Game 6 Recap: Atlanta 89, Oklahoma City 85

Nick Collison tried some Kung Fu tonight, but he ended up just as stinky as me, with only 2 points and 5 rebounds in 19 minutes.
Yahoo! Box Score

Before I get into the game, I committed a cardinal sin at the Ford Center Today: Being stinky.

Basically, I woke up today around 4 or so, and didn't do much before I went to the game. I didn't even think about how I hadn't showered. Big mistake. I go to the game and two people to the right of me left for better seats I didn't supect anything, until the end of the 1st, when somebody notified me that everybody around me was noticing my stink, and that I shouldn't jump around like that if I stunk so bad. Now, I'm all about letting the fans enjoy their experience, so I promptly left. No hard feelings to everybody around me. Probably the most embarassing moment of my life. But, the guy with the Brick mask was back (and sitting right in front of me) so he made up for me. I'll be back next time though. Yes, I'll be showered. Sorry if that was too much information for some of you folks. But, on to the game.

Man, what a game I missed. The first quarter was really really ugly. The Thunder kept shooting ill-advised midrangers with the Hawks right up in their grill. Luckily, the Hakws were only faring slightly better. Once the Thunder pounded it inside (like I was advising the whole time), things got better. After a slammin 2nd quarter that I didn't see, it was back and forth the whole game.

The end of the 4th saw our hopes crushed. The Hawks jumped out to a quick lead, and we almost free throwed our way back into it....until Earl Watson missed an essential layup that would have had us down by only 2 with a few seconds back. Ben had a good predicting day again, being only 4 points off of the actual score. You go, man!

Lastly, tonight was the debut of Robert Swift, courtesy of the Chris Wilcox injury. I'm glad we have Swift and Sene, becuse they can easily step in capably should one of our bigs get hurt. The same can't be said if our guards are hurt, as the only real backups they have are Kyle Weaver and Damien Wilkins. If our Point Guard is hurt, I smell trouble. But I digress. I hope Weezy is okay, as he was doing pretty well with 2 points and 2 boards before he went down. Swift looked okay, with 2 points and 3 boards. Well, his performace looked okay, but I had a hard time believing that he was the same guy who fouled out at the Hornets-Sonics game 2 years ago. He looked so....different back then.

Sadly, Joe Smith had his best performance of the season while I wasn't there. He almost had a double double with 14 points and 9 rebounds. He only shot 3-10, but he more than made up for it, shooting 8-10 from the free throw line. He really pulled through in the final seconds of this game, getting fouled at crucial times and grabbing critical rebounds. Thus, he gets tonights Thunder Wonder.

The Thunder Down Under award goes to Earl Watson. He would have gotten the Wonder award had he not missed that last layup. Still, he shot 5-11, went 1-2 from 3 point territory, had 11 points, 6 assists, and 3 rebounds, and only had 2 turnovers. These past two games Earl has really pulled through. He has started to create ball movement (rather than just dribbling it at the top of the key) and has had some hustle plays that have really put him over the shadow of Russell Westbrook.

The Thunder Blunder award goes easily to Jeff Green. 37 Minutes, 3-12 Field Goals, 1-4 3 Pointers, 9 Points, 8 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Turnovers, and 1 Steal. He did better than Kevin Durants whopping 6 turnovers, but 25% shooting is just inexusable. A lot of his ill-advised shots just may have killed it for the Thunder early on tonight.

On the Flip (Murray) side, it's hard pinpointing one performance. Everyone was equally bad in their production. Thus, the Thunder Plunderer award goes to Joe Johnson by default. 25 Points, 9-25 Shooting, 3-6 3 Point Shooting, 4-6 Freethrow Shooting, 2 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 4 Turnovers, 4 Steals, and 1 Block round out a full stat sheet for Mr. JJ.

Overall, a par for the course night fo the Thunder.

Next Game: Monday at the Pacers. Prepare for some Murphy Madness.

Game 5 Recap: Utah 104, Oklahoma City 97

This is Russell Westbrooks "Sexy" look. P.J. Carlesimo is simply stunned by it's greatness.
Yahoo! Box Score

While the score was much higher than our master predictor had anticipated, the result was still the same.

This game started off with a 8-0 Thunder lead. That's right, an 8-0 THUNDER lead. Then, it turned into a 10-3 Thunder lead. Then, it all went straight to heck.

Don't look so sad, Jerry! Zorgon just gave you props!

Honestly, someone could have a bunch of bums play under Jerry Sloan, and they'd do well. Jerry Sloan has such control over his players, it's unbelievable. While this doesn't make him the most popular coach ever, this leads to wins. The sheer fact that his team performed just as well against us without Deron Williams really says something. While I would never, ever play for him, here's to Jerry Sloan and his 1000 super-jazzy wins. While I hate the current iteration of your team, you we're definately fun to watch getting beat down in the 1996 and 1997 Finals.

