The scariest thing in downtown Oklahoma City on Halloween evening wasn’t the ghosts or ghouls in the crowd. It was the Thunder’s play on the court. I don’t know who our guys dressed up as, but they were pretty good costumes because I definitely didn’t recognize them.
For example, who was that guy wearing No. 35 tonight in the first half? Whoever he was struggled shooting the ball in the first half and turned it over six times. And who were those guys in white playing defense? Utah scored 52 points inside the paint tonight and took 33 shots at the rim. The Thunder I know don’t usually allow that sort of thing.
Overall, it was a pretty ugly, uninspired, frustrating performance by the Thunder. They lost by 21, Utah shot 53 percent from the field and OKC gave up 120 points. So, quick! Everybody freak out. I know. I thought they were going to go 82-0 too. Read more…
Any time you’re playing a wounded dog it’s a little scary. Especially if that wounded dog is a pretty good basketball team. The Jazz are expected to be a contender in the West, but in their first two games haven’t played well. They’re 0-2 and in both games, they lost by a total of 38 points. Obviously Utah is a good club and they’re due to start putting it together any moment. Read more…
This season the Nuggets are like a box of chocolates because you never know what you’re gonna get (run Forrest run!)
In this week’s episode, the gentlemen from TGR talk to Chris Dempsey, beat writer for the Denver Post. Obviously there is a lot about Melo and his trade demand, but we also go through the roster to see what the future may look like for this franchise.
So sit back with a fresh can of Bubba Gump shrimp and about 16 Dr. Peppers and enjoy.
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(Howdy fans of a 2-0 team. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. Don’t eat any candy with razors in it.)
Michael Wilbon interviewed Kevin Durant and it was aired before the opener Wednesday. They talk about KD’s summer, his love of OKC and how he’s dealing with the hype. It’s a pretty enjoyable interview, save for the fact that I love Durant’s shirt and totally wish I had thought of that.
Fitting. That’s the first word that came to mind for me after this game ended. Fitting.
Fitting that Jeff Green was the hero. Fitting that after his fairly horrific start, that Uncle Jeff was one of the key guys that came up huge for the Thunder in the second half. Fitting that he finished off the game for OKC to move the Thunder to 2-0. And fitting that Green made another one of “those plays” that seem to define his value.
Green is a hot topic around the fanbase and his supporters will most definitely point to this game. Jeff Green just seems to come up with big plays. Even if you’re not a Green apologist, it’s kind of hard to deny.
After Charlie Villanueva hit a corner 3 that appeared to put away the Thunder and seal the kind of loss that ruins your Friday night, Green found the ball in his hands with seven seconds left in one of those “This is supposed to go to Durant, but we can’t get it there” plays. And of course Green wiggled his way down the lane and made a driving layup to win it for OKC. Read more…
Ah, just like last season. 1-0 and heading to Detroit. This time though, we’re not going there with a “Holy crap! We’re 1-0!!!” feeling. We’re not going to Detroit fully expecting a return to reality. Nope. Now we’re expecting another 2-0 start. Just like last year. Read more…
In the first quarter of the Thunder season opener, the announcers were talking about Jeff Green. Hubie Brown I think said “When Jeff Green is playing well, the Thunder are hard to beat.” Obviously, when a player on any team is playing well, we would hope and assume that the team plays better. But how much better? And do some players tend to tip the scales more than others?
I went into this with no good guess about who tends to determine the outcome of Thunder games more than others. You could make the argument that if Durant plays well, we will win, because he’s so much of the offense and when he’s playing well, he’s playing really well. At the same time, if someone like Thabo or Serge lights it up, its more unexpected, so maybe their play is more influential in determining if the Thunder win or lose.
I decided to do this a little more visually and a little less mathematically than I would normally tend to, because it’s a study where its so hard to control for all the variables. So first I went about scoring all of last regular season’s games, to rank which were the most impressive and which were the least. To do this I just took the scoring margin of each game and added or subtracted the opponent’s average scoring margin, to account for degree of difficulty. By this method the November 8th rout of Orlando (by 28!) was our best game of the season, which seems about right, though Vince Carter did not play. Read more…
Rob Mahoney asks, “If Derrick Rose is an MVP candidate, what does that make Russell Westbrook?”: “Rose will certainly have better nights than this one, but it’s scary to imagine that Westbrook might, too. Yet Rose will live in the spotlight due to declarations of his MVP candidacy and claims of an improved three-point shot, while Westbrook will be pegged as a mere sidecar rider. The hype around Rose is deserved — he’s a phenomenal talent, and this was not one of his finer nights — but to let Durant’s clout obscure Westbrook’s brilliance would be tragic.”
Matt Moore of CBS Sports wrote a really good thing on Russell Westbrook yesterday: “Westbrook wasn’t just blinding with his speed, he was patient and deliberate when the situation called for it. It’s been this progression since his rookie season two years ago that has brought him to stardom. Well, that and his insane athleticism and uncanny ability to both see the floor and attack opportunities to get his own buckets. It’s the complete nature of his game, including his spacing defensively and intensity that makes him so dangerous … and at such a young age (Westbrook turns 22 next month).” Read more…
Well all knew it probably wouldn’t happen. But with Sam Presti, you never can tell. However, Jeff Green won’t be getting a contract extension before Nov. 1 meaning that he’ll become a restricted free agent next summer.
The two sides had quality negotiations and good talks, but as the time got closer to actually hammer out something specific, it kind of all fell apart.
