All but the most impassioned fans wrote off the Thunder heading into the 2019-20 season, and seemingly with reason. After All-Stars Paul George and Russell Westbrook departed for greener pastures, even advanced metrics pegged them to miss the postseason; in fact, conventional wisdom had them winning some 30-odd games and finishing in the lowest fourth of their conference. Head coach Billy Donovan was stuck with middling talent even as a trove of draft assets gave general manager Sam Presti leeway to oversee a rebuild. Under the circumstances, pundits foresaw a year of transition.
The predictions were, to be sure, based on sound judgment off sold analyses of the numbers at hand. That said, the predictions were still predictions — subject to validation, or, as the Thunder insisted, repudiation. They had pride, and firmly believed they could, and would, exceed their supposed ceiling. No doubt, it was because they were led by Chris Paul, 10-time All-Star and acknowledged point god, in striving to prove their doubters wrong. Besides, they had nothing to lose, having already been written off and consigned to the dustbin of the highly competitive West.
For a while there, it appeared as if the Thunder could do no better than head to the preordained outcome; they were five games out of .500 a month into the season. Yet, they remained upbeat; only two of their 10 losses were blowouts, with the rest affairs that could well have gone their way. And, true enough, they began to change their fortunes by the turn of the year. As they got to know each other more, and as Donovan learned to maximize his personnel’s skill sets, they became better than the sum of their parts. Not coincidentally, they hitherto managed to claim 17 of their last 22 games when the season was suspended in the middle of March.
The Thunder would go on to finish fifth in the West after the seeding games, a spot higher than their standing the year before, and leaps and bounds better than preseason prognoses. And as if they didn’t have enough motivation to excel in the playoffs, they were scheduled to face the Rockets in the first round. With Westbrook in their sights and Paul determined to reinforce his return to All-Star form, the stage was set. And if their gutsy stands to overcome zero-two and two-three deficits are any indication, they’ll be at their best in the rubber match tomorrow.
Regardless of how Game Seven unfolds, the Thunder have every right to hold their heads high. Instead of blowing up the roster as all and sundry thought best, Presti stayed put. Meanwhile, Donovan showed his mettle as a bench tactician, and Paul underscored the value of self-assurance with unshakable steadiness in the clutch. No matter what happens, they’re already winners.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
