Author: Mike

OKC’s Thunder enter this afternoon’s game one-half game behind the LA Clippers for the No. 5 seed in the West. During this four game winning streak the Thunder guard tandem has clicked as one and showed why they could be one of the best guard tandems in the league heading into post season. Russell Westbrook is the MVP of the league, but for OKC to continue to trend their game upwards–Victor Oladipo is the gear which gives them the chance to be relevant in post season.

Usually, I’m pretty much absorbed with the NCAA Tournament, but not yet this basketball season. Maybe when we get to the Sweet 16, I’ll be interested. I don’t have time–I’m watching Russell Westbrook chase Oscar Robertson and basketball history. I’m a purist, this thing Westbrook is doing shouldn’t be taken lightly. He’s been phenomenal this basketball season and goes after No. 35 on Saturday afternoon at the Chesapeake Energy Arena against the Sacramento Kings.

For those who don’t know the Westbrook story this might be an interesting watch.

Anyway, Thunder going for their fifth in a row on Saturday as Russ goes for No. 35. Who has time for the NCAA Tournament?

For the fourth straight game, Victor Oladipo and Taj Gibson started together and for the fourth straight game the Oklahoma City found themselves in the win column while playing its best basketball of the season at just the right time of the year.

With the 123-102 win, the Thunder find themselves sitting at 39-29 and peaking with a relatively manageable schedule on the immediate horizon.

It was a surprisingly easy win for the Thunder as they led almost coast to coast. It was so easy Russell Westbrook notched his 34th triple double of the season with 3:56 left in the third period. It was so easy OKC led by as many as 32 points at one point in the mismatch. It was so easy Russell Westbrook didn’t need to play in the fourth period.

It was another stellar Westbrook line with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 16 assists. It was vintage Westbrook with only 17 shots attempted. It was a no sweat game which found seven different Thunder players scoring double figures and 33 assists for the Thunder. OKC shot 53.4% from the field and 56% from threes going 14-25 as a team.

For the fourth straight game, Victor Oladipo was excellent as his line was 23 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.

With the return of Oladipo and the insertion of Taj Gibson into the starting lineup the Thunder have turned themselves into a legitimate basketball team which doesn’t just stand around watching Russell Westbrook.

OKC has fourteen regular season games remaining and suddenly finds itself within a game of the Clippers and the No. 5 seed.

With the two straight road wins OKC improves to 14-20 on the road and with the addition of Gibson appears to be a much calmer, poised group.

To reach the 50 win plateau, OKC would need to close out the season going 11-3. With Kevin Durant’s knee injury and LaMarcus Aldridge’s heart situation all the sudden the West doesn’t seem as stacked against the Thunder as it was not that long ago.

Is this Fool’s Gold or has the Thunder turned a legitimate corner?

If they continue to play like this then it’s not crazy talk to visualize fifty wins.

The Thunder host the Sacramento Kings on early Saturday afternoon which should provide great odds for Westbrook’s 35th triple dub and the Thunder’s 5th straight win.

Playing the right way and winning are fun things. It was a very fun night for the Thunder and its fans in Toronto as the hope of a turner corned makes every Thunder fan think maybe there could be more to this season than just Westbrook chasing Robertson.

The OKC Thunder have a big game tonight in Toronto. It should be an excellent game to watch as we get the opportunity to see Serge Ibaka in person for the second time this season. Plus, we get the opportunity to see if the Thunder can beat a quality team on the road with a real chance to make a statement of sorts.

Hope the team has a chance to see the city and all which Toronto has to offer. It’s one of North America’s most beautiful and welcoming cities.

I haven’t said much about Caligula Lite in a few days. It gets somewhat old chronicling a pathological liar, so I’m making a genuine effort to pare down Trump’s various perjuries. Besides, the Thunder are playing well and I’m having fun following the team now that they’re healthy.

Joe Manchin, a Democratic U.S. Senator from West Virginia was on Morning Joe this morning. I like Manchin and think him to be a decent man with a very tough job of representing a state which went 72% for Trump even though the GOP health care plan would devastate many people in the state.

This was a good interview and I hope it gives somewhat of an overview of what the GOP health care plan would do to New Confederacy states like Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee.

