Jazz-Thunder game thread (August 1, 2020)

[NBAGOAT]

Jazz vs Thunder August 1, 2020 Game Thread: 4 p.m. ET on ESPN

Gallo's on fire

[tpols]

it's pretty crazy how the thunder were written off as a total lottery team, and now there a top west seed. people really underrated chris paul and his leadership and general play. they thought when westbrook left it'd be over for them, but they look better than ever without the knucklehead.

[NBAGOAT]

it's pretty crazy how the thunder were written off as a total lottery team, and now there a top west seed. people really underrated chris paul and his leadership and general play. they thought when westbrook left it'd be over for them, but they look better than ever without the knucklehead.

shai and dennis have been even bigger surprises. The potential was there with shai but I dont think people saw this jump. dennis was just trash last year and thunder fans didnt even want him playing at the beginning of the year. Now he's top 2 in the 6moy race. Again as you said some of it may be due to paul's leadership

[tpols]

shai and dennis have been even bigger surprises. The potential was there with shai but I dont think people saw this jump. dennis was just trash last year and thunder fans didnt even want him playing at the beginning of the year. Now he's top 2 in the 6moy race. Again as you said some of it may be due to paul's leadership

According to the announcers in this game, alexander is chris paul's "protege". Never underestimate the power of tutelage... CP3 is one of the smartest and saviest players in NBA history and I have no doubt he was a huge aid in their jump in development.

[RRR3]

I feel dumb for ever thinking WB surpassed CP3. He never did and that includes even his 2017 year

[ArbitraryWater]

Jazz getting blown tf out

[NBAGOAT]

I feel dumb for ever thinking WB surpassed CP3. He never did and that includes even his 2017 year

i think pauls' been better most years too but would disagree about 2017.

[LAmbruh]

inb4 Hamataro

[ArbitraryWater]

Westbrook has been better than Paul since 2015

And its not even close this year

[NBAGOAT]

westbrook definitely wasnt better in 2018 imo

[fourkicks44]

Philadelphia's Thunder :cheers:

[ArbitraryWater]

westbrook definitely wasnt better in 2018 imo

Disagree. If anything I‘d take out last season.

[LoneyROY7]

Utah basketball is a snoozefest.

[tpols]

chris paul is disgusting... his iso game, shotmaking and passing are GOAT. Just general GOAT orchestration.

[LoneyROY7]

Is Mitchell gonna be one of the guys that starts his career off hot, but just doesn't take that next step?

[NBAGOAT]

Is Mitchell gonna be one of the guys that starts his career off hot, but just doesn't take that next step?



possibly but i see him as a future all-nba guy at least a consistent all star. he's made small but noticeable improvements every year.

[RRR3]

Westbrook has been better than Paul since 2015

And its not even close this year
Arby at it again :lol

[insidehoops]

Mid 3Q: Thunder up 78-51.

Chris Paul 16 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast

Steven Adams 14 pts, 10 reb

S. Gilgeous-Alexander 14 pts, 6 ast

D. Gallinari 15 pts

Thunder 57% FG, Jazz 40% FG

Jazz just 5 FT attempts.

[insidehoops]

I like the way the Thunder play. Well-coached, play with purpose, fun squad.

[insidehoops]

Jordan Clarkson has been a fantastic addition to the Jazz this season but like the whole squad, he struggled today.

Early 4th quarter, nobody on the Jazz has scored above 13 points.

[insidehoops]

Hard to say good things about the Jazz today. Nobody did anything.

CP3 still out there schoolin people.

[insidehoops]

Chris Paul is 7th in NBA history in both assists and steals.

[KD7]

Westbrook has been better than Paul since 2015

And its not even close this year
:facepalm

[tpols]

:facepalm

after that, all his opinions go in the trash lmao.

[insidehoops]

Final: Thunder 110, Jazz 94

S.Gilgeous-Alexander 19 pts, 6 ast

Chris Paul 18 pts, 7 ast

Steven Adams 16 pts, 11 reb

Danilo Gallinari 15 pts

Nobody on the Jazz scored above 13 pts

[ArbitraryWater]

Westbrook still getting disrespected by KD stans, what else is new.

Meanwhile Paul can average like 8-10 pts this year through 3 quarters, then cruise away in the 4th. Apparently better than someone who has to go all out from the tip.

