Well…if Tillerson didn’t, we do know this—he fucking should have. Oh, I wake every morning exhausted from all this winning Caligula has heaped upon us. Not one singular to date thing has been done except the filling of a judgeship which should have already been filled by Merritt Garland. Not one singular thing.
I’ve come to my own conclusions about America the past twelve months. We in no way should be deporting Hispanics or banning Muslims. What we should be doing is deporting around twenty million or so of the white idiots who voted for this piece of shit douchebag.
Where do we send them? Who would take them? What would it cost? I haven’t figured all this out, but this is what needs to done. These people are not coachable. Not redeemable. Maybe the LSU Alumni Association would take them. Sorry… Jimmy Carvelle.
Make America Great Again…Deport a Deplorable.
Tell me it wouldn’t take balls to put that bumper sticker on my truck in Oklahoma. I might just do it.
This evidently caused a great deal of stress with Tillerson. Funny to see Tom Price there since he was last week fired for financial fraud and corruption. The other idiot standing besides Caligula is former Texas governor Rick Perry who never should have left Dancing With the Stars. Oh, boy. Tillerson should be okay…it’s not like Caligula looked out at the Boy Scouts and told them he moved on her heavily and tried to fuck her like a bitch.
Here’s the thing, as Golden State comes into this season they should be riding the quest of a threepeat in search of a fourpeat. Take away Draymond Green’s ejection two years ago and that’s where the NBA is currently. That being, the Golden State Warriors being the hated champions with twenty-nine other teams wishing they were them.
I haven’t done my Western Conference bracket sheet yet, but here’s the truth, while OKC, Houston, San Antonio, and Minnesota all got better…so did the Warriors. As if they needed more offensive firepower, that’s exactly what they did this off season in adding more offense to their mix with the additions of Nick Young and Omri Casspi. Unless an injury bug hits the Warriors, they will be better as well.
The thing which bothers me the most about the Thunder is what do you do with Andre Roberson. Of the teams I just mentioned including Golden State, all of their guard tandems feature two way backcourts, none of these teams have to close their eyes when their shooting guard touches the ball. Those other shooting guards are Klay Thompson/Warriors, James Harden/Rockets, Danny Green/ Spurs, and Jimmy Butler/TWolves. I love everything Sam Presti did and I love Andre Roberson’s game other than his shooting, but that’s part of being a shooting guard. Namely, scoring the ball enough to keep the other team honest.
If I’m an opposing coach my take on OKC is still the same even with the additions of George, Melo, Patterson, and Felton….I’m either going to foul Roberson early in the possession or not guard him at all once the possession becomes half court.
As the opposing coach I’m going to write on the board…’Make Andre Roberson Beat Us.’ I’d do exactly what Steve Kerr does by using the extra defender to congest the lane and take away the rim from Adams and Westbrook. Would you rather have those two at the rim or Roberson with the ball in his hands? Duh.
Billy Donovan is going to have to work through this somehow. He’s going to have to become a situational savant on the bench. Those four other coaches don’t have to work through any of that. And remember what happened last season in the first round against Houston, Mike D’Antoni simply said to his team, ‘Make Andre Roberson Beat Us.’ Pretty simple.
So that’s the one thing which gives me a feeling of unrest about the Thunder and why I can’t decide whether to pick them second or fourth on my Western Conference bracket sheet.
My heart says second, but my reason says fourth. And fourth means you’re on the Warriors side of the bracket.
Before we got a team in Oklahoma, the Philly Sixers were easily my favorite NBA team. I was never a Celtics or Lakers fan per se. I watched all their games, but the Sixers had my heart. It started with Hal Greer and Billy Cunningham, then made a turn through the Dr. J era, Charles Barkley, and then Allen Iverson. Some truly great players made their careers in Philly.
So as a Philly fan who’s now a passionate Thunder fan/blogger, I was thinking how fortunate I’ve been to watch some truly great point guards–and don’t forget those two years New Orleans played here in OKC, I got to see Chris Paul win Rookie of the Year and evolve as one of the best point guards in the league.
