Thunder cuts ties with Lucas, sign Hill

To the dismay of many Okie State fans, I'm sure, John Lucas III has been waived by the Thunder. From a state perspective, it's too bad because you'd like to see a guy who meant so much to a final four team do well with the new pride-and-joy of OKC. From a basketball point of view, I suppose it was a business move. It was nice that they gave Lucas a chance, but apparently they felt satisfied with where they were at guard at the time and felt they needed to add depth to the frontcourt...

Which brings us to new big man Steven Hill. You know him as the hippie-guy who used to play for the Arkansas Razorbacks. He's a former SEC Defensive Player of the Year and he's got a good deal of athleticism down low. I'd basically compare him to a white Joakim Noah (oddly enough that Defensive Player of the Year award of Hill's came during Noah's last year in college). Like Noah, he's very raw offensively. Still, if he plays like he did in college, we could have a solid stopper down low coming off the bench.

One can't help but notice Steven Hill's familiar appearance. He reminds everyone of a certain cartoon character we all used to know and love. But who is it...Elemer Fudd? No, that's not it. Yosemite Sam? No, not him either. Hey maybe it's...


Hmmm, still not convinced it's Shaggy, how about this one:


These comparisons to Scooby-Doo reminds us of a certain infamous character who's big, broad, and scary on the outside and a menacing master of thievery on the inside...that's right, Clay Bennett! Oh, and this Scooby-Doo villain guy, too:

Thunder the mascot has been fired!!!!

Via Golden State of Mind:

No, Thunder, you haven't been benched. It's much, much worse than that.

The Golden State Warriors much beloved mascot, Thunder, has been fired. Why? Because of us. Because of us and our having to have an extremely stupid nickname. Why not just name ourselves the lightning and avoid this altogether?

But no. We all had to follow the Daily Dissapointment's (AKA, the Oklahomans) stupid write in contest, where they predicted the names and we just followed along like mindless cattle. And so did the people who own the team.

I've heard from a few sources that the people who would normally approve the logo were left out of the process, and the management eschewed them in favour of taking "Thunder" and running with it.

Now, the least that they could do would be to re-hire Thunder. Thunder is a great mascot, and they don't need to repeat the debacle of the name and uniforms with a mascot debacle. Sure, Warrior fans will hate us even more, but it's better to start a good rivalry with another fan base rather than to have your own fan base hate you.

Start the movement now! The revive Thunder movement!

Bring the Noise!

If the Ford Center Was Destroyed in a Tornado

This is a completely ridiculous post and by bringing up the point I'm sure I'm jinxing the city and now it's probably bound to happen. Still though, it was on my mind, so I'm going to give you what I think the top 10 potential new sites would be, ordered from least to most likely, if this were to happen:

10) New Orleans, LA (New Orleans Arena)
Why this would happen: It's an NBA caliber arena already and is relatively close in proximity to OKC. And hey, we borrowed their team for awhile, so why not return the favor?
Why this wouldn't happen: New Orleans barely supports their own team, which happens to be one of the elite members of the Western Conference. How can they support a new start-up team, who by the way, is terrible.
The Verdict: Would never happen, but thought I'd give a shoutout to the guys that gave OKC its start.

9) Albuquerque, NM (The Pit)
Why this would happen: Again, relatively close to OKC. Somewhat of an aura surrounds The Pit and I think Albuquerque would be supportive.
Why this wouldn't happen: OK, its a college arena, nobody cares how prestigious it is or how loud it gets when the Lobos play there.
The Verdict: Albuquerque has no real chance. Clay Bennett would aim much higher than this, I'm sure.


8) Little Rock, AR (Alltel Arena)
Why this would happen: Yeah, close to OKC. Fans probably starved for major league action, could see a lot of sellouts
Why this wouldn't happen: Alltel Arena sucks. Neither the city nor the arena is close to NBA-size.
The Verdict: Little Rock, like the cities before it, has no realistic shot.

