Welcome to OKCThunderGround!

This was a bit of nice news for an NBA which needs some positives heading into the stretch run of this cursed regular season. In a season of a gambling scandal in Portalnd, still way too much tanking, over the top load management, some genuine injuries to marquee players, and a record number of missed games…Adam Silver and his NBA Governors need some legitimacy to their on the court product to end this regular season.

I still think its salvageable for the league although if the Denver Nuggets aren’t careful they could drop below Phoenix to the the No. 7 seed and a play-in assignment. The Nuggets are in desperate need of Aaron Gordon’s return in-an-as-much Cam Johnson has been even weaker than Michael Porter, Jr was last season in May. A bad trade for the Nuggets so far.

The Thunder and the Spurs in the West are possibly a great story as far as a rivalry emerging which could galvanize us as NBA fans. Because right now this NBA blogger needs some inspiration and galvanization from the players, their agents, and the NBA Players Association.

I’m tired of all the DNPs. NBA fans shouldn’t be paying crazy prices to see games played by ‘cover bands’. I’ve been railing on this since January, but trust me on this, Adam Silver and the Governors are fully aware of how critically bad the NBA product has been to date.

I love role players and grinders, but fans want to see their max stars play a meaningful number of games in the regular season.

My TOP 6 Poll as of March 9th with the return of Jayson Tatum and the return of the Thunder’s Ajay Mitchell reads like this:

1 OKC Thunder

2 San Antonio Spurs

3 New York Knicks

4 Boston Celtics

5 Minnesota Timberwolves

6 Detroit Pistons

On the bubble at No. 7 and No. 8 for me currently are the Houston Rockets at No. 7 and the much in need of Aaron Gordon Denver Nuggets at No. 8. If I’m Coach Adelman with the Nuggets…if Aaron returns and stays healthy I would very much be of the thought Cam Johnson is not in the eight man rotation in the play-offs. He’s a pylon defensively and if he’s not making threes—there’s no reason for him to be on the floor.

Denver at OKC tonight. Ajay Mitchell returns for the Thunder as one would think would be the case of the other misssing Thunder players from the Golden State game minus J-Dub.

The Thunder are 50-15. The Spurs are still on their heels 2.5 games behind in the standings. Detroit is showing signs of fading as their schedule got tougher. Jaysum Tatum along with Jaylen Brown and Derek White gives the Celtics the renewed look of a serious contender with the return of Jayson Tatum if he can get back to himself by the time the playoffs begin.

I’m ready for March Madness and the renewal of spring.

Die Hard, guys. Boomer!

Mike J

This really isn’t anything new in Norman this sports season. After the football team lost to Ole Miss to drop to 6-2 the Fire Brent Venables fan group was on the sports talk shows with fire and brimstone in their calls to Jim Traber to fire the coach before the season ended. So what did the Sooners do…they stayed connected from within to win four straight to close out the regular season for a berth in the College Football Playoff.

Almost pshychotic edge rusher, Taylor Wein, helped coin the phrase…’Hard to Kill’ after the Sooners’ win at Tuscaloosa in November.

And that’s pretty much what Porter Moser’s once down-trodden Sooners have done since losing to Kentucky on the road in early February to fall to 1-9 SEC, and 11-12 overall. These Sooners appeared to be dead, as in done. Most of the fanbase gave up. Especially the students…which pained me greatly.

We never surrender…in basketball, football, hockey, or life. Remember?

We scratch, well crawl, we bleed.

The Sooners were one loss away from having the longest losing streak in Sooner mens basketball history.

Then something stunning occured, the Sooners shockingly won at nationally ranked Vanderbilt to end the streak. Then within in the Sooners’ final seven games of this regular season they beat Georgia, Auburn, LSU, Missouri, and Texas.

Porter Moser’s Sooners are now 17-14 heading into the SEC Tournament this coming Wednesday.

Before the win at Vanderbilt the Sooners were No. 85 in the all important NCAA Net Rankings. This Sunday, after the overtime win at Texas, the Sooners are all the way back up to No. 55 and are in the relevance conversation zone of Joe Lunardi’s Bracket. The Sooners have climbed from the 15th spot in the SEC to No. 11 and passed now No. 60 Missouri. That reversal in order with Missou might prove to be significant if the Sooners can win at the least two more games in the SEC Tournament.

To put the NCCA Net rankings in regional relevance…Tulsa is No. 46 and O State is No. 78.

