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This was a great basketball game. I put hockey on the backburner to watch this game even with the Boston Bruins and Colorado Avs both playing on Friday night.

It pretty much confirms everything I’ve written to date on my blog in regards to Steph, Ja Morant, and Klay Thompson.

1 Steph is a great player who had an MVP season, but on this night without Klay his team couldn’t get past the Memphis Grizzlies at home in a must win situation. Think about the last shot in regulation which Draymond Green took instead of either Steph or Klay. That badly missed shot says it all. Steph without Klay is still a fabulous player, but not championship relevant.

Draymond and Andrew Wiggins are decent third and fourth best players, but Steph needs Klay. Tom Brady needs Gronk. Gretzky neede Messier.

Steph to me is somewhat the basketball equivalent of Wayne Gretzky in hockey. Gretzky was the greatest scorer the sport of hockey has ever seen, but without the bulldog of Mark Messier next to him he never won anything in either LA or NY. He got to the finals with LA once, but never won anything without Messier. Whereas… Messier won it all with the NY Rangers. You gotta have that bulldog DNA to be a champion. You gotta have that guy.

Klay isn’t just a three point wizard, pre injuries he was a defensive bulldog who always took the other team’s best wing player. Just my opinion.

2 Ja Morant is a superstar on the cusp of being the jersey which every kid in America who plays the guard position will be wearing in two years.

It’s a shame Sam Presti won’t allow Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to do the same because I think Shai has the chance to be one of the four best guards in the league if he’s plays legit games and evolves versus sitting while his GM tanks to draft players which will eventually be playing in other cities throughout the NBA.

You don’t evolve as a player by sitting and watching for two straight seasons. OKC needs to play legit basketball games next season. Period.

3 Klay. I love Klay. He’s my favorite player in the league. I have no idea how his recent injuries will impact his game, but even if he can’t defend like a bulldog anymore he will still be a shooter who makes sure Draymond Green isn’t taking the last shot in regulation in a must win situation.

In closing…I’ll be very interested to see how Ja Morant handles himself in the first round versus Mike Conley and the Utah Jazz.

It’s good to see Memphis relevant again. The same would be nice to see in Oklahoma City in a year or two depending on how this summer’s NBA draft transpires with the Houston pick and the possibility of the Thunder landing two top seven picks.

I think tomorrow I’ll write about Sam Presti’s recent State of the Thunder address and give my takes.

A nice win for Russell, Bradley Beal, and Scott Brooks as they easily disposed of the Indiana Pacers in the final play-in game in the East.

None of the three play-in games in the East were close or competitive, but the Wizards now are the 8th seed and will play the Philadelphia 76’ers in the first round.

I’m happy for Russell and Scott Brooks as they salvaged their season with an excellent last month of the season. I’m glad they won’t be playing the Brooklyn Nets and that we won’t have to go thru all the replayed drama in regards to Russell, Durant, and Harden.

Who knows…maybe the Wizards can catch a little lightening in a bottle, win a game or two and make this an interesting series.

One last play-in game between Golden State and Memphis and we can get the NBA Playoffs going.

This is pretty much how it is every evening when I pull up from work as Pauli knows it’s my truck pulling into the ranch.

She loves bounding here and there in the thick forest which borders Deer Creek itself. She knows where we’ve twice spotted the black mountain lion at the edge of the forest at dusk. She wants to find the 200 pound cat. She really does.

She is a a wonderful dog. I hate to sound like Jerry McGuire, but she completes me….like what Trump does for Lindsey Graham and Kevin McCarthy.

Back when John Kelly was Trump’s Chief of Staff…I wrote General Kelly a personal letter and told him Pauli and I as a service to our country would spend a month with the grifter human junk bond and see if we could help him become more human, more kind, more empathetic.

Trump could have spent time walking Pauli and then I would have sat with Trump and read to him the stories his parents obviously never shared with him growing up. Kind of like National Teacher of the Year Juanita Elijah did with me back at John Marshall in my tenth grade American Lit class.

It would have been like public service on behalf of the country. An act of patriotism. It’s the John McCain influence in me.

I always wonder if John Kelly had taken me up on this if January 6th would have come to fruition.

