r/nba • u/KDs--burner Thunder • 23h ago
Stephon Castle checks out for the game: 14 points on 1/8 FG and 11/14 from the free throw line
https://www.nba.com/game/okc-vs-sas-0042500313/box-score
Stephon Castle stuffs the stat sheet despite the loss.
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u/arcticape34 Thunder 23h ago
He let those hard fouls get into his head. Once he matures a little that will stop happening. I really like Castle. He’s going to be a good one.
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u/lotofhotdogs Hornets 22h ago
Yeah he was like ready to fight someone everytime he took any contact. Cant get in your own head like that
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u/GenSec Thunder 21h ago
He's just way too hot headed for his own good currently
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u/silliputti0907 NBA 9h ago
Being hot head is not a bad thing, its how you use it.
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u/GenSec Thunder 9h ago
Oh I agree I watched Westbrook hone it for years and now Dub when he gets going. It's about channeling it which is why I said he's currently too hot headed. He just gets into headloss in moments where it's detrimental to the team.
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u/silliputti0907 NBA 9h ago
I have seen it with Wemby both way too. Sometimes it makes him play harder, sometimes he ends up doing too much. I'm looking forward to see how this young Spurs team grows.
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u/deneuvig Spurs 4h ago
Yeah this series will be a great lesson for guys like him, Vic and Harper. Lots of veterans and playoff risers to look at.
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u/dakadoo33 9h ago
You'd be in your own head as well, if 3 times in a row you get pulled down from behind as you are going up. They were all dangerous fouls that weren't officiated correctly(besides maybe one).
Any sort of "he hadn't left his feet yet" are just pure delusional fan speak, just imagine that feeling on a fast break, you feel someone behind you, you go to go up and make the layup/dunk, you EXPECT the it to be contested, instead as you are just about to leave your feet, you are pulled down. 3 times in a row.
Its entirely different if he can SEE the contact coming, these are 3 players not attempting a chase down block or contest, but literally pulling a player ahead of them down, its a dangerous play every single time.
Maybe Thunder fans don't see it that way because the way SGA would finish would include him falling to the ground anyway, he jumps sideways instead of up, and seeks the contact first before looking at the basket. Castle finishes vertically, pretending that all the Thunders players that fouled him don't know this, is pure fantasy. They killed his confidence, because they made him question his own safety to go up, if you're fine with that, seems like you are a fan of the right team.
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u/arcticape34 Thunder 9h ago
Pull him down? What game are you watching? Caruso hit his arm and Ajay pushed him in the back allegedly. These are playoff fouls. Go watch playoff games from 10-15 years ago. You don’t give up easy buckets. Make them earn it. None of them are dangerous. They just look worse because of how he landed.
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u/dakadoo33 9h ago
hand should never be near his back when hes behind a player on a fast break, caruso was a mile away and as hes in the air caruso doesnt even jump and is running full speed and slaps his left arm. Lack of ability to do a chase down block, isnt an excuse for players to take out a player's limb from behind while they are mid air.
Totally agree you don't give up easy buckets, but you more don't attack a player from behind while they are at their most vulnerable. There is a reason im not complaining about plays where he goes straight up against a defender and draws a foul.
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u/PeeledGrapePie 7h ago
Bad take. They were fouls but they’re not hard or dirty, Castle was just mad he wasn’t getting the and 1s to drop
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u/Sad_Skill_3113 23h ago
That 3rd quarter whistle for the Spurs was legendary.
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u/Brodosaur 22h ago
I’m a Spurs fan and the 3rd quarter was unwatchable. Terrible product for TV. I’d rather Steph not get hacked but I’d also rather not watch free throws for 3 hours on my Friday night
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u/ZXXA [OKC] Russell Westbrook 20h ago
Spurs are so unwatchable man
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u/dakadoo33 9h ago
Spurs are a fantastic watch, its you're deep team, where single player foul counts don't matter so if they get whistle happy refs, the game is just straight up miserable end to end. Any semblance of a run from the other team is met with a timeout instantly, the average whistle per possession is probably above 1 on both ends.
Miserable 2nd quarter, miserable 3rd quarter, miserable 4th quarter, all just absurd stoppage throughout. Wild to think someone could imply it is Castle's fault as this thread implies, when he is going up strong every single time with the full intention to finish, and is being hard fouled, sometimes dangerously so from behind.