TheSooners’ draw makes this narrow path to the Tournament still plausibile. The Sooners draw the worst team in the SEC in South Carolina on Wednesday night in Nashville. A win there would get the Sooners to 18-14. Next up would be Texas A&M. The Sooners have lost twice to the Aggies this season in two close games.

Do I think it’s conceivable OU could beat Texas A&M on a neutral floor riding the wave of a five game winning streak? I do. OU is very capable of winning this game.

That would put the Sooners at 19-14 and probably in the 40’s somewhere in the NCAA Net 44 range or so having played an excellent non-conference record as well as the SEC grind.

Arkansas would be next if the Sooners could get that far, and wouldn’t it be ironic for me if my Sooners then played Calapari’s Hogs after I played the Calipari presser on the blog in which he predicted this OU team could very well turn its season around after the Sooners’ tough late game loss in Norman.

Either way this goes…I’m proud of the team and Porter Moser for not throwing in the towel on this season. When you’re a Stage 4 guy… you just do not embrace that train of thought in anything. There is no surrender. There’s grace and mercy. There’s redemption. There’s faith. But no surrender until God lets you know.

I’m thrilled for these guys and Porter.

Two more wins first and then let’s maybe talk about Arkansas and those two young guards.

Mike J

Well, of course, the above video is complete satire and the fantasy of those who voted for this person to be the leader of the free world a second time. Keep in mind, since his second term started not one tangible thing has been done to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Day 1, Week 1 …remember.

Then of course there’s the flattened oblivion in Gaza where the Trump beachfront condos aren’t quite a reality just yet. Kind of like the graduates of Trump University dominating the world in academic excellence.

Then there’s the purchase of Greenland and annexation of Canada as the 51st state.

The U.S. did win two gold medals in ice hockey, but that’s only because POTUS 47’s fat ass never stepped in an ice rink in his life and had absolutely nothing to do with the USA Hockey organization which made the gold medals possible.

The of course…there’s the burgeoning democracy in Venezuela. Oh, wait…it’s basically the same people running the country minus the one Trump unilaterally executed.

Then of course…there’s your 401Ks which have taken quite a hit since this war started. But, hey, with you people it’s not about money or net worth…it’s about doing the right thing. Yeah, I know…. you’re out there working those Ten Commandments hard every second, every day. More sarcasm for sure from Mike J.

So…I guess in closing–the Trump Doctrine in Iran is somewhat like 43’s Doctrine in Iraq…that being Trump has no idea whatsoever what is going to happen to the 90 million people in Iran.

No idea whatsoever.

As in none.

This guy with the clueless expression on is face look familiar? Paul Bremer’s name ring a bell?

Margaret’s show was very weak last night. I love Margaret, but for just this one time I felt the need to sub for her.

Be kind. Exude grace and hope. Pray for the best.

Mike J

Finally, a space to slip in the Thunder’s 103-100 win over the Knicks on Wednesday night inside of Madison Square Garden. Part of me wanted to steer clear of the Kristi Noem-Markwayne Mullin train wreck, but at some point I am an American who votes and at some point I have to draw a line in the sand Stage 4 journey or not.

It’s March Madness and both of OU’s teams are playing well and surging late in this season. The women beat Florida yesterday 82-64 in the opening round of the SEC Tournament for their seventh straight win and are now 24-6 on the season with a 1:30 tip today versus the LSU Tigers.

OU’s men have now won three straight and have moved past Missouri at No. 57 in the NCAA Net rankings. There is a path for OU to be the last team selected from the SEC to the NCAA Tournament.

A narrow path, but a path.

But that path has to include a road win Saturday in Austin versus the Longhorns who need a win themselves to go to the Big Dance. OU won at Austin on the last game of the regular season in the very same situation last March. Texas is nothing special. If OU can play the way they’ve played six of their last seven agmes minus the road loss at Tennessee…they can very much win this game.

BUT we do have have the defending champ Thunder in this market, and while I haven’t been amped by all the missed games from both OKC and Denver…it won’t be long before my hoops attention is soley focused on OKC’s drive to become the first NBA team in eight years to repeat.

Plus…we’ve got Shai firmly entrenched as the favorite to repeat as regular season MVP as well. OKC has a three game lead over the Spurs for home court in the West. The Pistons in my view are not ready to advance to the NBA Finals..so I would think Coach Mark and group are soley focused on keeping homecourt in the West and getting J-Dub back on the court.