Anyway, back to the game. The second half of the first quarter and the second quarter were downright painful to watch if you were a Thunder fan. Just absolute destruction. No more needs to be said.

But, during halftime, something happened. The team came back fighting a 30+ point deficit. Grant Long dismissed it as "They realized that they have to play this team 3 more times this year." Well, it was much more than that. They were trying to win. Lead by spectacular performances from Desmond Mason and Kevin Durant, the team stormed back to single digits in the 4th quarter before the Jazz realized that they had to win. Nevertheless, scoring more than you did in the first two quarters combined in both the 3rd and 4th quarter definately makes a statement.

Look, I know that we're 1-4, and I know that things are looking grim, but we are not, I repeat, are not, playing like a young team. We have been in every single game so far, including against the world champion Boston Celtics. We have been competetive not just in the 1st and 2nd quarter, but in the 3rd and 4th quarters. We have dug ourselves out of huge holes. I may be crazy, but I think we can win over 35 games if we can get our act together. Just a few points this way or that way, and we're 3-2. Just throwing that out there.

On the Jazz side of the ball, nobody was better than Carlos Boozer. 21 Points, 7-14 Shooting, 9 Rebounds, 5 Assists, 1 Steal, and 1 Block all amount to a very excellent night. You always hear of a guard vying for a triple double, but when a Power Forward gets this close, it's pretty spectacular and says a lot about the man in general. Thus, he gets the Thunder Plunderer Award tonight.

On the Thunder side of the ball, Desmond Mason led the huge comeback against the Jazz in the 3rd and refused to be benched. Until this game, he was arguably the least efficient and least productive player on our roster. Reguardless, his rapid turnaround of 18 Points, 7-14 Shooting, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, and 1 Block earns him the Thunder Wonder award tonight.

After Desmond, the obvious choice for Thunder Down Under is Kevin Durant. He actually hit his shots tonight, going 9-15 shooting for 14 points. His clutch shooting helped almost as much as Masons did. On top of that, he had a solid 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, and 1 Steal. Shoutout to Jeff Green with 22 Points, 6-13 Shooting, 3-3 3 Pointers, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, and 3 Steals.

Playing like a complete embarassment tonight and earning the Thunder Blunder award was Chris Wilcox. When you're a big man, 1-7 Shooting doesn't cut it under any circumstances. A -16 +/- ratio, 6 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, and a whopping 3 Turnovers capped off 22 minutes of hell for Wilcox.

Next Game: Sunday vs the Atlanta Hawks

Game 4 Recap: Boston 96, Oklahoma City 83

Somebody forgot to tell PJ it wasn't 80s night. Still, I wish I had that jacket-tie combo.

Yahoo! Box Score

Well, the master picker strikes again. His 95-81 prediction was only off by a total of 3 points. Again, why go anywhere else?

So, The Thunder played valiantly tonight. And, what's better, they didn't look like the typical "young team" at all. Let me elaborate.

The first quarter was epic. We lead the Celtics almost all the way through, and even though they didn't look stunned, the fans sure were happy. The 2nd and 3rd quarter saw our lead slowly diminish into a 12-17 point deficit. But, unlike most young teams, who completely give up in the 4th, we stayed strong. In fact, a couple more defensive stops, and the game might've been ours.

But when it's all said and done, the Celtics just had better ball movement. They usually did one of two things: 1. Kick it out to Ray Allen/any other sharpshooter. 2. Make a gaping hole in the centre of the lane and watch the generally quicker Celtics make an easy layup.

On top of that, our big men were really mismatched. Joe Smith is known for his hustle, rebounding, and offense, but his defense is slightly below par. And he was getting burned by Kevin Garnett all night. Nick Collison and Chris Wilcox didn't far much better. Johan Petro tried his best, but he was getting scored on down low even by Kendrick Perkins. If the Thunder tried to double team, the other team would just pass it to the other big man for an easy two. Not a good picture.

The face of confidence.

The small men were equal in driving, but Ray Allen and Paul Pierce could shoot 3s, unlike our plethora of non-shooting small men. Even if our guys could shoot 3s, it wasn't helped by the fact that we were giving heavy minutes to Earl Watson. Earl Watson is sometimes notorious for bad jumpshots or ill-concieved drives to the basket. Rajon Rondo, on the other hand, is known for his excellent defense and slick passing. Is the picture becoming slightly clearer now?

Paul Pierce is satisfied because nobody takes pictures of any Celtic but him Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.

