As the NBA puts six weeks of action on the record the OKC Thunder entered the week having produced an 8-10 record. Prior to the season beginning, few analysts believed this young squad would be as competitive or pulling out impressive wins.
What was expected is more of the double-digit losses and while there have been plenty of those up until recently the Thunder tended to rebound with big wins after those losses. As week seven began they were coming off the worst loss of the season.
That defeat came at the hands of former Thunder players James Harden and Jeff Green while Kevin Durant sat for rest given how much he’d played in the prior game. Brooklyn had no issues scoring without KD however and put up 147 points on the board.
While the Rockets games will be considered toward next week’s rankings it’s interesting to note the loss to Houston by a massive margin as well marked the first time the Thunder allowed back-to-back ousts of a substantial margin this season.
COVID-19 continues to affect teams who are sitting out players and dealing with game postponements although the Thunder hasn’t been hit other than the initial Rockets game that will be rescheduled to occur in the second half.
The pandemic is definitely playing a role beyond the quarantining and players testing positive. Teams like the Heat have been dramatically affected as losses accumulate and the Raptors having to play in Tampa Bay is clearly affecting their efforts.
Hopefully, as the season progresses and vaccinations increase things will begin to have a closer semblance of normality (wishing that for everyone).
For now, let’s look at how the national sites ranked the OKC Thunder in week six of the NBA power rankings.
Writers are all over the map with their OKC Thunder power rankings in week 6
Week six featured the OKC Thunder continuing their five-game Western road trip and rebounding on the latter end of it. They lost the initial three games to the Nuggets and twice to the Clippers but in week six the Thunder posted two impressive victories versus the Blazers and Suns.
The latter featured a clutch time win reminiscent of last season and ironically served up against the Clutch King Chris Paul.
Last week the pundits weren’t as enamored in their OKC Thunder power rankings with one writer stating the fun ride might be over. In week six the pundits ranged from a low of 28th to a high of 16th for the club.
The following represents a compilation of the national sites’ excerpts about the Thunder and links to their power rankings list for week six of NBA action.
NBA.com – John Schuhmann:
The NBA stats master drops some interesting tidbits about the OKC Thunder in his ratings this week. The comparison of Theo Maledon to George Hill offers food for thought. Schuhmann also ranks the squad ahead of some teams that were expected to easily be playoff seeds (namely the Heat and Raptors). Specifically, he slots OKC in the 20th spot a jump of four spots over last week’s 24th ranking.
The following is a portion of his excerpt on OKC:
"While the Thunder’s other 19-year-old (Aleksej Pokusevski) continues to make less than 25% of his shots, Theo Maledon has started the last three games for George Hill (sprained thumb) and played a lot like … well, George Hill. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander controlling the ball more than three times as much as any other Thunder player over their three games last week, Maledon was more of an off-the-ball point guard and shot 11-for-17 from 3-point range (hitting all six of his attempts against Brooklyn on Friday), with 10 of the makes coming off the catch."
For the rest of Schuhmann’s Thunder comments and the rest of his power rankings click here.
ESPN Poll:
In week six of the power rankings by the national sites, the ESPN panel doesn’t seem impressed by how much the Thunder has overachieved. They bump them up one spot to 24th but given the numerous teams who lost more games or went winless this past week the position is a little confusing. Perhaps the panel is voting based on where they assume the Thunder will end up as opposed to how they are competing.
The full listing can be found here.
"Among the oddities of the 2020-21 season: The Thunder, with historically one of the most fearsome home-court advantages in the league, are just 1-6 on their home floor this season. They’re 7-4 on the road. Their most recent home game featured the return of Thunder past, with Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and James Harden all in the building as the Nets dropped 147 on OKC in a winning cause. — Young"
Bleacher Report:
It’s been a yo-yo effect for the Thunder each week as Mo Dakhil of Bleacher Report moves them up, drops them down every other week. To wit, last week he dropped OKC two spots, and this week he moves them back up two spots to 21st.
