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I’m watching the Thunder bubble games, but otherwise this bubble set of eight seeding games isn’t what I would describe as compelling sports viewing.

These games without fans are like watching a sex scene in a movie where everybody has all their clothes on. Who would watch that if they never take their clothes off?

Who cares if the Rockets play the Lakers and neither LeBron and Russell don’t even play. I hope the NBA doesn’t bore every one away from the playoff games with these seeding games.

The ice hockey has been killer and I think it’s a better fit with virtual fans and virtual arena noise.

I watched Fast Times At Ridgemont High instead of the TNT nightcap.You can’t insult your fanbase. You have to nurture your fanbase or then don’t play at all.

I almost forgot what a great movie this truly was/is.

So many classic scenes. So many careers which spawned from this movie.

Plus… the NBA starting times. I’ll be interested to see the NBA ratings versus the PGA Golf Championship tournament as this moves along.

I have no problem with the Thunder at all. They have a nice little ball club. Dennis Schroder very much made the right decision in skipping these games to be a part of his child’s birth.

It’s hard to blog about these seeding games. Although it is nice to see Michael Porter Jr. finally getting healthy and showing what he can do on a basketball court. Good for MPJ.

Both former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama spoke at the funeral of John Lewis.

I’m putting Bill Clinton’s tribute of John Lewis up first. We live in a time in history in which we have a president who has no ability whatsoever to talk to other people in a human manner with any smarts and empathy attached.

We need to be inspired from time to time given where we find ourselves as a nation currently. Something beyond having the human grifter junk bond promise you the lowest marginal effective tax rate.

Something inspirational somewhat in line with the best the human spirit can summon within each of us.

Bill Clinton isn’t what he once was as an orator in his prime…but what he still has as a speaker is enough when he’s talking about the inspirational life of John Lewis.

This was lovely.

You can’t get there where you want to be without moving and believing in the goodness of your mission.

Keep moving.

Vegas had OKC as a 1.5 bubble floor favorite in what was the Thunder’s first seeding game.

It wasn’t that close. At one point the Thunder led by as many as 29 points as they coasted to an eventual 110-94 win over the Utah Jazz on Saturday afternoon.

Andre Roberson played but five minutes and didn’t score a point. He was not a factor in the game for one simple reason….Billy Donovan didn’t need him.

Billy Donovan didn’t need Terrance Ferguson either as he played only three minutes and change.

What Billy Donovan did with those minutes was give them to Lu Dort, Hamidou Diallo, and Darius Bazely… and the three youngsters along with SGA showed why they are the buzz about this Thunder basketball team and the future.

As was the case in the three scrimmages these three played smart, tough, and within their job descriptions.

Dort played suffocating defense on Donovan Mitchell. Bazely provided some pop on offense and an improved defensive game. Diallo contributed nine points and energy.

An interesting thing happened during the five month break in this basketball season. All three of these guys hit the weights, hit the practice floor, and have taken their games to improved levels. The three simply got better during the break and appear to be the Thunder future along with SGA and maybe Chris Paul if he can find some sort of ageless elixir to extend his career.

Six Thunder players scored in double figures. The perimeter defense was good. The three point shooting was fine even though Dennis Schroder has yet to make a three in any of the three scrimmages or in this game.

But in looking at the stat sheet this stood out to me the most…in twenty seven minutes of play Chris Paul was + 27. This is Chris Paul’s basketball team. He is the glue which makes all these guys play within their comfort zones and with apparent ease as well.

Why can’t Chris Paul be the Tom Brady or George Blanda of the Thunder for the next three years? Why can’t the State Farm guy be the Oklahoma City Thunder’s sagacious leader a bit longer?

Amidst a Great Depression, a bungled pandemic response, and a shameful non-presidential response to George Floyd…Chris Paul never flinched. The guy has ice water in his veins and uber high basketball IQ which rubs off on these youngsters of Sam Presti.

Is there some NBA rule which says Chris Paul has to leave Oklahoma City? The city BTW where he played his first two NBA seasons after leaving Wake Forest.

Next up the Denver Nuggets on Monday afternoon inside the bubble.

The national anthem would be nice to help reboot the Thunder season. This is my favorite version by Whitney Houston.

