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Zeb Joins 4 Thunder Bloggers for an Early Season Roundtable

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Alex Roig of Now That's Thunder Basketball, Royce Young of Daily Thunder, Eli J. Friedman of Thunderous Intentions, and Jay Smith and Andrew Schlecht of Down to Dunk join Zeb of WTLC to provide their takes on some early-season issues.

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Alex Roig of Now That's Thunder Basketball has given me the honor of participating in a 5 on 5 roundtable with 4 of the internet's most esteemed Thunder bloggers. We all answer 5 questions about the Thunder and give our own take. It's interesting stuff, so I highly encourage you to Czech it out.

The full discussion can be found HERE.

Or, you could look below for some of the responses from other bloggers.

1. What has been the biggest surprise of the season for the Thunder?

Alex Roig, Now That's Thunder Basketball: The biggest surprise of the season for me was the quick return of Russell Westbrook. After the news broke that he had the arthroscopic procedure and would be out for the first 4 to 6 weeks of the season, I mentally prepared myself for a month of low scoring, frustratingly inefficient games. And this was before the Minnesota game. But alas, Westbrook returned in the 3rd game like a knight coming back from a victorious battle, and all was normalized in the land of the Thunder.

2. What has been the biggest disappointment so far for the Thunder?

Royce Young, Daily Thunder: Thabo Sefolosha. He's not shooting well, and he hasn't defended especially well either. It's early and things could change, but with it being a contract year, you have to wonder if he's pressing or has it in the back of his mind.

3. True or False - Scott Brooks has taken another step as a coach this season.

Jay Smith and Andrew Schlecht, Down To Dunk Podcast: False. I hope True. Sometimes I watch the Thunder and think, "is Brooks just messing with us by using these rotations?" I think he's actually just processing through different lineups and seeing what guys bring in different situations so that when it's time to matter, they'll have tons of weapons. If this is true, then yes. He's moving into the not remotely like Popovich wizardry range.

4. One to two words to describe the play of the young core off the bench (Reggie Jackson, Jeremy Lamb, Perry Jones III, and Steven Adams).

Smith and Schlecht: Cautiously optimistic. Love what I have seen from Reggie Jackson and Steven Adams. Adams still has a ways to go, obviously, but he is the future starting center and a guy who could actually average a double double (unlike any Thunder center, EVER). Reggie has the potential to be the best backup PG in the league, and looks great finishing games with Russ. I need to see more from Lamb, but so far his play has been decent. Perry is just on the fringe of being in the rotation, and I honestly don't understand why. He's another guy that can come in and hit shots and make a positive impact on both ends.

5.  Any there any trends in the first 10 games that worry you moving forward.

Eli J. Friedman, Thunderous Intentions: Slow starts. Oklahoma City has had this bad habit for a few seasons now, and this year is no different. The Thunder always seem to be in a hole heading into the third and fourth quarter. Westbrook realizes it, as he said, "Most of that is my fault. We’ve got to start games better." Maybe the Thunder are just trying to make the games more entertaining for the fans.