All of that being said, tonight really was an off night for the Celtics. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce both shot terribly, and Kevin Garnett just didn't look like the dominating force he usually is. Rajon Rondo did what he uaually does and was extremely efficent with 100% field goals and 11 assists, but tonights Thunder Plunderer has to go to Leon Powe. With 11 Points, 3-6 Shooting, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, and a +18 +/- ratio in 18 minutes, he really helped out his team tonight. He was a big reason that the Celtics took a commanding lead in the 3rd, and it was clear he was giving it his all while everybody else looked lackluster or disinterested.

On the Thunder side of the ball, nobody deserves the Thunder Wonder Award. I'm serious, nobody. This is partially because today was mostly a defensive effort and partially because almost everybody had a horrible day offensively. But, it has to be given to someone, so here goes. The only people who might even remotely deserve it are Earl Watson, Johan Petro, Chris Wilcox, Joe Smith, and Desmond Mason. Desmond Mason had a horrible +/- ratio, so he's out. Johan Petro was extremely efficent offensively (4-5) but he totally sucked defensively and had a measly 1 rebound, so he's out. Chris Wilcox and Joe Smith performed almost identically, but neither of them quite up to the standard of Earl Watson, who is tonights Thunder Wonder. 7 Points, 7 Rebounds, and 5 Assists sounds like a typical Mike Dunleav, Jr. scoring line, but not for a 6' 1" Point guard. He couldn't do much offensively, but his sheer amount of heart, hustle, and hardwood gets Earl Watson the Thunder Wonder Award tonight. This is the first time this season he's really outperformed Russell Westbrook, so he should be proud.

The Thunder Down Under award then, by logic, goes to either Wilcox (5 Points, 2-5 Shooting, 8 Rebounds) or Smith (9 Points, 4-9 Shooting, 5 Rebounds). Trying to decide is pretty much splitting hairs. It's all a matter of if rebounds or points matter more. The thing is, I think that Joe Smith came through in more critical times. He had some pretty fancy shots in the 4th, and one of his missed shots was a halftime lob. Still, he forced himself into bad one-on-one situations, and, again, got torched defensively by Garnett. But, in the end, Wilcox missed a freethrow, Smith got the same amount of offensive rebounds, and Wilcox was torched equally as bad defensively. So, the Thunder Down Under Award goes to Joe Smith.

Now, the Thunder Blunder. For me, it's between Russell Westbrook and Nick Collison. Now, you may be saying "But Russell Westbrook got 13 points!" Well, 6 of those were meaningless. He hit 2 meaningless, undefended 3s at the end of the game. Now, his stats, instead of being 13 Points, 4-13 Shooting, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, and 1 Steal, it's 7 Points, 2-11 shooting, 5 Rebounds, 1 Assist, and 1 Steal. A whole lot less impressive, huh? Still, his lack of assists are made up by his rebounds, which are almost as many as Nick Collison had (6). On top of that, Nick Collison played 5 more minutes, and was only 1-6 of the floor for 2 points. While 2 blocked shots are impressive, they're not enough to keep Nick Collison away from tonight's Thunder Blunder.

Next Game: Friday at the Utah Jazz

Lets prepare for another beatdown.

Game 4 Pregame: Celtics at Thunder

They have it. We want it. But we can't have it. The next best thing to actually winning the championship is beating the championship team. Well, actually I suppose it's making it to the finals; but seeing as how we have no chance of making the playoffs, this is as close as we can get. And what better chance do we have at capturing the epic upset than here in now legendary "Loud City?" Do I think it'll happen tonight? Ha, not even close! But hey, can't wait to see the Big Ticket take the court again.

Backstory: The Thunder suck. Really, the Celtics represent everything we're not. 1) Talented. KG, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce. KD, Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox. See the difference? 2) Team Chemistry and Leadership. Ray Allen is a solid vet, KG is using this opportunity to build his legacy, and Pierce is, of course, the Cap'N. Who leads our team? Joe Smith? Plus team's way too young to build any chemistry. 3) They're winners. Like I said earlier, they got rings, we don't.

Match-Ups:
Earl Watson vs. Rajon Rondo
Edge: Rondo
I'm in the school of thought that says that all the talent around him makes Rondo appear better. Still, a solid defender, good driver, and has freakishly large hands.

Kevin Durant vs. Ray Allen
Edge: KD
Allen has fallen off his game a tad since he left Seattle, and I think that KD will generally fill up the stat sheet a lot more.

Jeff Green vs. Paul Pierce
Edge: Pierce
This one ain't close at all. In my humble opinion, which happens to be shared by Danny Ainge, when Pierce is on his game, it's really hard to find someone anybody. There's always going to be a player just as good of course, but if you told the Celtics they could swap him for LeBron, I think they'd stay where they are now.

Nick Collison vs. Kevin Garnett
Edge: KG
Wilcox matches up much better, but in all likelihood he'll be coming off the bench again. Theres no one on the team who'll ever be as good as KG, so don't feel bad about losing this match-up.

