Author: Mike

I like Quin Snyder as a coach. He played at Duke, coached at the University of Missouri before leaving amidst some scandal. Then worked his way back up as a scout and D League coach. I think he’s one of the bright faces in NBA coaching.

Clearly, we have two Thunder teams in Oklahoma City twenty-three games into to this young season. The home version of the Thunder is pretty good at 9-3, the road version is 2-9 and struggling for answers. The three home losses have come to Minnesota with the miracle Wiggins heave, the second half collapse against the Celtics, and the tough one point loss to the Pistons. So, in fairness to the Thunder they could very well be 11-0 at home this season if they had just showed the toughness in those games that they collectively showed tonight.

This was beautiful. This is what Oklahoma City has been thirsting for from their pro basketball team this young season. This was an inversion of sorts with OKC scoring 39 points in the first half, then putting their big boy britches on and winning the fourth quarter 33-14. I won’t put up Little Miss Sunshine videos when I see this type of ball. This is what I’ve wanted to see from this bunch, namely some heart.

Their was plenty of heart to go around, there truly was in that fourth period as the Thunder looked their inner demons eye to eye and made the plays which had to be made after trailing 72-55 midway in the third period.

OKC worked to get the Jazz lead down to 80-68 at the close of the third, then basically landed a fourth period haymaker with lockdown defense, winning the 50/50 loose balls, and shooting 12-21 in the period. This is what Mystery, Alaska thought they would get when Sam Presti went on a shopping spree this summer. This is a glimpse of ‘that’ team 23 games into the season. But we’ve had other glimpses…the Boston first half, the whole game against the new Detroit Piston punk Warriors, and this fourth period tonight. All glimpses into the tunnel of hope as to what this team can become by April.

Russell Westbrook was sublime. This was vintage Westbrook with another triple double. This one read 34 points, 13 rebounds, and 14 assists. This was Westbrook going 12-25 from the field and leading ‘his team. Just so we’re clear…this is Russell Westbrook’s team.

For the third straight game in this winning streak of three… Steven Adams was star worthy. Adams had in essence a double double with 20 points and 9 rebounds. Again, to be redundant, this might be the best stretch of basketball to date in his basketball life.

Paul George was woeful the first half, but turned that around with a high energy second half. PG had 21 points on the night. Carmelo has correctly retweaked his role on this team and has become the fourth option. Melo scored 14 points and grabbed 8 rebounds.

Andre Roberson was all over the floor. He did the little things he always does with apparent glee and joy like some joyful otter at play. He’s Billy Donovan’s best defender, Paul George would be the second best defender.

Jerami was good. This was the most energy I’ve seen from Patterson in awhile. Abrines was…there in his own way…I guess.

Nothing pretty about this win except it showed this team could be a team with character instead of being a team of characters.

Billy Donovan must be sleeping better than the night after the debaucle in Orlando.

OKC plays 17 games in December. 3-0 so far. You look at the entire slate of games in the month and there’s only two games which are road back to backs. This is the month the Thunder have to roll. This is the point they have to build on something every game.

Golden State…what a bunch of punks. Draymond Green and his soulmate Cupcake are making Bill Laimbeer seem somewhat tame. Hope is still in place. We have the good guys, Steve Kerr has the punks.

OKC is now 11-12 and once again on the cusp of being a .500 team. They head to Mexico City to play the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

I’m sure Brian Davis and his sidekick Pepe Cage will be in rare form. I’m sure I’ll be rolling my eyes two minutes into the game.

It’s time for OKC to go on a roll. Why not keep it going in Mexico City?

A win is a win is a win no matter how you slice especially in this season of dysfunction in Oklahoma City as the Thunder held on to win 90-87 over the Spurs inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.

It was a game in which the Little Miss Sunshine side of the Thunder manifested itself once again in the second half after a stellar first half performance. The first half Thunder moved the ball, flowed with a sense of artistic purpose, made shots, and had me feeling pretty good. But then, of course, the other Thunder team then showed up. What once looked like was going to be a comfortable win–became a seat squirmer to the very last shot of the game.

The Spurs sat Leonard, Aldridge, Ginobli, and Parker and yet still had a chance to the very end to win on the road against a healthy Thunder team which should be no lower than the third seed in the West if you only look at rosters on paper.

