Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

Here we go again on the blog. I was going to feature JDub’s return here on the award winning underground blog with Dub’s return in Philadelphia versus the Sixer’s…who were before Hurricane Katrina happened my favorite NBA team.

After an eighteen or so game absence after a season beginning absence, and with this being only JDub’s twenty-seventh game played of the season…I thought this would be the appropriate place to give JDub his props.

Not to be though as the Sixers were without their best two players in Tyrese Maxey and the seemingly always abent Joel Embiid. All of this happening while the NBA Player’s Association is complaining about the 65-game threshold for players being eligible for end of season awards.

Me… to the NBA Player’s Association…cry me a f–king river.

You greedy (take your pick of an expletive here) are ruining the very game which made all of you multi millionaries in the first place. This is total bullshit.

Right now given the cultural abyss our country finds itself in I would rank these four toxic organizations in this order on Mike J’s completely objective list on the ruinination of America:

1 Republican Party.

2 Democratic Party..actually tied for first when you really think it through.

3 NCAA

4 NBA Player’s Association

Good lord…Jesus F—ing Murphy!!!!

Really? Joe Rogan, stud hoss…just so you know—you’re not in my league. Let me know when you want me to do your podcast. Unlike Kamala…I’ll be there.

But anyway…JDub looked well rested, well conditioned and in step with his Thunder teammates….especially his namesake JWill of Arkansas who’s Hogs will take on No. 1 Arizona in a Sweet 16 game I can’t wait to cover here on the blog. Houston versus Illinois as well will have my acute attention.

JWill of Arkansas…dude, I’m loving what I’m seeing from you. I knew it was there ever since I saw you guys whip Chet’s totally overrated Gonzaga team in the Sweet 16.

Darius Acuff, Jr., don’t let me down, brother. I’ve been preaching your gospel ever since I sat on the floor in Norman and got an up close account of how absurdly good your game is. This is Michael Jordan time at North Carolina. You can do this even though you already have the shoe contract. Very nice there. I like the hubris.

That’s it for me today. I need another Eagles song to highlight my return from Scottsdale. But of course…today here in Deer Creek where going to have a record high as well.

Eternal love and peace, Mike J

I’m back on the underground blog from the destination wedding in Scottsdale. I’m using the word ‘survive’ in the literal sense given the three days we spent there for the destination wedding were all record high temperature days of 104 degrees, 105 degrees, and 106 degrees on Saturday afternoon on the actual day of MJ’s Survival at the wedding itself.

To put that in clearer perspective…all three days in Scottsdale broke records which had been in place for maybe, you know…almost a century.

But given the Stage 4 grittiness in me…I did make it through the ‘outside wedding’ on Saturday afternoon. I’m a tough dude, man. I’ve spent a lifetime working hard in the hot Oklahoma sun, but just not wearing a dark suit as mandated by the organizers of this event… of whom I will not name on this post.

But I sucked it up and got this done as a gesture of my genuine love for my second tier brother Mark. I felt I needed to be there as a genuine gesture of my love for Mark.

I will say though…I belive my brief career as a destination wedding attendee is now over. There will be no Four Weddings and a Funeral Tour for Mike J.

Prolly…in retrospect–Mike J and his lovely wife of 46 years should have just attended the air conditioned rehearsal dinner on Thursday night and sent regards from that point.

So all of the above is on me….somewhat.

These two young people, Mason and Avery are wonderful human beings and it is my sincerest wish they together discover and enjoy nothing but love in their time together as man and woman, or woman and man, or whatever. As lovers. As best friends. As partners in the journey of life.

As soulmates if that word can even still be used in the era of Donald Trump American culture.

Because in the end…love is what this is all about. And love can manifest itself in different ways. So are so many types of love.

But love is the THING.

So there. Now I’ve got all that out of my system and can get back to work on the Sweet 16 and the OKC Thunder’s march to the first NBA repeat since the Golden State Warriors did it with Kevin and Steph.

Just remember…in the end–it’s always about love, music, a home to come home to, and a great dog.

