Thunder vs. Knicks 11-14-08 Live Blog

One of my favorite writers on the Internet is ESPN’s Bill Simmons. He’s made quite a living out of doing Running Diary’s for sporting events. Since I am an amateur and imitation is the most sincere form of flattery I thought I'd try my hand at it. It’s good practice right?

6:08 All settled in for the pregame. The dogs are fed, the beer is poured and KD is set to play. Little known fact; KD accounts for 25% of the team’s offensive production. Only Tim Duncan accounts for more of his team’s offense. The Spurs record; 2-5. The Thunder are 1-7 heading into tonight.

6:09 Brian Davis put his best outfit together for his trip to the big apple. He murdered someone’s plaid couch and made a coat out of it to go with his paisley tie. Also, Clyde Frazier showed up and it looks like he’s wearing his 70’s era travel suit himself.
Side note: We’ll also be checking out the Sooners v. American. That games boasts a chance to watch would-be Thunder #1 pick Blake Griffin.

6:15 KD tells Brian Davis the Knicks don’t have a shot blocker like the Magic and Dwight Howard. No one does, KD.

6:20 Why does Uncle Rusty wear reading glasses at practice that are smart looking, no glasses for pre-game interviews and then 80’s bifocals when he’s on TV and the nation is watching? Does he think douchebaggery is a secret weapon?

6:26 If you want to get obliterated try this drinking game. Everytime there is a Chesapeake, SandRidge Energy, Devon Energy, Oklahoman or Midfirst commercial take a drink. Conversely, stay sober as a kitten playing the reverse of this game.

6:31 “Welcome to the financial capital of the world, or what’s left of it” begins Brian Davis. Early candidate for wet blanket statement of the night.

6:36 After our first commercial break I’m now wasted.

6:40 Robert Swift gets his first start tonight. I believe this might be the third different starting lineup. The second was when KD was injured.

6:41 Big Red wins the opening tip and Earl Watson knocks down a shot. Big Red gets a board and KD knocks down a shot. Good start and since it’s on the road, to be expected.

6:45 Grant Long is explaining what a good shot is. Doesn’t necessarily have to go in but it’s one you’re teammates expect you take and make. You mean like an open shot?

6:48 Big Red has 5 boards in 5 minutes. Meanwhile, it doesn’t look like a Friday night tilt twixt the Thunder and Knicks is the hottest ticket in town.

6:52 Uncle Rusty inserted Joe Smith and predictably he knocks down his first shot. I love Joe Smith and his foggy mask.

6:53 The Knicks have already tried 9 three’s, making 3. The Thunder average a shade under 10 attempts per game.

7:01 According to Grant Long, Brian Westbrook learned from Block Fest 08 and passed the ball to Petro for an easy buckets rather than getting stuffed. I couldn’t agree more. Regrettably he followed it up with a brick the next trip down the floor. Knicks 34, Thunder 20 btw.

7:05 Earl Watson goes “back to the well” and misses. The well dried up at the 11:38 mark of the quarter.

7:06 End of the 1st. Knicks 37, Thunder 20. Good times.

7:14 Supposedly the Thunder are getting into a rhythm. If steadily getting further down is a rhythm so be it. I suppose a 14-2 run constitutes a run and they find themselves down 16.

7:15 Drink for a Chesapeake commercial.

7:18 A quick check of the Sooners game finds the good guys up 9-2 early. Willie Warren looks like a big kid.

7:22 Blake Griffin looks like a completely different human being. A man-child actually.

7:29 This might be the fastest game of all time. 3:40 left in the half and the Thunder are down 20. It’s a non-stop assault and the Thunder simply can’t shoot well enough to stay in the game.

7:31 KD is 4-9 from the field for 8. Shooting really well. Of course, he’s on the road.

7:32 I have to admit, as Friday nights in the big town go. I’m home alone watching the Thunder with the Sooners on the picture-in-picture. While on paper this has loser written all over it, it doesn’t get much better than this.

7:36 Well, KD, Earl Watson and Swift appear to have come to play. Regrettably that doesn’t look to be enough at this point. 68-44 Knicks lead at haltime.

7:40 Now switched over to the OU game and wondering why the NCAA didn’t just change the 3-point line to same distance as the NBA? Would it really kill anyone to have a worldwide standard? Especially given the fact high schoolers are now heading straight to Europe or spending only 1 year in college if they are NBA prospects.

7:56 An interesting thing to look at is where the respective teams shoot the majority of their shots. The Knicks have attempted 18 from point blank range. The Thunder have taken 4 and they were all in the 2nd quarter. So, you’re telling me easy buckets are a good thing?

7:58 At the half the Sooners are the Knicks to American playing the Thunder. OU 47, American 24.

