Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

There’s an old legal saying, a lawyer who has himself as a client has a fool for a client. As I watch all of this shit it just blows me away. It blows me away in that these people within the Trump orbit remind of characters from the Quintin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs. It’s a never ending gallery of rogue grifters.

Sam Nunberg will testify because otherwise his ass will sit in jail for at least eighteen months. I have no idea what he was doing yesterday other than venting.

If he has to show his emails he will be forever shamed because he was one of the wise guys in Trump’s orbit from 2011-2015 when candidate Trump was the father of Birtherism and instrumental with other racists elements of the Trump candidacy like ‘building the wall’ and the Muslim ban. I’m sure these emails won’t be flattering.

If nothing else comes of this these emails will show the public what the inner thinking of the Trump people like Nunberg and Roger Stone was in those years between 2011-2015. Remember, Robert Mueller in essence is trying his case on Donald Trump to the American people. The American people are the jury box so to speak.

Trump inner circle cabinet meeting from 2011-2015. Who could make up this shit?

I didn’t for the first time in my adult life watch the Oscars last night. Not that my love of great storytelling and film making has diminished, but more to the point I don’t want to watch three hours of political activism take center stage over the movies and the art of storytelling. Don’t get me wrong, no one more than me thinks Donald Trump is a douchebag, but enough already, the Oscar show should be a ninety minute show which features great films, great performances, and outside the box writing.

These were my six favorite films of the year in order of preference:

1 Lady Bird
2 Molly’s Game
3 Get Out
4 The Shape of Water
5 Darkest Hour
6 The Post

Lady Bird got my nod for Best Picture. It was a sleeper movie made for $10 million dollars which grossed over $50 million. It scored points with me on every nuance of the story being told about this young college bound woman from Sacramento who has this contentious relationship with her mother. I thought the writing was great. The performances were Oscar worthy and the in the end these characters have you loving both of them for the right reasons as the movie winds to its tearup-good gulp conclusion.

My best actor Oscar goes to Gary Oldham in Darkest Hour. You see this movie and you feel as if you’re in a room with Winston Churchill for two hours. Slam dunk easy for me on this one.

My best actress Oscar goes to Saorise Ronan from Lady Bird. She was superb. She had me from the opening scene to the very last scene of the movie when she was calling her mother from college with her grownup moment speech. Her coming of age moment so to speak as a young woman. Bravo. More of this and less of the bullshit from the Oscar show.

My best supporting actor Oscar goes to Idris Elba from Molly’s Game. Elba plays the high powered defense lawyer who takes on the pro bono legal defense of Molly Bloom. Again, this character had me every moment he was on the screen in what I thought was a better film than some of the films which touched more on our current state of political affairs than on compelling storytelling.

My best supporting actress Oscar goes to Laurie Metcalf who plays the mother of Lady Bird. She nailed it. I know in this day and age these kind of roles probably don’t play as big as politically correct figures, but she was great.

My best director Oscar goes to Jordan Peele from Get Out. Who would have known there would be a horror story remake of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner? This is one of those movies I’ll need to see again from the opening scene to that final scene in that this movie artfully through sublimation touches on race relationships in this country. This is a horror movie which leaves you feeling creepy at times, but like I said, I’ll watch it again just to make sure I didn’t miss anything. To me, this was a much better movie than last year’s best picture winning Moon Light.

So those are my awards. If you want to go see six good movies then I’d say go for it. If you want to argue about the Era of Caligula then there’s always MSNBC and Fox. Go see a movie would be my advice. Give yourself a break.

Perhaps, the last minute and a half of this game tells us all we need to know. The Thunder hung around and closed to within 102-98 with more than a puncher’s chance of winning their most important game of the season. But then in a matter of seconds the Thunder did what they do best and became their own worst enemy while finding a way to lose to the Trailblazers by a 108-100 count.