,

Love, Mike J

My Sooners didn’t make it as I feared. But I’m proud of them for their turnaround just the same. I’m glad they’re playing the Vegas Tournament instead of the piece if shit NIT. I might just head to Vegas and watch them once I get back from the wedding or just stay West for a bit or not considering Donald Trump’s gas prices.

The Wedding. Wow. I’m already crying. It’s Mark’s’ daughter …Avery getting married to this wonderful young man named Mason who’s rightfully an OU fan.

I honesty did not think I’d live this long to attend this wedding…but the Stage 4 cancer miracle has me heading West this morning with the wife of of forty-six years.

I mean… some serious thoughts are floating through me right now about the overall journey of life. This was one of the song we picked for our small wedding on a boat dock at Lake Kiowa at my grandmother Dot’s place on a picture perfect November day just west of Gainesville, Texas in 1982. We lived together a year before and I count that as marriage as well.

So…I’m thinking to myself the cancer journey is going so well…will there be time enough for Four Weddings and then my (funeral) exit?

Is that the new goal I should set or should I just Jonathon Livingston Seagull it full throttle and piss on time and limiatation all together?

I feel so blessed to be able to attend the first wedding.

My favorite two Beatitudes in closing:

1 Blessed are those kind and pure of heart, for they shall see the light of God.

2 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall become the children of God.

Love,

Mike J

Looking at all the data, and in spite of OU’s NCAA Net ranking of No. 48….I fear my Sooners will be the first team out when the Selection Sunday bracket is announced.

They should be easily ahead of No. 57 Missouri, who they trounced just two weeks ago by a score of 80-64, but my gut tells me… 19-15 even with the 8-3 finish coupled with the heart-breaking 82-79 loss to the SEC Tournament champ Arkansas Razorbacks was the Sooners’ last card to play.

I actually think OU should be in ahead of Texas as well, but again—that stretch of nine straight SEC losses early was a daunting mountain to overcome.

First things first though… congrats to Coach Calipari and his team for their SEC Tournament Championship. Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson both did great things at Arkansas. But Arkansas is clearly a basketball school now considering how putrid their football team has been of late. So I think it’s great Coach Cal’s team is in the hunt for a national championship in hoops.

Everything I wrote previous of this SEC Tournament in regards to Darius Acuff Jr. proved prescient. He’s the best guard in the country. Period. He took down OU with a vintage 37 point performance. Otherwise…I think OU would have advanced past Ole Miss to the final game of the SEC Tournament.

But again…that nine game losing streak in January and early February when the Sooners dropped to No. 85 in the net rankings. and pretty much off the radar screen.

Arkansas will probably be a regional No. 3 seed would be my guess. The NCAA Tournament is usually won by a team with outstanding guard play. Last season when the Florida Gators cut down the nets…it was Walter Clayton Jr. who led the Gators to the title. Just an early random pre-bracket thought.

If Coach Cal can get enough out of his remaining very thin eight man rotation with Darius doing his thing…I wouldn’t think it shocking for the Razorbacks to make a run. This Darius Acuff is something special…just saying. If the other guys can continue to do their thing as far as rebounding, playing physical defense, and hitting what should be WIDE OPEN kick put threes….the Hogs should be a tough out.

As far as OU and Porter goes…I’m happy and thrilled in the manner in which they responded to that nine game losing streak. It took some real mental toughness to turn their season back around in the manner in which they did.

They’re playing great basketball right now. They finsished the right way. I would probably have OU ranked in my Top 25 right now based on the last eleven games. But I BLEED CRIMSON and I’m not on the Committee.

So there’s that.

OU’s new AD Roger Denny announced yesterday Porter will be back next season, and given I’m probably the oldest OU basketball fan still living with an okcthunderground.com blog…I would agree with Roger Denny in that Porter deserves another season. He earned this by how his team never quit on him and responded to his coaching.

Roger D…we agree, my friend. Plus, what Roger D needs to do is make sure Porter’s team has the financial backing in NIL money to put the Sooners into an SEC top six position starting this coming basketball season.

