SOUND THE ALARMS On OKC Thunder Season?
Oklahoma City Thunder stumble at home, dropping back-to-back games to the Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers—should fans start sounding the alarms? Rylan Stiles breaks down the Thunder’s narrow loss to the Raptors, questioning late-game execution, bench depth with key injuries (Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso, Ajay Mitchell), and what it means for a team defending its title.
Key analysis spotlights Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s clutch performances, Chet Holmgren’s challenges as a play creator, and Lu Dort’s rollercoaster impact on both ends. Discussion centers on OKC’s rebounding woes, streaky three-point shooting, and whether tweaking the roster at the trade deadline could alter their championship trajectory. Can Mark Daigneault steer the Thunder through adversity and return to full strength before the playoffs? The pressure is mounting—will OKC respond, or are cracks appearing in the contenders’ foundation?
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44 Comments
Well, injuries aside, I called it before the season and fans swore I didn't know what I was talking about. The team has a few major problems.
1. You need forwards. There are offensive and defensive ootions you can't even exploit due to not having any quality 2-way forwards. That limits your offense to largely Shai and Dub (when healthy) iso's or 3 pointers. That's not a good recipe for a strong offense in the playoffs. Forwards are necessary for their do-it-all ability. I won't go into detail, but there are plenty of plays OKC on both enda of the floor that arw more complicated due to OKC's lack of players at that position.
2. They need some more toughness. From the moment Indiana went on that run inbthe 2nd quarter of game 6, OKC was rattled and never recovered their confidence and flow on offense, even in game 7. You don't want to bring a team back with the exact same roster that was in the process of choking. Injury to Haliburton helped save them. But, still, choking is more about mental makeup than circumstance. More mental toguhness and even meanness at the forward apots would help there. It's also good to have new blood on a title team. It helps keep the motivation and competitive level high.
3. Presti just has signed too many big contracts that aren't worth the money. I-Hart is worth 28 mil in the 1 big lineup, but not necessarily in the 2 big lineup. Then Caruso simply has never been worth 18-20 mil. He's in his second season straight shooting abysmally from deep through january and continues to miss a bunch of games. It's just not a good sign when you have 2 guys combine for almost 50 mil who can hardly combine for 16ppg. They need some better value contracts at positions of need. And there are moves out there that can be made. But, will Presti make the trades? He's a great drafter, but his FA and trade acquisitions leave a lot to be desired.
Consistency….I think the short handed OKC can only play 2 Qs well……
No alert but they only needed to play better in 5 minutes…..not so hard…..
Ok I get the explanations for these losses. What is the plan to win these games moving forward? What is the plan to rehab these players who are injured/recuperating? What is the plan to improve the 3 point shooting and rebounding the ball so they don’t lose these supposedly winnable games? I love this team, I support this team. They can and must do better. They have to figure it out because every team has injuries, flaws etc. I don’t expect perfection, but this team is better than this.
I still think Thunder is a very good team. They are just not that invincible as they once seems to be during the first quarter of the season.
I am not panicked but the 3 point shooting this season and the playoffs last year as an extension is becoming a real problem. Relying on guys to pop off “out of nowhere” is going to create issues I get it’s different in the playoffs but we have no one that we can legitimately rely on for 2+ threes and are kind of just hoping someone hits 4-5. We are averaging 36% from 3 which is 14th in the league not bad but it needs to be better to be championship worthy. This team is built to win for a long time but not if we just forget how to shoot shots we should be/have been confident in making.
Everyone knows we are not the same team with all the injuries. At the same time, this fan base was told 5 weeks ago that we potentially had the greatest team ever assembled. The expectations were raised and losses like these were not to be expected at all.
GO THUNDER NO MATTER WHAT
Have you looked at what Denver Nuggets are doing? Their starting 5 and Jokic backup Valencunas all have been out for a long time. The bench and 3rd stringers still have a winning record. They are playing their butts off as a team. OKC backups don't seem to have that drive, energy and enthusiasm to win…
Nuggets fan here. The things are exactly the same as they were at the beginning of the season, nothing has changed, whichever team goes into the playoffs the healthiest will win.
