Month: March 2016

It’s Super Tuesday and history possibly hanging in the balance as far as the GOP and this presidential election. Obviously, we have some angry people in this nation—that much is clear in that no matter what Trump does his cult followers stay loyal. I hope at some point this thing fizzles out and our country comes to its senses and doesn’t elect the pathological liar/ reality television star as our 45th president. I mean, what does it say when Pete Rose calls out the leading GOP candidate for being a liar and seems completely believable in doing so.

Saturday Night Live just has to love this though. To echo Lawrence O’ Donnell this is where the Trump cult followers got their original traction in the GOP eight years ago. Pray for our country. Sigh.

 

 

 

 

OKC Thunder 128 — Portland Trailblazers 94

This is more like it. This is the Thunder team we need to see more frequently. The Thunder team which has two of the best four players in the world on their roster. The Thunder team which has a nice trio of bigs in Ibaka, Adams, and Kanter. The Thunder team which has an elite three point specialist in Anthony Morrow. The Thunder team which has a promising rookie playmaking guard in Cameron Payne.

This is more of what I expect from the Thunder. I’ll get to what I’ve seen from Billy Donovan of late further down the page.

OKC just basically blew out the Trailblazers from start to finish in this one. Didn’t leave to any chance that their fourth quarter demons could derail them again. It was an excellent team win and Durant and Westbrook only played light minutes — which is a very good thing this time of the season.

OKC’s bench was superb scoring 66 points in this one. Enes Kanter is my No. 1 Star of the Game with 26 points and a +28.

Anthony Morrow scored 11 and looked like A-Mo of last season before Billy Donovan’s bizarre rotations shred his shooting confidence. Randy Foye finally made some shots and had 11 points.

Cam Payne finally saw the floor again and I thought he looked good. His lack of playing time absolutely pisses me off because anyone who’s watched Russell Westbrook knows No. 0 needs a co-pilot hybrid guard on the floor with him to close in Winning Time. Let’s be honest here.. Russell Westbrook for all his triple doubles has never shown himself to be a poised closer against elite teams in post season matchups.

James Harden perfected the role in 2012-13 when he in fact was the Thunder’s MVP when they made the NBA Finals. Likewise—Reggie Jackson saved OKC’s ass two years ago when the Thunder escaped Memphis and eventually made their third trip to the WCF.

I get the fact Cam Payne struggles  defensively, but so did Reggie Jackson and so does Russell Westbrook when he’s only half mentally engaged. So my suggestion to Billy Donovan would be to f#@king pull your head out and allow Cam Payne to develop as OKC’s hybrid guard co-closer.

This isn’t SEC basketball, there’s no need for an overthink on this. Develop Cameron Payne. Period. You don’t piss away the 14th pick in the draft. Nurture him.

Westbrook had his 12th triple double of the season…yawn.

All together seven Thunder players scored in double figures.

The Thunder improve to 45-22 on the season and now head east for a three game road swing which includes Boston, Philly, and Indiana.

I’m not coddling these guys anymore. That’s the job of our local homers. Nick Gallo can daub the superstars in the shower if that’s what they need from him.Step up and lead superstars. Step it up.

Now I’ve got to get my game face on for Super Tuesday and chart how many times the pathological liar Donald Trump lies in the next twenty-four hour news  cycle.

Mike Jackson

 

I’m trying to be very cautious with my words on the Thunder right now. I just don’t want to come out battering them every game calling them a collective group of underachieving chokers. They’ve been through a lot in the last month or so, but by the same token I’d like to see Durant, Westbrook, and Ibaka to show some leadership on this team and snap out  of it.

I don’t want to keep calling this a dumb basketball team either. But still–they keep playing dumb basketball, but by the same token I don’t want to be like Nick Gallo, Brian Davis, Royce Young, and Michael Cage pretending none of this is happening.

Dumb teams with little heart don’t go very far beyond April generally.

There I said it.

Portland has been the polar opposite of OKC this season in overachieving after losing four of their five starters to free agency this past summer. Either Terry Stotts or the Boston coach are going to be my COTY winner in all likelihood. Stotts has squeezed every possible ounce of juice out of the proverbial pulp this season in putting the Trailblazers in a position to make the playoffs.

I have no thoughts on this game other than it would be refreshing to see OKC play 48 minutes of smart, inspired basketball.

I can’t go any further. They need to show me something because against elite teams this Thunder team is 3-8 on the season and quite frankly an underachieving bunch so far.

An enormous day for the GOP looms on Tuesday as primaries in Florida, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and North Carolina are on the slate for the second Super Tuesday. If reality television star Donald Trump has another big day he’s probably on his way to becoming the GOP’s plurality candidate heading into the convention.

