Month: November 2016

Not a good two day pre Thanksgiving west coast swing for the Thunder. On Tuesday night they lost to the LA Lakers for the first time since March of 2014. Not much better tonight in Sacramento as the now 6-9 Kings led wire to wire and did not lose a single period against the suddenly reeling Thunder.

The final score read 116-101. As I sat there watching I never had any feeling Oklahoma City was going to win this game because they had no answer whatsoever for Demarcus Cousins who double doubled with 36 points and 13 rebounds.

Darren Collison had 21. Rudy Gay had a nice second half for the Kings. Ben McLemore made a couple of shots and basically that was enough to beat a Thunder team which all the sudden is 2-7 in their last nine games.

Same story for the Thunder as Russell Westbrook had a line of 31-11-9 with only three turnovers. Westbrook got to the free throw line and lived there, but it didn’t matter because he didn’t get much of any help from the rest of his team excluding perhaps Victor Oladipo and Andre Roberson. Oladipo had 18 points and six boards. Roberson did some nice things with a 10 point, 5 rebound game, but you need more than this.

OKC’s bigs had no answer for Demarcus Cousins and it was too easy for him. Usually, in past games against the Kings you could always count on a Cousins meltdown as the Thunder would once again beat the bumbling Kings. But on Wednesday night, the Kings clearly were the better, more poised team and it was relatively easy for them.

For this OKC team to have any chance they have to grind defensively and this team has quit grinding defensively. OKC’s best games have been against the Clippers and Rockets when the defensive effort was there. The defensive effort isn’t there presently.

OKC needs another player in a bad way. Someone Westbrook can lean on and who can lessen some of his load. Opposing teams are sloughing off of Roberson and basically taking away the paint from Westbrook and Adams.

When the season started it was obvious OKC would need something from either Singler or Morrow coming off the bench at the small forward position. Both have been massive underachievers to this point. Alex Abrines evidently can only play decent in home games. These three guys were being counted on to produce some three point shooting for the Thunder, but as a whole have been nonexistent. Add Roberson’s inability to shoot and the lack of Thunder spacing is a problem.

Russell Westbrook can’t win games by himself. That’s not going to work. Billy Donovan and Sam Presti need to figure something out. Cam Payne will help when he gets back, but OKC needs a small forward who can actually make a basket.

The once 6-1 Thunder are now 8-8 and reeling against bad teams. Not a good sign.

OKC is in desperate need of some players stepping up and getting a win in Denver on Friday night.

Nick Young not only traveled before he shot the game winner, he intercepted the initial pass from his teammate Lou Williams for whom the pass was intended.

For the first time since March of 2014, the LA Lakers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in a basketball game. But then again, if you removed the 27 foot game winner from Nick Young where he obviously traveled at least twice the streak would still be intact.

OKC did still have five seconds left of which they didn’t use wisely as a double teamed Russell Westbrook had to hoist a 30 footer with two seconds left. Not a good look. For a reason I don’t understand, Andre Roberson was actually on the floor in those last five seconds even despite the fact he can’t shoot a basketball which in turn allows a defense to double up.

Final–LA Lakers 111-OKC Thunder 109. Both teams now stand 8-7 and have one game remaining against each other this season.

In retrospect, OKC didn’t lose because of the no call walk by Nick Young or the horrible last shot by Westbrook, but rather the fact they couldn’t defend the three point shot against the Lakers. LA was a torrid 14-27 from beyond the arc as OKC consistently lost their men on the perimeter.

Russell Westbrook single-handedly brought the Thunder back from a 14-point fourth period deficit with 17 points in the last frame going 4-7 from beyond the arc after not making a three in the previous three periods. OKC came all the way back and took a 109-108 lead on a Steven Adams put back of a Westbrook miss before the late game winner by Young.

Westbrook didn’t triple double, but had another impressive line with 34-8-13. Steven Adams had a career high scoring night with 20 points while adding 6 rebounds. Victor Oladipo added 14 points, but didn’t get enough shots. Andre Roberson and Domas Sabonis were unimpressive.

Off the bench, Enes Kanter had 10 points, but struggled catching the ball cleanly. Joffrey Lauvergne had another very solid game with 12 points and 7 boards. Jerami Grant had an excellent first half with 9 points on 4-5 shooting, but never shot the ball again in the second half. Anthony Morrow missed his only three point shot and is still in search of his first made three of the season. Alex Abrines didn’t do much either to help the cause.

OKC had 29 assists which is excellent, but as the game came down the stretch the ball didn’t move much from beyond Russell Westbrook.

