Month: December 2025

Like I wrote earlier in the week, this was not going to be a game I would spend much time watching. I had it on the flat screen, volume down as I was reading Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankel. Tough book for certain, but one I felt I must read as the Stage 4 journey lurches forward with pragmatic optimism.

I mean what does one say after such a colossal mismatch? Why would such a game really tell us anything about the Thunder except that they’re really good and freakishly deep….and the defending champs are on a mission to take down Golden State’s 73-9 marker in the NBA history books.

Shai is right…this team is better than the team which held on in two Game 7s versus both Denver and Indiana. This team has grown organically and internally since last summer’s first ever NBA championship.

Sam Presti and this team he created from the ashes of the Paul George trade to the Clippers for then rookie Shai….has grown in maturity. confidence, smarts, and gravitas.

Again…the only team I could see pushing these guys in a seven game series is Denver…and that would have to be in six games because I in no way see any team coming into Oklahoma City and someone getting any whistles in front of the college crowd at PayCom.

So now the Thunder play the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday night in one Emirates NBA Cup semi, while on the other side of the bracket the very ordinary New York Knicks will take on the upward-looking Orlando Magic.

Should OKC lose to any of these three teams on a neutral floor in Vegas…I would think not unless Shai can’t go in these games.

I will write this about the Eastern Conference though…it should be very fun to watch as maybe Detroit, maybe the Cavs, maybe the Knicks, and maybe even the Boston Celtics if Jayson Tatum can return in time. And let’s throw in the Orlando Magic as an outlier possibility as well.

But to this underground, award winning blogger it appears the Thunder are not only on a beat to win their first Emirates NBA Cup Final, but they’re on a journey to take what they feeel should be and will be their legacy.

In my mind putting myself inside of Sam Presti’s mind… that equates into the Thunder going 74-8 and being the first NBA team in eight seasons to repeat since the Warriors did it after stealing Kevin Durant on July 4th circa 2016 in some sort of karma-like ending as to the way all that went down.

I can see it in Sam Presti’s eyes. He needs this for closure. And MJ doesn’t blame him in the least. In fact…I have a smile on my face.

Love and kindness always.

MJ

So…I was out finishing the leaf cleanup out on the mini-ranch and my wife walks out to me with a cell phone and says, “It’s Chris (our son).

I pick up the phone and say,”Hey…what’s up?”

He says, ‘What would you think about sitting Row 6, thirty yardline behind the OU bench for the Alabama game?”

I said, “I’m there already. You had me at hello. Will I be sitting next to Barry Switzer?”

He says, “Merry Christmas, Dad. I love you.”

“I love you, Chris. You’ve been an unbelievable son.”

And of course…I’m happy. ‘Almost’ beyond words….and with a tear in my eye.

Love,

Dad

I would say…yes. But it won’t just be TW. It will be a concerted effort by all eleven OU defensive players on the field under the guidance of Coach BV’s blitz packages to ‘GET TO THE QUARTERBACL WITH PREMEDITATED MALICE AND BAD INTENT INTACT.’

Bama has no running game per se. Ty Simpson is not Trinidad Chambless or Marcel Reed. In fact, Ty Simpson does not run nearly as well as John Mateer. This means both safeties can play high and the corners can play agressively on the edge. This means put TY Simpson on the ground or at the least disrupt his 2.5 second rythmn so as he can throw another pick six or two. Two pick sixes would be even better.

This TW interview just after the Alabama road win is what I love to see from our players. I love what he had to say. If you were listening closely what you should have heard TW say was, ‘We as a team and a defense have not come close to playing a full game at our full potential this entire season.’

That’s the sentence MJ most took from this interview and stuck on his bulletin board. That being said, ‘ We haven’t played our best game yet.’

I want to feature Kip Lewis on my next OU profile heading into the CFP game versus Alabama. The two guys on this team who in my view picked up the leadership slack the most after the injury loss of R Mason are Taylor and Kip Lewis. I love these guys as if they’re blood sons by now. That’s the way real OU fans like MJ think. Not the ignorant as shit callers we listen to on the Jim Traber Show.