Plus…Roger D has to get rid of the OU basketball fan-teasipper mentality and fill that arena with at least 7,000-8,000 die hard basketball fans like me who know what a true college basketball home court advantage should look and sound like.

The football season ticket deal for basketball games for the teasippers needs to be drastically modified in a significant manner. Many of those sitting dormant st the games or ot showing up at all in those seats need to be removed from the ticket allocation process.

I still love Joe C…but some of this is on him and not Porter. Truth hurts, and I write the objective truth on my blog. And not to fret I’ll be seriously addressing our completely senile POTUS 47 sometime very soon on this blog as well and explain why we have a 25th Amendment.

So, in closing, if my Sooners fall on the wrong side of the bubble…I’ll take it like a man with no whining because in the end I’m proud of my team and Coach Moser for how they never surrendered and gave this Stage 4 survivor some great, I mean great moments down the stretch. You guys inspired me and that’s all I have a right to ask for as a fan.

Thank you for the run. Seriously.

I need to write something about the Thunder’s win over Minnesota today over the still underachieving Minnesota Timberwolves. Maybe tonight …I can get that done.

Love, kindness, and wisdom should always be first in our head and from our hearts.

Mike J

I thought OU would beat both South Carolina and Texas A&M. I did not think OU would rout A&M though. OU is on fire right now. This team is hardly recognizable from the team which was 11-12, 1-9 in the SEC in late January.

The Sooners are now No. 47 in the NCAA Net ranking and 19-14 overall. To consider where Porter Moser’s Sooners were to where they are currently as one of the hottest teams in the country coming down the stretch run. OU has won six straight and eight of their last ten SEC games.

I have them ahead of both Texas and Auburn coming into tonight’s game versus No. 17 Arkansas. That would mean I have them as the 7th team in the SEC at this moment. I have no idea if Joe Lunardi agrees with me or not. I have no idea if OU has to win tonight to make the NCAA Tournament either.

OU and Arkansas played a very tough to the wire game in Norman early in the SEC schedule before OU’s rotation got back a healthy Dayton Forsythe and a Jadon Jones who by then still wasn’t acclimated to the difference from playing the West Coact Athletic Conference as compared to the very physical SEC. Those two players as No. 7 and No. 8 in the rotation tonight in my mind are one of the two primary keys tonight.

The No. 1 key though is for the OU defense to get in front of one of the best guards in the country in Darius Acuff who as a true freshman is projected as a high lottery pick in this summer’s NBA draft. John Calipari’s team murdered OU with points in the paint in the Hogs’ narrow win in Norman.

This guy is the key to me for OU to win tonight. Porter’s team cannot allow this guy to repeatedly get to the rim. As far as Arkansas’s frontline…I think they’re ordinary. So for me…OU has a chance to win this game if they can ‘somewhat control’ Darius Acuff on the pick and roll coming around the top of the lane.

I’m proud of the Sooners’. Very proud… as I know Porter is as well.

Congrats as well to Shai for passing Wilt in the Thunder’s win over the Boston Celtics. Oklahoma City as a city is beyond fortunate to have this young man representing their city.

Mike J

That was greatness of Michael Jordan caliber. That was the greatest player in the world carrying his team to victory on a night when four of his core rotational pieces and including three bigs were DNPs with Jokic as the opponent.

No J-Dub. No Chet. No Hartenstein. No Caruso. and not even the other big in Brandon Carlson.

This was epic for the second straight time this regular season in this Thunder-Nugget rivalry.

Nine players saw the floor for the Thunder and thankfully one of the nine was Ajay Mitchell in his first game back since early January. Ajay’s return was seamless with 24 points on a 9-16 night shooting the ball.

JWill was named the outstanding player of the game by Little Nick Gallo for his 29 point, 12 rebound night. I love JWill. In fact I just featured him last week on the blog for his massive game against the fading Detroit Pistons. JWill was great on a night he had to be great because none of the three white OKC Thunder centers had the what I call the special toughness to play tonight.

