Ukraine, Germany, France, UK, and all the democratic nations of the world have responded unified and in a very strong manner to the Russian invasion of Ukraine…minus one.
You know, Joe Biden, if you want to be thought of as a strong, consequential president this would be that shining moment.
This is that time later today at your press conference to levy very strong sanctions upon Russia.
This isn’t that moment to embrace the frilly far left wing of the Democratic Party. This is that moment you stand up and lead the democratic nations of the world and show Putin he is not going to be given the oxygen to become the next Hitler or Stalin.
A big moment later today as the world awaits Joe Biden’s response to Putin.
The Thunder stand at 18-40 coming out of the All-Star break. The league best Phoenix Suns are in town on Thursday night in a game in which Chris Paul will be sitting. If CP3 was playing…this would probably be the fourth Thunder game attended by me so far this season.
Instead as a passionate NBA fan …I’ll stay out of the cold even though I could get a lower-level seat behind the Suns’ bench for a steal. Like so many NBA fans the TNT national doubleheader is a winter staple for me on Thursday nights.
Good games featuring the best teams in the league all trying to win games to improve their seeding position heading into the playoffs.
Some in this Thunder basketball market which has no real local coverage are talking about trading Shai in exchange for the Thunder getting another top five pick in this draft. I don’t know if I would do that.
It’s not SGA’s fault he’s being asked to sit because Sam Presti has no other option available to him given elite black players don’t want to play in godforsaken Proud Boy Nation. This is the only option Sam Presti has in his toolbox.
If you are an elite culturally polished black man is this really where you want to play? I don’t think so. My ass would already be in Cali near the beach.
The OU football program on the other hand will continue to have a storied program with a history of being trendsetters for black equality within their program. Plus, Norman is perceived as a purple college campus.
Barry Switzer, Bob Stoops, Lincoln Riley, and Brent Venables all are perceived as being racially hip coaches. BTW…in the ESPN+ preseason football poll the Sooners with their great work in the portal and one of their best recruiting classes in the past ten years is picked to finish No. 7 next season…. despite Lincoln Riley leaving for USC.
But back to Shai. I wouldn’t trade him. But I would damn well make sure he and his agent are not asked for Shai to sit games again next season.
It’s shit or get off the stool time for Sam Presti next season in Oklahoma City. The Thunder lead the entire NBA with around $31 million in available cap space heading into this summer. The Thunder’s own pick should be a top four pick if they don’t screw this up in the last twenty-four games.
Shai is an All-Star caliber player who’s been asked to diminish his league position rank and brand to accommodate the fact the Thunder play in the least hip market in the NBA minus Utah or Sacramento.
Josh Giddey in my view is this season’s second or third best player in this rookie class…. only behind Evan Mobley and right there with Cade Cunningham.
Players like Lu Dort, Darius Bazely, Kenrich Williams, Aaron Wiggins, and Tre Mann have shown me they can be really nice NBA role players. So those are my current top seven in the Thunder rotation heading into this June.
I would keep Mike Muscala at No. 8 as a player coach in the mold of Nick Collison. For me Muscala would see the floor maybe two out of every five games.
Then of course you still have Ty Jerome, Theo Maledon, and Isaiah Roby at No. 9 thru No. 11 rotation-wise.
In my view what the Thunder need is an athletic center who can run the floor maybe in the mold of a Bam or Clint Capela type and another solid wing can shoot the three ball and defend. I’d keep an eye on Oscar from Kentucky in that regard. Walker Kessler might be too slow afoot.
Then…I think we’ll see if the little puppet G Legaue coach is really a coach. What I would do is utilize both Shai and Giddey in a manner in which their minutes are staggered so I have one of them out there almost the entire forty-eight minutes. Both should probably tally around 34-36 minutes a game.
Obviously…you want them out there together at closing time. But with a real coach who’s coaching to win instead of losing by design. A real NBA coach should easily be able to figure this out.
