Game 10 Recap: Philadelphia 110, Oklahoma City 85

Coaching or taking a dump? With this team, what's the difference!

I know what you're thinking, "What, no Pregame? How will I get my nightly fix of God of Thunder?" Do not worry, it will be back. Even God of Thunder is only human (...wait...). However, it's easy to assume that had God of Thunder made a pick for the game in the City of Brotherly Love, it would have been a correct one. Anyone could have seen this beatdown coming. It seems no Thunder lead is safe. So, time for some more depressing analysis on your hometown NBA team!

It isn't like the 76ers have been very amazing thus far. With the Thunder win, they're still only at .500. The Thunder though, inversely, have been amazingly bad. Their performance today only suits to reinforce that point. They were outscored 64-43 in the second half alone, including 33-18 in the third quarter. Considering they were only down 6 at the break, this is the type of collapse only made possible by what may be the worst team since the expansion Bobcats.

The story is in the stats. Of the 9 players that got over 10 minutes of playing time in the game, only two of them (Green and Durant no surprise) shot better than 40%. Included in those 9 players were Robert Swift and Nick Collison, who combined to shoot 0-8 from the floor. These are two big men no less! Only two of our starters even went to the free throw line and only Kevin Durant took any more than 2 attempts (a very impressive 4).

In contrast, Philly shot much better than us, going a combined 46.9% from the floor (compared to our 39.5%) and a red-hot 42.9% from three-point range (compared to our 28.6%).

The bottomline is that they were better than us at every position last night, and it hurt us. It became painfully obvious that we can get no production from our anybody at the starting PG and C positions. Frankly, we were exposed...oh wait, everybody already knows about that.

I'm proud to say that Jeff Green was able to take home the title of Thunder Wonder. His 21 points on 66.7% shooting lead the team, plus 3 rebounds and 4 assists. I'm really beginning to think that this guy could be quite a player in the future.

Thunder Down Under honors go to...Johan Petro? Yes, the same Johan Petro who was absolutely useless as a starter and was recently given the ultimate slap in the face when he was replaced by Mr. Ink himself, Robert Swift. Tonight though, he was able to score 9 points and grab a team high 12 rebounds off the bench, which by far trumps what Swift did. He did have a terrible shooting percentage day, but one can't be too picky when trying to find the second best performer on this team...

Sorry Nick, but somebody's got to be Thunder Blunder

...On the other hand, when it comes to finding the worst performer of the night, the Thunder have quite a selection. Tonights Most Valuable Puker and Thunder Blunder is none other than Nick Collison, though. He did manage to grab a nice 6 boards, but other than that, nada. 0-7 from the floor, and scored 2 more points than I did. I'm sorry, but this has to be the final straw in the fight to keep him as a starter. As soon as Chris Wilcox comes back, park this sucka on the bench.

And tonight's Thunder Plunderer goes to Samuel Dalembert. It was a close call over forward Thaddeus Young, but Dalembert was able to both burn the Thunder with his scoring (13 points, 6-10 shooting) and rebounding (16 boards) not to mention his 3 blocks.

Next game: Monday night vs. the Houston Rockets (It's OSSM night at the Ford Center!)

Game 3 Recap: Oklahoma City 88, Minnesota 85

Halloween may be over, but Pumpkin pictures are cool year 'round!

NBA.com Box Score

Before I start this recap, let me just iterate the genius of my partner in crime. Okluschen (Ben Luschen) of Blue Blitz predicted the score of this game....EXACTLY. Exactly right. Why even go to other sites at all now? You might as well just forget it, captain. We got the experts up here in this crib.

The game tonight was awesome for Thunder fans. The presentation? Not so much. Now that all of the shine and glimmer of the home opener is gone, one realizes just how paper thin the game entertainment is. The drumline (by far my favourite part of the overall presentation) wasn't used during team introductions, and was only used once the entire game. During timeouts, the team really didn't have much to show. There was the Midfirst bank shot contest, but aside from that the entertainment mostly consisted either of looking at crazy fans or watching the emcee give free stuff to some guy who probably paid to get on camera. The music during the game was also horrible. Most of it just contisted of playing "Charge", "De-Fense", or "Everybody clap your hands". I swear, I think I'll have to kill whoever keeps playing "Everybody clap your hands". I mean, they played it literally 6 times, and thqat was only when I counted! Get something new! I think I'll get sick of Thunderstruck by the time the season is through, too.