A portion of Dakhil’s excerpt can be found below.
"A couple of nice wins last week for the Thunder kids over Portland and Phoenix. This team continues to get wins by just playing hard on a nightly basis.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed out for his mentor Chris Paul. In the crunchtime of the Oklahoma City-Phoenix game, he took control, making reads to score and get open looks for his teammates. Gilgeous-Alexander finished the game with 21 points, eight assists and seven rebounds."
The full article is available via this link
CBS Sports:
Hat tip to Colin Ward-Henninger of CBS Sports for keeping it real and paying credit where credit is due! While many of his cohorts handle the power rankings with more of a view to reputation or projected finishes CWH always ranks the teams based on each week and each team’s performances rather than conjecture on what they ‘might’ be able to do.
In week six CWH vaults the Thunder up eight spots from 24th to 16th!
For CWH’s full power rankings placement click this link.
"Wasn’t this supposed to be a tank year for OKC? The Thunder pulled off impressive wins over the Blazers and Suns to start the week before getting blown out by the Nets on Friday. OKC was led by 23 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on 42 percent 3-point shooting, while rookie guard Theo Maledon has fully taken advantage of extra playing time in the absence of George Hill, averaging 13.7 points this week on 61 percent shooting, including 11 of 17 from 3-point range. Most pegged the Thunder to be one of the worst teams in the NBA this season, but here they are hovering around .500 a quarter of the way through."
Sports Illustrated:
If Colin Ward-Henniger gets the hat tip then Michael Shapiro of Sports Illustrated – The Crossover gets our raspberry (sorry Mr. Shapiro) for his week six placement. I’m not sure how he drops the Thunder from 26 to 28th in a week where they beat both the Blazers and Suns.
Notably, Shapiro ranks the Blazers in 15th who went 1-2, and the Suns in eighth who like the Thunder had a 2-1 week.
The only conclusion to make is these particular power rankings have nothing to do with how a team performs in a given week — unless of course they already have the established reputation.
The following is his excerpt on the Thunder while his full rankings can be viewed here.
"It’s unlikely we see this Thunder team continue near a .500 pace throughout 2020–21, and frankly, tumbling down the Western Conference standings isn’t the worst thing in the world. The 2021 draft class appears stocked with potential impact pieces, and pairing Cade Cunningham with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander could create a dangerous backcourt for years to come. It only takes one lottery pick to change a franchise. Oklahoma City will have plenty of opportunity on that front in the coming years, though perhaps this rebuild could get kickstarted sooner than expected."
Hoops Habit:
More from Thunderous Intentions
- Stealing one player from every Southwest Division team for the OKC Thunder
- Should the OKC Thunder chase after a disgruntled hometown hero?
- 3 OKC Thunder players who can step up in Aleksej Pokusevski’s absence
- Aleksej Pokusevski sidelined approximately 6 weeks with ankle injury
- Damian Lillard does not fit with the OKC Thunder
Our sister site, Hoops Habit has writer Corey Rausch asking the question on many people’s minds —
“Are the OKC Thunder too good to tank?” Intentions touched on their progress in those efforts through the quarter pole this week.
Rausch makes that statement, notes the youngsters’ progress, and then oddly holds them in the 25th spot after a strong week. (shrugs shoulders).
The following is a portion of his excerpt on the Thunder while the full ranking list can be found here.
"The OKC Thunder might be too good to truly tank, which is not something many would have thought would have continued this deep into the season. Each young guy on the team seems to find a way to impress every night. Take the outing Friday night against the Brooklyn Nets as an example, where rookie Theo Maledon tied for the team lead in points with 24 on just nine shots. He was one of six Thunder players in double figures and only Al Horford is older than 22."
That wraps up week six of the NBA power rankings from the national pundits.
An intriguing group of placements for our OKC Thunder — what are your thoughts about the placements? Do you lean more to Colin Ward-Henniger or Michael Shapiro? Let us know in the comments section.