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What a great basketball game for the youthful Thunder!!!!

This game had everything you’d want and then some from a tanking team like the Thunder. This game was lit!

Russell Westbrook is a walking Greek tragedy. I don’t know how else to describe his play or behavior in the second half. The outburst towards Bazely was silly at best. If I were Bazely I would have heliocoptered the dunk and then grabbed my crotch walking by Russell.

Put aside the Bazely dunk…Russell was 8-20 from the field, had 10 turnovers and was -12 on a night Coach Vogel needed leadersip with LeBron sitting out the game. I’ll be frank on here…Russell’s tenure on my Top 30 Pyramid this season could be a short one if I see much more of this bullshit. Kyle Lowery is still available for my Pyramid in that spot.

I love Russell and his little brother sent me a note when I started my blog…but this is complete bullshit.

• Darius Bazely,,,great night even beyond the dunk…No. 1 helmet sticker. Keep working on your defensive footwork.
• Josh Giddy…whoa. That perfectly executed pick and roll to Favors with the game hanging in the balance was something we’ll all be talking about two years from now. Sam Presti…for the first time since God knows when you actually picked someone who can play basketball in the NBA with a first round draft pick. Josh Giddy…No. 2 helmet sticker.
• Coach D…great job on the two challenges and the adjustment made to stem the bleeding in your defensive lane after giving up 54 points in the lane in the first half. Here’s what I’ll say though…you don’t need to make an excuse for the dunk. Embrace the fact the kid had already forgotten his gaffe on the half court violation. Coach D…3rd helmet sticker.
• Mike Jackson from okcthunderground.com for writing such a lit recap to make up for the fact there’s no adult content whatsover on the Daily Thunder. This is how Russell should have filled in for LeBron. No. 4 helmet sticker is mine.
• Shai…you played like a star tonight. Don’t think I didn’t notice. But this is how a star is supposed to lead and play every night who just signed a max contract. You get the 5th helmet sticker, stud hoss.

Next up..I believe are the Warriors on the road in San Franciso for the 1-4 Thunder.

BTW…great crowd at Pay.Com Arena tonight. Glad I didn’t buy a Lakers’ shirt.

Bad Little Dude… I still love you though, We’re both hopelessly flawed. Tell LeBron it’s no big deal.

The wife is asleep in the other room as is the diva lab Pauli on the couch. I think I’ll slip out to the back patio area looking into the Deer Creek forest and see if I can smoke a victory cigar without catching the sofa on fire. A song for the upcoming California road trip would be nice as well. Better savor every win like it was Game 7 is my feel as of October 27th. Carpa diem.

If I were advising Presti this would be my current list of ranked NBA players 1-30 for the upcomng NBA season. I have excluded both Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons from this list because both seem to possess serious emotional issues of delusion.

1 Giannis, 2 Lebron, 3 Steph, 4 Kevin Durant, 5 Luka, 6 Kawhi Leonard, 7 Anthony Davis, 8 Nicola Jokic, 9 Joel Embiid, 10 James Harden, 11 Jimmy Butler, 12 Paul George, 13 Klay Thompson (before injury) 14 Chris Paul, 15 Damian Lillard, 16 Devin Booker, 17 Jamal Murray, 18 Zach Lavine, 19 Jrue Holiday, 20 Donovan Mitchell.

21 Rudy Gobert, 22 Russell Westbrook, 23 Trae Young, 24 Khris Middleton, 25 Draymond Green, 26 Bradley Beal, 27 Bam Adebayo, 28 Jason Tatum 29 Ja Morant, 30 Domas Sabonis.

My next five on my Pyramid Bubble would be… 31 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, 32 CJ McCollum, 33 Karl Anthony-Townes, 34 Brandon Ingram, 35 Tyler Herro (no one else would do this except me, but I have a gut feel with Tyler).

I’ll need to go back and evaluate my list in a month and see who I missed, but for now this is how my 2021-22 Top 30 NBA Player Pyramid would roll.

My Pantheon Top 10 has been morphed since I last scribbled it on here. This is my new Top 10 Pantheon….

1 Michael, 2 Bill Russell, 3 Kareem, 4 LeBron, 5 Magic, 6 Kobe, 7 Bird, 8 Shaq, 9 Wilt, 10 Steph. All one namers except Bill Russell. Our affinity for the one namers reveals our deep affection for the way they played the game.

You youngsters and new Thunder fans to the NBA game must read ‘Wilt’ by Gary Pomerantz to have an understanding of his greatness. It’s a tremendous hoops book and centers around the night Wilt scored a hundred points in Hershey, Pennslyvania. Epic…just epic.