But, hey, Mark D deserves a shot to see if he can go into pressers after games where both teams are trying to win the game.
But I wouldn’t trade Shai. You’d be trading a very talented, rested player who hasn’t done anything wrong except help the team in culturally regressed Oklahoma catch up talent-wise because Kevin Durant and Paul George both said adios to Proud Boy Nation.
I mean, Pau Gasol is white and he wouldn’t even consider coming here. Domestic terrorist barbarians without ballet and opera…. and a real theatre….sigh.
Oklahoma City, it’s not them…it’s you. Grow up if want to be an NBA city.
This is Condolezza Rice back in 2017 explaining her dealings with Putin when she was the first female African American to serve as Secretary of State.
A very impressive person with a compelling aspirational story. What I’m trying to do here is compose a list showing the people who voted for Trump twice there are some Republicans out there who could actually serve our country beyond Jerry Springer Live standards. There’s no rule which says you have to vote for an insane person three times. There are other options out there.
I look at Condi Rice and I don’t see a black woman. I see a woman with an incredible story.
She was also Bush 43’s National Security Advisor and Provost at Stanford beyond that. Imagine all of this from a girl born in Birmingham, Alabama. That’s the American Dream.
Here’s my list so far…Liz Cheney, Tim Scott, and Condi Rice. I’m a fan of Ben Sasse from Nebraska…so he’ll be next on my list. Another moderate Republican with a degree from Stanford. I know I’ll have Lisa Murkowski from Alaska on my list as well. But I’ll come up with others.
Joe Manchin the Dem will be on my list for certain because in essence will have already served a term as Domestic Agenda POTUS 46. I’m going to have a lot to write on the day before our State of the Union as to the two Joes.
Hope everyone took the time to watch the excellent two-part docu film on LBJ. I’ll have a lot to say about LBJ as well.
Pray for Ukraine and hope this doesn’t turn out like Bosnia or Syria. It appears from what Putin said today he doesn’t feel as if the USSR lost the Cold War.
Pray for our country. Pretend like there are no viable political parties. That shouldn’t be hard because there aren’t any.
A friend on Facebook today had some people in Virginia talking about the 50th Anniversary of the iconic Marshall Tucker Band.
I had no idea it was fifty years for the band. Most of the original band members have been replaced, but that list of love songs they have is still impressive.
You have to remember it was Running Like the Wind in 1980 which was ‘my’ song on that journey to Montgomery, Alabama with a ring and two plane tickets to a Bahamian Island to propose to Auburn Chick back in the day.
In fact, Running Like the Wind was on the playlist for our wedding on the boat dock there at Like Kiowa just outside of Gainesville, Texas.
So… I looked up the tour dates and there they are scheduled for March 17th at the historic borderline iconic Paramount Theatre in Denver.
With Dave Mason no less as the backup. Not as good as Firefall when they played with MTB in Oke City in 1980, but it still could be a very nostalgic night for me and Auburn Chick on a visit to see the grandchildren.
Of course…I’ll have to figure out some way to avoid talking about the pathological sociopath Lincoln Riley with Chris Jackson…but I think I can smooth my way around that.
Maybe there’s an Avalanche game or a University of Denver hockey game that week-end as well. Or maybe even a Nugget game. God…I love being a grandparent in a real major league city.
You see, Oke City Thunder fans…. Denver is a bonafide major league city, while Oklahoma City only pretends to be one.
Truth hurts.
Sam Presti-Hinkie come with me to Denver and you won’t ever have to tank again, buddy.
I’m not even sure if history like this is still allowed to be taught in Oklahoma, parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.
You’ll notice I didn’t include Florida, Georgia, or South Carolina on my rant list. That’s because in those three states I think you can still find a reasonable amount of people who can engage in a meaningful discussion as to how the United States became both the largest economy and the most powerful military force in the world from the end of WWII to the present.
