Scott Brooks does not know how to use a bench

[champs99and04]

I think you make some valid points, but two things jump out:

1. He never developed players. That's fine and dandy, I guess, when you're healthy, but so many times your team won't be. In 2012 the Celtics almost took out the Heat because of a Bosh injury...but the Heat were able to adapt. As for their bench, Lamb got lost on defense yesterday, but is it any surprise? Guy hasn't seen the court in forever
2. San Antonio doesn't have a great roster in terms of talent. Danny Green looks great now, but the guy has much less talent than Lamb or Jones, among others. San Antonio develops players to fit into their system. But they were trotting out Gary Neal last year in key moments. You need to suffer a little in the regular season so that your bench can develop the confidence and identity it needs to succeed when you are in the playoffs, and Brooks has really not proven willing--or capable--of doing that.

Yep, I agree - you can file that under the "lack of contingency plan" I was talking about. In fairness, though, Ibaka was probably going to be irreplaceable regardless of how well the young guys had developed. I almost feel as if the Thunder would be better off losing Westbrook than Ibaka, because at least they have experience playing without Westbrook, and you can slide Reggie Jackson into the point guard slot, spread the floor with shooters, run everything through Durant, and still maintain an elite defense.

In regards to the '12 Heat, I'm not so sure they were able to adapt as much as they got Bosh back just in time. And, as good as the Pacers and Celtics were, the Spurs are a whole other animal. The Heat got a couple super-human efforts from James and Wade to survive Indiana, but by the time Bosh was back playing full-time again, they were down 3-2 to Boston and on the verge of the whole entire thing being blown up.

The Spurs are a machine, and Ibaka was OKC's one tool to counter-balance that. You can talk about OKC's player development, and I do agree with you to a degree, but using San Antonio - the gold standard - as the bar seems a little bit unfair. They are the exception to the rule. 90% of the time in this league, when you lose one of your top players, your championship window is probably going to slam shut, even when Durant and Westbrook are on the roster.

 

[pnete]

Wooden, like Ollie, had the benefit of coaching in college where you can get away with that. You take out Perkins and Tim Duncan will have a field day.

last time I looked Duncan was having a field day.

 

[UconnU]

Call me Uconn bias but if a team is scoring at will in the paint there isnt too many other players that I would want at the 5 than a 7'3 athletic beast with a 7'9 wingspan. Atleast give thabeet a chance!

 

[UconnU]

God this is sick... you spent a 2 pick on thabeet give him a shot here.

 

[UconnU]

Does anyone else agree here?

 

[Huskybass]

Call me Uconn bias but if a team is scoring at will in the paint there isnt too many other players that I would want at the 5 than a 7'3 athletic beast with a 7'9 wingspan. Atleast give thabeet a chance!

You are forgetting that he just hasn't ever produced in the NBA. Career averages of 2 points and 2 rebounds just don't cut it.

 

[aceboon]

God this is sick... you spent a 2 pick on thabeet give him a shot here.

1) OKC didn't draft him
2) this isn't college where he can just park himself in the lane under the basket, Thabeet just isn't really a good rim protector dealing with the 3 second rule because his insticts and ability to react quickly just aren't at the level required to see extended minutes on the court. Spurs ball movement and passing would have him dizzy out there.

 

[champs99and04]

Just tuned into the game to see Perry Jones, Nick Collison, and Steve Adams all on the court at once. Am I missing something here? Why would he use Jones at the three?

 

[superjohn]

Brooks is clueless but it doesn't matter what he does this series, they just have no prayer against the Spurs. Brooks should just be thankful Zach Randolph got suspended for game 7 in the first round.

 

[UconnU]

1) OK didn't draft him
2) this isn't college where he can just park himself in the lane under the basket, Thabeet just isn't really a good rim protector dealing with the 3 second rule because his insticts and ability to react quickly just aren't at the level required to see extended minutes on the court. Spurs ball movement and passing would have him dizzy out there.

