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I just read this incredible novel by a French female author entitled The Heart. It’s about a young man in France who goes into a vegetative state after a car accident, and the chain of events which eventually lead to his heart being transplanted into an older person. Great book and beautifully written.

So—I’m sitting here thinking about this Thunder team and the way they play without Andre Roberson…as in heartless except for that rousing win over the Sixers where they showed some heart. It seems astounding to me a defensive role player could singularly hold the key to the Thunder’s heart, but maybe he did and Sam Presti knew it.

Obviously, Russell Westbrook is the league’s reigning MVP, obviously Paul George is one of the best two way players in the league, obviously Carmelo Anthony is headed to the Basketball Hall of Fame, and obviously Steven Adams is one of the better centers in the league…so why is the Thunder having so much trouble adjusting to real NBA life without Andre Roberson.

I read and hear this nonsense about how the Thunder now have no one who can defend the three. Bullshit. I’m calling bullshit.

Paul George can’t defend NBA wing players? Russell Westbrook can’t stay with his man? Steven Adams can’t hang on the boards with an aging Brooks Lopez? Carmelo Anthony can’t hang with Julius Randle? Josh Huestis can’t come into a game for something like 16 minutes a game and give his team a defensive energy spark? Alex Abrines and Terrance Ferguson can’t come into a game for limited minutes and give their team an offensive or energy spark? Pat Patterson can’t come into a game as a seasoned vet and give his team something tangible every night? Ray Felton can’t play like he was before Roberson’s injury? You’re telling me these guys as highly paid professionals can’t step on the floor and do their jobs for forty-eight minutes?

You’ll notice I didn’t mention Jerami Grant. That’s because he’s played well and actually has a look like he cares.

So…here the Thunder sit losers of four straight against four teams they should have beaten given each team was missing a star player. The Thunder didn’t lose a star, they apparently did lose Andre Roberson’s heart though.

And when you’re playing the sharp shooting Warriors in their building without your best defender and your heart it gives a fan/blogger like me some serious concern.

I wonder what Billy Donovan ever says to these guys behind closed doors. He seems so gentle with these NBA multi-millionaires. He seems daunted by the task of suggesting his team doesn’t play hard for 48 minutes. He doesn’t seem equal to the task.

So…I’ll say it for him to his team. Start playing with a chip on your shoulder and some competitive urgency. Show me some heart.

Thunder at the Warriors tonight…some sense of heart would be nice.

Before I even get to the Thunder, I have some Russians on my ass in my comments section giving me shit about some of the things I’ve written recently in regards to Caligula and his puppet Comrade Devin Nunes. I in no way am going to hit the approve button in that if I do and decide to run for POTUS in 2020 and somehow win in part because of Hillary’s email account six years ago — this could be construed as collusion. Unlike with the idiot son Don Jr., Jeff Sessions, Michael Flynn, Carter Paige, George Papo, Gates, and Manafort…these Russians won’t be meeting with me. Not happening.

So…now on to the Thunder–our heartless basketball team.

Billy Duffy. That’s his name according to the internet profile I punched. He’s Andre Roberson’s agent. This is what I will say after watching the gutless Thunder lose two home games in a row to the Pelicans and Lakers this week-end.

Billy Duffy, as in he needs to get Andre a redo on his recent contract which pays him $10 million a year even though he can’t make a free throw.

Apparently, what Billy Duffy has here is a client who’s being grotesquely underpaid at $10 million per given what Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony are making this season.

What Billy Duffy has in his hands is apparently the team MVP given that ever since his injury the Thunder have played like the biggest collection of pussies I’ve ever witnessed on a basketball court.

When I wrote that the team pulled together when Andre was on the floor in Detroit…I clearly misread the situation. The situation being the rest of the team realized Andre Roberson would no longer be there to do their grunt work for them.

Now…Andre does have his contractors such as Jim Traber and the newsok mindless fool Joel, but I think most of us knew Andre was valuable.

But this valuable? As in they might not be able to beat Baylor or Iowa State valuable?