• Note: My gut feel tells me Shai could be better than #31, but his place on my list was held in check because quite simply we haven’t seen him play in a real NBA game with competitive ramifications since 2019. And in reality–in those Bubble Playoffs with Chris Paul his play was nothing special or worthy of note.
• Note: Klay gets a pass from me until we see how he’s moving by February. Klay is gold on my blog.

Note: Kobe scored 81 points in 2006 in a game versus the Toronto Raptors. Gary did this interview before Kobe’s historical game.

Everyone will be talking about Russell’s return as a Laker which is fine, but I want to feature former OU All-Big 12 First Teamer Austin Reaves on my blog today.

I want my blog to be different from the normal genre of Thunder blogs. That’s not what I want my basktball/sports/music/journey of life blog to be about. I want a reader to learn something different when they stumble upon my modest underground blog.

In my mind…Austin was the third best guard in the Big 12 last season only behind Cade Cunningham and Davion Mitchell.

He did everything for Lon Kruger and kept OU afloat as an NCAA team which played pretty well against Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs in the second round.

Austin transferred to OU from Wichita State after his freshman season and was OU’s best player during his stay in Norman.

Kruger knows how to coach the guard position since he himself was an All Big 8 guard back in his playing days. Add another Lon Kruger guard to the current NBA mix…Trae Young, Buddy Hield, and now Austin Reaves.

Hard to believe Sam Presti didn’t even give Austin a look given he played in the Thunder’s own backyard and has more toughness to his game than Theo Maledon and Tre Mann combined. Whatever. But Aaron Wiggins should be okay down the road I would think.

There’s a toughness and resilence in Austin’s game which I admire. Plus, he’ll never back down from a tough moment or bad play. He is the epitome of the basketball phrase…’next play up’.

I saw Coach Kruger have to pull him back several times, but Lon Kruger was smart enough to not diminish the best part of Austin’s game which is that chip on the shoulder he plays with every game.

I think one of the reasons OU blue chip point guard Devion Harmon transferred to Oregon was the fact Austin just beat him out for the role of being OU’s go to guy in clutch situations. I think it hurt Devion’s feelings. Hopefully, Devion shines as an Oregon Duck this season playing for Dana Altman.

Austin was supposed to be an early second round pick, but didn’t get drafted. He made the Lakers’ roster and is now getting serious rotational minutes with the Lakers. He played thirty minutes in the Lakers’ win over the Spurs last night.

When you think about it he’s the perfect kind of guy to mix in with LeBron, Russell, AD, and Carmelo in that he’s Coach Vogel’s blue collar scrapper with something to prove every time he’s on the floor.

I would think there should be a pretty good crowd tonight for the Lakers and if you’re there be sure and watch all the little things Austin does when he’s on the floor. He’s Nick Collison playing guard is what he is….except he shoots better than Nick.

Nick’s dad was a high school coach in Iowa, I’m guessing that somwhere in Austin’s family either his father or maybe an uncle was a basketball coach.

He plays like he grew up talking hoops every morning at the breakfast table.

Good luck, Austin. Don’t change who you are.

0-4…baby. Didn’t see what the Pistons did tonight, but for now the Thunder are in sole possession of last place in the thirty team NBA.

But you know what…there were multiple silver linings for the NBA Journal:

• The Bally Sports telecast went blank for most of the third period so the Thunder fans didn’t have to see their team relinquish their only lead of the season so far beyond 2-0 versus Utah.
• Poku looked girthier.
• Little Nick Gallo was especially poignant with his pregame interviews.
• JRE started in place of Derrick Favors and was good…I thought.
• Shai had a thirty point something game.
• Golden State didn’t cover the Vegas spread.
• So this was really in essence a win of sorts for the Thunder.
• Next up… Russell and Austin Reaves and the Lakers tomorrow night in OKC.
• Hope you enjoy the songs. There is life beyond basketball.

This will easily be a game I watch tonight. Golden State and Memphis are the two teams I’ve adopted in the West this season. OKC is tanking and Golden State appears to be getting its footing again with a 3-0 record and a much better roster than last year’s team.

I have no idea whatsoever why the Thunder fans inside Pay.Com Arena are cheering for their team in that the goal is for the Thunder to lose every game if possible. I mean…I think to myself why as a Thunder fan would you pay to attend a game and then cheer for the team to do the exact opposite of what Sam Presti wants them to do? That makes no sense whatsover.

I’m clearly cheering for the Warriors tonight and later in the week I’ll be cheering for the Lakers when Austin Reaves and Russell come to town. I might even buy me a Lakers shirt and attend that one. Who would have thought one week into the season Austin Reaves could be the best point guard on the Lakers’ roster this season? Let’s go, Austin…I’ve been bragging about you.