Trump has never discussed the Marshall Plan at one of his rallies or on a GOP debate stage because it in no way plays into his plan of dumbing down at the minimum one-half of America’s entitled and lazy white population who aren’t smart enough to vote in behalf of their own economic interest.
This is why eighty per-cent of the whites who voted for Trump will do so again in 2024…maybe more. That being, they’re too transfixed on Birtherism, racism, and guns rights to vote in their own economic long-term self-interest.
Put this in perspective in the form of a trivia question. What are the three most banned books by local school boards in the southern states?
The answer would be… 1 To Kill a Mockingbird, 2 The Diary of Anne Frank, and 3 1984 by George Orwell.
My old American Lit teacher Juanita Elijah assigned all three of these books as mandatory reading back in 1974 at John Marshall High School.
I guess the question now in relation to Putin isn’t if he takes Ukraine back, but whether he decides to go beyond and into Poland.
I don’t think this will happen though more because of China than Putin’s desire to do so.
We’ll see.
From Putin’s eyes how can he not visualize America on January 6th with the Trump-Proud Boy rabble invasion and the fact that in the time since the USA cannot even get a voting rights bill passed like LBJ did in 1965.
From a geo-political standpoint this will be fascinating to witness, but not so fascinating for the Ukranian people.
This week-end was the least amount of sports I’ve watched since college and NFL football season began around Labor Day. I only listened to the OU basketball game because I’m demoralized the Sooners have lost EJ Harkless to injury for the rest of the season. The Sooners are now officially on the wrong side of the bubble…probably thinking NIT at this point…. if the tournament is even still played after Covid.
I thought the NBA’s All-Star game was trash except for Karl Anthony- Towne winning a spirited three-point shooting contest. The dunking contest was the worst I’ve ever seen. I saw better stuff than that at John Marshall back win Winford Boynes from Capitol Hill was the Oklahoma City Player of the Year in the 70’s.
I caught just the last half of the Michigan vs. Wisconsin game and the ending with a near brawl was almost spectacular.
Just let them fight. That little white coach called a time-out leading by fifteen at home with fifteen seconds left. If he’s going to troll the other coach then turn them loose.
Juwan Howard of Fab Five fame would have killed him. Too much reach for that little white boy. I’ve never heard of him before today…Coach Gard. Whatever. Probably a German.
You know…Madison, Wisconsin I think– isn’t too far from where mentally challenged Kyle Rittenhouse killed those Black Lives Matter people with his AK-15 assault rifle. I guess we’re lucky Kyle wasn’t attending this Badger game and wasn’t near the Michigan bench all things considered.
I have no idea when the Thunder start these last twenty-four games of their season.
My grandson, Little Robert had his first stand-up pee yesterday in the backyard in Denver. If the Mother’s Association at Bonnie Brae Park knew this mu grandson would be in trouble.
He was so proud of it on the video. Just gotta hope he doesn’t do that at recess at school on Monday or he may be sitting a few games with Juwan Howard.
You see how I melded that all together there at the end.
Enjoy Monday because the rest of the week is going to be ice and winter again in Oklahoma.
Can you name the Fab Five without Google?
I’d go in this order…1 Chris Webber, 2 Jalen Rose, 3 Juwan Howard , who actually won an NBA ring, 4 Jimmy King, and 5 Ray Jackson.
If Chris Webber had joined Steph, Klay, and Draymond he would have won at least two rings as well… would be my guess.
I actually like Tim Scott. He’s a moderate Republican senator from the very red state of South Carolina. I believe Tim Scott is the only male African American GOP member of the United State Senate currently.
This video deposition was recorded in July of 2016 when no one thought reality television personality Donald Trump would ever become POTUS 45.
On most lists from people who follow national politics…. Tim Scott is probably third or fourth on the GOP list of possible GOP POTUS candidates in 2024.
I would think he might even be a strong dark-horse, no pun intended, to replace Mike Pence on the Trump ticket if POTUS 45 isn’t in federal prison.
Washington Commanders, right? Sigh.