Presentation aside, you've gotta love this game. The first 3 quarters went by a specific formula. The Timberwolves would get off to a huge lead, make things look like same-old, same-old for the Thunder. Then, the Thunder would come storming back to tie it by the time the quarter ended. By the 4th, the Thunder had things figured out, and a defensive battle ensued.

Needless to say, we we killed by Al Jefferson. Things never seem to change in Minnesota, becuase if you changed "Al Jefferson" to "Kevin Garnett", "Mike Miller" to "Ricky Davis", and "Craig Smith" to "Mark Blount", you couldn't really tell the difference between now and back in the day. But I digress. Al Jefferson with 24 Points, 11-17 shooting, 13 Rebounds, and 1 block easily earns the Thunder Plunderer Award tonight.

On our side of the ball, Kevin Durant had another horrible night with 18 points on just 7-21 shooting. While Darnell Mayberry thinks that his shots will start going in, it's my opinion that we're going to see a lot of off nights this season. About 1 of every 3 games he'll perform, but otherwise he'll stink it up to the extreme and hurt the team. Jeff Green was a little bit more productive, but was hardly deserving of the award with 13 points on 6-14 Shooting. Ditto for Russell Westbrook with 14 points, 6-13 shooting and only 2 assists. Granted, he did play some SG today, but that was for a short period at the end of the game.

Still, nobody had a worse night tonight than our lovable Frenchman, Johan Petro. In 17 minutes he had 4 Points, 2-4 shooting, 6 rebounds, 1 steal, and a -12 +/- ratio. The closest to him was Nick sollison at -6. He missed a couple of midrange jumpers tonight, and I really think he needs to get in the post more. Somebody give this man a lead pass! Or a screen! Here's hoping to better times, and more Thunder Blunderless nights, Johan,

Thus, the Thunder Wonder award has to go to Nick Collison. He didn't have a totally awesome performace, but he had a solid, liquid, and gas outing with 10 points, 4-8 shooting, 10 rebounds (7 offensive), 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks. On top of that, he had a really awesome shot late in the 4th to put the Thunder up by 1, from which they never looked back. There's a reason they sell a "jersey shirt" for this guy.

The Thunder Down Under award is a tough one to decide. Whomever I give it to really doesn't deserve it. Since I'm infamous for hating inefficency, I'm going to give it to, you guessed it, Joe Smith. 6 Points, 3-4 Shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal all in 16 minutes. Early on he was getting burned a bit by Craig Smith, but it's nothing compared to the whopping that Jefferson was doing on Wilcox. He made a lot of hustle rebounds and recovering from steals in the mid 4th that really kept the Thunder in the game. Yeah, yeah, I know you guys are gonna call me a homer for this one.

Lastly, before I go, I'd really like to state that I miss Damien Wilkins. He's been getting next to none minutes, and appears to be stuck in Coach Carlesimos doghouse. Here's hoping he gets some minutes. His Pre-Season performance really makes him deserve a chance.

Next Game: Wednesday vs. The Boston Celtics

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.

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 5 Recap: Clippers 90, Oklahoma City 88

Dr. Strangesmell or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Stench
Yahoo! Boxscore
The Thunderworld Recap

Tonight was a night of bad jerseys, bad play, and badass dancing.

When I went to the Ford Center around 5:45, there were more people there than expected. That was good, but what was not good was the fact that there was absolutely nothing to do. It was completely and totally boring. They had the typical food from the World-Famous Slap Shots, and they had the typical lottery stuff, but aside from that everything seemed kind of lame and last minute. There were no activities or anything. There were no signs in the stadium, very little overall theme, and the floor simply read "Ford Center". Still, it's the Pre-Season, so I expect them to have everything in order in time for the Season Opener.

