Game 34: OKC Thunder @ Charlotte Hornets Preview

OKC on the road this evening to play the Charlotte Hornets. OKC comes in at 23-10 overall, 7-6 on the road, and 7-8 against Eastern Conference teams this season. OKC should come in fresh having last played on New Year’s Eve in a four point win over the Phoenix Suns.

Charlotte a respectable 17-15 overall, 11-5 at home, 3-7 in their last ten games, and the current No. 10 seed in the improved East. Second night of a back to back for the Hornets as they lost last night in Toronto by a 104-94 count.

Some have the Jeremy Lamb angle as a major storyline — I don’t. I’m happy for him in that he appears to have found a team which can give him consistent rotation minutes. I was a fan of his at UConn and wish the best for him. Never really found himself in Oklahoma City after coming over in the Harden trade as one of the two key pieces in the trade coming over to OKC. I don’t see this as big deal other than the fact OKC basically traded him for nothing and that might be a storyline if the Thunder bench struggles later in the season as post season gets near.

Charlotte is a nice team with a blend of youth and veterans though Al Jefferson is back on the  shelf with a torn right meniscus after recently making his return from a calve injury. Hornets are led by Kemba Walker, Lamb’s old running mate from Jim Calhoun’s last national championship team at UConn. Jeremy Lin, Nicolas Batum, and rookie Frank Kaminsky are other new additions to the Hornet roster.

The rest of Charlotte’s rotation goes Marvin Williams, Cody Zeller, PJ Hairston, Spencer Hawes, and Tyler Hansbrough.

Kevin Durant in a bit of a shooting slump coming in, but not a big deal when talking abut the league’s most efficient natural scorer. Westbrook is coming off several games where he has been utterly fabulous from an offensive standpoint.

Cameron Payne as the backup point guard for the first time in a road setting is something to keep an eye on. Payne has been good since being inserted into the role for DJ Augustin and the bench appears to be revitalized. Tonight should tell us more. Enes Kanter, Dion Waiters, Anthony Morrow, and perhaps even Kyle Singler tonight need to give Billy Donovan quality minutes filling their respective roles.

OKC needs more from Serge Ibaka night to night. But that’s been a theme from Day 1 of this season. More consistency from both Ibaka and Adams are a must if OKC wants to take its overall team game to the next level.

All Thunder players not named Durant and Westbrook need to show up tonight. Should be an entertaining game.

Thunder Beat Slumping Suns on New Year’s Eve

OKC Thunder 110 — Phoenix Suns 106

I’m still in a college football state of mind, but actually did watch most of the Thunder game. Phoenix vs. OKC games are always funs games to watch. They don’t like each other, lots of small ball,  plus neither puts a premium on defense currently–so the games usually take on a playground feel. Fun games.

OKC outlasted Phoenix in a game which went down to the wire with Kevin Durant receiving an assist from Kyle Singler on a dunk which essentially sealed the game.

Durant scored 23 points on the night. Only one other Thunder player scored in double figures. As one would assume  it was Russell Westbrook. Typical Westbrook night–36 points, 12 assists, and 5 steals. Russell Westbrook is my No. 1 Star of the Game.

Phoenix had six players in double figures. The Suns shot 52.4% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc as OKC’s defense continued to struggle both in the paint and from beyond the perimeter.

Phoenix drops its seventh straight and stands at 12-23. With Eric Bledsoe out for the season and two assistant coaches dismissed this week–it wouldn’t be a shock if Jeff Hornacek does not make it thru the season.

Some bright spots for OKC were the play of Cam Payne, Kyle Singler, and Dion Waiters off a Thunder bench which scored 31 points on the night.

Payne once again took all the backup point guard minutes while DJ Augustin was DNP-Coach’s Decision. Payne finished with seven points and four assists while showing his natural playmaking ability during his time on the floor. Enjoyable player to watch.

Kyle Singler had his most productive game of the season playing important minutes as Donovan mixed and matched to find small lineups to defend the Suns. Singler had seven points, four rebounds, and two assists, including the game clinching assist to Durant. For the first time this season—Singler looked like the hustle/clutch player from Duke who was instrumental in winning Coach K one of his championships. If Singler could just produce ten quality minutes a game like this a game he could carve out an every game niche on this team.

Dion Waiters had a nice game after a sequence of games in LA and back home where he looked like the broken version of Dion Waiters from last season instead of the player who looked like he might turn his game around earlier this season. Waiters went 3-6 from the field, pared down his shot selection, grabbed six rebounds, and dished out  three assists. A nice solid overall game instead of jacking poor shots and making murky basketball decisions. This is the Dion Waiters who could help Oklahoma City become a better team, not the Nick Young version of Dion.

OKC won as they should have against a bad Phoenix team and improves to 23-10.

Mike Jackson

 

 

Clemson Stuffs Sooners, ‘Bama Rolls Spartans

Clemson 37–Oklahoma 17,    Alabama 38–Michigan State 0

After week upon week wondering if the committee would penalize OU for belonging to the Big 12 Conference–OU let everyone involved down by getting shut out 21-zip in the second half before eventually losing 37-17 in the first national semi-final game of New Year’s Eve.

OU led 17-16 going into intermission, but it was all Clemson in the game’s final thirty minutes.

Clemson was clearly the superior team. Smarter, tougher, more resilient, better QB play, and more physical. Circle the lack of OU’s physicality on both sides of the ball. This was a simple game to break down. Clemson rushed for 312 yards, OU 67.

OU became one dimensional after their first drive of the game in which Perine had his only real success running the ball. Ironically, OU’s rebirth since the Texas loss had been attributed to running the ball with Perrine and Joe Mixon. Neither back finished the game.

But the players across the line of scrimmage from OU today weren’t wearing Kansas, Texas Tech, or O State jerseys. Clemson has a front seven who’ll hit someone in the mouth — which they did repeatedly to the Sooners.

Considering Baker Mayfield had little help–I thought he actually played decent only forcing the two picks when OU’s situation became more desperate as time began running out on OU’s dream of playing for an eighth national championship.

Deshaun Watson was excellent except for the late first half pick in the end zone by Zack Sanchez. Otherwise–he basically owned OU with his mind, feet, and arm in three equal parts. Plus, his offensive line gave him space and time throughout the game to exhibit his feel for the game. Not saying I think it’ll be the same for Watson against Alabama, but I was impressed. Nice player.

In all candor, this game reminded me of the Texas game where OU was blown away physically on both line of scrimmages and could never corral Hurd on the corner.

OU finishes 11-2 and did more than I thought they would after the loss to Texas in October. But still– after watching both national semi-final games–OU has a lot of work in front of them if they want to return to the highest level of national relevance by bringing that eighth national championship trophy back to Norman.

I’d go Alabama -8.5 in the national championship game. Hope it’s a good game, because both of the national semi-final games in a word …sucked and were close to unwatchable in the second halves. You can only smile at Larry the Dr. Pepper Guy ads so many times.

Mike Jackson