Month: January 2016

OKC Thunder  128 — New York Knicks 122 OT

Even though the NY Knicks are a better team than the Brooklyn Nets, three things made me feel optimistic just before tip at Madison Square Garden. 1 Carmelo Anthony would not be playing, 2 Steven Adams would be playing, and 3 Robin Lopez isn’t nearly as skilled as his brother Brook who torched the Thunder two nights earlier.

If any of these three variables hadn’t fallen into place I’m not sure Kevin Durant’s 44 point, 14 rebound game would have been enough to save OKC’s Thunder from a second straight road loss to a sub .500  New York  team though.

But on this January night circa 2016, the basketball gods inside Madison Square Garden smiled on OKC as Durant’s Thunder escaped with a thrilling 128-122 overtime win over the Knickerbockers. Tramelesque, eh.

This was not a piece of art by any means, but at this point in this season with this team you’ll take wins any way they come–if there’s some art attached, feel grateful.

Durant’s 44 points were his season high and he’s obviously my No. 1 Star of the Game as OKC was down by as many as 11 points with nine and a half minutes left in regulation. Blame Billy Donovan because he started the fourth period with a horrible floor combination of Payne, Singler, Waiters, Morrow, and Kanter. He should know better forty-seven games in. Seriously.

Two timeouts later–OKC had gone from three to eleven down in the blink of an eye before Donovan cleaned up his mistake. Reminded me somewhat of the way OKC opened the fourth period in Cleveland. Bad lineup. Except this time LeBron James wasn’t there to demonize Kevin Durant.

Anyway, the lineup was changed to Westbrook, Payne, Adams, Ibaka, and Waiters, and wouldn’t you know OKC quickly pulled back into it courtesy of a couple of big threes by Cam Payne,  then eventually tied it with Durant doing his thing down the stretch after replacing Payne.

Durant hit 20 of his points from the beginning  of the fourth period thru overtime. He hit a jumper with 16.2 seconds left in regulation to tie the game, then scored seven of OKC’s fifteen points in overtime to get his team a much needed win after the debacle against Brooklyn.

Westbrook was good as well going 30, 8, 10 one night removed from doing a shameless promotion of his trendy eye ware business on Late Night with Stephen Colbert. It would have been more interesting to hear Russell’s views on Blatt, Golden State, or his free agency in two years, but it was Late Night and Colbert had worn himself out with Donald Rumsfeld.

Steven Adams returned and was good to the tune of 9 points, 8 rebounds, and some priceless addition of basketball toughness and smarts.  Steven Adams in my view is very close to catching Serge Ibaka as the third most important player on the team. Ibaka was good as well going for 11 points and 17 rebounds…. so for the time being they’re 3a and 3b, but Steven is closing fast.

Dion Waiters started for Roberson, played 43 minutes, scored 14 points and was solid despite what you might read from some of the teatherheads on the Daily Thunder message board.

Cam Payne only played 15 minutes, but was impactful hitting four threes and helping OKC come back from Billy Donovan’s disastrous lineup combination to start the fourth period.

As a whole, OKC’s bench only scored 21 points as Enes Kanter was just basically awful on both ends of the floor–as in unplayable awful.

OKC improves to 34-13 and plays in Minnesota tomorrow night.

The take here is simple if you’re paying attention to the entire thirty team league. There’s only one team which appears flawless at this point and they play inside Oracle Arena. The other twenty-nine have flaws, blemishes, and shortcomings. Currently, OKC is one of those teams, but unlike the others, they have Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook radiating hope OKC can find itself as a team and give the Warriors a run.

Mike Jackson

 

 

This will be a different type of preview today because I’m still in shock the Thunder found a way to lose against the semi-dumpster fire Nets on Sunday evening. Plus, I’m not sure what Steven Adams’ status will or won’t be tonight. Andre Roberson is out for an estimated three weeks with a knee sprain, but we don’t know yet on Adams.