Almost every activity that they had was a copy of what happened when the Hornets were here. T-Shirt throwing, kids slam dunk contest, free throw contest, running around the bat and trying to make a layup, seat upgrades, and the dance cam all made returns. You name it, and it'll probably be copied by the Thunder. Speaking of the dance cam, if you saw a particularly sexy guy in a blue shirt and blue headband doing the "Apache" dance and getting more than 30 seconds of full-fledged camera time, you guessed it, it was me. (Yes, I looked like a total dork.) Oh, and every single time they asked, "Whose ball is it?", I would automatically say, "Hornets ball!!!!". I guess I'm a creature of habit.

One last side note....2 of the worst NBA uniforms were out there tonight. The Clippers uniforms have always totally sucked. The red, white, and blue looks really cheesy and bland. Honestly, I'd rather them just rock the light blue Buffalo Braves uniforms all year. As for the Thunder uniforms, we've already been over that.

Anyway, on to the game itself. The crowd seemed pretty apathetic towards the pre-game lineups, and the first quarter. The first was full of high energy low post manuvers by both teams. Then, in the second quarter, the Clippers bought in all of their subs minus Ricky Davis, and it was a sludgefest through the third quarter. The Thunder had their starters out, but they played like total crap. It wasn't a defensively-minded game, like you would see in a Spurs matchup. Rather, it was just total crappiness and sloppiness on both ends.

Well, every time except this time....

Most of the time, the Thunder would have to rely on Durant or Westbrook pretending that there was a brick wall in front of them and getting "fouled" while having no intention of hitting the shot. I mean, is that even satisfying? Other players I've seen, like Baron Davis and Chris Paul, do it a lot, but they at least make it fun because they actually try. Westbrook, Durant, and more famously Dwayne Wade hardly even try to shoot, and just act like they got an electric shock. I know it's kind of a soapbox here, but it makes the game boring and makes them look horrible on the stat sheet (Durant went 6-18, Westbrook went 3-11). Comeon guys, at least try.

Well, eventually after a total sludgefest, about 1/8th the arena filed out at the end of the 3rd, with half of the remaining people seriously considering putting on their coat. Than, suddenly, the energy increased and the game got intense. Durant was hitting his shots, and everybody else on the floor was contributing well. On the other side of the coin, Mike Taylor played absolutely insane. Who is Mike Taylor? I don't know, but he was incredibly intense. He had a clutch 3 and he got a key steal for a dunk within the last 2 minutes.

Is it the shoes?

Anyway, long story short, we were pretty close going into the final two minutes. Then, Johan Petro got two freethrows and missed them both. On top of that, Mike Wilks got a steal for a dunk. All said and done, we ended up down by 3 with about 13 seconds to go. Durant had a "shades of Atlanta" 3 point shot, but it rimmed out and Houston got the rebound. Ricky Davis sank 2 freethrows, and Russell Westbrook sank an irrelevant 3 at the buzzer. The whole arena was kind of bummed, but they clapped for the team anyway, and it gave me hope that we can cope with losing for a couple of seasons.

Now, for tonights....

Thunder Wonder and Blunder: Johan Petro
12 Points, 6-9 Shooting, 14 Rebounds, 3 Blocks, 1 Turnover, 1 Steal

Johan Petro had a super game tonight. I mean, nobody could have predicted this at all. He got some good momentum early with an extreme dunk, and just kept producing all game. Hell, he even hit a 12 footer! I mean, he didn't out step his place, and did what he needed to to help the team. Probably a career Pre-Season game. So then, why is he also the Blunder? Well, he missed a couple of clutch freethrows down the stretch, and that was really the turning point that put us back behind the Clippers.

Thunder Down Under (Honourable Mention): Nick Collison
10 Points, 4-8 Shooting, 8 Rebounds, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 2 Fouls
Not particularly impressive on its own, but considering that he only played 15 minutes, he was extremely productive. Everybody elses play seems far too sloppy to include. 13 team assists?! I mean, comeon!

Thunder Plunderer: Al Thornton
23 Points, 8-13 Shooting, 6 Rebounds, 5 Turnovers, 1 Steal

His turnovers were a bit high, but Al was an absolute scoring beast tonight. He hit a whole lost of midrange jumpers and simply couldn't be stopped, even during the extremely lame-duck quarters.

