Daily Thunder.com

If you are going to compare some stats from games with others, it’s always good to start with a win. Over the last 12 games, the Thunder have been surprisingly competitive. If you haven’t been watching, and only been looking at the league standings and won/loss records, you would naturally think “doormat” when labeling the Thunder. However starting with that win over Golden State on New Year’s Eve, OKC’s numbers might surprise you.

Let’s start with Offensive Rating (points scored per 100 possessions):

• Full season Thunder Offensive Rating: 102.1
• First 20 games under Coach Brooks: 105.3
• Last 12 games: 108.75
• League average: 107.4

Most excellent. The offensive efficiency season totals are well below average, but you can see improvement.  I have some thoughts on why the offense has improved, but I will address those a bit later. Next lets look at Defensive Rating. Read more…

Commentary

More from the Ric Bucher interview: “I really like the job [Scott Brooks has] done. Obviously, I don’t cover the team on a daily basis. So the ins and outs of how he handles guys, his communication with the front office and how he handles the media and the public, I don’t have a feel for all of that. But I’m always kind of looking for who are the assistant coaches that I think could be head coach material. And I’ve long felt that Scotty was one of those guys.”

Shoals wants to hate the Thunder, but he just can’t: “I know that as a resident of Seattle, I should hate this team. Then again, I refuse to hate David Stern, who is far more to blame than, say, Kevin Durant. But along with Denver, LeBron with a healthy team, and presumably now Golden State, they’re one of the only squads I can now reliably count on to be entertaining. Yes, Durant’s maturation, Westbrook’s crash-and-burn progress, and Jeff Green Jeff Green-ing his way to Jeff Green-ness are all rad. However, it’s the packaging, the location, and the irrepressible obscurity around them that makes them so compelling. This is an NBA team that, for all intents and purposes, might as well not exist. They play in a city that matters only to the people who live there. Their uniforms are unrelentingly generic, like the plain white can, black type BEER they sell some places. The name of the team seems like a placeholder, unless you bother to acquaint yourself with life in Oklahoma. I kind of admire Clay Bennett for crafting such an utterly blank brand, so strong is his faith in OKC’s appetite for NBA ball, plain and simple.”

Marc Stein has Kevin Durant just missing the cut for the All-Star game: But the wide gap between the top nine teams and the bottom six makes our team-success mandate more relevant when selecting the West’s reserves, which is why we couldn’t quite squeeze Jefferson in here. Injuries did increase Big Al’s chances, but Parker and Anthony are the choices in spite of the time they’ve missed, just ahead of Utah’s Deron Williams, Dallas’ Jason Terry and New Orleans’ David West … as well as unexpected late-arriving contenders like Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Utah’s Paul Millsap.” Read more…

Bolts

Trying to wrap my arms around last night’s loss keeps me staring at the box score several hours later. I had been thinking about writing about the distribution of shots with the way the team is currently constructed, and after last night, the time seems to be right.

Kevin Durant dominated the play of the Thunder last night to a degree we haven’t yet seen. His statistical contribution to the team was monumental: 46 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. Those are definitely eye popping numbers to be sure.  But after digesting that, the next thing that pops out is the incredible amount of usage KD had.  He attempted 23 field goals and 26 free throws, and gave the ball to others in the form of an assist 4 more times. The computation for individual possessions is long and complicated and I don’t want to get into it, but it’s fair to say he had the ball in his hands a whole lot last night.

To be sure, Kevin Durant will be an all star, and he is the unquestioned scoring leader on this team. It’s not too much of a stretch to think that KD could one day lead the league in scoring if that were his goal and the coach gave him that much latitude. But what I am interested in focusing on here is whether or not letting your star dominate the ball so much is a good thing for the TEAM’S success. Will the Thunder as a team be  better off  if KD begins to so thoroughly dominate the offense on a regular basis? Read more…

Commentary

Box Score Game Flow.

The Thunder lost a very winnable game tonight to an injury riddled team which barely had enough healthy bodies to field a team. It’s a shame the Thunder couldn’t muster up a little perimeter defense and hang onto the ball a little better and  this thing could have been a completely different story.

