Category Archives: Oklahoma City Thunder

Weekly Wrap

Welcome to the Weekly Wrap where we dissect recent happenings across the local sports scene and generally whatever is on our minds. Look for the Weekly Wrap published every Friday.

• The Thunder completed the regular season sweep of the Spurs last night while ending yet another of their win streaks. OKC ended San Antonio's 11-game win streak the first time they met this season back in November and then ended their 19-game streak last night (oh and their 20-game win streak in the 2012 playoffs too). While Ginobili did sit, it's hard to imagine he would've changed the outcome much. Westbrook looked fantastic along with Reggie Jackson continuing his dismantling of the Spurs this season. While it took Durant until late in the fourth before he secured his 25 points, he played his game and got his. It speaks volumes for Durant's game that while some would consider it an "off" night for him, he still put up 28 and lead his team in a key victory over the first place Spurs. San Antonio fans and writers are of course trying to downplay the outcome, but make no mistake, this was a big win for OKC.

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• Sports Illustrated put out a nice little write-up on Trevor Knight and comparisons to Tim Tebow. Here's a short blurb, but I'd encourage you to read the whole thing (it's a quick read):

A star college quarterback who loves to share his Christian faith, prides himself on being a leader and does his best not to use profane language. Sound familiar? For Oklahoma's Trevor Knight, the comparisons to Tim Tebow are an honor.

 

"Tim Tebow is second to none in the way he proclaims his faith, the way he plays and his competitiveness," Knight said. "He's a leader. You can see that. A lot of people give him a hard time for maybe not being the best quarterback, but he's a winner and conducts himself with class and honor.

Continue reading here: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/college-football/news/20140402/inside-read-trevor-knight-oklahoma-duke-dino-babers/

• Caleb and I had a little point/counterpoint yesterday regarding the Thunder/Spurs showdown last night. Anyone enjoy this? Looking at potentially making it a regular type column featuring a fan/writer of a Thunder opponent. Any feedback would be much appreciated. Also, if you have a favorite NBA team that is not the Oklahoma City Thunder and would be interested in participating in a point/counterpoint then give me a shout.

• The Red River Rivalry is no more. What's that? No, not the actual game, just the name. It is now being branded the "AT&T Red River Showdown." Boy doesn't that have a nice corporate ring to it? Bleh, does anyone ever really refer to these things with the corporate sponsors name in every day conversation? 

"Hey Jimbo, you going to the AT&T Red River Showdown this year??"
"Is that over at AT&T Stadium?"
"I think it's at the Cotton Bowl."
"Oh ok, so where they play the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic."
"No, that's AT&T Stadium. I'm talking about the Cotton Bowl."
"They don't play the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic at the Cotton Bowl?"
"You must be thinking of the Heart of Dallas Bowl."
"What's that?"
"You know, the old TicketCity Bowl played at the Cotton Bowl."
"Oh, right, yeah, that's what I meant."

• So the official OU twitter account posted the following on Tuesday:

• Berry Tramel doesn't think the joke was very funny and in bad taste. I tend to agree with Berry on this one. I know it's the cool thing to try and come up with some clever April fools joke these days, but taking a low-blow at the ultimate company man Blake Bell was the best you could come up with? Pretty weak stuff guys.

• The Thunder are still two games back from San Antonio with eight to play. Bet they are wishing they could have back those brutal losses to the Cavs and Lakers right about now, huh? Ah well, no shame in the two-seed I suppose.

• Today is Landry Jones' birthday. Happy birthday Mr. Jones! How's life in the NFL? Wait, you are still on an NFL roster, aren't you? Oh, whew, that was almost awkward. What's that? You haven't taken a single snap yet? OK, it's awkward again.

Thunder vs Spurs: Point/Counterpoint

With the Thunder and Spurs set to square off in Oklahoma City tonight, let's take a deeper look at five burning questions from a fan's perspective from both sides. Micah Hixon will be representing the Thunder perspective in this debate while Caleb Hixon will be answering on the Spurs' behalf.

Question #1: Is this a must win for either team?