Ajay Mitchell is a nice player, but in reality with McCain now in the mix–the Thunder can repeat without Ajay as long as J-Dub returns which I would think should be tomorrow night at home versus the No. 9 seeded Warriors.

Don’t sleep on the Minnesota TWolves though… I like what they did at the deadline with their guard depth by adding Ayo Dosunmu to their mix at the trade deadline and coupling him with Bones Hyland coming off the bench.

A very solid game by Chet on Wednesday night. Very solid. If this Chet would show up every night…I could even find myself writing the Thunder could repeat without JDub because they have so many other wing players who can defend and score at a high level.

If this Chet would show up more often…MJ would get off his ass on his underground blog.

Chet’s numbers on Wednesday were…28 points, 15 rebounds, and 3 assists.

My Three Stars of the Game went…1 Chet, 2 Shai, and 3 Lu Dort.

BTW, Lu Dort publicly apologized for the play the other night against Nikola. You know why he did this? Because he has the soul of a hockey player and he knows he’s better than that. That’s one of the reasons I love Lu Dort.

Obviously..Shai is the heartbeat of this team, but I’d say Lu Dort and Kenrich Williams are the moral compass of this Thunder team kind of like Looney was with those championship Warrior teams. Every championship teams two stars at the least and one moral compass like a Nick Collison, Lu Dort, or Kenrich Williams.

That’s it for me today. I need to get a hike in today at Mitch Park before the Sooner women tip at 1:30pm.

Love, grace, and mercy.

Mike J

Oh, boy. I mean seriously, oh, boy.

Should these two people be running Homeland Security at a time of immense roil throughout the world? As bad of selections as Matt Gaetz and Pam Bondi were…this is even worse I would say. I wouldn’t even want Kristi Noem or Markwayne Mullin or the other two humans Trump selected running my nearest Hideaway Pizza.

Who could write this nonsense on the most hopeless over the top Trump fake Christian outlet in the universe even if they were being paid to write it? I’m only doing it because I want to make sure people around the world who read this blog realize not everyone in the state of Oklahoma is a complete f–king idiot.

Going from John Kelly to Kristi Noem to Kirsten Nielson to Markwayne Mullin the cagefighting U.S Senator from Oklahoma is like going from say…Nick Saban to Mike Gundy.

You’ll notice I’ve stayed away from any Trump comments for the most part thirteen months into this historical second term of the U.S having a convicted felon in the White House running our country.

I figured it would be better for my cancer survival chances, plus I’ve honestly been trying to be better spiritually minus the occasional f-bomb here and there which I don’t think God holds againsts us in the long run. I think God is more concerned with love, kindness, mercy, grace, humility, forgiveness, justice, and redemption. Besides F–K is nothing more than an old English law anacronym for Forced Unlawful Carnal Knowledge.

I learned that the first day of law school with Bob. Anotherwords, don’t freak out if someone drops an F-bomb here and there. It’s not like inciting a riot to have your own vice-president hung. Know what I mean there Mike Pence?

I’m not going to talk about Kristi Noem shooting her own puppy. I not going to talk about her purported sleeping with Trump’s boy Corey Lewandowski. This isn’t a gossip blog. This is an NBA underground blog and I need to do my writeup on the Thunder’s 103-100 win over the Knicks on Wednesday night at MSG.

I’m just so stunned thinking it couldn’t get any worse than the war which started a week ago. I’m not going to talk about the war on here because six Americans have already lost their lives.

So…if you’re from a blue state or Europe or some locale where people actually read books and don’t shoot their own dogs I just wanted to make sure you know Mike J isn’t anything like Donald Trump’s new Director of Homeland Security.

Trump, dude…we thought you loved the dogs, buddy. WTF?

If you voted for either Donald Trump or Markwayne you should be embarrassed and ashamed.

But in closing, I mean, what kind of a dipshit shoots their own puppy?

God bless America and we should all be praying for not only for our people, but the innocent people over there who have gotten caught up in all of this mess.

Make Israel Great Again, right? Change the ballcaps to MIGA. At least be up front about it.

Truth hurts.

Mike J

Hello March Madness, my old friend. Mike J lives to see his fourth March Madness since the ‘premature’ cancer death sentence. I love this time of the year. I absolutely love it because both college basketball and fishing heat up simultaneously. Then… The Masters, then the NBA Playoffs. Can it get any better? Only when the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin would be my answer.