The boys in Blue were killed by deep jumpers. Countless times the Clippers ran the drive and kick right down our throats. Playing without a real point guard for three quarters didn’t even seem to bother them a bit. They ran Fred Jones at the point, Ricky Davis, a banged up Jason Hart a few minutes and Eric Gordon handled the rock quite a bit.  What’s really sad is that Ricky Davis is one of the most shot happy players in the NBA. He doesn’t like to give up the rock at all; but tonight, playing good minutes at the point he dished for 11 assists against our poor defense.

Eric Gordon showed why he was a lottery pick, one that I actually thought might go to us in the draft ( I never really thought Presti would reach for Westbrook at #4 when we already had Watson and Ridnour). He was just incredible offensively. He has the total package and is likely going to be rookie of the month for January. Westbrook, Watson and Mason all got schooled by EG.  Al Thornton also played the best game I’ve ever seen him play.  Green and Durant both shared duties on him and neither did much to slow him down. Read more…

Recap

vs.

Oklahoma City Thunder (9-34, 3-17 road) vs. Los Angeles Clippers (9-32, 4-18 home)

TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

Offensive Rating: Thunder: 101.7 (29th), Clippers: 100.5 (30th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 108.9 (19th), Clippers: 108.2 (17th)
Pace: Thunder: 93.9 (6th), Clippers: 91.3 (15th)

Here’s something that sucks: The Clippers have nine wins this year. And 22 percent of their wins have been against OKC. So far, the Clips are 2-0 against the Thunder, with both games being played at the Ford Center. Maybe we just need a change of scenery seeing that the Clips have the worst home record in the league. Now the first matchup the Clips won 108-98, but that doesn’t count because that was with P.J. The second, the Thunder just flat out stunk and came out incredibly flat in the first quarter and lost by 10.

Now since we know the entire nation will be watching, we’ve got to hope we show up in the first quarter. For some reason, I have a little of the same feeling I did before the Minny game after OKC beat the Knicks the night before. Now obviously, the Thunder’s has a day to rest and the Clippers aren’t hot like the Wolves were, but still Kevin Durant played 45 minutes and Russell Westbrook logged 39 two nights ago. Let’s hope we don’t see another case of the jello legs. Read more…

Preview

I thought I would wait until the end of the season to do it. I figured it would be best to wait and survey the completed product and then make an informed judgment. But the heck with it — I officially endorse Scott Brooks as the next coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Drop the interim tag. I want Brooks. I know the rumor is that he’ll be named the head man anyway, but quit waiting. I’m ready for it.

I know that the team could potentially hit a skid and lose a number of games. And in that case, if OKC loses its last 10 of 11 or something and the season finishes on a sour note, it may seem like I jumped the gun. And if that happens, I may be sneaking back on here late at night to delete this post and then take a stand saying I never said that. But the fact is, I really like Coach Brooks and I really think the guy can coach. He’s clearly made the team better and most importantly, he’s somehow created an excited atmosphere for the team where the chemistry is off the charts. I don’t know how you inspire a nine-win team like this, but he’s done it. But why Brooks? Why not Avery Johnson or Sam Mitchell or Eddie Jordan? Here’s 10 reasons why: Read more…

Commentary List, Scott Brooks

First off, a big happy birthday to my wife who is celebrating her golden birthday today. I got her a game worn Robert Swift jersey. She’ll love it, right?

