{"id":5381,"date":"2018-04-30T13:09:35","date_gmt":"2018-04-30T18:09:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5381"},"modified":"2018-08-20T14:10:47","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T19:10:47","slug":"okc-thunder-come-up-short-melo-demands-to-start-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=5381","title":{"rendered":"OKC Thunder come up short; “Melo” demands to start in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Presti has some major decisions to make in the next few weeks……..OKC Loses to Utah Jazz in four……..<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Photo Credit: 12UP.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The Oklahoma City Thunder’s season came to an end this past week as the Utah Jazz took their first round series over the Thunder four games to two.\u00a0 A season that never quite jelled for the team on Reno Street.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

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A fatal flaw of this latest version of the Thunder was bore out in the final few games of the Utah series.\u00a0 A coach that has to cower down to his players, trying to make them happy, often times loses sight of the goal of any team, \u00a0to win.\u00a0 That is to win\u00a0the game, the series, the title.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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OKC head Billy Donovan did not put his best team on the floor in many situations this season, and it showed up big in the Utah games.\u00a0Many head coaches end up doing the same thing as the OKC head, playing players that should be spending more minutes on the bench and not on the floor.\u00a0 Not every coach is like the man in San Antonio. \u00a0Case in point, Carmelo Anthony starting and getting as much or more playing time as the more effective Jerami Grant.<\/span><\/h5>\n
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In the two days since the Thunder were bounced out of the first round, Anthony has already said that he won’t come off of the bench<\/a><\/span> moving forward, calling it “out of the question.” Now, he’s taking a step further, saying that the Thunder didn’t have any type of plan regarding bringing him in. <\/span><\/h6>\n

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“I think the player that they wanted me to be and needed me to be was for the sake of this season,” Anthony said, per USA Today<\/em><\/a>. “Everything was just thrown together and it wasn’t anything that was planned out. Wasn’t no strategy to me being here, me being a part of the actual system and what type of player and things like that.”<\/span><\/h6>\n

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(https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/nba\/news\/carmelo-anthony-after-thunders-playoff-exit-okc-had-no-strategy-to-me-being-here\/)<\/span><\/h6>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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It became apparent that Grant is the post player that gave the Thunder a\u00a0better defense, a rim protector, and floor runner than Anthony.\u00a0 This was\u00a0not only visible\u00a0in this series but in general during the back half of the season\u00a0 Anthony is not the player of past.\u00a0He is a nice piece to have on a team but his next year salary of around\u00a0$27 million is a killer for OKC.\u00a0 OKC did not put the best players on the court for many minutes of this series.\u00a0 This is inexcusable.\u00a0 And we are going to do the same thing next year Coach Donovan and General Manager Sam Presti, because Melo is calling the shots?\u00a0 I repeat, this is inexcusable.\u00a0 This is the road to that leads to getting your pink slip men.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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The Thunder have an issue with players that\u00a0do listen to Coach Donavan’s in game instructions, but tend to do whatever they want while on the court.\u00a0This\u00a0disregard of the coach in OKC\u00a0began with first OKC\u00a0head man \u00a0P. J. Carlesimo<\/a>, followed by Scott Brooks and has continued with Donovan.\u00a0 Carlesimo was a hard edged man, demanded much of his young team, and they\u00a0said, no.\u00a0 OKC lost games with P.J.\u00a0not because of his coacing, but of\u00a0the youth of his young stars.\u00a0 Presti fired Carlesimo and hired a coach that was going to allow his\u00a0baby stars to play the way they wanted, grooming them into a title contender.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

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It\u00a0all blew up when Presti\u00a0did not tell\u00a0James Harden he\u00a0could start and get max money.\u00a0 Bad decision Presti.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Harden took his game to Houston where he became the face of the Rockets. I believe he would have stayed in OKC if given the start and the money.\u00a0\u00a0Presti\u00a0could not keep Kevin Durant.\u00a0 Then he\u00a0allowed Westbrook to\u00a0be the most important man in the franchise, much more than any head coach.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n
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Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant started this “I will play the way I want”.\u00a0 Westbrook is now a monster in this franchise.\u00a0 Decisions have been made lately with\u00a0Westbrook’s future here in OKC overriding all decisions.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

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Now we have a star player, Carmelo Anthony, making demands that he is not going to do this or that in the upcoming season.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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Player attitude will continue to sink this franchise into first round exits, and an NBA Championship in OKC is just\u00a0 a “Thunder Way” pipe dream.\u00a0\u00a0 A coach\u00a0is suppose to get one hundred percent acceptance\u00a0(of his players) from his leadership and that is not happening for the Thunder.\u00a0 It may never be in OKC.\u00a0 The player culture has been set, not by the Russell Westbrook’s, or Kevin Durant’s, or even the Carmelo Anthony’s.\u00a0 It has been set by Sam Presti through his head coaches, and again, we can call it “the Thunder Way”.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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This franchise is in a quandary.\u00a0 Presti has some major decisions to make shortly\u00a0that will effect not only the Thunder for the next few years with Russell\u00a0 Westbrook as the star, but the longevity of the head coach Donovan, and in the long of it, the future of himself, as the leader of the Thunder.<\/span><\/h5>\n

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We can discuss Paul George later,\u00a0sports fans.\u00a0<\/span><\/h5>\n

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https:\/\/youtu.be\/kzMQ8Xlio04<\/p>\n

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Sam Presti has some major decisions to make in the next few weeks……..OKC Loses to…<\/p>\n

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