Thunder Plunderer Down Under: Mike Taylor
14 Points, 5-9 Shooting, 2 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Turnovers, 3 Steals

I don't normally do this, but I gotta give props to this guy. His stats are only good at first glance, but he played with extreme intensity on the defensive end. He very nearly forced a whole lot of turnovers, and the ones that he did force were crucial. He forced the Thunder to be constantly on their toes bringing the ball up, and he even hit a clutch 3 late in the game along with a crucial jam in the final minute. Somebody give this guy a roster spot!

That's it for tonight....stay tuned for the last two Thunder Pre-Season games, Thursday Oct. 24th at the Phoenix Suns, and Friday Oct. 25th at the Los Angeles Lakers!

Bonus!
Fashion Notes:

P.J. made an excellent choice of tie tonight.

Along with that, Mike Dunleavy Sr. is the last guy on the planet besides Mike Morgan to have a fake handkerchief in the right pocket of his suit simply for style. Rock on, man.

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

Olympic Basketball Preview

I'm quite sure that all of you are really psyched for the upcoming Olympics in Beijing. While I don't nessessarily like the decision to have it in China, I'm also psuched for the Olympics. Since this is an NBA blog, I thought it would be only fair to preview the Basketball portion of the games.

First off, lets review who out of the City will be participating in the games:

None.

Yeah, we don't have any players who will be going to Beijing. P.J. Carlesimo coached the practice squad which had Kevin Durant and Jeff Green on it, though. Sear Sene probably plays for Senegal, but they didn't qualify. Francisco Elson (who is technically still on our roster) is Captain of the Netherlands team, but if Elson is your Captain, you probably don't make it very far in international play. (He's the second best Dutch basketball player ever, next to Rik Smits.) The last international player we have is Johan Petro, who is not good enough for the French national team, which is itself not good enough for the Olympics.

Now that we have that out of the way, lets discuss format.

12 teams are split into 2 groups (A and B) who play the other teams in the group once each. The teams ending up in the top 4 of each group will be seeded into a tournament single knockout format, in which the teams knock each other out until they compete for the gold. Confused? Click here for further Wikipedia explanation.

Now, I'll break down each of the teams rosters, followed by predictions.

Group A: Argentina
NBA Players: Manu Ginobili, Andres Nocioni, Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto, Carlos Delfino

Argentina is probaly the best South American team, and a powerhouse in international basketball. They won the gold in the last Summer Olympics, and there's no reason to think that they can't do it again with many NBA players at the peak of their prime. And don't think that the rest of their team is a pushover, either. They have many vets from Euroleague and local teams, and their roster is largely intact from their 2004 run. A certainly formiadale team that has been together for a while.

Australia
NBA Players: Andrew Bogut (Patrick Mills plays for Saint Marys College)

Contrary to popular belief, Australia does have it's own basketball league, and it is actually quite popular. Sadly, it really isn't that good. For comparison, Mark Price (my homeboy) went over to Australia to coach an expansion team (the South Dragons), and brought former teammate Todd Fuller to play with him. Fuller, considered an NBA failure with the Golden State Warriors, averaged 18 points and 9 rebounds for the team in 6 games, before getting sacked by Shane Heal, who had also just sacked Mark Price, citing "lack of work ethic". Reguardless, the Australian team used to be one of the few teams who could hold a candle to the United States "dream teams", but they frequently got beat by 20-30 points. But this is not the Australian team of old, as they no longer have Australian Legends Shane Heal (yes, the same Shane heal who sacked Mark Price and Todd Fuller) and Andrew Gaze. It remains to be seen whether the Australian team can live up to their former potential.
Croatia
NBA Players: Roko Ukic (He plays for the Raptors)

This is a total Euroleague team, and a bit of a wildcard in the Olympics. To be honest, I don't know much about them except for the fact that Toni Kukoc used to be their best player. But, I wouldn't expect this team to win a medal with the extremely fierce competition that's been going on lately.

