Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

The two mens’ Elite 8 games don’t excite me today. Maybe I’ll prove to be wrong in that gut feel of mine, but unless Arizona goes into some sort of coma and Illinois chokes with this great opportunity for Brad Underwood to advance to the Final Four–one would think a Big 12 and a Big 10 team are heading to our Final Four at the conclusion of Saturday’s play.

The U Conn vs. Duke game tomorrow is the one I want to cover for okcthunderground.com. That’s where SI, USA Today, and the Athletic will have their best writers. Same thing for the ‘sometimes’ iconic and amazing okcthunderground.com. MJ wants to be ‘big game basketball fresh’ for that game.

• I don’t consider ESPN any longer a viable sport news outlet so that’s why I excluded them from the previous ‘graph.

BTW…I’m wondering to myself who ends up being the next coach at North Carolina to replace the recently fired Hubert Davis?

If I were the NC athletic director I’d probably go after either Tommy Lloyd or Dan Hurley. Todd Golden has too much punk in him for that job. At Florida you can have somewhite trash punk in you, but not at the pristine cathederal of college hoops in Chapel Hill. I’ve always believed the North Carolina and Duke head coaching jobs are the best two jobs in college ball with Kansas as third on that list. U Conn probably fourth.

BTW, I wonder what Bill Self is going to do? He looks worn out to me and in serious need of a break from NIL and the Portal.

So on to Sacramento where my Lady Sooners will either acheive their pre-season goal of making the Elite 8 or prove to still be just a program on the edge of becoming a Top 10 program. OU hurt itself tremendously with their horrific performance in the SEC Tournament’s semi-final game versus LSU when they imploded for the second time this season against the Bayou Bengals..

I mean, they literally imploded in every facet of the game or else they would have been a regional No. 3 seed and not have to play a team like Soth Carolina today.

I’ve loved including Jenni and her team among my beats these past two seasons, but here’s the thing…SHOW ME today later in Sacramento who you are… SHOW ME.

That means A Chavez keeping the turnovers under 12. That means Reagan Beers not getting two fouls in the first ten minutes of play. That means Peyton V knocking down threes and being relevant in the game. That means Zya Vann playing the best game of her college career to date. That means Sahara Williams being the tough Moral Compass she has to be for her mates. That means the promising Broolyn Stewart playing like a junior instead of a freshman off the bench. And that means both Cara Smith, Z Lofton, and Beatrice Culleton playing solid minutes as No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 coming off Jenni’s very short bench and being able to play at the South Carolina standard of excellence.

And of course, A Chavez has to play like the National Freshman of the Year from start to finish.

If I were the ESPN predictor I’d say South Carolina with an 88% chance of winning and I’d set the line at South Carolina at -11.5 on a neutral floor.

In closing…this is the biggest game to date in the Jenni B era at OU. I know for a fact new AD Roger Denny like me wants to see all the things I’ve listed above so as he can bring even more money into the Lady Sooners’ NIL program and move this program into the stratosphere of the Top 8.

So…SHOW ME AND ROGER DENNY…and he’ll show you the money.

Love and kindness always,

Mike J

Like I wrote earlier this season after the game in Norman…I love Calipari and the manner in which he speaks at his pressers. Plus, of course…he’s Italian like me with my ten percent Italiano genes.

No bullshit, no games with his pressers. He just answers the questions like he was sitting next to you in a sports bar nursing his drink of choice.

The manner in which Arizona steam-rolled Arkansas in no way changes my thoughts on Darius Acuff, Jr. He never had a chance in this game. His bigs literally could not get a stop in the paint in this game. The Cats had sixty paint points. Arizona along with Michigan and ousted Florida were the three teams in this tournament John Calipari did not want to be paired against in a regional…and voila, there’s Arizona waiting for him in the Sweet Sixteen.

OU and Arkansas this season were somewhat constructed in the same manner. Really good starting guards, but shaky depth with the bigs against teams like I just mentioned in the previous paragraph. So in reality…I wasn’t crushed when OU didn’t make the field because this is what would have happened to my Sooners in the second round if they’d drawn Arizona, Michigan, or Florida.

Arizona is really, really good, but so is Michigan, while Duke, Illinois, and U Conn in my view are good enough to win this thing in a game against the first two teams on a one night winner take all format. Which is of course…what makes this tournament great in my view.

Not four out of seven…one game on Monday night with the world watching and the favorite a little tight.

If I were going to seed this thing with the eight teams we have remaining– I’d go something like this:

1 Arizona

2 Michigan

3 U Conn

4 Duke

5 Illinois

6 Purdue

7 Tennessee

8 Iowa

Four teams from the Big 10 advanced to the Elite 8. The Big 10 was the best football and basketball conference this season. No alternate conversation from the South.

I don’t see Tennessee advancing…so if Duke falls to U Conn then both the SEC and ACC will not have a team in the Final Four. That would be odd in this era of NIL.

Duke vs. U Conn is the game I’m most anticipating this week-end. I wouldn’t sleep on Dan Hurley. What he has done these past four seasons in the era of NIL and the transfer portal is remarkable.

But of course you have to play the games and maybe the Iowa Hawkeyes could fool us all and be like Cignetti’s Hoosiers? Or maybe Dan Hurley has already twice done what Cignetti did in the Orange Bowl and we just didn’t give him his appropriate kudos.