So–I’m not even going to go thru a cute recap like some millennial/Gen X’er as the Royce Youngs and Erik Hornes and Daily Thunder children of the fog might feel the need to do after the embarrassing loss to the Lakers yesterday… There’s no need to because unless you’re a complete idiot like some on the Fox Thunder telecast crew…the storyline is pretty obvious unless one is a dunce.

The storyline being — Clay Bennett has an overpaid, underachieving, jelly roll soft, entitled basketball team in Oklahoma City with a college coach being paid six million who has no idea whatsoever to say to his millionaires who aren’t playing hard.

The Thunder in Oakland on Tuesday night to play the Golden State Warriors.

Good luck with that, Clay Bennett.

A great game and a great story for Nick Foles. Tom Brady was indeed magnificent in throwing for the most yards ever in an NFL post season game, but in the end it was Nick Foles’ moment. It’s still Carson Wentz’s team, but this is Nick Foles Super Bowl Championship. His moment, his legacy to the city of Philadelphia. It’s why you play, coach, and watch sports–to be a part of something which moves you as a human. The halftime show was total shit, almost as bad as a Fox telecast of a Thunder game, so I turned that down and read, but otherwise an epic Super Bowl for the ages. Belichick needs to get some help for his defense. They had trouble getting off the field. But, again, it was a night for Nick Foles to stamp his place in NFL history. Great game.

The trade deadline is on Thursday and Sam Presti needs to make a trade because his $130 million dollar team plays like a piece of entitled junk without Andre Roberson doing the dirty work. You’ll notice when you watch the Super Bowl today that Tom Brady has offensive linemen who allow him to be magnificent. Same thing here with the Thunder. Sam Presti lost his Big Dog grinder when Andre went down.

Tom Brady can’t throw when he’s on his back. Know what I mean?

This is the personification of team building. You have a star caste system and then you have grinders. Nick Collison was a glorious grinder in his day. Why else do you think Sam Presti was smart enough to resign Andre for $10 million a year on his new contract.

Here’s the thing, Clay Bennett and his ownership group didn’t put together a $130 million dollar roster to lose in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. They put a team together to try and beat the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors. Period. If you’re going deep into the luxury tax to the tune of $20 something million then you make a move to salvage your investment. To show Paul George you’re serious about winning in Oklahoma City. To show Jerry West you’re tired of coming in second place.

Remember when Kevin Durant told the world he was tired of coming in second place on that Sixty Minutes interview. well…he meant it. Clay Bennett is a hedge fund guy amongst other things. I wish he would read my blog, because this is what I would do.BTW…I think Sam Presti is an extremely smart dude.

Avery Bradley for the Clippers would be fine, but he’s an unrestricted free agent and you have to assume Andre might not be ready to go next October. You have to hedge your position assuming Andre may or may not be himself for more than a year at the minimum. That’s a serious injury especially for a role where he’s has to put so much pressure on his wheels.

No way do I trade Jerami Grant. He stays. Jerami Grant now is the Thunder’s most versatile defender and can defend the 3, the 4, or the 5 depending if Billy Donovan is playing big or small. Jerami stays.

I’d like to keep Terrance Ferguson if possible. Terrance needs some serious work in the weight room though. Look at Andre’s body when he was a rookie and look at it now. Night and day, same with Steven Adams.

The trade I would make is Alex Abrines and Josh Huestis for Johnathan Simmons over there at Orlando. The salaries almost match. Presti got Oladipo, Sabonis, and Ilyasova for Ibaka by dealing with the Magic. Of course, Sam Presti’s Emerson College buddy Rob Hennigan was fired as the GM in Orlando, but the Magic are very much in the hunt for the worst record in the NBA this season. Maybe they’d be interested in Alex Abrines and Josh Huestis. I believe Simmons doesn’t become a free agent till the conclusion of the 2018-19 season. so, in essence you’re getting your guy now and hedging your position for next season if Andre can’t go.

