Late Season Reflections

Some reflections and musings on a Sunday morning:

As thrilled as I am to have a professional team to call my very own I must admit it's been a little difficult keeping up with them this past month. Spring is in bloom, spring training started and there was March Madness. It felt like there was two weeks between home games at the end of March. I'm looking forward to the home stretch.

I hope DJ White plays tonight.

The Point Guard situation is getting interesting. Earl Watson hasn't played for about as long as I haven't blogged (~month). Shaun Livingston was picked up, another low-risk, high-reward move. Kyle Weaver was sent down to Tulsa where he picked up 11 assists in one game's worth of action. My guess is the Thunder carry three PG's next season; Russel, Livingston and Weaver. Possibly Chucky but he should be some kind of player-coach.

Last game against Portland, a woman two rows below me wasn't paying attention and got hit right in the boobs by the t-shirt cannon. She was alright and, sadly, this along with the mascot action provided most of the highlights for the night.

My growth as an NBA fan continues. I learned the other night what it looks like when a team is getting ready for the playoffs. They fine-tune their game like Portland did. They play at a high level. The Thunder, conversely, looked they were feeling out roster spots for next season.

Truckin'

The Thunder are inexplicable winners of four out of their last five. You would never guess that a squad not featuring Kevin Durant would have much of a chance. But, if you watched the games you know it's defense and sharing the basketball.

Watching this team of youngster's, throwaways and no-names play basketball the way it's meant to be played has been a treat. It should give them a tremendous amount of confidence when KD and Jeff Green return.

Another plus to watching this depleted unit is that, simultaneously, everyone stands out and yet nobody does. Nenad Krstic has been great. So has Thabo Sefalosha and Kyle Weaver. Nick Collison continues to do all the dirty work. Earl Watson has been solid. Russell Westbrook is doing a much better job of getting everyone involved. But they've done it all collectively, rising at once as a unit.

I'm ready to have KD back but these guys deserve so much credit for playing really hard at a very high level.

Durant, Green and Smith all Notably Absent Tonight

Kevin Durant went down with a severely sprained ankle Friday night against the Mavericks. He'll be out a while even though he says he'll be back in a couple days. It would be foolish to rush the franchise back. Jeff Green is has a sore back. I can sympathize as I'm going through this myself. It sucks. It's painful putting on socks and shoes much less dunking and running up and down a hard court. Lastly, Joe Smith was released/bought out, allowing him to go find the greener pasture of his choosing.

I'd like to bid a sincere and fond farewell to Ol' Joe. He is clearly a class act and the type of professional every team covets. He'll have no problems finding a place to land. He's been rumoured to be going to a contender all season. I don't know whether he liked it here but up until Saturday night he was saying the right things and having a good time on the bench.

He was the Thunder's version of the Hornet's P.J. Brown when they were here. Brown and Smith were both respected, savvy veterans who clearly had the ear of younger teammates. Brown went on to win a championship with Boston last year. Here's hoping Smith goes and gets his.

Player's who have paid their dues and who are professionals are given the professional courtesy of freedom. It may not seem like it but this is the Thunder's way of saying thanks.

Now the Thunder have an open roster spot. They could sign a free agent or a D-League prospect to a 10-day contract. I'm wondering if they might activate D.J. White. I hadn't thought of him in a while and he might be done for the year but it'd be interesting to see what he brings if he's ready.

When the Thunder rescinded the Tyson Chandler trade it put me in a tailspin. Alas, I've found my way and I'm back.



Since last we spoke Chandler is still/back in New Orleans, Joe Smith is still a Thunder, Chris "Weezy" Wilcox is in New York, Malik Rose and Thabo Sefolosha are Thunder's.



Whew. So where does that leave us? Marginally better fiscally, physically and emotionally. The Thunder are fiscally better because swapping Weezy for Rose netted the Thunder somewhere betwixt one and three million dollars.



The Thunder are better physically because Thabo Sefolosha offers improved depth at the Shooting Guard position. He played nearly 20 minutes against Golden State the other night and hadn't even practiced with the team. He's a lanky guy who supposedly is a quality defender. He'll back up Kyle Weaver who, on a quick sidenote, is improving day-by-day.



The Thunder are better emotionally because they still have Joe Smith and now Malik Rose brings another well-respected veteran to help raise the youngin's. Rose brings the additional bonus of two championship rings which is the highest form of street-cred (supposedly and understandably) in locker rooms.



In Other News



If you are on Twitter you can follow me by clicking the link over on the right. I found Kevin Durant on there the other day as well. You can do a search and easily find him. Tyson Chandler is on there as well and he's pretty funny.

Hornets Give Away Chandler, Thunder Gladly Accept

Well the rumour I posted earlier came to pass, only better. The Thunder didn't even have to give up a draft pick for Tyson Chandler. Instead, they give Joe Smith (expiring contract), Chris Wilcox (expiring contract) and DeVon Hardin's rights (He's in Europe).

That's it. Hardin was a second rounder and isn't with the team. Joe Smith and Weezy weren't going to be in OKC next year anyway.

The only risk for OKC is that Chandler is currently injured and may never regain his form. He's a seven footer and feet don't handle the bulk that well.

However, if he can stay healthy the Thunder have just drastically improved. TC brings a defensive presence to the paint that the Thunder desperately need. It also allows Nick Collison to move back to Power Forward behind Jeff Green. Now you have Nenad Krstic backing up TC. Durant, Green, Westbrook, Chandler et al plus draft picks and the Thunder are scary.

Legit centers are hard to come by. The Thunder just stole one.

I feel bad for New Orleans. Joe Smith and Weezy are fine players and really great people but it's going to be hard for the Hornets to do anything in the playoffs. In fact, their chances of making them just went down.

All the best to Joe and Weezy.