There is nothing quite like the unconditional love of a lab.

It was a very interesting night of sports for me. Although I love Ja Morant…I did not watch a minute of the Grizz’s win over the San Antonio Spurs. I did though end up watching Steph score 37 points as the Warriors played the Lakers very tough in a 103-100 road loss. Dennis Schroder was brutal….-20 on a 3 for 14 night. Draymond Green literally never shuts up during a game. C’mon, man. Just play.

So now I guess that means Team Steph plays the Ja Morant led Grizzlies for the right to play the Utah Jazz in the first round. I’ll watch that for certain.

I hope all Thunder fans take notice of where the San Antonio Spurs are right now. They are irrelevant and have been irrelant since Tim Duncan retired. Player makes the coach. That will never change. Player makes the coach.

If Sam Presti does his job in this upcoming draft…Coach D will become markedly more brilliant by next October. This is why the Thunder had to tank this season. Player makes the coach. I love the way Pop coaches, but he hasn’t proved me wrong.

The hockey was fantastic. Nate MacKinnon had a had trick as the Avs won Game 2 despite some shaky play in their own net which is concerning for Colorado.

The game of the night was in Boston as Craig Smith notched the game winner. Ovechkin cursed his own goalie in Russian as the teams left the ice. This game had everything. Great game!

Tampa hosts the Florida Panthers tonight with the opporunity to put a stranglehold on their first round series in defense of ‘their’ Stanley Cup.

And I guess we have the elimination game between the Wizards and Pacers in the NBA. Yawn. Wild Thing…show me something, buddy.

Some great crowds in the NHL last night in Boston and Denver.

Passed on the Mexican food and instead went with lettuce wraps and chicken soup from Wong Fu’s with a couple of Coors Lights. Pauli loves their soup. What a great night of sports.

Went into the Oklahoma Pike Pass office this morning before going to work. A young black guy helped and there was no problem whatsoever with changing bank accounts on my account with them.

I feel better now. I love the Pike Pass. There’s lot of places to go in Oklahoma on one day trips. Trout fishing literally in every corner of the state and even in Oklahoma City at Dolese Park.

A guy combining bass, walleye , and trout seasons can fish in some pretty cool places in Okahoma.

After the Pike Pass office …I went and got a battery for my wife’s van at Wal Mart. There was a white guy in front of me in line probably fifty something who just out of the blue started talking about the various COVID vaccinations being a plot by Antifa to kill a hundred million Americans in the next six months.

I smiled polilitely and said, ” No habla English, amigo,” and shrugged. Got the battery and never said a word to the man. I know better at this point.

So the other day…out of the blue, the Amy Adams friend from Daily Thunder sent me an email asking me if I was dying or something and told me of the this great train trip she’s taking from Chicago to Seattle. Looks like an interesting trip.

I said, ‘No..as far as I know currently the Big Skipper in the Sky isn’t ready to handle me just yet.”

For some reason all of this made me think of the epic Tommy Lee Jones ending scene from No Country For Old Men.

Let’s Go Avs!!!

I think I will pass on the first NBA Play-In game tonight and listen to the best of Eddie Van Halen (both eras) till the hockey game starts in Denver.

Maybe some Mexian food and a couple of Coors Lights.

I love this Van Halen song and video.

Why can’t we all just be human and stop putting people into all these different castes and categories?

Does anyone out there really think God views people who are brown, black, gay, or whatever as less human? A life less worthy of pursuing the American Dream? I can’t imagine how any person who’s read any part of the Bible could come to that conclusion.

Game 2 tonight of Colorado vs. the St. Louis Blues in Denver. Steph you have five minutes to show me if there’s a reason for me not to be completely glued to this hockey game.

I think Nathan is the best player in the world right now. But he has to take that next step as a guy who can put a team on his back and win a Cup.

Nathan had two goals and an assist in Colorado’s Game 1… 4-1 victory.

I would think…this is just me thinking aloud…that Blues’ coach Craig Berube and staff will have had a lot to say to their hockey team on how Nathan had space and time all over the ice in Game 1.

This should be a very interesting hockey game.

Can’t wait.