There were three straight Thunder turnovers during this lapse, but the one which really hurt was Jerami Grant’s off target pocket pass. This was followed by Paul George taking a horrific foul on Damian Lillard who wasn’t even in shooting range and was having a tough 5-18 shooting night. Thing is though, Lillard shoots 90% from the line and made both free throws–and in those two back to back plays the Thunder allowed a four point swing and in essence the game was over.

Portland now moves into third place in the West, while the still underachieving Thunder drop back to seventh place with the Houston Rockets on deck with Chris Paul playing this time against the Thunder on Tuesday night.

Brian Davis had the gall to mention Andre Roberson’s absence in the last minute of this game and I couldn’t even curse at the flat screen. It was that lame. Andre Roberson’s absence was no big deal in this game as Lillard didn’t hurt OKC, neither really did Shabazz Napier, and truth be known CJ McCollum only went 2-8 from beyond the arc. As a whole the Blazers shot 44% from the field and went 11-33 shooting threes. These are both winning numbers from OKC’s standpoint if you’re game planning on how to beat the Blazers, but you have to be smart offensively and the Thunder were not a smart offensive team, not even close.

I hate to keep banging this drum, but I wonder what Billy Donovan says to his team at times. Carmelo Anthony didn’t play in this game needing rest in the season’s most important game, but Pat Patterson did a good job and scored 12 points. I actually like Patterson starting by the way in that he’s a better defender than Carmelo. Why Carmelo isn’t the sixth man on this team paired with Raymond Felton is beyond me. But it is what it is. I wonder if Billy Donovan has even ever broached this subject with Anthony or if he’s allowed that latitude by Sam Presti. Are NBA coaches allowed to do this sort of thing?

I just don’t get it with Billy Donovan and Sam Presti. I don’t. In reality I see no coaching upgrade from Scott Brooks to Billy Donovan. If anything what I’ve seen is a regression in the team in that say what you want it was very seldom if ever you questioned the Thunder’s heart with Scott Brooks. Now, you might have cursed hero ball and shot selection when Durant and Westbrook forgot about their teammates, but you very seldom questioned the effort.

But tell me what the Thunder are now? On a night when Steven Adams only got nine shot attempts, Russell Westbrook was going 12-31 on a night when you knew his tank was going to be running low after the game in Phoenix. Hero ball solo?

Are you kidding me? Does this Thunder team watch film? Do they discuss the game the afternoon before the game? This just boggles my mind in that you have all these paid coaches and it appears at times there’s no thought whatsoever put into what the Thunder are doing out there.

For instance in this game… I would have asked Ray Felton if he could go thirty minutes. I would have done the same with Josh Huestis. I’m not going to use Alex Abrines as a punching bag even though he didn’t make a shot with only one attempt in fourteen minutes. So tell me this, why the fuck as a coach would you allow Alex Abrines fourteen minutes with only one shot attempt? That makes no sense whatsoever. None. That’s like asking a power play specialist in hockey to not shoot the puck. Pure stupidity.

And then you decide to play Corey Brewer who hasn’t even practiced with the team to play twelve very forgettable minutes. I mean, he hit the side of the backboard on his first shot, didn’t score a point, and was -14 in twelve minutes.

Here’s a novel thought…maybe Carmelo Anthony could have played those twelve minutes.

I just don’t get it.

But, oh, BTW…Mikey Boynton did something yesterday which no other Big 12 coach had ever done before during the Bill Self era at Kansas, namely his team swept the Kansas Jayhawks for a 2-0 season sweep. Good for Mikey Boynton. Isn’t it amazing what can happen when a team buys into their coach?

Speaking of series sweeps, former OU forward Terry Stotts is 3-0 versus OKC’s Super Team so far this season and in third place in the West.

Again, full credit to Clay Bennett for staying silent as an owner thru this. I could never do what he’s done this season for sure. I could never sit in those courtside seats in that I would have already been removed by security several times for screaming at my own team.

James Harden, Chris Paul, the singing Trevor Ariza..and the league’s best record Rockets in town on Tuesday night.

