There’s nothing to worry about. There’s nothing to worry about. There’s nothing to worry about. There’s…
Dime on Serge Ibaka last night: “Right after Kevin Durant’s showcase of savage bucketry, it was Serge Ibaka who almost got the Thunder over the hump against the Spurs last night. Throughout the fourth quarter, Ibaka was giving Tim Duncan all kinds of problems on the defensive end: taking charges, poking the ball away, and swatting his shots. And with every big play, Ibaka (10 pts, 8 rebs, 3 blks) would pump up the crowd and had OKC’s arena on the verge of exploding.” Read more…
Down two, with eight seconds to go in what might be the most important game to date, Oklahoma City inbounds the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead.
The ball goes in right where you’d want it. To the guy with 45 points. To the guy that’s completely carrying the team. Problem is, Kevin Durant doesn’t catch the ball where he can do anything with it. He’s on the sideline, off-balance and trapped immediately. He has no choice but to give it up. And it lands in the hands of Thabo Sefolosha – the man who passed the ball in – open for 3.
And wouldn’t you know it, in and out. IN. And out. INNNNNN. And out. Take a moment to let out a deep sigh, punch the ground, kick the wall or all the above. It’s what I’m doing right now. Read more…
For us fans, it’s a good thing we don’t have to stew and think about the abortion of a game that was played yesterday in Indiana. And I’m sure the players feel exactly the same way. Wipe the brain clean and start anew at home tonight. The problem though is, tonight’s game is a very big one against the San Antonio Spurs. Read more…
Take five minutes and go back through the archives. I’ve probably said 50 or so times following a big win that THIS one convinced me this Thunder team was actually good. THIS is the statement game that tells the world the Oklahoma City Thunder have arrived. Typically that was following a bad loss that made me want to cry into a pillow or after a big win against a contender.
But I’m not sure I totally believe it. Why? Mainly because of games like yesterday’s laugher in Indianapolis.
I think the main reason for this is that we’re all a little nervous, a little on edge. Or at least I am. There are 14 games left in the season and OKC holds a six-game lead of the Houston Rockets, the team nearest to it that’s sitting outside the top eight in the West. Yes, at this point playoff seeding and home court advantage is what’s on all our minds. But yet, in the dark recesses of our fandom, there’s the scary thought we try to avoid but all think about constantly: Could this team fall on its face and miss the postseason?
If you ask me the answer is no. Seriously, no. Well, I’m pretty sure… no. I suppose if they lost three straight it might get tight… but no. Well… I guess they could go 5-9, Houston could get hot and blow it. I will now put on a black jumpsuit and lie down on a busy street at night. Read more…
I joined Ryen Russillo on the NBA Today podcast today for a good conversation about the Thunder, their playoff chances and a bunch of other very important things. We start the conversation about 21 minutes in. Have a listen, won’t you?
It’s funny, as Ryen notes, he was excited to talk Thunder and of course they drop a stinker in Indiana. And he mentions a great stat: Yesterday was the first time since in 142 games Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant have played together, that they didn’t combine for at least 20 points. That’s fairly incredible.
(Also, an aside: If you don’t listen to Ryen Russillo every day, you’re missing out. The guy knows his NBA as well as anyone. He’s a daily must for any NBA fan.)
Amare Stoudemire has been wearing the KD II’s and playing much better in them: ”I’ve been wearing them for … how long have I been wearing these, Duds? The Kevin Durants,” Stoudemire asked his next-door locker room neighbor, Jared Dudley. “You’ve been wearing them probably about, a week and a half, two weeks?” Dudley replied. “Yeah, I’ve been wearing ‘em for a couple of weeks,” Stoudemire continued. “They’re not bad, they’re not bad. It’s always Nike Mafia,” Stoudemire said. “We always support each other’s shoes and gear within the Nike family.” Read more…
Maybe you don’t go to the Jay Z concert in Indianapolis last night, huh? As Royce so aptly predicted, this game wreaked of sleepwalking, playing down BELOW an opponent’s level and pretty much ruining all the good vibes that the Friday night destruction of the Raptors had created.
Awful, abysmal defense. Atrocious man-to-man, pathetic rotation and even worse help-side defense pretty much showed that this game was going to be ugly early on and it only got worse after halftime. When DJ White and Kevin Ollie get subbed in with 10 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, your coach has officially waived the white flag and you know somebody’s down by 20.
Oh, and they couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn from deep either. Is there anyone left who doesn’t fully appreciate James Harden’s playmaking and three point shooting coming off of the bench yet?
The Thunder got off to a horribly slow start and were it not for Jeff Green attacking the rim early on, this game would have gotten out of hand much sooner than it did. I’d like to thank Jeff Green for showing up to play today as he really seemed like the only starter who was awake and oriented from the tip, as his 20 points on 6-10 shooting, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block numbers showed. The rest of the starters…ugh. Read more…
A bunch of the team went to a Jay Z concert in Indianapolis last night, so combine that with the unusual 1:30 CDT start time and I fear for some sleepwalking through the first quarter or so. The good news is that you might be able to get away with a quarter of that against the Pacers. Read more…
(Morning Thunder fans. Thanks for your support of Daily Thunder. How’s your BRACKET look?)