• Jeff Green says he called bank on Wednesday’s game-winner: “SLAM: Did you call ‘bank’ on your game-winner? Jeff Green: (Laughs). Yup. SLAM: You did? JG: Yup.” Be sure to read on to see a good interview with Russell Westbrook too.
• Excellent lengthy feature by Chris Colston of USA Today on Oklahoma City and the ride that is professional basketball: To some, this game might be a meaningless blip in the NBA’s 1,230-game regular season. But inside Ford Center on Sunday, it doesn’t feel that way. Overhead speakers rumble with recorded thunder, and nearly all game the pale-blue-clad crowd roars when the home team scores. It’s Oklahoma City’s ninth sellout in 23 games — and third in its last four. Even with the NFL conference championship games on TV, the upper deck is packed, going we-just-won-the-NBA Finals crazy when team star Kevin Durant hit a three-pointer to cut the Miami Heat’s lead to five with 9:44 left” The best quote from the piece came from David Stern -  “I can’t imagine any scenario where that franchise would leave Oklahoma City.”
• What’s that you hear Washington? That’s right, it’s Thunder: “Once the ball banked off the glass and through the hoop, I immediately thought to myself that the Thunder could actually enter the all-star break with a better record than Washington. It seemed impossible at the end of 2008, but the Thunder is playing better basketball than the Wizards right now and its schedule between now and the all-star break is slightly softer.”
• Really interesting thinking here by Shoals about alley-oops: “Maybe we’re putting the heads ahead of the other heads. But remember, the dunk itself was once thought of as useless tomfoolery. Now, most people would agree that relatively sane dunking is the easiest way to ensure the ball goes through the hoop. The paradox of progress is that imagination is always linked to style, and yet it also provides the seed for innovation that changes the face of function. Think about the way the Suns or Warriors use to alter the dimensions of the court (scrapped book idea: using advanced physics to prove this), all through a mode of play dripping with style. Is a team like the Magic or Hornets this close to another great, sustained breakthrough?”

Read more…

Other

• Well wouldn’t you look at that. The ESPN “Worst Ever” tracker is missing a team.

• David Thorpe has Russell Westbrook at No. 2 in his latest Rookie Watch: “All of which makes Russell Westbrook‘s rise more impressive. He’s fourth in this class in minutes played, yet he has been able to advance his game every month. He is now playing at a level equal to Rose and Mayo, and he has even been better in some areas. Most importantly, Westbrook has helped his team earn four wins thus far in January — equal to Chicago’s win total this month and three more wins than Memphis has in 2009. Of course, having Kevin Durant as a teammate is a big help, but Westbrook was huge in three of those wins. He is playing like a legit ROY candidate now. I expect Rose and Mayo to regain their edge and finish the season in grand style. Both of them were ready for this season long before it started. They have the pride and smarts to figure things out and get themselves going again. But the question is, when will Westbrook hit The Wall? And when he does, will it knock him down for good or just prove to be a temporary obstacle?”

• Ball Don’t Lie, Behind the Box Score: “This game should have been fun, and maybe it was the six hours of basketball-watchin’ talkin’, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I dug seeing the Thunder play well, and attack attack attack, but it just doesn’t feel legit against that Warrior “defense.” That’s not said in retrospect, either. It felt that way during the actual, close, contest. Kevin Durant missed some shots, but 27 and 12 boards and five assists … yes. Jeff Green, very active, very nosy, game-winning bank shot that you know he didn’t call, 26 points in 32 minutes. And Russell Westbrook? This cat can ball. Strong as hell, 30 points and seven assists, and Sam Presti really nailed this one. Gutsy call that looks like one of the bigger draft steals of the last decade. Nobody had this guy going at fourth overall except for Presti, and it looks wholly deserved at this point.”

Read more…

Other

(Deep breath)

Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

Woo.

Boy it feels nice to be on the other end of that. After watching it happen four times to us, seeing our guys jump all over each other after the buzzer was pretty stinking nice. Oh, and guess what? Nine baby. Nine.

But dang, what a great game that was. There were 14 ties and 22 lead changes. The first half was played at a hellish pace, with both teams combining for something like 480 points. At halftime I actually had to go towel off. The third quarter slowed down dramatically with Oklahoma City  scoring just 17 and Golden State 25. The fourth quarter was all about who could get more stops, grab more rebounds and turn the ball over less. And I guess, who had the ball last. In this case, it was Jeff Green knocking down an awesome jumper as time ran out, lifting the Thunder to a 122-121 win over the Warriors. Woo.

The Thunder three were BIG tonight. I mean big. Russell Westbrook had 30 points and seven assists (20 points in the first half), Green 26 and Kevin Durant 27, 12 boards and five assists. So to spare you from grabbing your calculator, the three combined for 83 points, or 68 percent of OKC’s total points. It was funny that with about a minute left Fox Sports Oklahoma awarded the player(s) of the game to Durant and Westbrook and left Green out. Oops.