Vegas has Golden State as a road nine point favorite tonight. You really have to be a sick person with an addiction to bet on games involving a team which is tanking.

I wouldn’t want either part of this. You have to figure Steve Kerr if he even allows Steph to play against the dumpster fire Thunder…will be quick to get him out of the game and not risk injury.

You also have to figure Sam Presti will have a hardon the rest of his life for Warrior GM Bob Myers stealing Kevin Durant on July 4th of 2016. Thus, sending the Thunder down this dubious dark path they are now traveling as the zenmasters of tanking.

Isn’t it odd Presti’s former Assistant GM Troy Weaver is now the GM for the worst team in the East currently with the Detroit Pistons. The Piston fans have yet to see either Cade Cunningham or Jerami Grant play in a game this season. Sore ankle, dinged elbow… Presti taught him well…didn’t he?

I from time to time watch the video of Game 6. It was the last sporting event my father was able to attend with me before his death later in August. The game has an emotional tie to me even though the Thunder lost.

I mean sure…we were devastated the Thunder choked like that and lost the game, but on the other hand we had to acknoweldge how special Steph and Klay were that night on May 29th, 2016. As in historically special.

LIke watching Gretzky or Bobby Orr or Barry Sanders or Roberto Clemente or Michael Jordan in their primes. Game 6 was/is still clearly the defining game for me as a Thunder/NBA fan.

It bothers me the Oklahoma City fans still boo Kevin Durant. They seem to have no sense for the history and beauty of the game beyond just the Thunder.

Without Kevin Durant the Thunder to date have still not won one single playoff series. I wonder how many of them have taken the time to study the history of those two Seattle teams which made it to the NBA Finals.

I wonder how many know who Downtown Freddie Brown or Dennis Johnson or Jack Sikma were ?

I’m rambling. So I need to close. Never give a sucker an even break and kick him when he’s down. Light’em up, Steph.

LET’S GO WARRIORS!

There’s way too much analyzing going on in Oklahoma right now in relation to the Sooners’ defense. Let’s cut to the chase…since the opening game versus the Tulane Green Wave the unit has been soft, pedestrian, and a massive underacheiver. Without Ronnie Perkins around to be the energy Alex Grinch’s unit looks lost at times.

OU’s defense has made every QB they’ve played against look like an All-American so far this season.

We’re now approaching the goal achieving portion of the schedule. Either shut up or put up. You’re getting ready to move into a Big Boy league and you’re getting pushed all over the field by Big 12 teams with average at best quarterbacks spread throughout the league.

It’s nauseating.

Start tackling, start hitting, and start putting the other quarterback on the ground and quit relying on Caleb Williams and Kennedy Brooks to bail you out every week.

PULL YOUR LINK ON THE PROVERBIAL CHAIN!

Nik Bonitto, Isaiah Thomas, Perrion Winfrey, et al this is what a football player who can tackle in space looks like.

This is Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year so far… Malcom Rodgriguez from Oklahoma State.

This should pretty much address the handoff to Caleb Williams. Texas Tech in Norman on Saturday for a 2:30pm kick.

The Thunder opened their home season last night in Oklahoma City with a respectable 115-103 loss to the Philadelphia Sixers. The bench management by Coach D was much better than it was in the two blowout losses to Utah and Houston.

This was actually a fairly watchable game which had some ebb and flow to it. There was never the feel the Thunder would win, but for what in essense was an NBA tanking exhibition game it by far was the best effort by the Thunder this season.

If I had Coach D’s roster as it now stands… Coach D pretty much did what I would do to keep the games as competitve as possible.

What Coach D basically did was issue Isiah Roby a healthy scratch, limit Poku’s defensive liabilities to the team to six minutes, give Kenny Hustle twenty minutes, actually utilize Mike Muscala’s saavy veteran presence, put the ball in Shai’s hands more, keep Giddy engaged, and turn Lu Dort’s defensive hustle loose to energize his team.

I would never ever allow Roby and Poku to be on the floor at the same time as a gesture of repect for Kenrich, Lu, Mike Muscala, and Shai…who are my four best players. If nothing else I’m not going to insult the integrity of the game to these four guys. They’ve earned their NBA minutes.

So here’s the thing…I can’t get on my blog and bitch at Coach D because he did pretty much what I would have done given the hand dealt.

The one thing I would have done differently is to have given Theo Maledon’s minutes to Aaron Wiggins who was a scratch. If I’m building my team from the ground up I want big guards who aren’t a liability on the defensive end.