If the Thunder vs. Suns game turns out to be competitve tonight…I’ll cover it here on America’s No.1 in objective quality NBA content blog. If the game is a blowout as I suspect it might be….I’ll write about another NBA contender given I only see perhaps five in…OKC, Denver, Houston*, maybe Clevelend, and maybe Detroit as contenders as currently constructed. Maybe Boston is No. 6 as well if they get Jayson Tatum back in time.

It’s a beautiful sunny day at the Deer Creek mini-ranch. I need to get some things done outside.

Have a beautiful Wednesday.

Let’s go run down a dream, guys. It’s there in front of you to be had. I wouldn’t lie. See it? It’s there to be had.

MJ

We have a Thunder vs. Phoenix Suns Emirates Cup quarterfinal tonight in OKC and I could care less given the fact I’m not sure if Devin Booker is playing. And does it really matter who plays for the Thunder until they start playing the second best Denver Nuggets (17-6) six times starting in early February. That’s when MJ will come alive NBA-wise on the blog.

Denver basically is playing an eight man rotation right now with both Aaron Gordon (hamstring) and Christian Braun (high ankle) still both sidelined. Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones have done a decent job filling those minutes and one would think this experience for these two guys will help Denver come playoff time.

As far as the College Football Playoff bracket…I thought given the fact the sport is broken and this is what the Committee had to sort through…they did okay. I’m thrilled with how OU is lined up on the bracket. I must be the only human in America who feels this way. One game at a time, baby. Whether R Mason does or doesn’t play in the OU-Bama rematch in Norman…I like OU’s chances and have them at maybe a -1 home field favorite in the game.

Why would I do this? Because I think OU has a top five defense, the best kicker in the nation, a WR/punt returner and big play guy in Isaiah Sategna who is on fire, and have two guys named Taylor Wein and Kip Lewis. Plus…I think John Mateer with three weeks rest and some time to decompress will up his game as it needs to be upped. Plus, RB Xavier Robinson should be healthy with the three weeks of downtime.

As far as Alabama…they cannot run the football and it was the Sooners’ defense which exposed then Heisman frontrunner Ty Simpson on the national stage in the 23-21 road upset which altered the trajectory of the OU season. Simpson hasn’t played well in a game since. He looks like a broken piece of shit redneck truck leaking oil… analogy-wise. He in fact…looks even more broken than college football as a whole. You can see it in eyes. Taylor Wein broke him. Just plain broke him.

As far as Notre Dame…wah. Cry MJ a river and go make up some bullshit event on your own network over there at NBC and play Boston College or Texas or Stanford or St. Mary’s for the Catholic National Championship or the Spoiled Brat National Championship. Your strength of schedule absolutely sucked and you lost head to head versus Miami.

As far as college football…they need to expand the Playoff to sixteen teams next season and figure out how to create something to take the place of the bowls which one can clearly see are on the path to extinction.

As far as the new little head coach at O State…Eric Morris, dude…your group hasn’t won a Big 12 game in two seasons. Be honest with your fanbase. Don’t rattle that OU hate saber with all your Mike Gundy mobil home donors who can’t pay their own utility bills and are eating at Taco Bell every other night. Don’t do that shit, bruh.

That’s it for MJ.

Maybe a song for the Notre Dame fanbase would seem appropriate right now. This might be too much for them though.

Eternal love, MJ

I bought my Bedlam Basketball Holiday Classic tickets today. Very nice seats. Very nice. Low and on the curve on one of the baseline sightlines. This needs to be a yearly deal for me as a Stage 4 survivor moving forward. Both games should be very hard fought and I would guess close games.

I would probably go with the O State men as maybe a 1.5 favorite in the first game given how poorly OU played at Arizona State the other night in the first half. And with the women both teams are ranked, it should be a brawl and I’ll pick the Sooner women by 3.5 points.

We’ll have to see how this goes. I would hope its a raccous atmosphere. MJ loves raccous.