Mike is a lot of things…politically correct isn’t one of them I’m proud to say.
Since POTUS 45 was elected however, you won’t hear Tim Scott say the things he said on this video deposition a mere fourth months before the Election of 2016.
Tim Scott is in a group of bipartisan senators along with Oklahoma’s own James Lankford who have a senatorial breakfast club of sorts in D.C.
Anyway, here’s Tim Scott before Donald Trump became the face of his party describing what it’s like to be a black man serving in the United States Senate circa 2016.
So… like with every Republican male senator left standing…it will be up to you to decide if Tim Scott was suffering from delusion on this video or is simply avoiding the truth now to stay on the pleasant side of the Trumplicans.
The truth can be such a difficult concept at times. It’s not easy.
I like Tim Scott, but he ain’t no Liz Cheney…that’s for certain.
LeBron has made some very interesting comments this week-end at the All-Star Game in reference to Sam Presti.
He made note of some of Sam Presti’s first round picks over the years and then went on to praise Josh Giddey’s rare skill of seeing the floor at NBA warp speed.
He didn’t mention some of the things which went the wrong way in Oklahoma City, but instead was extremely kind in his comments to Sam Presti. He didn’t mention Russell Westbrook’s destructive effect on the Lakers this season but went out of his way to praise Sam Presti.
LeBron said he wants to play his last NBA season with his son when that time comes which I would think would be two years from now.
He said money wouldn’t be a factor and I’m guessing that to mean he’d play for the vet minimum if that’s what it would take for him to play on the same team as his son Bronny James.
Maybe LeBron is recruiting Sam Presti to replace Rob Pelinka kind of like USC lured Lincoln Riley to USC. Like reading the Grapes of Wrath twice in the same sports years.
I don’t know.
Presti has always puzzled me in this respect because I think he’s an intelligent man even though he’s still paying off Kyle Singler’s contract and Andre Roberson still can’t shoot a basketball.
He has a history degree like I do. I think he went to Emerson College if I remember his resume correctly.
I cannot imagine a proud man like LeBron James playing his last NBA season in Oklahoma. To me, that would be like Hillary Clinton running to be the governor of Mississippi.
Some things are beyond changing.
There are some things which aren’t changing in my lifetime. Maybe not even in my son’s lifetime.
I would love to talk to Sam Presti sometime off the record to know his true inner thoughts on subjects like race and social inequality in our country.
If LeBron wasn’t the most famous athlete in the world…would anyone even give a second thought to what he’s trying to say.
Or would he just be another ‘nigger’ like George Floyd who needs to be shown his place in America?
By the way, this just doesn’t seem to be a problem in the South. Every time we turn on the news white policemen are killing a black person in Minnesota.
Sam Presti comes from the San Antonio-RC Buford NBA tree. I would guess he and Greg Popovich have some commonality in their views of our country.
LeBron James to Oklahoma City?
Nah.
That makes less sense than Hillary Clinton to Mississippi.
Because in the end… I don’t think LeBron wants his legacy to be that he’s just perceived as an uppity ‘nigger’ who never learned his place in America.
Instead, I would think LeBron just wants his son to remember his father as a man who spoke his mind and his heart, even in a country which has regressed on racial issues in recent years.
Or…maybe not regressed per se, but with the words of Donald Trump, just feel very comfortable in openly making their inner views be known in public. instead of keeping their thoughts private.
Next up on Black History Month on my blog…. Tim Scott the GOP black United States senator from South Carolina.
It seems like yesterday Chris was drafted by the New Orleans Hornets around the time Hurricane Katrina struck and thus caused Oklahoma City to somehow land an NBA team.
Chris’s older brother in fact did act as his little brother’s agent and almost leased the house across the street from us here at the gated Deer Springs mental institution which I will not refer to my name so as to not affect real estate values.
It is a lovely house. I think they call it French Colonial or something as far as the style.