It honesty doesn’t appear anything Trump says or does has any negative impact with his cult followers so it’s hard to imagine the violence at his recent rallies steering his core groupies from voting for him.

Trump has a chance in winning all five states with two of these in Florida and Ohio having favorite sons Marco Rubio and John Kasich fighting for their presidential survival tomorrow. Even if Kasich wins Ohio, the only fathomable path he or Ted Cruz have to the nomination is through a brokered convention and a fractured Republican party.

Not since the days of the Election of 1912 with Teddy Roosevelt bolting the GOP to run as the candidate of the Bull Moose Party has there been so much rife involved with the GOP’s presidential nomination process. Perhaps, Perot in 1992 might qualify, but even with Perot it wasn’t as if a rogue canidate was holding the party hostage as Trump currently is doing with his nonsensical rhetoric.

Of course, both in 1912 and 1992 these paths led to Woodrow Wilson and Bill Clinton being elected as minority presidents. Which of course is exactly what Trump is on course to replicating in 2016 if he continues to behave like a four year old with the benefactor this time being either Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders.

If you’re a presidential historical junkie tomorrow possibly will be one of those days you circle as being clearly significant as far as the direction of contemporary American politics.

In retrospect, maybe I’ve been too hard on Donald Trump. Maybe Letterman is right, Trump’s not a racist, but just a real dopey guy who says stupid things from time to time to get attention. Anyway, I want to be fair on here because chances are regardless of who gets elected nothing will really get done the next four years. So–if you’re a Trump groupie–no hard feelings as long as he doesn’t get elected.

A more innocent, younger Trump. Same goofy comb over, but a younger guy. Who would have ever thought at some point he and Bernie Sanders would be running for president and have their supporters attacking each other.

BTW, I did read Art of the Deal and it was okay. Nothing special. He should have had Michael Lewis write it for him.

 

 

I’ve decided to censor myself after re-reading the Top Ten Subtle Signs You’re A Trump Supporter List. Upon re-reading…. it depressed me that Trump has brought me down to such depths. I don’t want to risk sinking even lower and become like Bubble Boy taking on the size of Trump’s hands and other body parts. I’m better than this. I’m fairly certain Dave Letterman would understand.

Let’s do this instead. It’s more fair and balanced— being a Libra I’m always about being fair and balanced. This seems more appropriate.

 

 

 

San Antonio Spurs 93 — Oklahoma City Thunder 85

Again, I’m trying to be as kind and gentle in my recaps as possible. I thought long and hard about my headline after this game. Thought about going with Thunder Choke in San Antonio. Then thought about going with Thunder Shrink in Fourth Against Spurs. But when really thinking it through decided to go with Thunder Lose to Fourth Quarter Again being the most accurate because I believe the Thunder may have overtaken the tanking Sixers for the league lead in blowing fourth quarter leads.

So there’s this to begin with. But keep in mind I’m still in kinder, gentler mode because Donald Trump is enough of an asshole for all 330 million Americans combined. Sometimes filtered honesty is humane and believe me anyone covering this Thunder team needs a big dose of filtered honesty right now.

Actually–it was a decent game to watch. OKC’s defense was pretty good as the Thunder led 67-65 entering the fourth. The Spurs struggled mightily shooting threes and it appeared OKC could maybe be headed for a huge upset win over the Spurs.

But there it was. The clock showed 12:00 minutes remaining and everyone who has been watching this team knew in their hearts the Spurs were going to be okay and improve to 32-0 at home this season. Which is exactly what happened as the Spurs or the fourth quarter itself beat the Bad News Thunder 27-17 to propel the Thunder to 4-8 since the All-Star break.

It was a combination of everything. OKC didn’t make a field goal for almost the final four minutes of the game. Russell Westbrook made a boneheaded gamble on a steal which led to a wide open three by Danny Green. The Thunder repeatedly got outhustled on their defensive boards during Winning Time or in this case Losing Time. Like I said, it was a combination of things. Little things rolled into a clay ball which are making it impossible for this team to beat the fourth quarter regardless if it’s against the Timberwolves, Spurs, or Warriors.

Charles Barkley is calling our Thunder chokers. But I think it goes deeper than that. It’s the way these guys have been allowed to play for so long I believe that’s more the cause along with the fact Billy Donovan is learning right now coaching the Florida Gators and coaching a once elite NBA team with two mega millionaires isn’t exactly the same thing.

OKC is now 4-8 since the All-Star break which is completely unacceptable for a team with two completely healthy superstars. We never saw any stretch like this during the Scott Brooks era with a healthy Durant and Westbrook. The Thunder’s ability to win bounce back games after a loss was a team trademark.

