Of course, here on the blog…I often refer to this Thunder group as a reincarnate of Nolan Richardson’s Forty Minutes of Hell teams he had at Arkansas.
I’m amazed I’m the only one here in this market who does this comparison…especially surprised Barry Tramel hasn’t followed my lead on this train of thought because Barry actually is a good sports writer I like, admire, and respect. But maybe he has and I just didn’t catch it because he now writes for the Tulsa World.
Either way, when I watch the young Thunder I often find myself thinking of Nolan Richardson’s teams at Arkansas and to a lesser degree Mike Anderson’s succeeding teams at Arkansas as well. I also think of the way Eddie Sutton’s teams played defense at both Arkansas and Oklahoma State. MJ loves Coach Sutton and will forget sitting next to him on the floor at a Thunder game with his wife and grandchildren.
Always remember this as you watch Thunder basketball with this group…..OKC is still a college market but with a world class NBA team which Sam Presti carefully crafted after he failed with the Durant-Westbrook group.
Presti with great diligence crafted this team with no defensive liability. None. Maybe last season Isaiah Joe was a bit of a defensive liability which cost him playing time in the playofffs, but to Isaiah’s credit it is obvious to MJ how hard he’s worked since then to improve every aspect of his defensive game.
You know…foot work, lower body strength and stance, head on a swivel, communicating, and the such. I love how Isaiah has addressed this issue with his game and would certainly welcome him with open arms if he ever becomes a Denver Nugget down the road. If I were the Nuggett GM the three guys on the Thunder who I might be able to afford would be Isaiah, Aaron Wiggins, and/or Kenrich Williams.
You give Denver coach David Adelman one of those three guys to go with their existing roster and I would give the Nuggets more than a puncher’s chance of beating the Thunder in six games because that would give Denver some leverage on the floor with bench lineups with one of these three teamed with Tim Hardaway Jr. and Spencer Jones making Julian Strawther completely expendable and not seeing the floor.
But anyway, Nolan Richardson won his national championship at Arkansas in the ’93-’94 season when they stunned Duke 76-72 in the championship game. His teams in total went to three final fours, won eight conference championships , and played in thirteen NCAA Tournaments.
Nolan to my knowledge is the only coach to have won a DI national championship, an NIT championship back when it was a real tournament, and a JUCO national championhip back when JUCO ball was a big deal as well.
Who needs JUCO’s now for the most part, right? There’s the transfer portal and the G-League. But back in Nolan’s day coaches like Billy Tubbs and Jerry Tarkanian crafted some of their best teams rich in JUCO talent. I loved those dudes as well. MJ loves defense although some of Billy’s teams at the end of his reign at OU loafed on defense.
Anyway, when you Thunder fans watch your team dismantle the opposing team with a flurry of steals and transition points…just maybe give Nolan Richardson a fleeting thought and a basketball prayer of thanks.
I’m off to PayCom where I hope my carefully selected ticket has me near one of the pep bands. MJ loves the pep bands. There are no pep bands in the NBA, but the Thunder should put one together since they are a college team per se.
Later.
MJ