The young couple across the street were going through a bizarre divorce. She was a very nice-looking woman and as the marriage got progressively worse… she would start up their John Deere tractor wearing a scant negligee and mow their acreage at about three in the morning.
I never knew watching a neighbor mowing could be such a sensual experience. I started playing Ravel’s Bolero every time the mowing began. I almost made a video of it to send to a couple of my friends, but my wife gave me a look which pretty much suggested that wouldn’t be a wise move on my part. That same look she gave when I caught the lawn divan on fire smoking a pricey cigar. My video would have gone viral…no doubt.
Who mows like this in a populated neighborhood?
Who could make this up? Only in an Edmond, Oklahoma zip code could this shit happen. These wild and crazy Donalt Trump Christian evangelicals. Bless their hearts.
So after the couple vacated the house…CJ came on Chris Paul’s behalf and almost rented it. But in the end, they decided to move into another home in Edmond.
That’s my Chris Paul story.
So here are my NBA mid-season nominations with twenty-five games left in the regular season.
NBA Man of the Year Monty Williams
NBA Coach of the Year East…Billy Donovan, West…Taylor Jenkins
Player of the Year East… Joel Embiid, West…Chris Paul
Rookie of the Year East… Evan Mobley, West… Josh Giddey
Comeback Player of the Year East…Tyler Herro, West…Klay Thompson
Most Improved Player of the Year East…entire Cleveland team, West…Desmond Bane and Jordan Poole
NBA Executives of the Year….Taylor Jenkins and Zach Klieman
Should Be Fired Award…. Rob Pelinka, LA Lakers GM
Beyond Needing an Intervention Citation…. Russell Westbrook
My Most Exciting NBA Player Award….Ja Morant
That’s it from me. I don’t watch any all-star games…period. But I will watch the three-point shooting contest and the dunking contest later tonight.
For the most part I enjoy your somewhat unusual blog. I never know what to expect on here from reading to reading. One day high level NBA content…the next day is like watching Chris Cuomo on CNN.
Bravo.
Surely you jest when you say someone as interesting as you could live in godforsaken armpit Oklahoma. It must be the Cali in you in which I’m reading.
Just so you know…like Donalt’s little paid Princess Melania…I too was once a Slovenian high-fashion model. Your intuitions and writings in regards to Donalt are right on the spot as you Americans sometimes say.
Donalt is a pathetic pimp and a creep with genitals befitting a gerbil. Enough on Donalt…may he rot in hell.
I know…I’m rambling you need a basketball question.
I’m a Nets fan. Who do you think came out the best on the Harden for Ben Simmons trade?
——————————————————-
Eva,
Thank you for being a devoted reader of the blog. Funny you mention Chris Cuomo. I think I would be perfect for that time slot on CNN. It’s always been my dream at some point to stop blogging about sports and be like my idol at the NY Times…Maureen Dowd.
If you could please write the editor at the Times and put in a good word for me…. that would be extremely thoughtful of you.
Okay. Like with the LA Rams both the Nets and Sixers have somewhat limited windows with their current superstars. If you’re asking who becomes a contender immediately…I would say Philly with MVP Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris and Tyrese Maxey become very relevant in the East if Harden can stay healthy and completely realize he’s the second fiddle to the superstar Joel Embiid. Embiid on my list is the current leader for the MVP of the entire NBA.
I’ve never liked Ben Simmons as a player dating back to his college days at LSU. He can’t a shoot basket or make clutch free throws coming down the stretch. So why would anyone consider this guy a max level player?
It amazes me still Sam Presti never acquired this guy because he fits the mold of past Thunder player minus Durant who can’t shoot a basketball.
So while I hate the Sixers gave up Seth Curry…they did what they had to do to give Joel Embiid a chance to advance in the East.
Milwaukee has some problems. Brook Lopez is still not back. PJ Tucker is now a Miam Heat and Patrick Connaughton fractured his wrist. That’s not good for the Bucks’. The East is wide open.