Haha.

[raprap]

Mitchell’s shot selection is so bad.

Shai continues to impress me. Underrated handles.

[Axe]

Nobody on the Jazz scored above 13 pts
But why tho :lol

[ralph_i_el]

Westbrook has been better than Paul since 2015

And its not even close this year

Just 100% wrong. When Russ isn't holding the ball, he's a drag on his team because he can't shoot. His defense is not consistent, and he turns the ball over a lot when he's the lead ballhandler.

Paul plays with precision and gets the best out of his teammates. Oladipo, Schroy, Doug McDermott, and Sabonis (I know he was a rookie with Russ...but all he got to do was stand in the corner) all looked way better without Russ. Kief Morris fell off immediately when traded to OKC, and his stats went back up immediately when he left. Steven Adams is getting 50% more defensive rebounds this season because Russ isn't trying to go one-man-army coast to coast all game.

Chris Paul always makes his teammates better. Russ does the opposite. IDGAF about individual stats.

[ralph_i_el]

Westbrook still getting disrespected by KD stans, what else is new.

Meanwhile Paul can average like 8-10 pts this year through 3 quarters, then cruise away in the 4th. Apparently better than someone who has to go all out from the tip.

Haha.

It's a team sport. The best player is the player that contributes the most to their team winning. The best player is not the guy who ballhogs and celebrates the most. If getting the most out of your team means setting guys up and letting them succeed, that's what the best player does.

CP3 has shot like 60% in the clutch this year. He's hit more clutch shots than anyone in the league. That's because his pull up jumper is ALL TIME GREAT, whereas Russ' below average.

[NBAGOAT]

It's a team sport. The best player is the player that contributes the most to their team winning. The best player is not the guy who ballhogs and celebrates the most. If getting the most out of your team means setting guys up and letting them succeed, that's what the best player does.

CP3 has shot like 60% in the clutch this year. He's hit more clutch shots than anyone in the league. That's because his pull up jumper is ALL TIME GREAT, whereas Russ' below average.

yea cp3 has always elevated teams as much as anyone in the league besides lebron and curry. added 10 wins to a 55 win rockets team when most people were concerned about fit issues. lead the clippers team on a 50+win pace when blake was out when it was just dj and redick. Now he's doing a great job elevating the thunder and letting other guys get their shots off. He has less assists than westbrook but I still think he's a better playmaker with his precision.

[ralph_i_el]

yea cp3 has always elevated teams as much as anyone in the league besides lebron and curry. added 10 wins to a 55 win rockets team when most people were concerned about fit issues. lead the clippers team on a 50+win pace when blake was out when it was just dj and redick. Now he's doing a great job elevating the thunder and letting other guys get their shots off. He has less assists than westbrook but I still think he's a better playmaker with his precision.


Agreed. I don't think that the number of assists a player gets is really indicative of their impact on the team's overall ball movement. A guy who monopolizes the ball is going to get a lot of assists. In some ways, having your leading scoring option be your top assist man is a sign that your ball movement might not be very good.

I remember when the consensus on Dennis Schroeder was that he was trash and a chucker. One year with CP3 and he's cleaned up a lot of bad habits and turned into a very good player.

If CP3 doesn't become a coach after he retires, we are all missing out.

[NBAGOAT]

Agreed. I don't think that the number of assists a player gets is really indicative of their impact on the team's overall ball movement. A guy who monopolizes the ball is going to get a lot of assists. In some ways, having your leading scoring option be your top assist man is a sign that your ball movement might not be very good.

I remember when the consensus on Dennis Schroeder was that he was trash and a chucker. One year with CP3 and he's cleaned up a lot of bad habits and turned into a very good player.

If CP3 doesn't become a coach after he retires, we are all missing out.

Tbf Paul did monopolize the ball a bit with the clippers but I still think his playmaking was really impactful. Dennis is a great example for sure but I think he worked on his jumpshot on his own too. Definitely agreed on the coach stuff, he’s a genius

[imdaman99]

Chris Paul always makes his teammates better. Russ does the opposite.