But still, it’s a win and improves the Thunder to 10-12 and gives the impression that by at least winning this game some baby steps might be taking place.

The biggest baby step is that for second straight game Steven Adams was a major part in the Thunder offense scoring 19 points and once again showing the form from post season play two seasons ago.

Russell Westbrook triple doubled for the seventh time this season, but once again had trouble running the offense during crunch time. But again, OKC has won two in a row against two teams from the West who should finish in the top six once the smoke has cleared after 82 regular season games.

Both Paul George and Carmelo Anthony struggled shooting the ball, so again it’s a good sign for OKC in that two major parts of the team can have an off night and they can still find a way to win a game.

Andre Roberson and Jerami Grant both had good games. So if I were going to give grades on this game I’d go Adams with an A, Westbrook with a B, both Roberson and Grant with B’s. Ray Felton had what I though was another solid performance and I’d give him a B as well. Alex Abrines actually made a three and showed he still has a pulse of sort. But I’m very disappointed with both Abrines and Patterson to date. I expected much, much more form both of these role players…especially in home games. You expect role players to be up and down on the road, but if you want to contend your role players need to be excelling at home.

Again, this group of Little Miss Sunshiners aren’t going to get me to think any great bridge of sort has been crossed in the two December games, but at least there’s an illusion of hope it won’t get worse and we won’t see Billy Donovan dancing and flapping his arms in team huddles.

Like I wrote before, the schedule for OKC in December and January is favorable, if this team has any character whatsoever the feel about this team moving into February should be one of hope and optimism.

I’m already thinking trade deadline. I’m thinking if Abrines and Patterson can’t get their games together something might need to be done. I’m even good with the notion of Josh Huestis being in our top nine players.

Top ten for me right now goes… 1 Westbrook, 2 George, 3 Adams, 4 Carmelo, 5 Andre, 6 Jerami, 7 Raymond, 8 Huestis, 9 Abrines, 10 Patterson.

All in all, a great sports week-end for me. OU advanced to Rose Bowl and the Final Four, the Thunder won two in a row, and Aaron Rodgers is just about ready to start playing again for the Packers.

Utah Jazz in town tomorrow night to face the Thunder.

Winning is fun.

No one gets left behind in this season of dysfunction. No one.

I’m not sure what we saw tonight beyond tonight, but it was a different version of the Thunder we haven’t seen before. This wasn’t Russell Westbrook’s team tonight, it was more of Paul George and Steven Adams taking the reigns with the mercurial Russell Westbrook weaving parts of his game here and there.

OKC finally won a game against a Northwest division foe in beating the Minnesota Timberwolves by a 111-107 count inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The Thunder started great, built a twenty something lead, then gradually saw it dwindle to almost nothing, but held on at the end with a huge Steven Adams putback at the 27 second mark and two big free throws by Paul George at the very end to ice the game.

Oh, it’s not like Wild Thing or Bad Little Dude or the reigning MVP wasn’t in the building, but this was a different OKC team in that Paul George and Steven Adams were the storylines and Russell Westbrook was a supporting character still trying to figure out how to calibrate his game with his new teammates.

I’ll start with Steven Adams. He had a career night scoring 27 points making all 11 of his field goal attempts. You knew it was his night when he made all five free throw attempts and was a Thunder best at +18. This was the Steven Adams we saw glimpses of two post seasons ago when in essence his play commanded the $25 million salary he now enjoys. Tonight was the Steven Adams we thought would emerge last fall but never materialized. This may have been Steven Adams’ best game in Thunder blue. Anyway, he would be my No. 1 star of the game. Nicely done, mate.

Having written all of the above in the previous paragraph, Adams wasn’t the best Thunder player on the floor in this game—that would have to be Paul George who was fabulous and had maybe his best game in Thunder blue as well. While Bad Little Dude was still struggling on a 6-21 shooting night, it was Paul George who calmed the Thunder when they needed calming.

George’s line was brilliant. 36 points, 9 assists, and 4 rebounds. He was 11/11 at the line and his defense was solid. I thought he was the best basketball player on the floor. Period. He played 42 minutes, made the plays when they were needed and steered the Thunder to a win they had to have if there’s any hope in turning this season into something of note in OKC.

