This Is Why The Thunder Is So Good

So, the Thunder had a good start, but there was an asterisk. Oh, 10 and one. Congrats. But look at that schedule. A lot of Dallas Clippers Pelicans. Is OKC that good? Well, then came a backto back that was supposed to tell the truth. Golden State one night, then the Luca Lakers next. No rest against veteran star teams to push the Young Thunder. Instead, they pushed Golden State in LA off a cliff. They didn’t just win, they embarrassed people. JJ Reick stormed out of a press conference after losing by 29. Warriors lost by 24. Draymond just starts calling out his teammates personal agendas. But ironically, this reminds you of a team Draymond was a part of. The KD Warriors had solved the NBA so bad, half the league just stopped trying. They’re like, “Look, even if we get way better, we’re still not going to beat those guys. So, what is the point?” But here’s the kicker. OKC is one of the most banged up teams in the league. These are all regular rotation players missing chunks, including their second best guy, JDub, all season. If this were most teams, they would be screwed. But OKC looks like the next great NBA dynasty. And some say the greatest team of all time. But I’ve had so much fun playing prize picks this season. The games are starting to stack up. Especially some of these nights when we have like six, seven, eight or more games. It’s always nice to get some picks in and watch every single night like it’s the playoffs in the regular season. And my favorite part is the app is so easy to use to make some picks. All you got to do is pick more or less on a few players stats. Like tonight, I am going with first up, I’m going to go with a combination of Tyrese Maxi and James Harden less on their assists and then Quinton Grimes less on his assist. And price picks is available in 45 states including California or Texas where I live. And if it’s your first time signing up, nothing helps out the channel more than using code AM hoops. When you play five bucks, that code will get you 50 bucks in lineups instantly, win or lose. That is play five, get 50 code AM hoops. Now, before we get to how they are doing this, the go NBA team really defense is their calling card and OKC is nothing historically. There’s like 40 teams better, but the top four there are all from the same year. So, obviously, era’s got a lot to do with that. What about compared to this year? OKC is number one by a mile. You do not see gaps that big. They dominate on both ends so bad. They beat teams by an average of 15 1/2 points. That would shatter the previous record 12.9 set by OKC last year. So yeah, they won the title and came back even better. But to be the GOAT team we all know, you have to win at least 73 games beating the 96 Bulls and win the title. something the 2016 Warriors could not do. Well, this Thunder team is on pace for 75 wins. My goodness. Now, I don’t think they’re actually going to get there because what’s the point, right? You hit some random number. 73 wins. Everyone’s all excited. Then possibly you run out of gas in the playoffs. No. Rest your guys, which Sam Prey is too smart not to do. But speaking of the Thunder GM, he’s got a problem. one that you almost never see in the NBA. Teams are only allowed to carry 15 active players and the Thunder have been losing guys like Vic Kichche. They couldn’t keep him. So now he’s in Atlanta dropping 28 on the Clippers, hitting eight threes like it’s nothing. Trey man leaves, puts up double digits a night in Charlotte. Josh Giddy, a man they couldn’t find playoff minutes for, just earned a h 100red million in Chicago. And the craziest part to all of this, if the season ended today, OKC would have two top 10 draft picks. What are they going to do with those kids? What current players are they going to have to drop to bring those kids in? Now, okay, they’re probably not going to have two top 10 picks. Okay, Utah is going to tank to keep their pick, and the Clippers could make a move, but one top 10 pick is not off the table. But that’s where this problem actually flips into a long-term superpower. Because in this new second apron era, the best way to keep your dynasty going is simple. Keep the stars, churn the depth, and replace talent for cheap talent before it gets expensive. And the Thunder are built in a lab for that model. SJ, Jaylen Williams, and check locked in. Everything else around them constantly refresh for pennies on the dollar. It’s like Sam Prey saw into the future to build a 10-year dynasty. Take this kid AJ Mitchell for example. He was a G-League 2-way rookie last year. Starts because of injury now averaging 17 points, four boards, and four assists with two steals. Where do they find these people? And he’s making 3 million a year. This isn’t fair. So, that’s what they are doing to dominate the NBA. But how are they doing it? Well, this is what makes OKC so good to start zero defensive week links. And by the way, JDub, haven’t had them all year, probably their best, most versatile defensive player. Now, OKC emphasizes mobility and speed on defense. They are very aggressive in gaps and they shrink the floor with all five guys. It’s like they’re all playing with one mind on defense. Like here, as Curry turns the corner off the screen to his left, look how literally all five OKC defenders shrink down towards the paint. Then when the ball gets kicked out, they have no problem recovering with that speed and mobility to get themselves matched up again. Same concept here. Butler drives down toward the paint. OKC collapses, shrink the floor, and then they can again leverage that speed to recover force terrible offense. But what takes this team to another level is personnel. And the first guy we have to talk about is Kesan Wallace. A guy Nico Harrison traded out of Dallas, by the way, effectively guarded J, Steph, Jimmy, and held Luca to 19 points within like a week. And they bring Alex Caruso off the bench. His minutes have been limited so far, but whenever he’s on the court, his impact is felt. Elite skills on and off the ball defense. And like Wallace, he can hold his own very well in isolation against top tier scores. And by the way, this is why a great team can be considered boring, okay? Like, you know, the Spurs dynasty. Yeah, they were all about defense, too. People called them boring, okay? There’s the flashy team, Jordan, Kobe, and Shaq. That stuff is fun. This stuff is just bluecollar basketball. So, SGA has leveled up, too. His impact isn’t quite as big as the two previous guys there, but he does have great length and foot speed on the ball, plus defender. And along with all that backcourt and wing depth, OKC also has Chad and Isaiah Hardenstein hovering around the basket. Homegrren one of the best rim protectors in the league. But before we get to their offense, you have to acknowledge Cadet and Hardenstein switchability. They defend on the perimeter, which makes finding a weak spot in this defense virtually impossible, which means all of OKC’s vulnerabilities stem from their offense. And coming into this year, I thought they had two main weaknesses. Inconsistent shooting and ball handling. Like very shade dependent. Last year, dude’s usage rate was 33.6 more than Jaylen Brunson and Luca Duchic, which is why the finals went to seven games. The Pacers exploited that if you remember, wore him down fullcourt pressure, right? That forced JDub to have big games in games four and five, which saved them. Oh, going into this year because OKC was missing that secondary ball handler with JDub being out. I thought it might get off to a bumpy start, but AJ Mitchell, baby, a secondyear G-League two-way guy saves the day. So, OKC, not a three-level killer like Jerchay, but he can take a lot of responsibility as a creator out of pick and roll and the pace and handle to break down the defense, put pressure on the rim. He’s given Sheay fresh legs to play with the team in the half court. So, when JDub does come back, the Thunder are now going to have three more than capable ball handlers. Now, the only nitpick I have is their three-point percentages still kind of low bottom 10 in the NBA. But despite that, OKC still has a top five offense. So, right now, the only team that has a prayer of beating them is the Denver Nuggets. Nicole Joic, literally playing the best ball of his life, just moved up to first in MVP, by the way, but we would still all pick the Thunder. So, no matter how good any team is, feeling good about yourself, you better not play OKC. But one team who actually wants to lose right now is the Mavericks. Now that Nico Harrison is gone, they’re not on his timeline. It’s all about Cooper Flag. So, tank, but more importantly, nail this Anthony Davis trade because Cooper Flag’s future depends on what they get back.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder are being talked about as one of the best teams ever right now. They look unstoppable but they do it without the typical “superstar” blueprint. This is a look at what OKC is doing to make them so dominant and how they pull it off.

