Tough to glean much from this one way or another. You would have hoped for a little more self examination from a team standpoint, of why OKC is 4-12 without Durant, but to me way too much was centered on stats, triple doubles, and things which Russell Westbrook feels can’t be taken away from his individual legacy regardless of if the Thunder ever win a first round series again.
I don’t find Russell Westbrook to be either an interesting or compelling interview. I found myself listening to his gum chomping cadence as much as anything.
He never once to me articulated if all this post season losing hurt him in a serious way.
I didn’t take much from this either way. If you told me you could trade Russell for Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum… I’d do it. If you told me a package was possible which would include DeAndre Fox, Buddy Hield, a big or perhaps a draft pick as well…I’d do it. If something reasonable is out there…I’d seriously explore it moving forward.
Bottom line…you can’t win in the NFL with a QB who almost every time it matters throws two picks in the fourth period in a game when it really matters. Russell Westbrook is that NFL quarterback analogy-wise.
If the singular goal for Clay Bennett and Sam Presti in OKC is to see Russell Westbrook break the career triple double record then they’re on track. But if the goal is to be post season relevant—I don’t see that with Russell Westbrook in Oklahoma City. What I see is the worst current contract in the NBA looming over the Thunder’s head.
First off…Jim Traber is my slam dunk winner for the best Thunder coverage of the Oklahoma City Thunder this basketball season. Not even close. His work and his sense of humor were the only things from this market which I at all found consistently entertaining.
I went Mark Rodgers at No. 2 and Dusty D at No. 3 with Berry Tramel at No. 4.
The Thunder youth demographic which evidently reads Low Energy Royce Young and Little Nick Gallo did not crack my Top Ten. You can’t be a love slave to your Thunder employer and make my list. You at some point have to construct an honest paragraph to make my list.
So…Traber’s Theory of Thunder Punkification goes that the idiotic public relations department and Sam Presti of the Thunder has allowed the petulant Westbrook to spread punkism throughput the whole team.
I do agree Russell Westbrook is now regularly behaving like a punk, but I don’t think this has spread throughout the entire team. When your point guard and ‘leader’ behaves like a punk then it’s really hard to confront him if the coach, general manager and owner won’t do the same.
Hence, one of Kevin Durant’s major complaints abut the Thunder…they wouldn’t reign Westbrook in and make him accountable. So–I wouldn’t just blame Billy Donovan for what has happened here. I would hold Clay Bennett and Sam Presti as equally responsible for the Punkification of the Thunder in what is a market which describes itself as being a Christian faith based city.
I guess the part where you look up into the stands in Utah and tell a woman you’re going to f–k her up is a part I missed in the New Testament. Or where you every game tell the game officials they’re full of shit on national television. Or the part where you act like a ten year old dropping F bombs after making a shot in the second period. Or the part where you curse to the other bench. Or the part where on certain nights you tell yourself to f–k off on the court. Or the part where you don’t answer Berry Tramel’s questions, yet answer three questions in a row to your boy pet gerbil…Little Nick Gallo.
This is so odd to me. Because when I became a father and my wife had our son…I got my act together. Yet with Westbrook, the exact opposite apparently has happened. What would you say to your young son after acting like an idiot on television? What kind of example is that? Do I go too far in saying Westbrook is almost as bad of an example to young men as the grifter Donald Trump?
Are you kidding me, Oklahoma City Thunder organization?
So.. I guess the Oklahoma City Thunder are having their exit interviews today to explain this Titanic of a basketball season.
Perhaps, this would be an appropriate time for Sam Presti to apologize to the season ticket holders for what they just pissed their money away for thinking they were going to see a professional basketball team with the third highest payroll in the NBA.
If you watched this team you knew this was how it was going to end. I wouldn’t call them punks, but I would and did repeatedly call them soft and heartless through the course of the season.
No mental toughness to go along with all the faux tough talk.
If I were Clay Bennett and my ownership group was getting ready to write that $60 million dollar luxury tax check…what would I do?
Would I fire Billy Donovan or Sam Presti? Could I somehow get some quality in return for the worst contract in the NBA with Russell Westbrook being sent somewhere?
If nothing else, just to moderate my anger the first thing I’d do is fire every person in my Thunder public relations department. That’s the first thing I’d do.
The next thing I’d probably do is let the Florida Gators have Billy Donovan back, but give him his $6 million and a warm handshake so long.
What human could coach Russell Westbrook? Does this person exist?
Westbrook shouldn’t feel completely lost. Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Caps were just knocked out in the first round in a double overtime loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Winning championships in pro sports aren’t an easy thing to do unless you join the loaded Warriors. Ovechkin has one championship. Dirk has one championship. Bill Walton has one championship. Dr. J and Maurice Cheeks have only one championship. Charles Barkley, Reggie Miller, Patrick Ewing, John Stockton and Karl Malone never won a championship.
