Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

The Thunder were my No. 1 seed after the round of eight was set in place, so I in no way was surprised the Thunder beat the Houston Rockets to advance to Tuesday night’s NBA Cup opposite the Milwaukee Bucks.

Milwaukee is playing some very nice basketball of late. I like how they’ve fortified their depth in their backcourt with Jackson (UConn) and JD Green. Khris Middleton still appears to working himself back into everyday playing shape, but once the old Khris Middleton returns I would say look out for the Bucks in the East along with Boston and Cleveland.

Giannis and Brook Lopez give the Bucks a divergent one-two scoring punch at the center position and of late Damian Lillard has the clutch back in his game.

This historically elite Thunder defense will be shown another challenge with Giannis. I love defense. I’m a defensive oriented sports fan. It’s not cliche to write defense wins championships in the NFL, NBA, and NHL. This Thunder defense will be presented a different challenge from Giannis in this game.

I will be locked in watching how the Thunder utilize Hartenstein versus Giannis. My current MVP list reads…1 Shai, 2 Jokic, and 3 Giannis. This game could possibly be a harbinger of a potential NBA Finals in June.

I don’t believe we’ve seen Hartenstein opposite Jokic just yet if my memory serves me correct, but this is a game serious NBA fans will be locked into on Tuesday night in Vegas.

I can’t wait. As far as the ‘big’ mens basketball Bedlam game which was played at Paycom Arena on Saturday night…I’ll just say this…I’m going to email Dr. Showalter tomorrow and thank him for putting me on chemo quarantine so as I didn’t completely piss away two hours of my life.

The state of O State basketball, like the football program…is a disgrace. As someone who knew and loved Eddie Sutton… the current state of the mens basketball program is an embarrassment to Coach Sutton’s Hall of Fame legacy.

That was me being kinder and gentler…just so you know.

The Sooners improved to 10-0 and I would guess will be ranked No. 11 on Monday. Porter Moser’s club travels to play Michigan on Wednesday night in the Jumpman Classic.

Have a great Monday.

Mike J

I’m ready for Christmas music. I can start to feel it in the cold evenings and mornings.

I’ve got our lights up in the front and back just like Clark Griswald. I have a stuffed Santa who sings Willie Nelson Xmas song, I have both a traditional red Santa stocking hat and a green Grinch stocking cap as well. Depends on my mood.

I watched both games last night in the Emirates NBA Cup. Of course I loved what I saw from Trey Young and his Atlanta Hawks, while I was not at all pleased with the last minute of the Warriors’ one point lost at Houston when NBA official Bill Kennedy made one of the weakest game deciding calls I can remember with 3.5 seconds left in the game.

Bill Kennedy you are my No. 1 Star of the Game in Houston. That was brutal, buddy.

But we move on now with Houston vs. OKC and Atlanta vs. Milwaukee. Clearly…OKC is the Vegas pick to win the Cup two days removed from the semi-final round on Saturday.

It’s supposed to be wet and cool at the mini-ranch in Deer Creek on Saturday so I look forward to watching both games and enjoying all these great young players from Atlanta, OKC, and Houston along with the veteran Milwaukee group.

It would appear we are witnessing a change of the generational guard in the NBA.

This is going to be not only a great season in the West, but in the East as well with what we’re witnessing from Cleveland, Atlanta, and Orlando on the youth front.

Have a beautiful, peaceful, serene December 12th. It’s less than two weeks to Christmas.

Miguel J

I watched both games last night after spending two hours at the Integris Cancer Center receiving my first of six chemo treatmentss which will come in three week intervals going through the month of March. I thought it went well. I’m familiar with the place and the wonderful people who work the infusion room.

My wife and I got to hang out with Rizzo the large poodle cancer dog.. and then we watched a Christmas movie as I was infused. The one where Santa Claus is put on trial in NYC. It was a wonderful afternoon all things considered.

So about last night in the Round of 8 in Emirates NBA Cup play.

In the first game Milwaukee outlasted the injury plagued Orlando Magic in what was a fairly entertaining game. Watching these two as they are structured per today…neither is a candidate to win the NBA championship right now.