“Signing a player to an extension is certainly a positive, but has become more unique,” Presti told The Oklahoman. “We explored the concept and had positive dialogue, but we will have to re-visit the discussions in the future. As we have consistently stated, drafting Jeff in 2007 and watching his development over the last three seasons has furthered our appreciation for his team-driven contributions on and off the floor.”
Green said he’s happy this out in the open so now he can move on and hopefully will stop getting questions on it.
So how’s this sit with you? Do you think Green should’ve been extended? Is this smart? My feeling is that it’s a very Presti-ish move not to extend Green because with the new CBA coming and the potential for players in Green’s salary bracket to get their money dropped significantly, Oklahoma City might be saving some good money here. Plus, now Jeff Green has got to prove his worth, something he really hasn’t done yet. Monetary motivation is always a good thing. Read more…
So Nick Collison’s replacement in the rotation while he’s out with an injury is … Daequan Cook?
That was the case Wednesday at least on opening night, and I doubt the rotation is anywhere close to set, Collison or no Collison, this early in the year. But Scott Brooks’ decision to go with Cook off the bench was significant for a number of reasons.
The Thunder played 14:51 minutes of small-ball in the 106-95 win against the Bulls by my unofficial count. The Thunder was +6 on the scoreboard in that time span. Perhaps more significantly, Oklahoma City played 8:01 of that small-ball with Kevin Durant in the game at power forward and was +10.
The small-ball came in two spurts bridging the quarters in each half. Cook replaced Jeff Green at the 2:03 mark of the first quarter with the Bulls up 25-23. The Thunder had a lineup of Eric Maynor, Cook, James Harden, Durant and Serge Ibaka. Green subbed for Durant with the Thunder up by six about three minutes into the second quarter, and Westbrook eventually replaced Maynor before Oklahoma City went to a more traditional lineup with 5:58 left in the half. The Thunder had a 43-42 lead for a net gain of three points in about eight minutes of small-ball. Read more…
(UPDATE: I got confirmation on this. It’s a social media campaign from Nike.)
I mentioned this in the Bolts, but I thought it deserved a little more attention: There is a person on Twitter that’s also posting YouTube videos called @KD35sneighbor. Basically, “Mathias Murphy” is hiding in the grass across the street taking videos of Kevin Durant ordering pizza, moving in to his house, getting in his car and taking out his trash.
At first glance, it just appears as a super weird, overzealous KD lover (but then again, aren’t we all?) that’s fortunate enough to live next door. But the more you look at it, the more the real culprit kind of reveals itself. (Also as Patrick James pointed out to me, check out the full-sized harp in the moving video. A harp? Really?)
It’s got to be some viral marketing from Nike. Has to. Read more…
Bulls by the Horns on the game: “Durant didn’t do it alone. Russell Westbrook (28 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists) lit things up, going 8-for-15 from the field and 12-for-13 at the line. Oklahoma City had a one-two punch on offense. The Bulls — in the fourth quarter anyway — had one swing and a miss. Lots of misses actually. Look, the Thunder are a good team that was playing at home in a season opener and Chicago was a team missing its second-best scorer. The loss makes sense.”
Ben Golliver of CBS Sports on Russell Westbrook’s game: “Russell Westbrook was simply devastating for the Thunder last night, slashing all the way through. He was lethal off in-bounds, off the rebound, and especially in transition. Derrick Rose matched him in points and assists. It was a classic point guard battle, though Westbrook killed Rose in terms of efficiency.” Read more…
For about the first 44 minutes of Wednesday’s opener against the Bulls, the game for the Thunder looked exactly like that. An opener. There was some rust, some miscues and some missed rotations.
But those last four minutes. Goodness. Sakes.
That was quite a statement for this season. Like a truly great team, the Thunder kicked it into another gear in crunch time. Kevin Durant hit a jumper. Serge Ibaka swatted another shot. And then the Thunder started dunking everything. Russell Westbrook finished a beautiful look from Thabo Sefolosha for an and-one flush. KD put a sweet move on for a two-handed finish. Before you could even catch your breath, Oklahoma City was up 13 points. The arena formerly known as the Ford Center exploded as if it were Game 6 all over again. Read more…
Basketball! Tonight! I can’t believe it. This summer felt abnormally long and it was due to the ridiculous amount of anticipation we’ve all had ever since Russell Westbrook’s prayer clanked off the iron in Game 6. We’ve been waiting for opening night for a while now. And it’s finally here.
I have some reservations about this game just because anticipation and over-excitement make me nervous. This team knows it has a ton of hype and expectation surrounding it. And there might be some pressure to go out and prove something big in the opening game. Plus, a sketchy preseason doesn’t really lend a ton of confidence heading in. Read more…
I enjoyed Nick Collison’s birthday tweet: “Thanks for all the bday wishes. They say 30 is the new 20. So I am looking for a house party and putting off writing this western civ paper.”
An anonymous NBA player is writing a blog for ESPN and pegs KD for MVP: “No chance Kobe wins another MVP. That means the next few (or more) MVPs will be awarded to the kid in Oklahoma City. Forget LeBron, D-Wade and Melo. They all had their shot. It’s over for them. They’re going to step aside — or get pushed aside — by KD. He’ll average 35 ppg and I predict that, in a season not far away, he’ll average 50, easy. He’s that good. And, at that point, you might see the first player in modern history to require a triple-team. He will absolutely go down as one of the top five players in the history of the NBA, alongside MJ, Kobe, Wilt and Bill Russell. That KD, he’s the real story of the season. Don’t sleep on him.” Read more…
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