(Good Saturday. Thanks for your support of Daily Thunder. It’s appreciated.)
Short, but sweet. It’s the 1994 NBA Finals with the Houston Rockets taking on the New York Knicks. As you should know, current Thunder head coach Scott Brooks was a part of that championship Rocket squad. And after a big call doesn’t go Houston’s way, Rudy Tomjanovich begins to accost young Scotty Brooks. I don’t know why I found this so funny, but the look on Brooks’ face makes me chuckle every time.
But Oklahoma City has at least one thing that definitely appeals to players. The Thunder has a training facility unlike almost any other in the NBA. It’s where the team practices and works out. To any player who thinks OKC is NBA purgatory, this place will make you thank a higher power than David Stern for allowing a trade to go through.
The facility has become an extreme home away from home. It’s an old roller-skating rink that was tricked out into a state-of-the-art basketball factory where players have been known to hang out hours after practice is over. The oversized chairs and couches are all butter-soft leather. The sound system keeps Dream and Snoop blasting. There are so many flat screens you might almost mistake them for wallpaper. There are also two chefs on site to cook for the players.
If this is the abyss, where does the line start?
Funny thing when you become the main attraction in a place that is supposed to be your purgatory, but the people embrace you so tightly you find it impossible to let them down, or let them go. You begin to realize it ain’t so bad.
“People always ask, ‘Wouldn’t you rather be in Miami or L.A.?’” Durant said. “I always tell them, ‘No.’ This place is perfect for me.”
I do believe I might shed a tear with that closer. But Jackson’s piece is very well done. Yes, we all know Oklahoma City isn’t The Place when it comes to basketball cities. I’ve gone over this. Others have covered it. It’s not news to anyone. But if a player is so shallow and rooted only in his specific interests that he cares about da clubzzz, women and a fancy downtown over being part of a really well run organization, I’m not sure I want you on my team anyway. Read more…
Slow news day, so I’ll toss this up. D-League recalls aren’t huge deals because if you remember, Kyle Weaver and D.J. White basically played ping-pong with Tulsa last year. But nevertheless, White is back with the big club. For now.
With Tulsa, White appeared in six games (six starts) for the 66ers since he was originally assigned to Tulsa on Dec. 26. He averaged 18.3 points, 11.2 rebounds and 1.5 blocks a game while with the 66ers. He tallied four double-doubles and scored 20 or more points twice.
From Jonathan Abrams: “Spoke with Jerry Colangelo today. He called @KevinDurant35 “a lock” for next Olympic team.”
Good news for KD too, because he blogged yesterday how much he wants it: “I tweeted about this a few days ago, but I figured I’d talk more about it on my blog. Y’all know how badly I want to play for Team USA this summer and in the future.” Read more…
Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (Den) 1,568,259; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 826,130; Tim Duncan (SA) 776,225; Pau Gasol (LAL) 754,070; Kevin Durant (OKC) 556,847; Trevor Ariza (Hou) 504,725; Luis Scola (Hou) 437,944; Shawn Marion (Dal) 295,310; Ron Artest (LAL) 266,554; Lamar Odom (LAL) 194,567; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 177,663.
But among small forwards, Durant is really second behind Carmelo Anthony (if you count Dirk as a power forward). I wouldn’t disagree with that by any means. Durant is the youngest highest vote getter (did that makes sense?) in the league right now with his 555,000+ votes. He’s not going to be a starter but he’s clearly going to be going. (But then again, voting doesn’t end until Jan. 18… GO VOTE.)
But still, it’s hard to ignore KD having 200,000 fewer votes than Tracy McGrady and almost 400,000 fewer than Allen Iverson. I know fans vote for what they want to see and blah blah blah, but something is seriously wrong with this if those two guys start. You have Kevin Durant, who is fourth in the league in scoring and is playing as well as ANYONE in the league behind two guys that have barely played any by a combined 900,000 votes. That, is pretty screwed up.
In this case, I am ecstatically happy to be wrong, but that does not change the facts. To elaborate, I was convinced that Russell Westbrook was not a point guard. This flawed belief was a huge catalyst in my full-throated lobbying to select Ricky Rubio with the #3 pick in last Summer’s Draft (along with my belief–which continues to this day–that Rubio was one of the two players in the draft pool with superstar capability).
