Daily Thunder.com

There was no foul called on this play. Seriously. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

BOX SCORE

I had a feeling from the midway point of the first quarter that this game was going to end badly. At about the seven minute mark of the third quarter all the way up until about the three minute mark of the fourth, the Thunder’s impressive run with three rookies and Durant and Westbrook helped put that fear to ease…

And then Thabo went for the steal.

To be fair, he had been sitting for quite awhile (more on that later) so it’s certainly going to be discussed about if he should have been inserted when he was ice cold for the game’s biggest play (after all, he had been sitting for a reason) but no matter how much I shook my head in disbelief that the Thunder’s most sound defender actually gambled so recklessly, this loss can not be totally placed on him. Read more…

Recap Phoenix Suns

(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

34-35 wins.

Based off of what the Thunder had done the previous two seasons and in the draft, not to mention how well their rebuilding schematic fit with the Blazers’ path a few years earlier, my expectation (along with the data suggested) was that the Thunder would be considered to be on schedule for their rebuilding effort if they could win between 34-35 games this season. Anything more, even 38-40 wins would have signaled a monumental leap forward.

Wait, Hollinger predicts the Thunder to win 51 games this year?

Needless to say, 33 wins by February 21st was not even a possibility because, well, there was absolutely no reason to think that this team could make such a huge leap from one year to the next. In short, no one saw this coming (and those who claim that they saw the Thunder sitting ALONE as the 5th seed in the Western Conference are either lying or exaggerating the “improvement” they expected to see from the team).

So what happened? And what are we supposed to think? Read more…

Commentary

(J.G.’s midseason draft look runs a couple days late because of the insanity of All-Star Weekend.)

Ironically this last part of the 2010 Draft Prospectus is the one I think most everyone will agree on. Sure, there may be a few people who dislike what I’m about to suggest but I’m almost positive this is the best course of action and would allow the organization to maintain all of the goals that it wants to going into this summer and into next season.

And sorry to some people, but it’s not bringing Oklahoma homegrown prospect Ekpe Udoh into the fold. It’s much, much more obvious of an option than that. And honestly, it’s probably the authentic #1 option for the Thunder in this draft considering where they’ll be drafting and what they need. Read more…

Commentary 2010 Draft

The X-Factor.

That is what this prospect is because, honestly, I’ve never been able to see him play and all of what I know about him is what other people tell me. But I can say this, those individuals are usually pretty accurate in their scouting reports so that is why this player has to go AT LEAST #4 since he could potentially be one of the answers for the Thunder’s low post need.

#4 – Hassan Whiteside – 6’11, 225 – PF/C – Marshall

ESPN’s Chad Ford lists Hassan White side as a Marcus Camby type of talent if he reaches his potential. A long, athletic forward who is an explosive leaper, is very quick for his size, a terror on the defensive end, a dominating shot-blocker and a very solid rebounder. Read more…

Commentary 2010 Draft

It’s at this point in the prospectus that we’ll start to see some redundancies, both in the prospects themselves but in what these prospects might bring to the Thunder that is already there but maybe just not in the way or package that the Thunder need.

For example, you could argue that the next two prospects to come are more or less Ibaka clones. And if you said that, I would not argue at all. The difference though is in play style and skill-set more than physical stature. And by no means do I want this to come across like these players would replace Ibaka in any way. They would ONLY be taken if the Thunder brass thought they could complement what was already on the team for the future, i.e. Ibaka and Green in the paint (I’d add Collison off the bench but Krstic and Collison have contracts ending soon so I’m not going to presume to say that I know what the Thunder front office will do with them).

But we still come back to the Thunder’s need of a low post scoring threat, a defensive rebounding fiend and a rim protecting shot-blocker (who combined with Ibaka would make for quite a nice “think twice before attacking the rim” tandem, no?). Read more…

Commentary 2010 Draft

Welcome to part two of the 2010 Draft Prospectus, or as I like to call it, the “I really don’t think the Thunder will keep any of these picks if these are the individuals left on the board so they’d probably trade out of these prospects and the draft altogether at this point, which means we both might be wasting our time  going over the rest of the prospectus but anyways” continuation of the series.

To put it bluntly, from here on out, none of these guys would be able to contribute to the Thunder in the next two years in any meaningful way regarding all three of their areas of need: a true low-post offensive scoring threat, a defensive rebounding behemoth and, less so, a shot-blocking rim protector.

What you’ll find is that almost all of these individuals could probably shore up one, maybe even two of these off of the bench but when you’re expecting to pick out of the Top 10 in the draft, that’s the reality of the situation.  The issue moves then from what you know they can do to what they might also be able to develop further down the line and how they fit with your team. Read more…

Commentary 2010 Draft

(Typically, DT contributor J.G. Marking has the Sunday page, but with the draft coming and OKC holding five picks, it’s time to take a small peek. And that’s what we’ll do over the next few days.)

