This would be a time I would agree with Russell Westbrook’s father. That being, ‘The ball is your best friend’.
With Steven Adams sitting his second game in a row under concussion protocol, and with both Paul George and Carmelo Anthony in essence playing like a pile of dog shit, Russell Westbrook had no other options left if he wanted to get the Thunder to 15-15 for the season and to 7-3 for the month of December.
Before I get to Westbrook, let’s start with the two superstar additions Sam Presti made to this ball club this summer. Paul George went 3-13 from the field and committed three really bad turnovers. It was horrible. Chief Enabler Billy Donovan said otherwise in his post game presser, but it was horrible. It looked as if Paul George and his agent have already packed it in and are in negotiations with Cleveland, Boston, or maybe even Houston. Who knows for sure? But Paul George was a no show.
Carmelo went 2-6 from the field and for the second straight game had me wishing he was still in New York and Enes Kanter and Doug McDermott were still in Oklahoma City.
But of course…it’s okay for players being paid in excess of $20 million to not show up on the first game of a three game home stand. We know it’s okay because Fox broadcast pom leader Michael Cage explained to all of us the first game of a home stand is really still a road game. Really?
Being a Thunder fan this season is almost unbearable. This is like nothing in the Thunder Era in Oklahoma City. I wish Sam Presti would read my blog because when you have a passionate fan like myself wanting to set this team on fire then you might have a problem fan base wise heading down the road.
The games are depressing to watch. The team is not getting better thirty games in. In all candor, I wish Oladipo, Sabonis, Kanter, and McDermott were still here and the team was just working its ass off, playing hard, and giving hope they could get to the second round of the playoffs this season. I would have been okay with that. Like I wrote on here somewhere…my second favorite Thunder team was the first one, the one which went 23-59. I loved that team because they rallied behind Scott Brooks and as a collective group of young guys worked their asses to become a better team every night.
Back to this game. Russell Westbrook was back to being like reigning MVP. He scored 38 points on an efficient 16-28 shooting night. He just played. He had no other real option given the fact the No.2, No. 3, and No. 4 options got paid for doing nothing in Game No. 30 on the schedule. All three of these dudes should donate last night’s paycheck to a charity. Seriously.
I thought Andre Roberson and Alex Abrines did some nice things on the night, otherwise I gave every other Thunder player a C- or worse on the night.
I’m tired of hearing Billy Donovan make excuses for these guys in his pressers. He sounds more like Mike Gundy explaining why he can’t beat OU than an NBA coach whose job it is to motivate his team to be playing to their full potential and getting better.
Motivation is the No. 1 thing a really good coach does in any sport. Let me quote Vincent Thomas Lombardi on the art of motivation in relation to coaching…
“Coaches who draw a play on a board are a dime a dozen in this business, show me a coach who can motivate his players game in and game out and I’ll show you a coach winning seventy per cent of his games.”
On the night, OKC had 13 assists and yet still won over a Denver team which will probably make the playoffs. OKC won this game for one reason…Russell Westbrook.
I have no idea what Sam Presti is thinking currently. I have no idea if he’s concerned. Given what I hear from Billy Donovan and all the Sean Spicer wannabes on the Fox broadcast…maybe he’s good with all this. I have no idea.
But I know this, I’m not a knee jerker type. But this is some ugly, ugly basketball. At times, unwatchable. I know it’s tough to watch these guys, and I know if this continues Sam Presti will have some problems with his fan base at some point. Oklahoma is a tough ass place to live. It’s not a place for the soft of heart. People here expect their teams to have a work ethic and a sense of pride in their craft instead of playing like a group of entitled pussies. We can handle 23-59, we can’t handled the entitled pussies template. And at the end of the day–if Sam Presti can’t figure it out…I’m pretty sure the fans will.
The Utah Jazz visit Oklahoma City on Wednesday night.
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The year after 23-59. This is what the Thunder fan base is about.