Pre-Season Game 6 Recap: Suns 102 Thunder 93

Yahoo! Boxscore


Hmmmm, so Shaq, Amare, and Nash all played extensive minutes and Weezy didn't play at all. I think a certain Pre-Game guy needs to be fired! Aside from this though, it was just another day at the office for P.J.'s bunch...We came, we saw, we lost. I suppose players continue to develop, but it obviously isn't enough for winning, and with so many players injured, how could we ever hope to.

As soon as I saw that for some inexplicable reason Suns were starting Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, and Amare Stoudemire, I knew we were screwed. Even a Shaq who could care less about the game and, judging from his quotes, hates the idea of NBA basketball in Oklahoma, he's still 10x better than anything we could have put on the court tonight, as far as big men go. Despite my forecast of impending doom, the Thunder showed heart in the first quarter, led by KD and trailing only by one.



The fight continued on through the first half in the traditional Thunder fashion. We always remained in striking distance. Occasionally we'd get a tad behind that, but we'd always come back, never take the lead though, but always right there.

Of course, it didn't last, and the Thunder lost every quarter except the last, where we tied. Overall, everybody sucked. And I do mean everybody. Petro showed flashes of excellence and Robert Swift was decent in his debut, but both are far from where they should be. Overall, the only thing I think we accomplished in this game was hurting Amare Stoudemire. YEAH!!!


Thunder Wonder: Johan Petro, 17 points, 7-10 shooting, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 blocks

Nobody deserves this, but I gave it to Petro because he hurt the team the least.

Thunder Down Under: Russell Westbrook, 22 points, 7-13 shooting, 2 3's, 4 assists, 8 TURNOVERS

All the rest of his stats were pretty great, but how could I ever give a guy with 8 turnovers Thunder Wonder???

Thunder Blunder: Damien Wilkins, 2 points, 1-5 shooting, 1 rebound, 2 steals, 2 turnovers. Damien, what happened?! You were once a prominent feature in the wonder category and now you're a blunder. Don't let it happen again.

Thunder Plunderer: Amare Stoudemire, 17 points, 6-8 shooting, 1 board, 3 assists

He gets thus, plus a purple heart for the injury. OK, no purple heart, but he was still pretty solid.

Thunder Plunderer Down Under: Matt Barnes, 12 points, 4-8 shooting, 2-3 from beyond the arc, 5 rebounds, 7 assists

You couldn't expect this from such a talented Suns team, and I hate Barnes, but after looking at his statline, I thought, hey, why not?


No wonder we suck, we're afraid of the ball

Zorgon's Note: An example of the great KSBI coverage:

Brian Davis is cut off in mid-signoff by colourbars with the text "AMV Gateway" superimposed on them, accompanied with that ever so pleasent noise. Then an Oklahoma City University commercial came on, immediately followed by the recording of an earlier High School Football game between Westmoore and Norman, with a "Thursday Night" message in the upper right corner of the screen. Classy.

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 2 Recap: Kings 94, Thunder 85

Something tells me we're gonna be seeing a lot of this this season....
NBA.com Box Score

And, we are on a 2 game losing streak as the Thunder fall to the lowly Sacramento Kings.

For the second straight night, the Thunder looked like an 80s team. Lots of mid-range jump shots, not a whole lot of 3s. Still, when you can say you shot 50% from the 3 point mark, even if it is only 3-6, it's always a good sign.

The biggest news that could possibly come out of tonight was that Joe Smith played and sucked pretty bad. While me and Ben were pretty high on him having a breakout game, he just looked sluggish out there. 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 fouls on 2-9 shooting isn't anything to call your mom about, especially when you play 25 minutes.

The second biggest news you could take out of tonight is that Kevin Durant didn't play, for obvious reasons. He's a known quantity, and not somebody we need getting hurt right now.

Weezy only had 2 points tonight, but at least they were stylish....

The third biggest news that you could take out of this game is that it seems P.J. Carlesimo doesn't have much of an intention of playing his Pre-Season signees more than one game. Derrick Byars, a late 2nd round pick that the Thunder recently signed, got some burn tonight. Unfortunately, nobody else that's not expected to play did play, including Courtney Alexander, who got some minutes vs. the Timberwolves. He didn't do much but shoot, and had 3-5 from the floor, including 2-3 from the 3 point line, totaling 8 points. Nevertheless, I wouldn't expect to see him again. Shooting is probably the least valuable quantity in the NBA. There's been a whole lot of players who have shot great in the Summer League or Pre-Season, but really sucked it up when it somes to the real NBA. So, unless he shows something else, he'll probably be riding the D-League.

On the other side of the ball, Bobby Brown had a great game, with 22 points on 9-14 shooting, 4 assists, and 4 turnovers. I'm not gonna call him the real deal yet, but when I was in Germany in June, this dude was all over the news. On the subway, they'd have a little thing called the "Berliner Fenster" (Berlin Window) which would show daily headlines. Usually, after the soccer update, they'd talk about how Bobby Brown had a great game or was battling through injury to help out ALBA Berlin in the championship. After that, they'd have actual news. He seems like one of those score-first point guards. Best case scenario, he turns out like Baron Davis. Worst case Scenario, he turns out like Will Bynum or Tyronn Lue.

Now, for tonights....

Thunder Wonder:

Jeff Green
19 Points, 7-17 Shooting, 7 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals

Normally I wouldn't put someone with such a low shooting percentage (with no 3s attempted) as the Thunder Wonder. But tonight, Jeff Green showed some real leadership on the floor as he lead the Thunder to within 1 point in the 4th quarter before falling behind. If Kevin Durant ever gets injured, this is what we're gonna need to see out of this guy.