My impression of Russell Westbrook after his rookie season was that he was either a selfish player more interested in his own scoring statistics than setting up teammates, or else he just lacked the instincts to be a point guard meaning he had no feel for where his teammates were and when they had a better shot. Obviously, those snap conclusions were incorrect. Despite some inconsistency this season, he has blossomed into a serviceable floor general and, at times, one of the best in the NBA.
Over his past nine games, he has had double digit assists in five and zero turnovers in two. For the year, his assist-to-turnover ratio is a respectable 2.4, far better than the 1.6 he recorded as a rookie. While no one is confusing him for Chris Paul, yet, his decision making has improved exponentially. If his outside shooting shows as drastic an improvement over the next few years, he will be an all-first teamer before we know it.
So, how did this light bulb go off for the Thunder’s ultra-athletic point guard? It could be natural maturing…but I think it probably has more to do with all the role models that the franchise has surrounded him with. Read more…
Jonathan Givony of Draft Express was impressed by D.J. White at the Showcase: “Second-year Oklahoma City Thunder allocation player D.J. White was one of the more impressive players we’ve seen in our two days here, and also one of the more intriguing from an NBA standpoint, showing us precisely why he was a first round pick. Clearly the strongest player in the game, White used his well-built body and solid athleticism to just out-pursue and out-muscle the opposition on the glass and in the post. He finished the game with 17 points and 11 rebounds on 8-13 shooting in 41 minutes of action.”
Kevin Durant’s favorite movie? Twister. How do you like that? I hear he flips for the Gary England cameo every time. Read more…
Nick Collison talked all summer about the biggest step for a young team is simply learning to win. Learning how to make plays, learning how to get stops and just learning how to end up with more points than the other guy in the end.
For the most part this year, this group has started to figure it out. And tonight against the Hornets, the Thunder did the hardest part. They got stops. They just never got the ball the basket when in counted. Oklahoma City made only three field goals in the fourth quarter and scored just 11 points.
But after Russell Westbrook’s AMAZING offensive rebound and putback to cut the New Orleans lead down to 93-92 with 50 seconds left, it just felt like the Thunder was going to find a way again. But they reminded us something that we’ve been prone to forget this year: These guys are young (very young), they’re immature and they’re still learning. I mean, have a look out on the floor during that final series of possessions. Ages for the Thunder: 20, 21, 21, 23, 25.
It was a little ironic that after getting a major stop with 30 seconds left and still down one, OKC didn’t secure the rebound. Essentially, an offensive rebound for the Hornets turned out to be maybe the biggest play of the game because Chris Paul scored later on the extra possession to push the lead to three. But OKC did a fantastic job on the glass tonight, only allowing five offensive boards to the Hornets and outrebounded NOLA by nine for the game. For shame the Thunder couldn’t just grab one more. Read more…
We’re almost four years removed from the Hornets being in Oklahoma City. And even though we have a new team here that is actually all ours, I still get a little nostalgic when Chris Paul and the Hornets come back to town. While that’s the obvious hook, the more important thing is that the Hornets are one of the teams now chasing the Thunder for the eighth spot in the West. There will be many more important games after this that will determine such things, but winning these sort of games and having two up on the Jazz already could be what eventually separate you in the end. Read more…
If you watched the Thunder/Bulls game the other night, especially somewhere in the second half, you might have had the same reaction that I and many other commenters here at DT had: how in the heck can we have a lead when we can’t get a rebound?”
Royce noticed it and made note in the recap, others suggested similar sentiments in the comments. I didn’t so much put the two together but just felt like we were getting crushed on the boards and hoped we didn’t give our lead away. The basketball gods smiled on us and we were able to put Chicago away despite a 25-13 deficit in offensive rebounds.
