The whole night was surreal. It truly was and not just basketball wise.
I went downtown with two of my nephews to celebrate their birthdays at the German beer hall Fassler’s Hall. We figured it would be a racous basketball crowd. It did turn out to be raucous, but not because of the Thunder.
We got there ten minutes before tip and found a wall to wall sea of a fervent Drew Edmonson supporters attending a political fundraiser/speech. The place was packed, but not with basketball fans. This did not daunt me, instead we went into the midst of the crowd and listened to Drew Edmonson talk of why Oklahoma ranks near dead last in everything in which you don’t won’t to rank near dead last in. He spoke of the Step Up Oklahoma program which was basically started by Republicans who were so embarrassed by the eight years of Mary Fallin in Oklahoma that even they couldn’t remain passive in ultra red Oklahoma. Ultra red Oklahoma which by the way is the only state in the Union in which Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton didn’t carry one single county in three different presidential elections. Only Oklahoma of the fifty states can lay claim to that dubious distinction.
It was an interesting speech. A good one actually. Edmondson urged Oklahoma to turn a new leaf. To smarten up and become a better state. Good luck with that. I thought about going up to him and telling him of my plans in Washington Park in Denver, but didn’t have the heart.
So then the speech ends just right at tip and the place pretty much empties. I kid you not. These people had no interest in staying to watch the Thunder in what is usually the best sports bar in downtown OKC to watch an NBA game.
So the three of us just basically sit at the bar for the next two hours drinking beer and delighting in the German cuisine. It was like owning Fassler’s Hall for a night.
Typically, the Thunder come out and loaf thru the first half. They give up 67 points in the first half to a Clippers team which will probably be a team fighting for the 8th seed sometime in early April. Since I’m owning the bar on this night…I’m dropping F bombs all over the place.
Fuck them. Fuck this. Fuck Billy Donovan. And fuck Clay Bennett for allowing Sam Presti to hire Billy Donovan.
My nephews smiled and ignored me. They played the nephew role to perfection and allowed their crazy uncle to rant in public.
So then the most interesting thing happened. That being, the Oklahoma City Thunder pulled their collective heads out of their asses and actually played 24 minutes of basketball the right way.
Imagine that…24 minutes of smart basketball by this group.
Go figure.
I’ll start with this. Russell Westbrook actually looked like Maurice Cheeks for these twenty four minutes. He ran like the wind. He played defense like he did back at UCLA before he became a clothing brand. He hustled. He didn’t chuck stupid three point shots. He showed what he’s capable of when he really wants to bring his lunch pail to the arena.
THIS IS THE RUSSELL WESTBROOK I’VE BEEN WAITING TO SEE!
And here’s the thing…he’s teammates followed his lead. Funny how that works, eh. When the superstar decides to bring his lunch pail the team follows.
Paul George was excellent. Adams was good. Jerami Grant as a starter was the Jerami Grant I expected to see this season even though he did attempt three threes. Patterson and Schroeder were excellent off the bench.
And Terrance Ferguson pretending to be Andre Roberson played 26 minutes and was +34. Are you kidding me? Terrance Ferguson was +34 against an NBA team.
On the night, OKC decided to put it’s sado-self abusing tendencies in a sack and play the right way. The Thunder only attempted 17 threes and made 9 of them. They shot 51% from the field and for the first night this season didn’t embarrass themselves at the free throw line. They ran like the wind. They turned the Clippers over time after time in a third period which gives Thunder Nation some hope their team isn’t the dumbest team in the NBA.
So the Thunder finally win by something like a 128-110 margin and pull themselves all the way up to the 11th seed at 2-4.
Little steps. Little victories. It could be worse. We could be Houston Rockets fans. Enjoy the Carmelo Anthony experiment, Houston. You stupid motherfuckers. Good luck with that. If only the Warriors would sign Carmelo the rest of the league could hope someone other than the Warriors would win the Championship this basketball season.
So here I am…sitting at my Thunder rogue blog keyword and for the first time this season thinking maybe there’s a chance Russell Westbrook has decided he might want to be more like Maurice Cheeks than a millennial fashion brand.
We’ll see how long this lasts.
The Thunder are in Charlotte on Thursday night to play Kemba and the Hornets.
We’ll see.