OKC drops to 8-7 and is now 2-6 since it’s 6-1 start. The ball needs to move more in late game situations. It can’t just be Russell Westbrook against the world especially if Andre Roberson is on the floor in late game offensive situational possessions. Steven Adams should be touching it more especially since he’s turned himself into a 90 per cent free throw shooter who makes clutch free throws.

Second night of a road back to back in Sacramento tonight. Thunder need a win. It’s that simple.

The Lakers are 7-7 coming off a loss to the Bulls on Sunday night. They come into tonight with a two game losing streak, but to date this season have been a pleasant surprise. Here’s first year head coach Luke Walton post game presser following the Bulls loss. His voice sounds much more like Phil Jackson than his father Bill Walton.

Indiana point guard Jeff Teague led the Pacers to 115-111 overtime win over the Thunder on Sunday evening inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. The Pacers were playing without star forward Paul George, but it mattered little as the Pacers jumped out fast and led most of the evening with the Thunder starting slow from the gates.

A Russell Westbrook three with two seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime, but once the extra session began it was Jeff Teague as the Pacers pretty much were in control the entire five period.

Too many careless turnovers in the first half for the Thunder. Twelve of them in all as the Pacers not only benefitted from points off turnovers, but a big night at the free throw line as well where they shot 24-31 as a team. Jeff Teague was 9-9 and Myles Turner was 10-11. OKC was 13-18 from the line as a team with Westbrook only getting to line five times. OKC had 101 shots from the field, whereas the Pacers took only 89 shots for the night. Rebounds and assists were pretty much even, but a big storyline was Indiana outscoring the Thunder by 11 points from the line.

Russell Westbrook carved out his fifth triple double of the season with a line of 31-11-15, but it took him 34 shots to get his points going 13-34 from the field. Conversely, Teague got his 30 points on a 9-16 night.

OKC’s starting five as a whole didn’t play good enough is the storyline. Victor Oladipo was the only other starter in double figures with 14 points. Not nearly enough from Adams, Roberson, and Sabonis against a team which was without its best player.

Enes Kanter was OKC’s second leading scorer with 16 points. Jerami Grant did some nice things. Lauvergne and Abrines were okay. OKC’s bench wasn’t the problem.

In reality, an ugly game for the OKC starters as Oladipo’s shifts were altered somewhat due to backup point guard Semaj Christon not being available with a concussion, but that can’t be an excuse. As with the Orlando game, this was a game OKC really needed to put in the win column at home. These two games might be two we look back on come April as the Thunder are trying to get the highest seed possible.

OKC drops to 8-6 and head west for a Tuesday game against the Lakers who aren’t of the dumpster fire variety so far this season. The Lakers are 7-7 under Luke Walton and playing much better as a team without Kobe Bryant.

As not only a passionate fan of the Thunder, but the NBA as a whole, I’ve completely gotten over the Durant leaving for Golden State thing. Fact is, when the Warriors come here in February for the first time with Durant, I plan on writing something called ‘Why I’ll Never Boo Kevin Durant.’ It might end up even reading like a smooshy love letter, but I refuse to boo him.

I have to admit if Westbrook hadn’t signed his extension I would not be enjoying this season so much. And, yes, Westbrook will become an unrestricted free agent in 2018, but seize the moment is what I say.

Westbrook is going to make a serious run at a regular season MVP and a run at becoming the millennials version of Oscar Robertson. This is some pretty heady NBA basketball history for those who need nine different metric stats trying to explain +/- to themselves.

Would we have seen this completely unabashed version of Westbrook if not for the departure of Durant to the Oakland Super AAU team? Doubtful. Now we get to see Westbrook as his own man assimilating Oladipo and Adams into his own core three with Russell being his own CEO where we don’t have to listen to the ad nauseum bullshit of how many shots Westbrook takes versus how many Durant takes via the narrative of the national media.

I will admit though, in a just NBA historical world our Thunder should have gotten a player in return from Golden State. Part of me wonders mightily how a Thunder starting five of Westbrook, Klay Thompson, Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo, and Domas Sabonis might look. C’mon, Jerry West, don’t be such a pussy. Send us Klay Thompson. Seems fair to me.

But even as the Thunder is constructed this season will not lack in meaning, entertainment, or historical NBA significance because Russell Westbrook is all in.

In closing, my plea to fellow Thunder passionates is to sever yourselves from the Durant exit and to embrace the Year of Westbrook.

