I spent the whole summer being incredibly excited about this season one minute and then completely terrified the next. Excited for what could be, terrified for what might not. A summer of hype and potentially unreasonable expectation has scared me a little. Well, maybe scared me a lot. I don’t want to be let down. I haven’t soured by any means on the season, but I think I need to re-excite myself. So here’s 20 reasons to be fired up about this season even if you’re so terrified about it that you’ve changed pants four times already and it’s not even lunch.
1. Kevin Durant He’s No. 1 for a reason. He is the absolute tip-top reason you should be pumped about this year. Nobody really knows what to expect from him. Twenty-five points per game? Thirty? More than 30? I feel like George Costanza asking Jerry how much he paid for his suede jacket. I’m walking out of here right now thinking KD could average more than 35 points this season, unless you tell me different. Most that claim to know stuff have eliminated his ceiling completely. But not only can we expect to possibly see KD step into the pagoda of the NBA elite in terms of gaudy offensive statistics, but he’s worked all summer upping his defensive game. He’s motivated and that’s scary. Forget reading the other 19 things I list. This should be enough.Read more…
That’s exactly what’s running through my mind about this upcoming season. On one hand, I’m stoked like a giant bonfire about this year. Kevin Durant and Jeff Green’s third year. Russell Westbrook’s second. James Harden, Serge Ibaka and the new guys. Scott Brooks’ first full season. The hype, the improvement, the expectations.
But those last three things are exactly what also terrify me. The hype. The (assumed) improvement. The expectations.
At media day, there was a running question that bounced from player to player: Are the playoffs a possibility? I was actually kind of shocked people were even asking about it. (I’m about to go exactly where you’d expect.) Playoffs? Don’t talk about playoffs. You kiddin’ me? Playoffs? Did everyone forget about last year? Did we forget this team started 3-29 and while it’s been turned over more than Courtney Love, it’s still basically the same core? It’s still a group of under 24 year olds that are very, very talented, yet pretty unproven. Read more…
A group of 53 NBA experts predicted win totals for every NBA team. starting with the East yesterday and the West today. And the average total for Oklahoma City? Thirty-two.
Their comments:
No West bandwagon is more crowded than OKC’s, with our panel seeing the team that started 1-16 a year ago making the leap to mediocrity. Given the age of Kevin Durant (20), Russell Westbrook (20), Jeff Green (23) and newcomer James Harden (20), it’s not hard to see what the excitement is about. But it will be hard to see them on TV.
So… if I were to set an over/under at 32, what would you take?
It’s really tough for me to say because I’ve been saying all summer I see this team in the 32-36 win range. I feel safe with those numbers, unless Russell Westbrook makes The Leap and becomes an elite point guard. Then I see this team winning 40 or more and potentially challenging for a playoff spot. Kevin Durant is going to score, Jeff Green will be again solid but also better and the addition of James Harden is no small thing. Add in quality role players like Thabo, Nick Collison, Nenad Krstic and Shaun Livingston and that’s a nice rotation right there. Surely better than the 23-win team for last year. Right? Right. Read more…
(Let’s get back to basketball for a minute, shall we?)
What makes a good year? Well, depends on who you ask.
Ask a Laker fan and he’ll say another title. Ask a Celtic fan and he’d say the same. Ask a Bobcat fan and he’ll say playoffs. Ask a Blazer fans and he’d say Western Conference Finals or bust. Or ask a Maverick fan and he’d give you a list.
Which is exactly what I’m going to do. This upcoming season for the Thunder is quite a conundrum. The team has been hyped, de-hyped and then re-hyped all offseason. Expectations are beginning to soar, even though realistically they shouldn’t be as high as they are. Nevertheless, success must be defined in some way for this year. Some might have playoff hopes, which I think are a bit aggressive. Some might just want improvement from last year. I guess I’m somewhere in between.
I think we can add to this list as we go along too. Maybe the team goes 25-10 before Christmas. I think goals will change a bit, but while the season will inevitably be a success, aspirations for the year may evolve.
Win at least 30 games. That doesn’t sound like all that high of an expectation, does it? The Thunder won 23 last year and that’s after winning just four in 2008. So adding seven wins shouldn’t be that big of a deal, right? Well, I’d love to see more than 30. I’d love to be in the 35-40 range. But I think that’s getting ahead of ourselves. We’re trying to define a successful season and I think improving on last year’s win total and getting into the 30′s is a nice step for a team with an average age under 24. I want more, but if OKC wins at least 30, I feel OK.
Kevin Durant is an All-Star. I think we all know he should have been one last year. And with the buzz around him right now with all the LeBron or KD talk and the Team USA camp, he’s almost a lock if he performs at all similar to last year. But I don’t think he’ll do that. I think he’s going to blow last year’s season out of the water. He needs to be an All-Star to raise his profile and also that of his team. Read more…
Read more…
ask a Maverick fan and 