God bless America… the land of the free, brave, and courageous. May we all search for the inner wisdom to make our country whole again. To simply live the Golden Rule with collective honor.

LET’S GO THUNDER!

After a five month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic the NBA rebooted its season on Thursday night with its first two games which count since early March.

So much has happened to our country since then. It all seems beyond surreal. A pandemic bungled by what once was the world’s greatest nation which boasts the world’s greatest health care system. An economic depression with second quarter numbers showing a 33% decrease in GDP. George Floyd’s murder by white police officers on video for the world to see.

For me….it’s stunning how far off the cliff in the last six months or so since the impeachment trial our country has fallen.

Yet here we are in late July with the NBA getting back to what they do without fans in the arenas.

This goes way beyond basketball. This goes to the fiber of what’s currently left standing of American culture…of Amecian life as we knew it.

Hockey reboots next week while baseball struggles with its restart due to the Marlins fiasco in Florida.

College football doesn’t know what its doing nor do parents in relation to their children going back to school.

It’s all awkward and new for all of us regardless of age, sex, or race.

But at least its a start. A reboot of sorts.

Kind of.

Shaun actually played in Oklahoma City for part of the 2009 season. It has always somewhat surprised me he got away from Sam Presti as a solid backup guard considering all the problems Oklahoma City has had over the years with quality depth at the guard position.

It’s a great story of never giving up on your dream. Much like Andre’s story.

I’ve always wondered if Shaun would have fit in with Harden and Nick Collison on the bench unit in 2012. If he would have given the Thunder a little more than Derek Fisher did as the eighth man in the rotation. Harden, Collison, and Shaun would have been an interesting bench threesome.

I loved watching the two man game of Harden and Collison that season. The synergy between those two was truly remarkable. I think Shaun would have been smart enough to morph his game with Harden and Nick.

That next season came Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb back to Oklahoma City in the Harden trade.

What if Shaun had become a Thunder bench fixture in 2012…would Durant and Westbrook have won a ring in Oklahoma City?

So many what ifs in sports and in life.

Hope you enjoy this amazing video. Close your eyes before the injury. It’s gruesome.

Tomorrow I’d like to talk about this Thunder’s team remarkable 23-5 record away from home in their last twenty-eight games not played inside of the Chesapeake Energy Arena. From a Vegas perspective…does this make the Thunder a legit contender with their being no home court games being played this playoff season?

If home court doesn’t mean anything then why are the stats so dauntingly in the favor of the home team in Game 7’s in NBA history?

I passed on Smerconish this Saturday with all the excitement of the Andre Roberson story unfolding in front of Thunder Nation. I thought to myself this Doug Jones video can wait because since the Daily Thunder apparently doesn’t have one big boy storyteller on board of that abysmal blog of millennial nothingness…someone in the market besides Berry and Jenni should write about Andre’s remarkable comeback.

It is stunning to read fourth grade level content on what I guess is the No. 1 Thunder blog as far as traffic. But then again…Mary Fallin and Kevin Stitt have occupied the governor’s mansion in this state. It’s that Oklahoma thing. Wanting to be bad. The Peter Principle on steroids.

So this is Democrat Doug Jones the sitting U.S. Senator in Alabama who filled the seat after Jeff Sessions somehow ascended to become the Attorney General of the United States.

To me…the Jones vs. Tommy Tuberville race in Alabama is one I will be watching closely.

Usually…in states like Alabama and Oklahoma the GOP could literally nominate a dirt clod and be assurred of winning the office.

Clearly…Tuberville being the Trump sychophant in this race puts him in the favorite’s role, but still, Jones is a smart politician and the one who probably should hold the seat.

Tuberville has nothing on his resume which qualifies him for this position. He has the same qualifications as Mike Gundy.

Should Mike Gundy be a United States Senator?

The only difference is Gundy has a winning record in Big 12 play at O State while Tuberville was 13-17 in conference games while being the successor to Mike Leach at Texas Tech.

Tuberville was a solid defensive coordinator at Texas A&M under R.C Slocum… then landed the Auburn head coaching job where he did some nice things before Saban made it clear who the best ball coach in the state was and still is.

In 2004…Auburn went a perfect 13-0 and in reality should have played USC in the national championship game.