What Russell Westbrook and his teammates need is a coach who will demand toughness, smarts and accountability.
Quite frankly, I’m glad it’s over and I was rooting for Terry Stotts and his team to advance. I hope they keep it going and beat the winner of the Denver-San Antonio series as well. As I’ve written on here before–back in my college days–Stotts was a key piece on an OU team which won it’s first ever basketball Big 8 championship in the late 70’s.
I’m happy for Terry Stotts and his fabulous guard tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum. The team lost Josef Nurkic in the last weeks of the regular season and just kept coming and finding ways to win. I’m also happy for Enes Kanter for getting to have this moment in his professional basketball career.
As far as the Thunder—they are in basketball hell right now and Clay Bennett has some very serious thinking to do in the coming days to decide what to do with this team which quite frankly has been the biggest joke in the NBA for two years running now. We won’t be needing to witness Carmelo Anthony’s exit interview as an alibi as to what has gone wrong with what was as recent as 2016…the NBA’s version of America’s Team.
I’m not Sam Anderson. I’m not a liberal from the NY Times Magazine writing a book on urban renewal in Oklahoma City correlated with the Thunder basketball operations.
I’m very confident in my ability to tell this story as someone who’s lived this and knows sports…especially from a basketball perspective interwoven with a complete understanding of having lived most of my life in Oklahoma.
When I started this blog… not long after my father was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. So–in reality…this is the first year of my blog as it took me some time to adjust from what happen with my dad. But I did archive and outline on here and now I’m ready to go.
First and foremost–I’m a fan who wanted the Thunder to succeed. But I’m not a fan who’s a homer or who has a quid pro quo attached to making a living by running a Thunder blog or creating a Thunder brand which generates revenue.
I set out on this simply because of my genuine passion of sports and basketball in particular. I found it fascinating that in a place like Deer Creek, Oklahoma…players like Chris Paul, David West, Tyson Chandler, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Paul George would be playing for an NBA team twenty minutes from my front door. Truly amazing what Hurricane Katrina set in place back when all this started.
So much has transpired from a basketball standpoint in this time span. It is not an exaggeration to claim only behind the Warriors have the Thunder been the most compelling NBA story during this time span
But as I sit here this morning–the Warriors are in pursuit of a threepeat and fourth championship in five years, while the Thunder have not won a playoff series since Durant’s escape to Oakland in July 2016.
The Thunder are a collective 4-12 in playoff games without Kevin Durant being the face of the franchise. With Durant—this franchise made it to four Western Conference Finals and the one NBA Finals in 2012.
The story here is very simple after last night’s ending in Portland–that ending being… the championship window in Oklahoma City officially ended.
We know the Russell Westbrook era doesn’t have a championship parade ending… or at least with Westbrook as the starting point guard.
So Perk is currently on record describing the OKC Thunder as a team of dysfunction. No kidding. Sherlock ‘Perk’ Holmes is amongst us.
When did he come to that conclusion…before or after Westbrook told the woman in Utah he was going to come into the stands and f–k her up?
I tell you this could only happen in Oklahoma. Sam Anderson only scraped the top of the iceberg in his NY Times bestseller Boom Town. This could only happen here.
At this point I’d consider making Perk the GM and Charles Barkley the head coach. I mean–it’s like when Trump says to all those people in West Virginia or Alabama at one of those rallies…”What have you really got to lose at this point?”
Think about it…with the league’s third highest payroll this team finished fourth in the Northwest Division and the only team in the division they finished higher than was the Wolves who beat them three out of four games.
If you’re going to piss money away then at least do it with a sense of humor attached in a big way.
Perk could reconstruct the roster and Barkley could drive the Thunder bus head coach wise. You’re not going to win anyway…so why not at least have some fun.
If you’re going down in flames…then go down in blames in style when Westbrook will be making just under $40 million next season. Hit the three wood, Russ. Three hundred and twenty yards uphill into the wind… water in front of the green. Put the six iron back in the bag and hit the three wood, bruh.
This is exclusive video from Little Nick Gallo at the Thunder walk thru this morning in Portland.
I listened to some sports radio today in Oklahoma City and it appears this Westbrook-Tramel situation has become a bit of a national story as in people across the country had no idea Russell Westbrook was being this rude to the best sportswriter in Oklahoma after every Thunder game.
So where are Sam Presti and Clay Bennett during all this? We know Billy Donovan never says anything to Westbrook even in regards to basketball…but where are the two people on this who surely have to be embarrassed by the behavior of the face of their $1.2 billion dollar franchise as per last Forbes valuation?
Where are these two guys?
So bad on so many different levels for the Thunder from a public relations standpoint.
