Month: March 2017

For the second time in three games, the OKC Thunder lost to a top three Western Conference team wilting under an avalanche disparity of made threes. Golden State buried the Thunder by being a +33 shooting three balls last Monday. This afternoon in Houston the Thunder were -27 in the three point scoring department. As was the case against the Warriors, the Thunder were never a threat to win this game beyond the middle of the second period.

This is very simple math, the OKC Thunder cannot spot the Warriors and Rockets 33 and 27 points respectively from three point land and have a chance to win games. Houston was 20-39 (51.3%) on threes, while OKC was 11-30. Overall, Houston shot 63.3 % from the field and it never really appeared the Thunder could defend a Rocket team which was missing Ryan Anderson and only used eight players in this game.

Four Rocket players scored twenty or more points with Lou Williams leading the way with 31 points. Trevor Ariza and Eric Gorden both scored 24 points for the Rockets. James Harden had his customary stat stocked game with 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 12 assists. Houston won its 51st game of the season, but it’s still really hard for me to think of the Rockets in the same frame as Golden State, Cleveland, or San Antonio, but more like a next tier team such as the Boston Celtics in the East.

Russell Westbrook notched his 36th triple double of the season, but just didn’t get enough help from his teammates. Again, when you’re playing either the Warriors or Rockets it’s a math game. They’re making threes and you’re making twos. Even a Trump supporter can figure that deal out one would think. Look at it this way, in these two losses combined, OKC gave up 35 threes, while scoring only 15 three balls, even in Kellyanne Conway’s Alternate Universe that’s -60. Duh.

Westbrook’s line was 39 points, 11 rebounds, and 13 assists on a decent 13-28 shooting night. The Thunder are in serious trouble if either the Warriors or Rockets turn out to be a post season foe. I can’t think this game hurt Westbrook because it was apparent to anyone watching the game that Harden has teammates who consistently hit threes and Westbrook does not have that luxury.

Enes Kanter had another good offensive showing scoring 23 points in 22 minutes on a 9-12 shooting game. It has become apparent he’s Russell Westbrook’s only reliable game to game scorer at this point in the season with ten regular season games left on the slate.

OKC drops to 41-31 and has the tough task of playing a road back to back tomorrow night in Dallas. Of OKC’s ten remaning games, only four are against teams with a plus .500 record so in all likelihood a 47 or 48 win season is more in line as far as reasonable expectations.

I think most of us who follow the Thunder closely would have taken a 48 win season back on July 4th after Kevin Durant shared his secret with the world on the Player’s Tribune. So there’s no real reason to be down or dragging your head. We knew it was going to be the year of Russell Westbrook chasing Oscar Robertson and with ten games remaining Russell needs five more triple dubs to tie the Big O. I think he’ll do it. I do.

OKC in Dallas tomorrow night in a game which will be tough because as we know the Mavs can shoot some threes.

Harden, 2016. There’s an off the record story from a local OKC writer which details from the driver who dropped off Harden at the Will Rogers Airport in Oklahoma City that Harden was indeed crying on his way to the airport for his flight to Houston. As a Thunder fan, you always wonder…what if.

Interesting game this afternoon in Houston as Russell Westbrook and James Harden square off in their MVP duel. There’s so much these two have in common. They both grew up in LA, both idolized Kobe Bryant, both played their high school ball in LA, both attended PAC 12 schools, both were picked surprisingly high in their respective draft classes by Sam Presti, and of course both have ascended to the top of the NBA hierarchy with teams which aren’t at the time considered top NBA title contenders.

This is the last time these two teams meet in the regular season. This game might or might not be the determinant with voters for their MVP vote, but it’s one of those games you have to put in the must see category. I have Westbrook as a narrow leader in the race as they enter today’s game. In no way is this because I devalue what Harden has done, but rather of what Westbrook has done with much less around him on his roster.

When Westbrook has tripled doubled the Thunder are 29-6, when he hasn’t the Thunder are 12-24.It hasn’t been a stat gimmick kind of thing although ‘some’ have made an issue with some of his rebounding stats. It’s more of a case of Westbrook needing to do these things on a regular basis for the Thunder to be standing at 41-30 entering today versus being one of the bottom dwelling teams in the league.

Without Westbrook, I’d guestimate this team would be something like 14-57 or of the such. Instead, OKC is fighting for a fifty win season and a No. 5 seed, and that’s why I have Russell Westbrook as my MVP heading into today’s game.

Nick Collison is not only one of my two favorite Thunder players, he’s one of my favorite pro athletes of all-time. If you have a son, and you want him to develop equally as a player and a person I’d suggest Nick Collison as the template.

