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A gutty win for OU over Missouri without Devion Harmon on Saturday evening by a 72-68 count.

As is always the case with OU the game went down to the end with Jalen Hill hitting two clutch free throws to ice the game.

It was a very even game throughout as OU held on to advance to the NCAA second round for the fourth time since 2015. With a win over top ranked Gonzaga the Sooners could make it to a Sweet 16 for the third in that time period.

Austin Reeves led the Sooners with 23 points while Brady Manek addded 19 points.

Elijah Harkless double doubled and contributed 16 much needed points.

Olandis Williams played one of his best games in a while and along with Jalen Hill and Moj Ginbson will be critical if the Sooners want to hang with No. 1 Gonzaga on Monday.

A nice win for these guys who’ve been affected by Covid throughout the season.

This is where it would have been nice to have a 6th or 7th seed because OU is as good as anybody on that side of the draw. Gonzaga will be especially tough without Harmon playing because they’re going to make it tough on Austin Reaves I would think. Gibson has to step up.

Big 12 went 6-1 in the first round with the only casualty being Texas who somehow found a way to lose to Abilene Christian on the big stage after getting that semi-final bye which led to them winning the Big 12 Tourny.

All three teams from Oklahoma are alive in the second round which is extremely cool. Good luck to all three teams.

Virtual Boomer Sooner – YouTube

It was a good day for Mike Boynton’s team on multiple fronts as they overcame a pesky Liberty club on an evening in which Cade struggled from the field going 2-14.

The silver lining was Avery Anderson, Issac Likekele, and MA Moncrief all stepped up and put the Cowboys in a position to close the game with Cade hitting a big three and then getting to the line as he always does at the end of close games.

From the 2:52 mark to the .55 second mark — Cade did his thing scoring nine straight points for the Cowboys at winning time in close games. On the game even despite the 2-14 from the field… Cade still finished with 15 points.

Tennessee got handled rather easily by Oregon State so the Beavers will be O State’s next opponent in the second round and I would think Mike Boynton feels good about this evn if he won’y say it publicly.

The Big 12 went a collective 4-0 on the first night of the tournament, whereas the Big Ten has so far lost Michigan State, Purdue, and Ohio State. Congrats to Oral Roberts for the upset win over Ohio State.

It was nice seeing March Madness back in place. Seeing those Rutgers kids win an NCAA game for the first time in over thirty years was a fun moment.

OU’s best two way player Devion Harmon as of last night was listed out per Covid protocol for Saturday’s NCAA first round game against Missouri.

That’s a tough blow for OU because Harman and teammate EJ Harkless are OU’s two most solid two way players. It’s especially tough for Devion because as a freshamn last season after OU made the field the tournament was cancelled. Hopefully, for Devion the Sooners can get past Missouri and he’ll be declared go to in the second round.

I hate this for Devion because he showed so much improvement in his game this season.

OU tips at 6:35 pm on Saturday while Mike Boynton’s Cowboys tip later today versus Liberty at 5:35 pm.

The playin games were excellent last night. All single digit game with the UCLA Bruins defeating Michigan State in overtime in the last game of the night.

Just a miserable wet, cold, windy day at the ‘ranch’ in Deer Creek, Oklahoma. The mating wild turkies wouldn’t come up from the wind protected low lands. I had to induce Pauli to go outside with a bacon/onion omlette and use the bathroom.

March going out like a lion with three days till the official start of spring.

Even the hockey game with the Rangers vs. the Flyers was a trainwreck rout. Didn’t watch any basketball.

Just one of those days in life.

Tomorrow wil be different though.

Have a nice Thursday.

BTW…hope you had a great St. Patrick’s Day.

A special ST PATRICK’S DAY from Trump, Cuomo, My Pillow, Dave Chappelle & Mitch McConnell – YouTube

37 Lines From “Seinfeld” That Prove We’re All George Costanza – YouTube

I’m slowly but surely decompressing from the Donald Trump presidency on my blog. I’m healing in my own way….day by day.

So many ‘notable’ accomplishments capped off by an asassination attempt on his own sitting GOP vice-president Mike Pence.

I’ve always maintained since the George character lived in Queens that Trump deliberately morphed himself into the George character only with a $420 million trust fund from Daddy.

We have 75 million of these Trump ‘people’ loose in our country who in my view pose a greater threat to American democracy than radicalized Jihadists.

I know at this point it’s pointless to attempt talking to these people—even those you’re related to.

So for these people…from the mouth of George Constanza, ” Just remember .. It’s not really a lie if you believe it’s true.”

Carry on.

The Last 15 Seconds of Every NCAA National Championship Title Game Since 2010 (2010-2018) NCAAB – YouTube

Great video above with the endings of the NCAA Championship Game from 2010-2018.

We forget how many of these games have come down to the last possession with future NBA stars or eventual role players or NBA busts making the plays.

From an Oklahoma City Thunder perspective three things stood out for me:

1 Jeremy Lamb in 2011 was the U Conn Huskies MVP in the tournament and a player everyone thought was a can’t miss wing player in the NBA. Let’s not kid ourselves Jeremy Lamb historically was supposed to be the most important piece Sam Presti got back in the Harden trade. Instead…I would have to describe Jeremy’s NBA career a bust considering the expectations.

2 Kyle Singler on one of the Duke championship teams seemed to be the kind of wing player who would fit the Thunder’s needs when he was one of the key pieces Presti brought back in the Reggie Jackson to Detroit deal along with DJ Augustin. Instead another bust from a blueblood championship team.

I actually met DJ’s mother that game when I was sitting with Fran and Ron Franklin after the Durant game in Norman. I was wearing an ESPN pullover myself and told her I was doing a piece for ESPN Magazine. We had a great talk. A lovely woman. I see where DJ got his his beautiful skin from.

