Daily Thunder.com

osano-whoa :@Kcic66

This is cool to hear. I have to say as much as I love the Thunder (and I’m basically obsessed) I don’t think I can’t fully appreciate just how special it is to have a team like this. I have a feeling that 20 years from now I’ll look back on the Thunder like a fat kid who dated the hottest girl in his high-school without realizing that wasn’t normal.

hahaha, this board is too funny!

@Kcic66
This is cool to hear. I have to say as much as I love the Thunder (and I'm basically obsessed) I don't think I can't fully appreciate just how special it is to have a team like this. I have a feeling that 20 years from now I'll look back on the Thunder like a fat kid who dated the hottest girl in his high-school without realizing that wasn't normal.

I'm not gonna lie, I was a huge Sonics fan, and when they moved I wanted nothing to do with this team. I wanted them to lose every game in that first season. But what some might not know, I was at the Thunder's first ever game and no I'm not talking about in OKC. I'm talking about their first pre-season game, in my hometown of Billings, MT. I met Sam Presti, the year before at a Sonics game and I was extremely impressed by his persona. I was about 10 rows up and I yelled his name, and he actually came up and talked to me. I then saw him again in Billings and we talked for a long time and he told me for everything that happened during that summer. He then told me that he was going to make this team I would want to keep watching. He then escorted me to KD as he signed my Sonics KD jersey, I almost teared up because since I was 4 I was a Sonics fan and it was almost like I was saying goodbye. Living in Billings there are not many die-hard NBA fans, and as Nick Collison was doing the layup drills, he yelled "Suuuuuperrrr" and I could barely even whisper "Sonics" because I was still treating this game as my last game to say goodbye to the NBA. But as I left the Arena, Sam gave me an address and told me to let me know if I needed anything, let him know. I wrote him a letter during the summer, I asked for a anything he could send out for a family I was babysitting for a summer job. Ten days later he sent me a ball signed by the whole team, with 3 Thunder hats for the kids, and one for myself. It was then and there that my anger for this team completely fanished. Like everyone, I was so excited for this season. I flew out to OKC to see my first game (which tickets were given to me from Sam) and trust me I would do anything to live in OKC so I could go to every game. Sam Presti and these amazing and most of all professional players brought me back to become an NBA fan. I think we need to look at how lucky we are to have such a stand out GM in SP and such a great team that loves to play and be with each other. I'm so excited to grow old with this team!

doin' the 50 win dance!

:)

guys i actually have a tear in my eye. i remember being a little kid(i still am, berly 18) and discovering the game of Basketball, i remember opening day in the back row of loud city, i remember it was the last thing i ever did with my best friend before she passed, i remember watching Durant vs lebron december of last season both going off for 40. I remember watching Ibaka officially make his presence as a defensive player be known shutting down Duncan. I remember attending Game 3 of the Playoffs and my ears nearly popping on the 8-0 run. Man we've come along way in just two seasons. I love this team so much!!

@j-mo
Yea I would love to go 3-1 on this road trip, but 55 wins sounds nice too

I think 5-3 for the rest of the season is realistic giving us a win total of 55. That's huge! To follow up a 50-win season with a 55-win season is something no one would have believed was possible 18 months ago.

He's much better than those other guys, but it's weird to think we might one day talk about Green in the same way we talk about Wilcox and Earl Watson.

Fifty wins baby!!!!

yeah, that's right, uh-huh, talkin' 'bout the THunder, here
8)

YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

innocent bystander :
FIFTY!!!!!!!!!

Yep

Daniel Plainview :
What did KD do whan VC was trash talking?

Score a 3 in his face!

WHY NOT NATION :
A cheers to Chucky Atkins, Earl Watson, and the Greatest Eddie Griffin Look-alike Ever: Kyle Weaver.

man its crazy to think Watson was our starting PG(hes not that bad, but def a back up PG), Petro at one point was our starting center lol, remember it was um Wilcox, Green, Durant, Mason, and Watson for a while. Man we have come A LONG FREAKIN WAY. I will admit those Watson/Wilcox oops were fun to watch.

Point Differential of +10.4 in March.

celllllllllllebrate good times, come on!

:)

FIFTY!!!!!!!!!

National media used to put up slideshows featuring the Thunder compared to the worst teams in NBA history.

Suck it.

What did KD do whan VC was trash talking?

ChilamBilam12 :

DJ R7 :
wow its crazy that BD said that in March of 2008 we we’re 2-14, i remember those painful times, its crazy to imagine its only really been two seasons.

the best part about being a “real” fan, is that you can look back to the bad times and smile.. the world might have been laughing at us once, but there isn’t a single team that looks forward to seeing the boys in blue now

exactly, believe it or not guys but there was a time in OKC where the Thunder were a joke to people. Espn said a few teams we may be the worse team in decades. Now look at us, the Thunder are the talk of the NBA, and not even the Lakers or Spurs wanna face us. Lets make that final push and nab that championship!!

A cheers to Chucky Atkins, Earl Watson, and the Greatest Eddie Griffin Look-alike Ever: Kyle Weaver.

Not sure if BD said this. But the Phoenix crew said this win meant 15-2 in March. The most wins in a month in franchise history

Another boon to our point differential

Milestone win tonight. 50 wins with 8 to go. I said 53 wins at the beginning of the season is what I thought was possible at maximum potential. But now the Thunder could get 55-56 and wow, THAT would be incredible.

Remember 2008, with 23 wins and a roster full of scrubs? We've come a long way, baby.

@justin
We've had poor transition defense for a while (even last year I remember it being a problem). It's always going to be hard to do with Russ at the baseline or on the floor for a lot of our possessions. It does seem like KD has tried a little harder to get back immediately lately, which has shown up in his plus defense.