Just bullshit and more lies from usual Westbrook haters. Do we forget literally last year about how PG13 was an MVP contender until his injury? I hate to break it to ya but Chris Paul gets hurt every playoff. So yeah impressive that he's leading a team that had no expectations, even though they have great young talent now and finally some shooting to the playoffs. But don't get it twisted the Thunder will try to unload him again after the season. How great is our PointGod :bowdown:

[NBAGOAT]

Just bullshit and more lies from usual Westbrook haters. Do we forget literally last year about how PG13 was an MVP contender until his injury? I hate to break it to ya but Chris Paul gets hurt every playoff. So yeah impressive that he's leading a team that had no expectations, even though they have great young talent now and finally some shooting to the playoffs. But don't get it twisted the Thunder will try to unload him again after the season. How great is our PointGod :bowdown:

Come on man it’s not every playoffs, ok maybe like every other year haha. That’s a big thing in Westbrook’s favor his durability but I don’t think it’s enough.

This is the first year since Paul joined the clips he’s leading a team with no expectations. Westbrook has been better the last 40 games but because he was such a negative the 1st 20 I’m still taking Paul for the season.

I take Paul in 18 clearly and consider it for 15 and 16 though Westbrook was great those years. Even 19 though Paul really declined since Westbrook’s jump shot was dead last year.

Okc is moving Paul because of his contract and gallo and Dennis aren’t staying long term either. They’re in a prime rebuild situation the next few years. If harden for some reason got traded, Westbrook would be right behind him.

[KD7]

35 year old CP3 is still the best point guard in the NBA and it's not even close :bowdown:

[imdaman99]

Come on man it’s not every playoffs, ok maybe like every other year haha. That’s a big thing in Westbrook’s favor his durability but I don’t think it’s enough.

This is the first year since Paul joined the clips he’s leading a team with no expectations. Westbrook has been better the last 40 games but because he was such a negative the 1st 20 I’m still taking Paul for the season.

I take Paul in 18 clearly and consider it for 15 and 16 though Westbrook was great those years. Even 19 though Paul really declined since Westbrook’s jump shot was dead last year.

Okc is moving Paul because of his contract and gallo and Dennis aren’t staying long term either. They’re in a prime rebuild situation the next few years. If harden for some reason got traded, Westbrook would be right behind him.

Bro I hate when Westbrook is brought up in current thunder game threads or CP3 threads. I don't mean to bash CP3 because he is great. But I'm tired of having the same argument from the same troll(s) that bring up Westbrooks name to prop up what CP3 is currently doing. I actually predicted them to make the playoffs once I knew they weren't gonna trade CP3.

These idiots act like they are actually watching OKC games more now that Westbrook left :roll: notice how little they showed OKC in nationally televised games this season :confusedshrug:

[ArbitraryWater]

It's a team sport. The best player is the player that contributes the most to their team winning. The best player is not the guy who ballhogs and celebrates the most. If getting the most out of your team means setting guys up and letting them succeed, that's what the best player does.

CP3 has shot like 60% in the clutch this year. He's hit more clutch shots than anyone in the league. That's because his pull up jumper is ALL TIME GREAT, whereas Russ' below average.

You don't understand basketball at all.


Have you even been watching games?

To think Chris Paul could do what Russ is doing is insane.

On shorthanded Houston teams Westbrook has been a video game character doing everything from minute 1 at high energy.

Meanwhile Paul at his advanced age with little athleticism has done a superb job of orchestrating the game and tutoring his teammates and then burrying opponents in the 4th quarters...

Im a HUGE fan of it.

But im not stupid enough to suggest that is or he is better than what current Westbrook brings to the table.

[NBAGOAT]

Bro I hate when Westbrook is brought up in current thunder game threads or CP3 threads. I don't mean to bash CP3 because he is great. But I'm tired of having the same argument from the same troll(s) that bring up Westbrooks name to prop up what CP3 is currently doing. I actually predicted them to make the playoffs once I knew they weren't gonna trade CP3.

These idiots act like they are actually watching OKC games more now that Westbrook left :roll: notice how little they showed OKC in nationally televised games this season :confusedshrug:

That’s completely fair. This year isn’t the year to do it anyway with how great Westbrook’s been for hou. Tbf i at least watched a lot of okc this year.