There is a serious problem with the 2010 Draft, folks. One that most Thunder fans didn’t expect and could have never prepared for coming into the season.

It’s not talent. There’s more than enough talent in this draft to have most scouts and GM’s drooling no matter how many “gurus” claim that there are only “2, 3, 4, well probably 5, maybe even 6 elite talents” (it’ll keep fluctuating until draft day) in this class.

So what gives? What’s the problem with this draft class?

The Thunder are winning too much.

I know, I know. I should probably stop complaining about my diamond forks being too sharp and my gold slippers fitting too tight but when it comes to doing a draft prospectus, you typically want to be looking at players who can make an immediate impact or be potential All-Stars and most of those players are usually in the Top 5, maybe 6 of a draft. Read more…

Commentary 2010 Draft

There has been a lot of talk on here and across the NBA landscape about the Thunder’s seeming reluctance to make the kind of mid-season trade that could reshape the future of the franchise OR at the very least assure that the team would have the best opportunity to make a playoff run without sacrificing the future of the franchise. Clark’s PL&T article this week showed some of the possible trades that could help both of these and plenty of readers and commenters have also added their ideas as well (commenter justin will probably still be shouting for a trade for Brendan Haywood until the deadline since his contract is expiring and he could help out with that whole giving up one of the league’s worst averages in offensive rebounds a game).

Now obviously if a homerun trade opportunity comes up in where the Thunder have to give up for little to get something ridiculous (think Pau Gasol to the Lakers) then obviously I would be extremely disappointed if Presti didn’t make a move. Actually, even a solid asset that either doesn’t tie up cap space after this season (aka, expiring contract with an opportunity to resign if all goes well) or is a no-brainer as a future cornerstone of the franchise (be it a Bosh caliber post player, though notice that I didn’t say Bosh himself so let’s not start that up again) would obviously help this team make a playoff run this year and still be positioned to compete for a championship later.

Do I sound cautious about this type of discussion? Absolutely. It’s usually at about this time in a franchise’s development that the team hits something of a critical mass moment that ultimately determines the fate of the team for the next, oh, decade or longer. And when you seem to be “this close,” this near to what seems like the apex of the mountain is when desperation can creep into a fan base and even a front office because “if we only had _____, then we’d be a championship contender,” which means everyone is a little less likely to really think through all sides of a move before pulling the trigger. But what does this mean for us as Thunder Fans… Read more…

Commentary Discussion

The Thunder’s victory over the Heat was incredibly anti-climactic, but thankfully it was kind of boring and stilted in a good way. The major highlights were an argument on the court, a really good shooting night for a few players and, um…the fact that they won? Does that count?

Yes, the game was one those but there were some things that deserve to get some attention so let’s have a look, shall we?

Read more…

Other

“If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of trouble.” – Elbert Hubbard

I just didn’t feel like they were going to be able to dodge yet another bullet last night. Call it pessimism or lowering my expectations so as to not be disappointed, but even with the ball in Durant’s hands for a last second shot and the ensuing overtime after the miss, I just never had that gut feeling that the Thunder would pull it out–like I did against the Jazz, Wizards, etc over the course of the winning streak.

But I was frustrated and despondent none the less (though not nearly as bad as I was after being forced to endure the debacle that was the Cotton Bowl).

And that disappointment is the problem with unexpected success and climbing new heights: We raise our expectations and start looking ahead at the calendar to check off future Wins and Losses with a new, adjusted sense of how good this team is and should be moving forward. Read more…

Commentary

When the ball meets the pavement, when that asphalt echo reverberates throughout my neighborhood and I know that somewhere a young boy or girl is dribbling down a sidewalk or working on their jump-shot despite the frigid winter winds, that familiar twinge of nostalgia and the innocent love of the game always hits me. Sometimes it’s potent and overwhelming, like when I’m playing 21 with my buddies in a concrete driveway and for whatever reason I realize what that moment really means and I tell myself to mark it and appreciate it, cling to it before it passes. But other times it’s subtle, perhaps even imperceptible, silently stirring up an ancient ache to grab my worn smooth basketball and head to the playgrounds for an impromptu five-on-five game in the middle of whatever I’m doing.

With each bounce, with every ringing echo of the sweet pavement ping or the warm hardwood drum some sentimental string inside me resonates as well, reawakening that childlike love for a game that is simple and direct, yet complex and far-reaching in its impact.

And with another year behind us and the next year peeking over the horizon, I can’t help but return again to a thought that continually draws me back to the game of basketball and a conversation that I’m not certain fans or even players and coaches know how to put into words or contextualize. Read more…

Commentary Sunday Discussion

“Blame is just a lazy person’s way of making sense of chaos” - Doug Copland

(AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

I recently have been installing shelves in my garage to help better organize the general mess that a self-admitting pack-rat can accumulate. They are fairly easy to install, nail in the support beams that run at a 45 degree angle into a stud, screw in the bracket clips above the support team so that the shelves are held in place by the clip and given structural integrity by the beams. Of course, as I pondered what explicative I should refrain from screaming into the heavens while squeezing my pulsating thumb, I would not have agreed with my own assessment. So as the evil (and yes, I believe inanimate objects sometimes earn these types of adjectives) hammer dropped to the ground and I stood at the shelf, grumbling some amalgamation of agitated words and grunts, I began to ponder who is truly at fault for the Thunder’s offensive woes.