My wife refuses to go to this event with me and has warned me about my language in what could a very heated atmosphere for the O State fans given these last two seasons of having a football program which self-inflicted itself with a death penalty even more severe than the NCAA wrath that the Hart Lee Dykes cheating scandal brought at the end of the Pat Jones’ era.

This will be my first visit back to PayCom since my experience last spring when Luka got tossed with his second technical and a riot ensued four rows behind me. I never should have told my wife about that incident. I was actually a peacemaker in all of that druken angst and turmoil. But I had to agree with the Laker fans…Luka should never have been tossed.

This should be tame. We used to travel to Stillwater back when Gallagher Iba was then one of the best environments in college basketball under Coach Sutton. I loved that environment.

I’d like to see a Bedlam football game every now and again somewhat similar to what OU did with Nebraska a couple of years ago. Coach Morris needs to conquer UCO and Tulsa first though before that conversation takes place.

Bedlam football again would be fun.

Love and peace.

MJ

Let me start with this suggestion to Bears’ coach Ben Johnson….if you’re going to run your mouth about easily beating my Packers twice in the closing weeks of this NFL season…then either do it or STF up.

Perhaps, the mere euphoria of this dormant franchise even being relevant this late in an NFL season made Coach Johnson giddy as if he were Mike Gundy telling the rest of us who actually know football, “He’s a man and come after him.”

Well, for certain…you’ve done a better job with the Bears than Gundy did with these last two death penalty-like seasons in Stillwater. But Coach Johnson…when it mattered–Caleb Williams cratered and threw a horrible interception to end the game.

So I’m giving my game ball and two helmet stickers to three Green Bay players for their clutch play coming down the stretch in this 28-21 Packer win which catapaults my Packers as posibly the favorite to emerge from the NFC this season as a Super Bowl contender with the acquistion of Micah Parsons.

Clearly, as I tried to explain to Jim Traber on the air after the trade…this move put Green Bay into what MJ calls a ‘potential championship window.’ Much like last season when Presti acquired Caruso and Hartenstein. Those two additions catapaulted the Thunder into a ‘championship window,’ which they eventually walked through after Game 7 versus the Indiana Pacers even if did take a big time assist from the basketball gods by Tyrese Haliburton going down.

BTW…the assertion by any Dallas Cowboy fan that Green Bay got hosed in the Micah Parsons trade is illustrative of why the Dallas Cowboys have been almost as non-relevant as the Chicagos Bears for a very substantial period of time as well. MJ loves CeeDee Lamb and Pickens as game changing wide receivers for certain…but those guys don’t play defense.

I’ll get back later to why I was confidant Micah Parsons would make Green Bay a better defensive team across the field. But not today. MJcan only handle so much on his plate after a full Sunday of col;lege and NFL football.

My game ball goes to Jordan Love for his balanced play all game long and his clutchness on that last game winning drive to give the Pakers a 28-21 lead.

MJ’s two helmets go to Keisan Nixon for his game clinching oskie in the end zone, and to RB Josh Jacobs for his clutch running and game winning TD on that last epic drive which gave the Packers three straight wins over NFC rivals Minnesota, Detroit, and the success starved Chicago Bears and their misguided, clueless fanbase.

I’ll talk about OU playing Alabama instead of Notre Dame tomorrow on the blog. But here’s what I know already…OU is 2-0 versus the Tide in the non-Nick Saban area. ‘Bama is a team with little snarl or nasty. MJ also knows Jeremiah Love plays for Notre Dame and not Alabama. Hence…MJ’s opening line has OU a two point home favorite.

By my standard I’ve now cleared post-chemo protocol and ready to hit the terrain bike and the weights for my first workout since the Dec. 2 infusion. It usually takes about 120-130 hours after an infusion to reach this threshold.

Yo, Adrian.

MJ

Perfect timing for me in that coming off the 15th chemo treatment of the year…this incredible week-end of both college and pro football is the perfect restorative calm for MJ to take it easy and work off the effects of the treatment.

I watched all the college games yesterday and based on those games and the massive volume of college football I’ve watched this season…this is how I would set up the bracket.