3 Kevin Ollie the former Thunder journeyman guard who succeeded Jim Calhoun at U Conn and won another national championship team as his squad basically had to win the Big East Tournament to get in the NCAA field with Shabazz Napier as their star guard. I wonder how close if at all Kevin Ollie was to becoming the Thunder head coach?

Anyway… tomorrow the four play in games get going–then we get the tournament itself getting started on Saturday.

OU didn’t do itself any favors by dropping to an 8th seed in the same regional as Gonzaga…but by the other token if the Sooners beat Missouri they have nothing to lose in the second round and can play with no pressure. Just have fun and see if they can pull a Buster Douglas win of sorts. Throw some haymakers and see what happens against the No. 1 seed in the tournament.

Unfortunately…O State plays Liberty which is one of those teams who play like Princeton. On the positive side for Mike Boynton is that both K State and Texas Tech play a deliberate style of play so I hope the Cowboys are ready to play this type of basketball. Can’t turn the ball over too much in this game.

I’m ready for March Madness.

(6) Serge Ibaka – Rugged Rim Protector (OKC) – YouTube

The game wasn’t much as the Thunder got blown out in Chicago by over twenty points.

But it was a spectacular night for Moses Brown as he recorded 20 points, 16 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. The only other Thunder player to ever do this before was Serge Ibaka with a 20/15/5 game back when Serge was the stud who made the NBA’s All-Defensive Team three seasons in a row.

I’m not in any way comparing to Moses to Serge because their games are different. I tell you who Moses reminds me of…Jericho Simms of the Texas Longhorns as far as build, mobility, and overall game around the rim on both ends of the court. Or of course his namesake…Moses Malone.

Poku wasn’t pitiful in this one, but he wasn’t much to write home about either. But the kid is making better decisions and that’s a positive.

I really like Ty Jerome as the fourth guard. Presti is building some nice guard depth like the Raptors had on their championship team. Just add Cade and this team of Presti’s would be a legit contender in two years … just about the time LeBron retires.

Kenrich was of course his gritty self as usual and Lu Dort was an injury scratch for the second straight game.

All in all a good night. A loss. Brown and Jerome looked good and we saw some Thunder history on a night when the Thunder were never in the game.

Houston Rockets may not win another game this season… so keep going with the Moses Train is my thought right now.

If could be worse…the Thunder could be the New Orleans Pelicans who choked a 17 point lead to Dame Lillard in the last six minutes tonight in Portland.

As I’ve written on my blog before the Sixers were my favorite NBA team until we stole the Thunder from Latte Boy in Seattle. It started for me with Billy C and Hal Greer as a youngster. My favorite Sixer team of all-time was the 1983 championship team which featured Dr. J, Moses and our own Mo Cheeks. One of my three favorite NBA teams of my life time.

Trivia question…Where did Mo Cheeks play his college ball? West Texas State. I was actually in a beer line one night at the Peake and one of Mo’s college teammates gave me the low down on Mo Cheeks in college.

My other two favorite championship teams would be the 1977 Portland Trailblazers and 2012 Oklahoma City Thunder.

Hope you take the time to watch the video…it contains some genuine NBA history.

With a break until Match Madness begins this weekend it should be a good time to watch Poku, Ty Jerome, and Moses Brown as they continue to show their games after the end of the G League season.

No one at this point really knows what Sam Presti’s plan is in reality, but for filler games between meaningful basketball and hockey games…watching the Thunder this season and evaluating the slew of young players is kind of fun as long as you keep all of this in perspective.

It’s kind of like the G League on steroids with SGA still on the team to give the impression this is a real NBA season in Oklahoma City. This is better than what the Seattle fans got at the end…so no one should really be complaining since we’ve had Cade to watch all season.

At this point… I wish Presti would move Horton and just go with Isiah Roby and Moses Brown the rest of the way and see what happens.

There’s thirty-three games left so why not just see what Poku, Isiah, and Moses can do at the NBA level the next two months without Al Horford round.

The Thunder is at Billy’s Donovan’s sub .500 Chicago Bulls tonight in a game the Bulls need to stay in the hunt for a playoff spot in the East.

EAGLES ‘PEACEFUL EASY FEELING’ BBC 1973 – YouTube

No basketball for me tonight. The Big 12 Tourny wore me out. I might actually watch the Thunder tomorrow night. We got our first vaccine shot today. Life is good. Eating microwave popcorn with Pauli and then sleep.

Get your shots and still be careful. We don’t want to do this again. The Dow and West Texas Crude somehow surging without Trump in place. There’s gonna be alot of liquidity out there to spend in the second and third quarters.

The only game I watched yesterday was Alabama vs. LSU in the SEC Championship Game. But I did listen to the Thunder-Memphis game while working outside with my head phones on. Matt Pinto…nice job, buddy.

This is a major deal for Sam Presti and the Thunder. If Poku can just be a player who hits 36-38% of his three point shots….the Thunder don’t need to fret about tanking and worrying about Cade Cunningham.

I think we know the other parts of Poku’s game are going to be relatively solid, but if this kid develops a consistent comfort zone with his shot selection this is big for the Thunder moving forward. Very big.

Ben Simmons doesn’t shoot like this and he’s considered an All-Star by some in NBA circles.

This is the best I’ve felt about the Thunder all season. Plus, the big kid Moses Brown looks like he’s going to turn himself into a functional big who can rebound and bang on the inside. I might move these guys back up into my top three storyline tiers. This was very encouraging for the Thunder.

I’m always fair at the end of the day. I’m a Libra…that’s the way we are. Keep it up, Poku and Moses and I might start covering your team again on my blog.