If I’m Adam Silver right now…I’m not sure what to do with my defending champ OKC Thunder after Wednesday night’s much anticipated matchup of the respective No. 1 seeds in each conference as they squared off in a ESPN national telecast.
We’ve seen this bullshit before where the Thunder are scheduled to play a nationally significant game on ESPN with eight DNPs in San Antonio earlier this month. That game as well should have been a blockbuster must see for any real NBA fan in this country or the world for that matter.
Not to be though as eight DNPs couldn’t strap it on that night, and seven Thunder rotational players couldn’t muster the toughness to play on the second night of a back to back last in Detroit. Add to the fact…Isaiah Joe and Brandon Carlson didn’t come back for the second half.
7+2 is 9.
Are you kidding me?
Especially disappointing for me was both of OKC’s top two centers in Chet and Isaiah Hartenstien were DNPs after they both played the night before in Toronto. One would have thought one of the two could have rested in Toronto and been available for this mtachup with Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren.
Chet, Isaiah….don’t be scared. The zebras won’t let JD hurt you. You can talk to MJ if it would help.
This game ostensibly had two of the top four MVP candidates possible as well in Shai and Cade. But not to be in the tanking and load management world of uber tankmaster Sam Hinkie Presti. Not to be.
Once Vegas saw this bullshit they posted Detroit as 9.5 home favorite in a game which should have been a pick ’em even without Shai if only some of his rotational teammates had bothered to give a shit about the image of the game, and more importantly to the point… the rapid devolving image of the regular season legitimacy of the NBA regular season.
Just so you sitting Thunder dudes know, the reason you’re paid these obscene amounts of money for playing a game…is the fact television and streaming revenue play a major role in you guys being grotesquely overpaid mega-millionaires.
Maybe Sam Presti, Clay Bennett, and you dudes should be a teacher for a year, or maybe a police officer, or maybe a nurse, or maybe a fireman, or maybe a self-employed person who works sixty hours a week so they can have heaith-care insurance. You know just to get a feel as to what real people who actually do something of real human value in society make ends meet.
Now…I am aware the guys on the floor the second half for OKC played their asses off and kept this somewhat respectable especially after Piston Coach Bernie Bicketstaff pulled off his Big Dog Jalen Duren.
So here’s what I’m going to do instead of wasting my time on any sort of recap whatsover….I’m going to bow down to Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, J-Will, Kenrich, Aaron Wiggins, Barnhizer, and Nikola T for playing as hard as you did for the full forty-eight minutes. Bravo…to you guys.
As far as Chet and Isaiah Hartenstein…I don’t know what to say. Words would be wasted at this point on my underground blog.
As as far as the defending champ Florida Gators…they improved to 22-7, 13-2 in SEC last night in Austin, Texas and are one of the hottest teams in the country currenty. Their coach, Todd Golden, and his returning players from last season seem to understand what it means to be the defending champs.
I can’t go any furthur. My disgust is consuming me. But in closing…if I were Adam Silver..I’d be fining the OKC Thunder at this point for the nonsense we’ve seen in San Antonio and Detroit of late by the OKC Thunder.
Mike J