I enjoyed watching the Bucks’ AJ Green for my first close look this season at this point in his NBA evolution. He’s a much better fit for the Bucks over the defenseless Pat Connaughton. I would trade Connaughton after we reach the Dec. 15th deadline to resume NBA trades. If I were the Bucks—I’d look for a more reliable two way wing player for more depth or a defensive minded big who can give the Bucks more depth there as well.

It was nice seeing Khris Middelton back on the floor. He and Bobby Portis are two of my favorite non-All-Stars in the league.

Orlando is clearly a team to watch, but not just yet as far as a potential threat to win a championship. I like their core when healthy. I think they’re pretty much at the same level as the Houston Rockets at this juncture.

The Thunder easily beat a Dallas team without who I think is their third most important piece on their team. That being PJ Washington. With the aging of Klay Thompson it appears PJ is the newly designated Thunder killer in the Western Conference. So what I’m saying is the Thunder played a very nice game aginst a team without their best two way role player.

I think at some point for the betterment of the team… Klay will need to start coming off the bench… like a Kyle Korver type of three point assassin. I still think he plays a significant role for the Mavs, but not as a starter. The Mavs are deep and they need to better use that depth once we get to late February.

Now for the Thunder. They’re an elite NBA defensive team and they are even better with Isaiah Hartensteing manning the lane than Chet Holmgren. He is proving to be the perfect fit for the Thunder. The Thunder’s defensive rebounding woes are now a thing of the past with Isaiah on the floor. Sam Presti…you nailed that one.

When Chet returns he should be the four so as he doesn’t get broken in half defending the lower paint area. I love his hubris, but he’s too damn skinny for that role.

If you look at current NBA team stats you know what you see? The Thunder pretty much first in every meaningful defensive stat as a team. First in points allowed, first in defensive rating per one-hundred possesions, first in steals, first in points created off turnovers.

This Thunder defense coupled with my MVP co-leader Shai GA is built to play either the Boston Celtics or ‘perhaps’ the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.

Nicola Jokic, who is having an even more incredible season than Shai… is the guy I have tied at the top of my current NBA MVP Ladder.

Lu Dort last night on Luka was fabulous. If you watched that closely at all what you saw was more physicality than Mike Gundy’s putrid defense showed in twelve football games this season. Mike Gundy, dude, maybe you should call Lu and have him address your defense next summer and explain the basics of taking away space and time and the art of tackling in space.

I don’t think Lu will get away with that leevel of physicality in playoff games in Dallas, but man oh man I love watching Lu Dort shut down elite star NBA scorers.

So the Thunder advance to play the winner of tonight’s other Western Conference advancement game between the Rockets at the Warriors.

I can’t wait.

I’m all NBA basketball from this point this week through next week’s Emirates NBA Cup Final. I love that the NBA created this event. I do wish though they’d tweak it for next season. Cleveand and Boston have the first and third best overall records and both are sitting at home watching the Great 8. The format needs to be tweaked.

Have a great Wednesday in Oklahoma.

Miguel J

I start what I would describe as the third leg of my Stage 4 cancer journey tomorrow. These two and a half years seem like a separate lifetime in itself.

I’ve learned more about myself and life in this time frame than the other sixty-five years combined. This may sound incredibly stupid, but in a sense looking back… I’m grateful this happened to me.

With the exception of me occaisionally trolling and ‘demonizing’ some of the Trump fake Christians on the internet…I feel as if my heart has softened and maybe even widened. I’ve been touched by so many wonderful people both at the Integris Cancer Center and the OKC Wellness Center that the list would easily fill a page. It seems as if every person has a journey story of their own.

My family has been wonderful. My inner core of friends are still with me, but I don’t ever talk the Trump fake Christian talk with them out of my love and respect for their loyal friendship.

With Stage 4 bone cancer there’s never this moment where you beat your chest and declare all out victory. You get up every morning and do things in a holistic manner and take little incremental victories as they come along.

When there’s a red light, you pause, work thru it and ease thru the green lights. Matthew McConaughey taught me that his book Green Lights. Even though Matthew is a Texas Longhorn…I’ve always loved him since his epic trial scene in a Time to Kill. I feel the Jake Brigance in me from time to time.

But most of all you ‘slowly’ learn to accept, trust, and have faith in God that at the end it will all be okay. Maybe even glorious.