Just a nuggets fan listening to OKC complain about not being healthy 😅
Hell yeah sound the f*cking alarm, Rylan!
We need to change, not via trade, but live over the same problems over and over again is though.
No problem losing to pacers but the clutch execution on last month was horrendeous.
We executed perfectly on the beginning of the season on those situations.
And it's not about the schedule, we executed against houston, wolves Suns and now we are being outplayed by miami, pacers and raptors, with 100% questionable decisions by Mark.
SGA is the MVP and lead the league in clutch pts, I'm not asking to do everygame but he needs to get the opportunity at least one time to win us a game
Lol this guy doesn't mention we never had a center for 2 months. You got beat suck it up, you will still win the chip
I’m concerned with what’s going on with the strength and conditioning staff. 2 straight years with the most injuries in the NBA. You’ll lose games missing half the team.
Once again 26% 3 point shooting, many of the wide open, practice session variety, sunk OKC. Need the February break to practice shooting….and get as many as healthy as possible. Securing the 1st seed is the priority.
If the thunder can't get a freaking guy who's not hurt and can play then trade for a freaking player who can play!
The fall begins!!!
How much money are they getting to F… up!! COACH
3rd in the east*
So they can't play if they have a hang nail huh?
Sound the alarm? Yes, for the same obvious reasons: no “big body forwards,” and rebounding issues. I posted this during the summer and he we are again. Presti still confident in this small ball guard loaded roster. It would be good if they hit daggers but the consistency is pathetic. And what’s up with/ missed FTs? Chet got his bag & still missing KEY FT & decision making. He totally was MIA tonight & to make a pass over a tall player was head scratching. Choosing not play Carlson was a head scratcher too.
Thanks for the encouraging words about the Thunder. I wasn’t worried either it’s just an in-season game against the Raptors. We had the lead and probably should’ve won, but we’re missing a lot of players right now and clearly need better ball handling, shooting, and rebounding. After the All-Star break we should get healthier and start finding our rhythm for the playoffs. I also liked your point about how stressing over in-season games makes for a long seasonyou’re one of the few channels keeping a level-headed perspective.
Si eres el campeón vigente cual mas te va a jugar a ganar y mas conocer tus debilidades,siempre le juegan a arrinconarles a la segunda mitad ai los rematan facil,aparte la liga es larga ,exhausta en viajes ,es muy poco descanso entre juegos de ai las lesiones y no solo en tundher de igual los demas equipos,ojala y levanten pistons vienen cerca del liderato.
Sound the alarm. They lost to INDY 2nd/3rd stringers, struggled with UTA, MEM, lost to a few more teams who has the "formula" to beat them. This is not the same team from the last two years. In fact they lost most of their edge, everyone except SGA and I believe you can see it in their play and body language. Beginning of the year I wasn't convinced of their "domination" because my eye test was telling me different. And I seem to be correct because the league has adjusted from the end of Nov. till now. Especially considering the SAS whoopings.
If the rest of the team doesn't start to shape up and rise to the new levels of the league, I fear they are a 1st or 2nd round exit in today's west. SGA cannot do it by himself, and the rest of them look like they stagnated on development with a hint of championship hangover. Also add the fact that nobody is SCARED of OKC today, couldn't say the same for the past two years.
The only reason why these teams are beating OKC's because OKC is not fully healthy and they don't have iHeart back which is a huge difference in the paint or AJ Mitchell
… a complete, healthy Spurs got beat by the Pelicans….
Having that being said, you can see the frustration from Shai last night.
So yeah, we SHOULD be concerned at this time.
Our next stretch of road games is tough. Wolves, Nuggets, Magic, Spurs, Rockets, Lakers, Suns, and so on.
Problem was Scottie Barnes! MVP
You ran into a brick wall named Scottie Barnes!