Honourable Mention: Damien Wilkins, 14 points, 6-12 shooting, 6 rebounds.

Thunder Blunder:
Joe Smith
4 points, 2-9 shooting, 5 rebounds, and 5 fouls.

Well, there's not much else to say other than this guy had a horrible game. Given that he's the most experienced guy on the team by far combined with the fact that this is only the Pre-Season give me the impression that he'll step his game up soon.

Thunder Plunderer:

Bobby Brown
22 Points, 9-14 Shooting, 4 Assists, 4 Turnovers, 2 Steals

While not an incredibly effective pure Point Guard, and by no means a Mike Bibby, he's a great score-first Point Guard who has shined so far in the Pre-Season.

And, just for kicks, tonights....
Thunder WTF:
Russell Westbrook
8 points, 0-9 shooting, 8-10 Free Throw Shooting, 4 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 4 Fouls, 1 Steal, 3 Turnovers

Basically, he got fouled a lot but didn't manage to score 1 measly point from the floor. Just a wierd, wierd game.

Sorry for the shortness of these recaps, but hey, it's only the Pre-Season, and if you attempt to read into it too much, you'll find yourself proclaiming Damien Wilkins an All-Star. Stay tuned for a preview of tonights matchup with the Warriors (which I hope the Warriors win)! And remember to watch this mornings matchup with Texas (which I hope the Sooners win)!

To Answer Ben: Sooner! And We Believe 2009!

Pre-Season Game 1 Recap: Timberwolves 88, Thunder 82

NBA.com Boxscore

If I had to describe this game in one word, I'd say: throwback.

First of all, the game was broadcast on KSBI-TV, channel 52. Back in the 90s, many teams had no FSN affiliate and broadcast their games on local stations. The presentation here reminded me very much so of that. The cameras were high-school football quality. The graphics were very minimal, and the musical theme, essentailly a thunder clap and a trumpet, sounded hilariously bad.

Secondly, the whole arena looked very old school. There was minimal floor design, and there was no moving advertisements in front of the scorers table. The highlight of the game was probably when Rodney Carney dived for a loose ball and knocked down the banner on the scorers table, and no one ever bothered to put it back up.

Thirdly, the game was a gruelfest. It was a combination of the fact that the players that were good were playing like crap, and the fact that both teams refused to shoot a lot of 3s. It reminded me a lot of those games in the 80s when they had just invented the 3 point line, but most teams were too scared to shoot the shot regularly unless they had Larry Bird or Magic Johnson.

When you get right down to it, this was a really bad outing for the Thunder. I know that it's hard to take anything of value from Pre-Season games, but lets just look at the Field Goal shooting of our starters:
Chris Wilcox 6-10
Jeff Green 1-7
Nick Collison 2-7
Earl Watson 1-7
Kevin Durant 3-13

Aside from the good game of Wilcox, the shooting was horrible. What's even sadder is that most of these shots were from mid-range. All 5 starters shot a combination of 2 3s. Yeah. On top of this, everybody from the starting lineup saw heavy, heavy minutes. You could see that they were tired, but coach Carlesimo didn't show much interest in bringing the signees off of the bench.

The roatation players were a different story. Damien Wilkins looked like he was doing everything that Durant was supposed to do: Actually making his jump shots, goin 7-12 from the floor and scoring 19 points. Russell Westbrook also looked good. He had 13 assists and 3 points, but his game was marred by a whopping 5 turnovers. He really didn't look ready at all to lead the team at Point Guard.

If you're going to take something from this game, here's 3 Key things:

1. The Thunder really, really, really, really need a true point guard. Most of the time, Durant had to create for himself, and he utterly failed. This isn't college anymore, and he needs someone to distribute to him and get him open looks. Watson certainly wasn't proving himself to do that, with just 4 assists in 28 minutes, with a whopping 5 turnovers. Westbrook had almost the same problem. It's painfully obvious that Sam Presti has to make some moves in order for this team to be successful.

2. 3 Point shooting is not our main problem. Teams can survive without scoring a lot, as evidenced by how we kept the game close even after getting so far behind in the first. Contrary to what the Oklahoma City fans want, this team will survive on a lot of defense and 12 foot jumpers.

3. We need to play our other guys. Carlesimo was giving a whole lotta minutes to the main guys. We played only 10 guys, with the only real non-rotationer being Courtney Alexander, who played for a paltry 6 minutes. I'd like to see what the training camp signees are made of.

Anyway, on to our Thunder Wonder and Blunder:

Thunder Wonder:
Damien Wilkins
19 Points, 7-12 Shooting, 1-2 3 Point Shooting, 4-6 Free Throw Shooting, 5 Rebounds, 1 Steal

Have to give the Wonder to Damien tonight. He essentially carried the team through the 3rd quarter after its 2nd quarter surge, and was really the only reason we stayed in the game. Weezy had a good night too, and was a close second.

Thunder Blunder:
Earl Watson
2 Points, 1-7 Shooting, 0-1 3 Point Shooting, 1 Rebound, 4 Assists, 5 Turnovers, 1 Steal

Kevin Durant was close to getting this award, but while he had similar shooting, he didn't have more turnovers than assists as a point guard, and he had no rebounds. Earl Watson was really, really useless today.

Well, there's not much more to say about the game at this point. The good people of Billings, Montana got their fair share of pro basketball, and we got our first taste of what the season will be like.

And as a side note, apologies for the pictureless recap. Pre-Season games aren't covered so well media-wise.