Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

Okay. I’ve intentionally not written about this for two days because I wanted to enjoy the Boston Bruins win over the Washington Capitals and of course it was Super Bowl week-end.

I have no deadlines on here. I write for my own pleasure since the sports writing in the Oklahoma City market is so predictably weak.

I went to the trouble of creating my own Thunder blog for this reason, plus of course, I’m using the blog to archive the outline to the book I want to write about this entire Oklahoma City Thunder experience. The problem with the book is that the outline seems to change every year from Durant’s free agency year to the present. I’m totally confident in my abilities to write this book if I can ever figure out how it should end. I so much want it to have a happy ending in my hometown.

Now before I start on here brutalizing Russell Westbrook, please go to the bottom and watch the video before you read this post.

I assume you’ve now watched the video. I’ll wait for you. I’m a Libra and we’re patient in that way.

This is why Kevin Durant did the absolute right thing in listening to Jerry West and joining the Warriors.

Replay the video and then tell me why Kevin Durant would come back to Oklahoma City to seriously pursue an NBA championship instead of leaving as he did.

Tell me why.

I think Nick Collison knows. He’s a smart basketball dude. But I also think Nick Collison invested his career into staying with one franchise from beginning to end. That’s just Nick Collison’s way. He’s not a superstar diva like Durant and Westbrook. If I could have one off the record source for my book I’d choose Collison.

I look at this video and it makes me want to vomit. This OKC team on the national game of the week leading into the Super Bowl had a chance to extend their win streak to eight games and make an endorsement as to why Paul George should be a viable MVP candidate.

But instead … Russell Westbrook opted to put his Wild Thing cape on and torch both of those options on ABC even drawing a ‘cataclysmic’ from Mike Breen and Hubie Brown in the process.

There’s the basketball part of me which wants to say…trade Russell Westbrook because you’re never getting back to the NBA Finals no matter how much payroll and tax the OKC ownership group pays.

But then there’s the human part of me which wants Russell Westbrook to stay here and win that one championship like Dirk did in Dallas or like Bill Walton did Portland.

Or maybe the adult take is the ending will be more like Reggie Miller’s career ended in Indiana.

I watched Kobe’s segment on ESPN last night and I agree with him. I don’t think in this era of basketball any team with either Harden or Westbrook’s high usage rates are going to win an NBA championship.

The Warriors move the ball. The Celtics move the ball. Sure—you need two go to guys, but you have to be smart about it.

I wonder if Sam Presti is ever tempted with the thought of what he could bring to his Oklahoma City team back in return for trading Russell Westbrook.

Think about this…what if you didn’t have Russell Westbrook and you did have Kevin Durant alongside Paul George, Steven Adams, Dennis Schroder, Terrance Ferguson, Jerami Grant, and Nerlens Noel. Talk about defense and length with two finishers.

I wonder if Sam Presti ever thinks like this.

Russell Westbrook, please don’t make Sam Presti think this way and smarten the f–k up.

I didn’t really have an MVP per se this game unless you were going to give it to Bill Belichick for his outstanding game planning from a defensive standpoint. Keep in mind, in these playoffs this New England defense stoned the high octane LA Chargers offense. Then shutdown Patrick Mahomes in the first half on the road in Arrowhead before the league’s MVP finally broke loose in the second half. Then of course, yesterday’s complete shutdown of the LA Rams for both halves.

So, in essence, in five out of six halves of play in post season, the Patriots were stellar on the defensive side of the ball. Absolutely stellar with a group of players who don’t have high name recognition.

Bill Belichick did something even Saben couldn’t do this season in the age of ping pong spread football…namely, he put a defense on the field which could deal with the spread. Maybe every Big 12 coach should study what Belichick and did see if this can be transferred to the college game. Note to Lincoln Riley, start studying what Belichick did against Kansas City and Los Angeles.

There is no longer a question as to whom is the best professional coach in all of professional sports in the collective bargaining agreement era. It is Bill Belichick whether you hate him or not.

And if Brady comes back I will have the Patriots as my odds on favorite to reach the Super Bowl again next season even if Gronk does retire.

Belichick isn’t only an X’s and O’s guru, but more than any other coach I’ve seen he understands how to evaluate and integrate players into his system of football.

He was my MVP in this Super Bowl. Tony Romo was second. And Jeff Bridges third.

Jared Goff, Sean McVay, Phil Sims, and Adam Levine not so much.

I hate that football season is over, but unlike so many in this part of the uneducated redneck bubba country… I’m passionate about hockey so I will seamlessly pivot to the goal achieving portion of the NHL season while of course following the Thunder as well. Color me a multi-tasker. Tramel…not as much.

You’ll notice the NFL has tried to implement the Stanley Cup feel into their trophy prestation yesterday with Woolfolk, Emmitt Smith, and Broadway Joe Namath…but they should stop that. There’s only one Stanley Cup.