Nothing more to say than a cute kid, rooting on James Harden during last year’s NCAA tournament. Actually, there is a little more to say. I enjoy how the kid asks where James Harden’s mom is. That’s funny. Harden didn’t have the best tournament last year, but it didn’t affect his draft stock. And hopefully, it didn’t affect little Santiago’s love for him.
Wednesday in Charlotte, the Thunder built a 19-point lead with just over two minutes to go in the first half. The game had the looks of a cruise control blowout. Then the Thunder got sloppy, turned the ball over and allowed the Bobcats to cut the lead to seven before halftime and build valuable momentum going to the locker room.
Tonight? Oklahoma City wasn’t about to let it happen again. The Thunder led by 19 with 2:45 left in the half against Toronto tonight and instead of falling on their faces, OKC extended the lead to 27 and basically ended the game right then and there. You want Coach of the Year material for Scott Brooks? Here’s your Coach of the Year material. Brooks put his team through a rough and tumble, physical, intense practice Thursday after the loss in Charlotte. He was making and stressing the point to his young squad that under no circumstances can you take your foot off the pedal. I think his group got the message. Read more…
What’s separated this Thunder team most from last year’s, other than the actual success and all, is the fact that the team can refocus and not let one bad game carry over to another. Then another. Then another. And that’s what hopefully happens tonight. Everything that happened Wednesday gets washed away because Oklahoma City comes out ready in Toronto tonight. Read more…
(There hasn’t been that great of a response to this, so who knows if it’ll continue. But if you just want to share something, anything, email it in. It doesn’t have to be a 1,500-word essay. Just whatever you feel is unique to your Thunder fan experience. Or something about how the bathrooms smell in Loud City. Whatever. This week’s comes from reader Justin.)
I remember the exact date. It was July 26th, 1996. On that day, my Seattle Supersonics (reigning Western Conference Champions) signed Washington Bullets reserve center Jim McIlvaine to a reprehensible seven year, $35 million contract. Jim McIlvaine was going to make more in 1997 than Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Mitch Richmond, and yes, our very own Shawn Kemp – our rising star who was just a couple months removed from thoroughly dominating the 1996 playoffs.
Many Sonics fans remember this signing because it was effectively the end of an era. Even most NBA fans know what happened next: Shawn Kemp, insulted that his contract was not restructured after his dominant season (arguably the best PF in the league in 1995-1996, certainly in the playoffs), was traded for Vin Baker. After one decent year, Baker spiraled into alcoholism. Read more…
An interesting tidbit from Scott Howard-Cooper: “Since it will come up soon enough, when ballots are returned at the end of the regular season and Oklahoma City’s Scott Brooks is named Coach of the Year: No one has won the award in their first full season as a coach since Avery Johnson of the Mavericks in 2005-06. Mike D’Antoni of the Suns sort of did it the year before — it was his first full season in the NBA, but after eight in Italy.”
Practice was intense yesterday: ”Attributing a fierce and fiery practice to wanting to get past Wednesday’s blown opportunity at Charlotte, Kevin Durant proudly spoke about how things got heated during Thursday’s session. “It was cutthroat,” Durant said. “One-on-one, going at each other and bringing the best out of each other. We got angry. We threw basketballs. We yelled and screamed. But it’s all a part of our growth. I think it was one of our better practices. We’re excited for shoot-around (today) and the game.” Read more…
It’s that day. Across the country, thousands of people have called in “sick” to work, scheduled two day vacations, or if they were really thinking ahead, conspired to knock their wife up ten months ago so they could use FMLA in order to fully concentrate on the most basketball packed days of the year. (edit. Speaking of the FMLA joke, if this post reads entirely like gibberish and is loaded with typos, I’m blaming the five hours of sleep I have racked up over the last two nights and the fact that I’m letting Clark, JrJr type this for me.) March Madness begins!
For most NBA fans, and probably far too many league executives, this is also the time of the year where the bulk of college scouting is done. If a player has a couple of good games, and in some cases just one great game, fans will clamor for that guy to wind up on their team’s NBA roster. On the flip side, if a guaranteed lottery pick lays an egg while on national television, his stock could really slip.
So, for all of the amateur scouts who are watching college basketball that does not involve the Cowboys or Sooners for the first time this year, I have provided some viewing tips that could help you get an initial look at who Sam Presti and the rest of the staff might target. First, though, let’s outline what the Thunder will be seeking. Read more…
You have just a few minutes to get into the DT bracket group. Free stuff could be at stake. And because everyone is doing it, here’s my Final Four picks if you want to piggyback off them: John Tesh, North Carolina, the L.A. D-Fenders and Kansas. The Jayhawks are just that good this year.
A non-Thunder fan also saw a poorly officiated game: “Thunder fans are upset about the officiating, so am I. Most likely, we’re all upset by the free throw disparity between the two teams. The Bobcats had a free throw rate (FT Rate) of 41%. So basically, Charlotte took 2/5 as many free throws as field goals, a high rate; meanwhile, Oklahoma City struggled to get to the line (a FT Rate of only 21%). That, and a non-call when Jeff Green was “clubbed upside the head,” according to Daily Thunder is probably why Thunder fans are so mad.” Read more…
There’s nothing to worry about. There’s nothing to worry about. There’s nothing to worry about. There’s…
