In the news – buying or selling OKC Thunder, everyone has an opinion

With the OKC Thunder beginning to showcase offensive chemistry everyone is voicing their opinion on the team, Paul George’s future and Charles Barkley’s comments.

If you believe the preseason projections it was only a matter of time until the OKC Thunder and specifically the OK3 found an offensive rhythm. Yet, a November of malaise with OKC delivering defensively, but losing games because of a stunted offense turned the critics out in droves.  Suddenly everyone felt this was a lost cause and there was no way the OK3 would ever find any cohesion.

Funny how players say they never pay attention to the media. But, it sure seemed like they were getting the above message loud and clear.  In some ways it might well have served as the catalyst for turning around the OK3.

Regardless of the reasons,  finally Carmelo Anthony stepped away from his penchant for dribbling the air out of the ball. Likewise Russell Westbrook stopped trying to make sure his new star partners were getting enough shots and returned to being the MVP everyone had grown accustomed to  The result was Paul George emerged. Or rather, the version of the player most expected to see when Sam Presti risked trading for him appeared.

Currently as the OKC Thunder are displaying much greater ease offensively the same pundits are voicing their beliefs on why the change occurred.  Is it simply a matter of time? Has Billy Donovan switched up the offense? Was it (as I believe) based on role definition? And others are opining on whether this is something OKC can maintain or better yet develop and grow.

Doc Rivers says it’s Paul George:

Asked why he felt the Thunder were performing better offensively  the Clippers coach credited one player – Paul George. Doc iterated what most were seeing through the opening stages of the season. The fact Paul George was not operating as the Thunder’s secondary option or playmaker and now he finally is. Certainly if you look back to through December and the current blowouts George’s numbers reflect Doc’s assertions.

Carmelo Anthony role acceptance:

Fred Katz of The Norman Transcript wrote Friday of how great the offense has been and why it’s suddenly humming.

"Maybe it’s no coincidence Dec. 19 is the marker when it all started to change. That was, after all, only one game following Anthony’s proclamation following a Dec. 16 loss at the New York Knicks. “That’s what we have to figure out, what we have to nail down as far as the roles that we all have on this team,” Anthony said then when asked about his role. “I think until we kind of figure that part out, we will continue having these ups and down, having good games and bad games, relying just on our talent, our skill level to get us through.”Coach Billy Donovan has been vehement all season about Anthony’s willingness to change, to become more of a catch-and-shoot weapon than he’s been previously. It’s something they’ve discussed since Anthony came to Oklahoma in September."

I won’t disagree about this statement. Especially since I wrote this about a week ago pointing to this very game being the season’s turning point.

Still if there was a moment to stamp it would be the loss to the Knicks. It wasn’t the fact the Thunder lost in the Mecca, particularly because they were playing on consecutive nights following a triple overtime win in Philly. Rather, it was what occurred between the Magic and Knicks games, and more specifically precisely how and why they lost in New York.

Check out the full article which pinpointed the three specific games which punctuated the change in the offense. Isolating the 3 games which changed the OKC Thunder season

Charles Barkley gets in hot water:

Sir Charles was one of my favorite players and is definitely one of my favorite people on air. His charm, humor and philanthropy have always drawn me to him. But, sometimes he just makes silly statements. Thursday night on TNT his comments about Paul George only being an offensive player sure did fire up the social media universe. Fans took to Twitter, Instagram and other modes to voice their shock at his statements.

The good thing about Chuck is he’ll admit when he’s wrong and I have a feeling once OKC dispense of one of the teams he cited they can’t (Rockets, Spurs, Wolves) he’ll change his tune.

More from Thunderous Intentions

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• 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
• Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
• Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder

Whether you fall into the camp of the OK3 simply needed time, players needed better role definition, Melo needed to accept his, Russ needed to be Russ or Billy D needed to demand ball movement the reality is OKC’s offense is humming.

In a recent column I outlined the specifics per my thoughts of why the offense was improving.

It won’t continue at its current pace – well not unless the Thunder do something completely unexpected and history setting no less. Still, this is an extremely positive sign for OKC and one which the fanbase is clearly thrilled about.

That wraps up In the news for Saturday January 6. Enjoy your weekend and be sure to check in with Thunderous Intentions throughout the day as our scribes cover your favorite players and team.