But I’m not sure how that makes him qualified to be a U.S. Senator other than the fact he licks Trump’s balls every chance he gets…. just like Terry Neese does in Oklahoma.

I thought Jones’ speech was one of the better ones I heard during the impeachment trial of Trump. I called his office and told his aides as much.

Anyway…we have Thunder basketball this week-end with the Thunder vs. the Utah Jazz so this was Smerconish Saturday today….because ostensibly even though I cover the world like CNN on here…I do love Thunder hoops.

Very much a blah exhibition game. CP3, Nerlens, and Terrance didn’t play for the Thunder. For Portland the two big guns Damian and CJ didn’t play either.

I was very impressed in these three games by SGA, Bazely, and Dort. Bazely is going to be a player once he does the weight room work and gets more confidence in his overall game.

OKC plays Utah in their first of eight seeding games on Saturday. On a neutral bubble floor I would think Vegas will have OKC as a 1 to 1.5 point favorite. How Vegas handicaps these bubble games will be interesting.

Here’s a little vintage Nick to get me into the proper mindset for this week-end.

It’s time to put Trump in the trash and get myself into an August hoops/hockey mindset.

The weather is gorgeous in Oklahoma and feels like late September…so why not. 8.7″ of rain in the gauge in July so far at the Deer Creek Weather Station. Even the usually arid OKC airport has 6.2″ for the month as well.The flora is spectacular.

Pauli captured an opossum by the gold fish pond then let it go thinking she had killed it until it ran off into the forest. That was more exciting than this Portland exhibition game. I guess we need to keep an eye on the Clippers COVID-wise as it was reported Lou Williams has been slipping off to strip bars out of the bubble late at night.

You won’t read that one on the Daily Thunder. Presti won’t allow it.

I’m ready for some basketball.

This was last April just after Portland ended OKC’s brief presence in the first round of the playoffs. We should all remember how Damian Lillard pretty much did whatever he wanted to do without Andre available to guard him.

I will forever remember this series because my cousin Jan flew from Seattle to Oklahoma City with CJ McCollum’s father sitting next to her on the plane. She invited Mr. McCollum to have Easter dinner with us, but he dined with his son and the team instead. Which of course…I would have done as well.

Jan is the only relative in my generational peer group in my family who like me didn’t vote for the grifter human junk bond Trump. I’m proud of Jan for this, not so proud for those who voted for Trump. Jan works for Bill and Melinda Gates and our family is extremely proud of her.

As for those in my family who voted for the grifter human junk bond…you obviously put little value into the right to vote and the consequences of voting in a responsible manner. Grow up a little and see the big picture of life.

That was a Lincoln Project ad. Now back to Andre who I know didn’t vote for the rogue con artist hustler pimp Donald Trump as well.

Listening to Andre is a lot like listening to Nick Collison talk NBA basketball. I could listen to Nick talk the nuances of basketball for hours. With time…Andre will fill this roll for me as Nick once did either as a player or a coach.

I hope Nick is well and his daughter is doing great things in her life.

One day at a time, Andre. Be well, buddy.

Lincoln Project Ad: Trumpfeld

This is Donald being President George Costanza with Chris Wallace.

God bless white people in Oklahoma, Alabama, Louisiana, and Kentucky.

Andre Roberson’s storybook return provided another feel good chapter as his two late clutch threes pushed the Thunder past the Sixers by a score of 102-97 on Sunday.

Roberson played meaningful minutes as the Thunder came all the way back from being down 24 points to improve to 2-0 in the preseason segment of NBA bubble ball.

The young Thunder players looked good as well with SGA, Darius Bazely, and Lu Dort all showing flashes of the Thunder’s future.

A nice moment for Andre Roberson as his long journey back to the NBA hardwood showed us something we hadn’t seen before in his Thunder career. Namely…Andre calmly and with confidence stroking two huge threes with the game on the line.

Very nice.

OKC’s next scrimmage is against the Portland Trailblazers on Tuesday at 5:00pm and will be televised by Fox.

What a nice thing to be able to schedule your early Tuesday evening around a Thunder-Trailblazer game in late July on a cool rainy day.

This is kind of Andre’s song with me. Don’t give up, buddy.