An excellent game between two teams who bolstered their rosters this past off season to compete for the Western crown. It would not be a shock at all if these two teams finish No. 4 and No. 5 in the regular season and find themselves battling each other in the first round.
OKC fought back from a double digit deficit in the fourth quarter behind Russell Westbrook hitting five threes and even took a 113-112 lead with 5.9 seconds left when Westbrook beautifully facilitated Carmelo Anthony on a made three from the left wing, but with no timeouts left Minnesota inbounded to Andrew Wiggins who lost Paul George on a moving screen set by Karl Anthony-Townes and banked in the game winner just past half court.
Tough loss for the Thunder who now drop to 1-2 on this young season. But this is a loss where you feel OKC did take a step forward as Westbrook asserted himself yet made the beautiful play to Carmelo with the game on the line. Good game for Steven Adams with a 17 point, 13 rebound night. A game by Carmelo which seems more in line with what his role should be on this team. An excellent game by Raymond Felton who is giving the Thunder what they never had last season… namely, an effective backup point guard. The usual array of contribution plays by Jerami Grant who at some point might need to supplant Andre Roberson.
A tough shooting night for Paul George who went 6-20 and a very tough night for Andre Roberson. But there were positives in this game which gives hope the team is starting to feel more comfortable playing together.
OKC’s record doesn’t worry me because the West is a beast. The Thunder could very well be hard pressed to win 52 games in the regular season when all is said and done, but the important thing is for this team to get better every time out and be playing their best ball coming down the stretch. The West is just so tough, so very tough this season. The Thunder better be ready to play every night out because there’s not many games on the schedule which are gimme wins. If OKC could be 5-5 after the first ten games and having the look of a team which is figuring things out I’d be okay with it.
Indiana Pacers in town on Wednesday night with Oladipo and Sabonis.
The Utah Jazz aren’t going to make the Western Conference Finals, but they are the defending Northwest Division champions and on Saturday night in Utah they pretty much coasted to an easy 96-87 win over what appeared to be a confused Thunder team.
It was an ugly game to witness from a Thunder viewpoint. The Thunder are an athletic team which should thrive on transition baskets and the pure energy of Russell Westbrook. Instead, on Saturday night what we saw was too much of Melo and Paul George hoisting a combined 46 shots. OKC was passive offensively, never seemed interested in getting Westbrook to the rim and looked more like a bad Eastern Conference also ran than a team some have picked to win the NBA championship this summer.
On the night, Westbrook had six points on 2-11 shooting. Granted, Westbrook did have 13 rebounds and 9 assists, but the staple of his game is getting to the rim. Utah is one of the better defensive teams in the West with Rudy Gobert protecting the rim, but OKC just didn’t seem interested in doing more than chucking thirty-three three point attempts of which they hit eleven. Overall, OKC shot 41% from the field and give Utah some credit, but the OKC plan for this game was bad. This is a Utah team which lost Gordon Hayward and George Hill, this is a Thunder team which added Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. Give me somewhat of a break here.
I expect more from Billy Donovan as a coach. I’m all in with the concept of Westbrook being more of a Mo Cheeks type of point guard who facilitates George and Anthony, but I’m not on board with the thought of Donovan neutering his best player and the league’s reigning MVP. Some middle ground would be nice. I’m not a shot counter, but I don’t see Carmelo Anthony as the guy who needs to have 26 shots flowing through his game on most nights this season.
I wrote about this before the season in relation to Mo Cheeks and the championship he won in ’83 with the Sixers when he facilitated Dr. J and Moses Malone. Mo Cheeks in my mind was that team’s MVP as he weaved a game in which he scored, yet facilitated Julius Irving without draining the energy from his team.
If I’m coaching this team my mantra is transition, penetration, and then kick outs if the rim isn’t there. Plus, get Adams more involved on pick and roll.
I hated what I saw from the Thunder last night. This shouldn’t be a day care deal for Carmelo. He should be the second or third option. He should earn his touches based on based on his feel on a particular night. If it’s there, it’s there. Know what I mean.
I know it’s early in the season and this is a process…blah, blah, blah. Tell me if I’m wrong here– but if centering a team around Carmelo’s touches is the template then why were the Knicks the biggest underachievers in the NBA the past six seasons?
I want to see the ball move. I want to see transition created from our defensive length. I want to less chucking from Carmelo. But most of all I want to see Russell Westbrook play like Russell Westbrook.
Having written all that, Golden State is 1-2 this season and it’s early in the season.
Minnesota Timberwolves in town tonight to take on the Thunder.
I haven’t been to my favorite Waffle House since after the Mayweather-MacGregor fight. That night was a life changer for me. I got there after the fight at about one in the morning. It was the same night I went to see Clayton Kershaw pitch for the OKC Dodgers on a rehab assignment. What a night. First Kershaw, then watching the fight with a group of millennials ( an experience in itself) at my son’s house. Then, of course—the Waffle House in Edmond.
