Preseason: Kings v. Thunder

[slick_watts]

Second quarter, Kings up 36-30.

Another kind of sloppy effort so far.. poor defense again. Zero turnovers forced so far, just looks like more of the same from last year on D.

James Harden is looking nice offensively and I like how Etan Thomas has looked in the preseason in general.

Shaun Livingston has looked absolutely terrible all preseason, very discouraging to see him struggle so much.

[Eleqtrique]

Thunder bench is absolutely terrible. Please sign Udoka, he's a good defender and a decent threepoint shooter.

[wizkid27]

Moral of the story for me... crappy seats for a good game are WAY better than great seats for a crappy game.

Harden has definitely stepped up and asserted himself more lately.

Also agree, Livingston has looked like a guy that has the weaknesses of a point guard and the weaknesses of a small forward instead of a guy that has the strengths of both. Really disappointing, because I wanted him to be a big part of the core this season. He'll get some minutes, but just not at the level I wanted.

Thomas has been our best player aside from Green and Durant, IMO. Is it possible he's done enough to supplant Collison and Krstic for the starting C spot? His interior defense a rebounding sure would complement that lineup pretty well...

[Clangus]

After this I am preparing for a very long season and a high lottery pick.

defeense has been embarrassing

[KF10]

I think you guys shouldn't be too down. It's preseason. The Thunder will be one of the best young cores in NBA this year regardless. Durant and co will be awesome.

And good luck with the season!

[wizkid27]

I think the main reason I'm kind of down right now, is that all of this hype about being next in line for the playoffs and an up and coming team has really hinged around the core of Durant/Green/Westbrook improving to superstar/all-star/all-star type status. From the preseason I haven't really seen much change in any of them. A slower pace from Westbrook and maybe a somehow slightly improved jumper from Durant is about it. More or less, we're trotting out the same guys as last season, and I don't see a huge jump happening.

I think the biggest difference record-wise for us will be not starting off on a history-makingly bad pace. I'm still thinking mid-30 wins, but more on the 33 side than the 37 side now. We'll end up about 10th or 11th in the West and hopefully have 2 more lottery picks to show for it.

[dre_1614]

I think the main reason I'm kind of down right now, is that all of this hype about being next in line for the playoffs and an up and coming team has really hinged around the core of Durant/Green/Westbrook improving to superstar/all-star/all-star type status. From the preseason I haven't really seen much change in any of them. A slower pace from Westbrook and maybe a somehow slightly improved jumper from Durant is about it. More or less, we're trotting out the same guys as last season, and I don't see a huge jump happening.

I think the biggest difference record-wise for us will be not starting off on a history-makingly bad pace. I'm still thinking mid-30 wins, but more on the 33 side than the 37 side now. We'll end up about 10th or 11th in the West and hopefully have 2 more lottery picks to show for it.

What? Westbrook looks light years ahead of where he was last year. He is getting his teammates involved early and often, and looks to be in much more control of the offense. Durant is his normal self on offense, but looks a lot better on defense. Green looks similar on offense but he has improved his defense, and is stronger which will help him in the post.

[slick_watts]

I think the main reason I'm kind of down right now, is that all of this hype about being next in line for the playoffs and an up and coming team has really hinged around the core of Durant/Green/Westbrook improving to superstar/all-star/all-star type status. From the preseason I haven't really seen much change in any of them. A slower pace from Westbrook and maybe a somehow slightly improved jumper from Durant is about it. More or less, we're trotting out the same guys as last season, and I don't see a huge jump happening.

I think the biggest difference record-wise for us will be not starting off on a history-makingly bad pace. I'm still thinking mid-30 wins, but more on the 33 side than the 37 side now. We'll end up about 10th or 11th in the West and hopefully have 2 more lottery picks to show for it.

What? Westbrook looks light years ahead of where he was last year. He is getting his teammates involved early and often, and looks to be in much more control of the offense. Durant is his normal self on offense, but looks a lot better on defense. Green looks similar on offense but he has improved his defense, and is stronger which will help him in the post.

Green has not looked good defensively.. nobody on the team really has.

[dre_1614]

I think the main reason I'm kind of down right now, is that all of this hype about being next in line for the playoffs and an up and coming team has really hinged around the core of Durant/Green/Westbrook improving to superstar/all-star/all-star type status. From the preseason I haven't really seen much change in any of them. A slower pace from Westbrook and maybe a somehow slightly improved jumper from Durant is about it. More or less, we're trotting out the same guys as last season, and I don't see a huge jump happening.

I think the biggest difference record-wise for us will be not starting off on a history-makingly bad pace. I'm still thinking mid-30 wins, but more on the 33 side than the 37 side now. We'll end up about 10th or 11th in the West and hopefully have 2 more lottery picks to show for it.

What? Westbrook looks light years ahead of where he was last year. He is getting his teammates involved early and often, and looks to be in much more control of the offense. Durant is his normal self on offense, but looks a lot better on defense. Green looks similar on offense but he has improved his defense, and is stronger which will help him in the post.

Green has not looked good defensively.. nobody on the team really has.

You must be watching a different team because I see a much improved Green and Durant on defense.

[slick_watts]

Ah well maybe we are

On an aside, Antonio Daniels was waived today. He'd be a shrewd pickup IMO.

[wizkid27]

Daniels would be a good pickup in the Ollie role... but then again we already have Ollie

I wouldn't really say that Durant or Green has really looked much different on D. I think both of them play with an acceptable amount of effort and don't necessarily do much above and beyond.

Westbrook has definitely limited his turnovers, but I feel like he has done so at the cost of even participating on the offensive end. I don't feel like the assists he's coming up with have really been due to great playmaking or passing, but just by the virtue of bringing the ball up and sometimes the first guy he passes to scoring.

I still like all of these guys, so don't get me wrong... I just haven't really seen any huge jumps that make me think that this is a different team than we saw the last 30 games of the season (which wasn't an awful team, just not near playoff level).

[Eleqtrique]

I came her to mention Daniels being waived but I guess we all agree that he would be a great backup to Russell who could also play some SG.

Enough with this Ollie/Livingston bullcrap. Hate to say it because Shaun went through hell, but that second unit is ugly as..well, hell.

In order for this team to improve on its record it needs a better bench. Playing Durant/Green/Westbrook 40 minutes a night could take it's toll somewhere down the road. You need players you can rely on when those guys are gassed, having an off night etc.

[wizkid27]

Elqtrique, I definitely agree with you. Although I don't think our core has made amazing strides from the end of last year to the beginning of this year... the bench is definitely the reason that we won't be all that successful this season. Harden is really the only dependable scorer outside of the big 3, and he's quite an unknown himself as a rookie.

[slick_watts]

I really like how Etan Thomas has looked, I would even give thought to starting him over Krstic, he's just much bigger and physical. Not ideal, but closer to ideal than Krstic.

[wizkid27]

Thomas has been our best player aside from Green and Durant, IMO. Is it possible he's done enough to supplant Collison and Krstic for the starting C spot? His interior defense a rebounding sure would complement that lineup pretty well...