ATROCIOUS!! WAKE UP CALL SHAI WAS OUTPLAYED BY STRONGER MUSCULAR PHYSICAL BODIES THAT JUST BULLY BALLED HIM TO NO Avail!! HE should have been more assertive with his head of the snake demeanor because you can not depend on the supporting cast that have no dexterity to deliver with efficacy on a nightly basis, Shai the reigning M V P ONLY TOOK 11 SHOTS Was incredulous and incomprehensible he should be taking a minimum of 20-25 shots nightly like STEPH, EDWARDS, DONOVAN, BRUNSON, MAXEY LUKA JUST TO NAME A FEW, does Shai have a soft spot because his from CANADA !! SAM P THE TEAM HAS REACHED AN INCEPTION POINT! START VETTING AND SCOUTING AND BRING SOME TALENT THAT CAN COMPLEMENT SHAI ON A NIGHTLY BASIS BECAUSE THE FAN BASE IS NOT GOING TO SIT IDLE!! AND OVER THE LAST 15-20 GAMES THE SQUAD IS INJURY PRONE SOMEONE ALWAYS GETS HURT WHICH HINDERS THE COHESIVE CHEMISTRY..
Good stuff
We alright , thunder up , long season , things, injuries finally hitting us
Injuries, injuries, injuries. Just got get healthy. Losing Sorber and Topic before the season hurts more when half the team is hurt. Btw does Topic come back this year? God, I hope so.
Why did Cason leave the game? I missed that part. Is he gonna be out too
The season is shaping up to be a letdown by the end of the postseason if players can’t get healthy and in a rhythm. Defenses aren’t even playing them that well. The Thunder just aren’t shooting the ball effectively consistently enough, or they’re not getting the right looks. Either way, it’s not looking good if they still plan on repeating.
The flaws of this team haven’t changed. Not concerned about rebounding and half court offense (slightly) until we’re healthy. But shooting is a flaw, my question is why would some media members not be open to trading for Monk (for Joe) given we’ve seen Zay isn’t a shooter unless the game is blowout in either direction. Arguments say monk won’t be a playoff rotation player but neither was Joe during the finals run. Food for thought
As a 15-year warrior fan and been a watcher since Shaq days on Magic when I was 7 I feel like I can help a little. I obsessed over every head scratching loss from my Dubs during their dynasty. But plain and simple fact always reared its head up, if they were healthy post season they won. When unhealthy and w out full roster (ie draymond 2016 & 2019 w kd n Klay) they lost.
Simple as that, yall are healthy in post season you’ll win. Most likely. Unhealthy? Probably not.
Championships are mix of talent and good health. Nothing new. But trade talks? Yall are crazy, you’ve got gold and all you do is hope that gold doesn’t get a torn Achilles in the postseason.
I’m going to pray for no more injuries especially going into the game because the fact that we walked in -7 and left -8 I need to pray hard lol
The spurs also lost so this lose wasn’t as bad. The spurs lost also to one of the worst teams in the NBA.
There was a reàson Shae didn't get the ball on the Barnes blocked shot and it's name was Ja'Kobe Walter, who smothered SGA on the play.
Raptors fan here. Don’t worry, you guys are still the class of the league- just going through some January blahs, that’s all. Nice to get the victory though and finish our Western road trip 4 and 1. And to see Scottie turning into an extraterrestrial!
Oklahoma City bunch of losers men One thing by way too young you take Spurs they middle class Spurs ain't that young by middle class team that why they so good you take off, City they too freaking Young Oklahoma City just like a bunch of little kids you got best crybabies on Oklahoma City play just can't cut it
Can we please stop saying the Thunder are a streaky 3 shooting team, consistently bad 2 playoffs and long stretches of being bad in regular seasons say they are a bad 3 pt shooting team. Period
I disagree, easy. Hit open fucking 3's.
"The only sure thing in life is change."
~ Rylan Stiles (probably)