I hate to be even remotely negative on a night like this, but I found all three of their absences somewhat weak. It is what it is. This sure isn’t Michael Jordan’s NBA or Wilt’s, for certain… when guys played sick, bruised, or hurt…but on this night there was total clutchness from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on a night when he tied Wilt for 126 straight games scoring at least twenty points. Then put away the Denver Nuggets down the stretch with an iconic game winner which for me made this the best NBA regular season game so far this season.

This game even had another Jokic-Lu Dort flagrant foul…this one being a Flagrant 1 with no ejection. Good call…the right call despite the whining of Michael Cage. Then there was the Nugget four point play by Jokic which seemingly was going to extend this series to a second straight overtime ending inside of PayCom.

Shai’s line was 35 points, 9 rebounds, and 15 assists. Jokic’s line was 32, 14, and 13. But in this day and age of softness in the NBA there was nothing even remotely soft about Shai or his other teammates who suited up and played their guts out as if this was a playoff game.

Standing aplause by me for the nine Thunder players who gritted out this win as if it were a Game 7.

This was superb at every level.

For me…the MVP race is over unless Shai gets hurt and can’t play enough games to qualify for the regular season MVP award.

Aaron Gordon return and scored 23 points and pulled down 10 boards. Jamal had a sneaky 21 point night, but for these Nuggets to beat the Thunder…Jamal has to be better. Tim Hardaway was special for the Nuggets scoring 28 points with 8 made threes..

Christain Braun struggled and he has to play at a much higher level for the Nuggets. Cam Johnson in my mind shouldn’t have played in the second half. He’s either hurt or just not able to play at the level the Nuggets need from him given they gave up Michael’s Porter’s three point shooting to acquire him.

Upon Peyton Watson’s return…I would probably sit Cam Johnson and go with a better defender like Spencer Jones. Cam Johnson is not the kind of player who’s going to give you a rebounding and defense boost if he’s only contributing one basket from the field as he did in this game.

Great game. Bravo. A game both Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain would have enjoyed watching.

Mike J

This was a bit of nice news for an NBA which needs some positives heading into the stretch run of this cursed regular season. In a season of a gambling scandal in Portalnd, still way too much tanking, over the top load management, some genuine injuries to marquee players, and a record number of missed games…Adam Silver and his NBA Governors need some legitimacy to their on the court product to end this regular season.

I still think its salvageable for the league although if the Denver Nuggets aren’t careful they could drop below Phoenix to the the No. 7 seed and a play-in assignment. The Nuggets are in desperate need of Aaron Gordon’s return in-an-as-much Cam Johnson has been even weaker than Michael Porter, Jr was last season in May. A bad trade for the Nuggets so far.

The Thunder and the Spurs in the West are possibly a great story as far as a rivalry emerging which could galvanize us as NBA fans. Because right now this NBA blogger needs some inspiration and galvanization from the players, their agents, and the NBA Players Association.

I’m tired of all the DNPs. NBA fans shouldn’t be paying crazy prices to see games played by ‘cover bands’. I’ve been railing on this since January, but trust me on this, Adam Silver and the Governors are fully aware of how critically bad the NBA product has been to date.

I love role players and grinders, but fans want to see their max stars play a meaningful number of games in the regular season.

My TOP 6 Poll as of March 9th with the return of Jayson Tatum and the return of the Thunder’s Ajay Mitchell reads like this:

1 OKC Thunder

2 San Antonio Spurs

3 New York Knicks

4 Boston Celtics

5 Minnesota Timberwolves

6 Detroit Pistons

On the bubble at No. 7 and No. 8 for me currently are the Houston Rockets at No. 7 and the much in need of Aaron Gordon Denver Nuggets at No. 8. If I’m Coach Adelman with the Nuggets…if Aaron returns and stays healthy I would very much be of the thought Cam Johnson is not in the eight man rotation in the play-offs. He’s a pylon defensively and if he’s not making threes—there’s no reason for him to be on the floor.

Denver at OKC tonight. Ajay Mitchell returns for the Thunder as one would think would be the case of the other misssing Thunder players from the Golden State game minus J-Dub.

