Saturday, December 13, 2008

Mavs Win Late, Thunder Serve Notice

The Mavericks won it late. But let there be no doubt, the Thunder were the better team. The Mavs won behind Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. In every other aspect of the game the Thunder had a mismatch.

The Thunder put the fear of God in the Mavs and served notice of the possibility this team posesses if they stick together. If I were a betting man I would say the Thunder eventually win nearly half of their last 30 games of the season. This team can be good.

It took nearly a career night for Nowitzki. After Nowitzky and Terry, the rest of the team combined for shy of 30 points.

It was great coaching and really great execution by the Thunder. Jeff Green played awesome. Durant was outstanding and Westbrook played well also.

Another development was the old guys playing in one group with the Young'ns playing the starter role It was a great dynamic and when Jeff Green eventually joined them it seemed like the perfect fit.

This game felt like good growth.

Towards the end of the game after a questionable out of bounds call that went against the Thunder, Jason Terry gestured to the stands waving his arms. It felt like the equivalent of when a football player celebrates celebrates a garbage touchdown or a hitter hits a solo shot up by six. It actually served as recognition of how lucky the Mavs were.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Puke early or late?

Here's what we know definitively about this 2008-2009 Oklahoma City Thunder basketball team; They are, hands down, the worst team in the NBA (applause).

Here's why. They defend like the French, they commit inexplicable (and usually untimely) turnovers, they can't shoot free throws and they have the respect of nobody (the other team and especially the referees-see below).

So, the question occurred to me as I left another crushing loss the other night to the witless Grizzlies, if the Thunder are the de facto worst team in the NBA how can you truly measure the quality of their opponents?

My theory is you can tell if the Thunder "puke" early or late in ballgames. For example, against the Cavaliers, Lebron and the boys jumped on the Thunder early and fought off a late charge for the win. The Cavs are on the short list of teams who can win the Title this year. The Thunder puked early against them. The Thunder also puked early against such opponents as the Celtics, Jazz, Hawks, Magic and Hornets. All more likely than not to make the playoffs.

Now look at the Grizz game the other night. The Thunder at one point had a 21 point lead. They puked late and lost. The Grizzlies are not going to make the playoffs. Not even close. The Thunder also puked late against the Suns, Timberwolves, Warriors, Pacers and Knicks. The Pacers and Suns might make the playoffs but they are by no means expected to do anything.

So with that I will put the theory to the test this weekend. A Texas two-step is on the schedule with a game tonight against the Mavericks and a game Saturday against the Spurs. I don't think the Mavericks are that good. I would offer that they are hanging on to playoff hopes with grit and veteran moxy. I predict the Thunder puke late against them and lose.

The Spurs, on the other hand, are rounding into form. They feature a hall of fame coach, one of the greatest forwards to ever play the game and a nice complement of skill players, veterans and a winning pedigree. I bet the Thunder puke early and lose by about 15.

One last thought

It's obvious that certain players get calls from referees. Dwyane Wade won a championship on this premise and it's just commonplace. That said I have to gripe about what happened the other night against the Grizzlies. First off, the Grizzlies are terrible. They have two stars; O.J. Mayo and Rudy Gay. Mayo is a rookie and Rudy Gay, while good, is not in the Kobe, Lebron, Dwight Howard, D-Wade category yet. Not even close. Yet, both these players were getting calls all night long. Meanwhile, Kevin Durant, who is a budding superstar (at least on par with Rudy Gay) gets no calls. None.

I hate to blame games on referees but this had a serious impact on the game the other night. Gay-Mayo had five fouls between them whilst Durant, Westbrook and Green had 12. Again, I'm not blaming the disintegration of a 21 point lead on the refs but it was just blatantly awful refereeing the other night.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Warriors 112, Thunder 102

Oh boy. Another step backwards. The Warriors came limping in losers nine straight. Monta Ellis is still out after crashing a moped, Stephen Jackson and Cory Magette were also unavailable for the Warriors.

The Thunder for their part played the two Florida teams tough and were ready to be welcomed home from their longest road trip of the season.

But it was back to old ways. Poor free throw shooting, awful defense and silly turnovers. This recipe produced a 19 point deficit for the Thunder at the half and the Warriors shot over 60 percent.

That's the bad news.

If there's good news it was that Kevin Durant was worth the price of admission. KD owned the 4th quarter. He got to the basket at will and made well-defended three pointers. 19 points in all for the quarter with the Warriors knowing that the ball was going through him the entire time.

This is definitely one that got away. You win games like these and hell you might win 20 games this year. As it is the Thunder are at two wins and still in the hunt for history.

Wednesday night brings Memphis, a team the Thunder know they can beat. C'mon boys.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Weekend Wrapup

Did you know that the Oklahoma Sooners have lost four straight BCS games? It's true. And I promise that if you have been living under a rock and haven't heard that, you will about 1 trillion times before January 8th. You see, that's when the Sooners take on the Florida Gators in the BCS national championship game. The Sooners will be going for national title number 8. Sadly, Texas made it to neither the Big 12 championship nor the BCS title game. Sucks to be them.

In Thunder news, the boys lost two in their Florida swing. Friday night was a loss to the Magic and Saturday a loss to the Heat.

I missed the Saturday night game because I was in Kansas City watching the Sooners pick up Big 12 Championship number six. The score looked competitive and by all accounts it was, but a loss is a loss. According to reports, the Thunder had their chances late but went cold shooting the ball and the Heat pulled away down the stretch.

I did watch the game against the Magic on Friday. For first time watching a Thunder game I didn't have that feeling of dread where I was just waiting for the next bad thing to happen. Usually I have this feeling, something bad happens, then I have the feeling again and it gets worse. Next thing you know the Thunder are down 10 in the 1st quarter and 25-30 in 4th. Not so in this game. The Thunder played great. In the 3rd quarter I told my best girl I didn't care if the Thunder won or lost because they were playing great basketball and if they lost it just meant the Magic played better. Well, the Magic wound up just being better. But, they had to make nearly 20 3-pointers to do it.

When the Magic were in the Ford Center a few weeks back it was an absolute laugher. It literally looked like the Dwight Howard show and I said in a post afterwards that it was the most fun home atmosphere to that point because the outcome was never in doubt. People could just enjoy themselves. The Magic had to have been surprised at how markedly different this one played out.

Friday I mentioned how ESPN is now keeping a running account of how bad the Thunder are. It appears The Oklahoman is piling on with this article.

The Thunder really have a chance of winning tonight. They've been playing well, it's at home and really the Warriors give no real cause for concern. They score a ton but give up even more. They have no one that's really scary. Really, their franchise is in far more disarray than the Thunder. So, I'm feeling a win. Hopefully it comes to pass the way those feelings of dread used to.