1 Indiana

2 Georgia

3 Ohio State

4 AA Eagle Oil & Gas aka Texas Tech

5 Ole Miss

6 Oregon

7 Texas A&M

8 Oklahoma

9 Notre Dame

10 Miami

11 Tulane

12 James Madison

As far as OU goes…if the OU offensive line and John Mateer bring the games they had versus Michigan and Auburn before the hand injury…I feel as if OU can beat anyone in this field on any given day.

Ohio State has two incredible receivers,but the kid at QB is pedestrian and in reality The Buckeyes didn’t play anybody of any consequence away from home until last night versus Indiana.

Of the teams in this tournament the team I would least want my Sooners to play… it is Georgia.

On the NFL side this morning…of course my Packers are at home versus the upstart and cocky Chicago Bears who come into this game on a five game winning streak. The Bears lead the NFL in turnovers created and their new head coach, Ben Johnson, is extremely cocky.

We as passionate NFL fans also have two intriguing games in the AFC with Patrick Mahomes and his on the cliff KC Chiefs versus the Houston Texans and CJ Stroud. I ight call this a wildcard elimination game of sorts.

Also… we have the offensiveless Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Baltimore Ravens for first place in the AFC North. Jim Traber has already called for the fring of Mike Tomlin…so in the event the Steelers win this game…MJ will be giving Jim a call on his Monday afternoon show.

That’s it for me this cold, blustery morning out on the Deer Creek mini-ranch. I need to get in the right mental state of mind for the Selection Sunday Show on ESPN.

MJ

Very entertaining women’s game on Wednesday night in Norman as OU came back to beat NC State 103-98 in the SEC-ACC Challenge. Pretty ragged performance by OU as they trailed much of this game until late in regulation, but in the end of regulation and overtime the Sooners got their defense and rebounding issues in order after two NC State starters fouled out.

No. 9 OU improves to 8-1 and I think their game versus ranked Bedlam rival O State should be an interesting game on December 13th at Paycom where there will be a womens/mens doubleheader. Both games should be good as O State’s mens’ team is much improved from last season. I can’t wait to attend. This should be an annual event taking the place of the old OKC Holiday Classic which was hosted in OKC as well back when I was younger.

I would think the O State fan base should be pretty stoked given the current condition of their football prorgam and the fact they haven’t won a conference football game in the passive /submissive Big 12 the last two football seasons and are a collective 4-20 in Mike Gundy’s last two Brightest Shade of Orange Legacy seasons.

Yeah, it was Boone’s money, no doubt. If you don’t have a sugar daddy or two cash flowing….you really don’t have all that much despite what Mike Gundy tried to project to the end. MJ is still waiting to see what SEC program Mike Gundy ends up with since the Lane Kiffen deal has been done. That was sarcasm in case you’re an O State donor who owns a mobil home, right?

Back to hoops. OU should be pretty good once they get their younger players coming off the bench more in sync with what it will take to play in the always super competitive…and physical SEC.

The starting five should be excellent though with super freshman point guard Aaliyah Chavez leading the team. She is exceptional and was the Gatorade National Player of the Year her senior season in hih school. Alongside her is Raegan Beers, Peyton V, Sahara Williams, and Zya Vann…younger sister of Sklar who both played at Deer Creek High School just two miles from MJ’s mini-ranch.

Off the bench the Sooners return center Beatrice Culleton, and freshmen Brooklyn Stuart, Kezial Lofton, and sophmore Caya Smith. It will in my view be the bench which either does or doesn’t hold this team back from being an Elite 8 type of team.

A very fun team to watch as far as pace goes, but their defense, care of the ball, and rebounding will decide their fate.

I’ve seen them twice in person and both times the crowds were better for the OU women than for the men who are now 6-2 fresh off two big road wins at Marquette and Wake Forest.

Porter has the makings of a sneaky good team now that Jadon Jones is healthy and has given his team a much stronger defensive rotation. This team is 4-0 since Jadon made his OU debut. He’s the West Coast Athletic Dfeneive Player of the Year from two season ago. He’s like JJDub in that he has a very strong lower body coupled with almost freakish reach. Jadon is a big deal for this team moving forward. Kind of what I would call a Kenrich Williams type who shoots left-handed.