But not with this team, and again as I wrote in my preview, there are no excuses. Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka, and Kanter are all healthy. In the NBA when your four highest paid players are all healthy and you’re still losing something is wrong with your team.

Something is wrong with this team.

Mike Jackson

If you go back to my beginning posts on this blog this was my starting point. OKC advancing to the NBA Finals by defeating the Spurs in six games. This is the fourth season since OKC made the Finals and the subsequent trade of James Harden to the Rockets. This season was to be the judgement season if OKC could remain healthy. Westbrook and Durant have both been mostly healthy so injuries cannot be used as an excuse this season.

Quite frankly, I’m growing weary of some of the local OKC usual suspect homers always making excuses for the Thunder. The lame excuse which states this shouldn’t be a judgement season simply because Golden State and San Antonio are having historical seasons is nonsense. I say this because OKC has already been swept by the Chicago Bulls. Lost to the Raptors at home. Lost to the Celtics at home. Lost to the Sacramento Kings at home. And just last night lost to the T Wolves at home.

Here we are four seasons later and while Westbrook and Durant are pretty much agreed to both be in the top four players of the league along with LeBron and Steph Curry–the team has regressed in multiple areas of play. OKC is not an elite team yet having what no other team in the league has–namely two top four players on the same team.

I’ve written it on here countless times–the inability of Sam Presti to find a legitimate two way shooting guard is at the top of my list as to why OKC has yet to reach its full potential with Westbrook and Durant playing alongside one another.

OKC in San Antonio tonight where the Spurs are 31-0 this season and 55-10 overall. Throw out OKC’s opening night win against the Spurs when it was LaMarcus Aldridge’s first game a Spur and here’s what OKC is combined against Golden State, San Antonio, Cleveland, the LA Clippers, and Toronto……3-7. Simply circle the 3-7 against the caliber of teams OKC would be facing in the second round and you have an honest appraisal of where this OKC squad ranks.

Thought I’d put the Game 6 WCF clincher up just to remember the NBA Finals season with a touch of nostalgia.

 

 

From a historical standpoint, it is fascinating to see this Trump thing unfold. As far as Trump’s personal insecurity, paranoia, and complete lack of any regard for the constitution—he reminds me of Nixon. But from the persona he shows his cult followers he reminds me more of George Wallace in the manner in which he uses white supremacy and nationalistic fear to inspire his white followers under the guise of ‘making America great again’.

But of course, both Nixon and Wallace held previous governmental positions and were more qualified than Trump to seek the presidency. Trump has never held any office whatsoever and never even served in the military, yet his myopic cult followers cling to the image of their cult hero as he’s morphed his candidacy voice from his television reality show Celebrity Apprentice.

One part Celebrity Apprentice, one part George Wallace, one part Richard Nixon.

If you’re a political junkie allow me to recommend a book I’m almost certain you’ll enjoy. The book is Losers written by Michael Lewis of Moneyball, The Blind Side, and The Big Short fame.

It’s a fascinating story of the 1996 GOP Presidential race which goes from Iowa all the way through the convention. Truthful, hilarious, and sad at times, but always page turning readable if you follow American politics.

For those who don’t remember–the 1996 GOP race started with Bob Dole, Pat Buchanan, Lamar Alexander, John McCain, Alan Keyes, and Steve Forbes. Yet, Lewis tells this story primarily through the lense of a businessman turned candidate named Morry Taylor. An absolute great read if you might want to know more of how the GOP has moved from 1996 to the dumpster fire freak show we’re witnessing currently.

 

I can’t remember seeing something which has depressed me as much as an American as what we all witnessed from the Donald Trump rally in Chicago on Friday night.  I was a kid when both Kennedys were assassinated. Still in high school when Nixon was forced to resign. But tonight depresses to an even deeper point because it perfectly illustrated what Lawrence O’ Donnell wrote about earlier in the week, namely how far we’ve regressed as a culture in the past thirty years.

These scenes from Chicago were just appalling and it shouldn’t matter what party you belong to or ideals you embrace. This was pathetic. America has and can be so much better.

But let’s be honest here–there were 22 presidential canidates from both parties combined when this process began this summer. These scenes only take place at the rallies of one candidate…repeatedly. Only tonight it went even further and made anyone who witnessed it want to vomit.

Some words of advice to Donald Trump. Watch the video and learn some things. Learn how to be gracious. Be inclusive. Show some grace and elegance. Take the time to thank John McCain for serving his country instead of ridiculing him. Realize this all just isn’t about feeding your massive insatiable ego. Understand the premise of public service versus pretending to be a king. Please watch the video and learn something.

Lawrence O’ Donnell doesn’t work Friday nights so I’m filling in for him tonight.

Hard to believe this came from the same city which gave us the dumpster fire freak show tonight.