Don’t be surprised, a lot of things in life lead me back to the Thunder…in fact, if you’re here at this site reading this, I really don’t feel a need to explain it to you because, well, you’re here. You understand perfectly.

But as I stared at the shelf, the hammer and my ever swelling thumb, I began to wonder about what is the real reason the Thunder struggle so badly on offense. The shelves that required the use of a hammer…the moron holding his thumb because he couldn’t execute the hammer swing correctly…both of those things led me to ask a question I’m sure we all want an answer for regarding the offensives woes: Who’s more to blame, the offensive scheme OR the players? Read more…

Commentary

Watches are so named as a reminder – if you don’t watch carefully what you do with your time, it will slip away from you – Drew Sirtors

(Photo by Layne Murdoch/NBAE via Getty Images)

Forty-eight minutes. Forty-eight nerve-amplifying, pupil-dilating and excitedly exhausting minutes is just not enough. At least not for the Thunder’s shooting guard duality. And so, with two very different but equally impactful players on their roster, that age-old issue of time creeps its ugly head again. Is there enough time for both James Harden and Thabo Sefolosha on the court to both make the kind of impact they can to help the Thunder win games?

Maybe. But what if there is a more pressing question underlying the question of minutes itself? What if the real question is: Do Thabo and James affect the outcome of a game in a positive way equally?

Now there’s a dilemma. That’s a question that I’m not sure any of us really want to answer. Well, this isn’t a place for the faint of heart fan so let’s see how they each rank up among the NBA’s elite SG’s to get a better picture. Before we do that, let us not forget those individual grains of sand in the hourglass that both players have in a game thus far.

Thabo Sefolosha averages 32.5 minutes a game; James Harden averages 21.2 minutes a game.

Now onto where each ranks among the league’s leading shooting guards… Read more…

Commentary James Harden

(One thing lacking here at DT is Sunday fodder. Our good friend J.G. is here to fill that void. So turn off that boring Bengals-Chiefs game and have a read.)

Dense droplets of saturated air hang thick around the rusted metal rim, the humidity resisting the flight of the worn leather ball shot after shot. Dust disperses at each bounce of the faded basketball as the chorus of dribbles, feet pounding towards the basket and the familiar clang of an unforgiving rim echoes around the outdoor court.

He catches his breath, inhaling the 89 percent humidity and bouncing the ball a few more times for good measure before returning home, a home lying at 0º00´ North of the Equator. A home of tropical temperatures at the hot and humid equatorial river basin of Brazaville, Congo.  A home that he grew up in without electricity and running water; the same home that  served as the cradle to his still developing craft, one in which he honed outdoors for the majority of his young life, not playing an indoor basketball game until only a few years ago.

And now a few years later, Serge Ibaka finds himself in a place very unlike the sub-tropical climate of his home, in a culture very different from his Brazavillian heritage and in a city where he must learn, yet again, their native tongue so that he can further the education that has spurred him on his whirlwind journey across the globe.

Yet one constant remains. The worn leather ball, the familiar clang of an unforgiving rim and the passionate talent that has brought him thus far. Because wherever Serge Ibaka has gone to continue playing and growing in the sport of basketball, one thing persists throughout all of the changes in scenery, culture and language: The love of the game.

And it is that game that has become his home, his one true constant despite all of the change, and it is his undeniable skill at that game that generates what so many Thunder fans currently find themselves wrestling with: The Ibaka Conundrum. Read more…

Commentary Serge Ibaka, Sunday Discussion

Well, that got a little more exciting than it needed to be but the Thunder held on to a nice road win in Utah, primarily through another third quarter offensive explosion and a fairly impressive defensive performance throughout the game. Also, if the Thunder shoot 44.4% from three every night, I like our odds folks. I’m beginning to have some serious anticipation for the games following a Kevin Durant rough shooting night at this point! After the L.A. game, didn’t you just kind of have the feeling he was going to take out his frustrations on the Utah Jazz?

BOX SCORE

You couldn’t really ask for a better initial start for the Thunder despite Jeff Green’s charge on Okur during the Thunder’s first offensive possession, which seemed to force Green to hesitate on his shots and drives after that all the way up until the second quarter. The boys in blue had very active hands defensively at the start of the first quarter and looked a little sharper than the Jazz did from the get-go, rotating excellently on defense with Russell Westbrook looking to pass early and often and I really wish he kept that mindset throughout the game instead of just in spurts. Read more…

Recap Utah Jazz