Month: May 2021

The Thunder season has mercifully ended and the the play-in games in the East begin tonight. The fact the Thunder got out-tanked in their finale versus the Clippers does not keep me awake or overly concerned.

The Thunder finished tied with Cleveland for the fourth worst record in the league and I believe a coin toss on May 28th will determine their final rank in Sam Presti’s tank in these final twenty-five games.

The Thunder season for me was a success because they found out Shai could be an All-Star caliber guard in this league while Dort showed he’s going to continue to evolve as a player.

This isn’t going to happen overnight..it’s a process. But I think if Presti can bring two quality guys out of the first round in this draft it’s not crazy talk at all to see the Thunder as a very watchable team next season.

I’m not saying a contender or anything like that, but a group which should be fun to watch compete and grow.

We don’t even know at this point what the Thunder are going to do with Big Al Horford and his contract.

For me… as a guy who watched a ton of Big 12 basketball and college ball in general this past season—the two players in the league who intrigue me the most are Cade Cunningham and Davion Mitchell of the national champion Baylor Bears.

OKC will have their own pick and either the Rockets pick (47.9 chance for the Thunder) or the Miami Heat’s pick at the 18th slot in the first round. Plus, the Thunder have three second round picks.

What I hope to see from Sam Presti are picks which not only make the Thunder incrementally better, but entertaining as well. If I lived in Memphis…I’d certainly go see Ja Morant play in person. To me…OKC is right about where Memphis was at the begining of this season.

I want to see two way players who can defend and shoot the three.

I want see Coach D squeeze as much juice from the pulp out of these young players as possible. That’s an old Eddie Sutton saying. I want to see these guys grow next season into something the city can get behind and support.

I do not want to see tanking next year in Oklahoma City. This is isn’t Philadelphia. This isn’t a Sam Hinkie town though Sam Hinkie went to OU. This is a one major league team market.

Nobody thought Presti would pick either Westbrook or Harden where he picked them in the draft.

Sam Presti…you’re on the clock. Your job is to bring two more quality players to the Thunder from this draft who can be a part of making the team relevant from a competitive standpoint in the next two years.

This is what I believe sustainability should be about.

So…my eyes are closed right now and I’m thinking what would the Thunder look like if they don’t land Cade, but instead have a team with five guards like Shai, Lu, Davion, Theo, and Ty Jerome.

How would that meld?

I’m ready for the NBA Play-In Tournament. This Thunder season is over and in my rear view mirror.

I did not waste thirty seconds watching the G League Thunder’s game against the resting Clippers. Because on NBC Sports Network it was the third game of the day/evening for me as the defending champ Tampa Bay Lightning started their defense of the Stanley Cup.

Holy shit.

Gary Bettman has to be euphoric with what he’s gotten in the first five games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Of the five games…four have gone to overtime and the one which didn’t was the best game of all as Tampa outlasted the annoying Florida Panthers on the road by a 5-4 count.

What a friggin’ hockey game. The puck movement, the flow, the effortless transition through the neutral zone, the pure hatred and annimosity. Someone on Tampa should kill that mouthy little No. 94 and put him out of his misery. The guy never shuts his yapping mouth. He kind of reminded me of Dougie Lawrence from the Tulsa Ice Oilers. Where’s Tom Wilson when you need him? This is when you need a Tom Wislon to terminate an annoying opposition problem.

This was the kind of game the NHL needed to get it going. And as you watch the video you’ll observe how much having fans in the building adds to playoff hockey.

The only thing missing from this glorious game was the Hall of Famer Gary Thorne doing the play by play.

Tampa with both Nikita Kucherov and Stamkos healthy is a completely different animal. A powerplay which will be difficult to reckon with for whoever has to play them on The Road to the Cup.

WHAT A FUN HOCKEY GAME.

Other than Diana Krall and Tony Bennett….I think Gary Thorne has my third favorite voice in the world. I so miss Gary Thorne on the call. He should be doing hockey instead of baseball.

Let’s take the glass half full approach here. Mercifully…Oklahoma City’s G League team playing in the NBA this season ended its season with a win over the resting LA Clippers to close out 2-23 in the last twenty-five games and 22-50 overall.