This is what I mean about these guys. If they weren’t playing for my hometown Thunder the word I would use to describe this nonsense is ‘punkish’. These two dudes who between them make more than $60 million dollars are acting like 7th graders.
These guys are supposed to be not only the face of the franchise, but the face representing ownership and the city to a certain degree.
CJ McCollum wears a jacket with a tie at his pressers and answers his questions politely. Damian Lillard answers questions with no vitriol attached to his answers.
Russell Westbrook makes $36 million dollars this year. That in itself is obscene even if he were a winning post season player which he clearly isn’t. Westbrook after last night’s loss to Portland is 4-11 in post season play without Kevin Durant winning games for him. If the Thunder lose tonight in Portland this mark goes to 4-12 in post season which is a .250 winning percentage without Durant in the goal achieving portion of his career.
Hell…those are Gundy-like numbers in Bedlam just about. Not quite as bad , but if Big Game Bob hadn’t repunted to Tyreke Hill that number would be 1-13. You think Boone has ever mentioned 1-13 to Gundy? So why would Russell Westbrook be rude to Berry Tramel who if you listen to these questions is not asking ‘gotcha’ type questions?
It makes no sense whatsoever and Terry Stotts and his Blazers in no way have acted like this during the series. They’ve gone about their business and conducted themselves like professionals.
Clay Bennett and Sam Presti have a major culture overhaul in front of them regardless of it they fire Billy Donovan after this series to Portland.
You wonder if the Thunder had a legitimate communications group which didn’t pander the Little Nick Gallo bullshit if perhaps Russell Westbrook would have a more adultlike attitude with the better writers at the pressers.
If I were Clay Bennett my first step of several would be to fire the key people in the communications department and start running public relations with the players required to dress and answer questions in an appropriate manner.
Chances are if you don’t have enough personal discipline to carry this off then your play on the court will reveal the same inherit lack of accountability.
Gundy and Westbrook should talk. It might be beneficial for both of them to work thru this together.
Terry Stotts and why he coaches.
I wish CJ’s dad would have had lunch with us, but still—what a great kid. We would have done the Anthony Bourdain Waffle House gig. He would have loved it.
Thank god, one more Portland win and I don’t have to blog anymore on this Thunder team. Terry Stotts, do me a favor buddy, don’t screw around and lose Game 5 in Portland on Tuesday night. I’m ready to settle in and follow the Warriors vs. Rockets and the Trailblazers versus the Spurs-Nuggets winner. As a NBA purist…I can’t stomach much more from the make believe Thunder.
How many times on here have I stated the NBA is star driven league…how many times?
So let’s start with this. At home, on the biggest stage, rested…and with the basketball world watching…Russell Westbrook went invisible into the night going 5-21 from the field and not making a basket in the entire second half. His chief running mate—Paul George, wasn’t all that much better. Together…the two Thunder regular season stars went a combined 13-42 from the field.
Ballgame. I wonder if Clay Bennett has a warm fuzzy feel about the cash which has been thrown at these two players in an effort to sustain the Thunder after losing Durant in the Hamptons.
On the flip side, a Star was Born as CJ McCollum on the road was the best player on the floor and scored 27 points and was a +25. You see—I don’t homer it up on here like the youngsters at Daily Thunder or the helpless Thunder homers on Fox. I try to tell it like it is because unlike these dumbasses I’ve been watching the NBA for around fifty-five years or so.
I would think or hope… CJ McCollum makes the All-Star Game next season and right off the tip of my mind I can think of two players he should replace.
Portland unlike in Game 3 where they trailed by ten points at the half—led 55-51 at the intermission. The Blazers at one point led by as many as 18 points on the road in the season’s biggest game for the Thunder.
Seth Curry for the second straight game didn’t make a basket. Westbrook must have been fascinated by this as he did the very same thing in this game’s final 24 minutes of play.
Damian Lillard was excellent in support of McCollum who’s father missed out on a great Easter dinner at our place. Offer still stands anytime though—your kid is a player. Amini added 19 points. Harkless played without fear. Enes Kanter scored only 8 points in this game, but you have to like the fact the player Billy Donovan said couldn’t play is about to help end what should be Billy Donovan’s last season in Oklahoma City.
This won’t bother me a bit. I’ll blog on the other teams in the West and get going on here with some Stanley Cup coverage. If I owned this team–that would be a different thing though. I don’t know what I would do first. This will require some thought.
The Thunder in Portland on Tuesday night for Game 5.
OKC was a Vegas seven point favorite at home in Game 3 on Friday night. I would expect about the same tonight inside the Chesapeake Energy Arena as the Thunder hope to even their first round series with Portland.
Never take anything for granted with this team though. It is a team in a season in which they do the opposite of what you think they’ll do every time you think you may have a feel on the pulse of the team.
But at the end of the day it’s always about Russell Westbrook and which Westbrook shows up for tip for the Thunder.
