Month: February 2017

Just in the last twenty-four hours we’ve had the Appellate Court in the 9th District hear the merits of the Muslim ban, Elizabeth Warren being told to shut up and sit down in the U.S. Senate chambers, Jeff Sessions of all people getting ready to be confirmed as the Attorney General of the United States, and self acclaimed white national populist Steven Bannon on the cover of Time magazine with an accompanying story of how he’s running the country and Donald Trump is his puppet. While all this is going on our country clearly is two divided countries within one. Two countries which seemingly can’t exist together. I honestly don’t see a change from this on the horizon. Tough to witness and very depressing. Start dreaming again, America—you’re better than this. You have to be.

It’s not that those of us who didn’t vote for Donald Trump are laughing at those of you who did………… well, actually, I can’t lie. Yes, those of us who didn’t vote for Little Donald are actually laughing at those of you who did vote for this clown. But it’s more of a friendly kind of joint suffering laugh. It’s not like we want to pour diesel on you or anything. Just don’t vote again. Allow people who read to have your proxy.

It was an entertaining game on Monday night as the Thunder dropped a hard fought 93-90 decision to the Indiana Pacers. Russell Westbrook was once again spectacular with a line of 27 points, 18 rebounds, and 9 assists in what should have been his 26th triple double of the season. But it’s kind of hard getting those ten assists when those around you aren’t making shots. It’s even harder winning on the road against a playoff caliber team when you don’t have enough players on your team pulling their link on the proverbial chain. I’m not related to Russell Westbrook, but I had to write this in my first paragraph.

But having written all that, OKC did have the ball with seven seconds left and Westbrook did get two good looks on shots which would have tied the game. Good looks which just didn’t go through the net.

But my take from this is OKC led 52-41 at half, but could only score thirty-eight points in the entire second half. For the game, OKC shot 38% from the field and 25% from beyond the arc. Westbrook scored eleven points alone in the fourth quarter, which means the rest of the team scored 27 points in 24 minutes of play in the second half.

Just not enough help for Westbrook is my primary take on this game. Victor Oladipo went 4-16 from the field. Sabonis didn’t score a point and quite frankly should be demoted from the starting lineup given his recent play. Cameron Payne was equally horrific scoring two points, but more importantly he made an inexcusable play on the Thunder’s final possession of the first half which in essence was either a four or five point swing in the game. Just horrendous execution on that play by Payne. Simply put, if Payne can’t play at a higher level than this I’m not sure Semaj Christon shouldn’t be playing those 14 minutes or so. Add to the fact, Anthony Morrow played fourteen minutes and didn’t score a point.

So here’s my stat of the night….Sabonis, Payne, and Morrow played a combined 37 minutes and scored a combined 2 points. Unbelievable. I’m not trying to crank on Sam Presti, but Westbrook needs some help. Get the dude some help scoring the ball.

Indiana’s bench scored 35 points, OKC’s scored 21 points.

A bright spot was Andre Roberson. He had his second straight double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Good for Andre. Keep praying for his shot.

Bottom line…OKC competed hard, but just didn’t get enough offense from the rest of the team. This singular component makes it hard to envision the Thunder being anything more than a seventh seed and a first round exit against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Thunder drop to 30-23 with their next game being at home versus Cleveland on Thursday night.

A very enjoyable Super Bowl Sunday as the Thunder beat Portland 105-99 (my recap), the Patriots stunned the Falcons 34-28 in an OT comeback thriller for the ages, and Lady Gaga gave what I thought was the best Super Bowl halftime show I can ever remember. Incredible that the Falcons choked on a 28-3 lead, but I’m not an Atlanta fan so it’s not like I have to live with this for the rest of eternity. They beat my injury decimated Packers—-so fuck them, they choked. I’ve never really gotten all that emotionally involved in the entire Deflategate saga, but it’s always been fairly clear Tom Brady along with Joe Montana will go down as one of the two greatest quarterbacks of all-time. Personally, I feel this nudges Brady in front of Montana, but we’ll just have to see if those who vote on such things agree with me or not.

