Fuck Donald Trump. I haven’t thought much about the feeble white ass motherfucker in almost a week. We’re within 48 hours of the Thunder season starting and I can’t be sidetracked with his bullshit any longer. It’s starting to feel like basketball season for me. Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone on Sunday and is done for the season. So—I’m all in on the Thunder, the OU Sooners, and LA Dodgers. Why the LA Dodgers you may ask? Because my son and I go to their AAA games in OKC and have seen quite a few of these guys play…even Clayton Kershaw on a rehab assignment.
No more Caligula for me on here. If I feel the need, I’ll just paste a Greg Popovich interview on here. I don’t need that grief. Fuck the douchebag.
Pretty simple. Offensive firepower and positional versatility in that he can play the 3, the 4, or even the 5 in a small ball lineup. He’ll bring elite offensive skills to a team which couldn’t score the ball enough last season. Plus, he’ll bring a ring hungry vet at the age of 33 who knows his championship clock is ticking. It’s been awhile since Carmelo has had any championship relevance in the league and that has to be sting for a guy with his skill set. So, in theory, Carmelo should bring quite a bit to this Thunder team. Some of these millennial blogs will go on forever citing this metric bullshit and that metric bullshit. But to the point, what Carmelo brings to this Thunder team is an extremely skilled player who doesn’t want his pro career to be labeled as a failure from a team standpoint.
If you follow the Thunder you know the Theory of Sustainability ushered in by GM Sam Presti. Anotherwords, how do you sustain a contending NBA franchise in a small market such as Oklahoma City?
So far so good. As the Thunder set to kick off season No. 10 in OKC, Presti has shown he can build a team through the draft, sign Russell Westbrook to a contract which will keep him in OKC for six more seasons, and lure elite players such as Paul George and Carmelo Anthony to join Westbrook in pursuit of a championship ring.
To me, the top two GMs in the league are Presti and Bob Myers of the Golden State Warriors. One single stinking game changed the balance of the league–that being OKC’s Game 6 loss to the Warriors which ultimately swayed Durant to switch teams. Yet, as I’ve watched all of this, Presti never wavered. He made a series of moves last season which enabled the acquisitions of Paul and Anthony this summer.
Sam Presti is a smart dude. When you observe his moves you need to be thinking ahead of the move which he’s going to make down the road with the move he just made.
Example: last year he traded Serge Ibaka for Victor Oladipo, Domas Sabonis, and Ilyasova. He then traded Ilyasova for Jerami Grant early in the season. Then this past July, he traded the two young promising players –Oladipo and Sabonis for Paul George.
Classic Sam Presti. So if you follow the original move, in essence, Presti traded Serge Ibaka for Jerami Grant and Paul George.
The Presti model in OKC has changed. It began with the draft model, but now with Westbrook secured in OKC for the remainder of his prime in Oklahoma City–the model has changed to attract vet stars to join Westbrook in pursuit of a ring.
It feels like this has happened in a flash. I still pinch myself knowing it only takes me seventeen minutes from my front door in Deer Creek, Oklahoma to get to the arena which has been one of the most vibrant venues to watch a game in the NBA these past ten years. It’s my Mystery, Alaska.
During this time, OKC has made it to four Western Conference Finals, one NBA Finals in 2012, and has only once missed post season since the 23-59 first season. Not once since that first season have the Thunder been a sub .500 team.
Kevin Durant won numerous scoring titles, had a 40-50-90 season, won that memorable regular season MVP and an All-Star Game MVP as well. Time will heal things with Durant and the city I’m almost certain, because in the end we know it all started for Kevin Durant right here in OKC and for us as well. It was here his game developed. We were the ones who saw a skinny kid who could barely bench press a hundred pounds turn into one of the very best players of his generation. That didn’t happen in Golden State, it happened in Oklahoma City. He’s one of the most complete two way players in the league. Kevin Durant can now play defense, but for those of us who were watching closely his defense improved every season in OKC. That didn’t just start with the Warriors. He can do it all. He started all this and was a major part of Oklahoma City’s growth. It’s why I will never boo Kevin Durant even though he broke my heart. I’m grateful I got to witness it firsthand.