So–I’d like to go another direction since nobody seems to care Kevin Durant will be a free agent either this July, or in July 2017 if he signs a one year deal after this season with an opt out at the same time Russell Westbrook will be hitting the market. Most think this is the scenario which will play out and it makes sense when you really think it through.

But still, I have to admit, if Kevin Durant does eventually decides to move on after 2017, as a long time NBA fan it wouldn’t kill me to see him end up New York with Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher because I have so much respect for both of them and what they could possibly do to help Durant finally win his championship.

Of course–if OKC wins a championship in either of the next two years I’d feel differently. But unless Sam Presti can find ‘that’ player to put OKC over the edge, I’m not holding my breath, just observing and waiting.

What I’m saying is if I were Kevin Durant’s uncle, and he were asking my advice on the matter, I’d say, “Stay in OKC through 2017 and see if Sam Presti can put a championship team together or go talk to Phil Jackson and Derek Fisher and see what they specifically have in mind as far as team building.”

Would suck for a guy from Deer Creek, Oklahoma who loves watching Durant play in person and who has no intentions of moving to New York, but at some point as his hypothetical surrogate uncle that’s what I’d probably say. If you’re going to make a move, then do it with a coach and general manager you respect to the max.

So this Phil Jackson interview is my preview for tonight. I love Phil Jackson because of the way he interacts with his players intellectually. He gives each of his players books to read which I just think is totally cool and he completely values the way he can bring the utmost out in each player. Plus, he’s just a very funny, engaging guy.

Eight days ago the Warriors lost their fourth game of the season to the Detroit Pistons by a score of 113-95 in Detroit. Eight days later the Warriors have beaten the likes of Cleveland, Chicago, and San Antonio by a combined margin of 95 points.

Last night at Oracle—the trifecta was completed with a Warrior 120-90 cakewalk over a Spurs team which didn’t play Tim Duncan and looked out of its element against these Warriors. Steph Curry looked virtually unstoppable scoring 37 points on six threes. Draymond Green looked like the most effective point forward in the league, and that’s saying something considering there’s this guy in Cleveland named LeBron James playing the same position–only without Steph Curry to catch his passes.

This was a mismatch. Golden State has swept its season series with Cleveland and now has a 1-0 season series lead over the Spurs. The teams will play two times in San Antonio, and one more time at Oracle. Maybe the presence of Duncan on Spurs’  home floor will help. But playing Duncan won’t help the fact Tony Parker has no one on this Golden State team he can guard… and that’s a big hill to climb even for a great coach such as Greg Popovich.  BTW…this is the same problem Popovich will have if his Spurs meet Russell Westbrook somewhere along the line in the upcoming playoffs. If you put Kawhi Leonard on Westbrook, then who guards Kevin Durant?

OKC’s Thunder, even with its putrid loss to the Nets still has a potential role to play in the West if it can get its act together for the simple reason there’s no team in the West who have a defending combo to guard Durant and Westbrook to the hilt defensively. Cleveland, yes, with LeBron James and Shumpert, but not as much with Golden State and San Antonio.

But having written all of the above, none of this would tip OKC over the edge against Golden State if the Thunder can’t get some sort of grip on their overall team defensive issues. Plus, what does Billy Donovan do with Steven Adams and Serge Ibaka against a Warrior lineup of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Andrew Bogut?

Here’s what he could do if he’s got the nerve. Go small from the opening tip with Westbrook on Curry, Adams or Ibaka on Bogut, Durant on Draymond Green, Roberson on Thompson, and Dion Waiters on Harrison Barnes.

Move Ibaka or Adams to the second unit with Kanter to give the second unit some rim protection. Against Golden State why have Adams and Ibaka on the floor together since Kerr will go for every small ball mismatch he can manufacture? Why even do it? Why not dictate the terms and put Kanter with Adams or Ibaka and overlap some Durant minutes with this grouping? Be flexible, flow the script of each game, but don’t be married to the thought Adams and Ibaka have to be together against these Warriors.