Your team has no chance down by 16 at half does it really matter at this point? Try anything

 

[Walker11]

What you're missing in your thought process is the rotations that a coach has in place. He builds them all year; plugging different guys in different spots til they are comfortable with who they have playing with who. It is the purpose of the regular season.

When they lost Ibaka they lost their 3rd biggest piece. So Brooks is scrambling to figure out that rotation again. He's trying to do months worth of work in days.

Brooks never figured out his rotation all year. Check the game logs and minutes for guys like Sefolosha, Lamb, Jones, Roberson.

Good defensive scheme, bad offensive coach, bad at developing a rotation . I would love to see this offense spearheaded by a guy like Karl

 

[Scoe]

Spurs are a freaking machine, nothing Scott Brooks can do.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

This is a ________ massacre. Wave the white flag.

 

[aceboon]

yea as much as I get on Brooks there isn't anything he can do to stop this onslaught. While games 1 & 2 in 2012 were nowhere near this bad I remember thinking OKC was cooked then and they came back. This a worse OKC team and possibly a better SA team so I still think they are cooked, but I at least want to see how they respond on Sunday at home cuz right now this is Drago vs Apollo Creed status.

 

[aceboon]

lol, Caron and Fish still gunning and jacking even in garbage time, ridiculous

 

[aceboon]

maybe, just maybe you find something out of either Jones or Lamb in garbage time to carry into game 3 at home where they are comfortable, get Fish out of there, he doesn't need to be on the court with the young guys hunting for shots and calling for the ball

 

[Scoe]

has any team in NBA history been this good this long I mean being a title contender every single year like every year literally since 97-98.

 

[Scoe]

I could see Giffey being a Spur or perhaps Kromah.

 

[Scoe]

Lamb with 10

 

[aceboon]

this tweet in regards to OKC speaks to alot of their issues right now

Nate DuncanVerified account ‏@NateDuncanNBA
The reason you need a system is for the role guys, not the stars. You need a way for those guys to feel comfortable. Stars will get theirs.

 

[champs99and04]

Kenny Smith is on TNT right now advocating for Lamb's insertion into the starting lineup for game three.

At this point, anything other than the depressing Sefolosha/Collison/Perkins trio would be an upgrade.

 

[aceboon]

Lamb did some nice things in garbage time on offense but his defense was still horrendous, getting beat by Belinelli(sp) off the dribble and off of simple cuts. If he wants to play he just can't play D that bad, Fish and Butler can't guard anymore but they are still better than that. Not sure what has happened to his D, I wouldn't have labeled it as "good" during the regular season but he competed, right now he's looking like soph year level Lamb on that end. If he played D like he has been ever since his time got cut like he did during the beginning and right before the middle of the season, he would've never got the 20 to 20+ minutes he was getting. He's gotta get back to at least mediocre.

 

[joober jones]

No Thabeet even in garbage minutes of a 35 point loss. That's really depressing.

 

[superjohn]

I could see Giffey being a Spur or perhaps Kromah.

Giffey has a very slim shot at the NBA, Kromah has zero shot. The Spurs are the team I could see Giffey playing for, they are a well oiled machine where everyone knows their role.

 

[superjohn]

Lamb did some nice things in garbage time on offense but his defense was still horrendous, getting beat by Belinelli(sp) off the dribble and off of simple cuts. If he wants to play he just can't play D that bad, Fish and Butler can't guard anymore but they are still better than that. Not sure what has happened to his D, I wouldn't have labeled it as "good" during the regular season but he competed, right now he's looking like soph year level Lamb on that end. If he played D like he has been ever since his time got cut like he did during the beginning and right before the middle of the season, he would've never got the 20 to 20+ minutes he was getting. He's gotta get back to at least mediocre.

Lamb was pretty good on D when he was actually in the rotation and getting valuable minutes, I have to think a big part of the bad D is that he's seriously discouraged with his situation. Brooks benched him for three months for no reason.