Playoff P arrives early as OKC Thunder best Rockets in thriller – player grades
OKC Thunder Best Reserve:
INC. . Reserves. Oklahoma City Thunder. THUNDER BENCH
I simply can’t reward Dennis Schroder with this nod when he generated a single assist. What makes the German an x-factor is either via his shooting prowess or his ability to free up space for Russ and PG.
Hopefully, his recent regression improves but I’ll put it out here right now Schroder HAS to take ownership of the Thunder reserve unit and simply dishing one assist isn’t going to cut it for this fan.
We got some brief positive glimpses from Nerlens Noel (play him more Billy) and others but nothing to rant over.
Billy Donovan has seemingly cut his bench down to a playoff rotation using only Schroder, Markieff Morris, Raymond Felton, and Nerlens Noel. I’ve screamed all season about how Donovan hasn’t capitalized by using the talent he has access to (hello Deonte Burton and Abdel Nader) so now with winning at a higher stake he’s uncomfortable utilizing them and that falls on Billy for not getting them minutes in season.