Bucks vs. Thunder: Pregame Primer
vs. 
Milwaukee Bucks (8-5, 2-4 road) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (8-7, 3-3 home)
TV: ESPN (Cox 29, HD 720) FS Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 753)
Stream: Click Here (also on ESPN360)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 8:30 CST
View from the enemy: Bucksketball
Offensive Rating: Thunder – 103.8 (23rd), Bucks – 104.1 (21st)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 101.4 (6th), Bucks – 100.7 (5th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.2 (17th), Bucks – 94.2 (11th)
Hellllllo America! Just like we thought, the Thunder has gotten picked up for a nationally televised game and as a result, the franchise and those close to it are going berserk over it. And rightfully so. This is a big one for this team. It’s a good chance to get people on the Kevin Durant bandwagon early this year. Get people talking about Russell Westbrook’s improvement. Maybe alert people to James Harden’s complete game. And most of all, show everyone this isn’t your 2008-09 Thunder team. It’s new and very much improved.
Oh yeah, the actual game. That’s important too. This is the first of a five-game home stand and actually one of the most winnable ones. Oklahoma City matches up pretty well with Milwaukee and here’s a chance to get a little run going. Rip off four of five here and now you’re talking seriously about playoff stuff. It’s still VERY early, but at least you can realistically start picturing it.
THE MATCHUPS
We all know about Brandon Jennings. He’s exciting, he’s intriguing and he can flat out play. But there is one important thing to remember about him: He’s a rookie. As awesome as he may be and may become, he’s still going to have “those nights” and a quality defender like Russell Westbrook can help force those nights. I imagine Thabo will get a little time on Jennings as well, but I feel like Westbrook is the best pick because he can match quick with quick.
Michael Redd has been coming off the bench for Milwaukee and again, a great matchup for Thabo. He torments undersized twos that want to shoot. It just plays right into Thabo’s best D. Inside, the Bucks will look to Dan Gadzuric who is filling in for Andrew Bogut who is questionable and Hakim Warrick who was signed in the offseason. Ersan Ilyasova is a jumpshooting small forward that has to play the four. He has nice touch, but he’s very inconsistent and a bit stiff. Uncle Jeff should have a nice game on the drive tonight.
I would guess Charlie Bell (6’4) would get the assignment on Kevin Durant because Bell is a nice defender, but Carlos Delfino (6’6) is technically the three for the Bucks. Whoever it is, nobody really matches KD well tonight. I love these type of games.
The Bucks have lost two straight and while 8-5, they are 1-2 against teams above .500. And guess what? The Thunder is above .500! We’re in that category! This game just feels important right now. The more you win, the more important they feel but with everyone watching, I feel like a good showing is in order. It’s all about defending Jennings and I like OKC’s personnel. The Bucks are one of the best in the league defensively so it could be a slugfest.
Tip at 8:30 CST. Go ESPN.
Does anyone have numbers on our small-ball (+Harden) lineup? It seems we don’t really lose anything (Krstic not a big defender/rebounder) while getting considerably quicker and better moving the ball.
Junkyard dog!!!!
Yeah with our roster I don’t think other teams really benefit from going small ball.
this game will get KD into the all star game
Thanks for telling me not to drink Mr. Kid Rock. Now back to the Thunder game..
I agree.
*drink and drive
OMG what has gotten into thabo? key jumpers and a sexy spinning drive to the hole
I know I should wait until the end of the game, but who has looked like the ROY?
WOW HARDEN IS ON FIRE!!!!!!!!
I LOVE HARDEN SO MUCH
Sef is possessed right now…
hey remember when we realllllllly needed a outside shooter this off season???? i think we found him… harden is the mann
We just needed to get Thabo back in.
And i have to add, westbrook has looked terrific all game….he has aroused me for the first time
Ohhhhh boy does DJ look stiff. I think Krstic is more flexible.
OMG, we are now guaranteed a .500 November. We are 9-7 after tonight.
Am I the only one moist in his nether regions?
I’ve been on the “let’s not get ahead of ourselves” bandwagon most of the year, but this is just a huge win. I was terrified of this game — this was the kind of game the Thunder seemed to struggle in this year. Just a huge win. I’m starting to get excited. That probably means they’ll lose the next time out, but I’m starting to believe. Just a little bit.
Ibaka! To the rack! And 1!
I’m sure Grant’s right there with you but I can’t see how you could consider that funny past the age of 14.
Yep
Trying to set up Jennings when it looked like he may go on a tear. ESPN D-teamer completely blew it.
Kevin Durant came to play. James Harden continues to earn more minutes. 15 points on 6 shots..
That is smegma…. not excitement.