A major sequence was the 9-2 run the Thunder had mid-fourth to tie the game at 88-88. The Warriors looked poised to pull away, but OKC (NINE!-34) hung tough and clawed back in it. After taking a four-point lead minutes later, the Thunder dodged a huge bullet as GSW (13-30) got three cracks at the bucket but came up empty and OKC closed winning the quarter 33-26. Those type of things weren’t going the Thunder’s way when they were losing the close ones. Now, they’re learning how to scrape and claw and fight and win.

Check out some of these stats from tonight: OKC played at a ridiculous pace (98.0) and had an offensive efficiency of 124.5. Conversely, Golden State had an offensive efficiency of 123.5. OKC shot 49.4 percent from the field on 85 shots and GSW hit 52 percent on 75 shots. Some may disagree, but to me, it wasn’t about bad defense tonight. It was just about really, really good offense coupled with a fast game. And for another double-take stat of the game, OKC took 33 free throws and hit 30 and GSW took 40 (!) and missed just two — but none bigger than C.J. Watson’s with about a minute left. Remember when the Thunder were hitting just 60 percent of their free throws and losing games by seven? Yeah, that would’ve been the case again tonight if they didn’t hit 91 percent. Nice work guys. Read more…

Other Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder

I don’t want to detract from tonight’s game and pregame write up, so I will make this brief.  There was a little news blurb out of Tulsa today, specifically our 66ers D-League Affiliate. Apparently Presti’s people down there (we are one of only three teams that actually own our own affiliate) re-acquired the shaggy one Steven Hill who had a little cup of coffee with the big team earlier this year. They traded former Thunder player Ronald Dupree who was in Tulsa.

But in other news, Presti’s guys acquired Gary Forbes in a trade for Chris Ellis. I’ve never heard of Chris Ellis, but I have heard of Gary Forbes. He was doing his best last spring trying to get drafted out of UMass. He had a good showing at the Portsmouth invitational, and was the MVP of the Orlando pre-draft camp (which is the camp that all the guys that aren’t a lock to get drafted go to). He is a scorer, not so much of a defender, and he is a shooting guard/swingman. He’s about the same size as D-Wilk.

The only real significance here is that we need a shooter, and he has been shooting well in the D-League.  He was traded for, and so it gains significance with the trade deadline less than a month away. If we consolidate our roster, moving out one or more guys, this may be somebody that fills a role on the team if we are short handed. Same goes for Shaggy Hill.

The press release is here.

Gary Forbes’ Draftexpress bio.

Other

vs.

Oklahoma City Thunder (8-34, 2-17 road) vs. Golden State Warriors (13-29, 9-9 home)
Wednesday, Jan. 22
Oracle Arena
Oakland, CA
9:30 PM CST

TV: FS Oklahoma (Cox 37)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

Offensive Rating: Thunder: 101.1 (29th), Golden State: 108.2 (11th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 108.5 (19th), Golden State: 113.2 (29th)
Pace: Thunder: 93.8(6th), Golden State: 97.5 (1st)

So what is this, like the 14th time we’ve played the Warriors? Because holy crap, it sure feels like it. This is game one of a two-game West Coast road trip. This is OKC’s first trip to the left side of America, but is the third time the Thunder has played the Warriors. I guess that’s not so bad. The first matchup, Golden State beat OKC 112-102 but the Thunder got revenge with a 107-100 win on New Year’s Eve. Since Ron Adams joined the bench that night, OKC’s been the best team in the league. Well, maybe not, but it kind of seems like it compared to the first two months.

After winning two out of three during last week’s homestand, OKC is now 5-5 in its last 10. The Warriors have won two in a row and three of four. What does that mean? It’s a nice way to say these two teams have horrendous records but have been playing better lately. Read more…

Other Golden State Warriors, Oklahoma City Thunder, Pre-game

Over at Clipperblog last week, Kevin Arnovitz wrote a nice little diddy about sharpshooting forward Steve Novak and the concept of the 180 shooter. Rick Majerus evidently coined the term and it means adding a players’ field goal, three point and free throw percentages and see if it total 180. If it does, then you’re a dang fine – DANG FINE - shooter.