There was James Harden. We saw him become the premier Sixth Man of the league. With his departure he’s become one of the top ten players in the entire league who now carries the Houston Rockets on his back. We saw both of these players begin their careers in Oklahoma City and accelerate their generational careers in the smallest market in the NBA. Green Bay may have Aaron Rodgers but they never had Aaron Rodgers, Barry Sanders, and Larry Fitzgerald all at the same time. Pause and think about what OKC had in those years with Durant, Westbrook, and Harden playing in Oklahoma City. Game 6 goes the other way and the Splash Brothers aren’t the dynasty they are today. History can be funny that way.
And of course, there’s Russell Westbrook from UCLA. The kid whose high school coach had to do some talking to get him an invite to an elite Atlanta high school camp. The kid who UCLA coach Ben Howland said would have to wait for an available scholarship to open. The same kid who the local ‘college’ media in OKC said would never be a legit point guard in the league. The Cali kid who stayed and will be the face of this franchise for at least the next six years.
So here we are entering the 10th season and Russell Westbrook just signed the richest deal in league history. He just finished an MVP season and the successful pursuit of Oscar Robertson’s triple double record. But this season, the first since Durant’s departure, Westbrook has some help on this roster with the additions of Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. This is a roster most rate as somewhere between the second or third best roster in the thirty team league. So entering the tenth season the notion of sustainability for the team in OKlahoma City is still a viable mantra.
There is much to be excited about as a Thunder fan. People who don’t live here don’t really understand the love affair this city/state has with the team. It’s more than just winning basketball games, it’s about what this franchise has meant to the city and why it’s good to always remember what made Oklahoma City such a unique destination for an NBA team. Why people here from every background have a place in their heart for the Thunder. Age, sex, race, religion, and politics are all weaved into one montage of community love for the team….kind of like the Green Bay Packers.
I still get goose bumps when I watch this video. You’d probably have to be from Oklahoma to understand, but it still touches me when I think back on how all this came to be in Oklahoma City. Truly a remarkable story. It defines what it means to be an Oklahoman. You get knocked down, then you and your community pull yourselves up, and that’s exactly what happened here.
Oklahoma City got knocked down as hard any city in American history can claim from an act of domestic terrorism, yet as one we pulled ourselves up. The work continues still. Additions to the river venues and the construction of a Central Park are taking place currently. Downtown Oklahoma City in no way resembles what it looked like before the bombing.
Make no mistake about it, this is an oil and gas city—but even through the downturns of the industry this city continues to evolve with the OKC Thunder being a central hub of what’s transpired here.
If you don’t live here you really can’t understand how much it meant to this city when Russell Westbrook recently extended his deal which now guarantees his place as the face of the franchise and in reality the city. This doesn’t happen much in cities across the NBA landscape that much anymore. There was Reggie Miller in Indiana. There were Stockton and Malone in Utah. Kobe in LA. Dirk is in Dallas.
It’s extremely special to us as a city that Russell Westbrook decided to continue his NBA career in Oklahoma City. It gives the city continued hope and it may sound corny to people from cities like LA, New York, Houston and Chicago, but love and hope is exactly what this basketball team infused into a city which needed both.
Any way you can in college football you try to win football games. Such was the case Saturday in the Red River War as OU hung on to the very last play of the game to prevail 29-24. OU improves to 5-1 and keeps its post season playoff hopes alive.
It was a good week for OU as Clemson, Auburn, Wasinhgton and Washington State all fell from the ranks of the unbeaten. OU climbed back into the No. 9 spot in the Sunday AP poll. Interestingly, Ohio State, which lost 31-16 to OU in Columbus, is No. 6 in this week’s poll. Doesn’t matter. If OU runs the table with a road win over Ohio State in hand it’s hard to imagine the committee not including the Sooners in the four team playoff.
OU did blow another first half lead, but in this one when they had to they made every winning play on both sides of the ball in the final seven minutes of the game. I think it’s a good sign for OU as a team as they head towards the final half of the regular season.
The Sooners have to quit killing themselves with fifteen yard penalties though if they want to run the table and get to the playoff. Undisciplined teams don’t advance.
This is a good win for OU. Anytime you beat Texas in Dallas it’s a good win not only for your record, but for your recruiting brand as well.
Defense played solid. Offense was brilliant in spots. Running game gashed the Longhorns at times, and kicker Austin Siebert had a good game minus the one short kick-off which got the Longhorns going after trailing 20-0.
Lots of positives to build on for head coach Lincoln Riley, who did in his first game against Texas which Wilkinson and Stoops failed to do in their first games in this storied series….namely, to beat the Longhorns.
OU is at K State next Saturday and the lesson should have been learned in the loss to Iowa State. That being, you can’t just show up and expect someone to gift wrap you a win in a Power 5 conference game.
I hate preseason games. I’m glad it’s over. The Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night by a 96-86 score. I think OKC is going to have a very interesting season.
From my view, OKC has either the second or third best roster in the NBA. I’d go 1 Golden State, 2 Cleveland, 3 Oklahoma City, 4 San Antonio, and 5 Houston.
Golden State, Golden State, Golden State…does this OKC team have enough to beat this team four times in a seven game series? On paper, one would say no. But that’s why you play the games. Maybe some injuries hit the Warriors. Maybe Trump and Rocket Man start WW III and the season has to be put on hold. But on paper, this Warrior team is a dynasty as we get ready to begin real games next season.
OKC’s bench is a big key for me. Both the Warriors and Cavs have excellent benches. It can’t be like last year for the Thunder with their bench. The bench has to be a plus. Period.
I’m not at all concerned as to how Russell, PG, and Melo meld their games. That will be fine. The rest of the roster night in and night out has to define their roles and bring a consistent level of play every night for this team to say flirt with the notion of going something like 58-24 in the regular season.
Big season for Billy Donovan as an NBA head coach. I like Donovan for the most part. I want to see him take his coaching game up a level or two this season…which I think he will do.
Steven Adams is getting paid $25 million this season. He needs to play like it.
Andre needs to visualize Halle Berry naked when he’s at the line and start making his free throws. Alex Abrines needs to provide instant offense off the bench. Raymond Felton has to be a reliable backup point guard. Patrick Patterson has to supply an overall game from his bench minutes. Jerami Grant needs to take his game to a higher level and be consistent. Who’s the tenth guy on my list…I’ll go with the rookie Terrance Ferguson. I think he’ll be a nice little addition as we move along this season. These seven guys HAVE to get better every night if this team wants to entertain any notion of beating the Warriors.
I could care less about Russell amassing triple doubles. I want to see the ball move. I want to see the other players getting their touches in their respective comfort zone spots on the floor. What I really want to see is Russell taking his game to another level as a point guard. I know he can do it—he’s a smart Bad Little Dude. Russell has done everything but win a ring and from my vantage point he will be pushing himself to the max to get his ring. Same with Melo, same with PG…these are three elite players who should be completely fired up about the chance to compete for a ring.
Unless a war starts, I’m ready to ignore Caligula and start following this Thunder team on my blog.
Is this Thunder roster stronger one thru ten than the team which made it to the 2012 NBA Finals? I think it is. But again, the problem is that group in Golden State. They’re pretty good.
I’m excited. I’m ready. And as a fan/blogger extremely grateful for all the excellent work Sam Presti did this off season. I love Thunder basketball. Once the season begins—my life somewhat centers around it.
Here are the highlights from tonight’s Denver game. From this point forward—the games count.
With each passing day it appears Bob Corker might turn out to be this president’s Howard Baker. Pretty straight talk from a conservative Republican senator who’s respected by colleagues from both parties. So do you think this whole Mike Pence rabbit hole distraction at the Colts game had anything to do with Corker’s on the record comments?
Every day there’s a rabbit hole. Every day. There’s now about five or six GOP senators who have stood up to Caligula on the public record….Corker, McCain, Collins, Flake, maybe Graham, and Murkowski. No sightings yet of Lyin’ Ted Cruz and Little Marco Rubio. I guess they’re too young and plan on being in the Senate a very long time. It will be interesting to see if the youth minister from Oklahoma ever goes public with his disdain for Caligula.