Glass half full is the Thunder have a combined 34 first and second round picks between now and 2027. You have to figure even the Cleveland Browns couldn’t screw that up.

I think the Thunder with SGA, Lu Dort and the other guards have a nice nucleous there. I think once they can get Kid Poku body shaped a little he’ll be a nice rotational piece. I think Moses Brown could be a banger. I think Roby and Bazely could both have moments if their coach uses them wisely from a situational standpoint. I think I’d keep Kenrich Williams because he plays hard and does the little things…plus, he has a great smile which will help these young guys. I think if I were Sam Presti I’d have both Cade Cunningham and Davion Mitchell from Baylor on my board heading into Draft Day. These are the two guys I want.

We’ll see.

On the other hand…Russell, Bradley Beal, Davis Bertans and the Washington Wizards grabbed the No. 8 seed and if they can beat the pathetic Boston Celtics they advance into the bracket in the East.

So…Russell aka Bad Little Dude….you guys need to go win a basketball game.

Why not.

I’m not going to delve into this too deeply because it’s too Tiger King for me with the threesome element and all.

But it became official this past Tuesday when House minority leader Kevin McCarthy hooked up with Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump.

It is what it is.

Maureen Dowd can delve through this if she wants, but in reality it’s pretty much what it is…. a threesome. Very Tiger Kingesque if you ask me. Melania is the big winner here…in that these two guys are taking care of Donald’s more primal needs.

These two guys just don’t know what to do with themselves when Donald Trump isn’t around.

Carry on Trump GOP’ers.

The Stanley Cup Playoffs got going last night with the gritty Washington Capitols edging the Boston Bruins 3-2 in overtime. Just a glorious way to get the tournament started.

This should be a great series as these teams genuinely hate one another since the dirty high hit earlier this season by the Caps’ Tom Wilson. I like Wilson’s toughness, but you don’t hit people from behind on the glass.

I’m watching the Penguins vs. the Islanders right now as it’s pouring rain in Deer Creek, America.

This should be a great series as well as the Pens in the Sid Era pursue their fourth Cup.

Great play by the Islander’s rookie goalie as he tripped Guenztel on a break away and then killed the penalty. That was a heady penalty for all you youngsters out their taking in this game.

The Tom Wilson penalty….not so good.

I’m so happy the Thunder’s dumpster fire season ends tonight as well. I have my Thunder flag hanging out on my truck window as a sign our season of horrific basketball is behind us. Why not…wtf? Que sera.

A great day to drink some Jack Daniels coffee and take in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

This is a horrible play on multiple fronts. Tom Wilson cannot play like this if the Caps want to win another Cup. Toughness and grit…yes. Playing like an unchained idiot…no.

I hope to use my hockey illustrator more on the blog this season. Dumb hockey teams don’t win championships.

Actually…on this last day of the NBA regular season there’s quite a bit up for grabs seeding wise as the league finishes its condensed 72 game schedule.

I doubt I even watch Sam Presti’s shamelessly tanking Thunder close out their season as the world of sports is getting ready to be very, very good with the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NBA Playoffs getting going simultaneously.

I’ll do this award first…kind of like the Oscars with Best Supporting Actor early in the show. BTW…for the first time in my adult life I didn’t watch the Oscars this year. I never went to a movie theatre…so I had no emotional attachment to any of the nominated movies. With me…it’s always about emotional attachment.

I wonder where Cade would prefer to go. Surely…he doesn’t want to end up in the home state of white supremacy terrorism and play for the Thunder…but we’ll see. This is the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, that being, some blacks have to play in Oklahoma. You know…kind of like slavery.

Anthony was the first pick in last year’s draft coming from the Georgia Bulldogs. Slowly, but surely his game has adjusted to the NBA level and he’s been on a tear of late.

I wonder what Cade, Anthony, and Karl Anthony-Townes together would look like?

Anthony’s rookie stats read 19.1 ppg, 4.7 rebounds ppg, and 2.9 ast ppg.

I wonder if it comes down to OKC and Minnesota for Cade. Imagine…you win the honor of being the first player taken in the draft and you then either have to play in the home state of domestic terrorism where 90% of the people think a Republican dominated Supreme Court ruled against their grifter punk Trump in some sort of conspiracy or you have to play in the city where Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd.

