Dion's learning curve

[NYCorange]

I watched the thunder a bunch this year. Dion is a versatile defender. They consider him a strong defender as in he has the strength and quickness to guard smaller and bigger guys. He is good at walling up and not getting pushed back. A lot of their fans call him "stout".

Jerami Grant is an excellent defender at the rim. Wesley has often been used to defend the other teams best scorer throughout his career. And in the few games i've seen mcw, he was great on d. Not just steals. He locked down curry and thompson better than anyone I've seen this year. Just a small sample size, but they wouldn't be playing if they weren't defending bc none of them are great scorers. Seems like cuse guys are playing more bc of their d and not in spite of.

You're absolutely right, and to be honest, it shouldn't be a surprise. Over the past decade, JB has recruited for D more than O. Our ideal body type also happens to be the ideal wing defender body type in the NBA. Think of our players who have left--very few of them were polished offensive players (partly because we very rarely seem to have polished offensive players anymore). Most of them were long athletes with offensive potential.

 

[longislandcuse]

Dion ballin tonight.

 

[kjb120]

Just had a nice block on Felton as well. He really has stepped up his defense

 

[EastCoast2]

Dion with 17 pts in 24 minutes so far on 6-8 from the field, including 3-4 from three

 

[Rage4CUSE]

Great game for Dion. Has secretly been playing very well for OKC.

It does help that he is the 5th most talented player in his team, so he's rarely/if ever the best player on the court for his team.

Really never hope he goes back to a place like Cleveland pre-James or Philly.

 

[HOFCeluck]

Another efficient game from Waiters last night. He really killed it for a stretch at the end of the first.

 

[jgeorge322]

Another efficient game from Waiters last night. He really killed it for a stretch at the end of the first.

That and 1 he had was beautiful

 

[jdubs30]

I think almost ev3ery player drafted as high as Dion thinsk they will be a superstar and they will be the guy -- when they aren't, it takes a time to adjust to find your place and role within a team. After the start in Cleveland it woulda been very easy for Dion to go down the wrong path, but instead he's adjusted and welcomed his role as a versatile defender and a spark plug off the bench. I'm proud of him and he will be in the NBA for another 10 years

 

[longislandcuse]

Playoff Dion is becoming a thing.

 

[Rage4CUSE]

Playoff Dion is becoming a thing.

You just know if He can keep this up the rest of OKC playoffs, he'll be able too parlay that into a pretty damn big contract.

 

[Newhouser]

Spurs are going to make him prove he's got the goods. Big series for Dion.

 

[jncuse]

It's harder to make shots when you don't get the ball at times when you should. There is no rhythm whatsoever to anything that team does. They've won a lot of games on pure talent, but they're a hard watch and they're losing in round 2. They should be better.

Seems like some of his fans need to go through the same learning curve that Dion is going through. I think OKC is a very good situation for him because he needed to drop the usage and learn what he was good at. Good to see him putting it together now.

He is not and will never be an effective high usage volume shooter in the league. He is not a good volume shooter and he is terrible at finishing at the rim and not particularly good at drawing fouls. The more he tries to FORCE a high usage game the quicker his NBA career will come to an end. He is good, but not great, at many little things -- and that is what he needs to focus on. Focus more on D, work on his court vision, work on being able to pick shots he is better at. Being strong and athletic means he can create some shots -- but he needs to get more picky. Work on killing the 3 from a few spots He should then have a few more NBA contracts.

There have been chuckers who have had longer careers - Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams for example. But they are great shooters. The more Dion tried to volume chuck the closer is the exit door.

 

[Gabjon]

Seems like some of his fans need to go through the same learning curve that Dion is going through. I think OKC is a very good situation for him because he needed to drop the usage and learn what he was good at. Good to see him putting it together now.

He is not and will never be an effective high usage volume shooter in the league. He is not a good volume shooter and he is terrible at finishing at the rim and not particularly good at drawing fouls. The more he tries to FORCE a high usage game the quicker his NBA career will come to an end. He is good, but not great, at many little things -- and that is what he needs to focus on. Focus more on D, work on his court vision, work on being able to pick shots he is better at. Being strong and athletic means he can create some shots -- but he needs to get more picky. Work on killing the 3 from a few spots He should then have a few more NBA contracts.

There have been chuckers who have had longer careers - Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams for example. But they are great shooters. The more Dion tried to volume chuck the closer is the exit door.