Micah: A must win? I don't think so. Sure, the Spurs are putting their 19-game win streak on the line, but they also have a comfortable 4-game lead on the Thunder for that coveted 1-seed heading into the playoffs. Remember back in the 2012 playoffs when San Antonio brought an 18-game win streak into the Western Conference finals against the Thunder? The Spurs took the first two games at home, running their streak up to 20 straight, and then dropped the next four in a row to OKC. The Spurs were looking for redemption in the 2013 playoffs, but a Russell Westbrook injury ousted the Thunder before they got the chance to settle the score. The Thunder are 3-0 this season already vs the Spurs including their first match-up way back in November that ended an 11-game winning streak the Spurs had amassed. That said, I'm going to guess this one may mean a little more to the Spurs for their confidence heading into the playoffs. If the Thunder sweep the regular season series with the memory of how the last playoff meeting between the two teams unfolded, it could be bad news for the Spurs state of mind.

Caleb: Popovich always says you can learn more from a loss than a win. So with that in mind, yes, this is a must win. But not in the traditional sense. In the season series between the Spurs and Thunder, OKC leads 3-0 right now. For this 19-game winning streak to pay any real dividends for San Antonio's playoff run, they need to beat the Thunder. They need to show OKC that the previous three match-ups don't mean anything because the Spurs are hot now and that's what counts going into the playoffs. If the Thunder break their streak, not all is lost for the Spurs. But I would feel better knowing that the Spurs can actually win a game against the Thunder if they meet in the playoffs.

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Question #2: Which organization has the better front office?

Micah: It's well known that Thunder GM Sam Presti got his start in the Spurs' front office (and is widely credited with encouraging the Spurs to draft Tony Parker). There's no questioning the job he's done in Oklahoma City since accepting the general manager position back in 2007. He reeled off a ridiculous streak of homerun draft picks in three straight drafts starting with Kevin Durant in 2007 followed by Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka in 2008 and then James Harden in 2009. However, there's a reason why ESPN ranked the Spurs as the #1 front office in the entire NBA (OKC ranked eighth). The trio of head coach/president Gregg Popovich, general manager R.C. Buford, and owner Peter Holt have already won three championships over the last 12 years. The Spurs have remained title contenders for the past decade and a half with the front office consistently surrounding Duncan, Parker, and Ginobili with a top notch supporting cast. The Thunder are well on their way to being one of the best front offices, but the Spurs are the unquestioned gold standard today.

Caleb: This one at first glance may seem like a toss-up to the untrained eye, and all credit due to the Thunder, but this is a slam dunk in favor of the Spurs. Yes, OKC has come on strong as of late and their front office has done a great job building a team through the draft, but just look at the body of work the Spurs have put together over the last 15 years. 4 NBA Championships, haven't missed the playoffs since 1998, and in Tim Duncan's 17 year career they've only fallen below 50 wins once (the shortened 1999 lock out season). Yeah, I'd say the Spurs take this one. Not to mention ESPN ranks the Spurs front office as #1 in the entire league.

Question #3: Which player on the opposing team worries you the most?

Micah: Tony Parker has been a constant thorn in the Thunder's side over the years. He almost single-handedly took down the Thunder back in January with a 37-point performance. Luckily for the Thunder, Durant was right in the middle of one of the greatest months of basketball ever played and matched Parker for 36 points of his own to give the Thunder a narrow victory. Parker is the x-factor to the Spurs entire offense. If he gets going early, it could be a long night for OKC.

Caleb: The easy answer here is Kevin Durant, but just as Batman needs Robin, Hans Solo needs Chewbacca, and Michael Scott needs Dwight Schrute, KD needs Russell Westbrook. Sure, KD is going to get his whether you like it or not, and no doubt the Thunder can be very dangerous with just Durant, but what makes the Thunder a really scary team is when Westbrook is on fire too. If you can contain Westbrook and make the Thunder one dimensional, then you have a chance at beating OKC.

Question #4: More impressive: Spurs 19-game win streak or Durant's 38-game streak of 25+ points?

Micah: Durant is only two games away from the 40-game streak of 25+ points Michael Jordan accomplished during the 1986-87 season (the most in the last 50 years). Just last season the Miami Heat rattled off 27 straight wins, so from that perspective it becomes pretty clear which is more impressive. The scary part? Durant could easily be scoring 30+ every single night if he wanted to. Remember back in January when Durant voluntarily ended his 12-game streak of 30+ points by taking a seat in the fourth quarter? Yeah, that's not the first time he's sat an entire fourth quarter of a game either. Durant takes this one with ease.

Caleb: Honestly, as much as I want to say the Spurs winning streak is more impressive because of the team work involved, the momentum it creates or the quality teams beat in the streak… but come on! 38 games of more than 25 points?! That's nuts! I'm sure Micah will point out how only Michael Jordan has had more in the last 50 years (Editor's note: he did). Think of all the prolific scorers in the last 50 years, only MJ has had a better streak. Not Kobe, not LeBron, not Dirk or even Allen Iverson can say that. Yeah, KD takes this one.

