Unless the press release I got this morning has Scott Brooks winning Most Improved, it will be announced today at a press conference at 4 PM that Coach Scotty will be named Coach of the Year.
A press conference has been called to announce an NBA Award, and Scott Brooks and Sam Presti will be the Thunder people present. So put all that together.
Well deserved award as Coach Brooks guided the youngest team in the league to a plus-27 game improvement. He got a young group to buy into a philosophy most young teams don’t. Of course I know we’ll all fear the curse of the Coach of the Year award, but I’m thrilled for Brooks and he absolutely deserves this recognition.
If you’re interested, through my extensive network of sources, I have the team’s arrival info if you’d like to welcome them back to Oklahoma and show your support. I think they could use a lift. They will be back this afternoon, arrriving at Will Rogers, Hanger 2 & 3 again, at 3:30-3:45. So head on over there, clap for them when they get off the plane, chant “BEAT LA” and maybe score a high five or something.
J.A. Adande with thoughts on last night’s game: “The Thunder don’t have a Dwight Howard to single-handedly deter shots. That might even work to their advantage. Players get lured into thinking they have a layup, then a long arm — be it Kevin Durant’s or Serge Ibaka’s or someone else’s — appears to knock the ball away. They blocked 17 shots Tuesday, the most ever by a Lakers’ opponent in the playoffs. It was so bad that Lamar Odom wound up shooting a rarely seen fallaway hook shot.” Read more…
Oklahoma City down two, 15 seconds left, with possession. Quick, you have 20 seconds to decide what you want to do.
Me? It was simple. I had my mind made up before the team made it to Scott Brooks to talk about it. Go for the win. Live or die, right here, right now. Win or lose. You came to Los Angeles to let it all hang out, so why stop now? With the way the whistle was turning in the last two minutes and the fact you’re on the road in Staples, what do you like better? A 3 to win, or overtime? Plus you have a guy like Kevin Durant to take it for you. I pick the 3 to win every stinking time. Read more…
Game 1 didn’t go so great. But as we covered, Oklahoma City was in the game regardless. It happened because of stellar defense and also a little luck – the Lakers missed some shots. The Thunder hung tight behind a big game from Russell Westbrook and despite 24 from Kevin Durant, he was far from himself. So how are they going to do it tonight? I’ve got three adjustments. Read more…
Dime put up an MTV Cribs style video today, getting a look at James Harden and what he collects, does and wears. He picks up his custom Range Rover, goes bowling, shows us his shoes and records a little in his in-houses studio. It looks like he’s figured out how to put that rookie contract to good use.
Kobe is pretty beat up, writes Sam Amick of FanHouse: ”Can he lead the Lakers to 15 more wins with this battered body of his? The question remains unanswered entering Game 2. After resting his fractured right index finger and other sorted ailments for four of the last five regular season games, Bryant admitted after the Lakers’ Game 1 win over Oklahoma City that there was an adjustment in order for Tuesday night’s tilt. He will “adjust his stroke” from here on out, using his middle finger to compensate for his fractured digit.” Read more…
Okay by now I’m sure everyone has read all the stories about how the Thunder are likely dog meat the rest of the series and how Ron Artest dominated the match up with the scoring champ and how the Thunder looked intimidated in the first quarter. I’ve read them, you’ve read them, I’m over it. We played the defending champs and nobody thought we would sweep them I don’t think, so a loss in game one is just a loss and we have at least three more games to turn this into a serious series.
Since we all watched the game we all know what didn’t work (Kevin Durant’s jumper, Green’s jumper, Thabo’s jumper—hmm there seems to be a theme here), but I thought I would look at it from the other direction and see just exactly DID work in that game, what has worked well during the regular season, and what we could hope to see more of in game two and beyond.
I’m not talking X’s and O’s here, but lineups. Lineups that give us favorable match ups and a better chance to win. We have 82 games of historical data that we can mine to see just where our strengths and weaknesses lie.
In yesterday’s game Coach Brooks used 9 different lineups worth mentioning (a few more actually, but they were for less than a minute and don’t serve our purpose here); a few of them he used more than once, starting with the starters, which I will call lineup A.
Lineup A: RW, TS, KD, JG, NK. This lineup got three stints, the first was in the first quarter for a bit more than 8 minutes where it was -4. Next it showed up in the middle of the second quarter for about 3.5 minutes and was +3 and included a 5-0 run. Finally it was back in to start the second half where it was -3 in 6.5 minutes. The total was 18 minutes, -4 , which works out to -15 points per 100 possessions. Not so good. Read more…
I think we can all agree that Ron Artest did a terrific job on Kevin Durant yesterday. KD went just 7-24 from the floor and took eight 3-pointers, hitting only one. He took almost all jumpers, and never looked comfortable. A lot of it had to do with some visible nerves early in the game, but most of it was because of Artest just being a pest. He was disruptive in every way, pushing, pulling and grabbing Durant around every corner.
Here are five plays Durant was stopped and on the end, one successful trip down the floor.
