• With all the negatively out of the way, how good has Russell Westbrook looked these last few games? He was definitely rusty in his first two appearances back from injury, but has quickly returned to his former self. On Tuesday, he recorded the second fastest triple-double in the history of the game. Woah. Finished 36-9-9 last night including a red hot start going 6-7 shooting in his first six minutes on the floor. Anyone still questioning if Westbrook's return was a good thing for this team? Good, didn't think so.

• SoonersSports.com does a good job breaking down each position heading into Spring practice. Is it football season yet?

• The Thunder will head out to Los Angeles on Sunday to take on the Lakers before returning home for a three-game home stand vs the Rockets, Lakers, and Mavs. All very winnable games. I don't think it's asking too much to see a respectable defensive performance or two in there.

• One last thing on the Thunder defense. I get that they are without Thabo and Perkins right now, but the defensive issues run much deeper. The Thunder aren't contesting open jump shots. Sure Perk can clog up the lane, but that hasn't been where they've been getting beat. If anything, Brooks likely should have countered last night's ultimate small-ball lineup by Phoenix by sitting Ibaka down more than usual. He didn't have a place defensively as the Suns reigned down long jumper after long jumper with a good portion of those going uncontested.

• Brandon Chatmon at ESPN had a solid write-up regarding Stoops trying to keep young Sooner players hungry despite the Sugar Bowl win last season. It was one of the biggest wins in Stoops career. Here's to hoping for a promising follow-up campaign in 2014.

• Anyone checked out this new Thunder app? I'm enjoying the simplicity of the design, but the the ability to customize it to my liking (adding more rss feeds, twitter handles, etc) is a real boost. The Twitter function gets a lot of use from me during Thunder games. I like to follow what people are saying real-time during the game and this sorts out all the non-Thunder chatter. Good stuff, I'd definitely recommend checking it out.

• With the use computers, smart phones, and almost everyone using some sort of electronic device to check the time these days, I wonder when the last time Daylight Savings Time actually caused someone problems. Admittedly I still wear a wrist watch, but it's more out of habit than necessity. My iPhone will automatically update the time for me and my alarm clock on my phone will auto-adjust with it, but hey, don't forget Daylight Savings this weekend you guys!

• My partner in crime knocked out the second part of his 2014 Sooner football signings class this week that I'd highly recommend checking out. This time he digs into the defensive recruits. Get familiar with their names, these guys are the future of the program.

• The Thunder are 0-4 this season without Kendrick Perkins. Make of that what you will. My mind is blown.

• Former Oklahoma quarterback Kendal Thompson is transferring to Utah. This comes as a shock to exactly no one. Despite an injury just before the 2013 season, Thompson battled back was given a shot to prove his worth. It came during a stretch of miserable play from Bell and Knight with the potential to snatch the starting position with a good outing, but Thompson looked less than impressive. Thompson graduates in May so he will be eligible to play immediately for the Utes next season.

• A funny line from Royce Young over at Daily Thunder regarding the loss to the Cavs: "You could put the classification of the way the Thunder lost this one somewhere between bad, and season three of Homeland." Come on! Season three wasn't that bad!

• Former dismissed Oklahoma running back Damien Williams ran an impressive 4.45 40-yard dash at the NFL combine, good enough for the 4th best among running backs. Color me impressed. I assumed Williams' chances at an NFL career went down the drain when he was booted off the team last season. A public reason was never given for his dismissal, but with that kind of speed he just might find a place on an NFL roster.

• The Thunder are looking at signing a potential free agent or two. If there is anything just in this world, it will not be Metta World Peace Ron Artest.

• Keep your eyes peeled for a new Thunder basketball app that should be hitting the App Store any day now. I'm told it will be called "The Thunder App" and be a one-stop shop for Thunder fans. Very nice. Will do a review on it once I see it show up.

• Three Sooner football players were penalized for eating too much pasta during a graduation banquet last year. I don't even know where to start with this one. My initial reaction is to laugh, but how ridiculous is the NCAA? There is a limit on how much food players can eat at banquets? Who is making up these rules? At least Gabe Ikard and Austin Woods are taking it all in stride. Just proves how big of a joke the NCAA has become these days.

• So the NBA trade deadline came and went with barely a whimper. The Thunder did right by holding their cards and not trying to get cute by changing up what has been working great. Westbrook is back and that's all the Thunder need to make a push to the finals. Amnesty Perk? Get another shooter? Those things sound great in theory, but in reality they already have shooters and amnestying Perk obviously isn't going to happen. On the bright side? Perkins will have an expiring contract next season and likely be prime trade-bait.

• Bill Simmons ranks Kendrick Perkins as the 12th worst contract in the NBA. Hard to argue with him. One of Sam Presti's few missteps was giving Perkins a huge contract upon acquiring him from Boston. To Presti's credit, everyone thought it was a major coup for OKC at the time finally getting the allusive "big man" that had so desperately been missing. Count me among the bunch who were thrilled when the blockbuster trade went down, but there's no question I'd rather have Jeff Green back in the blue and orange instead of the broken down big man. And that $8.7 million Perkins is making this year? It makes me sick thinking of the players that could be had with that money.

