Thunder Back On Losing Track With Brutal Home Loss To Houston, 136-106

In essence I was playing with house money by wasting my time watching the Thunder lay down in the first half in their 136-106 loss to the fun to watch Houston Rockets.

It worked perfectly for me because the Sooners tipped off at 8:07pm in Lubbock….just as the first half carnage in OKC went to intermission. I got to watch two ranked teams get after each other on every possession of the game. It was oldtime Eddie Sutton..Kelvin Sampson..get after it basketball.

Texas Tech actually won the game 57-52 without their leading scorer Mac McClung making a field goal.

Now think about this coaching wise…OU has a Hall of Famer in Lon Kruger coaching the Sooners who at one time tried his hand in the NBA with the Atlanta Hawks. Texas Tech has Chris Beard who was taught the art of defense by one Bob Knight.

Meanwhile both the Rockets and the Thunder are coached by two young guys who’ve never been a head coach before at either a Power 5 or NBA team.

Think about how much more qualified both Lon Kruger and Chris Beard are resume wise than the two young guys coaching the Thunder and Rockets. You could in fact say the top six coaches in the Big 12 are more accomplished than probably two thirds of the current NBA head coaches.

Just an observation.

OU played tough with plenty of grit, but without their best offensive player in Austin Reeves they played uphill all night. But they competed their asses off…so you live with it and move to the next game.

Austin Reeves will be back on Sauturday when the Sooners play feeble Iowa State. So…I think OU will be okay as they climbed all the way to No. 9 in the AP Poll on Monday.

I love Coach Beard..so it’s not like I’m all that down with the loss. I love the way he coaches. Period.

As far as the Thunder. They need to lose because unless you’re a complete Little Nick Gallo drone…the Thunder need a top five pick and a top eighteen or so pick in the NBA draft this summer.

I’ve seen enough of Operation Poku for the time being… speaking of a No. 17 first round pick. Please send him down to the G League where he can work on the trajectory of his shot and work on his body shaping. Enough already. This is worse than watching the Josh Huestis experiment all over again.

The Thunder’s defense for the second staight game was absolutely horrific both on the perimeter and at the rim. If I were Sam Presti instead of wasting another first round pick on a three year project..I’d use a pick on a big who can play defense, run the floor, and give the team some athletic credibility on the defensive end moving forward.

The Rockets have a nice little team. They can shoot the three and they in essence play positionless defense and swith all over the place. As a basketball fan in general … I find this new version of the Rockets very entertaining to watch.

I thought Lu Dort and Kenrich Willams were the two guys who engaged the most defensively. But that’s their individual DNA, not one created by the Thunder’s coaching staff.

I’m not at all bitching about the loss. Keep losing Thunder. You need some help in a significant way heading into camp next September.

The best way to lose is to not guard anybody. Keep it up.

I would say from what I’ve observed this season so far…both OU and O State could make it to the Sweet 16 or maybe the Elite 8 if they stay clear of Covid issues and get a decent draw in the bracket.

Maybe even further if the bracket cards fall right.

Don’t diss on O State. Once Cade Cunningham understands the Big Dance is time for him to put on his Danny Manning shoes—Mike Boynton’s team would not be a team I’d want to play. It’s just fitting that in this year of the Thunder tanking–the basketball gods are giving Oklahoma two good college basketball teams the same season.

Listen to Chris Beard on the interview with Reese Davis and tell me you wouldn’t run thru a wall for him.

“Which wall, Coach?”

Alan Jackson Mid-Winter Blues Shake Me Up

(4) Alan Jackson, Jimmy Buffett – It’s Five O’ Clock Somewhere (Official Music Video) – YouTube

Beautiful day in Deer Creek, Oklahoma. I’m tired of winter, but today the skies are blue and the winds are calm. Wish I was on beach right now in Mexico. I’ve come to the conclusion it would be safer being around the drug cartels than living in Oklahoma with the Trump insurrectionists.

Toronto is too cold for me. Who am I kidding with that?

I wonder if Mexico is even letting Americans in right now given what they witnessed on January 6th?

Maybe Alan Jackson will calm my nerves a little bit.

This is a good first day of February song as well. Just to get yourself in the frame of mind for blue skies and better days.

Mexico by Firefall – YouTube

Have a nice day and steer clear of the Trump rebels if you can.

Sooners Head To Lubbock For ESPN Big Monday

I haven’t seen the AP Mens Poll just yet. I would assume OU is close to cracking the Top 12 while O State will crack the Top 25 for the first time this season. This would put seven Big 12 teams in the Top 25 after the Big 12-SEC Challenge which was played this week-end.

Right now the biggest obstacle I see for both OU and O-State is steering clear of Covid as much as possible as we begin February Big 12 play.

O State plays at TCU on Tuesday night in Fort Worth. OU won there earler this season and O State needs this road win do contunie their upward trend.

For OU—it’s a very tough road assignment in Lubbock versus Chris Beard’s Red Raiders who will be somewhere close to the Top 10 tomorrow I would assume.

OU just completed the best three game stretch in regular season program history with wins over Kansas, Texas, and Alabama.

Yet…it will require another grind it out effort by OU on the defensive side of the ball to extend their current win streak to six games.

Typical Chris Beard team with a blossoming star in wingman Terrance Shannon and some great point guard play by Mac McClung coupled with a defense which plays every possession to the death. That’s the thing in the Big 12….all of the top seven teams play defense to the death and it’s tough to score the ball in this conference unless you’re playing against Kansas State or Iowa State. The jury is still out on TCU.

I have no idea where Austin Reeves and Olandis Williams stand as far as Covid protocol for tomorrow night. But I’m assuming both will be sitting the game out.

As far as the Thunder go—they’re on my second tier game status tomorrow night. I’ll watch when the OU game goes to commericals.

The Thunder host the Houston Rockets in what should be a nice game.

I have no idea what the Thunder are doing. If Sam Presti screws around and doesn’t get a top five pick this season I would desribe that as even much worse than allowing Kevin Durant to walk with nothing coming back in return. But still you want to hope for the glass full with the Thunder pertaining to the draft this summer.

Anyway…Houston is only a game out of the 8th spot and I would assume they’re going to be trying to climb into the top eight in the West at the least.

As far as the NCAA Tournament this season it’s completely wide open. Gonzaga and Baylor in a single elimination tournament are both completely beatable on any tournament night given the right opponent.

Here’s Chris Beard atop on his presser just after his team lost a tough overtime game for the last NCAA Basketball Championship which was played two seasons ago.

As a passionate fan of the game how can you not love what Chris Beard brings to the game for his players.

On most nights I’m pulling for Chris Beard, just not tonight in Lubbock.