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!

WWLS, Flagship Station of the City

At 5PM today, Clay Bennett announced on the Total Dominance Hour that WWLS the Sports Animal would be the new flagship station of the Oklahoma City. This is good news, seeing as how WWLS is the primary sports station in the area. Previously, the Hornets used NewsRadio 1000 KTOK in 2005-2006, and they used 94.7 THE BUZZ in 2006-2007. It's nice to see it on a station that's actually relevant to what it's presenting. I mean, I bet a bunch of people were angry when after a Green Day song finished, a Hornets games came on. Or, heck, even talk show radio fans.

I was psyched because I figured it would be word on the team's name, but I suppose this is important information as well. No word on who will be the radio or TV announcers, though. (Bob Barry Sr., please?)

UPDATE:
Darnell Mayberry of the NewsOK NBA in OKC Blog sponsored by John Holt Chevrolet has some more in depth details about the merger, as well as the announcement that Matt Pinto will probably continue to his 2nd year of play by playing with the team. This, however, still leaves the question of the TV Announcer....

Rookie Photo Shoot, Adonal Foyle News

First of all, the rookies had their photo shoot this weekend.

Here's The Gallery (if you're into that sort of thing.)

And, seeing as how we don't have any real jerseys yet, the NBA decided to photograph our rookies in their old ghetto Summer League jerseys. The logo isn't that bad, but the jerseys are mesh. No worries though, these photos are usually one and done, and no one sees them again.

Word is, the Sacramento Kings, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Orlando Magic have new uniforms, and were photographed at the shoot. They are kept under tight wraps until the official unveilings closer to the season. The Kings and Magic are slight surprises, but the Timberwolves are long overdue, having the same uniforms since 1996 (which is cool though).

Also, in more important news, Adonal Foyle is probably going to get signed by the Orlando Magic. This news is probably the most Earth-Shattering news this offseason, as Adonal Foyles veteran experience will clearly outshine Dwight Howard and land him the starting job. Championship in Orlando, anyone?

Oh, and Ron Artest got traded to the Rockets. Now that's scary.

From Yahoo! Sports:
"Houston Chronicle reports Kings will send Ron Artest to Rockets for Bobby Jackson and No. 1 pick."

Pretty cheap....man, if we make the the playoffs, it'll be a miracle.

The final article in the Player Rankings Saga should come later tonight/tomorrowish.

Player Rankings Volume III

Hey Again Guys, and Apologies if I missed your comment earlier. I thought it would automatically forward comments to my email, so I never checked. But, reguardless, your feedback is much appreciated, and much thanks to SoonerAlum for making me aware of the fact that Thunder means Thundering Herd, and could have a buffalo as the mascot. If this is true, I'm all for the nickname, and it probably takes fourth place in my rankings, behind Rough Riders, Marshals, and Bison. Still, that's kind of also ripping off of the Marshall University Thundering Herd.

Reguardless, on to the rankings!

#9. C.J. Miles, 4th Year Shooting Guard

(He got a big check from Utah recently, so I thought it was fitting....)

Best Season: 07-08 with the Jazz, 12 Minutes, 5 Points, 1 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 steal, 48% FG%, 39% 3PT%, 79% FT%.

Okay okay, he' not on the roster anymore, but these rankings are old, and I figured you guys would at least like to see where he stood. I like to think of C.J. as all of Adrian Griffins skill with some of Russell Westbrooks potential. I mean, he'll never be an All-Star, but optomistically he could be a solid starter, or a good backup. Still, the issue is moot now, so my analysis is short.

NBA Comparison: Martell Webster

#8. Donyell Marshall, 15th Year Small/Power Forward

(No, that's not Ben Wallace.)

Best Season: 03-04 with the Raptors, 39 Minutes, 16 Points, 11 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 2 Blocks, 47% FG%, 40% 3PT%, 74% FT%.