Johan Petro vs. Kendrick Perkins
Edge: Perkins
Neither of these players are great, maybe borderline ok at best. Like Rondo though, the presence of the Big 3 takes a lot of pressure off Perk so just because of that, he's better.

Battle of the Benches
Edge: Draw
Theres nothing that spectacular about the Celtics bench. They have some nice players; Big Baby, Sam Cassel, Eddie House, but nothing special. Still, they're efficient. Same goes for Thunder, who get a big boost from Weezy.

Coaching and Intangibles
Edge: Celtics
I'm not a big believer in Doc Rivers' coaching prowess, I think he's a benefactor from some great trades. Still, how many championships does P.J. have?

Player to Watch: I think Weezy off the bench is a safe pick. Really, the Thunder will need to rely on him and Durant if they have any hope of keeping it reasonable.

Predicted Result: Hmmmmmm, the God of Thunder says Celtics 95, Thunder 81

Game 2 Pre-Game: Thunder at Rockets

After being easily handeled by the Bucks, OKC hopes to rebound against the Rockets tonight, a task much easier said than done. Still, the NBA is where amazing happens, so don't rule it out. Likewise though...don't get your hopes up. This team is far superior to our own, and arguably one of the best in the league.

Backstory: Despite a full Ford Center, the Thunder were not able to punctuate opening night with a victory. Maybe the Thunder will turn out to be one of those road warrior teams that finds comfort in foreign arenas. OK, wishful thinking perhaps, but you never know. It would be wonderful if the first ever Thunder regular season victory was tonight in Houston. Being realitic though, we may have to wait untill Minnesota comes to town...or Boston!

Match-Ups:
Rafer Alston vs. Earl Watson
Edge: Alston
In my opinion, the street ball legend has the decisive offensive edge over Watson. Also, because his supporting cast is so much more talented, Alston doesn't need to concern himself as much with actually running the team and can spend more time making sure he contributes when needed.


Tracy McGrady vs. Kevin Durant
Edge: TMac
Let's not get ahead of ourselves now. Durant may be the team's best player, but he's no Tracy McGrady. TMac is usually, except when the Lakers are in town, the best shooting guard on the court. Tonight is no exception.

Ron Artest vs. Jeff Green
Edge: Artest
Another ridiclous match-up. Ron Artest is a proven defender, scorer, all-star, and fan puncher. Nothing about Jeff Green is proven. Some people (Jim Traber) say that there's all star potential in Green. Still, others question whether he should even be starting. Tonight should tell us a lot about who's right.

Luis Scola vs. Chris Wilcox
Edge: Weezy
Hey, I don't even know if Wilcox is going to start tonight...but he should be. At times he's the best player on the team, and if he plays to potential, which I'm optimistic (as always) that he will, he should easily outperfrom the overshadowed Scola.

Yao Ming vs. Nick Collison
Edge: YaoDon't make me laugh. Nothing against Collison, but he's not even tall for a power forward. At center, and against Yao Ming no less? Pfft, there will be times where he may as well not even be there defensively.

Battle of the Benches
Edge: Rockets Bench
It's not even close. Rockets bench could give Thunder starters a good game. Shane Battier, Steve Francis, and Bobby Jackson off the pine? What do we got? DMase? Petro? Joe Smith masquerading as Rip Hamilton? Not really even comparable.

Coaching and Intangibles
Edge: Rockets
Both Adelman and Carlesimo are former Portland and Golden State coaches. Adelman, though, has made it to the Finals, where Carlesimo has never made it out of the first round. Then again, neither has McGrady. This isn't the playoffs though, so Rockets should coast.

Player to Watch: If you include the preseason, he's been a steady performer all season. So, no reason not to go with ole' relaible once more. Don't know why he didn't start the last game, not really a good reason. If P.J. sits him again, the fans won't be happy, not to mention Wilcox, who already has motivational problems.

Predicted Result: Rockets 110 Thunder 91

Game 1 Recap: Milwaukee 98, Oklahoma City 87

David Stern: Cutest Commissioner in All of Sports.

NBA.com Boxscore

I got to the game early today. And, me being the media magnet that I am, got onto KFOR again!



Big ups to Marika Lorraine for recognizing me and interviewing me. It starts at about 4:27, and I'm shown twice. Nothing AMAZING, but still pretty awesome nonetheless. I was also interviewed by NBATV. Hopefully I'll be able to show that one too, but its a bit less substantial.

There were a slew of pre-game activities. For main attractions they had a band that did mostly 80s cover songs, a BMX show, and some country-western band which sounded horrible. On the side booths, they had bungie basketball (as Lance West shows in the video above), freethrow shooting, mini basketball hoops, and food. They had the flags of the NBA teams up, and while it looked exciting, it was pretty boring waiting around for the most part.