Look at Emmitt Smith with the white gloves. Gary Bettman should sign him to assist with Lord Stanley’s Cup presentation later this spring. Emmitt gets it. You don’t want to risk scratching the cup with a ring. Joe Namath is still clueless. That must be from him going to Alabama for his schooling. I’m guessing Emmitt is a Dallas Stars fan.

When I saw this coupled with the Bruins 1-0 shutout over Ovechkin yesterday–it got me now totally psyched for hockey. Boston netminder Tuuka Rask notched his 253rd career win yesterday it puts him as the winningest goalie in Boston Bruin history… and given that he was a career 1-15-2 against the Caps before yesterday the shutout was huge. So there is hope for Westbrook even though he once choked on the big stage in Boston in the last fifteen seconds. Billy Donovan should have of course called the timeout and put the ball into Schroder and PG’s hands for that last play, but some people are so stupid they can’t even be helped by the basketball gods for more than seven games. Damn.

This was easy for me. Jeff Bridges is my favorite actor. He had me even before he ordered the Stella. Adam Levine is a different matter. They have two songs I like…She Will Be Loved and Moves Like Jagger. They would have been smart to only play three of their songs. And what’s with Adam Levine taking off his shirt and giving us all that dancing. He’s no Michael Jackson and he should have kept this performance within his wheelhouse. I enjoyed the Harrison Ford ad as well. Oh, yeah.. trust me, if won’t be long before the diva lab Pauli is using Uber and Grub Hub so we immediately had a talk about this ad.

Given what we saw in the AFC Championship Game’s second half from Patrick Mahomes, I don’t think we’ll see a permanent return to throwback football in the NFL, but for a night it was old school football for those of us who still remember when teams used to play defense.

What a great game!

3-0. 3-3. 10-3. And then the final at 13-3.

Both teams tackled. Both teams covered receivers. Both teams got after the other team’s quarterback. Tom Brady was even thrown to the ground like a rookie by the Aaron Donald on one occasion. It was old school and for a night it was beautiful.

Every yard and every point came grudgingly by both teams.

It was an offensive nightmare for the Rams and yet if Branden Cooks had held on to a pass on the goal line late in the game it would have been tied 10-10 and we’d have been headed for another Tom Brady signature closing on the last possession of the game.

But Cooks dropped the ball and on the next play the Pats intercepted Goff and in reality you knew it was over if you’ve watched the Patriots these last two decades. A late clinching field goal gave us a final of 13-3. But in reality it was Brady willing his team to the game’s only touchdown and the Pats’ for a night giving us a glimpse of how football used to be like before the rules were changed to make the game less physical and more safe for the players.

It was a classic and it very well could have been Gronk’s last game in his storied NFL career which if he does retire will come to an end at the tender age of twenty-nine. Meanwhile, Tom Brady is forty-one years of age and by all indications would like to keep playing a few more years.

A great day for Boston sports which is rightfully dubbed the city of champions. The Boston Bruins beat Ovechkin and the Washington Caps 1-0, Kyrie Irving and the Celtics halted the OKC Thunder’s seven game winning streak… and then Brady and Belichick won another ring to start filling their second hands.

Maybe that’s the secret pledge these two have between them…to win ten rings.

Who would doubt them at this point.

Until Tom Brady shows me he can’t do this there’s no way I can pick the Rams even though I love their physicality on both sides of the football. New England is -3 or so last time I looked and that’s probably about right. In the last two Super Bowls both Matt Ryan and Nick Foles played well against the Patriots so I would expect the same tonight from Jared Goff. But again, as long as No. 12 is out there throwing for 400 hundred yards or so…I have to go with the Patriots.

I like Maroon 5 so the halftime show and the commercials should be solid. A Budweiser horse commercial would be nice. Possibly we can get through the game without any politics. Wouldn’t that be nice?

I hope he can dance…that’s all I’ll say at this point. Those of us who are actually Michael Jackson don’twant feeble white southern boys throwing our name around if they can’t sing and dance. This is what it looks like when the real Michael Jacksons are in shape and on top of their games.

There are two things every white guy secretly wishes he can do in his lifetime… 1 moon walk, and 2 dunk a basketball on a regulation height rim. I have to tell you, after seeing this debacle today … Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, and Cory Booker might have a problem.

As someone who actually is Michael Jackson and who himself moonwalked back in the 70’s when in high school…I can assure you there was nothing racial attached to the moonwalking per se. In fact, I became somewhat iconic with the black girls in my school. I do know this though…Putin and Trump are laughing hysterically right now. Where do you even go from here? He was going to dance at the presser but his wife wouldn’t let him. Trust me, I know that look from the woman standing next to you…and his wife had that look. Even if he wasn’t telling the truth, I have to tell you I kind of liked him. Hell…if Trump dumps Pence at some point, this guy might actually resonate. I do want to see the moonwalk first though.