The halftime show was fantastic. Lady Gaga was incredible. Too bad Trumpster Fire pissed her off and she didn’t perform at the inaugural. Usually, I watch the commercials very closely, but this year I just wanted to escape Trump for this game and enjoy the game without the obvious underlying tension which has our country consumed. But I have to admit, the John Malkovich commercial was my favorite of the ones I paid attention to. I never saw a Clydesdale commercial which I have to admit disappointed me greatly. Maybe a Clydesdale walking over to Trump and Billy Bush with some Tic Tacs in his mouth and kissing both of them would have created some closure for us if for nothing else.

Thunder at the Indiana Pacers tonight.

We should all be big enough to laugh at ourselves from time to time. This is in tribute of the Bushes doing the coin toss this evening.

It’s the New England Patriots versus the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow for the Lombardi Trophy. With my Packers eliminated, I have no preference as to who wins the game. I in no way hold it against Brady and Belichick for supporting Trump. Brady’s a helluva of quarterback and Belichick is perhaps the greatest football coach in the modern NFL era. I’m hopeful politics aren’t part of tomorrow’s game in Houston as America could use a day off from despising one another.

Bush 41 and Barbara will be doing the coin toss honors. I actually voted for 41 twice. His grace since leaving office has been one of the few bright spots in national politics the past twenty-four years. He adopted Bill Clinton as his third son and of all things actually wrote Donald Trump a positive letter wishing him well and not holding a grudge because of the things Trump said about both of his sons in the recent presidential campaign.

I never voted for Bush 43, yet he wrote a moving book entitled 41 which genuinely touched me as I read it while my own father was losing his battle to pancreatic cancer. I love promoting good books on my blog and I’d put this book in that category not so much for the political aspect of the story, but more for the father-son relationship as narrated by a loving son. Given the cesspool we’re currently wading through it would make for a nice read.

Pretty amazing, yet no big surprise in that he’s doing everything he told his supporters he was going to attempt to put in place way back when he was assailing the Republicans, the Bushes, the Koch Brothers, and Goldman Sachs. Well, not really Goldman Sachs in as much as six Goldman Sachs people now fill either Trump’s staff or cabinet. It’s a very white, rich cabinet which in no way is a reflection of America or what the demographics say America will be twenty years from now. In no way is a working class guy from the Rust Bucket represented in all of this either, but you just pray things work out for them. I feel as a collective whole we’ve lost sight of the big picture—all of us on what it means to be American and what the American dream should be for future generations.

This is the first Saturday of Trumpdom when we’ve actually not had a massive national protest or calamity of some sort unless you count a federal judge who was appointed by Bush 43 ruling Trump’s nuance Muslim ban as unconstitutional. That pretty well defines a good day under the rule of Trump. Less than half a dozen protests march in the country it’s a relatively peaceful Saturday. So amidst all this calm I’d like to share two lovely videos on what I think it means to be an American whether you live in the red or blue version of America.

This might have been OKC’s biggest win of the season to date. Don’t get me wrong, this team isn’t winning a championship this season and might not even win the Northwest Division. But this was a huge game from my perspective to keep the Thunder pointed in a positive direction, you know, pointing forward and feeling positive about the future.

I thought it was a great game. One of those typical Oklahoma City-Memphis head knockers that has made this rivalry special over the years. It had everything you’d want—the best point guard in the game leading his team while the best center in the game, Marc Gasol, doing the same for his team. It was just one of those rare regular season games which reminds you how fun all this can be.

Oklahoma City won the game 114-102 amidst a rousing setting inside the Peake during a memorable fourth quarter in which Russell Westbrook issued a statement about the All-Star Game nonsense with him not starting. The statement being, Westbrook may not be an official starter, but he is the leading MVP candidate. Sorry James Harden–I still love you and all, but Russ is the MVP so far and this is why.

My case for Westbrook is fairly simple. Without Russell Westbrook this Thunder team would be dueling the Suns or Lakers for last place in the West. Period. Instead the team is 29-22 and would probably still be in the hunt for a fourth or fifth seed if Enes Kanter hadn’t broken his own arm. But even with that dynamic attached, OKC is still going to be very much in the hunt for a sixth or seventh seed in the West. Like I said, I love James Harden. I still wear his T-shirts. I’d buy him dinner and hope to be invited to a yacht party at some point (Bucket List), but Westbrook has been the MVP so far.