You would think both Westbrook and the Thunder will be ready for what is clearly now the team’s most important game of the season. Tuesday night in Game 5 in Portland will be the next most important game of the season as the Thunder try to emerge in the bottom side of the Western Conference bracket which spared the Thunder from both the Warriors and the Rockets until the Western Conference Finals if the Thunder can only harness their inner demons and play basketball at a level they should be able to play at… given you never take anything for granted with Russell Westbrook.
The Thunder win this game and they only have to win one game in Portland to advance given the thought they could hold home serve in Game 6. If the Thunder lose tonight in Game 4 they would have to do the almost unthinkable and win two games in Portland to play the winner of the Spurs vs. Nuggets series.
Russell Westbrook at the age of 31 may never get a draw like this again where he doesn’t have to beat the Warriors and the Rockets to get to the Western Conference Finals.
It would appear the Warriors vs. the Rockets in Round II will be a war. The question is if Sam Presti finally has a team since Durant’s departure which can advance to play the winner in the conference finals?
Never assume what seems to be the next step when Russell Westbrook is involved. Never assume anything.
Just looked—Oklahoma City is a six point Vegas favorite tonight.
After going an historically bad 10-61 shooting threes in the first two games of this series the OKC Thunder turned things around against the Portland Trailblazers in Game 3 inside the Chesapeake Arena by making 15 of 29 threes in route to a 120-108 victory.
The basketball saying goes role players shoot better at home and that played our perfectly for the Thunder as Jerami Grant, Dennis Schroder and Terrance Ferguson all had nice nights shooting the three ball for the up and down Thunder. Curiously—Seth Curry didn’t even attempt a shot in almost fifteen minutes of play for the Blazers.
Russell Westbrook except for a few early game bad turnovers was solid for the Thunder and didn’t have any gaffes of note coming down the stretch as the Thunder opened up a lead late after the game was tied early in the fourth period.
Paul George struggled at times but made up for it by going 14-17 from the line and by playing some defense on CJ McCollum who was held to 21 points after being dominant in the two games played in Portland.
Damian Lillard led the Blazers with 32 points and was brilliant in the third period with 25 points scored.
Portland hurt itself mightily in the first half by turning the ball over 14 times as the Thunder led by ten at the intermission.
But really the stat of the game was obvious…OKC went 15-29 from beyond the arc while Portland went 12-31.
Three games played in the series and three home wins so far. Portland came to town wanting a split and that I’m sure is still the mantra with the Trailblazer team.
I would think Terry Stotts wants to get something out of Seth Curry coming off the bench in Game 4 while I would think Billy Donovan wants his role players to keep shooting with confidence.
This so far has the look of a traditional series where the teams hold home court serve until the pivotal Game 5 scenario plays itself out.
OKC making shots and Westbrook making good decisions will ultimately decide if the Thunder can get out of the first round for the first time in three years.
Game 4 is Sunday night at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Last spring, the OKC Thunder made Donovan Mitchell a household name in the world of NBA hoops. Mitchell torched the Thunder in route to leading the Utah Jazz to an easy first round conquest over the laid back Thunder which was not as tough as the six games played might indicate.
Here we are a year later and everyone already knows what Damian Lillard is capable of doing on the hardwood with a basketball in his hands. Most diehards knew McCollum was one of the league’s up and coming hybrid guards, but in these first two games he’s been more than that. McCollum paired with Lillard could be proving short of the Splash Brothers they might be the best guard tandem in the NBA. James Harden and Chris Paul will have to be in that conversation as well, but thru two games in this series CJ McCollum has been the player I have watched with the most interest.
So get this…my cousin Jan flew in last night from Seattle to spend Easter weekend with the family. She tells me this story that on her United flight in first class there was this very nice black gentleman sitting next to her wearing a Trailblazers sweatshirt. She then goes on to tell me he’s in town to watch the next two games of this series and he’ll be sitting behind the Portland bench.
“Oh, really. Did you catch a name?” I ask. She says, ” Yeah, Eric McCallum? Even better—I have a picture of him on my cell and I invited him to have lunch with us on Sunday.”a
“Oh, really. Mind if I take a look at the pic?”
So…I look at the pic and it’s fairly apparent the man in the photo is the father of one CJ McCollum.
I then say, ” You were sitting next to CJ McCollum’s father and invited him to lunch with us.”
She says, ” I told him about your blog and told him to make sure to check it out during the week-end.”
“Well good, I hope he does come because that will be at least two of us who are hoping his son will be on fire and a Blazer sweep will put me out of my misery.”
Mr. McCollum—if you check out the blog here and you have any interest in joining us on Sunday for an excellent Easter meal which will include ham, Caesar salad, green beans, sweet potatoes, croissants, and multiple desserts please drop me a comment on here and we’d love to have you join us.