I finally got in to find out that Bonigi Brothers got taken over by Pizza Hut! They used to serve big slices of pizza (1/6th of a huge one) for $4, but now Pizza hut has tiny Personal Pans for $6. Ultra-Lame. I had some burgers from the Route 66 Grill, but, needless to say, I won't be eating in the arena very often anymore. At least Ben still has the world-famous Slap Shots.

Anyway, I ventured to my seat to see a pre-game performance by none other than....the C&C Music Factory. That's right, the band that made "Everybody Dance Now". And, lo and behold, that's what they played! For 10 straight minutes. I'm not kidding, a 10 minute rendition of "Everybody Dance Now". Well, it was fun!

Then, David Stern and Mick Cornett gave some words. The big moment there had to be when David Stern said, "Oklahoma City, welcome to the National Basketball Association".

Boy, did that ring true tonight. The team looked horrible out of the gate. It was tied twice at 2 and 4, but, before I knew it, the Arena was virtually silent. I looked up, and the scoreboard said 20 to 8. Welcome to the NBA!

The team kind of hovered around 10-15 behind before they fell behind by a full 20 before the 4th quarter began. They tried to give Milwaukee a run for their money, beating the deficit down to 9, but a well-placed timeout and bad substitutions by P.J. Carlesimo put the Thunder away for good.

The +/- ratios in this game tell the story. The starters for the Thunder are all in the negatives, while the bench are all in the positives. Needless to say, every single starter played horribly tonight. I saw a lot of misplaced shots, a lot of misplaced drives, and a lot of times where the extra pass could have made all the difference.

The key to revitalizing the starting lineup here might be benching Earl Watson. While he and Westbrook had the same amount of assists, Westbrooks driving actually helps the Thunder. Watson will sit at the top of the key, hardly creating any ball movement. Westbrook will drive the ball down to the post, and create opportunities for guys like Chris Wilcox, Desmond Mason, and Joe Smith. His method isn't perfect, but every indication I'm getting now is full steam ahead for Westbrook.

I wouldn't blame Johan Petro's performance tonight on himself. He needs someone to distribute to him, as he's completely inept at creating for himself. His defense was a bit off, but Watson certainly didn't help him.


Kevin Durant and Jeff Green were a large part of the problem tonight. As far as I'm concerned, I'd bench those guys from what I saw of them tonight. For the amount of opportunities they got, their production was amazingly weak. If you look at shot percentage, they weren't much better than Johan Petro (they went 5-14 and 2-7, and Petro went 1-5). These guys have got to learn to either make their shots or pass it....which brings me to my next suggestion.

Pass to the open man! There were so, so many times when guys would just go for the horrible shot rather than pass to the guy who had a wide, wide open midrange shot. Granted, these don't walways go in, but they go in a lot more than circus layups do.

Birdcalling.

Lastly, a suggestion to our coach. When a lineup is working, don't mess with it! There was about 5-6 minutes left in the game, we just made a huge run to get within 9, and he makes 2-3 different substitutions! Just because Durant and Green are your franchise players doesn't mean that you have to put them in when their backups are doing perfectly fine!

Without further ado, tonights....

Thunder Wonder
Weezy, 15 points, 6-9 Shooting, 7 Rebounds, 1 Assist

Simply awesome. No big streaks, but he produced all game. Not an all-star performance, but definately a refreshing diamond in the rough tonight.

Thunder Blunder
Johan Petro, 2 Points, 1-5 Shooting, 3 Rebounds, 1 Steal, 1 Block

Really not his fault, but Johan Petro might as well have been a waste of space out there on the floor tonight. Didn't really hurt the team, but didn't help a whole lot either.

Thunder Down Under
Joe Smith, 8 Points, 3-4 Shooting, 5 Rebounds, 2 Steals, 1 Block

He was shaky at first, but he did a wonderful job pulling out key plays down the stretch. He was an instrumental part of the run in the 4th quarter, he served as an endless array of pick n' rolls, and he played excellent defense.

Thunder Plunderer
Charlie Villanueva, 20 Points, 12 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, 2 Blocks

The Bucks were almost as inefficent as the Thunder tonight, and Charlie V was no exception, but he did do the best out of his team. His rebounding really helped them out of a lot of jams tonight. I almost gave this to Bogut, but he really did fizzle out after the first.

Lowballing: The Hornets banner thanking them for their support from 2005-2007 is offically gone. That's just sad and lame. It should remain in memory.

Kelvin Sampson's name was misspelled in the program as Kelvin Sampsn. IT was the only grammatical error I noticed. Tsk tsk.

Highballing: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute has to have the coolest name in the NBA.

Next Game: Saturday at the Houston Rockets.

Breaking News: Bart Conner was there.

