Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

Super Bowl Sunday…I love it. Unlike the Trump fake Christian rabble who seem determined to eviserate our institutions and societal norms…I love America and the many freedoms we take for granted on a daily basis.

Thankfully… Trump won’t be at the game today to display his tiny little hands, his abdundant drooping jowls, and his overall sociopath inclinations. I do give his hair stylist some credit though for doing away with Denver Bronco orange hair tint. His hair color is the only positive I’ve observed in Year 1 of Potus 47’s reign of division to date.

You MAGA people gloating over your 401 accounts today…always member this about the markets…they are cyclical and you’re in a bubble right now which will correct itself at some point. Hopefully…you know what you’re doing beyond endorsing the end of the American Rule of Law. And hopefully you relaize as well this Potus and some of his loyal senators were playing the markets short at various intervals in the past twelve months. Some of those dudes made some serious coin.

As far as the game…I like Seattle to win, but not to cover the 4.5 spread. We have a coaching outlier in today’s coaching matchup…that being two head coaches from the defensive side of the ball. Mike Vrabel from the Patriots and Mike Macdonald from the Seahawks. This is very much a current outlier norm given most offensive NFL head coaching positions of late go to offensive coordinators.

I’m thinking something like Seattle 24 – New England 20…maybe something like that.

As far as keys…turnovers and of course the kicking game. Which QB takes care of the ball, which team can get some semblance of a running game going to keep the heat off their QBs as well.

A couple of secondary keys for me would be can New England’s defense ‘contain’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba and can Seattle’s defense ‘limit’ QB Drake Maye from running loose from quarterback flushes out of the pocket as the game wears on into the second half.

And as my third tier key..it would be rushing yards by Rhamondre Stevenson my former OU running back. How many yards from scrimmage can Rhamondre garner to keep the pressure off of young Drake Maye, who was my second place finisher for MVP only behind Matthew Stafford.

Let’s say 85 yards by Rhamondre rushinh the football. Can he get get that point in this game? I’m circling that on my sheet.

Anyway, enjoy the game, enjoy Bad Bunny, enjoy the freedoms we take for granted every day in America.

We’re having chicken marsala at our modest watch party.

May the best team win.

Mike J

Pretty good game to watch actually the day before the Super Bowl. I have to start off with this …. if you’re one of these dumbass Thunder fans who’s still booing Kevin Durant ten years after the fact..I can only say you make Oklahoma City look stupid.

Good lord. Put the dumbass redneck nonsense away. You booed Kevin who got you to four Western Finals and one NBA Final…and yet you cheered Jared McCain and are still booing Kevin.

It’s a dumb look. Period. You must best not be readers of the best content underground blog in the NBA.

As far as the game…I found it entertaining even with both teams missing three key players each.

In the end no one for the Thunder could step up at Winning Time with Shai flaunting the Bad Bunny pimp look over on the Thunder bench.

Let’s cut to the chase..without Shai the Thunder woud in my mind be a second round exit in the Western Conference Playoffs, and the other two AT&T guys who signed max deals need to be able to not wilt in games at the end when Shai isn’t available…for how much longer that turns out to be.

Somebody has to step up, period.

My Three Stars of the game all go to Houston players…1 Tari Eastom, 2 Alperin Segun, and 3 Kevin Durant. Plus, I thought Reed Sheppard played a functional second half at the point guard spot after being very shaky in the first half.

On the Thunder side, both Cason Wallace and Isaiah Joe were pretty good. Two SEC guys…one from Kentucky and one from Arkansas. I have to give Isaiah Joe some props on here…I’ve been very impressed with the overall advances in his game and his improved physicality on defense. Denver could use someone like Isaiah next season. He would be a nice replcement for Tim Haraway’s who’s playing on an expiring contract.

I found it interesting there’s talk of Fred VLV’s possible return from the knee injury this season. If that’s the case, and he can fill some point guard minutes combined with what I saw from Reed in the second half..that would make it where Amen Thompson doesn’t have to play the point anymore. Amen Thompson is a beast defensively, but not the guy I want running my offense.

It was the Thunder’s 13th loss… same as the Detroit Pistons who destroyed the Knicks on Friday night without Duran.

