Game Day: Thunder (32-25) @ Suns (30-28), Thurs 2/26/15

[iLLmatic]

Westbrook was 4-21 when guarded by Bled.
6-11 vs everyone else.

Still not sure why Hornecek switched Bled off of him at the end of the 4th and regulation...especially for a slower P.J.

Because Bledsoe was in foul trouble.

[Sunsfan4life]

Westbrook was 4-21 when guarded by Bled.
6-11 vs everyone else.

Still not sure why Hornecek switched Bled off of him at the end of the 4th and regulation...especially for a slower P.J.

Didn't he have 5 fouls at that point?

In the Ot he might of (which is why we saw Knight) I don't think he did at the end of regulation.

Even if he did at the end of regulation you probabaly leave him on westbrook or atleast put Knight on him. Inexcusable to put P.J. on one of the quickest guards in the game.

[Indy]

Westbrook was 4-21 when guarded by Bled.
6-11 vs everyone else.

Still not sure why Hornecek switched Bled off of him at the end of the 4th and regulation...especially for a slower P.J.

Didn't he have 5 fouls at that point?

In the Ot he might of (which is why we saw Knight) I don't think he did at the end of regulation.

Even if he did at the end of regulation you probabaly leave him on westbrook or atleast put Knight on him. Inexcusable to put P.J. on one of the quickest guards in the game.

Yeah, my comment was more about taking Bleds off him, not putting PJ on him.

[OE32]

2) The "whole game" I was being negative towards Eric? Maybe you confused me with someone else.

3) I always give him credit when he earns it.

4) I do hate how careless he is with the ball, how his effort comes in fits and starts, and how for the most part he ignores our bigs down low. (That awesome pass to Len has me hoping this might change, but it will take more than once or twice a game for it to be meaningful.)

First of all, I agree with #4.

As to ## 2-3, your first comment of the game, third quarter, right in the middle of Bled's tremendous performance:

Why on earth did Bledsoe pick up his dribble? Awful "play" there.

Awful. But typical.

The next, in overtime, I believe:

Ohhhhhh, that block! GTFO!

Wouldn't have needed it if he didn't do stupid things on the other end.

Then, after we won the game:

I thought he sounded fine. Talked a little fast but he spoke clearly. He did great tonight.

Sorry, maybe I'm being a bit sensitive to the negativity gone wild around here. But during the game, the only things Eric to which you seemed attentive were the negatives. I'm not going to harass you any further in this respect. I watched the game this morning, thought it was great, then saw a message board that was mostly negative, mixed at best, until the game was over. Sorry for picking on you out of all the Debbies around here.

[Indy]

No worries, OE32. Yeah, I guess I had 2 comments during a 3 hour game pointing out bad plays he made. And 1 more pointing out what a great game he had.

[Indy]

I should also point out that for the most part, I was watching the first half on tape-delay, so I avoid the site when I am doing that. I come back once I catch up.

[JCSunsfan]

BTW, and maybe I'm just nit picking, but the bench and the interaction between the guys has been noticeably better since the trade in terms of players cheering each other on.

I agree with this. I kind of missed that there was tension there at the time, but after the trade, I really noticed a difference.

Of course, just the trade deadline passing could contribute. Nothing adds tension like the unknown.

[Superbone]

Westbrook was 4-21 when guarded by Bled.
6-11 vs everyone else.

Still not sure why Hornecek switched Bled off of him at the end of the 4th and regulation...especially for a slower P.J.

Didn't he have 5 fouls at that point?

Bingo.

[Indy]

Brandon Knight playing 48 of a possible 53mins is pretty eye-poping. He was decent tonight (nice clutch shot after OKC had tied the game) but some of those mins should of went to Goodwin. Also I'd like to see PJ/Green/Marcus's 74mins combined be cut into by Warren.

Agreed. With as average as we are at the 3, we need to be giving him minutes. I get it when Goodwin doesn't get time considering we have 2 people in front of him that are above average at their position, but not with the 3 spot.

[Indy]

Westbrook was 4-21 when guarded by Bled.
6-11 vs everyone else.

Still not sure why Hornecek switched Bled off of him at the end of the 4th and regulation...especially for a slower P.J.

Didn't he have 5 fouls at that point?

Bingo.

What did you win?

[Wally_West]

That's what I think we may be missing. I know it is not fun to do that, but it is the only way you get better. Peer pressure is a wonderful thing.

Not all the time. #cocaine

[Indy]

All the cool kids are doing it.

[Superbone]

Westbrook was 4-21 when guarded by Bled.
6-11 vs everyone else.

Still not sure why Hornecek switched Bled off of him at the end of the 4th and regulation...especially for a slower P.J.

Didn't he have 5 fouls at that point?

Bingo.

What did you win?

Actually, you won. You won my approval.

[Wally_West]

nice, Indy.