It’s time I put this video of JWill with Andy Katz on the blog after the Hogs rather easy double digit win over Chet’s grossly overrated No. 1 Gonzaga team in 2022. Gonzaga was everyone’s pick to win the national championship. But I had seen JWill and his crazy coach in Tulsa when OU played Arkansas in a game in which OU beat coach Eric Musselman by double digits. Coach Muss got tossed in the second half and I fell in love with Coach Muss’s passion for his team

OU came back and beat Arkansas again the next year before they had entered the SEC and Coach Mussleman if my memory serves correct…got tossed again. What a character until he got fired and replaced by John Calipari– who is a character in his own right. I love both of those dudes. I mean…they go to war for their players.

Arkansas has had some great, great basketball coaches over the years. I wonder if Coach Cal might be interested in the OU job at some point? He’d be a trip in Norman. Not a bad place for an older coach where the football coach takes most of the fan’s displeasure.

I believe JWill double-doubled that night, plus some nice assists and was the player of the game while Chet was a non-factor for the grossly overhyped Gonzaga group which had Jalen Suggs and Andrew Timme as well. Plus… Andrew Nembhard I think. Anyway they way they were loaded, yet the Hogs advanced to the Elite 8.

I was thrilled when I saw Sam Presti steal JWill with a second round pick. Actually…I’m a little surprised JWill hasn’t been used more by Coach Mark until this season with all the DNPs.

I’m very well aware of the fact Sam Presti won’t be trading Chet to the LA Clippers…Presti would not do that because that’s who he is. But I do think JWill’s emergence this season makes it rather simple for Sam Presti to pass on Isaiah Hartenstein’s third year team option deal next season.

JWill can defend, he can create space with his screens, he can pass off the high or low post, and he can do what Isaiah will never be able to do… that being, knock down open threes and create space for Shai.

So, JWill, buddy…I didn’t watch the the Thunder’s win the other night over the weak Chicago Bulls because at this point in the NBA season I don’t watch shit teams play games .That’s just the way I am.

But I understand you had another massive double-double for the Thunder in a nice win for the team while guys sat again.

So…this post is for you. Keep up the great play and continue forward as being one of the fan favorite players on the Thunder. And, yes, you’re one of the Thunder Elite who could put on the skates and turn himself into himself into a legit ice hockey player because you’re made of the right stuff in that regard.

There’s a new hockey movie coming out this week-end and I think I’ll try and squeeze it in between basketball games.

March Madness, hello again my old friend.

Best wishes, Mike J

I attended both the OU womens’ Senior Game last week and the OU mens’ Senior Game last night in Norman. The women are in the NCAA Tournament regardless of what happens in the SEC Tournament. In fact..they’ll probably be a host team for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Jenni’s team is ranked No. 7 nationally and on a very good run coming down the stretch.

Do I think Jenni’s team can win the national championship? No…I do not. But for me the serious-attainable goal for this team is to get to an Elite 8 game and then play their best game ever in the Jenni B era and see where that lands them.

I think the fact they beat South Carolina and played a great second half at Texas makes this an attainable goal. Beyond that…I don’t know. I do know that in March basketball as in life and the cancer journey…it’s One Day at a Time. Breathe in through your nose and exhale slowly through your mouth. Charity preached that to me constantly when I was at Ground Zero in the early stages of my cancer rehab when I weighed a 158 pounds and couldn’t do a push-up.

So…last night in Norman it was the last home game of the season and Senior Night as well. I didn’t sit near the student section, pep band, or the poms. I had a great seat second row, baseline near Joe C. New AD Roger Denny was down there as was Bob Stoops for a awhile.

As I watched the game… I was constantly looking at both Joe C’s face and Roger Denny’s face for any hints of how the impending decision will go in regards to Porter Moser’s future at OU beyond this season.

I’m not really sure how I feel right now and I’ve probably watched more OU basketball than either of these three guys. I was in junior high watching Johnny MacLoud’s teams back in the old Fieldhouse. Other than Berry Tramel and Al Eschbach …I can probably drop more OU basketball trivia than anyone else still breathing.

I might need to slightly push back on what I wrote about Porter after the team fell to 1-9 in the SEC and 11-12 overall. I said, “He should be replaced.”

