Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Scott Brooks paid a visit to Tulsa on Monday, March 8, to take a first-hand look at three of his players (Byron Mullens, Kyle Weaver, and DJ White) in action for the Tulsa 66ers. I had the chance to talk to Coach Brooks after the game to get his impressions on his players as well as the 66ers, a team that has won four straight and nine of its last 11 games to improve to 23-16.
Kevin Henry: After watching the game tonight (a Tulsa win over Fort Wayne), what were your overall impressions?
Scott Brooks: I think they looked great. Nate (Tibbetts, Tulsa head coach) has done a terrific job. It’s never easy to integrate guys into your lineup during the season, but he’s done a great job. Watching tonight, you could tell it’s been a smooth transition and he has his team playing hard. Nate is a talented coach with a very bright future.
KH: What impressed you the most tonight?
SB: The defense. I’m very impressed that Fort Wayne didn’t score for nearly eight minutes in the fourth quarter. Read more…
Commentary
66ers, Scott Brooks, Tulsa
J.P. Wilson/thunder.nba.com
(Note: This was written before Thunder night last night)
Normally in the NBA Development League, when the relationship between a parent club and an affiliate team is discussed, it’s only looked at in terms of the on-court product. Today, with “Thunder Night” in the works for Friday night, I thought it would be interesting to look at the inner workings of the Tulsa 66ers-Oklahoma City Thunder relationship. Specifically, the marketing and sales aspects were of interest to me. With that in mind, I interviewed Brian Byrnes, the senior vice president of sales and marketing about how Oklahoma City views its ties with Tulsa … from a different standpoint.
Incidentally, “Thunder Night” will include the Thunder Girls and Thunder drummers, as well as a matchup of former first-round draft picks in Oklahoma City/Tulsa center B.J. Mullens and Memphis/Dakota center Hasheem Thabeet. Read more…
Commentary
66ers, Tulsa
(I’ve passed off our weekly Tulsa update to someone much more qualified to comment on it. Kevin Henry authors the excellent 66ers Nation, a Tulsa 66ers blog and also serves as the beat reporter for the 66ers for the Tulsa World. You can follow him on Twitter here.)
In the midst of a five-game West Conference road trip, the Tulsa 66ers find themselves at 14-14 and in desperate search of the chemistry they had at the start of the calendar year.
Roster moves are common in the NBA D-League, and Tulsa has certainly had its share of changes, including big men Byron Mullens and D.J. White being recalled from Tulsa to the Thunder. I’ve talked to 66ers head coach Nate Tibbetts several times about how he handles what can sometimes be a revolving lineup door thanks to injuries, call-ups, and even defections (Zabian Dowdell left the 66ers to join Unicaja in Spain, part of an exodus of D-Leaguers heading overseas in the early portions of 2010). When we’ve talked, he’s always mentioned the importance of chemistry and finding a lineup that works well together. Right now, that’s a key for the 66ers. Read more…
Commentary
66ers, Shakur, Tulsa
Wow. I’m shocked (see what I did there?). Via an AP report:
A Detroit Shock official says the WNBA team is moving to Tulsa, Okla. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to The Associated Press on Monday because he was not authorized to make the announcement.
Detroit made its debut in the league in 1998 and won titles in 2008, 2006 and 2003. The Shock lost last month to the Indiana Fever in the Eastern Conference finals after rallying to earn a playoff spot.
Good for Tulsa I guess. I have absolutely no interest in the WNBA and likely will soon forget there is even a team there, but that’s cool for them if they wanted it. So now we’ve pulled basketball teams from two different cities in two different leagues. Oklahoma: The Land of Relocation.
News
Tulsa, WNBA
