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The Oklahoma City Thunder are losing more frequently than a team loaded with three All-Stars in Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and Paul George should. For what it’s worth, the Thunder had a better record of 8-8 through 16 games last year than the one they have now over the same stretch. After suffering another disappointing setback on Monday, a 114-107 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, the Thunder simply brought even more negative attention to their apparent underperformance.
For Thunder center Steven Adams, the solution to their woes is easy: just stick to the game plan, according to Brett Dawson of The Oklahoman.
Steven Adams says the Thunder doesn’t need to make in-game defensive adjustments so much as it needs to execute the plan it goes in with and give it “a chance to actually work.”
— Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) November 21, 2017
From a different angle, Adams’ comment could be seen as a minor form of swipe directed at the Thunder’s Big Three. Westbrook, Anthony, and George are still learning to play with each other, which isn’t an easy thing to do given that all of them are used to being the alpha males of their packs in past seasons. It’s so tempting for them to depart from the game plan and ad lib on plays, especially in the end game, when each of them wants to play hero ball in an attempt to win it for the team.
This often results in an offensive stagnation for the Thunder, whose players are forced to watch the oscillation of isolation plays from Westbrook to Anthony to George.
To some extent, Adams might also be telling of Thunder head coach Billy Donovan’s inability to handle his star-laden team.
Whatever the case may be, the Thunder will have to fix their ways if they are to avoid sinking deeper in the standings.