The Magic might want Terrance Ferguson. This is where Clay Bennett and Sam Presti have to make a decision. But like I wrote, the future is now for Oklahoma City. Not two years from now, but now if they want to show Paul George he could win a championship in Oklahoma City. Tough decision. But that’s what GM’s get paid for. Know this though, OKC isn’t coming close to beating Houston or Golden State with what we’ve seen from the Thunder in these four games without Andre. They wouldn’t beat the Spurs or the Wolves as well. So, in reality I think Sam Presti knows what he has to do as much as it might hurt. Which means Terrance Ferguson is in play.

From Orlando’s standpoint, they would get two players for one. And make this clear, Ferguson or Abrines and Huestis will be much more effective players in the far less talented Eastern Conference. What Blake Griffin might notice is that Detroit isn’t California from a dream vacation destination, but night in and night out the opposition isn’t nearly as talented and guys like Ferguson, Abrines, and Huestis should be more effective and valuable in the East. Think of it kind of like playing linebacker in the SEC vs. the Big 12. See Oladipo and Sabonis in Indiana. They’re groovin’. It’s all about ‘your’ value in your competition pool.

So when you watch the Super Bowl this evening take notice of all those New England players on the O line and jot down their names because they’re the ones who enable Tom Brady to be magnificent.

And yet our collective U.S. village has two idiots, three if you include Ted Cruz, but for the sake of this argument, just Donald Trump and Devin Nunes. How in the world did two fucking idiots like these two knuckleheads ascend do the Presidency and Chairman of the Intel Committee ? It’s like the Peter Principle doused with steroids. How did these two hapless fucks find each other at this point in our history? I’m thinking about running for POTUS in 2020. Because if these morons can reach these heights—then why not? Seriously…why not?

Great presser. I’ve come to savor Brady like a fine wine. I’d never heard the dog bite story before. I’ll go New England 23 – Philadelphia 20.

No DeMarcus Cousins. Absent also were Omar Asik, Jameer Nelson, and Tony Allen given they were traded to the Chicago Bulls. The Pelicans were playing with ten suited players on the road against the Oklahoma City Thunder.

And, yet, in the end it was the New Orleans Pelicans coasting to an easy 114-100 win over a Thunder team which showed little heart and mental toughness even if it was on the second night of a back to back. Tough teams fight thru back to backs. Tough teams don’t cave at home against a shorthanded team which was missing one of its two best players. Mentally tough teams fight thru things like this and accomplish goals in the goal achieving portion of the season.

Tough teams don’t cave in the aftermath of losing Andre Roberson. Tough teams have resolve.

Maybe Andre Roberson was the only mental toughness thread holding this basketball team together?

Maybe.

Oklahoma City fans can say what they want about Kevin Durant, but the Durant Era in Oklahoma City was marked with teams which played hard after a loss. Played hard as if they had something to prove. This basketball team doesn’t possess that trait. This team seems to feel they’re entitled. I’m tired of writing this.

The Thunder are now 1-3 without Andre Roberson and quite frankly look lost. This is a roster which has three future NBA Hall of Famers and an elite center in Steven Adams…and yet they can’t quite seem to figure the puzzle out without Andre Roberson. As a group they can’t seem to come to terms with the notion defense, effort, and grit do kind of matter.

But then again…neither can their coach.

I have no idea whatsoever what Billy Donovan is doing with his basketball team. Even Scott Brooks knew the axiom, it all starts with defense. All championship coaches know this. It all starts with defense. Period. And yet, we’ve now seen Alex Abrines play 52 minutes in these last two Thunder losses.

I’m not blaming Alex Abrines. I’m not doing that. It’s not his fault. It’s clearly Billy Donovan’s fault unless Sam Presti is telling him to do this. I’m blaming him. This won’t be the template for replacing Andre Roberson and any good high school high coach should know this. You don’t need another scorer with the Big Four, what you need are blue collar guys like Jerami Grant and Josh Huestis or Johnathon Simmons or someone else busting their asses doing the dirty work that Andre Roberson previously did night in and night out.

That’s what you need.

