of the four I would say Bazley has played the best but that’s not saying much.

Now I would love to bring Derrick Favors back but with him getting another year older and probably wanting to find a winning environment we may not be his top destination.

We have two games left in the regular season before we get to take a look at the playoffs from the outside and really prepare for draft night!


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[studbucket]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Dort and Mann are also the type of players who will probably evolve from your key bench guys/role players to 8th or 9th men as your team gets better. In addition to the draft, if you can get 2-3 quality NBA vets (guys like PJ Tucker, Donte Divincenzo, or Derrick Favors-quality) your team could be middle-of-the-pack next year.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Dort and Mann are also the type of players who will probably evolve from your key bench guys/role players to 8th or 9th men as your team gets better. In addition to the draft, if you can get 2-3 quality NBA vets (guys like PJ Tucker, Donte Divincenzo, or Derrick Favors-quality) your team could be middle-of-the-pack next year.

That’s a great point on Mann and Dort but do I want to pay them 5th and 6th man money when I expect them to be at the end of the rotation? Lots of decisions to be made.


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[R1zzo23]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Giddey, Thunder Elevate in Elevation; Take Down Jokic-less Nuggets





Filling in for the injured Nikola Jokic, who should be back in time for the postseason, DeMarcus Cousins (8 pts, 10 reb, 2 stl, 1 blk) was active early on both ends of the floor including this block on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (24 pts, 3 reb, 11 ast). While he got out to a great start, it was beyond obvious that he was stretched way too many minutes as he went from ineffective to borderline useless and a liability in the 2nd half.



The best offense for the Thunder is when they get out and run and that’s exactly what OKC did early in this game. No matter who got the rebound, the duo of SGA and Josh Giddey (13 pts, 14 reb, 2 ast, 1 stl) were on the move almost immediately. The Nuggets struggled to keep the Thunder from scoring on the break when these two dynamic wings got out in the open.



Look back at it! Aleksej Pokusevski (12 pts, 7 reb, 1 blk) was on the receiving end of a few feeds from Gilgeous-Alexander including this one as the big man cut baseline, losing Zeke Nnaji (6 pts, 3 reb) before slamming home a soft, robotic-looking reverse jam.



As the half court offense started to bog down with SGA off the floor and the jumpers not falling, the Thunder went to isolating Josh Giddey at the FT line and letting him make plays from there. With Isaiah Roby (2 pts, 5 reb, 2 blk) and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (9 pts, 9 reb, 1 stl) on the floor with him, they were running a defacto 4-out offense with Giddey playing the 1-in.



With Giddey playing the 1-in on offense, it resulted in a lot of double-teams on his drives. Using his incredible court vision, Giddey was able to find Robinson-Earl free beyond the arc for a wide open triple, one of the three the Thunder hit on the game.



In the 2nd half, Mark Daignault decided to experiment with a new offense system they had been learning in practice: 4-out 1-in active. While Giddey orchestrated from the middle at times, there were rare moments where Darius Bazley (8 pts, 10 reb, 3 ast) got the ball on the move and in space and got to showcase his incredible athleticism like on this tomahawk dunk over Michael Porter Jr. (9 pts, 9 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl). It’s still a learning process, but could the 4-out be the offensive set of the future for the Thunder?



Even without Nikola Jokic in the lineup, the Nuggets’ ball movement was still crisp and the cutters were getting easy opportunities in the paint and at the rim. On this cut from the corner, Zeke Nnaji lost Pokusevski only to posterize Roby for the two-handed facial.



With so much room to operate, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was easily able to identify open guys off the bounce including this wide open dish to Pokumon as the rest of the defense was stretched out to the perimeter.



And on the possessions where the switch defender struggled to contain him, like Jeff Green (6 pts, 1 reb) did on this possession, SGA took it himself for an easy deuce. Using his agility, Shai was able to utilize the long, extended finger roll while shielding off Jeff Green for an uncontested layup.



Down the stretch as Jamal Murray (17 pts, 5 reb, 7 ast) kept the Nuggets alive, Tre Mann (3 pts, 2 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl) hit his one and only bucket of the game: a clutch three from the left wing.



Fighting to the very end, this drive and dunk by Murray with 40 seconds left brought the lead to within one. The ensuing possession saw Shai draw a foul and connect on both free throws. A stop and a rebound down the other end gave SGA another two free throws, clinching the 5-point road victory.

[RolePlayer]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

This was a nice and welcome win even with Jokic off the floor. Especially after the last game.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

This was a nice and welcome win even with Jokic off the floor. Especially after the last game.

For sure I thought after the Laker blow out we were going to go out in the last two games (Nuggets and Mavs) with more beat downs. I was really looking forward to playing against Jokic, though, so I was a bit disappointed we didn’t get to go up against him. As I said in the write up, Cousins was great early but gassed pretty much all 2nd half so e was easily taken advantage of.