7) Stillwater, OK (Gallagher-Iba Arena)
Why this would happen: It's in the state, fans would definitely support it. Gallagher-Iba is one of the more storied arenas in college basketball.
Why this wouldn't happen: Stillwater isn't, wasn't, and never will be an NBA city. It's a college arena and town.
The Verdict: Still unlikely, but this is the first city that at least has a chance.

6) Norman, OK (Lloyd Noble Center)
Why this would happen: Norman is a lot more closely related to OKC than Stillwater is, like a long-distance Edmond or something. The LNC has hosted a few NBA games before, so apparently it has something to offer.
Why this wouldn't happen: Come'on, its the LNC! That place is notorious for not being able to fill up. It's nowhere close to NBA ready and the concessions really suck. They've got a freaking Starbucks!
The Verdict: Norman gets in over Stillwater only because of their "extensive" NBA experience.

5) Seattle, WA (Key Arena)
Why this would happen: They've got a freaking Starbucks! OK, seriously though, I have no doubt that they would make a real strong push for the team, claiming that its only right that they keep the team while we rebuild. Big city, NBA proven.
Why this wouldn't happen: Ultimately, Bennett has the final say, and despite the heavy pressure he'd get from the city and the national media, I doubt he'd ever want to step foot in Seattle again. Plus, for all we know, Seattle fans could hold a grudge and not even show up (not that they did that great of a job of showing up back when they had a team anyway)
The Verdict: They'd definitely fight hard for it, and it would be a fierce battle, but I think Clay looks elsewhere. Small chance this ever would happen.


4) Birmingham, AL (Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex)
Why this would happen: They made a strong push for the Hornets when they were displaced by Katrina, so theres good reason to believe they'd do the same when an F-9000 twister hits Bricktown.
Why this wouldn't happen: The facilities are very mediocre and the city, from what I heard from local media personalities covering OU's NCAA tourney trip this year, is sub-par.
The Verdict: They're the first legitimate players for our team in this list. Still, they'd definitely be the underdog among cities with a legitimate shot.

3) St. Louis, MO (Scottrade Center)
Why this would happen: St. Louis has been in the NBA team market for a long while now, so they could see this as their shot to get back in The League. St. Louis is one of the greatest sports cities in the US and the arena is NBA caliber.
Why this wouldn't happen: It's not so much what St. Louis is themselves, but OKC could definitely do better than St. Louis, no offense to the arches. There are just better options out there, two of them, as a matter of fact.
The Verdict: A lot better chances than Birmingham, but I just don't think that St. Louis would really want them that bad. I'm not sure just how NBA-hungry they are, unlike my next city...

2) Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center)
Why this would happen: Brand new arena, and the people of Kansas City are starved to fill it with something other than the AFL or Big XII Tournament games. Good city, fans definitely would support the team.
Why this wouldn't happen: It's hard to find reasons against it, except there happens to be a city that would be really hard for Clay to pass on.
The Verdict: Honestly, if OKC moved here because of some tornado, I think they'd have a hard time coming back. The arena is fantastic and the city would show up in herds (thundering herds, perhaps?)


1) Tulsa, OK (BOK Center)
Why this would happen: One of the reasons Clay was able to sell David Stern on OKC was because it was a dual-market. It would be very tempting for OKC to move over to Tulsa. The fans would show up, it's close to home, and right now, their arena is better than the Ford Center.
Why this wouldn't happen: Tulsa is pretty small-ish for an NBA town and I'm not 100%sure about this but they may become the smallest NBA city. And, like I said before, Tulsa people, in general, hate OKC.
The Verdict: Though I secretly hate to see anything good happen to the city of Tulsa, I have to say that this is the most likely destination for OKC to be displaced for a season or two. Really, it's kind of a two-city race between Tulsa and KC with St. Louis and Birmingham in the mix.


