The OKC Thunder are having a season filled with intriguing drama. Talk of firing Billy Donovan has died down as the team continues to find greater success.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off a 148-124 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers this past Saturday. It was a victory in which OKC broke two team records. For one, the Thunder have never scored more than 140 points in a regulation game. They also broke their all-time assist record, finishing with 37 against Cleveland.
This win is probably their most impressive performance of the season – it reminded me of the Twitter narrative from late December. The hashtag #FireDonovan would be seen all over the NBA Twitter world. Now, it would appear that Donovan is safe from the Twitter campaign calling for his head.
What you have to remember about Donovan is he isn’t an instant gratification coach; he believes in getting better continuously. Donovan believes the OKC Thunder are on a journey of self-discovery and a quest to improve on a game-by-game basis.
The game against Cleveland is proof that Oklahoma City is in-fact getting better throughout the season. Although they are not winning consistently, they are still proving to be a threat – Donovan is a huge part of that. I believe Billy Donovan has earned the trust of Carmelo Anthony. As a result, Melo is adjusting his game around what Donovan wants to do offensively. This should automatically qualify him for Coach of the Year.
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Donovan’s coaching is complex to some. To others it’s complete madness. Whenever you hear him talk during the post-game conference, it’s almost as if you have to take notes. This man is the definition of analytics. Donovan’s knowledge of basketball is so wide, he could teach a college course at Harvard.
However, whether you believe in him as a coach or not isn’t the issue. He, like the rest of the team, is learning on the fly. It’s not easy for Donovan to reach players like Anthony and Paul George in such a short time. Not only that, he’s finding a way to make those players mesh with Russell Westbrook and win games. It’s not always pretty. Nevertheless, the OKC Thunder are in the race.
Getting to the playoffs is the number one objective for this team right now. While it’s not the overall goal, Oklahoma City is focused on ending the regular season in striking distance of the NBA Finals. You can bet that Houston, San Antonio and Golden State are all aware of how good OKC can be when they are 100% engaged.
Next: The Thunder and Cavs are currently on opposite spectrums
The Thunder have a huge ladder to climb to reach the NBA Finals and ultimately the Championship. However, I would be reluctant to consider them pretenders rather than contenders. Much of that has to do with the presence of Billy Donovan.