So I got to thinking: Does OKC have any potential 180 shooters? Well, obviously Desmond Mason, right? Oh, he’s just a 97 shooter (in his defense, he is just 0-3 from three). Obviously, on the Thunder roster just one player is even in the discussion. But looking at the numbers, what Durant is doing is kind of amazing. Right now KD’s total is 175.9. He’s shooting 47.2 percent from the field, 43.3 from three and 85.4 from the free throw line. Compare that to last year, where Durant’s total was 159.1. He hit 43 percent from the field, a paltry 28.8 from trey and 87.3 from the line. (One thing that I’d like to point out is that a lot of people chalk up Durant’s low field goal percentage last year due to shot selection and too many threes. The thing is, he’s taking 3.1 threes per game compared to 2.6 last year. The difference? He’s making them. He’s not forcing it. He’s letting the looks come when they do. Just wanted to throw that out there.)

For perspective, look at the top five scorers in the league. Dwayne Wade leads the league in scoring and his score is 149.4. LeBron has a 156.1. Kobe is a 169.3. Danny Granger has a 171.3. Dirk Nowitzki clocks in at 177.0. What’s separating guys like Dirk and KD is their ability to hit the three. That’s where most players fail. LeBron hits a high percentage of shots, but that’s because he’s only four feet away from it most of the time. The trend with 180 shooters (or guys close to it) is that they are typically guards or “specialist” players. You don’t typically see scorers like Durant and Dirk in the upper 170′s. Read more…

Other

• One of the faces of the Mt. Rushmore of blogging, Dan Shanoff approves of the TrueHoop Network: “Things I would like to see: ESPN aggressively integrate the blogger content into their daily NBA coverage — not just top stories, but into features, analysis, game recaps and more. The bloggers take advantage of the affiliation with ESPN — which team media relations departments can’t help but respect — to expand their coverage innovatively. This has been hanging out there as an opportunity for every major sports-media site out there — for years (even with SB Nation corralling some of the best into their network). Kudos to Henry and ESPN for making this happen. They would be smart to do something similar in the other sports, too; THIS is what a “blog network” should be.”

• Charles Barkley signs with the Thunder (h/t Doug): “Coach Scott Brooks, upon the recommendation of one of his players, Chucky Atkins has decided to sign TNT sports personality and commentator Charles Barkley to a one-year contract. Barkley who currently tips the scales at 495 pounds says that it will take him roughly about 48 hours to get himself back into basketball playing shape.”

• Bleacher Report talks midseason hoops and discusses who they think is the worst team in the league: “The Thunder. A total of eight wins speaks for itself … The Oklahoma City Thunder are the worst team in the league. They will be a good team in the future, but as of right now, they are pretty bad. They have their nights where the upset their opponents, but in the end, they only really have Durant and Green for now.” Two things there guys: 1) OKC’s eight wins ties them with one other team so they’re not the worst just based on that alone and 2) Other than Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, the Thunder’s got potential Rookie of the Year Russell Westbrook and new signee Nenad Krstic. Just a heads up for when next time you want to talk about a team you clearly haven’t been following.

• SI’s Bryan Armen Graham has Russell Westbrook No. 4 in his rookie rankings this week: “So much for Oklahoma City’s challenging the record futility of the 1972-73 Sixers, who went an NBA-worst 9-73. With Westbrook providing a spark, the Thunder have split their last eight games to improve to 8-33. The highlight of Westbrook’s week was a 22-point, seven-assist, three-steal performance in a win against Deron Williams and the Jazz. That marked the Thunder’s first victory against a team currently with a winning record.”

• Mike Baldwin has a Q&A with Mr. Bennett: “I’m hearing a lot of good things about how people feel about the experience. We’re getting better as a team. We’re getting better in the arena. It’s a lot of fun. We’ve gone from early on, some not-so-good comments, to no comments, to hearing a lot of nice comments. But we’ve still got a long way to go.”

• Sporting News power poll has OKC at No. 26. Movin’ on up: “Scott Brooks is a good coach and the team needs stability — removing the interim tag would be a good idea”

• And if you were wondering who did my very fine header, it was a good friend of mine that was kind enough to lend a hand. She’s an amazing artist that has an awesome website (www.val-o-rie.com) that you should definitely check out while looking for ways to waste time at work. I freaking love her drawings.