Iran
NBA Players: None

Iran has no NBA players, and no shot at a gold. Honestly, they only got in because they're the best in Asia, which doesn't say much in the Basketball world. I mean, if I played them, I'd probably get owned, but on this high scale, they don't stand much of a chance.
Lithuania
NBA Players: Linas Kleiza (Sarunas Jasikevicus is a former Warrior and Pacer)

A usually pretty good basketball team that is looking below par this year. They do have good players in the Lavrinovic twins, Jasikevicus and Kleiza, but they are missing a lot of good players in Zyundras Ilgauskas (who couldn't play because the Cavaliers wouldn't let him), Arvydas Macijauskas (a former Hornet and Euroleague superstar who had a back injury), and Darius Songaila (also has a back injury). There are other players I could name, but the fact of the matter is that in a weak group A this team will most likely advance, but don't expect them to get far. If you need proof, look at their 30-40 point exhibition blowout against the USA.
Russia
NBA Players: Andrei Kirilenko (J.R. Holden is a former Bucknell star who went directly to Euroleague)

After the Soviet Union dissolved, it remained to be seen if the Russian National basketball team would remain as a force in international basketball after the loss of players from Soviet Republics. Well, they certainly weren't as good as their former self, but they were pretty damn good, and this year they look better than ever. With several strong players from local Euroleague clubs CSKA Moscow, Dynamo Moscow, and Spartak St.Petersburg that won them the 2007 European Championship, this team looks to be a strong contender in the Olympics and a virtual lock for the tournament.

Group B Angola
NBA Players: None

Angola is probably the most screwed team here. They sneak into seemingly every Olympics and FIBA tournament because they're the best team from Africa, but on a golbabl scale they're pretty bad. They did defeat Panama, Japan, and the New Zealand Tall Blacks (lol) in the most recent FIBA tournament, but against most of the other teams they hardly stand a chance. Put that fact on top of the fact that they are in an extremely powerful Group A, and I'd expect an 0-5 record.

China
NBA Players: Yao Ming, Yi Jianlian (Wang Zhi Zhi used to play for the Mavericks, and Sun Yue was drafted by the Lakers)

China is usually a moderately strong team, but if you look beyond the four players listed above, the team is pretty bad. China is a factory athlete-wise, but if you think about it, Asians aren't the best basketball players, just by natural ability. Now, I'm not being rascist, but, on average, Asians are much shorter, so there you go. So, really only a lucky few are actually good on this basketball team, while the rest of them like to run around and brick 3s like Marco Bellinelli. If you think about it, a former Liberty Center (who they like to call Jason) is an All-Star in the Chinese Basketball League, whereas here he'd be a D-League scrub. So, this team will be good (and probably would have soundly beaten Iran had they not automatically qualified as host), but it will be extremely hard for them to advance out of a powerhouse Group A.

Germany
NBA Players: Dirk Nowitski, Chris Kaman

This team is lead by the twin towers of Nowitski and Kaman. Historically, Germany has always had a few good players from their team, and this year is no different. Beyond the twin towers, they're good, but not great. They'll probably duke it out with China for the final spot in the tournament. Rookie Guard Bobby Brown, a NBA reject, lead ALBA Berlin to the German championship, and will be fighting for a roster spot in the NBA this year. They're really only here because of Kaman, and probably won't get beyond the first round of the tournament.

Greece
NBA Players: None

Greece may have no NBA players, but these are cream of the crop Euroleague players, and they've been playing together for a long time. They defeated the United States in the 2006 FIBA Championship Semi-Finals before losing to Spain in the finals. There's not much else to say other than the fact that they play a really good European brand of basketball together, and are cetrainly Gold Medal contenders.
Spain
NBA Players: Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Jose Calderon, Rudy Fernandez (Juan Carlos Navarro used to play for the Grizzlies)

Spain is a recent powerhouse. They defeated Greece without Pau Gasol in the finals of the 2006 FIBA tournament, so this team is for real. With an almost perfect mix of NBA vets and certainly capable European players, this team looks to be a certain title contender.
United States
NBA Players: All

Well, there's not much to say about these guys that you don't already know. The've been together for 3 years now, they're big, they're bad, they're ready to play. However, the team and it's marketing has been incredibly cocky about how certain they are that they'll win and return to the "glory days" of "The Dream Team". What do I have to say to that? Dream on. The world is good at basketball now, and they're here to stay. Hopefully they'll realize this and stop being so nationalistic.

