A THUNDER BLUNDER?

Winning is supposed to cure everything. It does not. Winning enough cures everything.

Nobody could argue with Scott Brooks’ record as coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. In seven seasons he took his team to the Western Conference finals three times and the NBA Finals once. This season, despite endless injuries to Kevin Durant, periodic absences by Russell Westbrook and missed time by Serge Ibaka, the Thunder nearly overcame a 3-12 start to make the playoffs.

But they did not make the playoffs. And on Wednesday, the Thunder fired Brooks.

Had the Thunder compiled their 45-37 record in the Eastern Conference, they’d have come in ahead of three of the eight playoff qualifiers. In the tough Western Conference? Ooh, sorry. Thanks for playing, pick up your lovely parting gifts at the door.

General manager Sam Presti went out of his way to say Brooks was not being fired because of this season’s results and that no one could have done better given the injury situation. Meaning? Brooks needed to have done better before.

In 2012, the Thunder won the first game of the Finals against the Miami Heat, then dropped the next four. Neither Durant nor LeBron James had won a championship going into that series. James has since won another. Durant? Still looking. He’s a four-time NBA scoring leader and was MVP last season. Westbrook led the NBA in scoring this year.

So even though Brooks compiled a .620 winning percentage, he didn’t win enough with the players he had. And he was the NBA’s coach of the year in 2009-2010.

“This decision is not a reflection of this past season, but rather an assessment of what we feel is necessary at this point in time in order to continually evolve, progress and sustain,” Presti said. “We determined that, in order to stimulate progress and put ourselves in the best position next season, and as we looked to the future, a transition of this kind was necessary for the program.”

Brooks coached an exciting team. He won. But he didn’t win enough.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman .