Month: December 2017

Okay. I was there somewhat behind the Houston Rockets bench on Christmas Night. I even dished out an extra eight bucks for the Thunder X-Mas Santa Cap. I was ready to go…and you know what?

So were the Thunder.

Let’s start with this. Before tip, Paul George took the microphone and gave what I thought was a heartfelt pep talk to all of us Thunder fans. It was like he was trying to say, ” I’m sorry for the season so far, but we think we’ve figured things out. Can we have a mulligan ’cause here we go.”

Then there was a rousing rendition of the national anthem. I have to admit I got caught up in the moment there singing like it was Desert Storm days and there for several minutes I almost forgot Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump waged a bitter campaign against one another recently and eventually one of these ‘people’ had to be president. I almost felt like an American again. I didn’t feel, you know…dirty.

Then you know what happened…Sam Presti’s Super Team said what the fuck and decided to make a curtain call encore in honor of their 108-91 win over Golden State… which I think actually happened sometime this past November in the year 2017.

OKC beat Houston 112-107 in what I would describe as a glorious basketball game in which the Thunder won their fifth straight and improved to 11-3 in December.

Don’t look now…but Sam Presti has a pretty good basketball team in place which is on a roll.

Super Team…Smuper Team…what are those anyway? Who amongst really thinks all that much about what Chris Bosh did and didn’t do for LeBron.

But I’ll tell you this….OKC’s Super Four were pretty good on Christmas Night against James Harden and the Rockets.

I don’t do a lot of stats on my recaps. I detest millennial metric zombies who laden down the game as if they were talking about scientific results from some recent lab experiments perpetrated on mice. Who the fuck are these people anyway? I’ve forgotten more Michael Lewis than any of these people will ever read. If they’re so smart then why can’t they explain what ‘credit default swaps’ or ‘backdoor derivatives’ really are. Moneyball was a great story. I loved it. So what? Move on. Get a life. Learn some things about the overall portrait of life. Maybe accrue an asset or two. Grow up.

Here are my stats on the night. Westbrook, Carmelo, PG ( I like him again), and Steven scored a combined 90 points on the night. Is there a metric for this? This means the rest of the Thunder roster scored 22 points. So by definition, even if not metrically endorsed….Sam Presti does indeed have something resembling a Mini Super Team on his hands.

So there’s that.

Defensively…I thought OKC was really good. Again, at the risk of being too stat oriented…I’ll write OKC held Houston to a 43.2% shooting night from the field and limited the metric chucking darling Rockets to 32.4% from beyond the arc.

Of course, this brings me to Andre Roberson because in my estimation he’s OKC’s best defender who just by chance would have difficulty throwing a basketball into the Pacific Ocean if he were standing two feet from the water and he thought he was shooting a free throw.

Andre was superb defensively as he usually is, but you knew at some point Mike D’Antoni (he’s Italian like me, right?) would put him on the line…and of course he did in the fourth period with the game hanging in the balance somewhat. In true Andre fashion, he bank shot in the first attempt, then air-balled the second attempt. D’Ant said to himself, “do it again…WTF.”

He did and Andre by the divine intervention of Rumble made one of two again and by the grace of former Thunder iconic free throw legend quasi god…Kendrick Perkins, never had to toe the line again in this Christmas Night classic. Oh, by the grace of God.

But putting the all that aside, OKC played beautifully coming down the stretch of Winning Time in the fourth period. Russell Westbrook since that freak show ending in Philadelphia has PLAYED BETTER BASKETBALL THAN WHEN HE BEAT OSCAR LAST SEASON.

Callout to Bad Little Dude…I love you. This is the way you should play. This is the template. These past games it’s like I’m young again and watching Mo Cheeks play hoops with Dr J and Moses Malone. If you revert back to that other crap…I don’t know what to say to you other than maybe you’re a masochist or something. PLEASE DON’T DO THAT AGAIN. I WANT YOU TO BEAT CUPCAKE AND KLAY MORE THAN YOU DO.

In fact, it was my voice in Sec 114 there in the waning seconds last night which was chanting…”Bring on the fucking Warriors!” And you know, as I was doing that every motherfucker in front of me turned around and high fived me. No shit. We’re brothers in this, okay?

Carmelo and PG were glorious. Beautiful, boys. Steven Adams was a monster the first half. James Harden didn’t go off which is a tribute to Andre. Jerami Grant showed he belonged on this stage.

So here the Thunder sit 19-15 and on a roll. But here’s the thing, when you start the season like the Bad News Bears you can’t be satisfied with a modest five game winning streak in December. You have to become a greedy team with an edge. With something to prove to those of us who said you’d never be super.

So–if I’m Billy Donovan there’s no way in private with my team I’m gushing today. Actually, I’m more than a little pissed because it took this long to get this out of them five games in a row. I would stare, then glare a bit today while watching film of the Toronto Raptors. Instead of acting like a Mike Gundy clone minus the dyed mullet, I’d be a bit more like Greg Popovich. I’d say some things about pride of craft and such. I’d put on my Vincent Thomas Lombardi big boy britches and say a few more things. I’d actually get on their ass today and make it clear they’re doing an injustice to themselves as men if they play like they did earlier in the season

Don’t look now, but the Toronto Raptors are in first place in the East. They’ll be here tomorrow night at the Peake. I might see if I can sneak in the building again because there’s a rumor Sam Presti might have a decent ball club on his hands.

Who would have thought?

Big game this evening. Very big week for the Thunder. From my way of thinking this is when the Thunder need to show Paul George and his agent there’s a reason for him to stay in Oklahoma City playing his basketball. Four home games this week to close out the month. I had OKC going either 14-3 or 13-4 this month. This is the time, boys. Win. Contrary to what the Fox crew panders, you can’t just hope they peak in April. The trade dead line is in mid-February. You either sell Paul George now or maybe never. Maybe..I’m wrong. We’ll see.

I was born in 1957, the same year Martin Luther King made his glorious speech. From a historical standpoint, the American Century with American exceptionalism began in 1941 and made it through the presidency of Barack Obama in 2016.

I think the American Century is still in place even after the assaults from Caligula, Bannon, and others–but 2018 is pretty much a historical year on the horizon if the American Century is to continue.

So what was the American Century? It was a time when the rest of the world looked to the United States for leadership. It was a time when America defeated the Nazis instead of making excuses for them in a Virginia city. It was a time when every member of America knew the country at some point would include them in the game as equals instead of disparaging them. We were inclusive instead of just being a club for white billionaires. It was a time when we did fabulous things. It was a time when we dreamed as a nation. As a people. It was a time we wanted every person in America to dream the American Dream… not just rich white kids who for the most part never served their country.

It was a glorious time for humanity even with all the problems. I’ve lived in a country which did the most amazing things ever in the history of mankind. It completely awes me at times…what I’ve lived through so far. I hope my son gets to feel the same thing thirty years from now.

But here’s what happened this year with the ascension of reality television’s concept of what it would be like for Caligula to be governing America circa 2017…what happened for the first time in my life is that the rest of the world no longer views America as the moral compass. Nope. That just ended with one disgraceful tweet or action compounded upon another.

Now…when I write the American Century ended, I’m not sure it permanently ended, but for right now it’s on pause. The rest of the world is watching to see if America will correct itself in 2018 and set itself back on course historically.

So…I would say this–if you want America to completely revert to the robber baron days then follow Caligula’s lead and look to Angela Merkel and China for world leadership. If you want the American Century to go beyond 1941-2018 then maybe getting your ass out to vote all across this country next November would be a smart thing to do.

I mean, at some point–the Three Generals can only do so much in holding Caligula in check somewhat. At some point, the American Electorate is going to need to grow up and maybe decide that an adult running America again isn’t a bad idea.

Don’t take what I’ve written on here on Christmas morning the wrong way. I’m thankful for what I’ve lived through in this country. I know I’ve lived a blessed life. I just hope other younger Americans get to experience the same feelings of having lived in a blessed country.

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs, the original 1998 version of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ by Straight No Chaser. Plus, I’m going to add their version of Toto’s ‘Africa’ just because I love the song/video. Anyway, we’re Americans, we should all be in this together somewhat…enjoy Christmas with your family and loved ones. Be gentle with the Deplorables…’they knoweth not what they have done.’ Be gentle with them. Mentor them…even love them. We knoweth not how they reached this point in their lives where their hearts became so hardened and bitter, but it’s our duty as messengers of decency to reel them back in. I think I’ll keep that to myself though with the Deplorables in my family.

Note to self for sure though…. walk gently thru the valley of the shadow of darkness with the Deplorables.

This is very peaceful. I love the song/video. I like the Toto version, but I like this a bit more. Can you imagine people like Don Jr. and his dipshit brother Eric going to hunt these animals as if it actually proves anything. It might prove something if the animals had the same guns. Then it would be somewhat even. That’s why I don’t get into hunting, it would only prove something if the hunter’s life were equally at stake on equal terms. Then it would be competition. Darwinian…. If you know what I mean. I get the marksmen thing—that’s a real skill, but it’s no competition whatsoever. It would be like one NFL team being allowed to use their hands and the other team couldn’t. Who ya think is going to win, Ted Cruz? I know that wasn’t me walking gently there with Caligula’s two offspring and other Deplorables, but I’ll learn and get better at this mentoring of the Deplorables thing. I will. I’m a very steadfast dude when I set my mind to something.

Russell Westbrook continued his excellent recent run of play with a 27, 10, 10 triple double, but it was Paul George who set the tone with one of his better performances as a member of the Thunder in a 103-89 road win over the Utah Jazz.

Paul George was excellent on both ends of the floor. Defensively, George had six steals on the night and set a tone on that end of the floor. Offensively, George scored 26 points on a 10-17 shooting night.

It was OKC’s fourth straight win as the Thunder improved to 10-3 in December and 18-15 overall. Look closer and you’ll notice the Thunder are on the plus side against Western Conference teams and figuring out how to be a decent road team. Both telling indicators on your Thunder dashboard.

As I think back over the first thirty-three games of this season, I would rank this as one of the Thunder’s top three performances given that it was the second night of a back to back on the road and a game the Thunder really kind of needed to win if they wanted to continue to build positive momentum. The Thunder played hard, they played smart, and they played with poise in the second half.

Steven Adams was good again with a 12 point 9 rebound night. I’m not sure how I would rank the top five centers in the Western Conference, but I’m fairly certain the way Steven Adams’ play has been trending he would be in my top five at the least. This Steve Adams in December is the guy we saw in that 2016 post season run. Another good thing for the Thunder.

Carmelo had a decent game scoring 16 points. Nothing stellar, but he doesn’t have to be stellar when Westbrook and George play like they did tonight. Just fill in the gaps.

If you look at the Western Conference standings on Christmas Eve…the conference standings have pretty much fallen in line with what most thought would happen in the West.

The Thunder have a unique challenge in front of them heading into Christmas with four home games to close out the month of December. This is when the Thunder either make their statement or fall back into a clump of teams like Denver, Portland, and New Orleans.

When I originally looked at the month of December–I didn’t think 14-3 was crazy talk considering all the home games. I still don’t think it’s crazy talk, but the Thunder we saw tonight is the Thunder which needs to show up to close out the month on a roll with home wins over Houston, Toronto, Milwaukee, and Dallas.

Yeah, I know, three of these teams are pretty good, but it’s time for this Thunder team to walk the walk and do something kind of special to close out the month of December heading into 2018.

This would start by the Thunder beating the Houston Rockets on Christmas evening inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. This is kind of a big game for multiple reasons in my mind. Not just because of the standings, but maybe as a chance to recruit or influence Paul George to think there’s a reason for him to stay in Oklahoma City as a basketball player.

I just really see this as a big game for the Thunder. It should be a great game and at the risk of being overly dramatic– I think it’s a big game for Russell Westbrook, Billy Donovan, Sam Presti, and the entire Thunder organization. This is why you rolled the dice and traded Oladipo and Sabonis. This is why you rolled the dice and traded Kanter and McDermott. The dice weren’t rolled to be a mediocre No. 5 seed in the West. The dice were rolled to be something special. To show Russell Westbrook the Thunder were committed to excellence heading down the road.

I’ll be there sitting low. Some will say it’s just 1 of 82…I don’t buy into that type of thinking. I think there are special games which define you and your season. I’ve had this game circled as more important than the earlier home win over Golden State even after the Thunder rolled the Warriors
.

OKC needs to define its season on Christmas evening. Russell Westbrook needs to help convince Paul George they have a future together. Carmelo needs to prove to himself he can still help a hopeful contender possibly be special. Billy Donovan needs to prove he can be a top third coach in this league.

Storylines abound.

I can’t wait.

This is why you wade through the bullshit games. This is why.

Some great comments on this subject back when the trade was made this summer. Pretty much prophetic. I especially circled the Jimmy Jackson comments on Scott Brooks and Billy Donovan. I thought this might be a good time before the game tonight in Utah for me to post it on my rogue blog of higher learning.

If not sure if the OKC Thunder has turned its season around, but one thing seems apparent, Russell Westbrook has found himself ever since that triple overtime thriller against the Sixers.

With 1.7 seconds left in regulation at home against the wretched Atlanta Hawks, Russell Westbrook saved the Thunder and Billy Donovan from another embarrassing loss to one of this season’s NBA bottom dwellers. This would have been a devastating loss considering the Thunder led by 14 at halftime, but has been the case of late, Bad Little Dude put the Thunder on his back and made the game winning three when it mattered most.

You could say this game shouldn’t have been this close, you could say the Thunder should be better than 17-15 three days before Christmas, you could say Caligula should never have become POTUS…you could say all these things, but here’s what I’ve learned to date in this year of dysfunction—flow with it and be grateful for the win…any win. Embrace the moment.

Russell Westbrook was once again MVP like tonight inside a packed Chesapeake Arena. He played like Oscar or Kobe or Michael. Take your pick. He played smart. He led…and then finished when his teammates couldn’t. His father should be proud. I know I am. This is the Russell Westbrook the Thunder has to have if they’re going to continue their quest of winning the Northwest Division and being relevant in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Russell’s line was excellent. 30 points on 17 shots, 7 rebounds, and 15 assists. Only three turnovers and has been the case of late his shot selection was sagacious. He picked his spots. He got the ball to Carmelo and Adams when they needed it. Carmelo finished with 24 points on seven made threes. Steven double doubled with 16 and 10. Paul George continued to struggle, but that wasn’t on Westbrook, that was on Paul George.

It should have an easy win, but has been the case this season, the Thunder imploded in the third period with Westbrook on the bench. OKC committed seven turnovers in the back half of the third which led to 19 points for the Hawks. Give some credit to Atlanta — Marco Bellinelli, Malcolm Delaney, and former Thunder player Ersan Ilyasova did make some shots, but this game never should have been close.

When Russell Westbrook re-entered the game with 8:40 left in the fourth period, the Thunder trailed by four points. For the remainder of the game the Thunder never allowed another point off a turnover. Westbrook scored 14 points down the stretch and drained the game winner. I don’t know what else Sam Presti or Billy Donovan could ask of their bell cow because their bell cow saved their ass…again.

Don’t look now, but the Thunder this week have moved from 9th in the West to 5th and are now two games behind the Minnesota Timberwolves. If you’re not paying attention the Houston Rockets lost their second straight game tonight. The Celtics have lost two straight. LeBron is in third place in the East and Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs just lost to the same Utah team the Thunder routed on Wednesday night. What I’m saying is OU lost to Iowa State in October, but now finds itself in the national semifinal on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl because of Baker Mayfield.

What I’m saying is if you have a bell cow who’s playing smart and is playing his ass off hope is still a somewhat doable thing.

What I’m saying is if Russell Westbrook plays like the guy we’ve seen these last handful of games it’s not beyond the stretch of human endeavors this Thunder team ‘could’ somehow navigate its way to the Western Conference Finals if the guys around Westbrook play with more consistency.

I know it sounds crazy considering this team has already lost to Dallas, Sacramento, Brooklyn, and Charlotte, but crazier things have happened.

Paul George obviously has to figure out things before the trade deadline and still actually be a member of the Thunder post the deadline, but we just have to see what happens. I thought what George said of late was revealing in that he said he didn’t realize Westbrook was this fast and he’s had trouble acclimating his game to Bad Little Dude’s Mach 1 pace. Interesting. But we do know this, Sam Presti cannot keep Paul George beyond the trade deadline without a signed extension.

But here’s the thing, With Westbrook once again playing like MVP Westbrook this Thunder team is watchable. It might not be pretty at times, but it’s watchable.

The Thunder improve to 17-15 overall and 9-3 in December. OKC travels to play Utah tonight in the second game of a road back to back. Forget what happened earlier in the week, this should be a tough game. But it should also tell us something about OKC’s character moving forward. It should tells us more of what we should expect from these guys and what we shouldn’t expect. But we know this, OKC didn’t waste itself playing three unnecessary overtimes to beat the pitiful Hawks.

So there should be something in the tank. It should be a motivated Thunder team because for the first time this season if the Thunder win this game in Utah they have Houston coming to the Peake for a Christmas evening game which could be the game where the Thunder say to the basketball world… ‘Hey, maybe we still could be the second best team in the West. Maybe Sam Presti knew WTF he was doing.’ But before we get all the way there, OKC needs to show some heart in Salt Lake because that’s what a real contender should be able to do against a team which won’t have Rudy Gobert.

Big game in Salt Lake tonight. I’m actually kind of jacked.

I did this once. We routed the Utah Jazz and pulled the Vegas spread. So…I’m sitting here thinking WTF? Let’s try it again and see if we go 2-0 with this highly scientific format.

As Russell would say…why not?

As far as Christmas goes…don’t hate on the Trump people. It does nothing positive in the end. Maybe give them a book by Thomas Friedman or a collection of essays by William F Buckley or something David Brooks has written recently. But enough with the hate. Because in the end, whether you voted for Caligula or Hillary, you know deep inside yourself our political system was and is a cesspool of corruption long before Donald Trump arrived on the scene.

Love, patience, and doing the right things ultimately win. I know this sounds more like Corinthians than something on a rogue Thunder blog, but I felt like maybe I needed to write this on behalf of humanity.

Merry Christmas

LET’S GO THUNDER!

Wow. Seriously. Wow. This is the same Mike Pence who went into seclusion when the Billy Bush Bus Grab a Handful video came out during the campaign. The same Mike Pence who claimed he contemplated leaving the GOP ticket because of Caligula’s performance with Billy Bush.

I mean…wow. My only question is …in the history of the United States have we ever before had a VP go down on a sitting POTUS and swallow during a cabinet meeting? It would be one thing if it were Betsy DeVoss or Elaine Chou or Nikki Haley or Anne Coulter or Michele Bachman, but this is just sick. Seriously sick. I felt violated watching it. What a pathetic display. I feel dirty.

I’ve given this impeachment thing a great deal of thought, and amazingly I don’t think Caligula being impeached helps the country if Mike Pence ascends to the presidency. If you gave me the choice of picking between 1 Caligula, 2 Ted Cruz, or 3 Mike Pence…. I would have to say I’d probably take Caligula.

Wow. Holy shit.

We used to use this coaching our hockey teams…’Never give a sucker an even break–and kick him when he’s down.’

If ever this mantra was applicable to this Thunder team of dysfunction it was on Wednesday night inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena as Bad Little Dude, a.k.a. Russell Westbrook, buried the reeling Utah Jazz with a first quarter TKO which ended this game and led to a wire to wire 107-79 rout.

True, the Jazz looked worn out before tip at the end of a six game road trip and were minus two of their best players in Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, but when you have a team down this is what good teams do.. namely, they put their foot on a throat and leave nothing to doubt.

Of course, the idiots on the Fox telecast, gave Carmelo the Player of the Game award, but anyone who was paying attention knows this was classic Russell Westbrook in the first period as it ‘appears’ the Thunder might be figuring out the hierarchy of their current roster.

For the second straight game, this was MVP Bad Little Dude. This was the guy who had Oscar Robertson fawning over him like Caligula has Mike Pence drooling on him after the tax reform passage. This was that Bad Little Dude.

This was BLD’s line in the rout of Utah. 25 minutes played, +36, 10-13 shooting the ball, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 steals.

It was vintage Westbrook. When Russell Westbrook narrows his shot selection and goes mid range he becomes a very scary player.

It’s still hard to tell if this team is in the real process of smartening the fuck up or if they just caught a very susceptible Utah team on a bad night, but it’s Christmas and let’s not be too pessimistic.

This is the template for OKC if they want to aspire to overtake Minnesota for the Northwest Division and live to see the second round of the Western Conference Playoffs.

Of Course, Paul George and Carmelo shot the ball like shit again going a combined 10-24, but on this night it didn’t matter as Westbrook, George, Adams, Roberson, and Jerami Grant used their defensive length to register 15 steals and get out in transition like the team they should be.

Overall, this is not a good shooting Thunder team. The strength of this team should be Westbrook, transition defense to offense, and being a really good rebounding team. This bullshit where you think you’re going to feature thirty-three year old Carmelo Anthony slowing down the ball is not what this team should be about. Carmelo is a luxury, albeit one Sam Presti probably should have passed on, but we have to remember—at the time of Carmelo’s signing Russell Westbrook wasn’t yet signed to his extension.

When OKC gets down to business it can put this defensive team on the floor…Westbrook, George, Adams, Roberson, and Grant. That’s a steal and a fast break basket waiting to happen for the Thunder.

This Thunder team isn’t going to be the Warriors or the Rockets because they don’t shoot the ball like those two teams. So…moving forward, I’m hoping this is more of what we see from the Thunder. Length, defense, transition…something more akin to Nolan Richardson’s 40 Minutes of Hell Doctrine defensively.

Don’t look, but the Thunder just nudged up into the 6th seed in the West. Don’t laugh, even with all the dysfunction, the Thunder could still at some point climb to the No. 4 seed in the West.

But for now, let’s think baby steps. As in overtaking the T Wolves and winning a Northwest Division. That’s the reset, the doable goal, but with an eye to developing a team identity which ‘could’ beat the Warriors or ‘could’ beat the Rockets on a given night. These should be the baby step goals moving forward. It’s up to Billy Donovan as a coach to show us if beating either one of those two teams four times in a two week span is crazy talk Fool’s Gold come April.

The Thunder are now 8-3 in December and 16-15 overall. It ‘appears’ the cloud of dysfunction has lifted a little. Maybe it’s just the feel of Christmas, maybe it was the Whitney Houston song, maybe the Thunder are starting to smarten the fuck up.

Dumb teams are like dogs who play in the street, namely…you don’t see them around very long.

We’ll see.