Good luck with that, Thunder.

As stunning as this is to write I find myself writing it. If the Thunder win at Portland tonight they will be in third place in the West heading back to Oklahoma City after tonight’s game at Portland.

The basketball gods are smiling upon the Thunder. Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs is done for the season. Jimmy Butler of the T Wolves is on the shelf with a knee injury. DeMarcus Cousins of the New Orleans Pelicans is done for the season. The basketball gods have parted the waters for the Thunder to get the No. 3 seed in the West if only the Thunder can muster enough grit to walk through the parted waters.

Is this game at Portland tonight the biggest game of the season so far? Bigger than any of the three games against Golden State and the Christmas night game against Houston?

Well…I think it is for an obvious reason. That reason being the Thunder would be in third place in the West and suddenly showing some semblance of a reason why they could possibly get home court in the first round of the playoffs.

Portland is a four point favorite tonight and riding high with Lillard, McCollum, and Shabazz Napier. The Blazers bring into tonight’s game a three headed monster of guard play and electric three point shooting which doesn’t bode well for the Thunder on paper. This is a game where Andre Roberson would be more than handy. I have no idea if Corey Brewer is playing tonight, but this is a game where if he could go 10-12 minutes it wouldn’t hurt.

Both Westbrook and Paul George played heavy minutes last night. They had to and you know what I applaud Billy Donovan for putting away his Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood philosophy of minutes. Sometimes you just gotta go win a game and last night was one of those times. But if you look at the rest of the Thunder minutes—the rest of the team should be okay. Nobody off the bench played heavy minutes. In fact, Ray Felton played only nine minutes and he’s going to have to play some minutes tonight to help get Russell Westbrook through this game. And if you look at last night’s box you’ll notice Abrines didn’t play his customary 20 minutes of Billy D love. Only ten minutes. Thank you, Billy Donovan. It’s a lovely day in the neighborhood. Carmelo played 31 minutes though, Billy D might want to circle that though.

I love Shabazz Napier from that UConn national championship team and he’s one of my keys tonight. It’s hard to shut down Lillard and McCollum, but if you can limit offensive damage from the rest of the Blazers the Thunder could win this game.

A lot of small lineups tonight. Billy Donovan is going to have roll some shit and coach on the fly like a hockey coach tonight. The Thunder can’t stand around on defense or they’ll get torched from beyond the arc, but by the same token if OKC bears down they should be able to get to the rim against these Blazers.

The Thunder to win this game have to show us some toughness which at times hasn’t been there this season. This is a game where if the Thunder want to change the perceived culture of their season on the second night of a road back to back this is the time to do it. This would be that time. A time to make up for the softness in Oakland last Saturday evening.

On Nov. 5th these two teams played in Portland with the Blazers winning 103-99. Suffice it to say–OKC is going to need to score the ball tonight.

Your first thought is to take the Blazers and give the four. But I’m going too take the Thunder and the four points and hope for a special performance from Paul George, Carmelo, or Steven Adams tonight. One of these three guys needs to be special tonight.

I’m taking the Thunder and the four.

If you point yard then go yard, that’s the just way it fucking is. Granted, in gambling parlance this was a push and you pay your bookie or the house the juice, but for me this was a monumental moral victory for the Thunder to win by eight over the hapless Suns on the road.

When Carmelo hit those two free throws with 1.2 seconds left to get the spread to ‘eight’ it was like when Perk rammed home that dunk against the Spurs in Game 6 to propel the Thunder into the NBA Finals.

It was just so emotional for me to have this one shining moment of godliness from the heavens shine down and allow me this moment of redemption amid all the dysfunction of this basketball season.

Russell Westbrook was the star, but that OKC bench was fabulous late in the third period when in reality they set the stage for Westbrook and the starters to close the deal. Westbrook had 43 points and hit a huge three point dagger when it mattered most, but it was that Thunder bench which gave the Thunder some hope.