This is why I hope he ends up in NY. His skill set is perfect for the triangle, but he needs to learn how to finish with his left hand around the rim regardless of the system he is in.

 

[OrangeDW]

Seems like some of his fans need to go through the same learning curve that Dion is going through. I think OKC is a very good situation for him because he needed to drop the usage and learn what he was good at. Good to see him putting it together now.

He is not and will never be an effective high usage volume shooter in the league. He is not a good volume shooter and he is terrible at finishing at the rim and not particularly good at drawing fouls. The more he tries to FORCE a high usage game the quicker his NBA career will come to an end. He is good, but not great, at many little things -- and that is what he needs to focus on. Focus more on D, work on his court vision, work on being able to pick shots he is better at. Being strong and athletic means he can create some shots -- but he needs to get more picky. Work on killing the 3 from a few spots He should then have a few more NBA contracts.

There have been chuckers who have had longer careers - Jamal Crawford and Lou Williams for example. But they are great shooters. The more Dion tried to volume chuck the closer is the exit door.

My post has nothing to do with wanting Dion to chuck. It has everything to do with OKC turning into Westbrook and Durant taking turns playing hero ball when the chips are down. They clearly don't trust anyone else on the team to make a play, and you can't win like that. Now those 2 guys are so good that they can often make it work in the regular season and against inferior opponents. I have my doubts about how they will do against the Spurs.

 

[OttoinGrotto]

This is why I hope he ends up in NY. His skill set is perfect for the triangle, but he needs to learn how to finish with his left hand around the rim regardless of the system he is in.

He could help them, I think.

I still think he lands in Philly. They've got two big problems - with the cap rising, they're going to be nowhere near the salary floor so they have to spend some money, and no free agents want to go there. A hometown guy at a position of need (OK, they're all positions of need in Philly, but they really struggle with guard play) earning his second NBA contract has a lot of upside. He'd occupy a chunk of the money and help them establish at least some trend of bringing in free agents that aren't washed up.

As an aside - if you're going to overpay for a guy, overpay on his second contract. Those are his prime years, he's proven at that point he has at least some place in the NBA, and there's still reason to believe he'll continue to improve.

 

[Gabjon]

He could help them, I think.

I still think he lands in Philly. They've got two big problems - with the cap rising, they're going to be nowhere near the salary floor so they have to spend some money, and no free agents want to go there. A hometown guy at a position of need (OK, they're all positions of need in Philly, but they really struggle with guard play) earning his second NBA contract has a lot of upside. He'd occupy a chunk of the money and help them establish at least some trend of bringing in free agents that aren't washed up.

As an aside - if you're going to overpay for a guy, overpay on his second contract. Those are his prime years, he's proven at that point he has at least some place in the NBA, and there's still reason to believe he'll continue to improve.

Philly is the worse place him especially after his brother murder! I hope he is smart enough to realize that or his the right people in his life to make sure that doesn't happen. Somethings simply aren't about money!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Philly is the worse place him especially after his brother murder! I hope he is smart enough to realize that or his the right people in his life to make sure that doesn't happen. Somethings simply aren't about money!

We'll see if that's a decision he needs to make.

 

[Knicks411]

I have no interest in Dion on the Knicks.

OKC could match any offer on Dion. I don't see that happening though.

 

[skurey]

Dion will need to score 50 a game for OKC to have a chance

 

[NYCorange]

It's not his fault, but the Thunder are getting torn a new one. Wow. This is showing the difference between the elite and the very, very good. The spurs are just so much better coached.

 

[Briancuse]

It's not his fault, but the Thunder are getting torn a new one. Wow. This is showing the difference between the elite and the very, very good. The spurs are just so much better coached.

One day there will be a Greg Popovich statue outside the arena.

 

[skurey]

Looool

 

[djcon57]

Waiters hit a huge 3...but yeah...why in the F is he taking out the ball there. Literal spaz

 

[longislandcuse]

Hahahhahaa.

That was hilarious.

 

[longislandcuse]

Waiters hit a huge 3...but yeah...why in the F is he taking out the ball there. Literal spaz

Honestly I put that on the coach. Dion usually takes the ball out so its not out of the ordinary but why call a timeout and let SA set up their defense with no timeouts left? Not to mention no one was open. That's a recipe for anyone spazzing out. Lucky for Dion he got away with it even though SA still had a chance.