I love this video. Hockey is a tough brutal game at times, and yet there is a beautiful symmetry to the game. A skill set which takes years to master.

When I watch Nathan skate and move the puck it is like ballet for me.

Hope you enjoy the video.

Basically two brutal basketball games which were unwatchable.

I’m a fan of the play-in concept though. Tom Brady just won his 7th Super Bowl basically as a wild card entry.

The UCLA Bruins just a month ago came within a play of advancing to Monday Night as a play-in team.

The 2019 Washington Nationals won the World Series as a play-in team.

But these two games literally sucked. No defense, no emotion from either the Wizards or the Hornets. Nothing…except it made it very easy for me to switch over to the two excellent NHL games which were a complete polar opposite of the bullshit on TNT.

Hopefully…we’ll see something from these four teams in the West which would validate Adam Silver’s decision to go this route.

I mean….NBA fans go through an entire season of tanking to then think they’re going to finally see real competition at this point….. and the Wizards and Hornets gave the basketball world…nothing. As in nothing except for Jayson Tatum scoring 50 points against a Wizards’ team which plays defense like five pylons.

Bad Little Dude…I don’t what else to write.

The next superstar of the NHL…Nathan MacKinnon plays tonight for the Colorado Avanlanche versus the St. Louis Blues.

Show me something Steph…show me something to keep me watching an NBA play-in game.

Look at these hockey fans in Denver. Denver was one of the most heavily locked down cities during COVID…yet look at their passion. I’m so glad this is where my son, Elaine, Aubrey, and the ‘Wild One’ live. Not only the Avalanche, but the perennial DI power Denver Pioneers play within five minutes from where Chris and soon to be two way defenseman Little Robert Jackson reside.

The mens league Chris plays in is just incredible. Too many players and teams if anything. It’s a hockey town and a Denver Broncos town. The Broncos need a QB, the Avalanche have the next superstar in the NHL as their QB…just saying.

Nathan MacKinnon…the next Sid and Ovechkin. Nate needs his goalie to step up his game though if he wants to hoist a Cup this season.

The Play-In Tournament starts tonight so I need to get my NBA regular season awards in order.

MVP: This was very tough. I went back and forth between Steph and Jokic… and to a lesser degree Chris Paul. In the end I’m giving the nod to Steph Curry because he was great all season as a singular Splash Brother and that six week period of the season was historically special.

Rookie of the Year: I already did this earlier and for me it’s Anthony Edwards from the Minnesota Timberwolves. A nice year for the rookie from Georgia who seemed to adjust to the NBA game as the season got to its back half.

Coach of the Year: I’m going Quin Snyder from the Utah Jazz. The Jazz finished with the best record in the West and nobody that I know of picked the Jazz before the season started. I like Quin Synder’s story as well as he’s worked his tail off to become a successful NBA coach after his fall from grace at Missouri in the college ranks. His story kind of reminds me of Kelvin Samspon to a degree except Kelvin went back to the college game at Houston.

Comeback or Turn Around Player of the Year: I’m going to go with point guard Mike Conley of the Utah Jazz. I thought Mike Conley returning back to a dependable point guard was a big part of why the Jazz did what they did this regular season.

Biggest Positive Team Surprise: I would say the NY Knicks in the East and the Phoenix Suns in the West.

Biggest Negative Team Surprise: The Boston Celtics hands down in the East—not even close. A massive season of underacheivement in Boston. In the West…I would probably go with the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pels never went above a lower tier playoff team for me, but them not making the Play-In games I thought was pretty weak.

Thing I’m Most Excited About This NBA Post Season: This is easy. Fans in the arenas. It will be nice seeing fans back in the various NBA venues…and of course seeing Rachael Nichols interview Tyler Herro .

Players I Would Have Paid To See Play in Oklahoma City This Season If Fans Had Been Allowed Inside The Arena: I’d go Steph, Damian Lillard, Anthony Edwards, Ja Morant, Giannis, Tyler Herro, Brandon Ingram, and Bradley Beal. That would have been my eight game/team ticket buy. I go to Thunder games to see certain opposing teams and players.