I literally was the only white dude there and the place was packed because of the fight. Everyone was wired. I sat at the counter…right in the middle. I have no idea how I landed such a prime seat, but I did. Right there in the hub of the fray. You really don’t get the Waffle House ambience unless you sit at the counter…truth. You wanna get the blue collar pulse feel of a Waffle House you sit at the fucking counter. You want a frilly experience then go to IHOP and sit at a booth.
Two white male cooks who looked like they just came from a Trump rally in Alabama and all black female waitresses. So—all these orders start piling up on the counter and the two male cooks get pissed and scream at the black waitresses, ” If you can’t get this fucking food out we’re walking.”
The waitresses didn’t take kindly to that obviously and one of them flipped the two cooks off. So this older black guy to my left deftly gets up, goes behind the counter and starts handing out plates throughout the jam packed restaurant. Unbelievably, he got my order right.
Pecan waffle with a side of bacon, then the All-Star Platter of two eggs over medium, double order of hash browns crisp straight up with Hunt’s ketchup, toast, breakfast steak, ice water, orange juice, and a black coffee. I don’t do the whole Sean Brock production with a salad, a patty melt, and a breakfast pork chop. That’s too much for me.
Anyway, tomorrow is like an epic sports day looming and I’m thinking Waffle House at the end of it. O State at Texas, OU at K State, Michigan vs. Penn State, Game 7 Astros vs. Yankees, and Thunder at Utah. It doesn’t get much better. If only I could take my black lab Pauli with me at sit her at the counter with me it would be nirvana. Why not? It’s worth a try.
It was supposed to be relatively easy and it was as the OKC Thunder did pretty much wanted they wanted to when they wanted to do it in a breezy feel good 105-84 rout of the Knicks inside Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Welcome to the second era of Super Team ball in the ten year history of the Thunder. As one should know—the first era came back in 2012 when Durant, Westbrook, and Harden led the Thunder to the NBA Finals in 2012 when the precocious trio led the Thunder to the Finals against LeBron’s then original Super Team in Miami. But that first OKC Super Team was organic, all from Sam Presti draft selections.
The second OKC Super Team almost came into place after the Game 6 loss to the Warriors which changed the course of contemporary NBA history. Presti almost had a Super Team in place of Durant, Westbrook, and Al Horford. But as we all know that didn’t happen as Durant took the easiest path to a title with the least resistance possible.
Quite a few figured that would be it for the Thunder. Think again. Sam Presti re-signed Westbrook, got through last season, and now has another bona fide Super Team in Oklahoma City…only this time it comes through trades and free agency. This time fans in OKC know the ‘hardened’ (pun intended) truth about the cold business aspect of the league. Dog eat dog. Shark eat shark or be eaten. So, I guess what I’m saying here is carpa diem, baby—live the moment and piss off that luxury tax.
Tonight OKC fans such as myself got our first real look at this Super Team and it was pretty much what we thought it would be…namely impressive.
Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony combined for 71 points. Throw in Steven Adams’ 12 points and OKC’s top four players combined for 83 points.
Westbrook notched his 80th career triple double with a 21 point, 16 assist, and 10 rebound night. Combined, PG and Melo went 9-23 from beyond the arc. On nights when they’re hitting their shots at a crisper rate Westbrook’s assist totals should ebb even higher. One thing is certain, when OKC gets in transition with this bunch there will be oceans of space of time for George and Melo to launch their shots.
Adams, Jerami Grant, Andre Roberson, and Raymond Felton played well, but more production will be need from the rest of the roster when they hook up with Golden State and Houston.
Rookie swingman Terrance Ferguson shows some promise and has a nice smile. Alex Abrines went 1-5 shooting threes and OKC will need more from him on nights when they’re playing good teams. But if Abrines having a bad shooting night is all I can bitch about then I think OKC will be okay.
So, it was a glorious fall evening in Oklahoma City as Super Team II was unveiled at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. But don’t kid yourself, every Thunder fan worth a grain of salt is already thinking Golden State. It’s hard not to even when you know you shouldn’t. What’s even harder is to not contemplate what would have happened last season if Durant, Westbrook, and Al Horford had teamed up to take on the Splash Brothers and the Groin Kicker. As NBA historians we’ll never know, and it will somehow eat at us.
Interesting game. Swaggy P and Jordan Bell made their Warrior debuts as did Chris Paul for the Rockets. Score tells it all—you’re gonna have to score the ball to hang with these two teams. Great game. The West is a beast, you better bring your lunchpail every night. The East in no way even interests me as far as regular season viewing.
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.