The Thunder are 50-15. The Spurs are still on their heels 2.5 games behind in the standings. Detroit is showing signs of fading as their schedule got tougher. Jaysum Tatum along with Jaylen Brown and Derek White gives the Celtics the renewed look of a serious contender with the return of Jayson Tatum if he can get back to himself by the time the playoffs begin.

I’m ready for March Madness and the renewal of spring.

Die Hard, guys. Boomer!

Mike J

This really isn’t anything new in Norman this sports season. After the football team lost to Ole Miss to drop to 6-2 the Fire Brent Venables fan group was on the sports talk shows with fire and brimstone in their calls to Jim Traber to fire the coach before the season ended. So what did the Sooners do…they stayed connected from within to win four straight to close out the regular season for a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Almost pshychotic edge rusher, Taylor Wein, helped coin the phrase…’Hard to Kill’ after the Sooners’ win at Tuscaloosa in November.

And that’s pretty much what Porter Moser’s once down-trodden Sooners have done since losing to Kentucky on the road in early February to fall to 1-9 SEC, and 11-12 overall. These Sooners appeared to be dead, as in done. Most of the fanbase gave up. Especially the students…which pained me greatly.

We never surrender…in basketball, football, hockey, or life. Remember?

We scratch, well crawl, we bleed.

The Sooners were one loss away from having the longest losing streak in Sooner mens basketball history.

Then something stunning occured, the Sooners shockingly won at nationally ranked Vanderbilt to end the streak. Then within in the Sooners’ final seven games of this regular season they beat Georgia, Auburn, LSU, Missouri, and Texas.

Porter Moser’s Sooners are now 17-14 heading into the SEC Tournament this coming Wednesday.

Before the win at Vanderbilt the Sooners were No. 85 in the all important NCAA Net Rankings. This Sunday, after the overtime win at Texas, the Sooners are all the way back up to No. 55 and are in the relevance conversation zone of Joe Lunardi’s Bracket. The Sooners have climbed from the 15th spot in the SEC to No. 11 and passed now No. 60 Missouri. That reversal in order with Missou might prove to be significant if the Sooners can win at the least two more games in the SEC Tournament.

To put the NCCA Net rankings in regional relevance…Tulsa is No. 46 and O State is No. 78.

TheSooners’ draw makes this narrow path to the Tournament still plausibile. The Sooners draw the worst team in the SEC in South Carolina on Wednesday night in Nashville. A win there would get the Sooners to 18-14. Next up would be Texas A&M. The Sooners have lost twice to the Aggies this season in two close games.

Do I think it’s conceivable OU could beat Texas A&M on a neutral floor riding the wave of a five game winning streak? I do. OU is very capable of winning this game.

That would put the Sooners at 19-14 and probably in the 40’s somewhere in the NCAA Net 44 range or so having played an excellent non-conference record as well as the SEC grind.

Arkansas would be next if the Sooners could get that far, and wouldn’t it be ironic for me if my Sooners then played Calapari’s Hogs after I played the Calipari presser on the blog in which he predicted this OU team could very well turn its season around after the Sooners’ tough late game loss in Norman.

Either way this goes…I’m proud of the team and Porter Moser for not throwing in the towel on this season. When you’re a Stage 4 guy… you just do not embrace that train of thought in anything. There is no surrender. There’s grace and mercy. There’s redemption. There’s faith. But no surrender until God lets you know.

I’m thrilled for these guys and Porter.

Two more wins first and then let’s maybe talk about Arkansas and those two young guards.

Mike J

Well, of course, the above video is complete satire and the fantasy of those who voted for this person to be the leader of the free world a second time. Keep in mind, since his second term started not one tangible thing has been done to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Day 1, Week 1 …remember.

Then of course there’s the flattened oblivion in Gaza where the Trump beachfront condos aren’t quite a reality just yet. Kind of like the graduates of Trump University dominating the world in academic excellence.

Then there’s the purchase of Greenland and annexation of Canada as the 51st state.

The U.S. did win two gold medals in ice hockey, but that’s only because POTUS 47’s fat ass never stepped in an ice rink in his life and had absolutely nothing to do with the USA Hockey organization which made the gold medals possible.

