13 reasons why the Thunder were eliminated

Looking at 13 reasons why the OKC Thunder are no longer with us.

I just started the Netflix series 13 Reasons Why. I’m only one episode in, but I’m hooked. I love a good series that deals with death and real life situations. Throw in a puzzle and my interest only goes up. The 2016-17 OKC Thunder are dead. The reasons may seem obvious, but just in case you haven’t figured it out. Here are 13 reasons why…

1. Russell Westbrook couldn’t do everything

All year, the Thunder relied on Westbrook to carry the team. He did so to the tune of 47 regular season wins. He bailed them out in the fourth quarter numerous times. Russell averaged a triple-double for the season. The hope was that it would carry over into the playoffs. But, it didn’t. Whether he was trying to do too much or he simply ran out of gas, Westbrook was a disaster in the fourth quarter against Houston. The team needed him to be regular season Westbrook in the fourth and they got previous seasons Westbrook.

2. Victor Oladipo didn’t step up

Aside from Westbrook, Oladipo is the only guy that could create his own shot and shots for others on the team. When Westbrook went to the bench, they needed Oladipo to be the driving force on offense. It didn’t happen. Not only did Oladipo fail to lift the team with Westbrook on the bench, he failed to do much of anything while sharing the floor with Westbrook. He averaged 10 points per game, which simply isn’t good enough for the supposed #2 player on the team.

3. Enes Kanter stalled the second unit

I don’t think Kanter is unplayable. Houston attacked him every time on defense, but every team attacks Kanter’s defense. That’s not an issue when he’s giving you baskets on the other end. Against Houston, he gave them very few baskets. He shot 38 percent from the floor. When you consider that 95 percent of his shots come from the restricted area, 38 percent shooting is inexcusable. If Kanter had given them 10 points per game in his limited minutes (which he did in Game 3) then you can excuse his defense.

4. Andre Roberson’s offensive confidence

After going 2-12 from the free throw line in Game 4, Roberson seemed determine to bounce back. It didn’t happen in Game 5. He went 1-7 from the field and had only three points after posting double digit figures in each of the first four games. Roberson’s confidence is directly tied to his free throw shooting. If a player is a poor free throw shooter and he feels that he will get fouled every time he touches the ball, he begins missing easy shots. If Roberson can become a reliable and confident free throw shooter, he will become a more reliable and confident offensive player.

5. Steven Adams got bodied

Nene and Clint Capella feasted on Adams in the paint. One of them out-rebounded and out-scored Adams in every game. This isn’t all on Adams, who is a great one-on-one defender, but was consistently burned on drive and drop plays. Some of that is the fault of the wing defender and some may be the fault of the help defender. But Adams needed to be better against the Houston bigs and he wasn’t.

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6. Three-point shooting

The Rockets didn’t even shoot well from three. They were at 28 percent in the series, a far cry from the 35 percent they shot in the regular season. The Thunder shot 31 percent. If you told me that the Thunder would shoot at a better clip than the Rockets from three in the series, I would have said this would go seven. But the Rockets got timely threes. Whenever they needed a big basket, Lou Williams or Eric Gordon would provide it. Meanwhile, Oladipo or Alex Abrines would miss for OKC. Of course, Westbrook desire to shoot 18 threes in Game 5, 11 threes in Games 1 and 2, and eight threes in Game 4 didn’t help matters. It’s pretty telling that the one game OKC won, Westbrook took only one three.

7. Free throws

Houston shot 33 more free throws than Oklahoma City in the series. That’s a whole games worth of free throws. They took more free throws than the Thunder in every game, including the game where they purposely hacked a player to put him on the line. For those that believe “calls even out,” this is proof that it’s not true. Houston attacks the paint a lot, but so does Russell Westbrook. Throwing your head back or hooking an opponents arm around a screen is not a foul and shouldn’t be rewarded with free throws.

8. Billy Donovan ran out of ideas

In Game 2, Donovan played everyone on the roster except Nick Collison. It was basically admitting that he didn’t know who to play, so he was willing to try everything. It almost worked, until it didn’t. He was better in Game 3 with his rotations, but it was also obvious that he panicked every time Westbrook went off the floor. He left Roberson in too long in Game 4, he didn’t play Taj Gibson enough, and he stuck with Kanter too long. Donovan played at least 10 guys in every game. Mike D’Antoni only played more than eight in the Game 1 blowout. Donovan is a smart guy and the roster didn’t lend itself to a ton of diversity, but he also failed to put them in the right positions.

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9. Lou Williams and Houston’s bench

Lou Williams averaged 18.8 points off the bench. The top three bench scorers for OKC averaged 19 points. One Houston bench player nearly outscored three OKC Thunder bench players. In fact, Houston’s top three scorers behind Harden were all bench players. Not only was Houston’s bench better than OKC’s bench, they were better than OKC’s starters.

10. Triple-doubles weren’t wins

OKC had a losing record when Westbrook recorded a triple-double in the series. The stat chasing truthers sure loved that one.

11. Patrick Beverly

I would never say Beverly shut down Westbrook because that’s not true. However, Beverly did bring energy and intensity that no one on Oklahoma City matched. He also did a great job of annoying Westbrook while making timely plays on both ends of the court. His 11.6 points per game was fifth best on Houston but would have been tied with Roberson for second best on OKC.

12. Travis Scott

Oklahoma City really needs a popular rapper to endorse them. The Rockets have Travis Scott. The Raptors have Drake. The Warriors have Drake. The Cavaliers have Iman Shumpert. OKC needs a homegrown rapper of their own. Travis Scott is so good that not even the presence of Kylie Jenner could ruin Houston winning Game 5.

13. Inexperience

What it really boils down to is the fact that the OKC Thunder are a young team in the midst of a superstar rebuild. The guys on the roster weren’t ready for the moment. No teams wins without losing first. This roster took their first L together as a team. The hope is that it makes them stronger for the future.