Here’s why. Westbrook notched his 25th triple double of the season last night. Blah, blah, blah…I know, but what else has he really done. What’s he’s done is lead this extremely young Thunder team to a viable season while having to mesh his game with their still insecure games at times.

Westbrook was simply brilliant on Friday night. 38 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists reads Triple Double No. 25. But here’s the thing, when it mattered most in that fourth period, Westbrook took center stage and never relinquished it.

Westbrook scored 19 of his 38 points in the fourth period. He scored fifteen points in the last 2:34 of the game. He scored Oklahoma City’s last fifteen points of the game, and oh, BTW—Westbrook outscored Memphis 15-zip at Winning Time. With all due respect to Steph Curry…do the right thing at All-Star weekend and graciously concede Westbrook should be starting the game. Seriously–do the right thing.

But it wasn’t just Westbrook on this special night for the Thunder. Other players were special in their own way.

Steven Adams had the task of hanging with Marc Gasol on a night when the Memphis big man scored 31 points, but Adams made plays as well and had a 16 point, 15 rebound night.

Joff Lauvergne had perhaps his best game as a member of the Thunder scoring 16 points and grabbing 8 boards. But most importantly—he made 3-4 shooting threes on a night when the Thunder as a team went 13-26.

Anthony Morrow had his best game in a while scoring 15 points in 19 minutes of play and made a huge three in the fourth period.

Nick Collison reminded us why he along with Westbrook is one of the two most revered players in Thunder history. It was a remembrance of what Collison has meant to this franchise and what he still means. Collison took a charge, baited Randolph into an elbowing foul, and for good measure dove for a loose ball cutting his eye open. Vintage Collison and while none of these plays turned the game, perhaps it did provide a spark to some of these young players as to what it constitutes to be a professional basketball player.

And for good measure…Andre Roberson and Cam Payne didn’t overtly suck. Both were functionally professional and did a few things when a few things needed to be done.

Alex Abrines missed his third consecutive game with something listed as back ‘spasms’. Oh, boy. Not a great week for Euros in Oklahoma City.

So the Thunder win a huge game they had to have while Westbrook makes another MVP statement. But it was fun more than anything else to feel Chesapeake Energy Arena rock like the days of old with just one week separating Durant’s return to the city which once adored him now openly salivating for the chance to boo him into oblivion for his slithering exit to Oakland.

Alex Abrines and Enes Kanter, please watch.

Just a great game tonight. I’m not in a mood to blog. Would rather enjoy the win and write tomorrow morning. Might light a victory cigar and just savor. A big win for the Thunder tonight. A big, big win. Even bloggers should take the time to enjoy a big win.

OKC’s home 128-100 blowout loss to the dysfunctional Chicago Bulls was in a word alarming. Losing at Cleveland and Sam Antonio isn’t a big deal because in both of those road games the Thunder hung around. The Thunder didn’t hang around versus the Bulls, rather they looked like a very tired worn out ball team playing without a bench. In this one, it wasn’t just an offense issue because no one on the Thunder team looked like they could get in front of a pylon.

OKC stands 28-22 entering tonight’s home game against Memphis. It’s very simple, OKC lost their most consistent offensive bench player in Enes Kanter. The team has a problem without an easy solution. The problem is made worse by the fact both Andre Roberson and Cameron Payne are playing some really ugly basketball on both ends of the floor. Both of these guys should be in OKC’s top six players. If you combine the loss of Kanter with both of these guys going awol there’s no way OKC can compete night in and night out.

In all candor I’m not sure what Billy Donovan should try other than telling Payne and Roberson to suck it up and play much better on both ends of the floor. The one thing I might try is to give Nick Collison some minutes, especially tonight since OKC is hosting a team made for Nick Collison in the Memphis Grizzlies. See if Collison’s smarts and savvy can create a spark of something positive.

Give it a shot, see what happens. Ostensibly that’s why you carry a fifth big on your roster for times when you’re crippled by a integral player breaking his own arm on a chair.

But more than anything, Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo, Andre Roberson, and Cameron Payne just need to play better. Much better.

Big game for the Thunder tonight in Oklahoma City.