• Confession: I root for the US in the Winter Olympics about as much as I root for OU women's softball. I'm definitely happy if they do well, but I don't much care to watch. Now the Summer Olympics? That's a different story.

• I always thought it was pretty hokey during a college football game when a player would be flagged for "targeting" and then instantly ejected with a 15-yard penalty tacked on. But wait, if the officials review the play and determine there was no foul then the player is not ejected, but the 15-yard penalty still stands? Looks like the NCAA realized how silly that was and is changing the rule. While I still think a first time offender being ejected is a bit harsh, at least they are amending the rule to where if it is reviewed and determined not to be a foul then the 15-yard penalty no longer stands.

• Haven't quite figured out if the OU men's basketball squad is worthwhile or not yet. College basketball has been stale for so long outside of March Madness, but a legit Sooners run in the tournament could grab my attention again. They're probably just messing with me though.

• Russell Westbrook is back and that's a good thing. Can we please stop with the ridiculous speculation about the Thunder being better off without Westbrook? Please, pretty please. Last night he looked rusty, but still explosive. There may be some growing pains in the next couple of weeks with everyone adjusting to their new places on the court, but this team is better off with #0 in the lineup.

• The Thunder have the best record in the NBA headed into the all-star break and are currently the favorite to win it all this year, at least according to a few ESPN writers. Westbrook's injury may have turned out to be a blessing in disguise, granting that precious extra playing time and responsibility to the likes of Jackson and Lamb that they likely never would have gotten with a healthy Westbrook. The Thunder were ill-prepared for life without Westbrook last season, but they are a better bunch this time around. Plug a healthy Westbrook back into the lineup and you've got the favorites to win it all this year.

• Tip of the hat to my partner in crime on his fantastic breakdown of the recent Sooner signings this week. While doing my best to keep up with signing day, I still learned quite a bit from the recaps on the offensive side of the ball. If you have any interest at all in the future of the Oklahoma football program, I encourage you to go check it out. You will not be disappointed. Keep an eye out for the defensive players breakdown coming in the near future.

• Is it too soon to crown Kevin Durant the MVP? Nope. While LeBron has won four of the past five, Durant has been vocal about being tired of playing second fiddle. Being the second best player in the world isn't good enough for KD. He's on a mission to be the best and is putting on a pretty good display of those talents lately. Barring King James leading the Heat on another 30-game win streak, this race is as good as over.

• So Mark Schlabach has Oklahoma listed at #5 in his Post Signing Day "Way Too Early Top 25" rankings. This was no doubt based on the Sooners stellar recruiting class off the heels of their Sugar Bowl win over the vaunted Crimson Tide, but there is still a lot of work left to be done in Norman. Trevor Knight is the key to the Sooners success in 2014. If he builds off his fantastic Sugar Bowl performance? OU should earn a bid to the first ever college football playoffs. If he reverts back to the Knight from the 2013 season opener? Well, let's not talk like that.

• Russell Westbrook is still scheduled to return sometime after the all-star break, but the Thunder aren't ready to commit on a specific date just yet. February 20th is still the target date, but it's far from set in stone. Fingers crossed for no further setbacks. I've enjoyed watching this team persevere without their all-star point guard, but I enjoy watching them more with him on the court. And let's be honest, any attempt at making a serious push towards an NBA championship has to include a healthy #0.

• Remember when everyone was so sure that Bob Stoops was going to be the next head coach of the Cleveland Browns? I believed it about as much as the "Saban to Texas is a done deal" rumors. Stoops is going to finish out his career in Norman, mark it down. There are plenty of reasons to list why, but they are too many to go over in this small space.

• Disagreed with my opinion piece on why the Thunder shouldn't trade Westbrook? Want some substance backing up my take? Sign up for an Insider account and let the big boys do the heavy lifting. The Thunder are "great without Westbrook; better with him."

• Former five-star Oklahoma recruit Trey Metoyer was dismissed from the team last October after being charged with indecent exposure. So what's Metoyer been up to lately? Oh nothing special, just kicking back and enjoying another round of indecent exposure charges. Seems like a lifetime ago that we were drooling over him during spring training and couldn't wait for #17 to explode into the next great WR in Norman. Yet another tale of a sad waste of talents. Metoyer finished his stint with the Sooners with a mere 19 catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns.

• Oh wait, the Westbrook trade rumors were all just made up by some random blogger? Never mind then, move along, nothing to see here. Per Royce Young: "The Thunder aren’t trading Russell Westbrook. Under any circumstance. It’s not happening. Therefore, any subsequent thing that involves his name and the word 'trade' in it should be ignored entirely, unless you just enjoy wild, pointless speculation."