Preseason Pregame 6: Thunder at Suns

The incoming NBA season is breathing down everyone's neck. The Thunder take on the Suns tonight, but the real thing on everybody's mind is the season opener against Milwaukee. Though the Thunder have played impressively at times, I think improvement is hardly the word for how the team has developed, as shown by their (1-4) preseason record. Will their fortunes turn around tonight? Does it even matter? All this and more on this installment of...Preseason Pregame!!!

Backstory: As said earlier, the Thunder have played less than 4 star basketball thus far. Granted, the number of injuries they've had have certainly held them back. Still, OKC typically plays their starters far longer than anyone else and still have only mustered one victory. Is this something to be concerned about? Sure, they haven't looked good and there's no reason to think that Kyle Weaver or Robert Swift being healthy is going to change that. Is it time to panic? Of course not! Like anybody on the court, aside from John Lucas III and other preseason acquisitions, care about what happens in the game. And aside from that, it isn't like the expectations for this team were that high in the first place.

Analysis: Once again, the Thunder will likely be starting all the main cast of characters. Look for Petro to again see a lot of minutes and likely even start. Dez Mason will probably see a good amount of floor time, as Jeff Green is still iffy. KD's play this season had been, frankly, unpredictable. At times, he's a god, at others, he gives Bricktown a new meaning.

Unlike the Thunder, don't expect to see the big names for the Suns taking the court tonight. Shaq, Amare, Nash, and Raja will all likely see no more than 5 minutes in this game, but most likely none at all. Watch out for Alando Tucker and Boris Diaw, though, both having decent pre-seasons thus far.

Player to Watch: Chris Wilcox seems like the natural choice to me. There's no real inside presence playing tonight, and Weez should be able to eat up the lanky Diaw and still raw rookie Robin Lopez. Weezy explodes, trust me.

Predicted Result: Thunder 100 Suns 91

Pre-Season Game 4 Recap: Thunder 110 Rockets 104

For some reason Rick Adelman isn't happy to see the Thunder's first win

Yahoo! Box Score

We went to Billings...and got nothin. We went to Sacramento...and got nothin. We went to Oakland...and got nothin. We came to Tulsa to face a playoff team for the first time and expected much of the same. Well my friends, I'm happy to report that we were wrong. Congratulations to the Thunder for capturing their first ever victory!

It didn't look good at first. I was relieved when I heard T-Mac wasn't going to play, but when I saw Nick Collison guarding Yao Ming, probably giving him a good 8 inches, I again had my doubts. My doubts may have been legit if it wasn't a pre-season game, he had 15 points and 16 rebounds in just 24 minutes. Nevertheless, as the game progressed, you could see a certain fight in the Thunder that just wasn't there before...

It started like every other Thunder game. We fell in a big hole early, Durant was struggling from the field, and Wilkins and Weezy were providing the scoring. Wilkins would soon fall off in the scoring department, which would usually be bad news for the Thunder. After all, Wilkins has won the prestigious Thunder Wonder award more than any other player, in fact, he's the only ever recipient.

Thankfully though, Desmond Mason was able to play tonight, unlike what was predicted by yours truly, and gave his best contribution to date as a member of the Thunder. He went 7/10 from the floor with 16 points and 3 boards including a pretty reverse layup before the half.

Before the 4th quarter it looked like the big men would be the story for the Thunder. Both Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison had outstanding games. The highlight of Weezy's game had to be the powerful jam he scored right over Yao. Nick Collison also had a memorable play against Yao where the Great Wall came down with the rebound (as always) and Nick swiped it clear out of his hands. Collison finished the night with 21 points and 4 boards, shooting 60%.

Like I alluded to earlier though, in the 4th quarter it was all Kevin Durant. 20 of his 26 points came in the 4th quarter and he had two blocks and one steal in the final 35 seconds or so, not to mention clutch free throws and a nice fade away to help salt things away.

The star Rocket player played as expected. Like I said earlier, Yao dominated, though he missed constant layups which was really crucial for the Rockets. Ron Artest looked very strong early, but finished with only 8 points. Of course, T-Mac didn't even see the court.


Thunder Wonder: Kevin Durant 26 points, 8/16 shooting, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, 3 blocks, 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 2 fouls
KD filled up almost every stat cat today. Really, he won the game single handedly today, and on both sides of the court. Also, don't forget, he went down with what appeared to be a sprained ankle in the second half only to get right back up and not miss any time at all.

Honourable Mention: Weezy 13 points, 6-10 shooting, 14 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 2 assists, 1 turnover, 2 fouls

It was a close call, him or Collison, but Wilcox was able to do more than just score.

Thunder Blunder: Russell Westbrook 5 points, 1/8 shooting, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers

Continues to struggle. It's ok though, he still has lots of room to improve. I remember Chris Paul didn't look so hot his first few games either.