And to be fair, Russell Westbrook has looked really bad these last two games. Ignore the stats, Russell Westbrook in these last two games has imploded at the end of both games. Alex Abrines isn’t why OKC is 1-3 without Andre, from my view it’s on Russell Westbrook and Billy Donovan. If your superstar and your coach can’t bring their A games to the arena then your chances of success are greatly diminished.

I’m glad I had Anthony Davis on my NBA All-Star team to play the Warriors in that he absolutely torched the jelly roll soft Thunder to the tune of 43 points and 10 rebounds. E’twaun Moore is a nice player. He’s not one of those guys most fans know, but I remember him from his days at Purdue and on this night he scored 25 points and was the second best player on the court. Nice basketball player.

I have no rants left in me for this team or coach. I won’t make excuses for them like the Fox crew does or the young writers at newsok. You have a coach being paid $6 million a year and a roster being paid $130 million a year. You would hope some professional mental toughness could present itself without Andre Roberson there providing it.

I hope these guys realize that next Tuesday the basketball world will be watching when then they travel to Oakland to play the Warriors.

Because if we see the same Thunder we’ve seen in this 1-3 stretch so far without Andre, it will be ugly. Golden State will find that open man who gets wide open as a result of either Terrance Ferguson or Alex Abrines losing their man off the dribble. Golden State will break this Thunder defense without Andre Roberson and it could be ugly.

So.. if I’m Billy Donovan–my team is watching film tomorrow and my coaching staff is huddling up and figuring out the Alex Abrines Era in Oklahoma City isn’t going to be the answer to replacing Andre Roberson. That’s just not going to happen.

The Thunder host the Lakers on Sunday in the early afternoon ABC game.

Sometimes words aren’t really needed. This would be one of those times.

The final play of the game pretty much reflects the defensive effort given by the Thunder on Thursday night in a 127-124 road loss to the Nuggets. With 1.3 seconds left and coming out of a timeout and a side out inbounds, Russell Westbrook lost Gary Harris and allowed Harris to hit an open three point shot to send the Thunder to its second straight road loss.

This was a night which illuminates what the loss of Andre Roberson will mean to this ball club and what Billy Donovan’s limitations as a bench manager will mean as well.

Let’s not mince words. We all knew the loss of Roberson would be tough. I wrote as much. But I had no idea Billy Donovan would go full Rain Man mode and do something as inherently stupid as play Alex Abrines 29 minutes in an NBA basketball game. Twelve minutes is questionable, 29 minutes is a felony.

An NBA head coach has 240 minutes in a regulation game to orchestrate minutes and do it in a way which gives his team a chance to be successful. That’s part of the job description.

I had to leave the man room twice. And this was with the volume already turned down on the Fox telecast. Only God knows what I would have done to my flat screen if the volume had been turned up. Jesus Fucking Murphy….are you kidding me?

It just numbs the mind. Simply numbs the mind. Even if it was just a ploy to get some other NBA team to give the Thunder back a piece in return for Abrines in a trade—the Thunder needs wins to fight for a higher seed right now.

It would seem pretty simple to me even with Terrance Ferguson getting sick right before tip and only playing four minutes. Here’s what a coach does who knows he’s trying to reset his team’s defensive identity with the loss of Roberson.
What he does first is SHORTEN HIS FUCKING BENCH for this road game. Then, he looks to Jerami Grant and Josh Huestis on a night like this to absorb heavy minutes. They’re both young, give them some extended roll. See what they got inside them.

If you want to showcase Abrines for a possible trade do it in easier home games against the Pelicans and Lakers.

But no, what Billy Donovan opted to do was put his worst defender on his entire roster on the floor for 29 minutes against a Denver team which can shoot the three ball. And on this night Denver lit the three ball light 15 times with Gary Harris getting the game winner when Russell Westbrook didn’t stay with his man.

I mean, give yourself a chance. Calibrate your best defensive options on how to replace Andre Roberson’s defensive minutes. GIVE YOUR TEAM THE BEST OPTION FOR SUCCESS. That’s what coaches are supposed to do. If nothing else, limit your exposure to Abrines to home games against non-playoff teams. Fucking think about what you’re doing out there. Is that too much to ask?

