Thunder Mid-Season Review
On August the 5th of last year, I wrote a season schedule prediction, making a call on each individual game in order to come up with a final W-L record for this year. It certainly wasn’t scientific by any means, because the NBA schedule had been released the day before the article. I simply surveyed the 
rosters, past history, and coaches; I then made a call on the game. I thought that this was important to Thunder fans because this season was one of mystery. James Harden was a major offseason addition, along with some other roster tweaking that went on. It was assumed that this team would make strides under “2nd year” coach Scott Brooks, but one expected this… well, almost no one.
I’m not going to say that I was Nostradamus, because there were plenty of other fans out there who were very confident in the likelihood of a good season. I’ll simply say that this team is doing exactly what I hoped that it would, even if there were quite a few other people who maybe didn’t share my optimism. Just for kicks and giggles, I wanted to repost a few of the comments that the article received when it was posted on a Thunder message board before the season. I enjoyed reading them, so I figured you all would as well.
45-37?
I think that’s an optimistic win total. I wonder what this analysis is based on…hunches? Coin toss? Last year’s won/loss records?
You never know though. Maybe they go 50-32. Maybe they go 12-70.
by ElectricPencils on Aug 5, 2009 1:00 PM CDT
What the … my goodness this is ridiculously optimistic
The analysis looks like it’s just random crap put together by someone assuming we’re going to destroy almost every sub .500 team and win a few close games against top tier teams. This, riding on Durant + Westbrook + Harden. I think the poster forgot about all the shortcomings that need to be fixed before we start looking at 45 wins as some predicted average. Yeesh — can we give negative recs (j/k)?
by manifestus on Aug 5, 2009 2:08 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
Wow
a lot of hate, but really I clicked on the fanpost thinking it was
one of the ‘normals’ making a nice breakdown of the season, oh well.
Speaking of, shouldn’t somebody do that?
by rickpidero on Aug 5, 2009 2:49 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs
hhmmm
i think OKC will surprise us ……will not see a playoff birth….not this season, but 2010? yes we will see OKC in the playoffs! i truly believe that they got something in store for us all….this is a special group you guys, it does not take a rocket scientist to see that it works…almost there, just need a more reliable center and OKC is one of the playoff bound 7-8 seeds guaranteed!
by NELLY808 on Aug 8, 2009 9:25 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
I re-predicted the rest of the season, given any potential roster changes or team quality depreciation. Given my predictions, I still believe our final Thunder record will be 45-37. That is after careful consideration of each game and matchup, so clearly I still feel pretty good about predicting it that first time around. With any young team, and especially a ridiculously talented one with great coaching, you have to expect gradual improvement. I’ve also taken that into account through the second half.
January (2-3)
February (5-6)
March (9-7)
April (5-3)
The second half of the Thunder schedule will be tougher than the first, but the plan is for this team to be better. Next week, I will take one more look back at that first half and give some mid-term player grades, analyze the statistics, and sum up many of the successes and failures of the first half of the Thunder season. Stay tuned!
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