OKC could look like this right now...and why Durant should be mad.

[QUOTE=imdaman99]its a shame, but not like OKC isnt capable of smacking around the west without harden, because they are. it took a scrub putting a hit on westbrook to cause a freak injury to derail that.

the biggest problem is the coach. he is a buffoon with no system. even without a system, OKC is elite on offense. durant + westbrook. westbrook pushes the ball and attacks the defense and forces the issue sometimes, which they were clearly missing in the grizzlies series when it was the durant and scrubs show. the problem with durant is that he does not make anyone around him better. its no knock, because lebron turns stars into role players himself. westbrook is the most important player for that team and it showed. brooks is too stupid to figure shit out on the go.

harden would have never BLOWN UP like he did for the rockets, on the thunder. ppl need to accept that. he is a helluva player, he is very polished for such a youngin. he needs to improve the other parts of his game like defense and midrange game. i dont think he will improve his defense much, now that he has even a better center behind him than ever. howard + asik will clean up his matador defense on many occasions, book it.

imagine if the thunder DID trade westbrook. how shocking would that have been?? but 1 things for sure, i would have had a new team to watch :lol okc and the knicks in the finals next year. make it happen basketball gods :rockon:[/QUOTE]

This.

Totally agree that Brooks is a huge problem. Even with him...they are still the best team in the West when healthy...so I fail to understand what people are talking about.

I think the Thunder win it all either this coming year or the year after...and then they tweak the roster a bit with space and set up the right ingredients for another 4 to 5 year run at titles...maybe longer depending on what happens.

And I still can't help shaking the feeling that the Thunder would be champs right now if not for the Westbrook injury.

I don't know how confident I would've felt in OKC against the Heat, but after seeing how Bosh and Wade were playing in the playoffs, especially in the ECF and Finals, it does make me wonder. After a bit of a slump/lull in March, I really felt like we were playing some of our best basketball of the season heading into the playoffs. We went 10-2 in our last 12 games, and had an impressive 22 point win at Indiana in April, holding the Pacers to 75 points in the process. The team looked locked in and focused for the first time since December/January. The defense was tightening up and looking "playoff sharp", and Durant was back to playing like he did through the All-Star break before his slump in March.

[QUOTE=KG215]I don't know how confident I would've felt in OKC against the Heat, but after seeing how Bosh and Wade were playing in the playoffs, especially in the ECF and Finals, it does make me wonder. After a bit of a slump/lull in March, I really felt like we were playing some of our best basketball of the season heading into the playoffs. We went 10-2 in our last 12 games, and had an impressive 22 point win at Indiana in April, holding the Pacers to 75 points in the process. The team looked locked in and focused for the first time since December/January. The defense was tightening up and looking "playoff sharp", and Durant was back to playing like he did through the All-Star break before his slump in March.[/QUOTE]

Who knows what would have happened, but the 13 Thunder in the finals would have been better than the 12 Thunder...and the 13 Heat were clearly worse than the 12 Heat.

Considering the Spurs came as close as possible to winning in 6...I see no reason why it isn't a toss up series.

I just think people are forgetting that. Harden was terrible in the finals last year...so it's not like the Thunder would miss him for that series. They would have missed him, no doubt, leading up to that...but I still see no solid reasoning as to why a healthy Thunder team isn't better than the Spurs.

But nothing changed even if both series are 50/50...that is what they were the year before with Harden.

I'll admit it and eat crow on the Harden trade. I didn't think James Harden was worth a max contract as I didn't see him being able to lead a team to the playoffs. I thought OKC trading him wasn't that bad, but I still believe they should have used him to move Perkins contract and get an all star player in return. If you're contending for a championship you don't trade a piece of your core for potential, you trade to win now.

[QUOTE=longtime lurker]I'll admit it and eat crow on the Harden trade. I didn't think James Harden was worth a max contract as I didn't see him being able to lead a team to the playoffs. I thought OKC trading him wasn't that bad, but I still believe they should have used him to move Perkins contract and get an all star player in return. If you're contending for a championship you don't trade a piece of your core for potential, you trade to win now.[/QUOTE]

Harden + Perkins for LMA

Who would have said no?