I think if I were Cade I’d opt for the sunshine of Orlando.

Que sera…we’ll see.

Anthony Edwards…nice rookie season, buddy.

And here’s this…since we didn’t have an Oscars show. Fabulous Baker Boys is probably in my top five all-time. Clearly…my favorite Jeff Bridges movie.

There are no fiscal conservatives per se in Trump’s universe and he basically is a brat who inherited $420 million in 1980 dollars from his daddy. He has been a horrific businessman as well who if he were really smart would have a net worth of around $18 billion given the Rule of Money.

He avoided serving his country using some bullshit bone spurs excuse. So… I have no idea whatsoever why any hawk would side with Trump.

He’s as much a Christian evangical as Bernie Maddow was at his apex.

I don’t mean this to sound sexist…but Trump has probably paid for every piece of ass he’s ever had and told Howard Stern about on his radio show.

So what could it be about Donald Trump which appeals so much to these modern day followers of George Wallace?

You tell me.

Why was Jeff Sessions the first Senator who stood on a stage with Trump in 2016?

You tell me.

If the entire premise of your political appeal is racism…then at least be open about it and stop this bullshit charade about making America Great Again.

George Wallace was Donald Trump minus the reality television show and the Slovian escort back in his day and that ‘s basically what the Republican Party has turned into following January 6th.

Hang Mike Pence…right. That must appeal to the fervent pro-lifers in Trump’s orbit.

George Will and William F. Buckley on these people’s reading lists….not a chance.

Truth hurts.

Miami’s guard foursome of Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro, Goran Dragic, and Kendrick Nunn were all excellent in this game as the Miami Heat punked the No. 1 seed in the East by a 106-94 on the TNT Game of the Night.

The game really wasn’t that close as the Heat led by as many as 26 points at one point in this game.

Goran Dragic and Tyler Herro have that look as they did last summer in the bubble when Miami advanced to the Finals.

This is the Miami Heat we have all been waiting for thru this Covid-injury riddled season of theirs.

I would think Miami has the full attention of Doc Rivers’ young Sixers squad in the event these two teams meet in the second round in the East.

How ironic Scott Brooks and Billy Donovan are going to battle it out in the East for the 10th and final spot to get in the Play-in Tournament which begins on May 18th.

It’s a special time of the year when the Stanley Cup Playoffs and the NBA Tournament get going at the same time of the year.

I don’t know how most Thunder fans feel, but I’m pulling for Scott Brooks and Russell to advance over the Bulls.

Only two games of torture left for Thunder fans as the end is near.

Time to adopt your teams in the West and the East.

I’m adopting Miami and Steph/Davidson.

I think I’ll do my NBA Regualr Season Awards maybe tonight.

21-49.

Two games left in Operation Bongo for Trumpland, Oklahoma.

The two games are against Utah and the LA Clippers. Surely…Sam Presti and his Trumpland Tankers will lose both games to to finish the season 1-24 in their last 25 games of a truly regretable NBA season in Oklahoma.

The Birthers and MAGA Tea Partiers won’t even notice though because they’re expelling radical leftist Liz Cheney from a Birther leadership position as I blog this morning.

Hopefully all the premeditated losing will translate into the Thunder winning the rights to Cade and forcing him to stay here through two NBA contracts like Kevin Durant had to do.

That’s the window in Oklahoma City, yet you very seldom read anything by Berry Tramel or Royce Young stating the truth in this regard.

That’s why I have an Underground Thunder blog…because I occaisionally like to read something honest and objective in Oklahoma.

Have a good day.

Jesus F—king Murphy. I called the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority simply wanting to change electronic accounts to pay for my Pike Pass. This Oklahoma state government employee on the other end of the phone and I simply did not connect at any point in the conversation and it ended badly.

My language at the end of our convesation was horrific and inexcusable.

Despite the fact this woman works for one of the dumbest entities in the country…I should have kept that thought to myself and taken the high road as a grandfather of two.

Instead…I had what one would describe as a bad moment. A learning moment if you will.

So..today before I go to work I’m going in person to reinstate my Pike Pass account.

Pike Pass and the Daily Thunder messageboard… pretty much one and the same.

Have a nice Tuesday.

I will never ever again put myself on the phone with an employee of Oklahoma state government. As in never.