I’ve jiggled my MVP ladder around…I now have my top four in this order…1 Shai, 2 Cade, 3 Jaylen Brown, and 4 Jokic or Wemby.

Get well, Shai. They need you, and give that coat to Doris Burke. She needs to pep up her look quite a bit.

Mike J

Wow.

Who saw this one coming?

I love what Porter said about what his late mother said in these situations. I coached hockey with a guy who used to say in situations like this, “Jesus F–king Murphy!” And the youngsters started saying it on the bench which in no way made their mothers happy with us.

But, you know…que sera. Winning smooths some of these things over.

My god…who could have seen OU winning this road game against nationally ranked Vanderbilt? Jesus Murphy, brother!

I don’t want to fire Porter. The program could for the money spent on the buyout and the buyouts of assistant coaches to spend on BETTER PLAYERS FOR NEXT SEASON, ESPECIALLY A CENTER in the portal.

Tae Davis…I got on you on my blog after the Texas loss at home. Today is what you need to be every game the remainder of the season. This is who you need to be for OU to continue winning games in the SEC.

Big Mo W…same thing. Take accountability for your decisions on the court and your play from a basketball smarts standpoint. We can’t play like dumbshits and win games in this league.

One game of winning doesn’t erase the gut punch losses versus Alabama, Missouri, and Arkansas. OU should have won those games. They didn’t. That being said, put everthing else out of your minds and beat Georgia at home on the 14th and improve to 13-12, 3-9. Get some more mojo going.

One day, one step at a time.

Winning is fun. Make it a habit. Winning is contagious and addictive.

Mike J

I was just kidding about coming back on here with another Bad Bunny ‘song’ today. MJ hopes you know he was kidding. One doesn’t go from the Lighthouse Church of Hope in Prague, Oklahoma to becoming a Bad Bunny in a day….even in Oklahoma.

I was just trying to make the cover look like more of an NBA blog of sorts during Super Bowl week. Even in MJ’s college age youth…I’m not sure if I could have made it through an entire Bad Bunny concert. I’m ordering the Bad Bunny Cap if I can, but that’s where I’m leaving the Bad Bunny feel moving forward.

To the trade deadline. It’s official the Ousmane Dieng era is over in Oklahoma City. Ousmane is now a member of the Chicago Bulls along with another Thunder player by the name of Josh Giddy. Ousmane was actually traded to the Charlotte Hornets who then traded him to the Bulls where I hope he gets to play a little bit so as to see if he’s really going to be a player of consequence in the league.

The Thunder received Mason Plumlee who was then quickly waived by the Thunder. So the Mason Plumlee era in OKC was brief. I always liked Mason Plumlee in his younger days–so the best for him as well.

The Thunder also made another trade which might turn out to be something if Jared McCain can become and stay healthy. Jared was acquired by the Thunder from Philadelphia in exchange for one first round pick and three second round picks from Sam Presti’s obscene arsenal of draft picks he accumulated from all the tanking.

Jared played at Duke and was the 16th pick in his 2024 draft class. He’s definitely a player of the build and talent one could see becoming the next Ajay Mitchell on the Thunder roster. Most importantly, he’s on a rookie scale contract like Ajay. Google that Ajay Mitchell contract and see what an absolute steal Ajay is for Sam Presti on his current rookie deal.

So Jared now seamlessly slides into the Ousmane slot on the Thunder roster which is now full heading towards the playoffs.

Denver made a minor move sending Hunter Tyson to the Brooklyn Nets for immediate luxury tax relief and a second round pick. I like Hunter as well. One of those guys who quietly came off the end of the Nugget bench and did his job. Best of wishes to Hunter. Kind of guy you miht want your sister to marry.

San Antonio and Houston stood pat. No point guard pickup for Houston. I wonder if the Rockets are toying with the idea of acquiring the brittle Chris Paul as some sort of insurance for their point guard situation.

I feel Minnesota made a move which very much caught my eye. The TWolves acquired backup point guard Ayo Dosunmu from the Chicago Bulls to occupy the roster spot vacated by the aged Mike Conley. I like this move for the TWolves. This was something similar I was looking for the Rockets to do in fact. This should make Minnesota a better team moving forward towards the playoffs.

So…for the top five teams in the West this is what happened at the trade deadline.

