Durant and Westbrook are the only ones who can stop the Warriors

[Rocketswin2013]

Cleveland seems to be the only team loaded enough IMO.

Irving/Mo/Delly
Shump/JR/Jones
LeBron/Jefferson/
Love/TT
Mozgov/Varejao

That's insane depth. They're a top 5 offense and top 10 defense without Kyrie and with Mozgov sucking to start the year due to the surgery(their best defender and second best offensive weapon).

32-3 when healthy last year, and they're better this year. Don't sleep on them.

[TheMilkyBarKid]

Spurs or healthy cavs could get it done.

You may be able to hide curry from kyrie on defense, but he will still torch you. Would've made last finals very interesting.

[Heavincent]

I really think people are forgetting how insanely good Durant was. Dude was playing at a peak Bird-Lebron level for a while there, was burned out by the playoffs...but if MVP-form Durant and current Westbrook see the floor together, I really think they can beat anyone regardless of system and coaching. I get the isoball argument but I think at some point raw superstar talent is overwhelming and if Durant and Westbrook are playing at peak levels that's exactly what they are...overwhelming.

I guess we're just gonna have to wait and see.

Defense is a bigger problem than the iso ball. GS would have a field day.

[SwishSquared]

I really think people are forgetting how insanely good Durant was. Dude was playing at a peak Bird-Lebron level for a while there, was burned out by the playoffs...but if MVP-form Durant and current Westbrook see the floor together, I really think they can beat anyone regardless of system and coaching. I get the isoball argument but I think at some point raw superstar talent is overwhelming and if Durant and Westbrook are playing at peak levels that's exactly what they are...overwhelming.

I guess we're just gonna have to wait and see.

The problem will be their defense.

Westbrook has bad focus on D- will he stay engaged enough to at least try to wear down Curry some? Can't play Kanter at all when Curry is on the floor, which means he's gonna play 10-15mpg. Morrow, Singler, and Augstin aren't stopping anybody. Waiters is mercurial- you literally don't know what he's gonna do.

They have Roberson, Ibaka, and Adams who can expel lots of energy on D without worrying about conserving energy for offense. Durant is above average on D and Westbrook can be great when he wants. So at best they have 5 plus-defenders.

I don't see how they stop the Dubs, even if they play those 5 guys 38mpg. And if they do, GSW will not defend Roberson.

Also, Donovan has a LONG way to go before he can even be making critical decisions in a meaningful playoff game. Apparently recently he drew up a play in a TO and Westbrook walked away from the huddle saying "f--- that," and ignored the play call. Isolated incident but would it surprise you, based on seeing this team, if the players have little confidence in him?

[!@#$%Vectors!@#]

The problem will be their defense.

Westbrook has bad focus on D- will he stay engaged enough to at least try to wear down Curry some? Can't play Kanter at all when Curry is on the floor, which means he's gonna play 10-15mpg. Morrow, Singler, and Augstin aren't stopping anybody. Waiters is mercurial- you literally don't know what he's gonna do.

They have Roberson, Ibaka, and Adams who can expel lots of energy on D without worrying about conserving energy for offense. Durant is above average on D and Westbrook can be great when he wants. So at best they have 5 plus-defenders.

I don't see how they stop the Dubs, even if they play those 5 guys 38mpg. And if they do, GSW will not defend Roberson.

Also, Donovan has a LONG way to go before he can even be making critical decisions in a meaningful playoff game. Apparently recently he drew up a play in a TO and Westbrook walked away from the huddle saying "f--- that," and ignored the play call. Isolated incident but would it surprise you, based on seeing this team, if the players have little confidence in him?

Wow. I see that OKC or at least WB isn't ready to win.

[knicksman]

It still comes down to whos the unstoppable player among the 3 and curry is already no. 3 all time in finals 4th qtrs while durant can be stopped by a midget. And westbrook? His shitty fg% tells me that hes too easy to stop too. The only team that has a chance is cle if irving becomes as good as curry this season. The irving that bran wanted to ride till his career is done

[SwishSquared]

Wow. I see that OKC or at least WB isn't ready to win.

That's not an indictment on WB- did you not get that was a critique of Donovan? They fired Scott Brooks for a reason, yet their current coach is making plenty of the same mistakes. The dude doesn't appear to know what he's doing, which is another disadvantage of the Thunder.

Do you expect him to come up with schemes to better hide his defensively-deficient players? I don't. Do you expect him to draw up easy looks to free up his stars? I don't.

It's asking a ton of WB & KD to overcome a flawed roster and coach against a team with the best-balanced squad in the whole league and one that features a very competent coaching staff.

