Views from OKC: Billy Donovan is the key to Game Five

Views from OKC is a public diary from an OKC Thunder fan. Today we take a look at the importance of Billy Donovan tonight.

This postseason has not been kind to Billy Donovan. After last season’s masterpiece the second-year coach has hit the proverbial sophomore wall – that is he’s played the likes of Kyle Singler and Domantas Sabonis in meaningful fourth quarter minutes this postseason.

Donovan’s two years in Oklahoma City has been the quintessential Bacon-Lettuce-Tomato sandwich on rye. The first regular season you were iffy, just like that feeling of choosing rye bread. But when that first postseason came around, Billy plopped on the bacon and you realized the rye/bacon flavor combo actually works perfect together.

The second regular season brought on the lettuce and tomato; nothing new, nothing controversial. But as we finish up the second postseason we start to think that two pieces of rye bread may be a little too much.

In this analogy, the rye bread is Donovan’s tendency to experiment with rotations. It’s something we grew to appreciate after he brought the Thunder one game within the Finals, but the fact it has extended into these playoffs is a problem.

Donovan has played 10 to 12 players in all four games this postseason; his counterpart Mike D’Antoni has played 8 in every game but the Game One blowout. Part of the problem is virtually every player on the Thunder has a specialized skillset. Each guy – from Enes Kanter’s low-post game to Alex Abrines’ shooting – adds something to the team while also hurting them in some way (usually defense).

Now the OKC Thunder are in a precarious situation. Risks must be taken when down 3-1. That starts with Donovan.

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If double-digit Thunder players get in tonight, they will not win. Norris Cole and/or Semaj Christon cannot play – Victor Oladipo must run the backup point for those few minutes Russell Westbrook is out. Enes Kanter cannot play a single second – his offensive game has been atrocious deeming him unplayable.

That leaves us with Alex Abrines, Nick Collison, Jerami Grant and Doug McDermott. In a perfect world only three of these guys play (Collison*, Grant and McDermott) but this world is not perfect and Oklahoma City needs at least one bench guard to give the starters a breather.

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*Collison makes sense for the simple fact that he can come in for 10 minutes and not screw up. That’s honestly all the Thunder need out of there bench. Russ and the starters have done a great job of getting leads, and playing a consistent intelligent force like Collison is much more safe than playing Kanter. But I digress.

McDermott should get the nod over Abrines simply because he’s big enough to guard Ryan Anderson at the 4. Abrines’ shot hasn’t been falling, plus the thought of Lou Williams going at him one-on-one for a fifth game scares. McBuckets’ problems on defense tend to arise on the perimeter with quicker players, but Anderson’s tendency to camp out and shoot plays perfectly into his limited defensive capabilities.

Billy Donovan and the OKC Thunder have eight or nine distinct players built for this series. But Billy D hasn’t played it out that way. Now that they are hanging on to their last loss, it’s time for the Mad Professor to finally pull out the tricks he showed us last year.