He’s a guy I’d love to sit and talk with some time, and it wouldn’t necessarily have to be about basketball. My take in watching Nick these past two seasons is that he could easily return next season and play the role as the Thunder’s fifth big if he chooses to do so. He hasn’t had to put a lot of wear on his body this season and his value to this very young team is immeasurable. For my own selfish reasons, I’m hoping these coming weeks aren’t Nick Collison’s last days playing for the Thunder.

Maybe he could become involved in politics at a later point. He’s a smart guy with a measured outlook which would be a welcome change from what we see in Oklahoma politics. I’d put him over our governor and two U.S. Senators in a heartbeat, not even close. But I’m not sure if that’s Collison’s style. He’s a guy who’s done countless good deeds with children at the Children’s Hospital. A guy who just quietly goes about his life being rock solid both as a player and a person.

So, selfishly, I hope Nick Collison stays around because Oklahoma would miss him in multiple ways.

Either way it goes, I just wanted to say thank you for everything.

Thank you.

Can this really be a surprise? Of course not. Because governing 330 million people is significantly more difficult than say telling Marco Rubio he has a micro penis or perhaps dissing Carly Fiorina by saying could stop a truck with her face. Governing is tough, especially if you have no idea whatsoever what you’re doing trying to fill the toughest job on the face of the earth.

And here’s the thing, the Democrats in no way had a hand in this. All Trump and the GOP had to do was hold the vote and they would have easily repealed Obamacare. Done deal. No need for any drama or any debates. Just march your white asses in there, call the roll, and vote. Francis Underwood would have had no problem with this whatsoever.

But they couldn’t do it. And here’s why…because they can’t govern. They can only obstruct and ever so often give the wealthiest Americans a random tax break they don’t need. That’s it. They can’t do anything else. That’s all they’ve got. Trust me, I know. I live in a state which is governed by Republicans only and they can’t do anything very well. It’s a non-stop clusterfuck which reinforces every tenet of the Peter Principle and then some.

So, gosh, here we are 64 days into Caligula Lite’s Big Presidential Adventure and in all truth even if you’re one of the white lost souls who voted for Donald Trump you could be blindfolded and you wouldn’t be able to discern the difference between a Donald Trump versus a Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachman presidency. To date, he’s done nothing except allow Mitch McConnell to nominate Neil Gorsuch for a SCOTUS seat which Gorsuch himself admits belongs to Merrit Garland.

Donald’s Trump’s No. 1 goal from this point moving forward isn’t building the wall, tax reform, deregulation, trade deals or infrastructure. Simply, it’s too avoid being impeached in his first two years and being recognized as the most crooked, inept president to ever occupy the White House in the history of our republic.

There’s just so much here to tackle day to day I can’t keep up with it. The treason, the ignorance, the stupidity, and then of course there’s those of you who pissed away your vote for this ignorant piece of junk. Here’s what I think, after some of these people are convicted of treason and sent to federal prison—what do we do with the ‘Deplorables’ who voted for Donald Trump?

Should we seize their assets and let’s say deport around eleven million of them? I don’t know–that may be too draconian. Maybe an amnesty program where they turn in their voting registration cards and do two years of community service? Possible.

But for now all we can do as Americans is keep our heads pointed forward, do the right things, and lock these people up.

LOCK THEM UP!

I attended this game with my son last night. Originally, I was very excited about seeing Joel Embid and a respirited Philadelphia basketball team in person. All that was never present in this game as Joel Embiid has a torn meniscus and is done for the season. OKC easily dispatched of this Sixer team by a count of 122-97 in a game which did have a few silver lining emotional moments for Thunder fans though.

Silver lining No. 1 was Russell Westbrook getting his 35th triple double of the season in pursuit of Oscar Robertson. The opening minutes of this game were extremely painful to watch as Russell basically did not shoot the ball in an attempt to get his teammates scoring the ball. It was awful as we saw Adams, Roberson, and Gibson pretty much play some of the most ugly offensive basketball imaginable. Fortunately, for Russell, Enes Kanter had a big night scoring 24 points which made up for the three I just mentioned plus Alex Abrines and all four basically played very poor level games against a very bad Sixer team at home. It’s one thing to suck on the road against a good team, it’s another thing to suck at home against the dumpster fire Sixers. Pick it up, boys.

Back to silver lining No. 1. Russell was good enough in this one to overcome some of his teammates and notch a line of 18 points, 11 rebounds, and 14 assists. He got his triple dub in the third period and he didn’t play a minute in the fourth period. It was a nice, easy night for Westbrook and he now needs seven more triple dubs in the last eleven games to pass the Big O. Again, nice night for Kanter. He gave Russell some hope in the first half that he actually has a teammate who can make a basket at the NBA level of play. But that isn’t my Silver lining No. 2.