Russell Westbrook showed flashes of what he needs to be in the Maurice Cheeks point guard template from the ’83 Sixers, but not enough. I hate to bitch about this, but Russell has to stop jacking threes on nights when other guys are having really good nights. Russell went 6-21 from the field and 0-8 from beyond the arc. There was no need for some of those quick threes, it was a night when Adams and George were scoring at will.

On the night, Westbrook almost tripled doubled with 15 points, 14 assists, and 9 rebounds, but he still needs to be better. What Russell Westbrook has still yet to show me as a basketball player is that he can totally turn himself into a point guard who calibrates his game from scorer to facilitator as the game goes through nuance flow changes. This is the part of Westbrook which has to emerge if he ever wants to win an NBA championship.

Carmelo Anthony didn’t shoot much on this night and that’s a good thing because he had two teammates in Adams and George who were on fire on this particular night.

Roberson, Jerami Grant, and Ray Felton did their usual array of blue collar team things which never go unnoticed by this blogger. I love what they do for the team.

Not much from again from the rest of the bench as Patterson, Huestis, and rookie Terrance Ferguson made minimal contributions. Alex Abrines was a DNP again and Donovan is getting virtually nothing from his two three point specialists in Ferguson and Abrines. Some how, some way, that needs to change. OKC needs something from at least one of these guys because that’s why they’re on the fucking roster. Link on a chain, boys….pull your link.

Nick Collison played two minutes late in the first half and made a quick dish off assist which touched my heart and reminded why I love him so much as basketball player.

OKC was good on the boards, had 28 assists, and was 21/22 from the line. All good things.

Fool me once it’s on you. Fool me twice….. So I’m not going to sit here and write some bullshit about how the Thunder turned a corner and it’s all blue skies moving forward, but on this night in Oklahoma City–Steven Adams and Paul George were good enough to get the Thunder a win over a playoff caliber team from the Western Conference.

I have no idea if this has any carryover whatsoever or if it’s just another cruel turn in this season of dysfunction which seems more like Little Miss Sunshine than Hoosiers, but on this night…I’ll take it and be somewhat grateful.

San Antonio Spurs in Oklahoma City on Sunday night.

I don’t know what to think about these guys.

Billy Donovan seems clueless. What in he world was he thinking in playing rookie Terrance Ferguson just under twenty minutes in Orlando? Not exactly the time to get a shaky rookie developmental minutes. That’s why they have the G League. The Thunder as a team had three assists in the entire second half against an Orlando team which had lost nine straight before playing the Thunder. From a coaching standpoint, it was such an act of overt coaching malpractice it made Scott Brooks look like Red Auerbach. Note to Antonio Daniels…you can use that on the show if you want. No prob.

Russell Westbrook looks like he has an acute ‘chasing Oscar Robertson hangover’. He’s not himself. Russell had an incredible year. He beat Oscar. He won the regular season MVP. He and his wife had a son. He then signed the richest deal in NBA history. But more than anything, he got to laugh at Kevin Durant when Peyton Manning dissed Cupcake.

Then Sam Presti brought Paul George and Carmelo Anthony on board to level the playing field. Both arrived at the OKC airport as if they’d done something heroically courageous in Desert Storm or something.

Through 20 games the Thunder are 8-12 and would miss the playoffs if the season were over today. The team is 2-9 on the road and losers of seven straight away from home. It’s more damning if you look closer, the Thunder are 3-9 versus Western Conference teams with the wins coming against Dallas, the Clippers, and the Warriors. So, basically what that means is one fourth of the way through the season and this team of stars with four players making in excess of $20 million has won one game against a Western Conference team which is going to make the playoffs. One game. Go figure that win came against the Warriors.

So that either tells one of several things…1 Sam Presti made a chain of disastrous decisions this summer, 2 Billy Donovan should still be coaching college basketball, 3 Paul George isn’t really as good as people thought with his pro career being in the soft East before this season, 4 Carmelo Anthony shouldn’t be considerer an All-Star caliber player any longer, or 5 Russell Westbrook is struggling and needs to refocus his game.

Would I fire Billy Donovan? No…because it serves no purpose at this juncture of the season. Would I retain Billy Donovan at the end of this season…let’s see how it goes till the trade deadline.

