Daily Thunder.com

Jax Raging Bile Duct :

Mark! :@Jax
Raging Bile Duct
Stop trying to argue with words, Jax. I’m tired of it.

My apologies. Next time I’ll use all caps to win.

Both comments...very funny!

Just to put in my opinion, I like the comments the way they were over threaded. Someone previously said (I'm too lazy to go back and look) that they liked knowing where they were in the comments and then coming back to that spot the next time they came to the site. I'm the same way. To have to constantly go back and look for new posts in each thread would be annoying. Maybe there is an easy way to do that that I don't know about, but I'm used to and like the current set-up.

Jax Raging Bile Duct :

Mark! :@Jax
Raging Bile Duct
Stop trying to argue with words, Jax. I’m tired of it.

My apologies. Next time I’ll use all caps to win.

hahahaha

Mark! :@Jax
Raging Bile Duct
Stop trying to argue with words, Jax. I’m tired of it.

My apologies. Next time I'll use all caps to win.

Will serge get mins at center, yes, is he going to spend most of his mins there no, especially with Aldrich on the roster, I would evem go as far as to say he gets less mins at center then last year. He will be primary backup for green, Aldrich, krstic and collision will be the center rotation.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct

Stop trying to argue with words, Jax. I'm tired of it. :(

HurricaneKen :
And to put it to rest, I just watched all the games I had on my DVR and every time Krstic goes to the bench Serge checks in. Every time Green goes to the bench Collison checks in.

Yawn. Substitution patterns have nothing to do with Serge's position. They just slide Collison over. We keep telling you that same thing. 82games.com tells you that same thing. Every stat site online lists him as a PF or F. The Thunders own website lists him as a F. (http://www.nba.com/thunder/roster/)

@HurricaneKen
utah is worse without boozer, but we cant expect 3 or 4 wins over them.

Who is serge defending when he checks in?

HurricaneKen :
Did Portland address any of their needs? Nope. Good D but they have no
offense. All of their bench is old, Roy is older and now a risk.

Portland has mediocre defense. They have allow few points per game but that's only because they play at the slowest pace in the league.

HurricaneKen :
You don’t remember Utahs one win against us last year very well. Down one, Durant gets a huge no call foul with a three point shot after going better than 90% from the line that night!

Definitely not a fluke. They won on a non-whistle, but it wasn't a fluke. When we beat LA during the season by about 30, that was a fluke. One point victories are far from flukes.

DWill scored 42 points in that game. It's not like Sundiatta Gaines went 19 for 21. That would be a fluke.

Utah plays us close every time. They could sweep us this year. They're really good.

@HurricaneKen
Go back, look at the game tape and look at who his primary assignment is and who Collison's primary assignment is. It's not uncommon for the weakside post-defender to get a lot of blocks, and that's traditionally the role of the PF.

ESPN does not put Portland at "best" 48 wins. 48 win total is the average projection of all the ESPN experts put together. These numbers are by nature conservative, which is how you get scenarios like the Thunder winning getting the 2nd seed with 52 wins. Portland lost Martell Webster, but added Wes Matthews and Luke Babbitt. They'll have a full year of Marcus Camby. They lost an absurd number of man-games from key contributors like Brandon Roy, Greg Oden, Nic Batum, Joel Pryzbillia. There's no way, in my mind, they are worse next year and there's a good chance they'll be quite a bit better.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Look at the schedule every time we played them. Anyone had a chance against us those nights. They got schedule luck against us.

And to put it to rest, I just watched all the games I had on my DVR and every time Krstic goes to the bench Serge checks in. Every time Green goes to the bench Collison checks in.

HurricaneKen :
Did Portland address any of their needs? Nope. Good D but they have no
offense. All of their bench is old, Roy is older and now a risk.

Portland's only need is to be healthy. Maybe you forgot how they beat us with Juwan Howard at center and Roy/Oden/Przbilla in street clothes.

You don't remember Utahs one win against us last year very well. Down one, Durant gets a huge no call foul with a three point shot after going better than 90% from the line that night!

Just because espn said so doesn’t mean it is going to happen, last year we were supposed to only win 35 games, rosterwise they are just as good as last year, they probably wont have as many injuries this year., they have camby all year.

HurricaneKen :
November looks easy to me. We had Utah by the balls last year. Their only win against us was a fluke. Portland got worse, and so did SA, older and no good. Houston is on the down side of their roster and Philadelphia? Need I say anything?

I disagree with every statement you made except Philly. Utah beating us wasn't a fluke. Every game we played Utah it was close, and the first two times we played them they had serious injuries to their roster. Portland didn't get worse, they're coming back healthy, which makes them better - and they beat us like stepchildren even when they were hurt in the first place. San Antonio added Splitter, a major need for them. Yes, they're old. Old enough to beat us twice last year. Houston isn't on the downside of their roster. Even if they don't have Yao back by then, they took us to the woodshed last year except for one game.

Did Portland address any of their needs? Nope. Good D but they have no
offense. All of their bench is old, Roy is older and now a risk.

@HurricaneKen
So us playing him at PF isnt numbers? So PFs are not allowed to block shots? just because he blocks shots and rebounds doesnt make him a center, he doesnt defend the opposing teams center.

Espn.com puts Portland at best 48 wins with there schedule and roster.

Whatever, numbers don't lie. 9 blocks in one game and fouled out doesn't sound like PF.

@HurricaneKen
serge played more then twice the number of minutes at PF then he did at center, he is a PF, also he says he models his game after garnett, he wants to be a PF.