On a bright note, Paul George was utterly fantastic scoring 43 points on a 19-26 shooting night. PG was great. Easily the best player on the floor last night. I loved when he barked after hitting the three which should have sent the game to overtime at 124 apiece.

So…this Thunder bunch is once again sagging and now 30-22 and have missed another glorious opportunity to draw near to the Spurs and Wolves by losing two games against teams they should have beaten.

Tonight, it’s the Pelicans at home without DeMarcus Cousins. What are we to expect? Thirty minutes from Alex Abrines?

Who would know…who would know?

But we know this… Billy Donovan can’t just buy his underwear from KMart in Cinncinatti, Ohio. That can’t happen because coaches in Oakland, Houston, San Antonio, and Minneapolis don’t just buy their underwear at KMart.

I honestly didn’t watch Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech. I don’t watch reality television shows.

The state of our union is very simple…it sucks. Our country cannot govern itself. We basically have three generals in essence babysitting a president and a government which cannot get anything done. Take away the nuclear confirmation of Neil Gorsuch and the Robber Baron Tax Reform Act and nothing has been done.
As per the Dave Chappelle Doctrine, I’m okay in that I have assets, as far as you Trump supporters who live month to month–you’re pretty much fucked unless you loaded up on Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google. Good luck with the Caligula-Elmer Gantry grifter rallies.

As far as the Dow, it moved from around 6,500 to 18,500 during Obama’s eight years. As far as job creation, after the financial crisis of 2008 was somewhat leveled out…the U.S. economy created around two hundred thousand jobs a month during the Obama recovery… which is about what the Trump economy is creating currently. As far as GDP…during the Obama years the GDP moved between 2% to 2.5% growth depending on the month. During the Trump presidency, there have been a few months of 3% GDP growth, but other months have hovered around the 2.5% marker.

As far as healthcare, nothing has been done except the mandates have been abolished. In no way has healthcare been addressed. Nothing has been done with America’s trade treaties. Nothing has been done with the Dreamers and immigration and as we all know…Mexico won’t be paying for the Wall-you people living month to month with shitty healthcare will pay for the Wall if it ever happens. Nothing has been done in regards to infrastructure. Oil has risen to $65 a barrel, yet the U.S. is still a net importer of oil even with the survival of the shale industry after the market assaults from the Saudis. We do actually export more natural gas and are a net exporter of this commodity, but as any person in Oklahoma should know–natural gas is a depressed commodity selling at half of what it needs to be selling at for it to have an impact on a state like Oklahoma which is governed by idiots. Coal is not coming back regardless of how many times Joe Manchin kisses Donald Trump’s ass. That isn’t happening.

As far as the national debt, $1.5 trillion over the coming years was just added to the $20 something trillion of debt which the U.S. was already carrying. Funny, how deficit hawks such as Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell had no problem with any of this.

ISIS has been somewhat subdued, but that was already taking place in the final year of Obama’s presidency. America is still waging war in Afghanistan seventeen years later and will not be leaving anytime soon. But Caligula did drop a bomb on an empty airfield in Syria.

America unilaterally pulled out of the Climate Change Accord and now sits with two third world countries on the roster of countries not buying into climate change, globalization, free trade, math, and science.

As far as how America is perceived by the rest of the world, for the first time in my lifetime the United States is not perceived as the beacon of democracy in the world. You can’t be the greatest democracy in the world if your president assaults the media, his own FBI director (Christopher Wray), his own Attorney General (Jeff Sessions) and his own party in power (the GDP).

The only thing you can be perceived of is a country which has gone bat fuck crazy and is being governed by the American Freedom Caucus a.k.a the Tea Party. Is there anyway Sarah Palin might be available?

Our government will probably close for the second time in less than a month on February 8th. Nothing will be done about the Dreamers, which is somewhat poetic in that the American Dream is currently on hold except for a miniscule portion of the American population.

But, hey, I’m okay. Dave Chappelle is okay. We’ll just let you Darwinian free market thinkers who voted for Donald Trump figure it out on your own.

Good luck with that.