Storylines abound…just like with the NBA’s Western Conference coming down the stretch.

Have a wonderful Elite 8 this weekend.

Love,

Mike J

I need a little pump up music before I embark on the three mile terrain bike ride at the Wellness Center followed by twenty minutes of cardio weight work. Heavy reps with lighter weight at this point with a stress on cardio as opposed to rebuilding muscle.

Perfect…that’s the only word I can use right now to describe where I’m at in the Stage 4 journey four months after the last chemo treatment. PSA count just above 2 as opposed to 1,212. Overall blood work perfect. Pet Scan beautiful.

On my last consultation with Dr. Showalter he shut the door and as opposed to when he gave me the ‘You need to get your affairs in order…immediately’ talk…this was the polar opposite. There was this beautiful smile on his face as he shared the above information with me.

He said, “Mike, this is beautiful. Even better than we could have hoped for. I’m so happy for you.”

I mean, it took took significant effort for me not to cry like a baby right there. But instead… I hugged Dr. Show and said, “Thank you for everything. Seriously. Thank you for giving me the chance to get to know my grandchildren.”

So…there’s that.

Thank god for this massive cool front in Oklahoma today. I needed a respite from the August-like heat in both Scottsdale and Deer Creek these last eight days.

Can Wemby pass Shai for the MVP if the Spurs catch OKC in the West?

I would say yes, even though I still have Shai in first place on my ladder. But I will admit if Wemby and the Spurs catch the Thunder it will be a tough decision for how I vote my non-existent MVP vote.

Never, ever give up.

Eternal love,

Mike J

Coach Mark is right when he says, “In reality… there’s only around fourteen or so games in a regular season which tells you something meaningful about your team.”

The downside of that Nugget of Wisdom is when your team finally plays a meaningful game on the road against a legit contender for the Big Prize, and only one Thunder player played with any real sense of urgency while the Thunder are still fighting for home court versus the San Antonio Spurs it might tell you the wrong thing.

NINE GAMES LEFT

The San Antonio Spurs with a head to head 4-1 series dominant almost sweep in their pocket and the head to head tiebreaker are only two games back in the battle for the West and overall No. 1 seed.

This is like that cliff scene in Butch Cassidy …. “Who are these guys and why won’t they go away?”

Probably because these young Spurs with a brash young coach named Mitch Johnson and with Wemby think their time is now…and not next season. Duh.

OKC Thunder 57-16 – San Antonio Spurs 55-18 with nine games left.

Let’s go straight into this… Shai was great with 33 points and 8 assists, while his teammates basically sucked. And this was not about free throws as King Michael Cage of Thunder Homerism would have some of his dimmest Thunder viewers believe. Boston shot 29 free throws while the visiting Thunder went to the line 26 times.

Alex Caruso…if my six year old grandson lived in Deer Creek and not just south of Denver…I’d take his Caruso jersey away from him and give him either a Lu Dort or Kenrich Williams jersey. Dude…are you kidding me? Quit bitching with the refs on every call and play basketball.

Jaylen Brown, is my No. 1 Star of the Game. JB shot 14 free throws, while Shai went to the line 12 times on the ROAD. I can assure you every NBA coach could live with that minor disparity from the line on the ROAD.

Here’s what this game was about…JDUB and Chet played a combined fifty minutes and scored a combined 17 points and grabbed a paltry 8 rebounds. This is bullshit and what King Homer of Thunder should have been talking about. Michael Cage…challenge these guys instead of babying them at every SINGLE TURN of the season.

You put King Homer of Thunder together with Little Nick Gallo and this is what you get. A sense of entitled self-vision of greatness that without Shai doesn’t actually exist.

Sam Presti…this is on you. You could change this. Just MJ saying from the luxurious studio of okcthunderground.com.

Now to be clear, Aaron Wiggins and the Thunder’s Moral Compass Kenrich Williams were for some reason DNPs in this game. Maybe Coach Mark wanted to see what he’d get from Ajay Mitchell, Isaiah Joe, and Jared McCain in a big road game situation.

Here’s what Coach Mark got there…Isaiah Joe playing soft defense like he did last season. Jared McCain going a game worse -17, and Ajay Mitchell playing as if he were already in the next AT&T commercial with Shai, JDub, and Chet.

Quite frankly…Jaylen Brown might need to be talked about as a now serious MVP candidate. He was the most impactful player on the floor last night. Shai was my No. 2 Star, and Jayson Tatum was my No. 3 Star.

And while Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace were no-shows my Blue Collar Moral Compass helmet sticker goes to Boston’s Baylor Sheirman for his 11 point, 4 rebound, + 11 game off the bench.

Think about this before I close…on a night when Derek White struggled with a meh-preformance as the third option for the Celtics…Taylor Scheirman dropped 11 points in a ten point Celtic win. That’s what will win you a playoff game when you have to have put one in the win column for Coach of the Year Joe Mazzula.

But of course…if the Spurs haul down the complacent Thunder…then Mitch Johnson might be Coach of the Year.

Storylines abound with nine games left…finally some things I can work with on the underground blog.

Eternal love, Mike J

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