[Smoke117]

Paul should be 2nd team all nba this season. There may be players with gaudier numbers, but there aren't four guards with a bigger impact than he has. He had a game high +27 while none of his teammates had better than a +15. His numbers mean very little anyway. If he wanted to he could be averaging 20+ and 10. He was actually averaging more and more points as the months went by. In february and march before the league was shut down he was averaging 19.6ppg. The most impressive aspect of his game at this point of his career, though, is probably his defense. He's still one of the best defensive guards in the league. The Thunder would clearly be worse if you switched Westbrook and Paul.

[AlternativeAcc.]

Thunder are much better without Westbrook

You literally cannot win with Westbrook on your team. Can't do it. Unless he's like a 4th option and focuses on just defense or something

[imdaman99]

Note to everyone, this is not a Westbrook thread. I get it that bringing up Westbrook's name will get more views but this is a Thunder game thread. No reason to bring up the greatest Thunder player every time there is an okc game thread

[Smoke117]

Note to everyone, this is not a Westbrook thread. I get it that bringing up Westbrook's name will get more views but this is a Thunder game thread.

Shut up, cry baby.

[imdaman99]

Shut up, cry baby.

Lol you ever seen Chris Paul cry/whine? How can you use that as an insult? :facepalm

[Smoke117]

Lol you ever seen Chris Paul cry/whine? How can you use that as an insult? :facepalm

Chris Paul: top 20. Westbrick: Not even top 50. /thread

[imdaman99]

Chris Paul: top 20. Westbrick: Not even top 50. /thread
Lol you're lucky you're my boy smoke.

Anyways, great win by the thunder. Dunno if the Jazz were rusty but i was wrong about Mitchell being the next Wade. Maybe teams have figured him out but i don't see much improvement from him. Maybe it's time he come back home... To NYC :pimp:

[Smoke117]

Lol you're lucky you're my boy smoke.

Anyways, great win by the thunder. Dunno if the Jazz were rusty but i was wrong about Mitchell being the next Wade. Maybe teams have figured him out but i don't see much improvement from him. Maybe it's time he come back home... To NYC :pimp:

Ugh...sigh. How can you be the Next Wade when you only get to the basket half as much as him when he was young? He was NEVER close to being any kind of next Wade. Those comparisons were only made because of their builds and athleticism. He plays NOTHING like Dwyane Wade. (on either side of the floor...Wade was also a vastly superior defensive player, too) As I said before, he's more like a poor mans Damian Lillard.

[ralph_i_el]

You don't understand basketball at all.


Have you even been watching games?

To think Chris Paul could do what Russ is doing is insane.

On shorthanded Houston teams Westbrook has been a video game character doing everything from minute 1 at high energy.

Meanwhile Paul at his advanced age with little athleticism has done a superb job of orchestrating the game and tutoring his teammates and then burrying opponents in the 4th quarters...

Im a HUGE fan of it.

But im not stupid enough to suggest that is or he is better than what current Westbrook brings to the table.

Westbrook can't do what Paul is doing either. High energy doesn't mean high impact. You can bring a lot of energy to ****ing up. You don't get extra credit for making the game harder for yourself.

Hustle guys are a lot easier to find than geniuses.

[XYY]

Lol you're lucky you're my boy smoke.

Anyways, great win by the thunder. Dunno if the Jazz were rusty but i was wrong about Mitchell being the next Wade. Maybe teams have figured him out but i don't see much improvement from him. Maybe it's time he come back home... To NYC :pimp:

ESPN Stats & Info: Donovan Mitchell scored his 5,000th career point in his 221st game on Saturday. According to Elias, he is the 3rd fastest active player to hit that mark behind LeBron James (197 games) and Kevin Durant (205 games). – via Twitter

He's young. He's getting better. He's doing it on a good team not a lottery team.

