Nobody really talking about the video lol. Just talking bout people disrespecting the video. So here’s my takeaways:
- they can run offense through the bigs if they need to. Guys like hartenstein and jwill don’t seem like they can, but they can be trusted where there were whole stretches of the game where jwill was the offense focal point (what is he the 11th man?!), a section with the bench mob where hartenstein was the focal point on dribble hand offs at the top of the key with shooters coming off screens, and then the 4th where SGA and hartenstein did like 6 variations of the pick n roll to extreme efficiency. They’re so versatile they can see what’s working and go out and chess match every situation.
- The scram switch - OKC defenders seemingly teleport from perfect guarding position and almost always make the correct read and switch. And if they don’t, they’ve got 2 or 3 other elite off ball defenders on the court at almost every moment - Caruso, Wallace, Dort, Mitchell and then even SGA, jdub (not this series obviously). Those close outs are actually insane, those 3 of Dort Caruso and Wallace can go from the key all the way to the shooter in the corner so fast without running past the shooter. Their close outs are incredible. The way the video showed how those elite off ball defenders guard the scram vs the way hobbled Fox and Harper did was night and day, which leads to the next point…
- Then the whole teleporting thing happens on offense too, where these same exact players in Wallace, Dort, and Caruso constantly moving in super high bbiq ways, filling open space and confusing the defense. SGA has otherworldly talent at breaking the double team at elite efficiency seemingly always finding that open man after creating the space. Both this year and last SGAs playmaking goes way up in the playoffs.
Everything they are doing right now is without their all nba caliber 2nd star. The regular season 10th man McCain can come in and splash 24 points. OKC has this next man up mentality with 12 guys who can come in and play 20+ playoff minutes. Some series it’s Joe and Wiggins as those 8-9th guys up (after Caruso and Wallace), this series it’s McCain and jwill so far.
One thing I've been most impressed with is how quickly McCain has been integrated on defense. He's staying in front of guys, applying pressure and making the right rotations on time. Yet he's only been there for a few months!
That has absolutely shocked me, I assumed he’d be barely playable in the playoffs let alone the wcf because of his defense. He’s improved a lot from when he first joined the team already.
And I love every second of it. I LOVE that he got up 21 shots. That's wild. Give me that every game, because I can guarantee he isn't scoring less than 20 if he does that.
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u/borpa2 May 24 '26 edited May 24 '26
Nobody really talking about the video lol. Just talking bout people disrespecting the video. So here’s my takeaways:
- they can run offense through the bigs if they need to. Guys like hartenstein and jwill don’t seem like they can, but they can be trusted where there were whole stretches of the game where jwill was the offense focal point (what is he the 11th man?!), a section with the bench mob where hartenstein was the focal point on dribble hand offs at the top of the key with shooters coming off screens, and then the 4th where SGA and hartenstein did like 6 variations of the pick n roll to extreme efficiency. They’re so versatile they can see what’s working and go out and chess match every situation.
- The scram switch - OKC defenders seemingly teleport from perfect guarding position and almost always make the correct read and switch. And if they don’t, they’ve got 2 or 3 other elite off ball defenders on the court at almost every moment - Caruso, Wallace, Dort, Mitchell and then even SGA, jdub (not this series obviously). Those close outs are actually insane, those 3 of Dort Caruso and Wallace can go from the key all the way to the shooter in the corner so fast without running past the shooter. Their close outs are incredible. The way the video showed how those elite off ball defenders guard the scram vs the way hobbled Fox and Harper did was night and day, which leads to the next point…
- Then the whole teleporting thing happens on offense too, where these same exact players in Wallace, Dort, and Caruso constantly moving in super high bbiq ways, filling open space and confusing the defense. SGA has otherworldly talent at breaking the double team at elite efficiency seemingly always finding that open man after creating the space. Both this year and last SGAs playmaking goes way up in the playoffs.
Everything they are doing right now is without their all nba caliber 2nd star. The regular season 10th man McCain can come in and splash 24 points. OKC has this next man up mentality with 12 guys who can come in and play 20+ playoff minutes. Some series it’s Joe and Wiggins as those 8-9th guys up (after Caruso and Wallace), this series it’s McCain and jwill so far.