Everyone has their own theory for why the Thunder are not performing to expectations. Iso this, Westbrook that, Donovan the other thing. As for me, I have no idea why they are sucking, and also no idea how to fix it. I gain most of my insight on teams while making these dinky little vids for you guys, but I never get to make them for the Thunder. Scrubs and role players might as well not exist for this team. It’s the big three, and nothing else. Ever.
That could be part of the problem. NBA players are competitive, they worked hard to get where they are, and when they don’t get even token touches on offense it can be hard to keep them motivated. Personally, if I had to stand around on offense to watch someone brick a midrange iso jumper and then play my ass off on D just to stay on the court, I’d demand a trade.
Steven Adams is the closest thing to a fourth banana that they have, and he’s not suffering too badly for opportunities. But tonight, he went crazy, overshadowing his “better” (notice the quotes around the word better it means I think that they’re not actually better at contributing to winning basketball) teammates, scoring 27 points while being a perfect 11-of-11 from the field and also perfect from the line. Karl-Anthony Towns is partly to blame, but credit to Adams’ teammates for finding him. And major credit to Adams himself, obviously, for actually converting all his looks. It sounds stupid, but not every center can do the things he can. Especially Thon Maker, who can do none of them. New Zealand wins again over Australia!