Views from OKC: A win against the Spurs will wash the pain away
By Tony Heim
March 9th: Welcome to Views from OKC, Thunderous Intentions’ daily roundup of the best OKC Thunder content across the web.
New to Views? That’s fantastic, I love new readers more than the recurring ones. Don’t tell that to the few people who weirdly come back. Let’s get to it.
San Antonio comes to town to face the Gauntlet
“Entering Wednesday, the Spurs had the No. 1 defensive rating (98.1) since the All-Star break. The Thunder ranks 22nd (109.3) since the break…Two opposite ends of the spectrum: Entering Wednesday, the Spurs were No. 1 in the NBA in 3-point percentage (39.3). The Thunder ranks 29th (32.5).”
Welp. Yesterday’s title for Views was “It can’t get worse can it?” It turns out it can. Oklahoma City had an edge in this game because San Antonio is playing on the second night of a back-to-back. But Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge sat last night. The advantage is all but gone. If Oklahoma City can pull off a win though? It could be the big momentum-changer of the season.
Must Read: Dissecting the Thunder’s road woes
Russell Westbrook, the biggest enigma in the NBA
“So is Russell attempting to pit himself against the other 29 teams or readying up with his platoon in the Thunder locker room? Is he cold and distrusting of the national media and opposing fan bases, or is he genuine and kind with the people that he knows and is comfortable with?”
Hey Max Seng, if you ever get bored over at Hoops Habit (another great FanSided basketball site) you are more then welcome to come join our wonderful staff of Thunder stans. Max lays so much on the table in this article but it all boils down to one point. If we all worked as hard on our occupation/favorite activity as Russell Westbrook, wouldn’t this world be a better place? Yes. Yes it would.
Views from Twitter
Dion Waiters is gonna be a MVP candidate in 2019 cuz that's just how shit works when OKC cuts ties with you.
— 🦦✨America Is Musty✨🦦 (@DragonflyJonez) March 9, 2017
Watching Dion Waiters during this magical Miami run hurts. Seriously. To think he is playing for less money this season than Sam Presti’s tender offer makes it worse. When you realize he would be playing against second-units for OKC instead of starters makes me want to bang my head into my desk until I forget who Dion Waiters is.
Apparently a bad stretch of games from Steven Adams means he is now a bum and not worth anything. Overreaction is at an all time high today.
— Coach Michael Doutey (@mike_doutey) March 9, 2017
TWEET OF THE FREAKING YEAR. People…Steven Adams is going through a slump. It’s very possible that the concussion has affected his game mentally; he isn’t playing as physical as we are used to. But to think that he somehow regressed and isn’t ever going to improve is ridiculous. He’s 23. He’s been playing competitive basketball for less than 10 years. Remember how bad the Big Kiwi was his rookie season? Adams is still learning how to play this game. R-E-L-A-X.