They should all just get drunk, rap to this before the ceremony, and save themselves and all of us of from the anguish we know is going to be shared with the world on Sunday evening. But it’s not just Hollywood. It’s everywhere in this country. In every state, even the red ones. The disgust and utter embarrassment that this happened in this country isn’t just a Hollywood thing. It’s quite frankly a global thing because around the world we were always perceived as being the voice which stood against every thing this clown embraces. Now–we’re that polar opposite voice for the time being.
Move over, Meryl Streep. This is more to the point.
It was a fun night at Chesapeake Energy Arena as the OKC Thunder did pretty much what they wanted to with the abysmal Los Angeles Lakers enroute to a 110-93 cakewalk win. Russell Westbrook was sublime in registering his 28th triple double of the season, but this one was different. This one was a signature to the complete versatility Westbrook possesses as a player. It read… 17 points, 18 rebounds, and 17 assists and the ability to do whatever he wanted to do on this particular night whenever he wanted to do it. It was vintage Westbrook as he dueled Oscar Robertson from the past and James Harden in the present for a season of basketball immortality of sorts.
OKC’s two new additions–Taj Gibson and Doug McDermott played and had some positive moments which give some hope for the remaining 24 regular season games and beyond.
But the storylines on this night beyond Westbrook were the utterly fabulous nights both Alex Abrines and Andre Roberson had on the same night. Abrines got the first start of his NBA career when it was decided Victor Oladipo couldn’t play because of back spasms…really. Does anyone think Russell Westbrook would miss a game due to a back spasm? Not.
Anyway, Abrines started and didn’t disappoint as he scored 19 points and was a key 5-11 shooting threes. This is what OKC has been craving from Abrines and on this night the rookie delivered the goods as his points created the space which made this an easy win for the Thunder.
Usually shooting challenged Andre Roberson was even better as he scored a career high 19 points on a 8-9, 3-3 shooting night and made Sam Presti extremely grateful his didn’t trade Roberson on the trade deadline. It was a nice evening for Roberson who genuinely seems like a great young man who just usually can’t make baskets–otherwise he’s a very nice player.
Steven Adams had a solid game. Domas Sabonis had a nice second half after struggling in the first half and showed some confidence in his game which had been lacking of late. Good for him and Abrines as it was White Euro Night in OKC. If only Steven Bannon had been sitting next to Clay Bennett and the crowd could have thrown shit at Draymond Green it would have been the perfect touch in New Confederacy outlier Oklahoma City.
Enes Kanter played his first game since breaking his own arm on a chair and pretty much looked like a player who’s going to need a few games rounding back into game time playing shape as he went 2-12 and didn’t seem to have his legs or his timing. But still, it’s nice to have him back spear heading the bench unit.
OKC improves to 33-25 and is now only a half game back of the Memphis Grizzlies for 6th place and three games back of the Utah Jazz for 4th place in the West.
All in all, it was a very positive night for the Thunder as with their new roster they started the task of overhauling the Utah Jazz for the 4th seed in the West and white supremacy in the NBA’s Northwest Division with twenty-four games left in the regular season.
The New Orleans Pelicans are in town on Sunday night with their new star DeMarcus Cousins making his OKC debut wearing a Pelicans jersey. It’s a home game OKC needs to win as they host the Utah Jazz on Tuesday in what is suddenly a big game for the Thunder.
I want to take a break from Trump for a bit because in reality what’s getting ready to happen isn’t a Dem vs. the Trump thing, but more of the status quo of the GOP trying to come to terms with Trump on health care, the tax reform bill, the cost to build the wall, infrastructure, Russia/ Putin, free trade vs. protectionism, and other matters. The Dems have no say in this. They simply don’t have the votes. So what we’re getting ready to see is if the Republican party within itself can agree on something other than just voting ‘no’.
I think it’s pretty much pointless to be frothing at the mouth just about now. Instead, I’d take a step back, keep close notes, and see if the Republican party can be a party of governance instead of one which just panders to crony capitalism. If you were paying attention between 2001-2009, you might have a good idea where this is probably headed. But again, beating your head against a wall isn’t going to do any good. If all these people marching and venting at town hall meetings had simply voted we wouldn’t be having this national meltdown right down.
Read, keep notes, observe, quit getting your news off social media—and above all cast a vote nurtured with knowledge.
So–here’s former GOP Speaker of the House John Boehner talking healthcare reform circa February 23, 2017.
This is great and me laugh amidst Rome burning in the throes of ‘deconstruction’.
I’d say a pretty good day for the Thunder because they made their team better in two specific areas. In Taj Gibson, they added a physical forward who can score, rebound, defend–and add some much needed toughness on this basketball team. Suffice it to say, the days of somebody like ZaZa Pachulia cheap shotting Russell Westbrook are done. I would assume Billy Donovan will start Gibson and move Sabonis to the bench unit. By putting Adams and Gibson together–OKC will have a very formidable, physical combo who won’t be taking shit from anybody. Adams, Gibson, Kanter, Sabonis, and Collison give the Thunder an excellent group of big men. But again, Gibson gives this team some needed vet toughness on both ends of the floor. By far, Gibson is the best player of the five players involved in the trade between the Thunder and Bulls.
OKC also landed Doug McDermott and a second round pick. In McDermott, the Thunder will add another pure scorer and an excellent three point shooter. McDermott’s role is simple, give Russell Westbrook someone he can kick the ball to and score the ball. McDermott and Alex Abrines now give the Thunder two bona fide three point shooters who combined need to start making around six threes a game for the Thunder to elevate their overall offensive game.