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[R1zzo23]

Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Doncic Drops 38 Points & Thunder in Regular Season Finale











While the Dallas Mavericks mostly deployed a 4-wing lineup, the Dallas big men had their way with OKC constantly including this offensive rebound and putback dunk by Dwight Powell (8 pts, 6 reb, 1 stl, 2 blk) over Josh Giddey (16 pts, 6 reb, 3 ast, 1 blk). The Mavericks outrebounded the Thunder 56-34 on the night.







Playing for national recognition down the stretch, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (29 pts, 2 reb, 11 ast, 1 stl) played a hell of game scoring efficiently and effectively all night long as well as getting his teammates involved as evidenced by his 11 assists. Will he be able to find his way onto one of the three All-NBA teams?







Scoring inside and out, Luke Doncic (38 pts, 14 reb, 9 ast, 1 stl, 1 blk) got into the lane after getting Darius Bazley (8 pts, 3 reb, 3 blk) to switch on him. After getting into the lane, he flashed some athleticism with a double-pump two-handed dunk that caught literally everyone in the stadium by surprise.







After trailing by 23 points entering the 4th quarter, the Thunder started to make a comeback and after a flurry of buckets by OKC - mostly SGA - the lead was cut to just 10 after Shai threw down a tomahawk dunk. The Thunder were still alive with just over five minutes remaining.







Luka was not going to allow any comeback tonight as he was nails down the stretch. After hitting pull-up after pull-up, this dagger where he was completely smothered by Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (6 reb, 1 ast) killed any chance at OKC making this one tight down the stretch.

[studbucket]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Comparing where you started to now is fun. This team grew and the offseason is going to be pivotal for this group. A big game from Mann is nice to see as well.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Comparing where you started to now is fun. This team grew and the offseason is going to be pivotal for this group. A big game from Mann is nice to see as well.

Absolutely. At the beginning of the season I was barely able to score 80 points but now I’m much more consistent. Our defense is a whole other story but we are in a rebuild so that’s to be expected. I haven’t experienced an offseason since 2k11 so going to be interesting so see how this goes.


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[trekfan]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Didn't get that last win, but as a rebuilding team you don't necessarily want that -- the offseason will be big for your squad. Between the lottery and the cap space, you've got a lot of avenues for improvement.

[studbucket]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Absolutely. At the beginning of the season I was barely able to score 80 points but now I’m much more consistent. Our defense is a whole other story but we are in a rebuild so that’s to be expected. I haven’t experienced an offseason since 2k11 so going to be interesting so see how this goes.

Some of the concepts (cap holds), periods, and rules can be confusing. Possibly consider making multiple saves, seeing how they all work, then loading back to the save.

Also ask us for help if needed.

[trekfan]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Some of the concepts (cap holds), periods, and rules can be confusing. Possibly consider making multiple saves, seeing how they all work, then loading back to the save.

Also ask us for help if needed.

^I second the "Multiple save" strategy. During an offseason, there are some key points you'll want to save at (based on my experience):


1. Right at the start -- before you progress to the offseason at all, at the end of the playoffs, that way you can start the offseason over should the worse occur (and not be locked into a messed up save).


2. Before the lottery is run. That way if there are certain teams you want to make sure make it to the top-5, you can -- or if a team that definitely doesn't need a top-5 pick randomly gets up there, you can rerun it.



3. During the "staff hiring" phase for coaches -- this, at least in the old MyLeague's, is the last time you can load in a new draft class. So if there are some edits to the draft class you want to make, this stage is the place to do it -- after this, the draft class is locked in. May not be applicable for NBA 2k22.


4. The NBA Draft -- in case you select the wrong player (done this before), save it before the Draft starts.



5. Post-Draft, signing rookies stage -- in case you need to clean up some team's cap because they can't afford their rookies (the CPU, in the past, has been really dumb about cap management).


6. Free Agency, Day 1 of the Moratorium (not regular) free agency. This is the time when teams can offer contracts to players and come to agreements before free agency officially officially opens up -- there was a glitch some years back with RFAs not accepting longterm contracts during this period, so I took to saving here and dealing with the other teams players before the RFAs (I think it's 2k20, I still deal with this, lol).



7. Before training camps -- save here to make sure your team/all teams have the proper amount of players on their roster. I go through and make position switches for certain players on certain teams to help the CPU coaches make the right lineups (they are slaves to positions and if a player doesn't have one listed as a secondary, the CPU coaches just won't play them there even if it makes sense).





Those would be my recommended save spots -- the big ones I generally keep around till I'm through the offseason are the end of playoffs, staff hiring, and Day 1 free agency (Moratorium) because those are the three places I tend to fallback most if I screw up.

[R1zzo23]

Re: Thunder Up! Rebuild in OKC [NBA 2k22]

Thanks for the heads up fellas. Going to copy and paste all this into a note and refer back to it the entire offseason.


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