What needs to happen?

Russell Westbrook has to lead like the reigning NBA MVP instead of loafing during segments of games.

Paul George needs to prove to me he’s a real star who can play at a high level against Western Conference competition night in and night out.

Carmelo Anthony needs to be a more efficient scorer with his touches in what should be a role where he’s an offensive oriented power forward. I mean right now, to be honest you, I think the Thunder would have been better off keeping Enes Kanter in that both players struggle on the defensive end.

Steven Adams needs to play like a guy who’s being paid $25 million.

Actually, I’m okay with Andre Roberson, Jerami Grant, and Ray Felton. They’ve been fine for the most part.

Alex Abrines and Patrick Patterson have been acute disappointments. Rookie Terrance Ferguson isn’t ready yet. Josh Huestis and Dakari Johnson have done some decent things in minor roles.

But we know who the top seven dudes on this team are…Westbrook, George, Adams, Anthony, Roberson, Grant, and Felton. A good NBA coach should be able to make something out a team with those seven guys being the top seven. I’m not talking about winning a championship, but I’m talking about at least finishing in the top six of the West.

In the month of December, OKC plays 17 games of which 11 are at home where the Thunder are 6-3. The January schedule is friendly as well. This is very simple–like I’ve said this is a star driven league, not a coach driven league for the most part. Billy Donovan is a prime example in that he seems reluctant to ever say a tough love word. So knowing this, it seems clear to me Russell Westbrook and Paul George as professionals have to take ownership of this basketball season in Oklahoma City.

Tonight would be a nice place to start.

The lone bright spot to date in this wretched Thunder season has been Antonio Daniels on the Fox regional telecasts. I love him. The rest of the telecasts are total shit with the Nitwit Twins doing the play by play and color, but Antonio Daniels has been the voice of blue collar fans like myself who are tired of this shit ass effort by Sam Presti’s poser Super Team twenty games in.

Daniels along with Leslie McCaslin’s provocative Lotus Woman dresses have been the only reasons I can stay awake to the conclusion of these games.

I’ve never booed the Thunder. I’m not a booer. But I have lower level tickets for some games in December and these motherfuckers better pull their heads out of their asses or I might be setting a precedent or something.

Fox needs to remove Michael Cage from the booth. I can’t imagine even eighty-year old women buying into his homer bullshit much longer. Put Antonio Daniels in the booth with Sparky Davis and give the Thunder fans what they need right now…namely a voice.

Antonio… I love you, bruh.

Again, for the most part the NBA is a star/agent driven league. Stars and their agents drive this league. Sure, there’s Pop, there’s Steve Kerr, and there’s Brad Stevens. But for the most part, the other coaches in this league don’t drive the bus.

I started with this paragraph only because it’s the only reason I wouldn’t fire Billy Donovan on the flight home from Orlando to Oklahoma City.

You could fire Billy Donovan right now. You could do it, but it wouldn’t make any difference regardless of what you think of Billy Donovan as an NBA coach.

The three guys who should be driving this team…aren’t. Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony must have thought this was going to be a cakewalk of a season. They must have thought they could just flip a switch and become a Super Team whenever they felt the need. There have been several flashes of genius, but for the most part it’s been twenty games of heartless, walking through the motions basketball.

For the first time in the Thunder Era in Oklahoma City, I wanted to boo the Thunder. This team was boo-able in Orlando on Wednesday night. I came within an inch of booing them, but then thought to myself it’s not worth it—they apparently don’t care. The diva lab Pauli, with her head on my thigh, looked deeply into my eyes as if saying, “Don’t do it, Mike. They’re not coachable. Don’t let them drag you down like this. Don’t let them define you.”

This wasn’t the second night of a road back to back. This Thunder team hadn’t played a game since their equally embarrassing performance in Dallas on Saturday night.

Orlando entered this game on a nine game losing streak and arguably as bad of an NBA team as the Dallas Mavericks. But none of that mattered as the Thunder stunk it up in every way imaginable in losing 121-108.

Aaron Gordon had 40 points and 15 rebounds. You would have thought he was Karl Malone playing against this feeble excuse of a Thunder basketball team.

