The Optimism Meter: Where the Thunder stand to start 2018
By Tony Heim
The OKC Thunder Optimism Meter makes its triumphant return right before Oklahoma City plays their first game of 2018.
The above picture perfectly describes the current state of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Despite the current two game skid there’s still many reasons to believe in this team (i.e. the clapping). But that look of dissatisfaction on Carmelo’s face says it all: “uhhhh what just happened?”
It was only a week ago that the OKC Thunder were on a six-game winning streak. They beat the Rockets and Raptors in back-to-back contests. The Optimism Meter was at a solid 8. While these last two losses won’t bring us down to the original 6.1, you’ll find out soon enough that the last two games put a major dent in the meter.
Let’s get to it.
Thoughts behind the ranking
First and foremost we must note that the Thunder have not been at full strength the last two games. They played without Paul George against Milwaukee (a valid excuse for losing a close game to a good team), then dropped another close contest to the Mavericks without Andre Roberson (I will not accept an excuse). Because we haven’t seen the team at full strength it’s difficult to truly get too upset. That doesn’t mean I’m letting them off easy.
After those two wins against top tier teams you’d expect the Thunder to come out with a great deal of fire. Instead they gave up 35+ points in both first quarters. Oklahoma City simply looked disinterested on the defensive end, a scary sign for a team that’s path to contending begins with an elite defense.
This goes beyond the starters too. Role players, specifically Josh Huestis and Alex Abrines (but mostly Abrines) have done a poor job communicating, allowing far too many open shots on the perimeter and in the paint. Abrines has been so bad he’s essentially unplayable at this point. A second-unit devoid of shooting/scoring has lost one of their better offensive weapons – they need to hit the trade market soon.
Related Story: The three moments that changed the Thunder season
Sounds like we’re heading towards a pessimistic Optimistic Meter right? Wrong. It’s two games of lackluster performances. Don’t let the recency bias make you forget about all the “The Thunder are Coming” articles/tweets you read. It’s imperative that we (and the team) don’t lose all of the hope we recently acquired; a little bit is fine though.
The Optimism Meter ranking
I was at a 6.1 on December 22nd. After the 27th I was at an 8. Now, on January 3rd, the Optimism Meter is at a solid 7.2.
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This team has proven that when they are at full strength they can beat anybody. They’ve also proven they can lose to anybody, a sheer sign of lack of focus. I truly believe the OKC Thunder have started to turn the corner, but their recent reliance on Russell Westbrook to create virtually all of their offense is a problem.
I fully support Russ being Russ (solely because when he doesn’t he overthinks the game), but he has to work on getting Paul George more involved in the offense. The bench is struggling – a trade to bolster it WILL happen sooner rather than later. Oklahoma City has a fairly light stretch this month with only 5 games against teams with records over .500. They need to capitalize with a string of dominant performances.
If they don’t…well this ranking will start to plummet rather quickly. We’re at the point of the season where this team should be winning a vast majority of their games if they’re truly going to “contend” and convince Paul George to stay.
Keep the hope Thunder Nation. The players still have it, the coaches still have it. Two games shouldn’t derail what they built the two weeks prior.