[ralph_i_el]

Just bullshit and more lies from usual Westbrook haters. Do we forget literally last year about how PG13 was an MVP contender until his injury? I hate to break it to ya but Chris Paul gets hurt every playoff. So yeah impressive that he's leading a team that had no expectations, even though they have great young talent now and finally some shooting to the playoffs. But don't get it twisted the Thunder will try to unload him again after the season. How great is our PointGod :bowdown:

So PG-13 was playing at an MVP level, but somehow losing him AND Russ and replacing them with CP3/Shai/Gallo created a BETTER team? Let me do some theoretical algebra here......seems like either Russ barely had any impact on wins/losses, or CP3 must be the GOAT :confusedshrug:

[Smoke117]

ESPN Stats & Info: Donovan Mitchell scored his 5,000th career point in his 221st game on Saturday. According to Elias, he is the 3rd fastest active player to hit that mark behind LeBron James (197 games) and Kevin Durant (205 games). – via Twitter

He's young. He's getting better. He's doing it on a good team not a lottery team.

lol like that means anything. He's been on a team where he's allowed to chuck at will since his rookie season. He's not some great scorer or anything and he's been absolutely dreadful in the playoffs. He pretty much made zero strides from last season to this season.

[XYY]

lol like that means anything. He's been on a team where he's allowed to chuck at will since his rookie season. He's not some great scorer or anything and he's been absolutely dreadful in the playoffs. He pretty much made zero strides from last season to this season.

He's better

[ArbitraryWater]

Westbrook can't do what Paul is doing either. High energy doesn't mean high impact. You can bring a lot of energy to ****ing up. You don't get extra credit for making the game harder for yourself.

Hustle guys are a lot easier to find than geniuses.

Lmao Russ isnt a „hustle“ guy.

He IS high impact.

You dont understand ball bro.

You think „Paul has them intangibles leadership!“ like you understand it but you dont.

[Axe]

Making game easier for teammates is a skill. CP3 is good at that, Westbrook is not.

Look how harden, Blake Griffin, JJ Redick, Deandre Jordan look worse without him.

meanwhile KD got ball at his sweet spots with GSW but with OKC he would always get ball further away from basket and multiple defenders positioned perfectly to stop him.

Go watch Kendrick Perkins First Take clips to understand what I mean. He explains how Lebron is his MVP choice because he makes scoring easier for Anthony Davis and allows him to conserve energy for defense.
Cp3 has been great, if not exceptional, so far for leading on what's supposed to be a rebuilding thunder team. In their last 40 games or so, they have a very good record.

[JohnMax]

I wish the Rockets never traded CP3. Having Westbrook has made life more difficult on the offensive end for Harden

https://twitter.com/joelvmoran/status/1289386074473558016


Making game easier for teammates is a skill. CP3 is good at that, Westbrook is not.

Look how harden, Blake Griffin, JJ Redick, Deandre Jordan all look worse without him.

Meanwhile KD got ball at his sweet spots with GSW but with OKC would always get ball further away from basket with defense set up perfect to stop him.

Go watch Kendrick Perkins First Take clips to understand what I mean. He explains how Lebron is his MVP choice because he makes scoring easier for Anthony Davis which allows him to conserve energy for defense.

[ralph_i_el]

Lmao Russ isnt a „hustle“ guy.

He IS high impact.

You dont understand ball bro.

You think „Paul has them intangibles leadership!“ like you understand it but you dont.

I've literally been watching Russ since he was a freshman. I'm a UCLA fan.

You're acting like I don't watch the games, but I've been watching for years as the teams Russ plays for play disorganized and out of control offense. Someone else in this thread brought up the difference for KD between playing with Russ and playing with GS. Russ was usually no help at getting KD the ball in his spots.


I went back and watched every game of the 2011 Mavs-OKC series, and a bunch of 2012 OKC playoffs games (including all the finals games) during quarantine. I was blown away by how the old, slow, small Mavs were able to frustrate Russ to no end. They had him melting down trying to guard JJ Barea. The only game they won....he got benched for Eric Maynor.

Back then I WAS THE ONE DEFENDING HIM. "He's the toughest, most athletic point guard in the west", and "Of course he'll learn to shoot and run a team, just give him more time to learn how to feed KD." Even KD ran out of patience.

Russ plays really hard of course, but that's because he HAS TO. He can't lay back and let the game come to him. He can't be a cog in a well oiled machine. He has to play balls out 100% because otherwise....he's really not that special of an NBA player. You don't get extra credit for harder or more spectacular buckets.

[imdaman99]

I've literally been watching Russ since he was a freshman. I'm a UCLA fan.

You're acting like I don't watch the games, but I've been watching for years as the teams Russ plays for play disorganized and out of control offense. Someone else in this thread brought up the difference for KD between playing with Russ and playing with GS. Russ was usually no help at getting KD the ball in his spots.