The of course…there’s the burgeoning democracy in Venezuela. Oh, wait…it’s basically the same people running the country minus the one Trump unilaterally executed.

Then of course…there’s your 401Ks which have taken quite a hit since this war started. But, hey, with you people it’s not about money or net worth…it’s about doing the right thing. Yeah, I know…. you’re out there working those Ten Commandments hard every second, every day. More sarcasm for sure from Mike J.

So…I guess in closing–the Trump Doctrine in Iran is somewhat like 43’s Doctrine in Iraq…that being Trump has no idea whatsoever what is going to happen to the 90 million people in Iran.

No idea whatsoever.

As in none.

This guy with the clueless expression on is face look familiar? Paul Bremer’s name ring a bell?

Margaret’s show was very weak last night. I love Margaret, but for just this one time I felt the need to sub for her.

Be kind. Exude grace and hope. Pray for the best.

Mike J

Finally, a space to slip in the Thunder’s 103-100 win over the Knicks on Wednesday night inside of Madison Square Garden. Part of me wanted to steer clear of the Kristi Noem-Markwayne Mullin train wreck, but at some point I am an American who votes and at some point I have to draw a line in the sand Stage 4 journey or not.

It’s March Madness and both of OU’s teams are playing well and surging late in this season. The women beat Florida yesterday 82-64 in the opening round of the SEC Tournament for their seventh straight win and are now 24-6 on the season with a 1:30 tip today versus the LSU Tigers.

OU’s men have now won three straight and have moved past Missouri at No. 57 in the NCAA Net rankings. There is a path for OU to be the last team selected from the SEC to the NCAA Tournament.

A narrow path, but a path.

But that path has to include a road win Saturday in Austin versus the Longhorns who need a win themselves to go to the Big Dance. OU won at Austin on the last game of the regular season in the very same situation last March. Texas is nothing special. If OU can play the way they’ve played six of their last seven agmes minus the road loss at Tennessee…they can very much win this game.

BUT we do have have the defending champ Thunder in this market, and while I haven’t been amped by all the missed games from both OKC and Denver…it won’t be long before my hoops attention is soley focused on OKC’s drive to become the first NBA team in eight years to repeat.

Plus…we’ve got Shai firmly entrenched as the favorite to repeat as regular season MVP as well. OKC has a three game lead over the Spurs for home court in the West. The Pistons in my view are not ready to advance to the NBA Finals..so I would think Coach Mark and group are soley focused on keeping homecourt in the West and getting J-Dub back on the court.

Ajay Mitchell is a nice player, but in reality with McCain now in the mix–the Thunder can repeat without Ajay as long as J-Dub returns which I would think should be tomorrow night at home versus the No. 9 seeded Warriors.

Don’t sleep on the Minnesota TWolves though… I like what they did at the deadline with their guard depth by adding Ayo Dosunmu to their mix at the trade deadline and coupling him with Bones Hyland coming off the bench.

A very solid game by Chet on Wednesday night. Very solid. If this Chet would show up every night…I could even find myself writing the Thunder could repeat without JDub because they have so many other wing players who can defend and score at a high level.

If this Chet would show up more often…MJ would get off his ass on his underground blog.

Chet’s numbers on Wednesday were…28 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 assists.

My Three Stars of the Game went…1 Chet, 2 Shai, and 3 Lu Dort.

BTW, Lu Dort publicly apologized for the play the other night against Nikola. You know why he did this? Because he has the soul of a hockey player and he knows he’s better than that. That’s one of the reasons I love Lu Dort.

Obviously..Shai is the heartbeat of this team, but I’d say Lu Dort and Kenrich Williams are the moral compass of this Thunder team kind of like Looney was with those championship Warrior teams. Every championship teams two stars at the least and one moral compass like a Nick Collison, Lu Dort, or Kenrich Williams.

That’s it for me today. I need to get a hike in today at Mitch Park before the Sooner women tip at 1:30pm.

Love, grace, and mercy.

Mike J