Where national NBA pundits rank OKC Thunder in week 5

The National pundits provide week five NBA power rankings. Discover where the top sites and experts rank the OKC Thunder.

An interesting week six is underway for the 2019-20 NBA season and with it, the National pundits and bloggers reflect back on week five seeding all 30 teams. Thunderous Intentions weekly rankings are coming shortly but in the interim, it’s interesting to note how each of the top analysts ranked the OKC Thunder.

Given the winless week, it was obvious some pundits would punish the OKC Thunder. As per usual, each of the top sites varies in their opinions and some pundits are respecting the energy the Thunder is bringing to the court while others are more impressed by wins than overall stats.

Here’s how the top-ranked National sites and blogs rank the OKC Thunder in week four:

NBA.com – John Schuhmann:

Through five weeks John Schuhmann has remained resolute in keeping the OKC Thunder at the center of the ladder. While the statsmaster acknowledges OKC hung tight with the LA teams he drops them down several rungs.

In this case, however, it’s not because of the losing week. Rather, Schuhmann points out how poorly the starting lineup played comparatively to their peers.

In week five Schuhmann drops the Thunder a single rung to 17th. The following excerpt was pulled from his full article which you can view in its entirety by clicking this link.

"Among the 18 lineups that have played at least 100 minutes this season, only the Wizards’ starting lineup (121.4 points allowed per 100) have been worse defensively than the that of the Thunder (117.0), who continue to await an eventual return from Andre Roberson."

ESPN – Panel

ESPN’s panel:

ESPN: Tim MacMahon |Andre’ Snellings | Royce Young | Bobby Marks

The Undefeated: Marc J. Spears

Two consecutive weeks or raising the OKC Thunder up the ladder is followed by the panel dropping the team down three rungs to 20th in week five. An interesting take given the panel did NOT punish other teams who had significant losses and even dropped some teams who had unbeaten weeks. More than most of the rankings the ESPN list always seems to have their favorites.

Click this link for the full panel rankings.

"The Thunder are five games under .500 but have a net margin of only minus-0.7. They are 1-7 in two-possession games, featuring a three-game losing streak last week against the Los Angeles teams, all by fewer than five points. One culprit that needs addressing: coming out flat after halftime. The Thunder are a minus-18.4 per 100 possessions in the third quarter. — Young"

Bleacher Report:

Writer Grant Hughes unlike some pundits (cough ESPN panel) recognizes just how hard the OKC Thunder is playing. Likewise, Hughes notes three losses by a cumulative 10 points to the LA juggernauts merits consideration and subsequently rewards the Thunder by moving them up two rungs to 15th.

The following is a portion of his excerpt on the Thunder. Hughes full comments and rankings can be found via this link.

"The Thunder, according to more predictive numbers, are much better than their 5-10 record.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked typically poised in scoring 24 points against the Lakers on Friday, and Chris Paul is quietly posting the second-highest true shooting percentage of his career.If you’re looking beyond record, you’ll see quite a bit to like in OKC."

Sports Illustrated – The Crossover

Michael Shapiro nails OKC for their winless week dropping them six spots on the ladder to 23— WOW! Shapiro does pay homage to how well Chris Paul is playing and then suggests the Thunder and Bucks maybe have a chat about a trade. Hmmmmmmmm – who would Presti want from Milwaukee? Surely not Eric Bledsoe which would be the conceivable asset the Bucks would want to exchange. We’ll have to look into this a little deeper in a separate post.

The Crossover writer’s full ranking can be viewed here.

"Chris Paul’s trade market should be fascinating, and don’t be surprised if there are multiple bidders come February. CP3 has quietly boosted his efficiency across the board compared to last season, and he appears more spry in spurts than he did in 2018-19. Perhaps the Bucks could bring Paul back to NBA Finals contention."

Hoops Habit:

Phil Watson has kept an open mind when it comes to the OKC Thunder and most weeks ranked them the highest on the board. Watson recognizes the tough schedule this past week and points out an interesting stat highlighting the club could easily be 7-8 based on their net differential (if you recall this fact was cited in the T.I. power rankings as deserving more consideration than either offensive or defensive rakings).

For the week Watson holds the Thunder steady at 17th. The following is a portion of his excerpt on OKC. The rest along with Watson’s always informative full listings can be viewed by clicking this link.

"The Oklahoma City Thunder have been in nearly every game this season, but they’ve had some trouble finishing. Such was the case last week, when the Thunder lost three games to the two Los Angeles teams by a total of 10 points.Based on Basketball-Reference’s Phythagorean Wins calculation, Oklahoma City could be expected to be 7-8 based on their net scoring numbers. Instead, they are 5-10 with five losses in their last six games — four of those defeats by five points or fewer."

CBS Sports:

More from Thunder News

Finally, Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports power rankings dropped the OKC Thunder one spot (for the second consecutive week) from 18th to 19th this week. Ward-Henninger isn’t impressed with any of the Thunder players beyond the big three of CP3, Gallo, and SGA – which is an interesting comment since most nights it’s been a combo of others fighting to get back into games. Granted, this trio does drive the offense along with Schroder. Anyway, the following is his offering on the team for week five and the remainder of his full power rankings can be found via clicking this link.

"The Thunder probably never want to see another L.A. team again after going 0-3 against the Lakers and Clippers this week. All of the games were close, but OKC just lacks the depth to compete with the league’s elite teams. Chris Paul, Danilo Gallinari and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander reamain solid, but there’s been wild fluctuation with the rest of the roster."

That wraps up week five of the National writers’ power rankings for the OKC Thunder. After weeks of everyone keeping OKC firmly listed in the center this week experiences the greatest fluctuation with a high of 15th and a low of 23rd. .

Next. Week 4 NBA Power Ranking –Big shifts on the ladder while OKC clings to middle rung. dark

Make sure to check back to see how Thunderous Intentions rank all the teams and where the OKC Thunder is seeded in our opinion.

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