Also we have to renounce rights to collison if we wait for him to become a FA, or he is a cap hold. he is a unrestricted free agent, we cant match, this isnt like jeff green where we get to match the offers. We pretty much need to sign collison to an extension or really risk him leaving.

Portland got worse?

HurricaneKen :
The only time Green and Collison were on the court at the same time was when Serge fouled out. Serge rarely played PF. Are we talking about the same team?

Yes, same team. But your eye-test is wrong.

http://www.82games.com/0910/09OKC13.HTM#bypos

Ibaka played 25% of the team's PF minutes, and only 10% of the team's center minutes.

@HurricaneKen
When Serge was on the floor with Collison (which was most of the time Serge played), Collison played C. Also, Green-Collison lineups were the 2nd and 4th most often used lineups last season...

Let Collison be your anywhere guy, he is an awesome utility player.

All I am really saying is we have too many centers on the roster that aren't proven and can't play. Get rid of Mullens if you are going to sign Aldrich. Get rid of D.J. White if you want Serge at PF.

The only time Green and Collison were on the court at the same time was when Serge fouled out. Serge rarely played PF. Are we talking about the same team?

November looks easy to me. We had Utah by the balls last year. Their only win against us was a fluke. Portland got worse, and so did SA, older and no good. Houston is on the down side of their roster and Philadelphia? Need I say anything?

@HurricaneKen
Regardless of what Serge is listed as, he played a lot more minutes at PF alongside Collison than he did at C alongside Green.

HurricaneKen :
Check your facts, Serge is listed as the back up center for Krstic. And there is no way we get rid of Collison. Presti is waiting for Collison’s contract to expire so we can get him to his real price. He is the best utility player in the league. I bet we trade Mullens after letting him ride the bench one more season. We tried to see if he would mature and he didn’t come close.

Doesn't matter where they list Serge, the majority of his minutes are at PF. Not that position matters much anyway.

The safest bet in Vegas is saying Mullens scores zero! Why would we keep him? We just wanted to see if he had anything.....got fooled.

November is our brutal month, but that stretch from the 4th to the 20th is especially tough.

Thu 04 @ Portland
Sun 07 vs Boston
Wed 10 vs Philadelphia
Fri 12 vs Portland
Sun 14 vs San Antonio
Mon 15 @ Utah
Wed 17 vs Houston
Fri 19 @ Boston
Sat 20 @ Milwaukee

Fortunately there are only two back to back games in that stretch, and only 4 of those games are road games, but every opponent except for Philly is a quality opponent. We play Boston and Portland 4 times in that stretch, and Utah and San Antonio and Milwaukee all made the playoffs. The jury is still out on Houston, but they always give us fits.

Thank God for December though, that's going to be a good month.

Check your facts, Serge is listed as the back up center for Krstic. And there is no way we get rid of Collison. Presti is waiting for Collison's contract to expire so we can get him to his real price. He is the best utility player in the league. I bet we trade Mullens after letting him ride the bench one more season. We tried to see if he would mature and he didn't come close.

@Sammy
yeah our sched is easier then last year.

@HurricaneKen
serge is a PF, collison is in the last year of his contract and also really is a PF even if we use him at center, mullens and aldrich are the only centers on the roster in a year for sure.

With what we've added this off season in shooters I bet we increase our PPG to over 103 and decrease our PA to 97. Which should get us to at least 59 wins.

agree

Only play three times vs. LAL, SA, DAL, GS. That's a gift from the sched makers right there.

New subject....What are we going to do with all these centers? Serge played as a center last season. If Aldrich works out what would we do with Mullens? Does Serge move to PF? Then, is Serge better than Collison? Do we get something for D.J. White? who makes the roster this season?

I don't like Shaq as much as what I like Shaq bringing to the table. He gives us the chance to put Krstic and Serge on the bench at the same time in the middle of games to make good runs in the 4th.

@ Mrs.Dt lol don't let Royce blame you.

Still a great piece.

Thunder are young and handled the worst schedule in the league last year very well. Should be used to it this time around. I doubt they drop more then 26 games this season.

@HurricaneKen
shaq doesnt play defense anymore, has not said nice things about oklahoma and doesnt fit the team

Looks like 15 back to backs, no road trips over 3 games long (!), another packed March/April (including our longest homestand of the season). Tough games:@Por@Uta@CHI@SA@ORL
on a back to back
a night after playing SA at home
the night after playing GS at home
1/13: vs. ORL on nat'l tv the night after flying home from HOU
, another offday, and vs LAL)

@HurricaneKen
Changing back away from THAT subject.

The truth of the matter is, there are VERY few games I think we probably won't win. We will have a great chance in every game.

New subject....Why didn't Presti go after Shaq? We have the cap room for him! He settled for nothing to play with a contender. He just wanted to be on a finals contender team. No one had more need for some one like Shaq then the OKC Thunder. He would have brought a lot of game off the bench and a lot of good attention. Here we are trying to build a team and the one thing we could of had was a big man that had been there and done it. Our toughest test will come against the Lakers next season. A team he's played for and won with! We should have gone after Shaq :(

Of course, I have a slight fear of the Kings and Clippers this year lol

March looks nice too, but they have a tough final stretch (AGAIN) in April.

the MIAMI game is an ABC 12:00 game

awesome

justin :Late November to Christmas looks like a nice stretch.

yeah they could really cruise during that stretch and stock up on some W's

pretty tough start to the season i think