ClutchFans Game Thread: Thunder @ Rockets 2/25/2024

I don't think they are contending now, they are a darkhorse because no one knows how they'll be in a playoff series which is all that matters. Plenty of teams have great regular seasons and no one considers those teams as contenders.

Chet is going to have a lot harder time guarding the Zions, Kat's, Jokic's of the world

 

It’s a fairly common problem in the nba. Big men have went the way of the do do bird.

 

The best archer of the world at the moment with a strange name&surname combination:
-Mete: Modu Chanyu, legendary king who made China a tribute state between 209-177 BC
-Gazoz: Lemonade or gaseous.

 

I think FO and coach staff is not on the same page after Xmas
If we want turn things round in the next year we must figure out first before Draft Day what your goals are and how to achieve that target
But right now I dont know what FO goals are

 

I am concerned for Chet’s personal safety and well being if he lines up opposite a motivated playoff Zion.

 

Not 3 of them at the same time.

 

I have grown to HATE Pickles and Purple.

probably deserves its own thread

 

One moment we have an all star on a championship team, the next we drafted pitifully.

 

We'll see. I've seen plenty of teams that looked like they were a dynasty in the making until they weren't.

The Grizzlies were exactly this team that had next and everyone has forgotten about them now.

 

Perhaps, but I'd like to think he's much better than he showed tonight.
At one point he was 2/9 fg with 6 turnovers and 0 assists.

 

Long NBA season has caught up to him, he got no legs under him and he didn’t have much to start with. He’s view has gotten so narrow that he is not even reading the play nor passing efficiently anymore apart from scoring issue. Once he cross that 40 game mark he’s been dwindling down and our Rockets also follow his performance downfall since we don’t have talent to cover him. Jalen somehow finds a way to get worse every game and tonight he really tried but couldn’t even find a way to score. Sengun needs to focus on conditioning his body this offseason with Jabari

 

Rockets front office are still in tank mode.
They always think next season.

 

I think the best team barring injury in the west this year are the Clippers.

We're also forgetting the Grizzlies who are also a great team just missing Ja.

The Spurs have a generational talent.

Dallas with Luka.

You still have Denver playing well and you have Minny as one of the toughest teams out West.

I'm not saying OKC is a bad team but I'm going to sit and wait and see how they play in the playoffs before I think the West goes through them for the next X years or anything of the sort. They are a completely unproven playoff team right now.

 

Saw we were winning at the start, but did we win it?

 

It seems when a nice first half giving us a high hope to pull away from another elite playoff team, a sharp disappointment in second half hit us much quicker and stronger than we could expect.

 

Clips have the most former superstars assembled (Expendables- Movie)

But they are not the best team.....I got to give credit to the Wolves, they have been playing really well.....

• I think Denver will turn it up a notch or 2 in the Playoffs.
• If they are 90% healthy, they are going to be close to repeating....
• The Celtics have by far the best Starting Lineup in the NBA right now, does not mean they got a clear path to the Championship though.

 

Why are people looking like these are equivalent situations?

Kawhi coming off a title forced the Clippers to trade SGA and all their picks for Paul George. Presti didn't do much there, the Clippers had no options and had to give Presti what he wanted. Plus SGA was possibility, so the Thunder got way more picks than they would have normally gotten given what SGA has become.

Plus as others already said no one expected SGA to become what he did. He had the chance but it was less than 5% chance. On top of that, the teams to win titles with their best player being 6'6" or shorter are Isaiah's Pistons, Jordan's Bulls, and Steph's Warriors. SGA is good, but he is not their class, and while they may make some noise in the playoffs of the next 5 years, I doubt they win a title.

The Rockets had no leverage in trading Harden. He wanted to go to like 2 teams, and he quit on this team. He was already pretty close to his max potential. And to top it off, he had a divisive play style at that time that turned a lot of teams off to considering adding him to their team.

Chet was picked before the Rockets pick. It's not like the Rockets could have tanked "harder" that year to draft him.

Jalen Williams was the 12th pick. Is he that much better than a healthy Tari? He has a borderline MVP caliber player to play off right now. Tari doesn't. Way too earlier to decide one way or the other.

Basically everyone argument about the Rockets team building is the Green/Mobley/Barnes/Giddey question. I find the whole thing infuriating.

That was the beginning of the rebuild, and teams don't win titles without a MVP level player at the center of that team. As "good" as the projections were for Mobley/Barnes/Giddey, none was every going to be the alpha of a title team. Green had that boom of a ceiling, but also a high level of bust.

We all knew that. Stone knew that. That is the the whole point of the lotttery, it is not sure, but you still have to take that gamble.

That is the same gamble as to why he traded for Sengun. It is the same process and logic. Sengun had pretty high boom/bust and that is why he fell in the draft. And Stone has been rewarded, as Sengun has probably hit pretty close to that boom. Given his size at the draft, he was just never viewed a guy with a future MVP level ceiling. Sure he could still play/grow his way into that, but that was a gamble pick. Again, the same process/decision making as to why Stone drafted Green.

Plus people aren't even considering that if Stone drafts Mobley, maybe he doesn't trade/draft for Sengun. Mobley is definitely is a good player and can still develop. But anyone really think he will compete for MVP's or be good enough that an MVP level player will want to go to the Cavs because of him? He is probably at best the No. 2 on a title team, and he needs a lot offensive development still to get there. I would argue the same for Barnes, and Giddey isn't even in their conversation. Plus this forum and the entire league would have roasted the Rockets for picking Giddey/Barnes at #2.

 

Lol it is funny how you try to undersell them, but okay......may it be that way.

Of course they are lacking playoff experience and will get their butt kicked in a 7 or 6 Game Series....but they are making it tough on the West contenders.

Daigneault is one of the best coaching talents I have seen.....so far.... That was a master class he put on Ime Udoka....a good coach himself.

Presti is a Top 3 GM in this league, Top 2 in drafting.

Their only weakness is closing the gap in rebounding, but it is not that difficult.

 

Theyre tied for the best record in the west and there's only 15 games left.

I guess you can chortle and harrumph that they're not "REAL contenders" but beating everybody is about as real as it gets.

 

I think the Clippers are the most talented and deep team in the west.

Boston is the best team in the league.

As for the clippers, their big 3 is gelling right now, I think them or Denver is coming out of the west barring any major injuries of course.

Also, I'm not underselling OKC.

Yall can look at the betting odds, they don't lie. They are a darkhorse team.