OKC Thunder National power rankings week one finds OKC in unfamiliar position
National media power ranking lists are in for NBA opening week and not surprisingly the OKC Thunder aren’t among the leaders.
With basketball back and a full week in the books it’s time for the weekly power ranking lists to begin. In some cases pundits post their first list prior to the season start while others wait for the a week of games to be completed. Going in, OKC Thunder fans are already cognizant their favorite team won’t be at the top or likely in the upper echelon.
This due to an 0-3 win-less opening week. Still, the experts won’t punish the Thunder too harshly despite their 30th ranked offense. That’s because the squad hung with the Warriors. All while missing star Russell Westbrook throughout training camp, preseason and for the first two games of the season.
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OKC did manage to increase their tempo ranking to the sixth fastest pace (105.2). The shock is where the Thunder are positioned defensively (16th) which was expected to be OKC’s calling card.
Personally, I lean more to John Schuhmann’s list and ranking style which recognizes the week’s top performances. With over twenty weeks of lists to follow there is more than ample time to start rewarding teams based on their body of work or forgive one bad week – but not in week one.
The majority of teams played two or three games . OKC played in Oakland versus Golden State, in LA versus the Clippers and opened at home to the Kings.
Ultimately the Thunder rank as high as 12th and as low as 20th.
Here’s how the major media sites rank the OKC Thunder with accompanying links.
NBA.com – John Schuhmann:
The stats genius keeps it real by rewarding the teams who had the best weeks. Prior to pulling up all power ranking lists I knew the OKC Thunder wouldn’t fare well, but they weren’t as low as one might expect. Schuhmann listed the OKC Thunder 12th prior to season start and dropped them to 20th after their tough week.
"Russell Westbrook’s return on Sunday helped the Thunder offense (which scored a brutal 94 points per 100 possessions over their first two games), and Paul George in particular. But Westbrook could not get OKC off the schneid, because his team continued to shoot bricks from beyond the arc (they’re a league-worst 24 percent from 3-point range) and somehow allowed the Sacramento Kings (who are now 2-17 in Oklahoma City) to shoot 55 percent. With Dennis Schroder shooting 28 percent in his first week with his new team, with Patrick Patterson off to another cold start, and with Andre Roberson on the shelf for a while, it remains unclear who this team can turn to beyond Westbrook, George and Steven Adams."
ESPN – Panel
Last season the panel bounced up and down like a yo-yo for their Thunder ranking. Presumably this season will be more of the same. Three members of the panel remain intact while two new ESPN members join Kevin Arnovitz
ESPN preseason rank was ninth, but the panel drop the squad nine spots to 16th.
ESPN’s panel:
ESPN: Kevin Arnovitz | Tim MacMahon |Andre’ Snellings
The Undefeated: Marc J. Spears | FiveThirtyEight: Chris Herring
"The Thunder started the season with a close loss to the Warriors, a blowout loss to the Clippers and a surprising home loss to the Kings, which has resulted in their drop in the rankings. Russell Westbrook has played only 35 minutes so far. The Thunder just aren’t the Thunder without their MVP. — Snellings"
Bleacher Report:
Grant Hughes stuck by his belief of the OKC Thunder much like many of the fan base did last season. This year he might not be as quick to buy in especially if the Thunder struggle early. For opening week he ranks the team 12th.
Of note, Hughes rankings are always slightly behind as the majority of lists come out at week start on Mondays. Hughes list comes out the weekend prior.
"Sometimes, these things aren’t complicated.Over the last two seasons, the Thunder haven’t been good without Russell Westbrook. Last year, they were 11.4 points per 100 possessions worse when he sat. When Russ won MVP in 2016-17, the difference in net rating was 11.8 points per 100 possessions.No surprise, then, that OKC struggled against Golden State on Tuesday.Westbrook is already practicing as he works back from his fourth right knee surgery since 2013, but it might be a mistake to assume the Thunder will snap into shape when he returns. Guards who depend so heavily on athleticism don’t tend to age well as they hit their 30s; Westbrook crosses that divide November 12."
Sports Illustrated – The Crossover
Writer Khadrice Rollins pegs the Thunder 16th. His issues aren’t the road losses, but how the team lost to the hapless Kings. Rollins correctly speaks of being mindful this team doesn’t turn into a version of last season when they played down to their competition.
"Losing two road games without Russell Westbrook and Andre Roberson can be overlooked. Giving up 131 points to the Kings in Westbrook’s season debut needs to be addressed. PG and Russ will get things back on track in OKC, but this team can’t ignore its issues like it did much of last season and just assume play will improve. Among the two All-NBA players and the two-time national championship winning coach, somebody needs to have some answers going forward besides hoping Roberson will turn this into a top five defense"
CBS Sports:
CBS’ offering comes courtesy of Reid Forgrave points to how much this cold start could hurt by season’s end and places OKC 13th.
"They need Russ — but even vintage Russell Westbrook couldn’t save the Thunder on Sunday. In a Western Conference that promises to be bunched up after the top tier, the Thunder’s 0-3 start, including Sunday’s home loss to the Sacramento Kings, could come back to bite them. Shooting 24 percent from 3 in their first three games is ugly. Thursday’s home game against Boston takes on extra heft."
That wraps up week one power ranking. Thunderous Intentions will follow where the pundits rank the home town team in comparison to their opponents each week. Occasionally, I’ll offer my two cents. I’d like to see Westbrook in the lineup for more than one game prior to making an assessment.
dark. Next. 5 takeaways: Thunder 0-3 punctuates defensive effort and rotation usage issues
To that end, do you think the mid to top of lower tier placement was the correct slot for the Thunder? And, where do you think the team should be typically ranked?