Anyway, good interview. Mika (love her) having fun with the Kellyanne Conway microwave thing made me smile. What a dipshit. Wonder if Trump has taken her furniture shopping yet?

Mika bans Moonbeam from Morning Joe.

Granted, the Thunder ended their seven game road losing streak against the woeful Brooklyn Nets, but it was a much needed road win and OKC’s third win in a row with Victor Oladipo and Taj Gibson together in the starting lineup for the third straight game.

It was a fairly entertaining game as Jeremy Lin kept the Nets in the game the first half as the score was tied 62 apiece at the half. But the Thunder took control in the second half finally wearing down the worst team in the Eastern Conference.

The ambience inside the Barclay Centre was in a word…fun. A good deal of the crowd was much more into supporting Russell Westbrook’s 33rd triple double of the season rather than cheering for their feeble Russian owned team. When Westbrook grabbed his 10th rebound the crowd gave him an enthusiastic roar which was the first time this has happened on the road to this extent during this Year of Westbrook, not to mention several loud MVP chants emanated for Bad Little Dude as well. Westbrook’s official triple dub line read 25 points, 10 rebounds, 19 assists. An extraordinary assist night for Westbrook as he put an extra 9 assists in the bank for a night when his teammates aren’t making shots. It was a fun night.

Bad Little Dude II was excellent as well as he scored 21 points and was 3-4 from beyond the arc. To me, Victor Oladipo is the piece which takes this Thunder to a higher level when he brings his A game. Oladipo is the player who has to pretty much be there for Russell Westbrook on a nightly basis if the Thunder want to contend in this season’s post season tournament. As Oladipo goes, I think the Thunder will go.

Taj Gibson started his third straight game and OKC is 3-0 in those games. Gibson was rock solid in this game scoring 17 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. He’s a significant vet upgrade over rookie Domas Sabonis and his calming effect on the team is obvious. He’s Perk with hands and a shot. Nice move by Presti on the deadline.

Three other Thunder players scored in double figures in this game. Enes Kanter with 17 points and 5 rebounds was excellent after starting the game very slowly. Alex Abrines added 13 points making some key threes, and Steven Adams chipped in 11 points.

All in all, it was a fun, memorable night for the Thunder as the they got a much needed road win while Russell Westbrook notched his 33rd triple double to pull within eight triple troubles of Oscar Robertson with fifteen games still remaining.

OKC improves to 38-29 overall and 13-20 on the road.

The Thunder play another road game on Thursday night when they visit the Toronto Raptors in what should be an excellent basketball game between two teams who want to have a say as this season steers towards April.

If you get the chance, be sure and read Tim Keown’s ESPN Magazine piece on Russell Westbrook: A Man Apart (3/13/17)

I’ve watched Westbrook since his last season at UCLA. It’s been an absolute marvel to witness the evolution of Westbrook both on and off the court. As a very serious Thunder fan and a somewhat casual Thunder blogger, I feel comfortable saying Keown pretty much nailed it with this piece.

Excellent piece on both the player and the man. If you get the chance, the read is worth the time. An absolute must for the serious Thunder fan or NBA fan in general.

OKC plays the Brooklyn Nets tonight, but the focus with sixteen regular season games is Russell Westbrook’s two-fold pursuit of Oscar Robertson’s 41 triple doubles, and a neck and neck MVP race with former teammate James Harden. Harden was simply magnificent on Sunday night as he outdueled LeBron in a Rockets win over the Cavs. In essence, Westbrook is involved in the two most interesting storylines of this NBA season.

As a fan here in Oklahoma, it has been fascinating watching the gradual evolvement of Westbrook, Harden, and Durant. Three different players, three different styles, and three different people.

Both Westbrook and Harden played their high school ball in Los Angeles and grew up with Kobe being their favorite player. Westbrook ended up at UCLA, while Harden ended up at Arizona State. Both ended up on Sam Presti’s radar in Oklahoma City. Westbrook is idolized in Oklahoma. Harden is still loved here. Durant will forever be tarnished for leaving to go to Golden State.

I thought it might be a nice place in the season to hear Kobe speak on Westbrook as Robertson’s record is within sight with sixteen games left.