Well not so fast there Mike J because since that juncture of the season the Sooners finally got Dayton Forsythe healthy, shortened the rotation to a tight eight man rotation, and have won five of their last seven SEC games to improve to 6-11 in the SEC and 16-14 overall.

Coming into this Missouri game … OU’s NCAA Net Ranking was 61. By beating a hot Missouri team by 16 points last night I would think the Sooners’ net ranking will improve to somewhere around 54-56 when the computer adjusts to last night’s results.

So…what OU needs to do next is go beat Texas in Austin on Saturday to keep the NCAA Net ranking trending in the right direction heading into SEC Tournment play next week.

For OU to get to the NCAA Tournament I don’t think they have to have a magical run like that NC State did several years ago in the ACC Tournament and win it. Just win a game or two like last season. But I do think OU has a solid puncher’s chance because of the overall strength of their schedule which included tough road assignments in non-conference versus Gonzaga, Nebraska, Arizona State, Wake Forest, and Marquette.

OU won two of those games and of course beat O State by ten at PayCom for another nice non-conference win. Plus, OU played No. 10 Nebraska to the hilt in a three point loss before anyone had at that point realized the special season these Cornhuskers would have to date being a Top Ten team.

What I’m saying is…I think the computer will be kind to OU if they can beat an ordinary Texas team on Saturday. OU’s Jeremiah Fear’s team beat Texas in the very same situation last March. This team is better that that team.

OU’s first eight players are now playing at a higher level than that team which played UConn tough in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. When Big Mo can stay out of foul trouble and stay on the floor and nourished properly through Ramadan…these Sooners are pretty good.

So…keep Big Mo fed with peanut and jelly sandwiches and keep fighting the good fight, Sooners.

I’m proud of you guys. You didn’t roll over. You didn’t feel sorry for yourselves and you’ve given yourselves a chance.

And as Coach Moser so aptly said in this presser, ‘That’s not only basketball, but’s that’s life, guys. Pulling yourself back up when everybody else was counting you out.”

Beat Texas. I mean, seriously, really…Beat Texas.

Mike J

Now that was a hockey game played in front of packed house last night in Oklahoma City at PayCom Arena!

That’s exactly what this NBA blogger has been clamoring for…for what seems like an eternity during this NBA regular season of discontent. It is as if Sam Presti, Coach Mark, Shai, and the rest of the Thunder players took my words of TOUGH LOVE to heart and decided it was time to quit playing like a group of prima donnas and play like the defending champions of the world.

This is not only what I want to see, but as well ABC, NBC, and ESPN want to see more of this and much less of the tanking and over the top load management. Sports are entertainment. The NBA is not the friggin’ G-League. When one pays to see Billy Joel, Elton John, Taylor Swift, or Eagles…they’re not paying to see a cover band.

The networks and the ticketholders are paying to see the stars play in important games against the top flight contenders. This bullshit which was perpetuated by Coach Mark and Sam Presti in the games at San Antonio and Detroit is not acceptable not only in the world of competitive sports, but in sports entertainment as well.

I hope after the debaucle in Detroit… I don’t have to write this any more on the blog this basketball season. And BTW…if I were the NBA commish instead of the extremely weak, feckless, and feeble Adam Silver…I’d still fine the Thunder for what they did in San Antonio and Detroit.

What a game last night in Oke City. Two teams who went to a Game 7 last spring came out and genuinely hated on one another for fifty three minutes of physical, in your face basketball…which is the way the game is supposed to be played.

Every foot of floor space and second of time had to be fought for and earned. This was a f–king brawl from start to finish and I savored every second of it.

Shai returned and played 33:46 and had 36 points on my score sheet. He carried his team as far as he could…then Coach Mark FINALLY did something right of late by sitting Shai the entire five minute overtime period.

And then what happened?

The role players stepped up big-time and won the overtime by six points over the then worn out Denver Nuggets.

My Three Thunder Stars of the Game go this way excluding Shai because he was sitting when the game was decided…1 Alex Caruso, 2 Jaylin Williams, 3 a tie between Cason Wallace and Chet.

It seems like I’ve been on Chet all season and he has deserved it at times and it needs to be done because the people like Nick Gallo, Matt Pinto, and Michael Cage do him a monumental disservice with all their coddling and babying of him. It is what it is…you’re an NBA max player and there is an implied obligation connected to that fact. You did a job on the boards last night and I’m objective so you’re in my Top 3 Thunder Players of the Game, buddy.