But I will add there has to be the competitive part in your soul as well. You have to be a fighter and a believer in yourself. There are some times you have to draw a line in the sand.

Take care.

Love, Mike

Monday is December 9th. A big week for me on the cancer journey. I’ll just leave it at that for the time being. I really need to clear my mind these next 48 hours and start to put myself in a different mindset…a different place.

I watched way too much football and basketball this week. Way too much…even for me. I’ve pretty much stopped watching politics since the Matt Gaetz attorney general fiasco. I’m done chasing anymore Trump rabbit holes.

Except for the Thunder-Maverick game on Tuesday night…I’m sports fasting the rest of this week.

It’s too early for me to be absorbed in Christmas music even though it was cold in Deer Creek today. I sat for a couple of hours and lost myself watching the turkeys and deer come up to feed this morning. It was beautiful. Surreal wouldn’t be hyperbole.

I was in a different place today. Tons of reflection and thanks for all the blessings I’ve experience these past two years on the journey.

I was goofing around on the internet looking for the perfect song for my mood today.

This seemed a fit. A cover version of Landslide by Alice Kristiansen.

Just beautiful.

Perfect.

Mike J

Minus the beatdown of Iowa State by Arizona State in the Big 12 Championship Game…I very much enjoyed watching the other three power conference championship games. Man, Cam Scattebo made Iowa State literally look like a high school team out there at Jerry’s World. I’ll be interested to see how he does in the playoff against a team from a conference where tackling is a thing. He’s fun to watch for certain though.

Georgia beat Texas in overtime with their backup QB having to sub for Carson Beck in the second half.

To me, Dillion Gabrial should be the Heisman winner with Travis Hunter coming in second place, but I’m guessing that might not be the case because of the unique resume Travis Hunter brings to the table playing both sides of the ball. But again, Travis plays in a conference lacking physicality and not much tackling in space at a high level.

But anyway, Oregon outlasted Penn State by a touchdown to win the Big 10 title with a perfect 13-0 season. I do question though how that Oregon defense will hold up in the CFPs.

Clemson stunned SMU with a walk-off 55 yard field goal to win the ACC title game 34-31 and gain the automatic bid.

And on Friday night…I made it to halftime of the Boise State-UNLV game before I became bored and switched to a west coast NBA game. I’m sorry, but that was not an exciting game as the Broncos beat UNLV 21-7 in what I would describe as a sleepfest yawner. I hate the blue grass–it makes me feeel sleepy.

Okay…so what I’m going to do to here is simply list my Top 12 teams without any regard for the four byes of which three should go to Oregon, Georgia, and Notre Dame.

1 Oregon

2 Georgia

3 Notre Dame

4 Texas

5 Tennessee

6 Penn State

7 Ohio State

8 Indiana

9 Arizona State

10 SMU

11 Clemson

12 Boise State

If the field was sixteen teams as it should be so as to do away with the four byes and just basically have a Sweet Sixteen for the CFP….I would have gone–13 Alabama, 14 South Carolina, 15 Ole Miss, and 16 the dog walk pissing Colorado Golden Buffaloes with Travis Hunter and Shadeur Sanders.

So, in essence..I would have had No. 1 Oregon going against Colorado in the round of sixteen. Ya think that would have drawn some big time television numbers?

I definitely think they should tweak this 12-team format next year, stop dicking around, and give college football fans what they want with a Sweet 16 for college football.

That’s it for me today. My Packers have to play the Detroit Lions this go round. This is where I find out about my Packers.

Merry Christmas.

Miguel J

Hang in there, buddy. this is one of those life moments when things didn’t exactly go the way we had hoped they would.

Take an old man’s advice…this will forge you. Make you a better man. No bullshit.

First off, regardless of what the plethora of talking head podcasters may say, regardless of what Berry Tramel may think, regardless of what some of the OU fanbase may be saying….you’re going to be okay.

I’m actually proud of the fact that you never surrendered, never quit, never made the obvious excuses which you could have made about the offensive line and the absence of your top six receivers during the SEC portion of the schedule. Never backed down from the toughest OU football schedule….EVER.