First Round Series I’m Most Jacked To See: Miami vs. Milwaukee

Teams I Would Like To See Win The Championship: I have three I’d like to see win it all instead of seeing the Lakers repeat. In this order I would go Miami, Portland, or Golden State.

Hope you enjoy the NBA Playoffs.

The Thunder season has mercifully ended and the the play-in games in the East begin tonight. The fact the Thunder got out-tanked in their finale versus the Clippers does not keep me awake or overly concerned.

The Thunder finished tied with Cleveland for the fourth worst record in the league and I believe a coin toss on May 28th will determine their final rank in Sam Presti’s tank in these final twenty-five games.

The Thunder season for me was a success because they found out Shai could be an All-Star caliber guard in this league while Dort showed he’s going to continue to evolve as a player.

This isn’t going to happen overnight..it’s a process. But I think if Presti can bring two quality guys out of the first round in this draft it’s not crazy talk at all to see the Thunder as a very watchable team next season.

I’m not saying a contender or anything like that, but a group which should be fun to watch compete and grow.

We don’t even know at this point what the Thunder are going to do with Big Al Horford and his contract.

For me… as a guy who watched a ton of Big 12 basketball and college ball in general this past season—the two players in the league who intrigue me the most are Cade Cunningham and Davion Mitchell of the national champion Baylor Bears.

OKC will have their own pick and either the Rockets pick (47.9 chance for the Thunder) or the Miami Heat’s pick at the 18th slot in the first round. Plus, the Thunder have three second round picks.

What I hope to see from Sam Presti are picks which not only make the Thunder incrementally better, but entertaining as well. If I lived in Memphis…I’d certainly go see Ja Morant play in person. To me…OKC is right about where Memphis was at the begining of this season.

I want to see two way players who can defend and shoot the three.

I want see Coach D squeeze as much juice from the pulp out of these young players as possible. That’s an old Eddie Sutton saying. I want to see these guys grow next season into something the city can get behind and support.

I do not want to see tanking next year in Oklahoma City. This is isn’t Philadelphia. This isn’t a Sam Hinkie town though Sam Hinkie went to OU. This is a one major league team market.

Nobody thought Presti would pick either Westbrook or Harden where he picked them in the draft.

Sam Presti…you’re on the clock. Your job is to bring two more quality players to the Thunder from this draft who can be a part of making the team relevant from a competitive standpoint in the next two years.

This is what I believe sustainability should be about.

So…my eyes are closed right now and I’m thinking what would the Thunder look like if they don’t land Cade, but instead have a team with five guards like Shai, Lu, Davion, Theo, and Ty Jerome.

How would that meld?

I’m ready for the NBA Play-In Tournament. This Thunder season is over and in my rear view mirror.

I did not waste thirty seconds watching the G League Thunder’s game against the resting Clippers. Because on NBC Sports Network it was the third game of the day/evening for me as the defending champ Tampa Bay Lightning started their defense of the Stanley Cup.

Holy shit.

Gary Bettman has to be euphoric with what he’s gotten in the first five games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Of the five games…four have gone to overtime and the one which didn’t was the best game of all as Tampa outlasted the annoying Florida Panthers on the road by a 5-4 count.

What a friggin’ hockey game. The puck movement, the flow, the effortless transition through the neutral zone, the pure hatred and annimosity. Someone on Tampa should kill that mouthy little No. 94 and put him out of his misery. The guy never shuts his yapping mouth. He kind of reminded me of Dougie Lawrence from the Tulsa Ice Oilers. Where’s Tom Wilson when you need him? This is when you need a Tom Wislon to terminate an annoying opposition problem.

This was the kind of game the NHL needed to get it going. And as you watch the video you’ll observe how much having fans in the building adds to playoff hockey.

The only thing missing from this glorious game was the Hall of Famer Gary Thorne doing the play by play.

Tampa with both Nikita Kucherov and Stamkos healthy is a completely different animal. A powerplay which will be difficult to reckon with for whoever has to play them on The Road to the Cup.

WHAT A FUN HOCKEY GAME.

Other than Diana Krall and Tony Bennett….I think Gary Thorne has my third favorite voice in the world. I so miss Gary Thorne on the call. He should be doing hockey instead of baseball.