Here’s what I’m going to say about Jaylin Williams…I’ve loved him ever since I started watching him at Arkansas. He has the two main incredients I love in either a hockey or basketball player. He’s smart and understands the game. Plus, he’s tough when a line needs to be drawn in the sand. When Jay-Will went after Jokic taking up for his teammate Lu Dort… I almost went through the flat screen with bim.

That was beautiful.

That is a dude you want in the foxhole next to you. That is the guy as a coach you should be getting more minutes coming down the stretch run of this NBA season.

I was a little dissapointed in Shai for not getting Cason more involved scoring the ball. With J-Dub out…Cason should be that guy. We’ll see if Shai adresses that in Dallas tomorrow night. Shai’s a stud and more than a fair guy…so I’m sure he’ll take care of it.

Jared McCain…I need a brief ‘graph on Jared. He’s a player. Sam Presti got himself a player. Jared is one of those guys with basketball hubris and doesn’t really seem to fear failure. What I mean by that…is if he misses a shot he’s immediately locked and loaded for the next play from a mental standpoint. You can’t coach that. There’s not a drill for instilling that in a player. That came from Momma and Daddy’s loins.

Now… Lu Dort. Lu Dort is royalty on my blog and I’ve stated that many times. But he shouldn’t have tripped Nikola in the manner in which he did. The last thing the NBA needs right now is an injury from a play like that. It was a cheap play. Something we’d usually see from Draymond Green, and not Lu Dort.

Lu…that’s not who you are. I know because I’ve admired and watched you during your entire stay in Oklahoma City. I’m giving you a mulligan, my friend. If anyone deserves a mulligan on the Thunder…it’s you and Kenrich.

Speaking of Kenrich…he didn’t play last night so I’m expecting him to get some nice playing time tomorrow night in Dallas. Kenrich is gold on here as well. And so is Jaylin Williams from this point moving forward

So in my Thunder-Hockey Player Rating Scale here’s how I have my Top Five currently… 1 Shai, 2 Lu Dort, 3 Alex Caruso, 4 Kenrich, and 5 J-Will.

I’ll explain this in more detail after the Dallas game.

Have a wonderful Saturday in sunny Oklahoma.

Mike J

We have an OKC vs. Denver matchup tonight at Paycom with the Thunder holding a mere two game lead over the surging San Antonio Spurs behind their own serious MVP candidate in Wembynama.

I just looked at the injury report for tonight and amazingly seven of the nine who couldn’t play in Detroit or finish the game are listed as available to play tonight.

Damn…amazing how quickly they healed, right?

Shai is listed as available tonight, but of course, J-Dub and Ajay Mitchell are still out. You give out those max contracts as OKC did with both J-Dub and Chet and it is amazing how the urgency to play through bumps and bruises seems to diminish.

Durant and Westbrook hardly ever missed games and are still playing though Durant did miss some games that one season with the Jones’ Fracture. So some of you cats at PayCom who are still booing Durant should maybe consider that fact next time you’re still booing him ten years after the fact he decided he could never win a championship with a point guard like Russell.

Jack Hughes got his teeth knocked out in the third period of the Gold Medal game versus Canada and was back out there in no time to take a bad penalty and then score the winning goal. My guess is half of these Thunder players would be out 7-10 days on a deal like Jack Hughes absorbed with that high stick.

Am I assailing the toughness of the some Thunder players?

Yes.. I am. Both not all of them.

J-Will not only had a 30 point, 11 rebound night…he basically eviserated Chet in the NCAA Tournament Round of 16 when Arkansas drubbed Gonzaga and ended Chet’s one year career at Gonzaga.

So here’s what MJ would do tonight…I’d start J-Will alongside Isaiah Hartenstein against the Nuggets and move Chet to the Bill Walton role he played late in his career with the Celtics. Chet becomes the Sixth Man, albeit a grossly overpaid one, and plays around 22-24 minutes a game so as his fragile frame isn’t taxed by playing heavy minutes versus guys like Jokic, Wemby, Duren, and Segun just to name several NBA bigs.

Of course, it’s absurd to be paying a Sixth Man a max deal, but that could be alleviated when you trade Chet so as you give Cason Wallace the max deal he is going to get eventually. Easy…just call that sucker Balmer with the Clippers and it will all work out. That’s what MJ would do. Presti should at the least think about it.