I'm more worried about all the crisp passing. Even with a renewed focus, at least two of our starters (Ibaka and Russ) tend to lose their man with a lot of movement and passing.

John :
Nash was -17

Mostly due to the end and the hack a Perk stuff. Suns mysteriously abandon the pick and roll late in games, which is weird.

justin :
Denver might hurt us in transition. Last two games I noticed Suns and Warriors trying to leak out a bunch after misses (and makes sometimes) and catching our defense in mis matches.

yeah Portland did that a few times too, now that i think about it, so did the Raptors. I wonder if the NBA has noticed this.

Nash was -17

DJ R7 :
wow its crazy that BD said that in March of 2008 we we’re 2-14, i remember those painful times, its crazy to imagine its only really been two seasons.

the best part about being a "real" fan, is that you can look back to the bad times and smile.. the world might have been laughing at us once, but there isn't a single team that looks forward to seeing the boys in blue now

PHOENIX -- Kevin Durant and James Harden scored scored 22 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder completed the best regular-season month in franchise history with a 116-98 victory over the fading Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night.

Michael Westbrook added 16, Serge Ibaka 15 and Kendrick Perkins 13 as the Thunder won their fifth in a row, 11th in their last 12 and 50th of the season. Their 14-2 March was the best monthly record in franchise history. As the Seattle SuperSonics, they went 14-3 twice -- in March of 1994 and November of 1996.

Too bad they added a football player on our team in the recap

One of the weirdest endings to a game that I have seen in a while.

2 minutes into the Thunder's first home game against MIlwaukee, I leaned over to my wife and commented "either Andrew Bogut is the best player in NBA history, or we are the worst team in NBA history".

We've come a long frickin' way.

Denver might hurt us in transition. Last two games I noticed Suns and Warriors trying to leak out a bunch after misses (and makes sometimes) and catching our defense in mis matches.

justin :
To answer the question earlier, our DRTG in March ends up 102.9, which would rank 5th over the course of the season.

thank you, i knew i could count on you!

I would be thrilled with a 6-2 April.

@JJJ
When I watched Denver it wasn't as much the PnR, just an overall sharing of the ball. If we stay home and swarm the paint, we can handle their offense better than Phoenix in my opinion. But yes, once they went from Nash PnR to Vince iso as their primary set, our defense was able to take off.

Against Denver, I'd hope we see a lot less Thabo. Denver's backup SG (Smith) is harder to handle defensively than their starter (Afflalo), and it's going to be a bad move allowing Afflalo (Denver's best defender) to roam off Thabo.

wow its crazy that BD said that in March of 2008 we we're 2-14, i remember those painful times, its crazy to imagine its only really been two seasons.

ChilamBilam12 :
thank you Thunder fans.. i may be under the influence of a Jager shot or 7, but i would hug you all if i had the chance right now

Yes, drunken hugs all around!

justin :
ORTG: 128.7
DRTG: 108.7
PACE: 90.2
Defense was far more effective in the second half, the DRTG in the first half was 114. We still ended up with a below average defensive game for us, overall.
Offense was terrific, aided a lot by the Hack a Perk. 8-18 from 3PT range, turnovers weren’t wild.
Only issue that really is still there is the starters come out really flat in the third and can’t generate offense. Once Harden came back into the game, it started to swing in our favor. He’s going to have to start eventually.
Great road win, they mentioned on the Suns broadcast that this is the most wins in a month in OKC or SEA history.

there you go thats the history being made tonight that i was talking about!!

To answer the question earlier, our DRTG in March ends up 102.9, which would rank 5th over the course of the season.

Love me some Nazr

Did I read the stat-crawl right?

Harden 8 shots, 22 point?

With missed free throws?

so we made history tonight right? we broke the franchise record in something i forget, and second season in a row in which we achieved 50 wins!! please Royce make a thread just talking about the turnaround in this team compared to two years ago!!

thank you Thunder fans.. i may be under the influence of a Jager shot or 7, but i would hug you all if i had the chance right now

Ugly in the beginning but finished strong. Good win! Go Thunder!

ORTG: 128.7
DRTG: 108.7
PACE: 90.2

Defense was far more effective in the second half, the DRTG in the first half was 114. We still ended up with a below average defensive game for us, overall.

Offense was terrific, aided a lot by the Hack a Perk. 8-18 from 3PT range, turnovers weren't wild.

Only issue that really is still there is the starters come out really flat in the third and can't generate offense. Once Harden came back into the game, it started to swing in our favor. He's going to have to start eventually.

Great road win, they mentioned on the Suns broadcast that this is the most wins in a month in OKC or SEA history.

Also, this is a great win. I love this team.

@Keith
Once they went away from their P&R, it swung in our favor. I haven't watched Denver much since their trade, but I would assume that with the point guards that they have, they run a lot of similar sets?

We def need to work on our pick and roll philosophy

justin :

DJ R7 :
Justin or Crow somebody please tell me, since the trade how many times has a team gotten over 100 points on us? 4, or 5 times. Compared to almost every game pre-trade?

It’s low but keep in mind the team’s been much slower.

true but a few of the teams we've faced post-trade are fast offense teams.

justin :

shiki :
Does anyone think Harden is our second best scorer?

He’s getting there.

I am a little late to the party, but Harden has a LONG ways to go before he is better than Russ. Like more than a month and a half of consistent scoring.

DJ R7 :
Justin or Crow somebody please tell me, since the trade how many times has a team gotten over 100 points on us? 4, or 5 times. Compared to almost every game pre-trade?

I think I heard somewhere that the Thunder had a top 5 defensive rating since the trade, but I don't recall which category it was in...Probably points against.

JJJ :
Stop looking so awkward James, it’s not Kelly that’s interviewing you.

James is left-handed. He can't help it. I hope that isn't why he gets frozen out sometimes.