By far the oldest grizzled veteran on our team, and my personal favourite player. (He played on my favourite team of all time, the 1998-1999 Golden State Warriors.) He's played on many different teams, with his longest run from 1995-2000 with the Warriors. Some would say he's past his prime, but his game was never all that athletic anyway. He can still hit the 3 and the jumpshot, which is most of what he did back in the day. If you do know him, you probably know him from his days in Cleveland. Most of the time he shot corner 3s, and was an integral part of the NBA Finals team that beat the Pistons in the Conference Finals and lost to the Spurs in the Finals. Otherwise, he started on a bad Toronto team for a couple of years, and did likewise with a bad Bulls team in the mid-00s. In the early 00s he played with Utah, and was called "the future of the team" by Karl Malone. And for most of the 90s he played for a bad Warriors team, and before that he was a rookie on the Timberwolves. And there you go, the saga of Donyell Marshall. Last season he hardly played for the SuperSonics at all, and I don't expect it to improve much this year. In GM Kevin Pritchards eyes, he's a 5 Million Dollar expiring contract, which is valuable as trade bait. But, if he does stay, he'll be a valuable backup, and could help Kevin Durant learn a thing or to about his 3 Point percentage. (Surprising Stat: He had a 92% FreeThrow percentage last year with the SuperSonics.)

NBA Comparison: He's a wierd player....it's hard to find a comparison for a 3 Point Shooting Power Forward....Dirk Nowitski?

#7. Luke Ridnour, 6th Year Point Guard

(He's a NBA basketball player and his wife is taller than him....not just taller, but noticably taller. Creepy. (I have nothing against tall women, just a funny fact.))

(Had to include this pic, too. It shows him in his playing digs!)

Best Season: 05-06 with the SuperSonics, 33 Minutes, 12 Points, 3 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 2 Steals, 42% FG%, 29% 3PT%, 88% FT%.

Luke Ridnour is about as average and Pure of a Point Guard that you'll get. However, on defense, a lot of people accuse him of being a Bruce Bowen. If you're unfamiliar with the NBA, that basically means he's a really dirty, floppish defender, which can't be too good for his pocketbook going into this season. He's the longest consecutively tenured SuperSonic. The stats shown above are about his apex, as he should be fully developed at 27. But last year he lost his job to Earl Watson, who is a better marksman, but slightly worse in defending. Still, the Oklahoma City have a very good situation with their Point Guards, as interchangability and competition is never a bad thing.

NBA Comparison: Jamal Tinsley

#6. Damien Wilkins, 5th Year Small Forward/Shooting Guard

(That's what his hair should look like. No flat top is blasphemy in the Wilkins family!)

Best Season: 06-07 with the SuperSonics (07-08 looked very similar), 25 Minutes, 9 Points, 3 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, 44% FG%, 41% 3PT%, 88% FT%.

Damien Wilkins is NBA Royalty (according to Wikipedia). He is the son of Gerald Wilkins, a long-time NBA starter, and the nephew of Dominique Wilkins, who we all know as the human highlight flim. But, this is no Chris Simms (OU fan plug!). Yet, he's no Peyton Manning, either. Nonetheless, he can certainly hold his own in the NBA, and is a solid Dunker and 3 point shooter. He certainly has a great future with the SuperSonics, and will be a crucial backup to future stars Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook. You know, someone who can bring energy off of the bench and shoot 3s. If you remember Rasual Butler from a couple years back on the Hornets, then there you go.

NBA Comparison: Rasual Butler

#5. Earl Watson, 8th Year Point Guard
Best Season: 07-08 with Seattle, 29 Minutes, 11 Points, 3 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steal, 45% FG%, 37% 3PT%, 77% FT%.

Earl Watson is kind of a more ideal Luke Ridnour. None of the bad defensive reputation, and a better shooter. Indeed, he did take the starting job from Luke Ridnour last year, and has been highly coveted by other teams (evidenced by frequent trade talks). Earl Watson was drafted by the SuperSonics in 2001, before going to Memphis and Denver and then coming back to Seattle. Thus, he is the oldest SuperSonic, but not longest consecutively tenured. Anyway, the Seattle Point Guard situation is good. Not great, but good. Two unselfish guys who will distribute the ball.

NBA Comparison: A better passing Derek Fisher

Stay tuned for the relatively unsurprising Top 4, and Strategies for P.J. Carlesimo and Sam Presti to consider!