Kobe Bryant called Russell the closest thing to himself in this millennial era of the NBA. He even went on to describe Westbrook as one Bad Little Dude several years ago before Westbrook elevated his total game to this new Super Westbrookian level. Michael Jordan described Westbrook as a very special kid. Not bad endorsements to have for your brand and not a bad thing for this rogue blogger in Deer Creek, Oklahoma.

Know this and know it well, what we’re seeing and living with Russell Westbrook is very special. Perhaps historical. Enjoy the ride. Carpa diem. I know I’m going to savor every single game of it.

Let’s just say for now I’m putting this on my blog and I’ll return to this thought at a later time.

As an American, I’ve never seen our country more divided. Perhaps, the immediate post Watergate era might compare. But what I’m seeing now runs even deeper. We’ve reached the point where literally two countries exist within the borders of the United States. No one listens to one another. The middle ground within our country has evaporated. Conquer and destroy has become the political norm.

I find it stunning Steven Bannon will be serving as perhaps the most important aid to Donald Trump in the White House. It doesn’t matter which party you belong to the thought of Bannon formulating policy should be repugnant to you as an American. After taking step after step since the presidencies of JFK and LBJ to make America a more inclusive nation, it appears white America has given the okay to return our country to the 1950’s or perhaps even further back.

There was no mandate to do any of this. Donald Trump lost the popular vote by almost two million votes. The only possible mandate I can decipher is like Bernie Sanders said way back when ‘we’re all tired of hearing about Hillary Clinton’s damn e-mails”. America became weary of the Clintons. The mandate was Hillary Clinton offered nothing inspiring as a presidential canidate. The slogan ‘It’s My Turn’ wasn’t nearly enough.

So as this NBA season moves along I think I might interweave some of the Trump Phenomenon with the Thunder season for the simple reason the NBA is predominately a black professional sports league of three-hundred and fifty of the most gifted athletes in the world and we’re seeing history being made. I find what the coaches and players say very interesting. Unless, I missed it, I’ve yet to read much of NBA Commissioner Adam Silver’s thoughts on all of this even though he enacted a lifetime ban of LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling for racist comments.

Of all the people I’ve listened to discussing the election of Trump, Gregg Popovich’s comments most align with what I feel about all this.

On Wednesday night against the Rockets, we got a glimpse of what the Westbrook-Oladipo backcourt can look like when they play in balance with synergy making each of their games better. Tonight inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena, we collectively sneaked another look at what could become one of the league’s best backcourts both offensively and defensively. For whatever it’s worth, OKC took care of the under talented Nets 124-105 to improve to 8-5 on the season.

Against the Rockets, Westbrook and Oladipo went for a combined 59 points. Tonight it was another high level performance by the backcourt duo as they went for 56 points. Even more to the point, both were extremely efficient with their shots.

Westbrook triple doubled going 30-11-13 on a 13-21 night. Oladipo mini tripled doubled with 26-5-6 while hitting 11 of his 17 shots. In his last two games, Oladipo is a combined 23-35 for 55 points. Not to be too much of Captain Obvious here, but when Victor Oladipo brings this level game to the arena with Russell Westbrook, the Thunder have a chance to be pretty good. When he doesn’t bring his ‘A’ game, Westbrook has to do too much and the Thunder lose their ball movement becoming too one dimensional.

In all, the Thunder had six players in double figures. Steven Adams had a solid night with 15 points, 6 boards, and two blocked shots. Enes Kanter scored 13 points in thirteen minutes. Jofferey Lauvernge had his Thunder career high scoring 13 points on a 6-9 night. Alex Abrines had an alpha shooting flash in the first half hitting three bombs in a row then went fizz in the second half.

A decent game by Andre Roberson even though he was somewhat plagued with foul trouble. Domas Sabonis had a tough shooting night, but as always if you watch his game closely he does a lot of little things right which help the team. My bullishness on Sabonis remains intact.

The Thunder improve to 8-5 and in these last two games have gotten themselves pointed back in the right direction.

Not really much to add because the Nets are team with not much overall talent which the Thunder should beat at home and did.

I’m anxious to see Cam Payne added to the mix of guards on this team. Westbrook, Oladipo, Roberson, and Payne will be a compelling guard foursome to watch as Christon’s minutes become sparse when Payne gets a clean slate of health. You would think Billy Donovan could throw some small ball lineups out there which could hang with any team in the league running the very mobile Adams as the lone big. I’m hopeful Payne is only a couple more weeks away from returning.

Very solid season so far for the Thunder, take away the disappointing home loss to the Orlando Magic and they’re 9-4 and one of the surprise teams in the league.

Next up, Indiana Pacers at the Peake on Sunday evening.

Victor Oladipo Media Day Interview–September 23, 2016