OK, so let’s analyze a bit. The first play: Read more…
First things first: Today is the 15th anniversary of the Alfred P. Murrah bombing in Oklahoma City. 168 Oklahomans died that day. Take a moment, reflect on it, think about where you were when the bomb went off or say a little prayer.
A nice story from Casey Wilson of the Oklahoma Daily on the connection between the bombing and the Thunder: ”Fifteen years after 168 people lost their lives in the bombing of the Alfred P. MurrahFederal Building, life in downtown Oklahoma City is thriving while living in the shadow of the deadliest domestic terrorist attack on American soil. Today, the Ford Center is filled with thousands of people united in cheering on the Oklahoma City Thunder. This team is, for Mayor Mick Cornett, a prime example that shows how the city and the state has moved forward after the bombing. For many years, Oklahomans allowed for the bombing to define them, Cornett said. But now the Thunder allows the city and the state to connect itself to something more positive, he said. Read more…
After one quarter, Oklahoma City trailed the defending champions 27-13. The Thunder were 5-19 from the floor, scored a season-low 13 points and just looked completely lost. They were rattled. They were visibly shaken and nervous. The game had a look and feel of a pending blowout.
And I don’t blame them. They played like a bunch of 21-year-olds playing in their first playoff game ever. In Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers, no less. Heck, I was shaky and all I was doing was watching on a TV 1,300 miles away. I can’t imagine how I would’ve felt if I had to walk onto a court and try and get all that anxiety out while playing excellent basketball. So after 12 minutes, Oklahoma City looked overmatched. They looked a little scared. And I feared the worst for this Game 1. Read more…
I think we all know the importance of Game 1. And not so much to just win it, but to play well. At times this year in big games and big moments, Oklahoma City has looked a bit shellshocked (at Denver anyone?). And you know that they’re nervous and anxious to play this one. The Thunder have a totally different feeling in their stomachs than the Lakers do. Read more…
I’m the kind of sports fan that’s always looking for a sign. Something, anything, that could be a good omen for my team. Whether it be some kind of past history like, “In even years, the Lakers have lost their last five opening round playoff games.” (I just made that up.) Or maybe something simple, like my brother who did really well in his March Madness bracket picking the Thunder to win. I’m easy like that.
So this week, I’ve been hunting signs. I’ve been waiting for a good omen. I thought maybe the fact it rained and stormed all weekend might be something good. You know, Thunder and all. I like the tie-in with probably one of the biggest moments in state history coinciding with the greatest tragedy, the Murrah bombing. But that’s not good enough. It’s not enough for me to feel like it’s destiny. So I waited for something to hit me. Read more…
(Good morning playoff bound Thunder fans. Thank you for your support of DT. Pour some sugar on me.)
The latest little trend on the Internet is coming up with Google search stories. So I thought, why not (see what I did there)? I realize this is cheesy and devoid of any humor, but still my wife said she thought it was good and so I’m posting it. Enjoy your Saturday, watch some NBA playoff basketball today and start getting mentally prepared for tomorrow.
We know the task ahead of the Thunder starting this weekend. Not only does the youngest team in the league have to take down the defending champions, but they also have to take down one of the most storied franchises in all of sports. It won’t be easy. It won’t be pretty. And at times, it won’t be fun. You’ll yell, cuss, scream and want to toss a potted plant through your TV screen at least once.
But here’s the thing: The Lakers are vulnerable. They’re… beatable. It’s true. Kobe is banged up with the busted finger and swollen knee. The bench is depleted with Sasha Vujacic, Jordan Farmar and Luke Walton all battling injuries. Andrew Bynum may or may not be 100 percent. And Derek Fisher has been anything but stable in his 39th season as an NBA point guard. So if there were a time for a young, raw, inexperienced team to sneak up and bite The Champs, this might be it. Read more…
(Your turn. Anything you want to share? Send it in to dailythunder@gmail.com. Today’s feature comes from Rosie in Norman.)
Full disclosure: I might be considered a “New England sports fan.” You know, one of those East Coasters who expects the sports world to revolve around her teams. Someone who is actually happy that it’s Yankees-Red Sox for the game of the week. Someone who is spoiled by Sports Success! But, actually I grew up in northern Connecticut during the 1970s, and was only really interested in the Sawx (Dewey Evans was my fave!) and the UConn Huskies (from the pre-Calhoun/pre-Auriemma years! Hey! I remember when Dom Perno was the coach of the men’s team). Oh, the Celtics were there. But, I only really tuned into the Celtics during the years of the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, and by then, I was a teenager who rooted against the Celtics just to annoy my Dad.
I moved to Oklahoma about 14 years ago, when I got a job at OU. Since then, I’ve been busy teaching and raising three children. One of the joys of parenthood is passing on your fandom to your kids. By age seven, my daughter was a sports junkie who watched Sports Center, first thing in the morning. Read more…
Unless the press release I got this morning has Scott Brooks winning Most Improved, it will be announced today at a press conference at 4 PM that Coach Scotty will be named Coach of the Year.
