First off…congrats to the Thunder for starting the season as defending champs at 8-0 with a workmanlike road victory over a Clipper squad which in reality is nothing more than a play-in type of team without Kawhi Leonard.
Like the real MJ, Michael Jordan….this MJ, Mike Jackson, is already weary this NBA season of watching more load management than stars stepping up and leading their resepctive teams. Not at all the case with Shai though as he’s been everything you’d want from your MVP and franchise player.
1/8th of the way through this young NBA regular season and Shai is already my in the clubhouse leader to defend his MVP as well as the NBA championship. He’s got that look in his eye MJ loves. That hungry look.
My notion is Shai has taken all Sam Presti’s pre-season words to heart and is completely in a zone to make this Thunder group the first NBA team to repeat since the Warriors did the trick in 2016-17. Repeats are all around us currently in the four major sports if you’re paying close attention.
The Florida Panthers of the NHL repeated this past June and will be looking to three-peat this hockey season. The LA Dodgers just repeated in front of us with a seven game thriller in one of the best World Series of all-time. If I had to pick the Super Bowl champion right now on November 5th…MJ would pick Jalen Hurts and the Eagles to repeat as well.
Which leads into my take on the Thunder a mere eight games in..the Thunder in my book are somewhere between a solid favorite to a prohibitive favorite to repeat depending on the health of their Big 6.
My Thunder Big 6 goes in this order currently…1 Shai, 2 JDub, 3 Chet, 4 Caruso, 5 Dort, and 6 I-Hart. If these six guys stay healthy and it will be tough for anybody to derail the Thunder…even the Denver Nuggets as they continue to search for team chemistry with this new team they’ve put together.
Something else to consider though…the emergence of Aaron Wiggins and Ajay Mitchell trning this into a Big 8. Last night… Ajay +31, Aaron + 26. That’s where the Nuggets and evevry other team in the league have a problem, that being, two guys at N. 7 and No. 8 like Ajay and Aaron.
I had a great time at the OU doubleheader on Monday evening. Both the men and women should have very competitive teams. The women especially… if they reach their potential should be at the least an Elite 8 type of team if the young newcomers figure things out by January.
My OU seat this year is right next to the OU student section and the band. I love it. It’s like being young again as I was in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
Both schedules get challenging in a hurry as the OU men travel to play at Gonzaga this week-end, while the Sooner women host UCLA on Monday night. MJ will be in his seat on Monday night for certain. We’ll find out quite a bit about point guard Lia Chavez on Monday night I would suspect. She looks like a big-time baller to MJ though. She just needs to gradually acclimate herself into the role of starting point guard. Notice how little of Coach B’s presser dwelled on her freshman guard. Jennie knows this is a process in which the seniors are comfortable with.
Love, kindness, and peace as always.
MJ