After the Super Bowl…I’ll talk about the James Harden to Cleveland for Darius Garland trade to the LA Clippers.

Plus, the sad trade the Warriors made with John Kuminga for Porzgingus. The Warriors traded a player with the basketball IQ of a rock for a player who’s chronically injured.

Plus, what the Utah Jazz did as well by acquiring Jaren Jackson from Memphis. The Jazz could be watchable next season while Memphis can’t even trade Ja Morant. Nobody wants him. That young man…is in serious need of a substantial attiitude adjustment.

Also…I like what Indiana did in acquiring Zubac to fill the massive void at center created after the summer departure of Miles Turner. Indiana is going to have a very nice first round draft pick, plus the hopeful return of Tyrese Haliburton. I like the way Indiana has quietly gone about their rebuild which could be complete in one season versus three seasons of shameless tanking as ‘some’ have done in this league.

I’m going to do my final Super Bowl pick after I see if the spread possibly moves to 5 or 5.5 points to a Seattle -5.5 position.

Have a beautiful week-end in sunny-warm Oklahoma.

Mike J

Warning: If you’re a fake Trump Christian do not proceed further.

This was a good week for me to hide from basketball…especially last night as we spent out second night in Seminole with my wife’s family. We had a wonderful time and look forward to our next trip there as wonderful spring-like weather has returned to Oklahoma after the massive freeze last week. Unfortunately…I did not make it to the Prague Lighthouse of Hope service to see Shey speak. Maybe next time.

As far as last night in regards to basketball…what a disaster. The Thunder evidently played at San Antonio with only five of their top twelve players available to play. What an embarrassment for the NBA as a league as this should have been a showcase game for the NBA’s televison offering with two of the top three teams in the West squaring off.

I’m not going to rant on this because it would serve no purpose. I will however list the five who played and evidently played hard until the end. Those five would be J-Will, Kenrich, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Joe, and Aaron Wiggins. Bravo to those five and double bravo for playing hard to the end. That will score massively on my TSNBS metric scale.

On to OU and Porter Moser…the Sooners as expected lost at Kentucky and have now lost ten straight conference games. This is the first time this has happened in my basketball lifetime, and if the Sooners finish in dead last in the SEC it will be another first in my history of OU basketball fandom.

Keep in mind this is a proud program which has made the Final Four five times with five different coaches, the Monday night Championship Game twice, the Sweet 16 thirteen times, and made 34 NCCA Tournament appearances in total.

These results are unexpected and not even remotely close to the standard for OU mens basketball.

Should Porter Moser be fired? Yes… would be reply. The SEC is actually much weaker than last season. This is not acceptable. With the talent they have… 8-10 in SEC play should have been doable.

And then to cap things off…Peyton Watson got injured last night in the Nuggets’ loss to the NY Knicks.

But again, I didn’t witness any of this..so I would say to myself, “Shake it off and on to the Super Bowl and just stay there for the next four days or so.”

I will admit I don’t know all that much in regards to Bad Bunny. But at this point I’m going to flow with it and hope he’s not removed from the stage by Trump’s ICE agents during the halftime Super Bowl show.

Myself and my wife’s godfather ( a ninety-one year-old Air Force Brig General retired SAC commander) watched Bad Bunny’s live press conference on CNN today just before lunch. And we both liked him. I love the Bad Bunny special hat and robe. I wonder if my wife can get me those on Amazon in the next day or so for me to wear during the game.

Seattle is currently a 4.5 favorite over New England and the over/under is currently 44.5. With those numbers in play…I like Seattle to win, but not to cover.

I’ll break this down more tomorrow with my in-depth reason as to why I feel that way. I’ll for sure bring another Bad Bunny tune along as well.

Love and kindness,

Mike J

I watched too much basketball last week. Way too much…even for me. So we’re heading east today to spend a couple of days in Seminole and Prague, Oklahoma. It’s very nice and peaceful out there. Still too cold to fish, but a great place to meditate, pray, and watch sunsets. I may even attend a Wednesday evening church service at the Prague Lighthouse of Hope Church just 2.5 miles west of Prague.

I met a young lady named Shay the last time I was at the Prague municipal park on a walk. Shay spells her name differently than our Shai, but she’s a minister there and literally prayed with me in the park when I told her about the Stage 4 journey.

