Normally…. me attending a Thunder game traveling from Deer Creek to Bricktown wouldn’t qualify as a travel blog entry, but this was a special night for me so I’m putting it on Mike’s Travel Blog side of the blog.
Plus, there’s no real need in this market for anybody writing Thunder recaps except for the Thunder employed paid puppets under the reign of Sam Hinkie-Presti.
What a night for me in the stands at the Peake. This was actually the first Thunder game I’ve attended since the Chris Paul season when the Thunder went dark on that fateful Rudy Gobert evening which signaled the national onset of Covid protocol.
But after talking to that kid with the Tyler Herro jersey yesterday…I decided to make the trek south and see in person the fabulous Tyler Herro and his three point bombing buddy Duncan Robinson in person for the first time.
Tyler Herro was the 13th player taken in his draft class and Duncan Robinson like Lu Dort was undrafted from his college days. So in essence, two of the three best players on the floor Monday night weren’t drafted and Tyler was only the 13th player taken in his NBA draft class. Take that as you may in regards to tanking.
Jimmy Butler and Bam were healthy scratches for the Heat since they were playing the tanking Thunder, but their absence didn’t diminish the night for those of us there to witness the Miami Splash Brothers .
I easily got a lower level ticket and entered the building with my vaccine card. I actually like the Thunder’s Covid protocol since it weeds out some of the Trumpier lower level rabble from the arena and creates an arena feel more in line with NBA crowds across the league instead of feeling like you’re at an LSU game in Baton Rouge with a hangover.
I had a great time and there were Miami fans there just like me applauding every basket Tyler and Duncan made in the game. But we weren’t obnoxious in that we politely applauded made baskets by the young Thunder players as well. When you as a fan enter another team’s building you need to win with class and set an example for the Durant haters of how to behave at an NBA game.
Tyler’s per NBA.com line and not what this homemade video listed was 28, 7, 6, 2, and a floor best +28. Tyler was easily the best player on the floor and an anticipated matchup between Tyler and Shai never materialized because in a word Shai was brutal. Shai was actually the fourth or fifth best guard on the floor this night behind, Tyler, Lu Dort, Duncan, and maybe even rookie Josh Giddy.
This is what I fear for Shai if Sam Hinkie-Presti keeps the tank death march in place too long, that being, his basketball competitive soul will wither at some point amidst all the intentional losing….and his game might regress.
From a Thunder glass half-full point of view there were some bright spots. I thought Lu Dort played well for the fourth straight game. JRE, Poku, and Aaron Wiggins showed some flash here and there. Giddy played decent minus his shooting woes. He needs a shooting coach. His release and footwork seem to be awkward to me. Tre Mann could be a player of consequence. Time will tell.
Anyway…great night from the Peake if you’re an NBA fan who can live beyond the glory days of Kevin Durant in Oklahoma City.
But I will write this …there are some players in place who can turn into something if they would be allowed to have guys like Mike Muscala and Kenrich Williams play real rotational minutes every night.
Hopefully…these kids keep their heads up and won’t embrace losing too much as the schedule gets tougher with sixty-nine games remaining this season.