Lots of little things Billy Donovan has at his lineup disposal when the Thunder play Golden State which the Spurs and Cavs do not have.

But of course, if OKC doesn’t get its defensive issues somewhat in hand,  all these possibilities would be moot. But still, some interesting things to ponder if OKC can get its defensive house in order because the Thunder are a team which could offensively hang with the Warriors.

In closing, this was a horrible game as it was played. The games in San Antonio with Duncan should be better games than what we saw last night, but how much better remains to be seen.

 

I have no real interest if David Blatt is or isn’t the coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. I could actually care less. He would never have been my choice to coach an elite NBA team in the first place. But this notion or spin control if you will that LeBron James at the least wasn’t consulted or asked what he thought about the move is laughable.

If LeBron James wants to be player/coach then do it. Bill Russell did it. Lenny Wilkens did it. Billy Cunningham did it. Just to name several. Get on with it and quit insulting the intelligence of NBA fans by how LeBron Inc. the international brand thinks all of this best represents his conglomerate. Enough, already.

Brooklyn Nets 116 — OKC Thunder 106

Just when it appeared OKC’s Thunder might deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as San Antonio and Golden State the Thunder showed any discussions themed of that nature are premature and maybe even delusional. Brooklyn came in a floundering 11-33 team, yet handled OKC with relative ease in coasting to a 116-106 win at home.

For the second game in a row, OKC played without starting center Steven Adams. But unlike Friday night against a perimeter oriented Dallas club, the Nets have a center in Brook Lopez who made OKC pay for the absence of Adams. Lopez scored 31 points, had 10 rebounds, and is easily my No. 1 Star of the Game.

Thaddeus Young was a strong second candidate with a 14, 14 double, double. In all, six Nets scored in double figures as the Nets scored a season high 116 points against a Thunder which basically didn’t look ready to play.

To me—this clearly ranks as the Thunder’s worst performance of the season.

This wasn’t a fluke because OKC lost three of the four quarters and tied the third period. It’s not like a run or some bad calls doomed them.  OKC DID NOT WIN one period in this game against a team which came in at 11-33 and appeared to be ready to tank.

OKC drops to 33-13 and like I wrote above—this team appears to be more like the Little Boy Who Cried Wolf than a serious  title contender on this late January night.

Championship level teams can’t just wilt because Steven Adams was a DNP-elbow. Championship level teams suck it up and find a way to not lose to an opponent like this Net team.

The simple truth is OKC was soft all over the floor defensively giving up 58 points in the paint and allowing the Nets to go 8-17 from beyond the arc.

So gone is OKC’s win streak and the feel the Thunder were getting ready to show they belong in the championship conversation.

Russell Westbrook on Stephen Colbert tomorrow night. Then the Thunder at Madison Square Garden versus the Knicks on Tuesday night. Hopefully, better performances on both counts.

Mike Jackson

November, 2013

If only his team were as interesting as he is.

 

 

OKC’s Thunder will play the sinking Brooklyn Nets at 6:30pm CST this evening as Winter Storm Jonas has caused the start time to be moved back. So we’ll start there.

OKC comes into tonight as one of the hotter teams in the league and winners of twenty-one of their last twenty-five games. With Kevin Durant in the lineup, OKC is 30-8. Against the three teams perceived to be above OKC as championship worthy OKC is…. 1-0 vs. San Antonio, 0-1 vs. Cleveland, and 0-0 vs. Golden State.

It’s a much different story for perhaps the most depressing team in the league with the Brooklyn Nets. Quite simply, this franchise is a mess under the ownership of Russian business visionary Mikhail Prokhorov. The team is 11-33 and very much on the cusp of joining the Lakers and Sixers  in pursuit of being an even bigger dumpster fire this season.

At least with the Lakers, there’s the hope once Kobe Bryant’s salary is dumped—the franchise can get it’s act together landing a couple of free agents and become respectable again. With the Sixers, there’s hope as well with at least some young pieces and a slew of draft picks in hand.