Also, OKC logoed gear was moved by the crate-full into OKC and the Ford Center today. A reminder, we are days away from the logo being revealed (Sep. 3) and we will let you know ASAP what the team name, color scheme, and logo is, so stay tuned.

Clay Bennett Interview

Darnell Mayberry of the NewsOK NBA in OKC Blog Sponsored by John Holt Chevrolet recently interviewed Clay Bennett.

Basically, the interview revealed 3 pieces of information:

1. There will probably be a Pre-Season game played at the BOK Center in Tulsa, but more than one is a bit iffy. I hope Tulsans are psyched!!!!

2. We will have a dance team. Not much of a surprise, given that the Celtics were the last team to get a dance squad, and they did it a couple of years ago. And, there's the fact that the SuperSonics had a dance squad. But still, I'd like us to be pioneers to the fact that we don't need un-talented women to flaunt themselves on the court in order to be a successful basketball team.

3. Clay Bennett says that he won't comment on Marshalls being spelled with two ls, and that he won't comment on if the name is finalized. I really, really hope we don't have a deal going with the family clothing store.

When one door closes...

Hello, My name Benjamin Luschen but I also answer to Ben, Luschen, Sideburns, Mufasa, MC Ben Jammin', or just Sexy. I want to let you know that you're getting your NBA in OKC information from the two most genius and handsome people in the city...OK, well at least we're handsome...OK, so at least I'm handsome...JK, of course!

Seriously though, July 2nd, 2008 was the day my prayers were finally answered. For years I had hoped and wished that this town could get a taste of the big leagues. I remember going to Redhawks games as a small child and asking my dad when they were going to play the Cardinals. I also remember going to Blazers games and asking my dad if he thought the Myriad (Cox Convention Center) was a suitable venue for the NHL (natives of OKC will get this).

When the Hornets came, OKC got a good taste of "the life." Some fans, such as I, fell in love with the atmosphere. Some younger fans (not to mention the ladys) fell in love with Chris Paul. The older fans simply fell in love with the idea that they were able to see professional sports being played in OKC before they died. When it was all said and done, Oklahoma City was just in love NBA basketball.

We knew the Hornets couldn't last forever, but what people didn't know is that love for pro basketball could flourish in a college football crazed state like Oklahoma. It really is a fairy tale story.

OK, now that I have finished making love with Clay Bennett, I'll tell you a little more about myself. In the mission statement it says that my allegiance is spread among several teams. That's probably a bit of an understatement. I have cheering interests in probably half the league. Honestly, I think I follow players a lot more than I follow teams. Theres a lot of players that I like but my three unarguable favorites are Adam Morrison, Ben Wallace, and Kevin Garnett.

Why Adam Morrison? Well, I was always kind of a Gonzaga fan as a young buck. They were my favorite bracket-buster. But when they came to Oklahoma City to face Okie State in the All-College Classic, I got to see Adam Morrison light it up in person and I simply fell in love with him (in a non-gay, guy kind of way).

Why Ben Wallace? Simple, I love the fro. I used to have one actually. Well, kinda. You see, my hair tends to grow straight up kinda like Gerald's from Hey Arnold. So, instead of an afro, I just called it 'big hair' or 'poofy.' I also love Big Ben because of his hugeness, his bad attitude, and an awesome Hot Karl song from NBA Live.

Why Kevin Garnett? Well, basically, as a young fan, I was trying to get into this whole NBA thing that people were talking about. I heard his name on TV and decided he was going to be my favorite player. I think it was a good choice. I hope you like your ring, KG.

Also, for further note, I love my Oklahoma Sooners who will be a force to be reckoned with this season! Mark it down. Oh, I also love my Denver Broncos who will also be a force this season! Please, don't mark that one down.

Zeb and I both like keeping things interesting, so be on the lookout for all sorts of ballin', slammin', gimmicks. I don't know what those might be yet, but they will be ballin' and slammin'.

OK, here's to a good season, and here's to a good blog.