I’m not letting Russell Westbrook off the hook for those last six minutes of the fourth period when he scored 20 of his 37 points on the night.

This is Russell Westbrook’s team. This is his deal. But if he doesn’t play hard for 48 minutes then why should anyone else.

After the game, Westbrook slumped in a chair and appeared to be near tears. Distraught with the turn of events. Then my eyes followed Paul George where he was laughing with and hugging DJ Augustin. Billy Donovan in his post presser said he found it unfortunate his team didn’t share the same vision of the team as he did.

Really?

Are you fucking kidding me?

There is no leadership on this basketball team at the present. Not from the reigning MVP. Not from the coach. Not from the big free agent pick up this past summer.

And when you don’t have ‘real’ leadership… you have the ugly piece of junk which we’re currently witnessing in Oklahoma City.

Minnesota Timberwolves in Oklahoma City on Friday night.

Let’s do the score first. OKC’s reeling Thunder dropped to 8-11 on Saturday night by losing to the now 5-15 Dallas Mavericks. The final score read 97-81 and this loss might be especially revealing in that these Mavs without any rim protection just basically throttled the Thunder. This wasn’t a case of OKC choking on another second half lead, this was more of a case of the anemic Mavs outclassing OKC for most of the game.

I’m not stunned by the loss, but somewhat surprised by the margin. Sure, it was the second night of a road back to back as Brian Davis and Michael Cage chirped throughout the Fox telecast, but this was a Mavs team without rim protection. And, yet, OKC for some reason was outscored 36-24 in the paint and I’m to assume Coach Billy Donovan never came up with the thought maybe the Thunder should attack the rim at some point in the game. Maybe Donovan and staff figured Salah Mejri protecting the rim was just too much to encounter or that Dwight Powell and Dennis Rodman will at some point be mentioned in the same breaths.

Of the Thunder’s losses, this is by far the worst because OKC wasn’t really in this game and never gave the impression they were going to win this game.

The fork in the road post the victory over the Warriors has happened for sure, but not in the direction Thunder Nation had assumed it would take. OKC is in a fork headed south which is stunning considering all the potential with this roster.

Is Billy Donovan in over his head or is this group of players just uncoachable as a whole?

I don’t know. But for some reason with Salah Merji and Dwight Powell serving as Maverick rim protectors the Thunder decided to jack 35 three point attempts of which 13 were made.

Russell Westbrook scored 28 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and had nine assists. Paul George had a brutal shooting game going 1-11 and finished with 2 points. Carmelo was blah scoring 15 points. Steven Adams, who’s getting paid $25 million this year attempted 8 shots. I guess OKC just figured Salah Merji and Dwight Powell were too much.

As a team, the Thunder shot 36%. Got outscored 36-24 in the paint. Had 24 assists vs. 17 turnovers-which isn’t horrible. Got outrebounded by a team with Dirk as its starting center by a 43-39 margin and made the Thunder look to be in tanking mode versus a franchise which plunged deep into the luxury tax this season. I told you Rick Carlisle is a smart coach.

I have no idea whatsoever what to write about these guys presently. I’ve tried Al Pacino pleading for scratching, bleeding and clawing. I’ve tried poetic narration by Robert Redford on the parallels between life and trout fishing. I thought the fishing parable might motivate Paul George, instead he’s stunk since the Warriors win. Go figure.

Is this the bottom of the abyss or does it get worse? Can it get worse? Will it get worse before the Thunder as a unit opt for a Twelve Step Recovery strategy? Fortunately, for me, the Sooners are streaking at 11-1 heading into the Big 12 Championship Game. My favorite team in the East—the Sixers are a compelling young team to watch. I need these things right now to divert my glare from the Thunder play.

So…let’s hope this ‘performance’ was rock bottom. Let’s hope the players body language doesn’t go completely south. Let’s hope Billy Donovan can get a grip on some of this and present a coaching voice the team will listen to. Hope, hope, hope — that’s pretty much what I’m clinging to right now…the hope this Super Team doesn’t completely meltdown between now and Christmas.

OKC in Orlando on Wednesday. The Thunder are now 2-8 on the road and this team needs a win in the worst way.

It’s all about hope heading into Orlando.