So…I’m kind of exited about the church service. I’m hopeful it fits me like the church near Washington Park In Denver did on Christmas Eve. I’m not interested in fake retail religion.

As far as the Trump fake Christian rabble….I haven’t forgotten about you people, It’s just that at this point…me going on about you and your boy is pointless.

I’m am proud though of OKC Mayor David Holt for once again standing up to the rabble in the rogue, most radical red state in the Union. But as I’ve written on here many times…Oklahoma City-Oklahoma County and Norman-Cleveland County are distinct outliers from the other counties in Oklahoma.

Purple is what they are. Like MJ.

I think in retrospect I would say Sam Anderson wrote his book Boom Town too early.

Love,

Mike J

Let me start with this line on what will be a very matter of fact summary of the much anticipated Game 1 between the defending champs and the Denver Nuggets.

There were three former Kentucky guards who played for John Calipari on the floor tonight in Denver, Shai and Cason Wallace for the Thunder, and all-star Jamal Murray for the Nuggets.

Two of the three had massively good games, the other struggled mightily with a 4-14 shooting night.

Are you with me? Figure it out.

But how serendipitous it was that just on Tuesday I was in Norman to watch Coach Cal’s Razorbacks put one of the final nails in Porter Moser’s tenure at Okahoma. I’m a hoops junkie. Obviously…I can’t get enough of this stuff. I guess a guy could have worse addictions.

So I was very interested to hear what Coach Cal had to say about his two stellar freshman guards, Acuff and Thomas, after they beat OU the other night with their speed to the rim off various sets.

I love listening to John Calipari. He’s Italian and he loves basketball even more than I do. How could I not love him?

So on this current cover on the underground blog here, I put that interview up not knowing it would turn out to be a semi-prescient decision given what the two Kentucky guards who play for the Thunder did tonight in Denver.

There’s no way I’m going to sit here and write I thought Cason Wallace would have a career night with seven made threes and 27 points in total. I can’t do that because it wouldn’t be true.

But in that presser on Tuesday night…I was touched by the fact that Coach Cal in front of the Oklahoma scribes talked so glowingly about Shai and Cason.

About how proud Coach Cal is of his two former guards who won their first NBA rings this past June. Plus, he talked of how they still stayed in touch a bit here and there. I thought it was cool and that’s one of the reasons I posted the presser.

Of course, it’s a small basketball universe. Last night in Fayeteville… Coach Cal’s new team got beaten by Kentucky with former OU guard Otega Oweh leading the way. When Otega transferred to Kentucky after his sophmore season in Norman because Porter wouldn’t turn him loose as a player and of course, the money…was probably the first nail in the proverbial coffin Porter Moser finds himself in currently.

It all ties together this week for MJ. Go figure.

Yeah, I know, Shai scored 34 points with 13 assists and was masterful in getting his teammates the ball on the perimeter with space and time early on in Game 1.

The Thunder came into this game as the 4th worst three point shooting team in the Association and made 19 threes from beyond the arc. Nobody, I repeat nobody is beating the Thunder when they do that. I mean nobody. The Thunder don’t need Forty Minutes of Hell when they splash 19 threes in an efficient manner.

On this night…it should be about Cason. Because without JDub, Caruso, and Ajay…somebody had to step up big and stand with Shai. And lo and behold it was the other Calipari-Kentucky guard on Sam Presti’s roster.

I think Shai’s prolly going to win the MVP after tonight though. The only question in that regard might be who comes in second… Cade, Jokic, Jalen Brunson, or maybe even Jaylen Brown.

As far as the Nuggets…when Peyton Watson is your best player on the floor–you’re not beating the Thunder. I would say in closing there are two sports agents who are very, very happy tonight. One being the agent of Cason Wallace, the other of Peyton Watson. In the words of Jerry McGuire…it was a very, very good night for both of those guys. A very good night.

Mike J

I don’t see why not if Denver can catch the Thunder for the No. 1 seed in the West. Shai has been great and I have him atop my MVP list and I have Nikola at No. 3

I would go in this order if I had to vote today: 1 Shai, 2 Cade Cunningham, 3 Nikola, and 4 Luka.

Luka is an outlier for me because he doesn’t check all my boxes as far as being a complete player on both ends of the floor like the three guys I have in front of him on my current list.