Alright, so now lets see how they'll finish in Group A:
1. Argentina
An easy choice for #1. By and far the best team in Group A.
2. Russia
Somewhat of a distant 2nd to Argentina, this team is still pretty good.

3. Australia
This is where the Questions start for Group A, and no one would be surprised to see any of the 4 remaining teams in 3rd. So I'll go off on a limb and say Australia will get 3rd, since they're pretty unified as a team.

4. Lithuania
Any other year, this team would be duking it out with Argentina. Still, with so many injuries, they'll barely scrape into 4th.

5. Croatia
These guys haven't qualified for the World Championship in a long time, and usually finish around 6th-10th ish in the European Championships. I think Lithuania still has the man power to beat them.

6. Iran
They've had a recent run of success in the Asian Games....but that's the Asian games. With such a weak division they could advance, but don't put your money on it.


Now, on to Group B.
1. United States
This team has been together and really developed chemistry. They've played simply amazing in exhibition games so far.

2. Spain
I just think that this team loses to the United States head-to-head.
3. Greece
3rd place is something to be proud of in Group B, and this team will have chances to get revenge on Spain while also trying to re-defeat the US. They'll do neither, since both Spain and the US have improved since their last meetings.
4. China
Mark it down on your calendar: August 16th, 8 PM China Time. Why? Nowitski/Kaman vs. Yao/Yi. A Twin Towers battle of epic proportions, and it's a shame that only one of the pairs can go to the next round. Yao and Yi are probably a bit worse, but they'll get relief from jump shooting big man Wang Zhi Zhi, and have the hometown crowd on their side.

5. Germany
The odd team out in this group. When the groups were selected, they didn't have Chris Kaman, so that's they're fault. Once they can develop some additional guard talent, they'll make it, and they certainly could've made it in Group A.

6. Angola
Oh, what can I say, dear Angola? You might've had a chance in Group A, but in Group B, you're, quite simply, screwed.

So, the bracket would play out like this:

A2 Russia vs. B3 Greece B1United States vs. A4 Lithuania B2 Spain vs. A3 Australia A1 Argentina vs. B4 China

Without further ado, lets break 'em down:
Russia vs. Greece - Russia
Probably the most even matchup of the first round. Both are pretty good teams in their own right, and it will be awesome to see Kirilenko and Papaloukas go at it. Reguardless, I'll go with Russia in a slight upset. They did win the European Championships in 07, after all!

United States vs. Lithuania - United States
If you saw the exhibition game between these two and the 2006 FIBA game between them, you'd know that this is an old-fashioned blowout. The United States team is simply too quick and too athletic for the Lithuania big slowpokes.
Spain vs. Australia - Spain
This is another no contest matchup. Spain is just too talented for Australia. They might have a bit of a Bogut-Gasol battle, but Spains guards should easily outplay Australia.

Argentina vs. China - China
If you want to pick a big upset in the first round, here's your chance. Chinas anti-drug is swift, quick, and athletic big men (Since Yao, Yi, and Zhi Zhi are all really slow and plodding). Argentina is not that anti-drug, focusing on scoring forwards and guards. The closest thing they have is Luis Scola, who is Yaos teammate. Now, China has pretty poor guard play, which is what Argentina will most likely take advantage of. But if China can focus on total domination on the inside, they can win this game, and I'm banking on that. Plus, hometown crowd!

So, our Semifinal matchups are
United States vs. Russia
and
Spain vs. China

Lets break 'em down!
United States vs. Russia - Russia
Ah, the classic matchup. A lot of people are going to call me a hater for picking Russia, but this team is looking powerful. They beat Lithuania, Greece, Spain, France, and Croatia at the latest Eurobasket. This team is good. So is the United States. This game will be probably one of the best in recent memory, and I'm sure neither team will dissapoint.
Spain vs. China - Spain
And Chinas cinderalla run comes to a crashing end. Gasol domination, not much else to say.

So, we have a Finals matchup of:
Russia vs. Spain

and a Bronze Medal matchup of:
United States vs. China

First off:
United States vs. China - United States

This will probably go down as one of the most one-sided brinze medal games in Olympic history. China really doesn't belong this far up in the bracket.