Evidently this Thunder team doesn’t have meaningful film sessions with their team like our hockey teams used to have. When you sit down as a team it’s all there for you to see. OKC leads the NBA in the fewest passes made. Granted, some of that is due to the amount of rebounds Westbrook grabs, but until this team learnes to pass the ball for 48 minutes they’re going nowhere.

Basketball, like hockey is a game of movement, weaves, poetry in motion and should look like a tapestry of sort. One or two guys holding the ball is not a tapestry of movement–more it’s a sign of team with no winning soul.

Take a look. It won’t kill you. It’s not against the rules. The basketball shouldn’t just be your friend, it should be all five guys’ friend. Pass the ball.

Ostensibly, the reason Scott Brooks was fired and replaced by Billy Donovan was Sam Presti wanted an offensive system installed which got away from Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook playing two against five in the offensive zone. Some called it Hero Ball. And in the end, it was Hero Ball which doomed the Thunder in the Western Conference Finals as Hero Ball reared its ugly head as the Thunder choked on a 3-1 series lead against the Warriors with Durant and Westbrook forgetting what got them the 3-1 series lead.

Some bad habits die hard and the Thunder for the eighth time this young basketball couldn’t hold on to a double digit second half lead in blowing a 15 point third quarter lead to the Detroit Pistons in a 99-98 home loss.

So…gone for the moment is the notion the Warriors win would be followed by a performance which would indicate a bridge had been crossed. I watched part of Billy Donovan’s post game presser and puked. He was okay with the shot selection, the offense, and pretty much seemed unfazed. He also didn’t seem to like my suggestion of Raymond Felton playing alongside Russell Westbrook some more to improve the decision making in the last six minutes of the fourth period.

Here’s the offense Billy Donovan was okay with. It was an offense which generated 98 shots and 22 assists. Of those 98 shots, 32 of these shots were three point attempts of which the Thunder made eight on the night.

Let’s delve a bit deeper. Of those 98 shots, 70 were collectively taken by Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony. Anotherwords, of 98 shots taken by the Thunder, only 28 were taken from players not in the Big Three Club. MOre revealing…of OKC’s last 50 shots attempted, 41 came from the Big Three Club.

Russell Westbrook was brilliant on Wednesday night, he wasn’t brilliant tonight against the Pistons. Westbrook alone took 29 shots and made 10. From beyond the arc he was 1 for 10 and took one three too many as with five seconds left and down by one, he heaved a tough deep three when he could have gotten much closer to the rim for the game winning attempt. Billy Donovan thought it was good shot. I beg to differ.

So…here the Thunder are back exactly where they were two nights ago when they were two games under .500 and apparently not any smarter, not any more poised in holding second half leads, and firmly embracing a new form of Hero Ball which is 3 vs. 5 instead of the 2 vs. 5 template which got Scott Brooks canned.

Until this Oklahoma City team learns that they have to move the ball for 48 minutes, they’re not going anywhere in April but home early. Teams which don’t pass the ball are like dogs that play in the street, namely–you don’t see them around very long. I heard a Putnam City high school coach say that once, but it sounds more like something Abe Lemons might have said during his OCU hay days.

So…here the Thunder are at 8-10 headed to Dallas tomorrow to play against Rick Carlisle’s rebuilding Dallas Mavs. Carlisle is a good basketball coach. A smart dude. His 2011 Dallas team won the NBA championship with a roster less talented than the one Billy Donovan is trying to coach currently. Even with the Mavs struggling, what you’ll see tomorrow night is the young Mavs moving the ball. This is not a complex concept. Same thing in hockey, you move the puck. Touch, touch, touch…finish.

Tomorrow morning when I read the usual OKC media suspects give their respective takes on the Thunder’s woes–it’s fairly simple move–the ball and play 5 on 5 basketball.

Again, note to Russell Westbrook…even Kobe trusted Big Shot Bob Horry. Bad Little Dude until you learn this you’re not winning anything from a team standpoint. I love your heart, but……

Thunder in Dallas tomorrow night. On the road this season the Thunder are 2-7.

Big Shot Bob Horry–even Kobe trusted him. Please watch and take note, Russell. I’m assuming Presti wanted Carmelo to be your Big Shot Bob. Deferring here and there is not a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of being a championship player.

Who should take the last shot?