Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles on Twitter) dives into the Oklahoma City Thunder finishing their NBA preseason with a 5-1 record as the OKC Thunder beat the Spurs behind Josh Giddey showing huge shooting improvement, Jalen Williams looks like a lock for an All-Rookie spot, Ousmane Dieng has an interesting role in the rotation for OKC, and the Bricktown boys have found a new role for Darius Bazley that really allows him to click. Can the Thunder win more games than expected?
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12 Comments
Who was the most impressive Oklahoma City Thunder player this preseason?
I don't think we fully understand just how dangerous it was/is to give Presti all these picks
I know it's a small sample but has Gidd ever shot 50% from three in a 5 game stretch?
I love your podcasts Rylan. Keep up your great work. I'm excited to see how Jalen Williams plays in 2022/2023. He looks like he has been playing in the NBA for a couple of years.
Rylan, I have a theory that the Thunder are molding their team on the strategies of Barcelona Football Club (and the Dutch national team of the 1970s in the Total Football era). I see many parallels. For instance, they're all about having positionless players rather than having specialist roles for each player. When the Netherlands first tried this in the 1970s, their opposition couldn't figure out how to guard them, and the Dutch could take advantage of all kinds of mismatches. Also, I suspect that Presti has optimised his recruiting decisions for passing, just as Barcelona and Holland were absolutely about passing first (aka "tiki-taka"), due to the way it gets every player involved in the game, tires out the opposition, and allows high percentage shots at the end. After all, nearly all Thunder players have a 7'0+ wingspan, which gives them the reach to catch passes. And lastly, Barcelona have an academy which trained players together from a young age, so the passing would be natural and instinctive when they eventually played for the senior team. This seems to be exactly what a rebuilding Thunder could be doing, (although they get their players at 19 rather than at 14).
I can't judge whether this theory is true, because I don't have access to watch the games, and rely on Reddit and your podcasts to see what's happening. Does it sound right to you? Has Sam Presti or Mark Daigneault talked about where their inspiration for their strategy comes from? If it is Barcelona after all, see if you can interview author Simon Kuper on the show, because he's recently written two books about Barcelona in the Messi era, and it could shed all kinds of light on how this is all likely to play out.
I love Giddey but can’t wait for Chet to play again
Dieng could be the next pippen or p.george. Jalen Williams looks like paul pierce but more athletic
trim your stashe bruh
Like I said before like I did during the pre draft and then again after the draft and then after summer league and then again after preseason J dub is going to be a superstar, I said he reminded me of Kawaii before the draft now I still think that but it looks like he might be a better passer… Dude is going to be AMAZING.
He did a podcast earlier this preseason and he asked what happens if the whole team hit there ceiling how good would the thunder be and after seeing just how good ALL THE YOUNG GUYS HAVE BEEN EVERY ONE OF THEM…
I don't think he was anywhere close to how good and a legit dynasty we will be if they all hit there ceiling and dynasty means multiple championships more than three…. And because young teams DONT WINT IN THE NBA… They will have a too pick and a legit shot at wemby but honestly at this point it might not even be fair if we get him or scoot cause we're looking THAY GOOD… But hell even if we get Lively, or whitehead or Nick Smith, of cam whitmore we will most likely add another ELITE TALENT IN THE NEXT DRAFT,WHILE GETTINF CHET BACK… So we could legit add two more All-stars that are more talented than any young guy on the team which is insanely scary for the rest of the NBA.
And as far as MVP of the preseason you legit can't just give it to one player… At minimum you have to have atleast giddy, Tre Mann and JDub all tied for the MVP with VERY STRONG honorable mentions from Poku and Dieng….
Gidd the Kidd: Pre-Season per 36? 22.6/9.5/10.5!! Crazy Shit!. 2.5 made 3pts on 4.8 3pa = 53.3%, 52.8 fg% and 3.2 stocks! Turned 20 like 4-5 days ago. Just a bit excited..