The Thunder play the Brooklyn Nets on the road Tuesday night. Russian billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov owns the team and his run as an NBA owner has been shaky at best. The Nets currently own the worst record in the NBA with a 12-53 mark. He doesn’t appear to know what he’s doing as an owner, yet he’s a very interesting guy with a likeable personaility.

Prokhorov per Forbes has an estimated net worth of $9 billion dollars and made a his fortune in the metal industries. In 2012, he threw his hat into Russian political circles and challenged Vladamir Putin for the presidency. Prokhorov started his own liberal party and basically ran his campaign being a harsh critic of Putin, but only received 9% of the vote.

Like many in Russia who have challenged Putin, Prokhorov became the target of various financial investigations for purported tax violations after his political challenge of Putin.

When Prokhorov initially purchased the Nets, his stated goal was to win an NBA championship within a five year window. Right now, just making the Nets once again competitive would be a major accomplishment considering how bad the team is currently

But still, he seems likeable and always interesting. Here’s a look back at Prokhorov’s run for the Russian presidency in 2012 from a Russian perspective.

It was a good day to be inside watching the Thunder beat the Utah Jazz for the second time in two weeks. The weather outside was a cold, drizzly mix which made it a perfect day to enjoy a Thunder win over a playoff team. Granted, Gobert and Favors didn’t play at all, but still there were some encouraging signs at what this Thunder ‘could’ still possibly become if they can steer clear of anymore injury downtime to key players.

Russell Westbrook. Our once Bad Little Dude now turned Kobe registered his 32nd triple double of the season and Wilt is now in his rear view mirror. With sixteen regular season games remaining, Russell needs nine more triples to tie Oscar, ten more to pass him. OKC has seven home games remaining–so you’d think those seven are doable from an assist standpoint given the disparity on how this team plays on the road. Three of the road games are certainly promising triples given they’re going to be played in Brooklyn, Phoenix, and Orlando. So, I’d say he has a real chance if his teammates make their open looks.

What a difference Victor Oladipo makes for this team. Let’s call him Bad Little Dude II for the time being. Oladipo was wonderful in this game as he scored 22 points and made his threes. In these two games since his return, the Thunder are 2-0 versus top four teams in the West and Oladipo is a combined 7-11 shooting threes. But it’s more than just shooting. He’s a complete two zone basketball player who can help this team in various nuance ways. A good sign–Oladipo played 38 minutes in this game and led the Thunder in minutes played. I would expect heavy minutes from BLD II as we get near the playoffs. Heavy minutes because of what he needs to be for this team to beat a Utah, a Houston, a San Antonio, or even now a very much struggling Oakland AAU Super Team.

Taj Gibson. Let’s talk Taj Gibson. I thought he was equally wonderful in this ball game. He scored 15 points, was efficient with his opportunities and there’s that vet physicality he provides which Domas Sabonis can’t yet provide because he seriously needs to hit the weight room this summer. In hockey, it’s called commanding your ice space. In basketball, it’s called commanding your floor space. Taj Gibson commands his floor space– kind of like Perk, only Taj can catch the ball and actually shoot when he needs to. It appears he and Russell are beginning to understand where his offensive sweet spots are how to get him to be an effective contributor to the offense.

It appears for the time being Semaj Christon is once gain the backup point guard as Norris Cole was DNP for the second straight game. My thoughts on this are obvious, I don’t want either one of them on the floor in the playoffs if Donovan can stagger Russ and Victor in such a manner. We’ll see. I hope neither has to play much though.

OKC is now 25-9 at home this season, 12-20 on the road. You can’t do much in the playoffs if you can’t win on the road. OKC’s final nine road games are all winnable if some players not named Westbrook step up and grow up. Six of the nine road games are against sub .500 teams.

Here’s what I’m saying, it’s time for Oladipo, Adams, Kanter, Gibson, and Roberson to become road warriors and grow up as NBA players.

Step up and grow up. That’s the Thunder mantra on Tuesday night as the Thunder play the Russian owned Brooklyn Nets. Don’t think I’m not going to spin some Trump-Russian shit in that one.

Winning is fun. Let’s go Thunder!

My favorite Westbrook interview. Family is everything.

My son named his lab Perk, so I still think of Perk the basketball player quite often actually. I miss him. He was fun. Here’s Perk the player as a pup with good knees.