Watch the NBA | The Thunder's offense is even more unreliable than their defense, and all the SGA and below are rotten

Quiet and easy to ink

2024-05-16 19:50Posted in Beijing Basketball Commentator, Tencent NBA Writer

Thunder VS Mavericks G5

The Lone Ranger won against Tianwang Mountain. The plot of the full-court leader is similar to G4, it can be seen that the Mavericks have taken the initiative in the series, G4 didn't win because they made a mistake, Eastern Europe's jump shot, the team's free throws, one is not accurate, and it will not be held up by SGA until the moment when his teammates are people.

The G5 Mavericks didn't give the Thunder another chance, and Doncic finally found his touch and played a game that matched our impression of Doncic's level. Owen's presence is average. SGA continues to guarantee the output, and Jaylen is timid. The Mavericks have pulled the overall level of this game to a slightly higher position than the Thunder master, and the puzzle has a higher level of response. In addition, the Mavericks played a combination of inside and outside, and many ball handlers were looking for a smooth and empty cut to feed the cake, which was the smoothest game in the middle, which was more in line with the expectations of their way of winning when looking ahead. For the Lone Ranger, this is an excellent sign.

The series is not over yet, and the Thunder still have a chance. However, so far in the series, the problems of the Thunder have been exposed. G5 Dagneault adjusted the starting lineup, taking Giddey and taking Joe. Joe was 2-of-8 from three-point range and missed expectations. Dagneault continued to use Carson Wallace heavily in the fourth quarter, and Wallace was 1-of-7 from the field and also failed to live up to expectations.

Below SGA, the Thunder's performance in this round is almost rotten. No matter how bad the puzzle is, the restriction of the second and third masters makes SGA even more isolated. Jalen is afraid of long-range shots, and SGA can't lead the offense when he's not on the floor. Chet's basket was ok, but he didn't hit the content as a space point, and the offensive end failed to give the Mavericks enough punishment.

None of the Thunder's problems are new, they are probably the ones they want to test before they go into the playoffs. The team's youth is of course a very realistic situation, especially in this battle of Tianwang Mountain, where the performance of the players on the three-point line is difficult to describe, and they switch between not daring to shoot and not shooting. The Thunder's three-point shooting rate in the first four games of this series was only 26.9%, and with this certainty, it is difficult not to change the mentality of players in how important the game is.

In the regular season, the Thunder ranked third in the league in three-point shooting percentage, but the playoffs were different games. The high-intensity running and confrontation, the active rotation of the opponent, and the psychological pressure of oneself make the inaccuracy of the average shooter not an accident. The Thunder can say that they are unlucky, and PJ-Washington is not a high-level shooter on the other side, and the regular season is so iron, why should they open this round?

If the Thunder only play a one-round series, or if they're playing a single-elimination game, it's really okay to talk about luck in that situation. The problem is that the Thunder are the first in the West, and the expectation for the first team in the division should be to play at least 3 rounds of the series, so on the way to qualify, the probability of encountering an opponent with a half-shooter is really not small. In this regard, they can exchange experiences with the 21 Jazz, 22 Suns, and 23 Grizzlies.

As a young team, the Thunder have a distinct style and have just returned to the playoffs to reach first place in the West, which in some way affirms the prospects of their style. But the Thunder's completion in this style is obviously not enough, and the five-outside style of play requires you to really have 5 reliable shooters standing at the three-point line, and the situation of the Thunder is:

SGA, Jaden, Chet, the three core players are not lethal three-point players;

Chet's shooting ability as a center is certainly enough, but Chet's tonnage is not enough to punish the No. 4 position, and there are worse shooters than him in the starter, which determines that the opponent will use the No. 4/5 position to stagger, and then the requirements for Chet's actual projection ability are upgraded to the forward level. This distress is likely to linger for a long time in Chet's career;

SGA and Jalen are not good at three-point shooting, and their ability to provide space for each other is not enough, their ability to punish the center by long-distance projection is limited, they can't attract pinch shots at the three-point line, and the passing is okay but the ability to control difficult passes is limited. In the case that the three points of the main general are not strong enough, the requirements for the other two points must not be low;

The Thunder's de facto fourth point of attack is Dort, but Dort's finishing is too poor and his burst value is limited, and his ability can only play the fifth point of shooting big open at best;

The other pieces of the puzzle have their own problems, which can be boiled down to one sentence - the Thunder are already very unreliable in attack from the fourth man, let alone the fifth. Isaiah Joe's projection is an exception, but Joe's overall level is still far from starting at the top teams.

The Thunder's offense, after all, still limited them before their defense, and their lack of a big forward led to a loss in defensive alignment and rebounding, which is even more obvious. The Thunder have the time and resources to solve these problems, and the most straightforward way is to replace Giddey's point (and even Dort's piece) with a forward with a more comprehensive projection, size, and offensive and defensive standards.

This kind of person is basically a football star. It's not easy for other teams to get this kind of star, but it's not difficult for the Thunder, who don't lack salary space or draft picks.

Or do you do it all over again?

Green Army VS Cavaliers G5

There's not much to say about the game itself. The knights relied on Morris to support the Kun Festival, and the comprehensive strength was too far behind the Green Army, and it slowly spent.

Interestingly, there were some rumours after the game. It's not strange that players are injured and can't play life-and-death battles in the playoffs, but some of the Cavaliers' voices before the G5 game, as well as the post-game media revelations, are meaningful. It seems that the knights are not going to have a smooth summer.

The Cavaliers basically proved in this year's playoffs that Mobley has no problem playing the starting No. 5 position in the high-end game, which should give the Cavaliers the confidence to tear down the twin towers. Aaron won't be short of suitors, and it won't be hard to get some useful chips back.

The difficulty is in Garland.

With the Cavaliers having no problem with defensive resources in the frontcourt, they can digest the Garland + Mitchell two-gun combination, which is mainly because Mitchell's ability to defend misalignment is not bad and can swing upward. But being able to digest the two-gun defense doesn't mean that this combination is okay, after all, Garland didn't play the level of offense that matched expectations when the defense was at a loss. G5's poor attempt at training Horford is a microcosm of his slump throughout the season.

For Mitchell to stay, the Cavaliers need to build a competitive roster. But Garland's big contract is very long, and it is currently at a low point in the value of the contract, and it is difficult to estimate what it will be like in the market. The best outcome is that the Cavaliers managed to keep Mitchell, complete an early contract extension with Mobley, and get the right forward reinforcement and a tall playmaker who is more compatible with Mitchell in the Allen and Garland trades.

If Mitchell can't stay, the Cavaliers will return to their original timeline and continue to build around Mobley and Garland.

As for Bickerstaff, in my observation, his Cavaliers have more defensive discipline than most teams, and the team is performing more than they should be in the middle of the pack. But judging from the knight's internal voice, there seems to be a lot of doubts about Bickerstaff, which also gives people a sense of "overpowering".

The Cavaliers won the series for the first time since LeBron left, losing to the league-ranked Celtics due to Allen and Mitchell injuries, and it stands to reason that they had a decent season ending, so why make such a big fuss?

It's kind of interesting.

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