Offensive rebounds are flashy. They are like a 3-point shot in that they make you cheer in close games when your team gets one or makes one. If you are on the other side of the equation they feel like a gut punch. Your team is busy playing tough defense and they force the opponent into a tough shot that they miss only to see their freaking point guard come up with the Oreb and reset the offense with a fresh 24. It’s painful to watch and it makes you scream at your Center and Power Forward “why didn’t you box out“? Invariably after a few of those games or sequences us fans on the board begin to work out trade scenarios whereby we can ship off our inept bigs for guys that actually do box out and get the boards.
Rebounds are important. No doubt about it and I don’t want to diminish them. And the more we get the more we increase our chances of winning, but just HOW important are they? Read more…
After the Bulls game, The Big Lead said this: “Kevin Durant’s string of 30+ point games ended at seven, but he still got 25 points and he’s certainly a Top 3 MVP candidate right now. Our short list: Kobe, Carmelo Anthony, Kevin Durant. Fringe guys who don’t really have a shot but have been awesome, anyway: Zach Randolph of Memphis and Gerald Wallace of Charlotte. Both could guide their respective teams to the playoffs.” Read more…
Let’s just start this out real simple like. Last season, Oklahoma City was 8-33 away from the Ford Center. That was good for (or bad for, depending on perspective) the third fewest road wins in the league last year.
Fast forward to this season. The Thunder won their eighth road game on Dec. 28 and already has 10 in their pocket. That’s like, improvement or something. OKC’s 10 road wins are good for (and this time, there’s no alternative) second in the Western Conference (tied with Houston) and fifth overall in the league (again, tied with Houston). The Thunder’s .555 road winning percentage is third in the West (behind Dallas and the Lakers, who have only played 11 road games so far) and fourth overall in the league.
To me, that’s amazing. We all expected this team to be better. We all expected some kind of turnaround. But that drastic of a turnaround on the road is astounding. That’s typically the last thing that comes for young teams, or really any team. Sure you can win at home, but can you take that same energy and focus on the road? In fact, some really good teams don’t. Read more…
Kimberly the Thundergirl didn’t make it past the first rose ceremony last night. I assigned Mrs. DT to Bachelorduty last night to fill me in on the results. She said, “Kimberly didn’t make it past the first rose ceremony last night.”
Darnell Mayberry on Russell Westbrook: “The light came on for Russell Westbrook during the national anthem. At that moment, as the Thunder’s point guard stood alongside teammates during the bold, bass-filled rendition, he told himself Monday night’s game would be different. Westbrook wanted to revert to his strength, better yet to what he does best — applying pressure with aggressive attacks to the rim. “I wanted to start the game off that way,” Westbrook said. “In other games, I’ve been settling for jump shots, and there was no reason for me to do that.” Welcome back, Mr. Westbrook.” Read more…
What a bummer. I honestly don’t know if I can pick myself up after this one. I wanted it. And to think Kevin Durant was just 58 games away from tying Wilt Chamberlain’s record for consecutive games with 30 or more points. As Mrs. Daily Thunder put it, “Looks like Wilt’s record will just have to wait.” Alas.
But as a consolation prize, at least the Thunder won the game, taking over in the second half to beat Chicago 98-85 and stop the Bulls streak at four.
If I weren’t looking at the score every six seconds, I would have thought Oklahoma City trailed by at least 15 points in the third quarter. Chicago was absolutely pounded the Thunder on the glass (11 offensive rebounds in the third quarter) and just appeared to be abusing OKC.
But the Thunder was actually ahead four. And actually had complete control of the game. In the second half, the Thunder held the Bulls to just 33 points. That’s 14 in the third, 19 in the fourth. Meanwhile, OKC scored 51 in the second half. That right there people, is a good formula to winning. Read more…
This is one of those games where the scale can tip a bit. Coming off a tough overtime loss in Milwaukee just two night ago, the Thunder will likely be a little tired. They’ll likely be a little lethargic in the early going. Especially after all that shopping Jeff Green said they did on Michigan Avenue yesterday. Thunder be shoppin’. Read more…
I was wrong.
If you watched the Thunder/Bulls game the other night, especially somewhere in the second half, you might have had the same reaction that I and many other commenters here at DT had: how in the heck can we have a lead when we can’t get a rebound?”
