The focus of OKC Thunder In the news for March 2 is the teams strength of schedule, odds of winning the west and the lost art of trash talk.
An ongoing narrative from now until the end of the season will focus on the glut of teams vying for playoff seeds. Both conferences have two top squads well distanced from the pack. And, both coasts have teams seeded three through nine all with playoff hopes.
Although the east has a jumble of seeds vying to capture the third and fourth home court seeds it is the west which is packed tighter than a can of sardines.
Quite literally the west’s third through eighth seeds are separated by three games. Even the ninth seed (Clippers) are just 3.5 games back of third and the Jazz are still within range of capturing a seed.
Factor in the Wolves loss of Jimmy Butler for likely 2 months, the uncertainty of Kawhi Leonard’s return to the Spurs, Anthony Davis beasting the past month in New Orleans and the Thunder’s apparent lack of respect of lower competition and you’ve got a hornet’s nest to deal with as these teams all vie for positioning.
Still, betting sites and pundits believe OKC has the best shot after Houston and Golden State to represent the west in the finals.
Bovada ranks OKC Thunder third best chance to win west:
Despite the tightly packed group all vying for playoff seeds apparently some betting sites still view the OKC Thunder as contenders. In reality with the Thunder currently seeded seventh the team is closer to falling out of the playoff picture altogether than capturing the conference.
In spite of this the betting site Bovada ranks the OKC Thunder behind only the Warriors and Rockets with the best change to come out of the west.
As Cody Taylor of ThunderWire article points out Bovada also lists OKC as the sixth most likely to win the title this season.
"In addition to the Thunder’s odds in the West, the team currently has the sixth-highest odds of winning the title at 25/1. The Raptors, Celtics, Cavaliers, Rockets and Warriors are the only teams ahead of the Thunder."
OKC Thunder Stretch Run Strength of Schedule:
In another ThunderWire article Moke Hamilton suggested the OKC Thunder are just as easily one losing streak away from being out of the playoffs. Tankathon highlights each teams remaining games and their strength of schedule. OKC have the ninth hardest remaining schedule which could pose problems although most pundits expect them to persevere.
Obviously, the goal is to get a home court seed if at all possible; a factor made easier with Minnesota losing Jimmy Butler for up to eight weeks. Yet, the real objective should be to avoid the seventh and eighth seeds. Certainly getting to the finals will require beating Houston, Golden State or both at some point. That said, the desire should be to avoid those two squads in the first round when they are at their freshest. ‘
Hamilton’s article also notes that of the other teams chasing the home court seeds (specifically the Pelicans, Clippers and Blazers) have more difficult schedules.
"The good news for Oklahoma City is that the Pelicans, Clippers and Blazers each have more difficult schedules remaining.Most importantly in all of this, however, are the 10 games that the Thunder have remaining against other teams in the Western Conference playoff picture."
The full picture of all teams remaining strength of schedules is available on Tankathon.com.
Westbrook cites OKC record vs. top teams:
Russell Westbrook on the Thunder’s play against lottery teams, if he’s concerned, references OKC’s record against the best teams in the league: “We’re not worried. I’m not worried.” pic.twitter.com/I7hAAGxyCu
— Erik Horne (@ErikkHorne) March 1, 2018
Art of Trash Talk is lost:
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ESPN scribes Tim MacMahon and Law Murray collaborated on an article diving into the art of trash talk. In the piece several of today’s stars gave their thoughts on the long lost art. A funny section in it notes rising star Devin Booker commenting on how Russell Westbrook put him in his place when he tried to rile the current MVP.
"Talking trash is a right that must be earned first by proving yourself in the league, something Booker was rudely reminded by Westbrook during a rookie-season trash-talk attempt.“I don’t know who you are,” Booker recalled of the reigning MVP’s response. “Why you talking?”"
Also in the article Westbrook implied true trash talk hasn’t existed since the 80s and 90s.
"“Trash talk can be Twitter, social media, Instagram,” Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Russell Westbrook said. “It’s all type of stuff, but it’s not trash talk. Real trash talk was back in the ’80s, ’90s. That was real trash talk.“Now it’s just for you guys [in the media], so you guys can laugh and make memes and all kinds of nonsense.”"
Big back to back set looms this weekend:
That wraps up the OKC Thunder In the news column for March 2. Welcome to the weekend. On tap today and tomorrow as the Thunder tackle a back to back set versus the Suns and Blazers. The latter has major implications on the playoff seeding. Be sure to check out our preview and post game coverage on the games along with coverage of your favorite team and players.