And now, the FINAL!:
Russia vs. Spain - Russia

This is a tough one, it really is. They each one once against each other in the last Euroleague, with both games being nail biters. Russia is 2007 Eurobasket champions, and Spain is 2006 World Champions. This will be an excellent game, and if it does happen, I'd LOVE to see it. But, I'm going to go with Russia. Why? I don't know, intuition?

And there you have it. Please, enjoy the 2008 Summer Olympic Games!!!!

Ranking the Players Volume II

Sorry for the delay everyone! But, without further ado, here's the next 5 in our Ranking of the Players!!!!

#14. Adrian Griffin, 10th Year Shooting Guard
Best Season: 99-00 with the Celtics, 27 minutes, 7 points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 48% FG%, 28% 3PT%, 75% FT%.

Well, I'm not a big fan of Adrian Griffin, but who is? He's just another old NBA shadow that's haunting our team. It's a wonder that he's still in the NBA. His rookie stats were somewhat promising for a rookie, but his PT and stats have steadily decreased. Still, I'm confident he could put up similar numbers to what is above. I mean, he owns Ronald Dupree, who seems to only score points. This guy can grab the rebounds, dish it, and steal. So, he's not all that bad, but I think his production is just too low for the amount of time he gets in a game.

NBA Comparison: Kelenna Azubuike

#13. Robert Swift, 4th Year Center
Best Season: 2005-2006 with the SuperSonics, 21 Minutes, 6 points, 6 Rebounds, 1 Block, 51% FG%, 58% FT%.

Robert Swift is another one of the "indistinguishable SuperSonics big men". He had a solid season in 05-06, and seemed to have a bright future as an ok to solid big man in the NBA. But, after a season-ending injury to his right knee in February of 08, his future was seriously called into question. He had a similar injury to the same knee in the pre-season of 06, which also was season-ending. He'll definately remain on the roster this year, but it remains to be seen if his knee can hold up. Still, if he does recover, he'll definately be a solid big man (which is something we desperately need).

On a personal side note, WHOH! While gone, this dude grew out his hair and got some major tattoos. Hopefully he won't go the way of Brad Miller and get cornrows.... He's the only white player to be drafted straight out of high school. And, one of the few white big men.

NBA Comparison: Sam Bowie

#12. Russell Westbrook, Rookie Shooting Guard
This guy had a great Summer League, usually scoring more effectively than Jeff Green, and being a perfect compliment to Kevin Durant. Then again, Marco Bellinelli looked like the next Peja Stojakovic when he played in the Summer League, but in the NBA he looks like "Mr. Clank". So, I won't hold my breath on his greatness, and for now, he'll remain pretty low on the rankings list.

NBA Comparison: Too Early to Tell.

#11. Francisco Elson, 10th year Center (5th Year in the NBA)

Best Season: 06-07 with San Antonio, 19 Minutes, 5 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Block, 51% FG%, 78% FT%.

You might call this guy "Ol' Reliable". He's most famous for being a plug in behind Tim Duncan on the Spurs. If you need a solid backup center, this guy is ready and willing. Still, I would doubt that he'd want to stay with a team semi-permanently stuck in the NBA cellar, given that he's 32. But, if he does decide to stay, he might be essential to a good season, should we miraculously pull out over 30 wins.

NBA Comparison: P.J. Brown

#10. Johan Petro, 6th Year Center (4th in NBA)
Best Season: 06-07 with the SuperSonics, 19 Minutes, 6 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 51% FG%, 65% FT%.

This is another one of the "indistingishable big men". He was supposed to have a lot of potential, but if you look at all 3 of his seasons with the SuperSonics, they look essentially the same statistially. At 22, its still very possible that he'll get better, but right now he's looking like an eternal Francisco Elson. Not nessessarily a bad thing, but I'm sure the SuperSonics expected more, and will need more in order to become a force in the West. I will tell you guys that this is the last Center on the list, and if we can't get a good center for a Big Man happy coach like Carlesimo, it could spell disaster. Granted, I could easily imagine us going the small ball trend with Wilcox and Collison at Center, and Durant at Power Forward....but, I have already revealed too much.

NBA Comparison: Francisco Elson

Stay Tuned for Players #9-5!!!!