By the end of the year, will we be good enough to take OKC and Denver in the playoffs?

I would worry about Denver first bc Jokic has an extra gear come Playoffs.

Do you really think OKC cannot figure out a 37 yr old Durant when the 20 year old Durant played 8-9 years for them?

Presti being a scout and a video room stats guy collecting data on Durant.....

Spoiler

The Thunder now are dominating like the Warriors who beat the KD led Thunder back then, instead of an avalanche of 3s, the Thunder wreak havoc with steals, deflections, drives, Hartenstein scoring inside, and Chet scoring inside&Out... 4-5 high energy glue guys at once or in spurts.

We have not seen the ambidextrous JDub yet....and Topic and highly touted Thomas Sorber.

 

I don't think they will catch OKC. I mean, anything can happen in the playoffs, but a lot would have to go right to make that jump. I still worry about injuries. If Durant can stay healthy, or at least be healthy for the playoffs, that is your best chance. We'll see.

 

OKC should be dominant for the next 10 years. Look at their current roster and the insane amount of draft picks they have.

 

We are and can be a very good team. But in terms of beating OKC, Denver in the playoffs with our current roster the answer is a clear no. We need one high-calibre two-way starting guard and at least one very productive scorer/shooter off the bench. Think Jrue Holiday and Malik Monk types respectively.

 

I'm not quite as negative on our group as others on the board. I do wonder if the desire to play so much big and zone is an effort to save some wear and tear through switching. The same weird logic might be in play with the stand and iso offensive "system." Are we playing some sort of long game? Will we have more legs later in the year?

I know that Alpi has to be feeling better not getting beat up by centers every night.

Defensively, teams across the league are practicing against zone. It still works as a change-up, but we give up too many uncontested looks (inside and out) to play this so much. We do have a lot of guys (Durant, Sheppard, Capela, Okogie, eventually DFS) that need reps to stop making mistakes. This would cut down on a few of the open looks. But I don't understand why we're playing so much zone (unless it's part of a greater plan).

The problem with our offense is that the stand and iso system hinges on someone being able to initiate once guys are on their favorite spots. Sheppard isn't comfortable running a pick and roll, and Durant truly needs someone to set a pick to let him catch the ball at the elbow. Our lob-in passes to a stationary Durant are 50/50 balls that he might turn it over against overplaying ball pressure. Most of that is on the passer and Durant to get better at working together.

It seems logical, based on our existing personnel to incorporate more motion off the ball--back cuts, screens, etc.--to try and pick up more cheap baskets. But our coaches seem very hard headed about adding concepts such as these. I will say watching Reed Sheppard he wants to incorporate more action like this. Maybe he'll convince other players to add a few more wrinkles.

 

No significant injuries, yes.