Other Bolts

We’re about halfway through the 2008-09 season and after 42 games, Oklahoma City has notched just eight wins on its belt. But while we can dissect midseason stats of this kind and that kind, let’s look at something that the Thunder are actually one of the tops in the league in — attendance.

Back in 2005, OKC fans were tagged for being incredible. And deservedly so. People were shocked at the support thrown at the displaced Hornets. Then when the team returned another year, the support continued. The Hornets left with our hearts in their pockets, but the NBA returned to Oklahoma City — and the support has been stronger. After 23 games at home, the Thunder are averaging 18,617 fans a night, just seven people behind what defending champion Boston averages. The Thunder have completely sold out nine games on the season and on average, there’s a butt in 97.3 percent of the Ford Center’s seats. (And no, Jim Traber’s butt doesn’t count as two.) Read more…

Other Attendance

So here it is. This is what millions (or tens, whatever) of fans have been waiting for. The official launch of Daily Thunder.com.

So what is it? ESPN? The Worldwide Leader? Can you introduce me to Sage Steele? Well, it’s simple: A few months ago I got a very surprising call and an offer to join Henry Abbott’s TrueHoop Network. And after I cleaned up the mess I just made on the floor, I of course said, ” YESYESYESYESYES.” Basically, Daily Thunder is hopefully going to be one of your media outlets to help you follow your favorite basketball team and ESPN and TrueHoop make it that much better. (Read Henry’s story on the release of the network. He’s got some brilliant thoughts on sports and blogging in there. Henry is just plain awesome.)

Also, this is going to be a bit of a tag team deal. I absolutely love the statistical analysis of Joe from Thunderguru.com. I understand some of the modern stats, but for the most part I’m just like the guy that pretends to have seen a commercial when he really hasn’t and the whole time you’re trying to talk about it, he’s just nodding and going, “Yeah. Ha! I love that part. Yeah.” That’s me with New Hoop Stats. But Joe is an expert. And he talks in statistics so you better learn yourself on Modern Stats if you want to follow along. And I highly advise that you do because it’s an amazing way to look into the game and gives you so much more insight and information about why your team is doing this, but not doing that. We got the offer to go into a Thunder blog collectively at a big fan blog outfit, but after I got the call from the Blogfather, I couldn’t say no. And I liked the idea of teaming up with Joe so much that I thought, why not combine up anyway and make a Thunder blog that Robert Swift can be proud of.

One thing that I think is extremely cool is the imbedded ESPN video player over on the right. It updates constantly with new highlights and new videos, so if you want to catch highlights from last night’s game, you can come here and get all the Thunder you can handle in one stop.

Joe and I will being doing podcasts (hopefully) on a regular basis talking about trades, the upcoming draft, the team’s better play and last week’s Gossip Girl. I love podcasting with Joe because he’s smarter than me and most the time I just end up listening and learning something new. I’ve been an NBA fan for years – I mean what kid wasn’t when No. 23 glided into every living room. But being an Oklahoma kid, I’ve never really had the chance to follow an NBA club. That’s why it’s good to have Joe around. He’s the Earl Watson to my Russell Westbrook. Uh, bad comparison – sorry Joe.

One thing Joe and I highly encourage is fan input and wild, biased opinions being tossed about like MSNBC on crack. If you notice something about Joe Smith’s socks and you write 500 words about it, email us at dailythunder@gmail.com and if it’s good, we’ll post it as its own story. If you find an interesting story on the Internets and think we should see it, hit us up. Or if you just want to email us and tell me how sexy my voice sounds, go for it.

Anyway, take a swing around the network and check out all the awesome blogs like Forum Blue and Gold, Hardwood Paroxysm, WizzNutzz, Clipperblog, 48 Minutes of Hell and so on and so forth.

Big time thanks to Henry and Kevin Arnovitz (who will be managing the network) for this opportunity. There may be some kinks to work out and right now, everything is kind of a work in progress. But we’re excited about it and we look forward to blogging the Thunder, the only way we know how. Awesomely.

More reading on the TrueHoop Network via Sports Business Journal.

Other TrueHoop Network