But with the Nets…the future is dim. The team’s future was traded away with the acquisitions of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to win immediately, but neither of those vets are still around as Prokhorov’s bid to win big then backfired and the Nets in my view are the joke of the league as far as mismanagement.

Head coach Lionell Hollins was fired on Jan. 10th while GM Billy King was reassigned duties. Since then—the Nets are 1-6 and 1-10 in their last eleven games.  Interim head coaching duties have been assigned to Tony Brown.

Add this to the mix, per Forbes Magazine’s recent business evaluation of the thirty NBA teams-the Nets were the only team in the league to not make a profit. As far as franchise valuation the Nets ranked seventh with an estimated value of $1.7 billion, but with operating revenues of $220 million showed a net loss of $5.7 million last year. Hard to do in this current NBA financial landscape, but the man who sees himself as the conduit between old Russia and a Russia becoming a model of Western free market entrepreneurship has this on his current NBA ownership resume.

Per Forbes continued just for information sake–the current Forbes evaluations estimate the average worth of an NBA franchise to be $1.25 billion dollars. The NY Knicks head the list with an estimated value of $ 3 billion dollars.

OKC’s Thunder ranks 17th on the list with a value of $950 million. OKC  showed a net profit of $20.9 million on $157 million of operating revenue. OKC’s franchise value as whole had an increase of 16%.

OKC comes in tonight on a seven game winning streak, but will be without Steven Adams for the second straight game due to an elbow injury. I would expect Nick Collison to once again get the start.

I’d expect Brooklyn to start Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young, Joe Johnson, Wayne Ellington and Donald Sloan tonight.

Haven’t even bothered to check the Vegas spread. But his one could be trickier than expected with this game falling in between  road games against the Mavs and Knicks. OKC and Brooklyn met back in OKC on Nov. 25th with the Thunder winning 110-99. I’ll go OKC to win at -12.

Go Patriots, Go Panthers! Brady versus Newton would make for an intriguing Super Bowl.

 

 

Russell Westbrook will be a guest on Late Night with Stephen Colbert this Monday night as the Thunder play the Knicks on Tuesday night at the Garden. From what I understand, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfield will be on the show as well.

Thought this might be a nice time to post Russell’s last appearance on Jimmy Kimmel from September, before I had this modest rogue blog up and running. A retroactive airing so to speak.

Russell and I have three things in common I’ve discovered. 1. We both love peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches on wheat bread. However, I toast mine lightly , never cut the sandwich in half, and have never contemplated putting butter on my sandwich. 2. We’re both momma’s boys and talk to our mothers almost every day if not every day. And 3. He naps an hour before the game and I nap an hour before the recap. Who would have guessed we have so much in common?

Good for Russell. Much more excited about watching Russell on Late Night than I am about seeing the Thunder play the Russian’s dumpster fire Nets tomorrow night. You can rest assured the Game 46 Preview will be a model of brevity.

Can’t wait to see Russell on Colbert Monday night.

Blogger’s edit:  Russ uses Skippy, I prefer Peter Pan.

Biggest game of the NBA season looms on Monday night as the San Antonio Spurs visit the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. Despite San Antonio still riding a ten game winning streak, I’m bumping Golden State back up to No. 1 after their road drubbing of Cleveland and a solid week of basketball. Warriors looked refreshed to me this past week.

This week’s poll:

1    Golden State Warriors

2    San Antonio Spurs

3    Cleveland Cavaliers

4    Oklahoma City Thunder

5     Toronto Raptors

6      LA Clippers

7      Atlanta Hawks

8     Memphis Grizzlies

9     Dallas Mavs

10   Chicago Bulls

11    Detroit Pistons

12    Indiana Pacers

Need some music to soothe me while I make the tough decisions on this week’s poll. How about those Cleveland Cavaliers? Why don’t they just give Lebron the official player/coach title and put an end to this façade? I never would have hired David Blatt, but still. Make Lebron player/coach and at least be honest about it.

Wanted to hear the whole song, so this selection seems obvious this morning.