But as far the Shai-Nikola battle for the MVP…obviously the sixteen games missed hurt Nikola, BUT if the Nuggets come back during the home stretch and his numbers remain outstanding…I could definitely vote for him for the MVP. I’m not going to play 3 Doors Down-Kryptonite for him here on the blog. But, yeah, I could make that vote if my scenario plays with the Nuggets challenging the Thunder for the No. 1 seed in the West.

But I think I’ll go ahead and play 3 Doors Down just to fire me up after that abysmal OU loss yesterday in the Red River Rivalry.

Mike J

I was at the game yesterday. My seat was right behind the Texas bench on the aisle and was perfect. Close to the pep band, close to the OU poms, close to the student section. The crowd wasn’t as good as the Arkansas game, but was good enough. Plus, Barry Switzer was sitting courtside first row on the opposite side of the court. Perfect except for one thing.

That one thing being the same thing this Oklahoma basketball team can’t quite seem to grasp…college basketball games are forty minutes long… not thirty four minutes in length.

Same story, same verse, same outcome for the Sooners. They can’t finish. If this were a baseball team the solution would be to go get a closer. OU has no closer and doesn’t have enough collective dog in them to get over the hump in SEC games.

OU got off to a nice start with their customary double digit first half lead, but then withered in the last six minutes during ‘winning time’. This team has no concept of what it takes collectively as a group when winning time arrives.

If I were coaching this team with where they are right now with nothing to lose because it would appear Porter Moser won’t get to Year 6 in his six year contract..what I would do is move both Tae Davis and Big Mo to the second group coming off the bench.

These two dudes basically were both no shows in a rivalry game at home. It was pathetic. That can’t happen at home. This is why Porter Moser is right there where Jeff Capel was in his Year 5 when he lost his credibility with the OU fan base.

I don’t think Big Mo will pout. I don’t that’s his nature. I’m not sure about Tae Davis though. Tae might be a sulker, but then again I’m not in the locker room with these guys.

Confidence is a precious commodity in sports, and in life. In this case with these Sooners I think it’s a combination of confidence, plus Porter taking too damn long to figure out the roles on this team.

To me his top three players go in this order… Nijel Pack, Xsayvier Brown, Derrion Reid. Those are the three guys he can count on for production.

I’d put Kirrel into the starting lineup with Big Mo still getting minutes, but those energy minutes coming off the bench where his constant foul trouble isn’t a chemistry disruption for the team.. I would challenge Tae Davis to beome the Sixth Man and challenge him to give this team 14-16 points a game in a different role.

I’d very much utilize Dayton Forsythe, Jadon Jones, and Jeff Newanko with more minutes with guys willing to do the hard things which need to be done to win games in this league. You know…the Lu Dort, Kenrich Williams things I preach on here ad nausem.

This is what I would do if I were Porter’s assistant head coach. Nine man rotation with Davis and Big Mo coming off the bench.

I mean, let’s be brutally candid, Porter right now is a on track to being fired as the OU head basketball coach. I don’t think one would have to be the Amazing Carnac to share that thought aloud. Because as Jeff Capel found out, when the fans frustration turns to total indifference and they stop coming… it’s over. You’re done, buddy. Finito…because as a coach you’ll never get their trust back again that you can coach at this level.

Now I’m going to get ready for the OKC Thunder vs. Denver Nugget game in Denver this evening. I can’t wait. I’m like a little kid at Christmas who wants to sneak into the living room and see what Santa’s left under the tree.

Enjoy the game tonight.

Mike J

So sad. As a sixty-eight year old who has gone thru the Stage 4 journey just another gentle tap on the shoulder reminding me to live every single day to the fullest.

A remembrance to embrace every single day to the fullest with no regrets.

Just this past Christmas in Colorado we as a family watched both Home Alones with the grandkids. It will be a memory seared into my sould forever.

Robert (6) and Aubrey (5) had already seen it, but not with us. I have to tell you just watching them lose their minds laughing with us during the best Marv and Harry scenes is something I’ll take with me forever when I move onto to my next life.

Laughter is such a precious commodity, especially in these times in America.

So Catherine O’Hara…thank you and the entire cast.

Eternal love,

Mike J