Question #5: What's the over/under number of words Gregg Popovich will utter during his sideline reporter interview?

Micah: Two *walks away from interview*

Caleb: Ahhh Pop and his beloved sideline reports. You'd think with as much success and as long as Pop has been in the league he'd learn how to deal with the interviews. No way, Jose. Pop ain't having it! As a Spurs fan, though, I love it. Popovich is a pure genius and I trust anything he does, even his obvious disdain for reporters. My over under is 20 words. If you get more than 20 words from Pop then you deserve an award.

Weekly Wrap

Welcome to the Weekly Wrap where we dissect recent happenings across the local sports scene and generally whatever is on our minds. Look for the Weekly Wrap published every Friday.

• March Madness is in full effect. For the first time since 1979, the Sweet 16 will not feature Duke, North Carolina, or Kansas. That is pretty insane. Despite all the parity in college basketball, one of those three schools had made it past the first weekend for the last 35 years. Just goes to show how truly bizarre this year has been. I've got Arizona going all the way beating Michigan State in the title game. Fingers crossed.

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• With just 11 games remaining in the NBA regular season, the Thunder have won six of their last eight including wins over other playoff teams such as Houston, Chicago, and Toronto. The two losses? Both to Dallas. One a blowout loss and another in OT. Now the caveat here being that Dallas is essentially playing for a playoff spot while OKC has already clinched a playoff birth and really only playing for the number one seed at this point. Dallas is desperate for wins, Oklahoma City maybe not as much. However, I can't imagine the Thunder didn't want some vengeance for the blowout loss from the week before. I'll try not to over-analyze this too much, but OKC vs Dallas is a definite possibility for a first round playoff match-up.

• Jake Trotter has Oklahoma in the number two spot in his Big 12 "offensive triplets" rankings. The combo of QB Trevor Knight, RB Keith Ford, and WR Sterling Shepard ranks only behind Baylor's triplets. Lot of excitement in Norman surrounding these three players among others. Will be interesting to see if they can live up to the hype.

• Shout of to Caleb Hixon stepping in and pumping out the content this past week with his March Madness coverage (pay no attention to his actual game predictions). He had a great piece on Doug McDermott and his place in college basketball history.

• Thunder vs the Kings tonight! You pumped? Yeah, me neither. Let's get to the playoffs already. The only interesting thing left to follow is Durant's push towards winning his fourth scoring title and first MVP.

• Speaking of the playoffs, Anthony Slater does a nice job breaking down five potential first round opponents for OKC. While the Thunder would obviously be favored no matter who their first round opponent ends up being, there are no easy outs in the Western conference.

• Apparently you can now vote on the Sooners spring game field design. I'm all for fan interaction, but this just feels…a bit lame? Does anyone really care about the field design for the spring game? Maybe I'm just being a killjoy, but I could care less.

Weekly Wrap

Welcome to the Weekly Wrap where we dissect recent happenings across the local sports scene and generally whatever is on our minds. Look for the Weekly Wrap published every Friday.

• March Madness got underway yesterday and started off with a bang. Despite my urges to rip into the Sooner basketball team, I'd better stay away from that one. The Sooner basketball team is making strides in the right direction, but their March Madness lasted all of one day before losing to 12-seed North Dakota State. It was the Bison's first ever NCAA tournament victory. I'm leaving this one alone, I promise.

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• Speaking of March Madness, go check out Caleb Hixon's recap from day one. Good stuff in there and quite the bold prediction. Look for more pieces from Caleb in the coming weeks as a contributor here.

• The Thunder took on the Cavs last night and did their best to blow a 24-point 4th quarter lead. KD had taken a seat, the 2nd unit players had checked in for the remainder of the game, and it looked like the Thunder were putting the finishing touches on a solid night of work. Then the Cavs went on a 16-0 run. Durant was forced to check back into the game to secure the victory. A win is still a win, but the end of the bench players nearly got run out of the gym by the Cavs. I'm trying to stay positive today, I really am.

• Last night was win number 50 for the Thunder. Despite the recent negativity, 50 wins still means something. OKC takes on Toronto tonight and Westbrook returns to the line-up once again. The Raptors are currently the third seed in the East, so this would be a nice opportunity for the Thunder to flex their muscles.