KD, Westbrook, Green, and Harden have all impressed in this nationally televised game
The national media is already all over our jock straps, as we are the “it” and “hip” team of the future pick, but after this game, they will be performing felatio on us
hahahahahha i laughed out loud at this
@The DON
Did you watch the ESPN feed? They already were.
LMAO I see @The DON keeps saying nasty stuff
Yes I did, and i must say I thoroughly enjoyed the cunnilingus they performed on us. I had to smoke a cigarette afterwards and ask them “was it good for you?”
Great performance tonight…really happy to see these guys perform on a big stage. Huge step in the right direction, hopefully they carry this momentum forward. Beating Houston on Sunday will be a better test to show where these guys are at.
had to tivo this one, so i was too far behind to come on here and comment. but wow, that was an AWESOME game. kd was a beast, russ actually played well (minus the frustrating switching on d- my little brother hasn’t seen the thunder all year and noticed it in the first quarter), green was decent, and harden was great. excellent job of taking advantage of the national tv showcase. 9-7!
he was already in it before this game . . .
Great game, but Russ needs to stop switching on D…. yes I know I’m the resident Russ apologist.
I really wish we had some PG depth for that one.
@B-RY
Seriously. I felt good about knowing about that defensive issue of his (thanks to Kev) until my little brother noticed it in the first quarter of the first Thunder game he’s seen this year. When its that noticeable, I think its gotten out of hand. It just looks so lazy.
That was my downer moment for the day. Otherwise, great win!
great offensive game by Russ, but it is getting out of hand the switching . . .
@nick
lol – if your little brother is like 9, then I look bad . . . lol . . . anyway it is getting bad, my writeup will be up soon . . . at least tonight RW looked more active, but it’s the same thing over and over on defense . . .
@nick
It really was just lazy on his part… and for a minute, it seemed to effect everyone else on the team like dominoes… I couldn’t tell who was guarding who anymore… then Brooks called timeout.
Offense looks great – RW had the lane all night, Thabo actually hit some jumpers, Harden just plays ball, and KD is KD! Green also looked aggressive in going to the hole . . . they had a lead and crushed them in the end!!!!!!!!
I almost wonder if Brooks is having them switch on purpose… is there any reason for that Kev?
I really think we need to pursue kyle lowry fron houston. He is bar none the best backup PG in the league. i wonder what we could dangle to make houston bite on that trade? Some combination of collison and cash or picks? Although they do have a log jam of terrific frontcourt players like hayes, landry and scola aleady so i dont know how bad they’d want collison
of course when I’m scoring, some of it is subjective . . . so I watch the backup point guard to see what he does for a clue – now tonight was weird because our backups are hurt and who knows what he told Wilks . . . but all the other games Ollie and Weaver RARELY switched off, and remember Russ is very athletic so that can’t be an excuse . . . last game he switched off on the center from Utah (Okur) at least twice – that is just insane, onnce Okur scored over him easily – Brooks is too smart a coach to really want that . . .
You wanna waste trade bait on a back up PG?
@Kev
That’s what I figured. Hmmm, maybe it’s just a sophomore thing… KD was pretty lazy on D during his sophomore year, and only put in the energy when he thought he could make a big play… I can’t think of any other excuse.
That said, he did hold Jennings pretty well, although Ridnour seemed to get anywhere he wanted with Russ on him.
Oh… and watching Green shut down Jennings on the perimeter was actually kind of fun…. but I don’t ever want to see it again.
@Chas
well lowry is like a borderline starter. not your typical backup pg. and if we can fill a pressing need with one of the best players that plays that role in the league, i would think it would be a good move. keep in mind, all i proposed is collison and SOME cash. i’m not saying trade our 1st rd picks and any other valuable pieces for him
Thanks everyone. The game recap is up.
With all the switching Russell did, the Bucks guards weren’t taking advantage of it. I don’t know what was going on there. For a while, Jennings and Luke would run back and fort through the lane looking to pass out, drive and kick style. You could almost sense them not wanting to use their frontcourt. For a while, the kick outs were killing us from the arc. Then that stopped in the 3rd quarter, and they never got it back.
You would think that Jennings or Luke could either one drive past Green or Ibaka, but they rarely tried to score off the drive. They just looked totally out of sinc.
Durant, Harden and Green did take advantage of their mismatches, and so did Russell whenever he saw an open lane. After a while the Bucks just dove to double those guy and Thabo just knocked down the open shot.
When it all falls like tonight, and the other team isn’t taking advantage of our defensive switches, it’s just a slow burn all the way to a double digit win. I like how the Thunder can just clamp down once they’re up. That’s a defense we didn’t have last year.
http://www.twitvid.com/D29A4
KD acts like they were meaning to switch since they were so small…