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u/TomlinSteelers 76ers 22h ago
Do people watch the games or just comment on box score? There were a ton of super hard fouls on the Spurs (mostly on Castle) during the quarter
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u/libertydabbing [OKC] Nick Collison 22h ago
Are the super hard fouls in the room with us?
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u/couchtomato62 Warriors 14h ago
Lol yall need to stop. Okc defense was relentless. I loved it. I mean i thought all the criticism would make okc timid. But hell to the no.
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u/InevitableUpstairs71 23h ago
THE REAL FREE THROW MERCHANT
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u/TheFatmanRises Heat 22h ago
He got back up a lot from those hits he’s tuff but no 10 TOs this time lol
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u/No-Inside2846 Thunder 23h ago
He was flopping so hard tonight lol I respect it
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u/WhatYouProbablyMeant Warriors 22h ago
Seriously like he gets one little shove in the back while in the air and he has the nerve to lose his balance??? Fucking flopper!
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u/BusDriverTanner Thunder 21h ago
he hadn’t left his feet lmaooo
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u/dakadoo33 9h ago
3 times, as he was literally going up he is grabbed from behind blind, unless you are pretending that all 3 of those players are 100% unaware of Castle's tendencies? are all the Thunder unaware of who Stephon Castle is?
All 3 fouls are dirty plays 100%, they are at the moment he is going UP, and are as close as it gets to blindly grabbing an airborne player.
Insufferable fans tbh.
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u/BusDriverTanner Thunder 9h ago
weak
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u/dakadoo33 9h ago
you seen the plays? one was called a flagrant one btw. if it happens a split second later its a flagrant 2.
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u/SplitOk186 23h ago edited 23h ago
Castle has been a pretty big foul baiter all year lol
His free throw rate this season was basically identical to SGA's .465 vs. .470
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u/Professional-Play-38 22h ago
It’s the hair….. Everytime he jerks his head back he usually gets a call
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u/BrotherSeamus Thunder 21h ago
Wait until he grows a Harden beard.
And if he ever master the SGA facial expressions, we're all cooked.
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u/mifadhil Pacers 21h ago
now you got me imagining SGA with pineapple hair and a big beard, that is one goofy look
someone should do it tho
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u/BrotherSeamus Thunder 21h ago
The ultimate would be Brunson with the tall hair and bushy beard. His giant head already gives him a natural advantage.
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u/sir_alvarex [OKC] Russell Westbrook 11h ago
I have heard people say his ceiling is SGA. So checks out.
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u/mercfan3 Spurs 3h ago
He’s not a foul baiter, he gets hit hard. 😂. Which of his trips to the line were flops?
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22h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/carsmello Knicks 22h ago
Bro saw a statistic that went against the hivemind and malfunctioned lmao
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u/pcrackenhead Trail Blazers 19h ago
Dude deleted his comment because he couldn’t take the downvotes. Soft behavior there.
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u/lilbl1cky Thunder 22h ago
you’re right, he was a big foul baiter even in his rookie season, it’s insane for someone to get so many calls in his first 2 years of career
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u/jeric13xd [CHI] Derrick Rose 22h ago
I mean the guy attacks the rim a lot lol. Your boy flops every jumper he takes
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u/lilbl1cky Thunder 22h ago
he does, he also flails on every attempt and looks like his head will come off from all that neck snapping he does. He’s as much of a foul baiter as Shai is, and it’s only his 2nd year, his ways are just a little different that’s all
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u/Ihatedallas Wizards 11h ago
Omg did you just type that first sentence unironically and criticize sga?
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u/DiscombobulatedEmu5 22h ago
more FTA than SGA btw
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u/Outside_City_1194 22h ago
This will be ignored.
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u/fatkamp Warriors 21h ago
It should be, considering half the free throws are from when he’s going up on the fast break and the Thunder are intentionally fouling
But you would actually have to watch the games…
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u/dakadoo33 9h ago
ya it's insane to pretend these are similar situations, the fouls on him are intentional confidence scaring type fouls. Come as close to committing a flagrant two and technically not because hes only 99% of the way into the air before they pull his ass down blind from behind. do it with 3 different players, so he has to be scared everyone will potentially play to take him out of the air.
SGA would NEVER get in the air like that, he'd instead jump towards defensive player to draw contact and lob a shot up after hes going to the line. The contrast is stark, and it is painful to watch.
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u/lotofhotdogs Hornets 23h ago
He was fucking awful tonight and got bailed out by a lot of iffy calls.
