OKC Thunder are NBA champs — But did the best team actually win? | NBA | THE FACILITY

OKC Thunder are NBA champs — But did the best team actually win? | NBA | THE FACILITY

the author of one of the great individual playoff runs in the history of the NBA Uh the NBA Finals congratulations to the Oklahoma City Thunder Let me start by saying that That has to come out of anybody’s mouth first on a day like today But what I can say is this
I don’t know if we will ever know if the best team won the NBA Finals And I don’t just say this as a fan I don’t just say this as somebody who supports Tyus Hallebertton I say this as somebody who experientially lived it I’ve only been in one championship game in my adult career went to the national championship game in college playing the University of Alabama before they had ever won a championship Nick Sabin’s first one playing 18 miles down the road in Pasadena Starting quarterback Colt McCoy Fisman runner up were going down the field driving down the field in that game against the vaunted Alabama defense and he gets hit by Marcel Darius He gets hurt
Alabama goes on to win that game because we had to replace Colt McCoy with the true freshman quarterback Alabama won that game Shout out to Alabama The Thunder won that game Shout out to the Thunder But did the best team win that game We’ll never know
cuz I do not think that Alabama was the best team in that game Obviously I’m biased I played and started that game for the University of Texas Did the best team win that game last night I guess we’ll never know
Uh of course you might want to suggest that the Thunder won that game but I recall if I’m not mistaken the Thunder were trailing at halftime 48 to 47 I recall Tyres Hallebertton having more points than Miles Turner Nay Smith and Obie Toppin combined And Tyres Hallebertton played seven minutes I recall Tyresese Hallebertton having more three-pointers made in seven minutes than Jay Gilis Alexander had in his 40 Than Jaylen Williams had in his 40 than Nate Nate Smith had in his 20 plus Than Turner had in his 20 plus Then Topman had in his 20 plus Then Matine had in his 20 plus I recall Tyres Hallebertton doing more in seven minutes than half of his team did in the next 40 So did the best team win that game I can’t fully suggest and say with confidence that the best team did indeed win that game And as I was talking about before the game the palms were sweaty weak knees arms was all tights
I hear you man I hear you man
So with that being said shout out to the Thunder but Shady did the best team actually win the finals This is I guess we’ll never know
This this Thunder I will not do y’all like that I I hate to see Hallebran get hurt but I can’t do y’all like that Y’all earn this thing Y’all been the best team all season
Oh yeah
And y’all was the best team in the finals right You talk about Hallebertton I won’t even talk about him too much because he he’s injured and as and as this brotherhood of of sports especially elite sports we never even talk about the injuries but
I don’t know if he if he was even the best point guard on this team in this in his final series do you Let me ask again
Yeah I won’t
He doesn’t speak English all of a sudden
And this and this brother Hey J In this brotherhood of of sports at least sports different
we don’t talk about injuries but I’ll just ask you know a question
I don’t know If Holler Burton was the best point guard on his team in the finals
do you think so
DJ McCullen played well
All right So let’s just keep it respectful You know I do think that if he played this game it probably the ending would have been the same result but it might have been a little different He probably had like I don’t know like 17 points something around there maybe some more assists He’s got his team more involved But they just wasn’t a better team That’s it Simple as that when I kept calling the the the Oak um the Patriots a a college team it was more of when you need a bucket when you need a a score and you you go through the whole offense right And now the offense is set back again Who’s looking for that bucket They couldn’t do it They couldn’t score Even SGA when he if he’s struggling scoring or or or Jay Will you know I got I can go to when the coach is in the huddle drawing up a play If the offense don’t work right there who can I go to It it was a point in game where they just couldn’t score And I I can’t remember what it was around like um
8:32 in the third
8:32 in the third and all the points came from TJ Yeah
Going on to the fourth nobody else could score It was like four minutes It was it was like fourth quarter like nine minutes left in the fourth quarter And since the 8:30 mark and the third nobody else scored a bucket for the Pacers but TJ
Turned into a whole different team
And you talking about who the best team is Come on man And the sad and the sad part and the scary part is I I think the OKC Thunder I think they get better next year
A lot of experience They’re a young team
They are young
man You play around if you want to
We’ll get to that The reason I’m not convinced is this Shake Gus Alexander went eight for 27 from the field Didn’t play a great game
Nope Jaylen Williams went seven of 20 from the field Didn’t play a great game Meanwhile Tyres Hallebertton in seven minutes was three of four from three Mind you Shay SDA two of 12 from three Jayd Dub two of seven from three Again Tyresese Hallebertton in seven minutes three of four from three What I’m trying to convey is that that was a game that the Pacers likely would have won based upon the recipe of how that game went You’re telling me Shay went eight of 27 You’re telling me combined the Thunder two best players was 15 of 47 15 of 47 And you want me to believe that the Pacers could not would not have won that game It’s just hard for me to believe that the Thunder on that day were the would have been the better team That’s just what’s hard for me to believe
So now we’re changing the question
We’re changing it from did the best team win the finals to did the best team win game seven
Right Right Because you’re going through this little window of this on any given night let me throw March Madness in here Right And here’s the reality is that yes and to Shad’s point because this is about the entire season
the Oklahoma City Thunder had the best record in the league in spite of the fact that uh that Chad Homegrren missed 50 games that Isaiah Hartstein missed 25 games They had injuries that could have impacted their season It was just at a different time and they overcame that to have the best record in the league so that game seven was on their home floor because you can’t tell me that having it at home didn’t make a difference in this game seven So if we take into account injuries and suggest that that this isn’t this wasn’t a fair fight or that this should be discounted this win should be discounted because of an injury