The rest of the top ten are all good and seem to be learning how to play together in that only Mo Wague and Dayton Forthyse returned from last year’s squad which won 21 games and made it to the NCAA Tournament.

It should be a very fun year for Porter and Jennie’s teams this season. It will help me from skipping out on so many non-competitive Thunder games here on the leading OKC hoops underground blog for those serious in reading quality hoops content versus so much of the homer-driven nonsensical drivel available on the internet.

A Christmas song seems right on this cold December day.

Love and tranquility.

MJ

It it what it is. From my perspective, moving forward, it’s the defending champ Thunder against the field. The Thunder toyed with the Stephless Warriors after they got ahead by 22 points. Butler didn’t in reality play. Draymond was in foul trouble. And Jonathan Kuminga was so horrific…Steve Kerr couldn’t play him down the stretch.

In fact, I’m going to now release my thirteen player team from the rest of the league combined who I think ‘could possibly’ beat a healthy version of this Thunder squad.

My first two players are Jokic and *Alperin Segun. My third and fourth player are the Thompson Twins. My fifth player is Tyrese Maxey. My sixth player is Castle from the Spurs. My seventh player is his teammate…Wemby.

My eighth player is Mykal Bridges. My ninth player is his teamate Jason Hart.

So I need three more players. You can’t be on my team if you’re not a completely honest two-way basketball player. I feel like a banger who assaults the paint in a physical manner would be nice. With my tenth pick I’m going with Duran from the Pistons.

I don’t want a star point guard. I want a PG with a chip on his shoulder and something to prove, hence no Cade Cunningham on my team. Although I love Cade and very much watched every game he played during his one year stay at O State. I even had a Cade Cunnngham Journal on here and am proud of it.

With my eleventh pick…I’m going with Jaylen Brown from the Celtics, again…defense. I want this team to have snarl defensively.

Mark out the twelve player limitation on my roster. I’m hoing with thirteen. With my twelfth slot I’m going with Jaden McDaniel from the Timberwoles.

Since I can’t steal Kenrich from the Thunder in this fantasy team of mine…with my thirteenth slot I’m going with Derek White from the Celtics as well.

If a went a to a fourteenth player it would be Deandre Hunter fom the Atlanta Hawks.

As far as last night’s game…Seth Curry and the lacrosse player Glenn Spencer are to be commended. But when it mattered, Superman said, “I don’t think so, boys.”

My other two Thunder players of the game beyond Superman are Isaiah Joe and JDub.

Shoutout to Isaiah Joe for his improved defensive energy and overall impactful play of late.

Have a beautiful December 3rd.

Love.

MJ

*MJ’s favorite caucasian first name in the NBA.

The Thunder won their 12th straight last night in Portland in a road game in which 69 free throws were attempted by the two teams combined.

Yawn.

What do you even write about in a game like that…other than the Thunder found a way to prevail when the zebras were not allowing 40 Minutes of Hell-like defense.

I think Portland actually attempted 37 free throws and the defending champs with the most prolific free throw shooter in the league… (Shai) had a paltry 32 attempts.

Michael Cage was in vintage form in this one refusing to admit the Thunder actually committed a foul leading to any of those 37 Portland attempts.

My guess is…maybe the league is getting somewhat weary of seeing Shai on the line as much as he is on most Thunder game nights. I’m not going to go the Doris Burke route and claim ‘free throw merchant’. I am going to write though it’s a complete drag seeing Shai go to the line when the contact is minimal at best.

The 20-1 Thunder at the Golden State Warriors, who of course, will be without Steph. Thunder off to the second best ever start to an NBA regular season. These guys are beyond loaded. They don’t need the refs helping them with soft calls. Make it interesting at least.

Thunder 20-1. Indiana Pacers 4-16. So much for that rematch.

Joy. Love. Peace. Faith.

It’s Christmas season. Always faith. Always hope.

MJ