Last night marked the first appearance of the Thunder at the Ford Center. It's the only appearance the team will make in the preseason. All phases, from gameplay to announcing to the crowd, looked and felt like preseason.
But that's okay.
The team was, at times, sluggish and sloppy but there were some highlights. Johan Petro did a wonderful impersonation of a true center. That was great to see. Nick Collison looked like the closest thing to consistently dependable that the Thunder might have (uh oh). KD finished strong again. When he gets his shot to drop more reliably he will prove to the OKC fanbase that he is truly a superstar.
Lowlights included sloppy play from the backcourt. Lots of turnovers (7 between Earl Watson, Russell Westbrook and John Lucas III) and another 10 from Durant and Damien Wilkins. Free throws were missed late that accounted for the difference in the final score.
The nagging question that's on my mind is how will the Thunder fare when opposing team's best players are on the court for the majority of the game? Last night the Thunder had KD, Collison, Westbrook, Wilkins and Lucas on the court in crunch time. Aside from Lucas that's probably not a stretch for the real show. Meanwhile, the Clippers had no Baron Davis for the entire game, no Marcus Camby the entire game and yet the Thunder scratched and clawed their way to a two point loss. Yes they played 5 games in 7 days. Yes, with injuries and lack of practice time (PJ and KD both said less than half of the offense has been installed) PJ hasn't been able to properly evaluate personnel options. Hopefully, after an 8 day layoff betwixt games the Thunder will be able to offer a more proper showing of what they can do.
From an organizational standpoint I feel like the Thunder have plenty of room for improvement in terms of a "game experience". Regrettably, all the OKC fans have to compare it to is the Hornets and I got the sense that for at least the first half most people in the arena were comparing everything to the Hornets. This will probably be even worse on Opening Night when the place is packed and more seat owners are in attendance.
What people need to remember is that when the Hornets were relocated their entire organzation was uprooted. They basically took everything and everyone associated with the game from New Orleans Arena and recreated it in the Ford Center. In the case of the Thunder, fans need to realize this is much more like an expansion than a relocation. I doubt as many people moved with the team from Seattle as did from New Orleans. Likewise, the team name didn't move, the colors didn't move, the mascot didn't move. All of this is being added piece meal. And frankly, nuances such as sound effects are not as important to have nailed down for the first preseason game as, say, things related to the actual game. The court isn't even finished.
I don't really care either that the Thunder Dance Team is going to be called the Thunder Girls but I do imagine that Marketing probably lost some sleep kicking around ideas before they came up with the moniker. What's more important is this. Now that's Major League.
Also, what's the rush? Why not let the character of the team and the city have some time to marinate together? I think the result will be better than a rubber stamp copy of what the Hornets do. It might actually result in a more unique atmosphere over the long haul. So patience, at least for a season. We are all starting new here.
That said, 16,000 plus is not too shab for a preseason game and in the second half the crowd started getting more and more into things. By the end, it was raucous and I think the players got a good taste of what they can expect if they can play hard enough to keep things close.
Here's a picture of what it looks like in Section 309
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