Giddy is a big guard. Lu is a physical guard. Shai has enough length. Ty Jerome is 6’5″. Tre Mann as well seems to be fine so far playing at this level…keep feeding him minutes. Aaron Wiggins is going to be one of my key wing players at some point. Let’s start getting him into the games…Coach D. If you need to scratch a guard from game to game then scratch Ty Jerome and Maledon on an alternating basis.

Okay…enough of that. This isn’t a coaching issue in Oklahoma City–it’s a Sam Presti issue in Oklahoma City…as to how to nuance this tank and not lose your fanbase in the process.

Next game up with Steph and the Warriors in town. This is easy for me since I’ve now decided on three teams teams I’m going to adopt this NBA season since we don’t have legit NBA hoops in OKC.

I’m adopting Golden State and Memphis in the West. In the East, I’m going to adopt the Miami Heat….who you should know acquired both PJ Tucker and Kyle Lowery this off season, plus have gotten Tyler Herro back on the right path. To me…the PJ Tucker move was like last year when I saw Jrue Holiday sent to the Milwaukee Bucks. PJ Tucker on that Miami roster is something we have to keep an eye on as this season moves along.

So Steph Curry do me a favor…light the living f–k out of the Thunder on Tuesday night and give the OKC fans a glimpse of what a generational NBA player looks like in the flesh. Seth was just the warmup last night. Nice kid, but he’s not Steph Curry from Davidson.

Steven Adams is lighting it up in Memphis so far with Ja Morant. I mean Ja and Steven on the pick and roll were made for one another. Keep it up, mate. We miss you.

And in closing…Austin Reaves the former OU guard who I followed while he was in Norman is doing some really good things for the Lakers right now. Austin is a 6’5″ guard who can play at this level. Keep it up, Austin.

Don’t dwell on the Oklahoma City Thunder would be my advice to Thunder fans. Follow the rest of the league, adopt a team or two, enjoy the NBA, and before you know it these remaining 79 games will be in the rear view mirror.

Have a nice Monday.

So…they had talked about possibly using the Steal-A-Rooski in practice. I’d modify it, use it in Bedlam, then allow all us to flip off Kayse Shrum at that point in the Bedlam game… so as she would have the prerequisite transparency she feels she needs in dealing with Joe C. Mike Boynton seems fine though. He and Porter are buds. Just saying.

I just slowed the replay of the Steal-A-Rooski…the zebras missed the targeting helmet to helmet hit by the KU tackler who originally hit Kennedy Brooks. Lincoln needs to call Bob Bowlsby and show him the film. We can’t have these Big 12 teams taking cheap shots like this on our skill position players just because we decided to join the SEC.

Have a great Sunday with all this incredible autumn weather. Won’t be too much longer before the foliage turns.

We need to get past Texas Tech next week and then get to the off week to heal up the secondary. Turner-Yell, Woodi Washington, Jermiah Cridell, DJ Graham…just basically four out of OU’s top eight in the secondary. Key Lawrence might be a key moving forward though.

This is like Robert Redford in The Natural or something. Bordering and going beyond surreal.

Holy shit. I mean holy you know what shit.

As incredible as the second half was in the Red River Rivalry…this was better. Because the OU defense was pretty much putrid coming down the stretch and twice Lincoln Riley had to have his Heisman hopeful convert two fourth downs just for the reason of not having any confidence whatsoever his injury decimated secondary could cover anybody…let alone DI football players.

If only Mike Gundy would have loosened the reins a bit like this with Spencer Sanders his team could have survived in Ames this afternoon.

His team played good enough to win. But there are those times you have to posess a little river boat gambler in you as a head coach.

I’ve come to a decision on Gundy…he can’t get away from micromanaging his quarterbacks. He can’t turn the reins loose to allow them to be creative in clutch situations. He just can’t do it.

Spencer Sanders was good today. His coach should have more faith in him.

Two helmet stickers for Caleb Williams today. One helmet sticker for Key Lawrence for actually making a couple of plays in the OU secondary. And another helmet sticker for Lincoln Riley for remaining calm and unfazed through it all today in Lawrence.

I wonder to myself do we call this the Steal-A-Rooski? I’m somewhat amazed Switzer never thought of this with all those running Wishbone quarterbacks he had back in the day. He stole the Fumble-Rooski from Tom Osborne, but never ran a Steal-A-Rooski.

I’m surprised Woodward and Bernstein from the OU Daily didn’t catch this while spying on those OU practices from the Book Depository.

Does Lincoln possibly talk to Kennedy Brooks and Caleb about modifying the Steal-A-Rooski and saving it for the Big 12 Championship Game or College Football Playoffs?

Why not… would be my response.

This was the 16th straight win for the Cardiac Sooners. Screw style points at this juncture and just win and survive, baby.

BOOMER!