We could do that with almost every championship team every championship team because surviving the grind of the season is part of the challenge of being a champion is you are going to face injuries and setbacks at some point Unfortunately for the Indiana Pacers they faced their greatest one in game seven but it’s a little bit like you when when the Warriors lost KD and they lost um
they lost Klay Thompson right M
that was a culmination of the season and it eventually hit him I remember saying that season because of all the long runs that they had had and because they were so topheavy and they relied much like the Indiana Pacers relied on Tyrese Hallebertton so much that you know what in this day and age that relying so much on one player is going to come back and get
but you would have said in 2019 when the Raptors bit beat the Warriors you would have said the best team did not win the finals because the Warriors were a better team Obviously Klay Thompson Kevin Durant is not greater than Tyresese Hallebertton but I’m just simply suggesting this isn’t always a wild question to ask
Yeah No it’s wild in this situation because of how Tyrese Hallebertton was playing right So let’s let’s not forget how Tyrese Hallebertton and I pray that Tyrese Hallebertton gets healthy but let’s not forget how he was playing Now if you would have came on this show and the Pacers won and SGA got hurt I could listen to your statement The boy got 30 30 30 He’s clearly the best player not only in the world at this point cuz the MVP but in this series And I can say okay dang he’s out Tyrese Hallebertton and this Indiana Pacers team he really was a role player on this team for them this year
especially in the finals He was that that’s how he was playing My man only went over 20 points one time in this series So you said but you saying the way he started off would have automatically sent him to 30 No the way he started off would have had him around 20 points and it still probably would have equal a loss So to me this is not like a KD or a Klay Thompson Them dudes was balling in in the final So that’s that’s different to me But I couldn’t you suggest this though that Tyresese Hallebertton is a conduit for everything that happens with the Pacers He’s not going to give you 30 like Katie’s going to give you He’s not going to give you 20 like Klay Thompson’s going to give you But what he is going to give you is eight assists He’s going to make sure that Tophin gets involved instead of Toppin having a goose egg He’s gonna make sure Miles Turner gets involved instead of Miles Turner I believe having maybe four or six points He’s gonna make sure that Nay Smith gets his shots because Nay Smith can’t create on his own Wouldn’t you suggest that if Tyresese Hallebertton is present he would have done what everybody else could have done and McConnell wouldn’t have had eight turnovers cuz all the great things TJ McConnell did make no mistake about it he turned that ball over
I’m not saying by any means that they’re a better team without Hallebertton I’m not saying that All I’m saying is when Hallebertton was on the court this season in the seven game series in the finals my man just asked you a question and you act like you couldn’t speak English as he wasn’t the third best player on his team You understand what I’m saying Like we’re talking Klay Thompson and KD We’re talking
We’re talking dudes that was balling
Okay but it’s not as different It’s not as if Tyrese I’m going to throw you a lifeline here Uh it’s not as if Tyrese didn’t have at least one really good impactful game
Not saying he did
in the final
He did He had game
So if he had given you a second look he was never a scorer but it was his combination of scoring and getting everybody that made him impactful He was one rebound short of a triple double If he gives me one rebound short of a triple double in in last night’s game then I think it’s a much different game And he did come out aggressive So there’s there’s reason to believe that we might have gotten a special game out of Tyrese Hallebertton last night in spite of what we had seen for the better part of the season
But if we if we doing that then we can sit here and say was the best team in the finals cuz they you cuz they played a a Cavs team that didn’t have two of their best players They they started off playing a Milwaukee team that didn’t have so we can’t we can’t do that Like you know what I’m I’m not going so far as to say that that the Indiana Pacers were the better team
I think the Oklahoma City I think the right team won
but
to suggest that Tyrese Hallebertton had no impact We’re not saying that cuz he’s a good player for them for sure But let’s talk about cuz you like he said everybody involved all the time There’s times where he didn’t do anything and and Miles Turn had like four or five points Finished the game like that Um topping right this time where he went off had nothing to do with that What we can’t do is sit up here and and he’s hurt and and and I hate that he got injured but let’s stop acting like if if he was 100% healthy that they just win this game because he’s been playing so great
because because there’s a lot of games where he’s been absent
That’s true A lot of games that they won he’s been absent
I’m not like we can’t find him
I I’m not coming up here and saying with my whole chest that they win the game if Tyresese Hallebertton does not sit All I’m coming up here and saying is I am not convinced that they lose the game if Hallebertton is present I’m not coming up here standing on this desk saying they would have won But what I’m coming up here and saying is Tyresese Hallebertton is a stone cold killer He’s proven that in the playoffs Tyresese Hallebertton in the biggest moments plays his best This was the biggest moment He was on pace to play his best Albeit seven minutes He usually plays about 30 So he played about 22% of how many minutes he would have played He was on pace to play his best History shows against the Cavs History shows against the uh the series beforehand against the Milwaukee Bucks He plays his best in the biggest moments and it looked like he was about to do that
Can we say this though I think he’s been like the third best player on the pace with this finals Being being generous
Let’s think about that
Not being generous Being stingy you could say it Being being stingy you could say McConnell in the finals I’m taking TJ before him and I’m taking Saka before him in the finals I only have one issue with what you said You said he’s a stone cold killer
He’s proven to be so in the playoffs I think he can be a stone cold killer There’s a difference
The killer’s other side as Jay that’s a killer
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Emmanuel Acho, LeSean McCoy, James Jones, and Ric Bucher react to the Oklahoma City Thunder being crowned NBA champions.

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OKC Thunder are NBA champs — But did the best team actually win? | NBA | THE FACILITY
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