Three Game Winning Streak? Thunder at Wolves GDT

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

What happened to all the "Trade Ricky" trolls?

Give it a rest. He's been great as of late, however, that does not excuse him for how bad he was for 20-30 games.

Ricky is a good player. Thibs has misused him and hopefully, Thibs puts the ball more in his hands and less in Wiggs who is a terrible ballhandler.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

Zach is out and honestly, I hope he is out a bit longer as we seem to be playing better without him. Not anti-Zach, but think he or Andrew shouldn't play together much til they learn to play defense effectively together.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

What happened to all the "Trade Ricky" trolls?

Give it a rest. He's been great as of late, however, that does not excuse him for how bad he was for 20-30 games.

Pretty much. He has been amazing these last 3 games but he has been bad most of the season

He was not very good, but let's be honest, SOME of that has to do with the way Thibs used him.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Held the Thunder to 38% shooting. Opponent eFG% is the #1 thing we need to get better at as a team, so that was an outstanding defensive effort.

(it also helped that Westbrook was a little off, but I thought Ricky and the bigs did a pretty good job contesting most of his shots).

[Coolbreeze44]

What happened to all the "Trade Ricky" trolls?

Give it a rest. He's been great as of late, however, that does not excuse him for how bad he was for 20-30 games.

Pretty much. He has been amazing these last 3 games but he has been bad most of the season

He was not very good, but let's be honest, SOME of that has to do with the way Thibs used him.

The difference is he's occasionally making the defense pay with his outside shot. If he can continue to do that (it will be intermittent) it makes sense to have the ball in his hands more. When he's not shooting well, Ricky having the ball makes it too easy on the defense.

[kekgeek]

What happened to all the "Trade Ricky" trolls?

Give it a rest. He's been great as of late, however, that does not excuse him for how bad he was for 20-30 games.

Pretty much. He has been amazing these last 3 games but he has been bad most of the season

He was not very good, but let's be honest, SOME of that has to do with the way Thibs used him.

Don't disagree, I don't think I'm a ricky troll because I have been a ricky fan up until this year. I was fine with Thibs going away from Ricky because the wolves have won a max of 40 games with ricky running the show, 2 different wolves eras of blown games (love, young guys). So I think it is fair to at least question if ricky is part of the problem and should the wolves move away from the ricky offense.

He has played amazing these last 3 games but is it repeatable and will be remain consistent

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

What happened to all the "Trade Ricky" trolls?

Give it a rest. He's been great as of late, however, that does not excuse him for how bad he was for 20-30 games.

Pretty much. He has been amazing these last 3 games but he has been bad most of the season

He was not very good, but let's be honest, SOME of that has to do with the way Thibs used him.

I don't buy that, Q. Thibs has taken the ball out of his hands SOME, mainly under 2:00 and that's what people remember, but not enough for me to give him a get-out-of-jail-free card. Until about mid-December, he had been pretty brutal. The turning point, in my opinion, was that win at Chicago.

Before that game (19 G), he was averaging: 6.7 PPG, 6.4 APG, 3.8 RPG, 1.4 SPG on 36.1 FG%, 22.2 3P%, 79.6 FT% while having a -4.0 +/-

Including that CHI game and since then (15 G), he's averaging: 8.2 PPG, 9.2 APG, 4.1 RPG, 2.3 SPG, 38.5 FG%, 30.6 3P%, 97.7 FT% while having a +2.5 +/-

That's a pretty big swing and to me, how he's been used has been comparable. The main difference is that he's just playing a lot better.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

What happened to all the "Trade Ricky" trolls?

Give it a rest. He's been great as of late, however, that does not excuse him for how bad he was for 20-30 games.

Pretty much. He has been amazing these last 3 games but he has been bad most of the season

He was not very good, but let's be honest, SOME of that has to do with the way Thibs used him.

Don't disagree, I don't think I'm a ricky troll because I have been a ricky fan up until this year. I was fine with Thibs going away from Ricky because the wolves have won a max of 40 games with ricky running the show, 2 different wolves eras of blown games (love, young guys). So I think it is fair to at least question if ricky is part of the problem and should the wolves move away from the ricky offense.

He has played amazing these last 3 games but is it repeatable and will be remain consistent

I have absolutely no problem with people questioning Ricky's game and bringing forth solid arguments. And there is a lot of truth in how his weakness as a shooter/scorer can compromise an offense - he needs to be used in a pretty specific way and even at his best, he can never be a Chris Paul.

It's legitimate criticism to say that Ricky didn't do a great job as a floor spacing, caretaker PG. That's on him that he never developed a reliable long ball. It's also legitimate to say that it's probably not the best way to use him.

I think what Thibs is realizing is that Wiggins and LaVine are simply not great play makers yet and LaVine's injury gives him an excuse to lean on Rubio more.

[worldK]

Held the Thunder to 38% shooting. Opponent eFG% is the #1 thing we need to get better at as a team, so that was an outstanding defensive effort.

(it also helped that Westbrook was a little off, but I thought Ricky and the bigs did a pretty good job contesting most of his shots).

It helps that the thunder are not a 3point shooting team. Closing out on the 3pt shooters is one of our biggest problems on d this year. We did okay vs rockets last game. Nevertheless, it was a great effort and win vs a playoff team.

[Coolbreeze44]

It's also possible Ricky's elbow injury had a bit to do with how he was playing earlier. He seems healthy now and it shows.