Leaving the Thunder are Cam Payne, Anthony Morrow, and Joff Lauvergne. Payne struggled mightily this season and quite honestly was borderline unplayable at times. Maybe he can find himself in Chicago. Morrow will leave as an extremely popular player, but this was his last year under contract so it’s not a shock he’s leaving. Lauvergne had some nice games, but just basically becomes expendable with Gibson and Enes Kanter soon to rejoin the team.
A good day for Sam Presti. He did two things which should make this team better immediately and give Westbrook some much needed help.
The NBA trade deadline is upon us today and I hope Sam Presti has some sort of nuance trade planned to get Russell Westbrook some help this season on the offensive end of the floor. Taj Gibson’s name is coming up a bit with —so we’ll have to see how that might play out. Russell Westbrook needs some help, and I would assume Russell and his agent want to see a sign that Sam Presti is serious about making this a better ball club heading into the stretch run and into this summer’s draft in which OKC still has their first round pick.
We’ll just have to see if Presti can get something of value for either Roberson, Payne, or Kanter. As bad as OKC’s three point shooting has been, I’d think Abrines and Anthony Morrow are staying put. I’m not sure if Kyle Singler or Josh Huestis are even tradeable. And, of course, Nick Collison is absolute royalty and none of us would ever want Nick to be traded unless he requested it.
I’m not a trade guru at all, but the trade I’d love to see is Kanter going to the Milwaukee Bucks for Khris Middleton. The spelling is correct with the K btw.
OKC’s Thunder gets back in action on Friday night hosting the LA Lakers. It will begin a stretch of three very winnable home games for the Thunder as they begin the post All-Star break portion of their schedule. As far as team goals, the Thunder look to be headed for either a 6th or 7th seed and probably something like a 47-25 record if Russell Westbrook stays free of injury.
The primary drama for OKC fans and quite honestly the entire NBA is whether Westbrook can notch the first seasonal triple double since Oscar Robertson accomplished the feat in ’62.
Much has been speculated as to how they would fare in a one on one duel of sorts. Robertson is two inches taller and played a more deliberate style of play. He was more of a pure distributor, but then again Oscar Robertson never had the Andre Roberson dilemma to deal with which makes floor spacing a continual issue for Westbrook. Westbrook is faster and even though he’s smaller than Robertson, he rebounds with the physicality of a forward. It would be an interesting duel if the two ever met in a one on one duel while both were in their prime.
As far as the overall NBA season, there’s not much drama. Golden State with their four all-stars clearly has the best team in the league. Whether LeBron has enough talent on his roster to beat the Warriors is debatable. Does Cleveland have enough scoring to deny Kevin Durant his first championship would seem to be the major storyline as we resume play after the trade deadline.
Donald Trump visited the Black History Museum this morning in D.C. Too bad he didn’t make Steven Bannon, Steven Miller, and Jefferson Sessions tour the museum with him as well. I hope this was a first incremental step gesture by Trump to begin to reach out to all Americans and not just the white ones who make up a majority of his New Confederacy political coalition. People generally are pretty much ingrained in their beliefs at the age of seventy, so I’m not sure how sincere all this is, but at least it’s a perfunctory gesture from the person who’s supposed to be the president of all three hundred million Americans. But in closing I would warn, this is a man who between the ages of sixty-four thru sixty-nine spent five years of his life setting the groundwork for his presidential campaign by instigating the Birther Movement. So–if George Wallace were at the museum today, I’d say, the same thing, a nice perfunctory political gesture, but beyond that—I’m not sure what can be read into this.
If Trump got rid of Bannon, Miller, and Sessions then I’d maybe think there was something genuine in this. If he’s really serious abut reaching out to all Americans those three would be gone. This isn’t complex—get rid of those three. Actually, with the subtraction of Flynn and the addition of McMasters the Trump national security team is pretty solid. So…maybe if we’re lucky — Bannon, Miller, Spicer, and Conway will be gone before the summer. Sessions’ removal would be more problematic given he was confirmed by the Senate. But the removal of Bannon, Miller, Spicer, and the nutjob Conway would I think to some degree make more of America at least somewhat view Trump as an almost serious president rather than the freak show president we witnessed during the first month.
Then of course there was all this stupid bullshit which revved up his base before, during, and after his campaign.
The NBA All-Star weekend is behind us and thankfully so. The dunk contest wasn’t much. The future stars game is I guess okay is if you don’t have a life, but not something I’d schedule two hours of my life around. I’m not even sure what they call the thing Oladipo won. Same thing with the celebrity game—Kevin Hart can only go so far for a period of time. Nothing personal against Kevin Hart.
The game itself was won by the West I think as neither team played any defense whatsoever. Russell Westbrook scored 41 points, but Anthony Davis scored fifty something and broke the all-time scoring record previously held by Wilt Chamberlain back from the 1962 game.
I enjoyed the Westbrook commercials, especially the one with Cam Payne in the barber’s chair. I’m tired of the whole Westbrook-Durant thing. It’s almost as exhausting as the Trump presidency, but obviously doesn’t have the same serious consequences. They’re grown men, give it a rest. They’ve both moved on as should others. The little play were Durant assisted Westbrook on the dunk was nice, but it’s not like the Tetonic plates shifted or anything.
My main focus is seeing if Sam Presti makes a nuance trade this week which will help this Oklahoma City team scoring the basketball. Otherwise, the Thunder pretty much share the dilemma every other team in the league faces in that none of the other teams are good enough to beat the Warriors four out of seven games.