I went back and watched every game of the 2011 Mavs-OKC series, and a bunch of 2012 OKC playoffs games (including all the finals games) during quarantine. I was blown away by how the old, slow, small Mavs were able to frustrate Russ to no end. They had him melting down trying to guard JJ Barea. The only game they won....he got benched for Eric Maynor.

Back then I WAS THE ONE DEFENDING HIM. "He's the toughest, most athletic point guard in the west", and "Of course he'll learn to shoot and run a team, just give him more time to learn how to feed KD." Even KD ran out of patience.

Russ plays really hard of course, but that's because he HAS TO. He can't lay back and let the game come to him. He can't be a cog in a well oiled machine. He has to play balls out 100% because otherwise....he's really not that special of an NBA player. You don't get extra credit for harder or more spectacular buckets.

He has an MVP and Paul doesn't. Does that mean he is better than Paul all time? Probably not but Westbrook will rank higher at the end of their careers unless Chris Paul wins a ring with the Thunder :lol

Chris Paul quit on the team that drafted him. Let's not forget how he tanked games and then once he got to the Clips, he became great again. So yes you do get credit for playing hard at all times. And no you don't get credit for quitting on teams and tanking your way out. Clips always underachieved, for all the talent they had. Lob city happened and they never even made the conference finals.

Since we're on the topic of playoff games in years past, head to head, Westbrook had his way with Chris Paul in the playoffs. Not to mention Paul melting down in game 5 when all he had to do was hold onto the ball and get fouled. Even on the Rockets, he got hurt in their only real chance to beat the Warriors. Last year he gave up way too many offensive rebounds to I don't even remember the Warriors role player's name. Did he quit on the Rockets too? I don't know. You don't know. But he underachieved, especially after KD got hurt. Now he is overachieving. Good for him :cheers: Westbrook has been average in the playoffs the last 2 years but PG13 was not someone nearly as good as Harden. PG13 shot 2-16 in a closeout game. Last year he was better but still not elite, someone like Harden is.

Lol at KD getting easier looks on the Warriors. That's a great argument dude, he joined a 70 win team with a system. Great argument :roll:

BTW Chris Paul is a great player. But enough with the agendas.

[RRR3]

Westbrook is never going to pass CP3 on the all time list lol. He’s already declining how the hell is he getting into the top 20?

[ArbitraryWater]

Rrr you evidently arent even watching basketball anymore.

Russ is having his best yr since 2017

[RRR3]

Rrr you evidently arent even watching basketball anymore.

Russ is having his best yr since 2017
He’s had a good few months since he stopped taking so many jumpers but he was awful to start the year. I love WB, but he’s never been better than CP3, who’s a top 4 PG in NBA history.

[ArbitraryWater]

He’s had a good few months since he stopped taking so many jumpers but he was awful to start the year. I love WB, but he’s never been better than CP3, who’s a top 4 PG in NBA history.

You just said a player is declining who is having his best or 2nd best ever year.

Cmon dude.

No point in even talking this with you. You fundamentally believe Westbrook can not be better than Paul no matter what they do.

[RRR3]

You just said a player is declining who is having his best or 2nd best ever year.

Cmon dude.

No point in even talking this with you. You fundamentally believe Westbrook can not be better than Paul no matter what they do.
Just :roll: at this version of WB being better than any one from 11-17. He has the worst BPM he’s had since his sophomore year this season.

[Doranku]

He’s had a good few months since he stopped taking so many jumpers but he was awful to start the year. I love WB, but he’s never been better than CP3, who’s a top 4 PG in NBA history.

I mean, he's averaging 28/8/7 on 47% shooting for the year. If he was awful to start, then he's been godly since if his overall season numbers are that good.

[NBAGOAT]

I mean, he's averaging 28/8/7 on 47% shooting for the year. If he was awful to start, then he's been godly since if his overall season numbers are that good.

he put up like 31/8/7 on 51% since december so year. the fg% does oversell his efficiency since he doesnt do much outside the arc.

[imdaman99]

Westbrook is never going to pass CP3 on the all time list lol. He’s already declining how the hell is he getting into the top 20?

When did Chris Paul enter top 20 status :lol