Anyway, this needs to be on my blog. Kind of like admitting a piece of evidence to the Court, so to speak.
I’ve been watching OU football since around 1964. I would rank today’s 38-31 loss to Iowa State as the worst loss in OU football history from then to today. Sure, OU had the tough 41-6 loss to Arkansas in the Orange Bowl during the Switzer Era. Sure, OU got its ass kicked 55-19 to USC in the 2004 national championship game. And, sure, OU was whipped 41-9 in 2011 Bedlam when some of the OU players went into the O State tunnel to taunt the home team before the game. But those losses all came against teams which ended up in the top five of the AP poll. With all due respect to the Iowa State kids, they aren’t like any of those teams.
I watched Iowa State play Texas a week ago and they had twenty yards rushing… the whole game…at home. They scored seven points against a Longhorn defense which tonight gave up 34 points against a K State team which scored seven points at home against Vanderbilt.
All the credit in the world to Iowa State. They competed hard and made the plays. OU didn’t and quite frankly they apparently haven’t done a fucking thing since the win in Columbus except read Baker Mayfield’s Twitter trash.
If you’re going to run your mouth, then bring your ball game. Period.
Mike Stoops’ defense has looked like the biggest collection of pussies to ever play for OU. Guys…tackling is allowed. I have no idea who those guys were who beat Ohio State 31-16, but these guys aren’t them.
One of the kind of important things in playing defense is to tackle the guy with the ball. I would suggest to the OU coaches that be a point of emphasis this week in practice. To play in the Big 12 you have to be able to tackle in space. Some tackling in space drills this week, please.
This is a horrible loss. Even if OU were to somehow run the table–I’m not sure this doesn’t eliminate them from a playoff berth especially if Georgia is a one loss team with the only loss coming to Alabama. Both Alabama and Clemson looked mortal today in relatively close wins, but OU showed no heart whatsoever in losing at home to team which was a 31 point Vegas dog.
The Edwards kid planted the flag and I’m totally okay with it. Maybe this will inject something into OU for next week’s game in Dallas. Maybe a team which looks like they fucking care will walk down the ramp instead of the listless pussies who have done virtually nothing for a month.
Season goes one way or other the next Saturday in Dallas. It might be time for me to bring out the Al Pacino coach speech because if these motherfuckers don’t pull their heads out of their asses their season goals are over. As in done.
Let’s start with this. Not to be cruel, but Andre’s free throw shooting against Houston in last season’s playoffs was in a word…feeble. Seriously feeble. I don’t write this to be cruel because Andre is a wonderful defender, excellent rebounder, and chock full of every intangible a coach could hope for with the exception my sixty year old ass could beat him in a free throw shooting contest. I’m very consistent shooting free throws…pretty much at a 72-75% clip. But I’m not a shooting coach or anything, so let’s do this. Let’s take a look back at last spring versus the Rockets and see if we can detect anything wrong with Andre’s stroke.
That was genuinely brutal. Is it the stroke or is it just mental? I’m saying both. Now let’s take a look at his shooting stroke from the field.
Now let’s watch the free throw coach for the stars give Andre some suggestions on technique.
That’s seems a bit much to think about, I never think about those things. Maybe take some of that, mentally refresh, pause, think of a beautiful naked woman, release, and swish. That’s how to do it. That’s what I do at the YMCA shooting free throws. You should be hovering somewhere in that 70-72% range from the line so as you can stay on the floor to guard Klay Thompson, James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and Jimmy Butler. I know you can do this, Andre.
The NBA is a league dominated by Golden State currently. Dynasty is not too strong of a word if they stay healthy. I like Steve Kerr. He’s a nice fit for this team. But as we’ve seen over the past several years they win with Kerr, Luke Walton, and Mike Brown. They’re very good and structured for the modern era of NBA basketball. Nice interview. This is a dude I could sit down with and talk to about a myriad of things. I can see why his players like him.