Thunder Plunderer: Yao Ming 15 points, 4/10 shooting, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks

Yeah, he shoot terribly, and theres no excuse for a guy that tall to shoot 40%. Still though, he was killer from the line and nearly unstoppable for the Thunder all game long.

Pre-Season Game 3 Recap: Warriors 122, Thunder 102

A Season Preview: Kevin Durant and Johan Petro marvel at the floating basketball, while Marco Bellinelli actually goes and gets the ball.

NBA.com Box Score

The Thunder fell for the Warriors trap tonight, possibly injured Jeff Green, and played Kevin Durant and Damien Wilkins 34 Minutes.

Yeah, this is bad news.

The Warriors were absolutely torching the Thunder out of the gate. Bellinelli and Jackson were hitting easy 3s on the fast break, while the Thunder kept trying to low-post the best defensive Warriors, like Jackson and Harrington. But eventually, the Thunder moved into their own brand of the Warriors fast break game. They didn't hike up a lot of 3s, but drove to the basket, and were very successful at it. A hint to Carlesimo about future strategy?


After that, every time Oklahoma City got a little bit of momentum, the Warriors always stole their Thunder. The 3 point line was left far too wide open for the Warriors to possibly miss, and the Thunder would always lose points on ridiculous 12-Footers from Petro and Kevin Durant reverse hooks.

Some hilarious technical problems at hafltime. Brian Davis was barely audible, with a shot of the Oracle Arena ceiling continuing to pan ever-so-slowly right. A technician or Grant Long (don't know which, more likely the earlier) interrupted Brian twice, assuming we couldn't hear him. Eventually, he said, "We'll have more from the Bay City Area where the Warriors lead 70-55, we'll be right back." Right, the Bay City Area.

When they returned, Brian Davis said that the squirrel that runs their microphones went on a coffee break. Ooookay.

John Lucas III came into the game and really brought this team together. Since the guy is playing to survive, it's no surprise. After a great And-1 by Weezy off of the Lucas assist, the Thunder are only down by 8 heading into the 4th.

I think 1 statement can summarize the 4th: A whole lotta sparks, but no fire. The Warriors just kept hitting as the Thunder defense looked hapless and the Thunder offense looked mediocre at best. All of this while we were playing some of our best guys and the Warriors were playing almost exclusively bench.

If I have to hear those KSBI guys say that the Thunder are "brewing the late night coffee pot" or that fans have to "stay up late" to watch the came, I'm gonna break someones crayons. Hi-yah! Oh, and both of the guys just said essentially the same thing, one after the other. And then the dude barely got off the highlights. You know, there is a certain appeal about these broadcasts....I'll just miss the unprofessional hilariousness.

Anyway, now for tonights....

Thunder Wonder: Damien Wilkins
23 Points, 7-14 Shooting, 3-6 3 Point Shooting, 5 Rebounds, 3 Steals, 4 Turnovers, 3 fouls

I know I'm a sucker for this guy. But he's performed in all 3 games this season, and I've just gotta give it to him again. He proved that he can not only succeed in a slow paced, half court set game, but also prosper in a fast breaking, more wide open game. We also got a glimpse of his 3 Point Shooting. If anyone has to compare him to a Hornet, think of him as like....a way better Rasual Butler. Russell Westbrook missed a LOT of layups, and Kevin Durant fired up a lot of bricks himself.

Honourable Mention: Weezy, 15 Points, 6-11 Shooting, 8 Rebounds, 3 Steals, 4 Fouls, 3 Turnovers. He basically misses out because of Wilkins' consistency.

Thunder Blunder: Johan Petro
4 Points, 1-10 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 Assists, 2 Fouls

I really don't want to make Field Goal Percentage the main factor for being a Blunder or Wonder, but when you're a Center, 1-10 is baaaad. He looked almost comical on the floor tonight. A lot of missed turnarounds and hooks after posting up, and even a couple of clanked 12 footers. I don't know what he did in practice to get the green light to start doing this, but it better start showing in games. But, there's no harm in testing it out in the Pre-Season, so you can't really blame P.J. or Johan here.

Thunder Plunderer (AKA Warrior Wonder, shout out to my boys at Golden State of Mind!): Marco Bellinelli
22 Points, 8-13 Shooting, 3-6 3 Pointers, 3 Rebounds, 6 Assists, 2 Steals

This is Bellinelli at his best. This is the guy you WANT to see on the floor every night. He could just spot up from anywhere, have perfect balence, and sink the 3. It's as if his colourless shoes have magic in them! He was a great distributor, and scorer. But most Warrior fans are skeptical, as we've all seen this from him before. But, almost every time he's come into a real NBA game, it's been a whole bunch of turnovers and clanks. He'll definately see minutes with Montas injury and Barons leaving, but it remains to be seen if Warriors fans will be experiencing a whole lotta Beli-Swoosh or a whole lotta Beli-Clank.