Denver’s injury report is a horror show. Jamal and Aaron doubtful, while Peyton Watson out and Spencer Jones probably out as is Jalen Pickett.

I would think if Shai plays it should be on a tight minutes restriction. Maybe no more than 20-22 minutes.

I think what I’ll do sometime soon is make my list of players on this Thunder roster who have what it takes to be a hockey player. Because to repeat–you have to be both mentally and physically tough.

And if you people think I’m crazy…think back to Sam Presti’s opening comments during Media Day when he in essence was challenging his team to be the type of team who could indeed be the first team in the last eight years to repeat in the highly pampered ecosystem known as the NBA.

IT’S TOUGH TO REPEAT, BUT PATRICK MAHOMES AND TAYLOR SWIFT”S BOYFRIEND DID IT. KD AND STEPH DID IT. THE FLORIDA PANTHERS DID IT.

Anotherwords, in closing to the some of the Thunder players…please toughen up and play like Shai, J-Will, Lu Dort, Kenrich, Cason, and even the rook Barnhizer.

To win championships in team sports you have to be COLLECTIVELY SMART AND TOUGH. That’s what Sam Presti was trying to say way back in August if you were really listening.

We just all have to realize at some point…who’s running this Thunder ship, right?

Best wishes.

Mike J

If I’m Adam Silver right now…I’m not sure what to do with my defending champ OKC Thunder after Wednesday night’s much anticipated matchup of the respective No. 1 seeds in each conference as they squared off in a ESPN national telecast.

We’ve seen this bullshit before where the Thunder are scheduled to play a nationally significant game on ESPN with eight DNPs in San Antonio earlier this month. That game as well should have been a blockbuster must see for any real NBA fan in this country or the world for that matter.

Not to be though as eight DNPs couldn’t strap it on that night, and seven Thunder rotational players couldn’t muster the toughness to play on the second night of a back to back last in Detroit. Add to the fact…Isaiah Joe and Brandon Carlson didn’t come back for the second half.

7+2 is 9.

Are you kidding me?

Especially disappointing for me was both of OKC’s top two centers in Chet and Isaiah Hartenstien were DNPs after they both played the night before in Toronto. One would have thought one of the two could have rested in Toronto and been available for this mtachup with Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren.

Chet, Isaiah….don’t be scared. The zebras won’t let JD hurt you. You can talk to MJ if it would help.

This game ostensibly had two of the top four MVP candidates possible as well in Shai and Cade. But not to be in the tanking and load management world of uber tankmaster Sam Hinkie Presti. Not to be.

Once Vegas saw this bullshit they posted Detroit as 9.5 home favorite in a game which should have been a pick ’em even without Shai if only some of his rotational teammates had bothered to give a shit about the image of the game, and more importantly to the point… the rapid devolving image of the regular season legitimacy of the NBA regular season.

Just so you sitting Thunder dudes know, the reason you’re paid these obscene amounts of money for playing a game…is the fact television and streaming revenue play a major role in you guys being grotesquely overpaid mega-millionaires.

Maybe Sam Presti, Clay Bennett, and you dudes should be a teacher for a year, or maybe a police officer, or maybe a nurse, or maybe a fireman, or maybe a self-employed person who works sixty hours a week so they can have heaith-care insurance. You know just to get a feel as to what real people who actually do something of real human value in society make ends meet.

Now…I am aware the guys on the floor the second half for OKC played their asses off and kept this somewhat respectable especially after Piston Coach Bernie Bicketstaff pulled off his Big Dog Jalen Duren.

So here’s what I’m going to do instead of wasting my time on any sort of recap whatsover….I’m going to bow down to Cason Wallace, Lu Dort, J-Will, Kenrich, Aaron Wiggins, Barnhizer, and Nikola T for playing as hard as you did for the full forty-eight minutes. Bravo…to you guys.

As far as Chet and Isaiah Hartenstein…I don’t know what to say. Words would be wasted at this point on my underground blog.

As as far as the defending champ Florida Gators…they improved to 22-7, 13-2 in SEC last night in Austin, Texas and are one of the hottest teams in the country currenty. Their coach, Todd Golden, and his returning players from last season seem to understand what it means to be the defending champs.

I can’t go any furthur. My disgust is consuming me. But in closing…if I were Adam Silver..I’d be fining the OKC Thunder at this point for the nonsense we’ve seen in San Antonio and Detroit of late by the OKC Thunder.

Mike J