This should be fairly simple. If it is proved the sitting governor of Virginia is in truth one of the people in this photo he should resign sometime today. Even in Oklahoma this wouldn’t stand given how quickly the University of Oklahoma on two separate occasions in the past several years handled similar issues of racism like this one in Virginia. I actually applaud OU in that in both instances students were expelled and a fraternity was closed down. Even in Oklahoma this doesn’t get excused in public. To think this occurred in what is regarded as a somewhat progressive state such as Virginia is disturbing, but in reality… not a shock. As crazy as this sounds, I actually think racism in America has even gotten worse despite the fact Barack Obama was elected to two terms. Actually, if memory serves me correct…Obama carried Virginia twice and at one time Senator Tim Kane was thought to be in the running to be VP on the ticket.

To me, the most stunning thing is that this photo went unchallenged by the school itself at the time thirty years ago. Reagan would have been in his second term and the nation was embroiled in Iran-Contra at the time, but it’s just stunning this photo was deemed okay in Virginia in 1985.

To the Dems credit, this isn’t going to be allowed to stand. You’ll notice, or at least I did, that Joe Biden was the first person on the record saying this isn’t okay. That would tell me Joe Biden is running for president add to the fact he served alongside Barack Obama for eight years and probably knows of stories directed at he and Obama which would probably turn our stomachs in regards to the human condition as far as the level of racism still in America.

This one isn’t on Trump. This one is just on the basic understanding that racism in America or the understanding of it is not really grasped by white Americans.

For Sam Anderson

Again, I go back to the biblical ending in Philadelphia when this season appears to have changed for the Thunder. In those waning seconds when Paul George curled along the top of the key and swished the ball thru the net to erase the bitter disappointment of what would have been a devastating loss to the Sixers….then and there this season changed.

Maybe in this age of millennial fascination with numbers and no regard for the human element in the games we play, they could be right. Maybe there’s a chart or a graph or some other bullshit from those who didn’t play or coach sports beyond the eighth grade…but I still believe the human part of the game does indeed still matter.

Last night in Miami—the Thunder won their 7th straight since the Paul George Miracle in Philly. All is smiles in Thunder Nation right now as the Thunder are in third place in the West and only two games behind the Warriors in the current fight for second place in the West. That’s right–the Denver Nuggets with a win last night over Houston sit atop the West.

Putting the Nuggets aside…think back to last season and remember how far back the Thunder were in the standings at this point in the season to the Warriors and Rockets. It was staggering as in they didn’t deserve to be mentioned in the same breath with those two teams. This team since Philly is different. They’ve shown when they focus and play with a mission they have a right to be in the discussion…. in fact, multiple discussions.

As in…Paul George is playing better overall basketball in Oklahoma City right now than either Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook did in their MVP seasons wearing Thunder blue.

I don’t write that with my Nick Gallo Sippy Thunder Cup near my keyboard. I write that as a brutally candid observer of NBA basketball for the past fifty-five years. For the record…I became an NBA self proclaimed savant at the age of six. Take that however you might.

If I had to vote right now at this moment…Paul George would have my MVP vote for this reason…. He’s doing all this having to mesh his game with Russell Westbrook’s game and at times that isn’t easy. But what Paul George has done on both sides of the floor is beyond even what I saw with Durant in OKC’s love affair with KD. Simply put, I wouldn’t trade Paul George for the reigning two time NBA Finals MVP. Paul George is a better defensive player than Durant and has shown this season he’s an excellent passer as well. This isn’t meant as a diss of Kevin Durant, but as a compliment of Paul George.

Paul George on Friday night torched the Miami Heat for 43 points on 23 shots. He went 10-16 shooting the trey. The ten makes are a Thunder record even in the wake of Durant’s 40-50-90 MVP season when all the angry white people in Oklahoma who voted for Trump still loved KD. Back then Kevin was a slave who knew his place. Harsh? Maybe take a look in the mirror, Oklahoma. Maybe Neil Young confused Alabama with Oklahoma. We’ll have to ask Jalen Hurts at some point.

But I don’t want to write about that bullshit right now because I’m on a basketball high as are the Thunder.

If Russell Westbrook were sitting next to me right now…I’d kiss him. Through all my bitching and moaning on here about the way he plays at times…HE WAS MAURICE CHEEKS LAST NIGHT!

14 points on 6-10. 12 rebounds. 14 assists. Smart, crisp decision making. That was Maurice Cheeks in 1983. Now…I know Russell wasn’t born until 1988, but trust me, Wild Thing…you were Maurice Cheeks last night in Miami. Why would that be a bad thing to keep doing?

And for the record, Dennis Schroder was superb as well in Miami scoring 28 points and making another argument for Sixth Man of the Year consideration.

But here’s the thing in closing while I’m on this high. Paul George could win the MVP and Denis Schroder could win Sixth Man of the Year… but Russell Westbrook is the engine which drives this car. Period. This is still Russell Westbrook’s car.

And when Russell Westbrook plays like he did in Miami on Friday night, the possibilities for this Thunder team are the sky.

The Thunder at Boston on the ABC Sunday Super Bowl preview. What a time to show the world what the Thunder could be, no?

Oklahoma, this is what Sam Anderson was trying to tell you…grow up.