The Thunder were my No. 1 seed after the round of eight was set in place, so I in no way was surprised the Thunder beat the Houston Rockets to advance to Tuesday night’s NBA Cup opposite the Milwaukee Bucks.
Milwaukee is playing some very nice basketball of late. I like how they’ve fortified their depth in their backcourt with Jackson (UConn) and JD Green. Khris Middleton still appears to working himself back into everyday playing shape, but once the old Khris Middleton returns I would say look out for the Bucks in the East along with Boston and Cleveland.
Giannis and Brook Lopez give the Bucks a divergent one-two scoring punch at the center position and of late Damian Lillard has the clutch back in his game.
This historically elite Thunder defense will be shown another challenge with Giannis. I love defense. I’m a defensive oriented sports fan. It’s not cliche to write defense wins championships in the NFL, NBA, and NHL. This Thunder defense will be presented a different challenge from Giannis in this game.
I will be locked in watching how the Thunder utilize Hartenstein versus Giannis. My current MVP list reads…1 Shai, 2 Jokic, and 3 Giannis. This game could possibly be a harbinger of a potential NBA Finals in June.
I don’t believe we’ve seen Hartenstein opposite Jokic just yet if my memory serves me correct, but this is a game serious NBA fans will be locked into on Tuesday night in Vegas.
I can’t wait. As far as the ‘big’ mens basketball Bedlam game which was played at Paycom Arena on Saturday night…I’ll just say this…I’m going to email Dr. Showalter tomorrow and thank him for putting me on chemo quarantine so as I didn’t completely piss away two hours of my life.
The state of O State basketball, like the football program…is a disgrace. As someone who knew and loved Eddie Sutton… the current state of the mens basketball program is an embarrassment to Coach Sutton’s Hall of Fame legacy.
That was me being kinder and gentler…just so you know.
The Sooners improved to 10-0 and I would guess will be ranked No. 11 on Monday. Porter Moser’s club travels to play Michigan on Wednesday night in the Jumpman Classic.
Have a great Monday.
Mike J