You read that whole post and came away with me thinking WB isn't ready to win

[!@#$%Vectors!@#]

That's not an indictment on WB- did you not get that was a critique of Donovan? They fired Scott Brooks for a reason, yet their current coach is making plenty of the same mistakes. The dude doesn't appear to know what he's doing, which is another disadvantage of the Thunder.

Do you expect him to come up with schemes to better hide his defensively-deficient players? I don't. Do you expect him to draw up easy looks to free up his stars? I don't.

It's asking a ton of WB & KD to overcome a flawed roster and coach against a team with the best-balanced squad in the whole league and one that features a very competent coaching staff.

You read that whole post and came away with me thinking WB isn't ready to win

How about giving your new head coach some confidence and trust?

[SwishSquared]

How about giving your new head coach some confidence and trust?

I think it'd be a big anomaly for a guy to guy from awful to competent within the same season. It can definitely happen year-to-year, but I really doubt he gets to that point in time for OKC to knock out the Dubs.

Learning curve is super steep, even with two top 10 players (who have simultaneously played @ top 5 levels in the past).

Presti may have undermanned this squad, both from a role player perspective and in hiring Donovan.

I'll happily admit being wrong but Donovan is off to a really bad start.

[Milbuck]

The problem will be their defense.

Westbrook has bad focus on D- will he stay engaged enough to at least try to wear down Curry some? Can't play Kanter at all when Curry is on the floor, which means he's gonna play 10-15mpg. Morrow, Singler, and Augstin aren't stopping anybody. Waiters is mercurial- you literally don't know what he's gonna do.

They have Roberson, Ibaka, and Adams who can expel lots of energy on D without worrying about conserving energy for offense. Durant is above average on D and Westbrook can be great when he wants. So at best they have 5 plus-defenders.

I don't see how they stop the Dubs, even if they play those 5 guys 38mpg. And if they do, GSW will not defend Roberson.

Also, Donovan has a LONG way to go before he can even be making critical decisions in a meaningful playoff game. Apparently recently he drew up a play in a TO and Westbrook walked away from the huddle saying "f--- that," and ignored the play call. Isolated incident but would it surprise you, based on seeing this team, if the players have little confidence in him?

GS is an absolute machine that has been clicking for over a year now, I think it's too early to judge OKC with how many moving pieces and uncertainty they've had. From what I've seen there's a lot of confusion on both ends and because of it it's also affecting their effort and commitment on the defensive end. Hell, even Ibaka hasn't looked like himself entirely this year on D. I just don't think this is the Thunder team we're gonna get in the playoffs, they're going to ramp up the intensity progressively.

65 games from now when their offense is much smoother and they can focus more intently on defense, and into the playoffs where the intensity is at its highest, do I think Westbrook, Durant, Ibaka, Adams..who are probably gonna be playing the bulk of the minutes at 1 & 3/4/5..do I think they're gonna be gambling and going anywhere less than 100%? I just don't see it, I can't imagine a Westbrook and Durant led team in the playoffs just letting teams run over them like they're Philly's bench. I think by playoff time they're as hungry as ever and when they lock down I see no reason why they can't hang with GS defensively as much as any other contender this side of San Antonio.

Stagger the lineups so one of Ibaka or Adams is on the floor at all times for paint protection, play Roberson in small-ball lineups with Ibaka at the 5 so you can squeeze in a shooter like Morrow to compensate for Roberson's O.

FWIW, Kanter actually looked pretty solid defensively in the 4th Q tonight against Dallas. It's nothing to get hyped over, but it does show that there's potential there. If he can be at least serviceable defensively in the 15-20 minutes he's on the court, it would be HUGE for them.

[guy]

They could both drop 40/10/5 and still lose to Warriors. One team is an experienced, well oiled machine that plays unselfish basketball and makes all the right decisions, the other is a team of scrubs that stand around watching 2 guys ISO 24/7.

This. These guys haven't done shit in the playoffs in the last 3 years. Best team they beat were the Clippers who actually got screwed in that series i.e. Reggie Jackson non-out of bounds call. They haven't even came close to the level the Warriors have been at since last year.

[dunksby]

I'm hoping we get to peak post-allstar break and storm into the postseason, that's the best scenario for us to win it all.

[Papaya Petee]

Westbrook is better than Curry, just saying.

If Curry had the balls to guard Westbrook for a 7 game series, he'd get destroyed

[Gileraracer]

Westbrook is better than Curry, just saying.

If Curry had the balls to guard Westbrook for a 7 game series, he'd get destroyed

He didn't need to because WB missed the playoffs

[Quickening]

LeKing without half his team missing will crush them