Comments on: Thunder 122, Lakers 105

By: Darnell Mayberry

Darnell Mayberry — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:56:39 +0000

LaDonna, you’re right. A 3-for-11 shooting performance is not tearing it up. I chose my words poorly during that recap, and at the time I hadn’t realized he finished 3-for-11. In Martin’s defense, he was 3-for-8 (all from 3-point range) in the first half. That’s pretty good. It’s the way he finished that made his overall game look shaky. And as I noted in the recap here, he also had five assists. Four of those came in the first half as well, when the Thunder led by 16. So he wasn’t great overall. But he was pretty good. The word you used probably best summed up his night. Streaky. -DM-

By: LaDonna McKinzie

LaDonna McKinzie — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 23:27:30 +0000

@Darnell Mayberry, you stated that Martin hit 3 three’s and in your post game report video you stated Kevin Martin had a “bounce back” game and that he was “tearing’ it up tonight”.

Sorry but 3 of 12 shooting (3 of 11 threes) is not “tearin’ it up” in Ok City Thunder standards. 11 pts. total! He’s been streaky of late, to say the least! That will kill us in the playoffs if he doesn’t get a quality game together by then.

Westbrook was an animal tonight!!! He is on fire at the right time.

By: Darnell Mayberry

Darnell Mayberry — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:32:23 +0000

Good for you, Glenda.

Jim, I’m not taking anything away from Brewer and certainly not criticizing him. Those four minutes were decent. But if you remember, Kobe was not in attack mode. He was camping out in the corner or just waiting on the wing mostly. On the rare times he did get the ball during that stretch he saw multiple defenders lurking behind Brewer and became more of a facilitator. The one shot Kobe attempted was a terrible shot that had nothing to do with Brewer. It was a tough shot similar to others in the game he took and made. Only difference that time was he missed. Again, that’s not taking anything away from Brewer. I just thought Kobe was taking a bit of a breather at that time more than being held in check. -DM-

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:25:18 +0000

Joel, how do you expect the bigs to get these open dunks and layups that you refer to? It is a matter of shot creation. None of our bigs are shot creators, and that is what Barkley is talking about. If Durant or WB don’t pull the defending big man away from our big man, then our bigs aren’t going to score. Therefore, as Durant and WB create offense, the defending big man either comes over to help which leads to these dunks and layups that you refer to, or we let Durant and WB take their defender and make a play on the basket. What Barkley is talking about is being able to dump it to a Tim Duncan or Z-Bo 10 feet from the basket and using their body to create offense, where they can either make a play on the basket or pass to an open man if help comes. We don’t have big that can do that, and the guys on the roster may never be able to do that. So, let’s stop asking for Brooks to do something that he can’t possibly do, which is run offense through the Thunder bigs.

Here’s the problem with Barkley’s ‘prediction’: If the Spurs and Grizzlies can’t beat the Thunder, they can’t possibly beat the Heat, because the Heat are just a better version of the Thunder at this point. That’s why the Thunder has had a lot of trouble with the Grizzlies and Spurs.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:06:59 +0000

Yes, Mr. Mayberry, I noticed inconsistant, frenetic Jackson striving to his potential last season and at that time stated so.

Early this season I noted that Jackson is a season or two away from blossoming big time.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:52:58 +0000

Barkley stated a reality, that I’ve been stating for weeks.

I’m sure that Barkley saw the reality several weeks or months ago.

Barkley’s vision really has nothing to do with Harden being a Thunder or not, but has everything to do with what the Thunder are this season and were last season – and everything to do with what the Heat are this season, an even stronger team than they were last season.

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:48:23 +0000

For that reason, Charles Barkley said that the only way to punish the Heat is for the Thunder to have low post player who can break out of the zone defense by the Heat and be able to score. He is right, because he has played with different defenses and knows what to expect to overcome the zone.

He thinks that a team with scoring big centers will win against the Heat small line-ups, whose 2-3 players are just waiting at the wings to shoot 3-pointers. It is just LeBron and Wade surveying and defending the paint. Bosh is the other player who can shoot jumpers or drive the ball down low.

All in all, it just depends on Brooks whether the Thunder will change or not, if he has something to come up with.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:44:02 +0000

My guess is that Durant’s latest technical foul will be rescinded.

By: Todd

Todd — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:43:38 +0000

Barkley picked OKC to win the finals last year. Now he says they have zero chance to win against the Heat. It’s his opinion, just like last year. Doesn’t mean he’s right. Like Nick said, things change.

But how about we let the Thunder navigate their way thorough the mine field called the Western Conference before leaping all the way to the finals. One carefully placed step at a time, please.

By: Glenda

Glenda — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 17:39:40 +0000

The Heat are what they are. The Thunder are what they are this season, perhaps good enough to win the Western Conference, but not yet good enough to take the crown away from the King Heat.

As a Thunder fan I hold to undying hope. But wishes of supernatural intervention rarely visit reality.

But a future reality shows a Thunder bench of young blossoming players, and an indominable Westbrook will that might very well spread to every member of the Thunder team.