Silver lining No. 2 is Nick Collison. As a passionate Thunder fan, I unabashedly love Nick Collison. If I were ever good enough to be an NBA player, I’d want to be a player like Nick Collison. His game brings so much passion and honor to the way the game should be played. It put a lump in my throat as Nick got eight minutes of playing time in this game. Nick is near the end of his playing career, but there is something in the way Nick plays basketball which endears me to him as if he were my favorite lab of all-time. These eight minutes were my favorite eight on Wednesday night as Nick played crisply in garnering 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists with the first assist being a classic Collison backdoor cut pass. BTW, Nick got a louder ovation than Russell’s 35th triple double which made me feel good because it reaffirmed everything I feel about Nick Collison is shared by my fellow Thunder fans. Long paragraph, but from the heart.

Victor Oladipo scored 16 points and was so-so. If I’m Billy Donovan I know I need much, much more from Oladipo. Much more and with more consistency. Doug McDermott scored 13 points and was okay. Semaj Christon played some solid minutes and showed some toughness which I liked.

I don’t know if Steven Adams has broken up with his girlfriend or something, but he needs to start elevating game on a par level which equals his $25 million pay tag. Seriously.

OKC improves to 41-30 and stays in the No. 6 slot for the time being. The Thunder get a nice little break as they don’t play again until they visit Houston on Sunday. Maybe they can all go to the gym together and practice their shooting, especially guys not named Westbrook, Kanter, and Oladipo.

As an OU basketball fan, I saw a great deal of Nick during his Kansas days. I hated him. I hated him for being such a good player wearing that Kansas blue. But as the years have passed, Nick Collison has a place in my basketball heart right there with Westbrook, Harden, Wayman Tisdale, Mookie Blalock, Dave Sieger, Hollis Price, Blake Griffin, and Buddy Hield. If you didn’t see Nick play at Kansas, you missed something.

As Adam Schiff has correctly stated what we have so far is a circumstantial case against Donald Trump for treason. But as every good lawyer knows a circumstantial case is proven by taking countless threads and together constructing a rope which ultimately holds the test of the truth. With each thread added, the rope becomes stronger. In and of itself not one single piece of evidence may be that ‘gotcha moment’, but together they present a portrait of the truth, unless of course you’re a Birther or are currently on some runway with aluminum foil taped to your ears.

Below is today’s AP story on Paul Manafort and his previous connections to Russia before he became Donald Trump’s campaign manager. Below that is Paul Manafort being interviewed on Morning Joe the first day of Republican National Convention. Keep in mind, it was during this convention in July in which the GOP changed their position on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent U.S. sanctions.

Sean Spicer and Kellyanne Conway might want to watch this as it appears they ‘believe’ Paul Manafort is just another fantasy in the liberal media’s bias toward Donald Trump.

Schiff is a former federal prosecutor and led the Dems presentation in the Comey/Russiagate hearing on Monday. Pretty interesting set of statements along with a logical chronological timeline for what may have happened with Trump, Manafort, Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Jefferson Sessions, and Carter Page… in their dealings with the Russians. If this can be proven some people will be going to federal prison. This could make Watergate seem tame in comparison, but we have to see if all this can be proven and if James Comey and the FBI can roll one of these guys to testify for immunity.

I thought Schiff did an effective job with his opening statement on Russiagate with the hows, the whens, and the wheres in a logical/believable story. This is going to be a long process for sure.
Given all the ‘Lock Her Up’ chants Trump and Flynn conducted during the campaign this could have an ending with a ton of karma attached.

Here’s Trump just a week ago still encouraging some of his idiot followers to get amped with the ‘Lock Her Up’ chant. Trump’s lawyer, and we can be sure it won’t be Jeff Sessions, better start conveying to Mr. Trump to maybe keep his mouth shut and start acting like someone who might be indicted on criminal charges at some point. Just a suggestion.

Keith Olberman…this might be the time for some Olberman ranting on my blog.

Unless you’re just a complete political partisan, the Comey hearing yesterday in D.C. shouldn’t have caught anybody by surprise. So– here we are with a situation which makes the Richard Nixon days seem pale in comparison. We’re talking about a newly elected president basically colluding with the Russians in a quid pro quo deal to alter an American presidential election.

But if you voted for Trump, how could you possibly be surprised? BTW, to Trey Gowdy, if you’re looking for the leakers, maybe the staffs of Preibus and Pence would be a smart starting point.