Ray Felton, Jerami Grant, Josh Huestis, Pat Patterson, Terrance Ferguson, and even little furry frilly Alex Abrines were all instrumental in the win…especially Abrines, who came up with a flurry of defensive plays which brought me off my couch screaming…”Is that really Alex Abrines?” And, the basketball heavens screamed back, “Yes, Mike…it is!”

It is not an exaggeration for me to say this was a religious experience for me tonight.

I can’t go really much further with this recap. I’m emotionally spent.

The Thunder are now 37-27 and play a red hot Portland team tomorrow night in Portland. But for now, I’m just savoring this, the thought anything is possible on any given night with this vexing Thunder team.

I need a drink and a song.

LET’S GO THUNDER!

This is too obvious. This is a Vegas sucker trap. Common sense would tell you this Thunder piece of junk couldn’t beat the Bad News Bears on the road by eight points. But lest we forget that OKC blowout win by twenty points at Golden State on Feb. 6th. Reason, intelligence, and common sense cannot in any way steer you on how to bet Thunder games this season. So, like George, what could it possibly hurt to do the exact polar opposite when it comes to this Thunder team?

So then, how simple could it be? Take the Thunder as a road eight point favorite over the feeble Phoenix Suns.

When you think it can’t get worse it does and so unravels the continual chaotic presidency of reality television star Donald Trump. Hey, you Trump supporters, I do give you this…at least you didn’t elect a Kardashian or Larry Flynt from Hustler magazine. I’ll give you that.

Just another ordinary week for America. Hope Hicks resigns. Dipshit son-in-law Jerod has his high level security revoked. Gary Cohn on the verge of resigning. Same with generals McMaster and Kelly. Jeff Sessions has an interesting dinner date with his Justice Department heads. Trump makes no coherent sense with any of his statements concerning gun control, trade tariffs, and Russian interference in our election. The stock market doesn’t know what to do or think.

Just another week in the never ending saga of Donald Trump’s reality television make believe presidency.

Who would have thought America could devolve to this in thirteen months?

OKC signed former Florida Gator small forward Corey Brewer. I’ve liked Brewer from his days at Florida with Billy Donovan and thru his numerous NBA stops. He’s a nice two way swing player who if Donovan actually uses could help the Thunder this season and perhaps next season when you consider no one knows exactly knows when Andre Roberson will return next season.

Gosh, not ever knowing what Billy Donovan will do, I think or hope or pray this means Billy Donovan and Sam Presti are going to reduce the Alex Abrines and Terrance Ferguson minutes as we head down the stretch run.

A couple of years ago, Presti signed Ronnie Brewer and Scott Brooks really never used him. So we’ll see if Corey Brewer gets some real rotational minutes.

Brewer played sparingly for the Lakers this season, so he should be very well rested. Not a huge signing, but one which could actually help the team if Billy Donovan can move beyond the Mr. Rogers Neighborhood rotation philosophy he embraces as we hit the most important part of the season. I very much understand you need to develop young guys like Abrines and Ferguson, but there is that time you put the hammer down and you do put winning ahead of youth development. This would kinda be that time.

Here’s the thing, I expected a close game and it was one. There’s such an enormous difference in the coaching department when these two teams play each other… unless your head has been buried in the sand this is what you should have expected.

Plus, I think Dallas has some nice young pieces moving forward beyond the Dirk era. I like Harrison Barnes, I like Dennis Smith Jr., I’ve always liked Dwight Powell, Yogi Ferrell is decent, and I think as time moves along Nerlen Noels will be a nice role player, plus that hair. I’m a fan of Nerlen’s hair.

You have to be a realist, the Thunder is an undisciplined team which is its own worst enemy for periods of time in almost every game. It is what is. I mean, if I were Clay Bennett, I’m not even sure why I would pay the six million to have a head coach. Maybe just pay Nick Collison another million to call timeouts, talk to players in a coachly (word?) way, and placate the local college media in post game pressers. Save yourself five million and basically be what you are now… which is a team which doesn’t listen to its coach all that much.