My favorite NBA team of all-time is the 1983 Sixers team who swept the Lakers in four games to win the NBA Championship. My second favorite team is the 2012 OKC Thunder who lost in five games to LeBron in Miami. My third favorite team is the 1977 Portland Trail Blazers who actually beat my Sixers in six games. That Portland team was perhaps the best passing team I’ve ever seen and coached by Jack Ramsey, who was at one time the Philly head coach. Small world.
So now everyone is saying Westbrook is just a heavier version of Allen Iverson. I don’t think so. There are parts of Iverson in Westbrook’s game, but there are parts of Mo Cheeks and probably Russell’s father inside of Westbrook’s game as well.
Westbrook is completely adaptable to the talent around him. Lest Cupcake and his brother Tony forget–Le Cupcake won four scoring titles in OKC, had that rare gem 40-50-90 season, won an MVP, made it to four conference finals and one NBA finals. What I’m saying is Westbrook held his game back to facilitate Durant. If Durant, his handlers, and brother Tony want to rewrite history that’s their call. As someone who watched all of this–I’d put more of OKC’s inability to get over the top on OKC’s starting shooting guards during the Durant Era, and btw even though I think Andre Roberson is a great kid this still concerns me. Golden State has Klay Thompson, the Thunder have a shooting guard who can’t make free throws. Do the math in a best of seven series, do the math.
If I’m Billy Donovan here’s what I say to Russ, play like Mo Cheeks did in ’83 and see where that takes you. The way Mo Cheeks played the point guard position in ’83 was something to behold. The ball moved exactly where it needed to be and was there when it needed to be there. Dr. J and Moses Malone got their comfort touches, the perimeter guys got their touches, and when needed Cheeks got his points. It was beautiful to watch. I’m hopeful this is the template the Thunder follows this season.
Except for last season, I’ve never thought Westbrook was a ball hog. His usage was high, but for the most part, except for last season when he was surrounded by primarily rookie scale players—the ball has gotten where it needs to be gotten. Did you really want the ball in someone’s else’s hands in Game 6 versus Warriors? No…we just wanted Durant and Westbrook to make the touches count. I mean would we even be having this never ending Westbrook-Cupcake yarn if OKC holds on to the lead those fateful six minutes or so in Game 6?
In closing to all the talking heads who say Westbrook is just a heavier Iverson…I’d say Westbrook is one small part Mo, Cheeks, one small part Allen Iverson, one small part Ray Westbrook, and one big part Russell Westbrook.
That’s what I’d say.
My favorite Iverson video. I love the Rocky dribbling spiel in Philly. Classic.
Tom Petty passed at the age of sixty-six. I love many of his songs. Hard to have one favorite, but here’s a couple at the top of my list. R.I.P., buddy. You’ll be missed.
I’ve come to be a fan of Cowherd. He’ll probably be the millennials Dan Patrick. Oklahoma is a good match for Russell. The state has a tremendous amount of untapped potential if only the state had a more visionary governor and an overall attitude of being a bit more progressive. Great people with a genuine goodness about them. They need leadership, just not from the American Freedom Caucus, especially on the education front. It’s all about education.
Kind of interesting when you examine my two favorite pro athletes excluding Nick Collison. Are you kidding? Until Nick hangs up the sneakers it’s him.
Russell and Aaron both hail from California. Both attended PAC 12 schools. Russ went to UCLA, Aaron eventually went to Cal-Berkley. Both struggled a bit to land DI scholarships. Both have supportive families, although Aaron did go through some bullshit with his family during the whole Olivia Munn drama, while of course–Russ has had to deal with the Cupcake saga. Both went through early periods when there was uncertainty whether they could play at the NBA and NFL levels. Both to date play in their sports smallest market. Both are very smart dudes.
And the thing is… it’s good for the NBA to have Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City, and good for the NFL to have Aaron Rodgers in storied Green Bay, Wisconsin. And it proves as an athlete you don’t have to live in New York or LA to have mega endorsements and the biggest brightest brand. You just don’t, because ultimately your body of works separates you from your peers.
So…here’s my buddy Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.