You hung in there and took every blow. Every punch. And let me share this thought with you…three of OU’s former QB Heisman winners in Jason White, Sam Bradford, and Baker Mayfield would have struggled mightily with the supporting cast you had this season on the offensive side of the ball. Kyler, Jalen, and Caleb Williams may have been able to outrun them, but even then…they would have eventually succumbed as well.

You never pouted, never quit, and in the end beat f–king Alabama 24-3. Guess what…Jason White, Sam Bradord, Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, and Caleb Williams never beat Alabama, Georgia, or LSU combined… ONE TIME.

Never.

See where I’m going with this?

You did…. and by what I witnessed last week-end in Baton Rouge…you were one of the few Sooners who showed up to play in the season finale.

So here’s what I would say if you would allow me to be your Uncle Mike…when you pick your next school don’t pick an SEC school unless it’s Alabama, Georgia, or LSU who all usually have NFL caliber offensive linemen and receivers.

If those three slots aren’t in anyway possible….I’d strongly urge you to pick a Big 12 or ACC an school as your next destination. At the top of your list I would put SMU, TCU, Baylor, Texas Tech…and possibly one of the Arizona schools.

Or my darkhorse pick for you….the Kansas Jayhawls with Coach Lance Leopold.

My thought on this is if you don’t have NFL caliber around you…then why would you play against SEC talent with one arm tied behind your back.

Look at Dillion. He has a chance to win the Heisman and a ‘ship…even with Oregon.

Take care of yourself, Jackson. Walk tall, walk proud. You never surrendered. This will work its way out. Take it from an old man.

All this avuncular advice made me think of my favorite all-time Cat Stevens song.

It’s Friday…Texas-Georgia tomorrow. I can’t wait.

Uncle Mike

Last week or so…I wrote that the system in which this tournament picks its Great 8 teams is somewhat flawed in that the goal should be to get the best eight teams so far THIS SEASON into the quarterfinal round before the Final Four convenes in Vegas.

We now have four teams still playing while Boston and Cleveland will be absent from the field. Instead, the East will have Milwaukee, the NY Knicks, Atlanta, and Orlando. Yawn.

None of those four teams interest me all that much and Atlanta even has former OU guard Trey Young. The East without Boston is a total wash for me as a passionate NBA fan.

The West is a different matter. OKC, Houston, and Dallas are all trending in the right direction and all three teams interest me heading into the quarterfinals. Golden State is now mirred in a six game losing streak, but if Steph plays… that at the least should somewhat mitigate the Warriors hosting a quarterfinal game. I would have Golden State as narrowly holding on as my No. 4 seed, with Dallas the No. 2 seed, and the surging Houston Rockets the No. 3 seed.

Are these Houston Rockets last year’s Indiana Pacers? They could be. But we’ll have to see if they hold together during the entire 82 game marathon.

To me…the best game of the whole tournament could be in the quarterfinals in the West when the Thunder host the defending Western Conference champion Dallas Mavs. That’s a game for certain I will not miss.

I will neither miss the Golden State – Houston game, nor the Western Conference Final. These three games are must watch NBA games for El Prez aka Miguel J.

As far as the games in the East…I might be channel surfing trying to find a more attractive college game.

BTW…I saw my No. 21 Sooners for the first time in person on Tuesday night as they beat Georgia Tech 76-61 in the SEC-ACC Challenge to improve to 8-0 for the season.

SEC Challenge results…SEC 14 – ACC 2. Duke at home upset Auburn, while Clemson upset Kentucky.

Jeremiah Fears and Jalon Moore give Porter Moser by far his best one-two combo since he became the OU coach three years ago. If these two guys stay healthy there’s enough around them for OU to get to the Big Dance even in the brutally basketball tough SEC.

Much to Big 12 commish Brett Yormak’s dismay…the SEC has usurped the Big 12 as the No. 1 college hoops conference.

And let me share this thought with you…as this game in Norman concluded…I heard nary a single gloating SEC chant in the building. And when OU dominated Alabama a couple a weeks ago in Norman…I didn’t hear any of that either.

The fact of the matter is…the only time I’ve heard that nonsensical bullshit in earnest was at the last Bedlam game in Stillwater when O State slid by OU and improved its Bedlam record to 20-91-7. I repeat…20-91-7. I refuse to mention the Drake Stoops takedown as an excuse. It never should have come that.