Honourable Mention: DeMarcus Nelson, 8-10 Field Goal Shooting, 4 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 4 Steals, 2 Turnovers. It was wierd seeing "D.Nelson Technical Foul" or "D.Nelson Steal" on the game log. Still, this guy played his heart out, and don't be surprised if he captures a roster spot on the Warriors this year.

The Thunder's next game is vs. Houston in Tulsa at 7:30 CST.

We'll have an update on Jeff Greens injury later.

Also, just a little poll I'd like you guys to answer:



Thanks for letting us know.

Quick Update: Golden State of Mind has a game thread that I somehow missed earlier. Granted, none of them could see the game, but you can look at how they marvelled at the Yahoo Gametracker. And how they hate Clay Bennett.

Also: Royce's Recap
Joe's Recap

Player Rankings Volume IV

#4. Nick Collison, 5th Year Power Forward

(Hoop Dreams.)

Best Season: 07-08 with the SuperSonics, 29 Minutes, 10 Points, 9 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 50% FG%, 74% FT%

Okay, this list isn't very controversial, but if there was something to argue, it would probably be Nick Collison going so high. Honestly, he's an average Power Forward, but in todays NBA, that's a blessing, not a curse. His stats have significantly improved every year of his play (and that's not due to increased playing time). You could argue that the team has gotten progressively worse, but theres no arguing that this dude has improved somewhat, and a 10-9 guy with 50% FG% is nothing to sneeze at. Why ahead of Rinour and Watson then? Because, in general, big men in general are more valuable than small men. Pay attnetion to trades and stats, and you'll know what I mean.

NBA Comparison: Troy Murphy without the 3s.

#3. Chris Wilcox, 8th Year Power Forward
Best Season: 2005-2006 with the SuperSonics, 30 Minutes, 14 Points, 8 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 59% FG%, 79% FT%.

Well, there's no doubt that this due is Sonic elite. He's been mentioned in a lot of trade talks, but if you ask me, the dude is still 26, so we should hang onto him. It's hard finding a guy who can score on the inside, so we should definately keep him moving forward. True, his stats have slightly decreased as of late, but it's splitting hairs, and he'll more or less put up the numbers above for the majority of his career. Truely solid big man, and who knows? He might have a Chris Kaman-like breakout year this year.

NBA Comparison: Chris Kaman, David West

#2. Jeff Green, 2nd Year Small Forward

Best Season: 07-08 with the SuperSonics, 28 Minutes, 11 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 43% FG%, 28% 3PT%, 74% FT%.

I know what you're thinking. "This retard just decided to put last years picks at the top of the board". Well, if you look at their record in 05-06, you'll know why. This team is utter crap by NBA standards. And Jeff Greens stats, while maybe worse than 2-4 of the above players, are still pretty darn good for a Rookie. The sky is the limit for Jeff, and that's why he's #2 on this list. I mean, he was #5 in tha draft, after all. That's not too far from Durants #2.

NBA Comparison: Younger Tracy McGrady (Good Situation), Younger Morris Peterson (Bad Situation).

#1. Kevin Durant, 2nd Year Small Forward
Best Season: 07-08 with the SuperSonics, 35 Minutes, 20 Points, 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 43% FG%, 29% 3PT%, 87% FT%.

Well, what else is there to say but the fact that he's Kevin Durant? A one and done at Texas, he is probably the hottest star to come out of college in the past 3 years (since Greg Odens injury, at least). He has a pretty good game, but it has 2 gigantic flaws. One, he relies a lot on Phantom Fouling. (See: Dwayne Wade.) A large part of his game is getting to the line, and while that DOES work (See: Dwayne Wade) it's pretty ugly to look at, and people tend to respect a player more if he's got actual game. I'm sure he does, while others don't (See: Dwayne Wade). The other big problem of his is that his 3 Point shooting sucks. Sure, we've all seen his amazing buzzer beater against the Hawks, but that was a pure miracle. I actually watched this one live (NBA League Pass FTW), with no affiliation one way or the other, but I jumped up and shouted when it went in. Amazing stuff, but that's beside the point. Most of the time his 3s are ill-advised and go clank. He probably should take some advice from my main man Donyell Marshall on how to get the open 3 and take it. Reguardless, these are little quips on his play, and he'll probably iron them out as his career progresses.

NBA Comparison: Dwayne Wade

Hope you enjoyed my list guys! Any constructive criticism is appreciated! You can put it in the comments below, or email it to me at nbaokc@gmail.com.

Now that you know the players, the next logical thing to do is to sort them out. You know, see who's tradeable/likely to be traded, who we need to keep, and where to put them on the Depth Chart. This will be my next major analysis article. Stay tuned!