[OE32]

Brandon Knight playing 48 of a possible 53mins is pretty eye-poping. He was decent tonight (nice clutch shot after OKC had tied the game) but some of those mins should of went to Goodwin. Also I'd like to see PJ/Green/Marcus's 74mins combined be cut into by Warren.

Agreed. With as average as we are at the 3, we need to be giving him minutes. I get it when Goodwin doesn't get time considering we have 2 people in front of him that are above average at their position, but not with the 3 spot.

Horny's treatment of our young players has bugged me all season. Maybe it'll pay dividends in time, but as a fan, it's frustrating.

BTW, and maybe I'm just nit picking, but the bench and the interaction between the guys has been noticeably better since the trade in terms of players cheering each other on.

I agree with this. I kind of missed that there was tension there at the time, but after the trade, I really noticed a difference.

Of course, just the trade deadline passing could contribute. Nothing adds tension like the unknown.

I noticed the difference too. I'd been saying all year that Goran was playing selfishly (which is why I was so put off by comments accusing others in the back court, but not him, of selfishness). It's good to see the return of team play.

[Sunsfan4life]

I really don't think Goran and IT liked each other. IT kinda took a swipe at him again in his post game comments following the Celtics game here a few days ago, that may of divided the locker room into factions.

Oh well....

[Shabazz]

I love how Westbrick limped around at the end as if to imply that he got fouled on his last drive. Yeah, right.

He pretty clearly sprained his ankle on the play.

[Indy]

Yeah, he stepped right on Morris' foot as he elevated off that leg. Looked bad.

[Shabazz]

And anybody who wants to only look at last night's shot attempt total and doubt how freaking good Westbrook is should read this ESPN piece from today. I'll quote some highlights:

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/story/_/ ... istory-nba

But to fully appreciate what Westbrook is doing now, we have to dig deeper into the more advanced numbers. He has posted a 29.2 player efficiency rating (PER), which is second in the NBA. We'd be talking more about this mark if it weren't for fellow non-earthling Anthony Davis, who is registering an obscene 31.1 this season. How good is Westbrook's 29.2 PER? Of the 50 greatest players in NBA history who were named in 1996, 45 of them never posted a PER above 29 over a full season. Westbrook, as of now, is in the rarest of company.

And that's looking just at Westbrook's full season. This month has been historic. In the month of February, he's averaging nearly a 30-point triple-double (30-10-9) and he's doing it with an above-average 58.7 percent true shooting percentage (factoring in 3-pointers and free throws). Even with his 13-for-38 dud on Thursday night, Westbrook has posted a ridiculous 34.2 PER this month. That puts him on track to post the fourth-highest February mark we've seen since 1997, when the NBA's monthly splits began being tracked (tied with Dwyane Wade in 2007).

Did you know that he has the highest assist percentage in the NBA? Westbrook has assisted on 47.8 percent of his teammates' baskets while he's on the floor, the highest rate among all NBA players this season. For perspective, Magic Johnson, perhaps the best facilitator of all time, posted a career mark of 40.9 percent.

This is what gets lost in the Westbrook conversation. Westbrook helps his teammates immensely by collapsing the defense and finding the open man. It'd be one thing if Westbrook scored 39 points on 38 shots and didn't help others score. But he created 26 points off his 11 assists Thursday night. Earlier this week, he scored 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds, which is your average Blake Griffin night. But here's the thing: On top of that typical Griffin night, Westbrook dropped 17 dimes that led to 38 points. Who does that? Westbrook does.

It's hard to argue with the results. The Thunder are 10-6 in games with Westbrook and no Durant. Little-known fact: The Thunder's offense has been sharper this season when Westbrook goes alone without Durant. OKC has scored 107.6 points per 100 possessions when the two All-Stars share the court this season. But when Westbrook plays without his co-pilot? Try 110.2 points per 100 possessions, the same exact rate as the NBA's most efficient offense (Los Angeles Clippers).

First, without Durant, the more Westbrook shoots, the Thunder's offense improves. To be more precise, each additional Westbrook field goal attempt per 36 minutes adds one-third to one-half of a point to the Thunder's scoring per 100 possessions. There's a limit to that, of course, but generally speaking, more Westbrook is better.

It typically takes conventional wisdom a while to catch up to this stuff, but Westbrook is an elite player in this league. In the LeBron, Durant, Davis, Curry, Harden group.

[Mori Chu]

I don't hate the job Hornacek is doing, but I can't help but feel like the players would be snapping into shape much better under, say, Rick Carlisle. Not really fair to compare Horny to one of the top 2-3 coaches in the league, but there you go. Horny seems kind of soft, like when he tried to be tough and bench guys for a tech, then almost immediately went back on it. That just made him look weak. And I also worry that we never seem to have very interesting plays after timeouts; isn't that on the coach? Say what you want about Mike D, but we always had GREAT plays off of timeouts and almost always got a good shot or an easy score. Gentry was pretty good at that, too. I kind of wonder whether Hornacek would be doing better if he had an assistant like Gentry showing him the ropes, like Kerr has right now in G-State.