Am I trolling or busting your balls, O State people?

No not at all. But here’s what I would say. There is a message in this. Don’t worry about OU. Take care of your own business. Your football program, like I was two years ago with my Stage 4 cancer diagnosis, is in a catastrophic mode. Not a good place.

Focus on what O State can do to win a single game next season in the uber soft Big 12 .

I think my next blog post will be on Jackson Arnold entering the transfer portal as he just declared yesterday. Like with Dillion Gabriel…I genuinely like both of them as young men and wish nothing but the best for both of them. In fact..I would say from this point on…I’m pulling for Dillion and Oregon to win the inaugural national championship playoff.

Have a beautiful Thursday and pass along the Christmas spirit with each person you meet today.

El Prez, Miguel, or Mike J… take your pick.

–

This is all so demoralizing for those of us still in our naive cocoons of fantasy who want to think the concept of the Rule of Law and Justice for All are still viable concepts within our American democractic society.

There is no equal justice in this country. There is no concept of justice for all.

Of the people, for the people, by the people. Who’s kidding who here?

The concept of justice in America circa 2024 is how much justice you can afford and how much sway your net worth can keep charges from ever even being filed and completed in a court of law.

My thoughts on Hunter Biden are pretty much the same as my thoughts on Donald Trump.

Both of these humans should be serving time in federal prison….perhaps together in the same soft federal facility. Maybe they could garden together to see if they could iron out their individual destructive tendencies… to themselves and our society as well.

Trump should serve maybe three years for his collective Jan. 6th crimes and Hunter Bidden should serve maybe one year for his sundry list of tragedies and crimes. I read his book, his narration… Beautiful Things. Just in reading HIS book, I would give him a year minimum regardless of the charges he was recently convicted of.

Like the U.S. Senator from Colorado Michael Bennett (Dem.) said, “This was a horrible decision by Joe Biden..and is nothing more than a further erosion of our collective rule of law for all Americans regardless of race, sex, or economic standing.”

Joe Biden…this is a classic example of why the far right and others in this country, me in this instance included, believe portions of the Democratic Party have no concept of what the hard working Average Joe on the street thinks of our current rule of law.

Rant over.

Have a nice Tuesday.

The Honorable Judge Miguel Jackson.

This has been the talk of late and it turned into reality on Monday as it was announced the Washington State offensive coordinator will assume the task of rebuilding OU’s historically bad offense from the 2024 season.

I would assume this means he joins the staff immediately for OU’s bowl preparation at the least as an observer in place interacting with the staff in whichever minor bowl the Sooners land after this weekend’s conference championship games. It would make sense in that all the bowl practices would be aligned with moving the offense into spring ball with a head start.

It would not surprise me a bit if Washington State sophmore quarterback John Mateer follows Ben Arbuckle to Norman as well. I believe the transfer portal opens on December 9th and it will be very interesting to see what transpires there with the OU quarterback position in relation to not only Jackson Arnold, but Michael Hawkins as well.

I don’t know what this means for the other OU offensive position coaches at this point.

But we do know this…OU’s offense was brutal this season. The worst since the John Blake days. Brent Venables has now gone 6-6 in two of his three seasons as the OU head coach. I love Brent Venables’ story not only as a football coach, but as a man as well. But the storied OU football program has high standards and a third season of 6-6 would probably put Coach Venables right there with Gary Gibbs as a former great OU defensive coordinator who didn’t pan out as the head coach in Norman.

I hope that’s not how it goes. So we’ll see.

We’ll also see how all this fares for Jackson Arnold as well. I think he’s a great young man and will still turn out to be a very good quarterback. He had to lead an offense which in effect lost its top six receivers thru the course of the season and had a shaky offensive line at best.

The transfer portal opening next Monday thru the month of December will be a trip in itself to say the least.

I’m going to watch OU play Georgia Tech tonight and get my mind off OU football for at least a week or two or more. It was an interesting first SEC season for certain. But everyone should have known this was going to be a tough transition from the finesse Big 12 to the cage fighting SEC…so I would think all now understand the difference between SEC and Big 12 football. There are no soft spots. None. Every Saturday is a cagefight.

Miguel J