• Take the plunge and join Yahoo and Quicken Loans' Billion Dollar Bracket? What's that? Your perfect bracket didn't even make it out of day one? Man…I just knew this was going to be the year of the perfect brackets! Hey, there's always next year for the first ever perfect bracket and new billionaire.

• The kind folks over at Welcome To Loud City wrote up a nice little review on the recently released Sports Insider – Thunder Edition app. If you are a Thunder fan with an iPhone and haven't checked it out yet, well what are you waiting for?

• Jake Trotter thinks the Sooners could have a "scary three-headed monster" in the backfield next season with running backs Keith Ford, Alex Ross, and Joe Mixon. It's crazy to think that Oklahoma is graduating three senior running backs who all played major roles in the offense, yet may not skip a beat with the upcoming young guys.

What’s Happening With the Thunder?

Are you a little concerned with what's happening in OKC?

Yeah, me too.

Something just hasn't been quite right about this team since the all-star break. The team that was once thought to be the favorites coming out of the West have all the sudden surrendered the lead to San Antonio with the Clippers not far behind. So, what exactly is going on?

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The defensive effort has been miserable.
Well, this is probably the most obvious answer. The defensive effort in OKC has been questionable at best lately. What was once a top defensive unit in the first half of the season has fallen off a cliff to now one of the statistical worst. Zach Lowe at Grantland does a good job of breaking down some of the poor defensive tendencies that have been creeping up as of late. To sum it up, the Thunder are over-crowding the lane and leaving shooters wide open on the kick out pass. You could say they were just running into hot shooting teams until Gerald Green and Jodie Meeks each torched the Thunder for career highs in back-to-back games earlier this month. Is it a lack of effort? Terrible defensive schemes? Missing players?

Two of their starters are injured.
Admit it, when Perkins and Sefolosha went down with injuries, you either silently rejoiced or at least assumed it wouldn't have much of an effect (if any) on the team. Despite what most fans thought, Thabo and Perk are important pieces on this team and serve a great purpose. I'll be the first to admit that I've screamed for Presti to amnesty Perkins for years now, but it's become increasingly evident the role he plays on this roster. I hate bringing up the intangibles that certain players bring to the table, but Perkins fits the bill. His stat line is always brutal, yet the defense seems to have a better identity about itself when he's on the floor. Maybe it's the constant communication. Maybe it's the toughness factor. Maybe it's something else. I don't know what it is, but it's something. Oh, and that little thing about missing their best perimeter defender in Sefolosha doesn't exactly help either.

IT'S ALL WESTBROOKS' FAULT!
Just kidding. You're still paying attention, right?

Scott Brooks is in love with the veterans.
What happened to Jeremy Lamb? Remember that time he scorched the Rockets for 22 points back in December? How about when he netted a cool 18 points on 7-10 shooting vs Miami back in January? What happened, you ask? Caron Butler happened. Don't mistake this as a gripe about the Thunder acquiring Caron Butler. Butler is definitely a nice addition to the team, but there's no question that he has stolen away the majority of minutes that were going to Lamb. Lamb averaged 24.6 minutes per game in January, 18.8 in February, and a measly 10.9 thus far in March. Lamb appeared to just begin coming into his own this season and really contributing to the team. Then his minutes gradually dried up. Now it's virtually to the point where he's playing garbage time minutes only. Fisher and Butler have played well, but I'm not sure I agree with their expanded minutes coming at the cost of Lamb's.

It's a long season. Down periods like this happen to every team.
While I understand this line of thinking, there are still certain games that are hard to excuse.  Losses to the Cavs and Lakers stick out the most. Add in a 23-point home loss to the Mavs? Yikes. The same Mavs squad the Thunder had defeated 11 straight times. Brooks chose to sit Westbrook for the game, but this one wasn't lost on that decision. The thing that perplexes me is the loss to the Lakers and then win over the Rockets two nights later. The loss to Dallas and then win over Chicago one night later. Are the Thunder struggling to stay motivated against the league's middling teams? I suppose it's encouraging to see them come out and take care of business against the better opponents, but it is still ultra frustrating losing to teams they absolutely have no business losing to. This is a long and grueling season. Every team does go through lapses where motivation is lacking. I am beginning to wonder how long this lapse will last.

At the end of the day, there's still way too much basketball left to be played before anyone should get too terribly worried. I am definitely concerned though. This is a team that has a legitimate shot at a championship and there's no telling how long that window will remain open. Let's hope there's still a switch that can be turned on when needed be and this team returns to form to close out the season.