News Update: C.J. Miles Will Remain a Jazz

According to the NewsOK NBA in OKC Blog Sponsored by John Holt Chevrolet, Utah has matched C.J. Miles' offer sheet, and will retain him next season. They just wanted to keep us waiting until the last day, eh? Honestly, this isn't much of a loss, and no one should get worried yet. We still have Adrian Griffin, who will fill his poition well, I'm sure. Not to mention Russell Westbrook, who everyone expects to be good. And even if he was here, I can't imagine him winning games for us. So, there you go. This kind screws up my player rankings, but, oh well, he'll stay in them hypothetically.

From One....To Six....

Well, it looks like KOCO was wrong. What a surprise. Who called it? Me. And it looks like NewsOK is doing some investigating of their own, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they were also wrong. But, since the NBA filed for trademark rights to six names....this one seems pretty serious.

The Six Names Are:
Barons
Bison
Energy
Marshals
Thunder
Wind

Well, you've already heard my spiel about the Thunder, but I'll let my opinion be known about all 6 of these names anyway.

#1. Barons- Okay, I know this is a temporary issue, but what will we do when Baron Davis comes to town? He'll be so pumped up that he'll go for 50 points every time! Might as well be the Oklahoma City Baron Davises.

Secondly, according to Dictionary.com, a Baron is "an English Nobleman of the lowest rank". That doesn't seem like it would work out very well when the Sacramento Kings come to town, or whenever Prince Fielder decides to watch the Barons and also decides to root for the other team. I mean, we might as well call ourselves the Oklahoma City Ensigns or the Oklahoma City Interns. It just doesn't make sense! At least we're noble.

#2. Bison- Well, I really can't find too much wrong with this name. Of course, there's a few colleges with the nickname, but you can't be completely original or you'll end up like a Triple-A baseball team and call yourself the biscuits (seriously, it's a name). The Bison is a noble name I suppose, but are Bison really ferocious? I mean, they're really just beasts of burden like a yak or an ox. OR, to a lesser extent, maybe even a cow. I mean, could you imagine us being the Oklahoma City cow? I know the bison are native to Oklahoma, and they are a generally respectable animal, but I just don't think the name is all that ferocious.

#3. Energy- Okay. I'll be brutally honest here. This, to me, sounds like a Womens Soccer team. Maybe a Womens Lacrosse team. Maybe even a Womens basketball team. Now, I have nothing against women, or Womens sports. I respect Womens sports and think they should have a bigger place at the table, but Energy will get us laughed out of the NBA. What will our logo be? An oil rig? Or, even worse, ethanol? I mean, it could be a symbol of Oklahomas willingness to move beyond our oil companies and make Chesapeake Energy our main partner, but our name shouldn't have political implications. This is probably the worst name here. We're not the Chicago Sky, or the Atlanta Dream.

#4. Marshalls- This is a name from the Old West. The US Marshalls were basically....police officers in dangerous territory. A bad job, with the only thing keeping you going being a sense of Justice. I thought we wanted to move away from our "Old West" image, but, oh well. I think it's a nice name, but is this really Oklahoma-specific? It seems pretty general to me. If we wanted to go general, since Chuck Norris is an Oklahoma native, we should go with the Oklahoma City Walker, Texas Rangers. But I am only joking. Anyway, solid name here.

#5. Thunder- Again, the name of the Warriors mascot. I know it wasn't their idea first, but honestly, we shouldn't steal from the same league that we're already in. Knowing the evil money grubbing Chris Cohan (Warriors Owner), I see a lawsuit coming.

#6. Wind- Same issue as Energy. This is a soccer name, or the name of a womens team. And what would our logo be, three lines? Honestly, I know that Oklahoma has unpredictable weather, but it's not the first place you think of when you think, "Wind". I'd think Nebraska, Kansas, or even North Carolina. Bad, bad name.

So, out of the six, the best name is clearly the Marshalls, somewhat closely followed by the Bison.

Still though, I'd much rather have the name "Rough Riders". Even though that name seems impossible now, It's my odds-on favourite. But, if I had to settle for Marshals or Bison, I wouldn't mind. Any of the other 4 names? I'll be pretty dissapointed.

Oklahoma City BBall Poll: Go Vote!

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!!!!