Actually, this was a very entertaining game..so you know, I’m good. Dysfunction begats dysfunction.

Westbrook hit the game winner. Paul George had a nice game. Steven Adams was my player of the game. Carmelo was awful..again. Josh Huestis was decent. Ray Felton was good. Jerami was so-so–I expect more of him. Terrance Ferguson played what I thought were ten good minutes. Pat Patterson was okay. And once again Billy Donovan showered Alex Abrines with 20 minutes of love. Of course, Abrines only made one shot, but he wasn’t horrific.

You know what a good coach would have done tonight, he would have pounded the rim with Westbrook and Adams assaulting the Mav’s interior. Adams made all four of his shots, but instead—there’s OKC jacking 36 threes even though they only made ten of them. A good coach would not have allowed his team to play this stupidly. I honestly think Billy Donovan is intimidated by the three stars. Wouldn’t you be if you made six million and all three of these cats are making much, much more. Why else would Carmelo even be on the floor for that last defensive situational possession of the game following two timeouts? See what I mean? Things which Mike Boynton would be going ape shit berserk over. But Mike Boynton doesn’t have multiple star millionaires on his team. His players have to listen.

But always remember… it’ a superstar/agent driven league. Always.

OKC improves to 36-27 on the season and now heads to Phoenix to see if it can beat Devin Booker on the road. This will be an interesting Vegas spread in that OKC is in Portland the next night in what is looming as a fairly important game on Saturday. I can already hear the Michael Cage excuses bouncing off my ear drums. ‘Um.. the last game of a three game road swing is actually like playing the sixth game in six nights.” He actually says shit like this and it drive me crazy. What the fuck ever.

I worry about Antonio Davis a little bit. He’s not coming to terms with things like I am. He’s resisting the obvious. But I like him and wish him well. Seems like a nice man.

Dirk became the sixth player in NBA history to score 31,000 points. Good for him. I’ve always loved Dirk. I completely respect the way he stayed in Dallas and won his ring in 2011 on a team which didn’t have nearly as much talent as this Oklahoma City team. The other five players on the list? Michael, Kobe, Kareem, Wilt, and Karl Malone. I actually saw Malone in person in ’83 when his Louisiana Tech team came to OKC to play Wayman Tisdale’s Sooners in what was an epic NCAA Tournament game.

The Thunder in the Valley of Sun on Friday. Devin Booker seldom disappoints. It should be a fun game to watch.

Who would have thought back in August that first year O State head coach Mike Boynton would emerge as the coach in Oklahoma this season with the most impressive season to date. Back then, the Lamont Evans FBI probe story was breaking and you might have thought there was no way this young coach could make it through that turmoil, let alone have his Cowboys on the cusp of making the NCAA Tournament. But with last night’s road win over Iowa State, and a home game looming this Saturday against Kansas to close out Big 12 regular season play–this O State team is a win or two away from making the Big Dance in Boynton’s first year.

When you looked at that initial situation back before the season began–no one in their right mind would have thought this possible for Boynton and his team…including me.

But I’ll say this–way back at the beginning of the season I heard Boynton do an interview on the Sports Animal and the guy just floored me with the way he carried himself in the interview. He’s just one of these no nonsense guys who himself was a good point guard at South Carolina. A player who had to work his ass for everything he’s gotten to date in basketball. His team plays with his attitude. His personality. 2nd Rule of Coaching— you coach thru your personality and character.

So—with both Billy Donovan and Lon Kruger’s teams massively underachieving this basketball season, first year coach Mike Boynton has emerged as a nice story of sorts for those like myself who love seeing basketball played the right way. Namely, with some heart and passion.

I would say if O State beats Kansas at home this Saturday and then wins their first round game in the Big 12 Tournament they’ll make the NCAA Tournament.

Who would have thought?