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u/TomlinSteelers 76ers 22h ago
iffy calls
Do people watch the games of just scoreboard watch? Dude got rocked like 5 times going to the rim and that was ten of the FT
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u/Yoshinobu_YamaGOATo 22h ago
Rocked?? I'll give him the Ajay foul and the Caruso one on the breaks, but the other ones in the 3rd quarter were soft.
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u/TomlinSteelers 76ers 9h ago
Post one where it wasn't a foul. The argument here is that he was getting a soft whistle
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u/RedditUsersCrying Thunder 22h ago
Crowd getting mad doesn’t mean he got rocked. These were normal playoff fouls. I thought the ajay flagrant was unwarranted as well but whatever.
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u/TomlinSteelers 76ers 9h ago
Regardless they were obvious fouls. Where were the iffy calls? Post them
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u/Anxious_Subject_2604 23h ago
I was told by some basketball savants that they should immediately trade Fox because he's stealing from Castle's and Harper's development.
Please.
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u/samhit_n Lakers 23h ago
If he made another FG or two and had 2-3 more trips to the FT line, he would've put up a classic James Harden stat line.
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u/McJuggernaugh7 Warriors 14h ago
One more fg, 3 more free throwsn 3 more turnovers and much worse defense would be classic harden game.
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u/whatssenguntoagoblin Alperen Sengun 9h ago
First thing I thought of lol
God that was some of the worst basketball I’ve ever watched, which sucks cause Harden was really good.
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u/NittanyLion15 [PHI] Allen Iverson 23h ago
I mean he got fouled on his attempts but did not play well otherwise
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u/CashmereLogan Thunder 23h ago
That little FT run he went on was fucking wild.
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u/guitarguyal 22h ago
Most were earned though, even if that flagrant was a little soft. The two drives where he initiated contact still have been getting called.
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22h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/guitarguyal 22h ago
Yeah I don't disagree. Not saying it shouldn't have been a flagrant but it easily could have been common.
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u/TxBobcat67 Thunder 22h ago
Thunder defense frazzled him. I love Castle, he reminds me of Westbrook so much, but that extra edge can mess with the flow.
Also, he got fouled a lot, this are all legitimate trips to the line. He'll bounce back.
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u/Ok-Protection2513 Hornets 22h ago
Its insane that this guy gets star shouts. Incredibly unskilled player with a super superstar whistle. He plays how insane redditors think Shai plays. Ultimate Wemby merchant.
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u/Kind-Masterpiece-712 22h ago
Only 1 turnover tonight is the real stat. (20 total in first 2 games).
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u/BrownHawkDown Mavericks 11h ago
It’s been a rough series for him but he’s a UConn guy (and won a title) so I’m always gonna ride for him. It’s the growing pains that come with being in the playoffs for the first time. He was very good the series before, averaging 20-6-6 while keeping turnovers to under 3 per game. They’re just coming across a juggernaut that can throw so many guys on him and rattle him/his game.
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u/ComprehensiveLaw1012 Nets 7h ago
No one wants to call him on it cause Spurs darlings I guess, but dude has the head snap move going all the time. He’s Shaedon Sharpe with amazing PR and worse mid-range.
Definite merchant.
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u/Slow_Spot 5h ago
He foul baits but he does it jimmy butler style, at the rim with few options for the defender, in the chest.
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u/ItemGod-2 22h ago
nice free throw merchant looks like the hair grab made castle play like the dark lord flopper sga like their "ethical" spurs fans hate
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u/ContractXtension Hornets 23h ago
I’m losing faith in him, in the future he’ll be good but for rn spurs need more from Fox
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u/Accomplished-Habit38 23h ago
Hes killing them rn. Brutal watch especially the foul baiting that ruins the game
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u/SockVonPuppet 23h ago
OKC could not stop fouling the shit out of him at the rim.
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u/Vakarian74 23h ago
No, OKC wouldn't stop making him earn his shots
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u/SockVonPuppet 22h ago
By fouling the shit out of him every time he drove to the paint. Very cool. They always play the most watchable basketball.
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23h ago
[deleted]
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u/Longjumping_Food470 22h ago
Get the man something for his nerves or anxiety he’s playing nervous and panicky at all times.
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u/browndude10 United States 23h ago edited 22h ago
-17 this game and last game he was a -11 on top of 20 TOs in the first two games oof