OKC Thunder in the news for Saturday October 13 concentrates on clutch time and the Truth says the title belongs to OKC.
OKC Thunder completed their preseason Oct 10, but 24 other teams finished up their schedules last night. Each team will take the precious few days until regular season tip-off to tweak issues noticed in the truncated preseason. For the OKC Thunder those are likely to be offensive sets. That’s because the Thunder held opponents to the fewest points in preseason (91.5). The defense for the most part looks solid. In fact the Thunder rank second in defense (89.4)
Naturally the meshing of the new OK3 will take time though there are encouraging signs. Each of Carmelo Anthony and Paul George performed well though there are clearly still kinks to be fixed.
Navigating the clutch:
To that end, pundits, though softening on the OK3 chemistry issue are still questioning who’ll be ‘the guy’ in the clutch. Royce Young of ESPN offers his take. Young examines Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony’s clutch contributions last season.
"Enter George and Anthony, who come from situations where they were accustomed to having the ball in big spots. Last season Anthony took 91 of the Knicks’ 310 clutch-time shots and posted a usage rate of 35.2. George took 105 of the Pacers’ 263 clutch attempts, with a usage rate of 41.2. It was George, following a 109-108 Game 1 loss to the Cavaliers last postseason, expressing frustration about CJ Miles taking the potential game winner instead of him."
OKC Thunder will win the title – it’s ‘The Truth’
Most pundits are predicting version 4 of the Warriors versus the Cavaliers in June. But, some aren’t quite as smitten with the rinse – repeat scenario. In spite of the strong likelihood of the former scenario Paul Pierce (who just moved up my likability meter) is boldly predicting another title winner. Nicknamed ‘The Truth’ Pierce says the OKC Thunder will be the champions this season. No doubt he sees a similarity to this iteration of the Thunder and his Celtics from the 2007-8 season. Andre Key of Clutch Points elaborates:
"Now, the Celtics great has given his preseason prediction on who he sees winning the NBA Championship during an episode of ESPN’s The Jump. As much as the Warriors and Cavs are favored again to meet in June, Pierce instead sees the Oklahoma City Thunder as the victors when the smoke clears.That may have something to do with the team acquiring Paul George and Carmelo Anthony this summer to pair with Russell Westbrook, which possibly reminds him of the strength of having an All-Star studded Big 3 core, which he himself can attest to how much that kind of star power increases the chances of getting a ring."
OKC Thunder players all over preseason leader board:
Granted the truncated preseason offered a very small sample size, but there are palpable lessons to recognize moving forward. The overriding impression is how solid the squad’s defense is. Moreover, once this squad develops a natural rhythm and chemistry it will pay major dividends. Once that offensive switch flips to combine with stellar defense they’ll be in the mix atop the ladder.
"It was common knowledge Carmelo Anthony was a shooter and Paul George was known as a sniper. The fact both are decent three point shooters was heartening news for the OKC Thunder who struggled from deep last season.Again, small sample size, but the fact two Rockets sit atop the made three pointers in preseason (Trevor Ariza/Eric Gordon with 17) does offer hope this translates into the regular season. To wit, Paul George (12) ranks third and Carmelo Anthony (10) fifth."
That wraps up OKC Thunder in the news for October 14. As the OKC Thunder prepare for the regular season tip fans have just four more sleeps until tip-off. Leading up Thursday make sure to visit the site Thunderous Intentions daily to catch compelling articles and interact with us on Twitter.