48 comments

  2. Here's why OKC is so good; the refs. The refs. Annnmd, the refs! Easy when you have SGA and he gets sent to the line every time he drives. Take away the free throws and they mid at best

  12. Sorry AM Hoops, I like your channel because you differ from media hype but this time you bought into it. Sure OKC will probably win another title and yes they have endless great players but saying they may be best team of all time, really! they got a defense with zero weak links, really! 5:24 that example with current GSW had the ball kicked out to prime Klay or Durant at 3 point line or had someone kicked the ball to Curry then you know that was a successful 3 going in and there is nothing OKC could do about it.
    GSW is not the 2016 team and guess what they decisively won 2 out of the 5 last games when they met. This current half dead GSW was tied with OKC for 2 wins against them until the 5th game so OKC's defense is hardly invincible, just hugely exaggerated by the media, Expect better from AM Hoops.

  17. Before OKC is crowned the Greatest ever they need to win 4 championships in a row. I've seen multiple 3petes but never an 4pete or more. They are good enough to do it but I need to see it first.

  19. You need to compare defensive rating compared to the leagues average cuz teams scored less back then. You cant compare defensive rating of a team now and before

  25. The fact that they have so many injuries and balling as hard as they are, they must be really really good and would likely go all the way!!

  26. I think it will be interesting to see a Boston video, About how should they go about their future, tank or trade for a big name like Sabonis. Great video like always

  30. Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
    But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
    For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
    Matthew 6:19-21

  32. Sam Presti was too good in building a team. Like he hoarded assets to be able to trade for star, and does not even need to use them, since they already have 3 stars.

  42. You talked all of this about their defense but you didn't even mention their defensive anchors name. Dort is great to watch if you actually watch the games! Do a tiny more studying 😉

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