7:59 I don’t care how much or how little he scores, Robert Swift is better than Johan Petro and needs to start and play healthy. Emphasis on healthy.

8:00 Should we call the team the OKC Durants? It’s pretty much him or nothing.

8:07 Sherri Coale’s haircut looks good. Really good. Meow.

8:11 The Thunder will be lucky to get 90 points. the Knicks have 92 with 4 minutes left in the 3rd.
Seriously, who is going to be Durant’s wing man? Jeff Green stepped up in Durant’s absence but he’s absolutely shrunk tonight (4 points). Westbrook has 6.

8:14 Grant Long mentions that making a basket on a fast break is one that you have to make. Thanks for that. Whilst I agree you need to have someone that played basketball professionally to be a color guy on TV shouldn’t he bring more to it than me?
So maybe this is a reasonable starting lineup: KD, Watson, Joe Smith, Robert Swift and Jeff Green. Sooner than later Westbrook takes over for Watson but not until he makes more than 15% field goals.

8:21 Westbrook just willed himself to a basket right before the quarter ends. Great work. 93-73 Knicks. Great quarter for the Thunder.

8:25 Don’t look know but, can you believe it, after putting themselves in a giant hole the Thunder are scratching and clawing their way back.

8:26 Knicks 7-26 from 3. Thunder 1-7

8:27 Maybe Westbrook can pass. He just hit Mason on one of the best passes of the season for a rare fast break bucket. 96-81 Knicks.

8:32 Like KD’s shoes. I could be wrong but it could be the first time the team wore black shoes on the road.

8:35 Don’t look now but the Thunder are only down 11 with 6:50 left in the game. Come on boys.
8:35 Westbrook, Mason Collison and Green. No KD and Green make a bucket.

8:40 Green is better off with Durant not on the floor and vice versa.

8:41 Westbrook just destroyed! Now it’s a seven point lead. Offensive foul on the Knicks boards and Thunder ball!

8:44 We need to just spot the other team 30 and get a full 48 minutes to try and come back. Watching the Thunder put themselves in a hole is like watching the Sooners when they give up a kickoff return. You know it’s going to happen it’s just inexplicable that you can’t stop it.

8:49 what a play by KD. Drive, a foul and a prayer that goes in. Can get the Thunder within 8.

8:51 I think Swift just scored one for the Knicks.

8:53 Well, yet another valiant effort. Get down early and make it close late. Then lose by 8. Russell Westbrook has had an awesome game. 19, 9 and 5 for him.

8:55 We’re going to cut this off because it’s more or less over and the lady just brought home Mexican food. Peace out hope you enjoyed.

Back in Time for the Weekend

I've been curled up in a ball, in the dark, sucking my thumb ever since Dwight Howard single-handedly pistol-whipped the Thunder on Wednesday night. Superman was 3 blocks shy of a triple double at halftime. Most of those blocks were on Russell Westbrook who was roughly 0-38 from the floor.

Wednesday proved, if nothing else, the Thunder are not the best team with a singular nickname. The good news is that "nationally known" recording artist Natalie kept the crowd, "hyped" at halftime.

I must say out of all the games at the Thunderdome thus far, this game had the most fun and relaxed atmosphere. I would speculate this is because the outcome was never in doubt. There were never those tense moments where everyone holds their breath and hopes that nothing bad happens a la the Atlanta game. Quoth my sister who made it to her first game, "If you can't have fun at a Thunder game, you're not a fun person." Well then.

Also, in case anyone thinks Kevin Durant doesn't make a difference on the defensive end of the floor think again. 71 points for the Magic at the Half! We need KD back and how. And whilst he lulls people to sleep with smoothness, he evidently is much of the heart and soul. This fact evidenced by the lack of either on the floor for the Thunder in the first half.

So, it's on New York tonight. If the Thunder get off to their patent-pending slow start this could be a nightmare. The Knicks are not winning a title this year but they certainly score in bunches. If the Thunder don't have it together this could easily be a 120-92 type game. That would not be the party-time Friday night Thunder fans are looking for if you are scoring at home.

Saturday it's on to Philly in what, I'm guessing, is a little better matchup. It'd be nice if the boys can come home with a split.

Go Big Red

Robert Swift, dba Big Red, is quickly becoming a fan favorite. Eager to capitalize on this, I've created a Go Big Red t-shirt. All the kids are sure to want it and Christmas is just around the corner.

Go Big Red

Another Day....Another Learning Experience

We knew going in it could be like this. Losses piling up like bacon at a Holiday Inn breakfast buffet. This vision conjures up abject mediocrity. A level of losing such that the Thunder should never be in games. Lose from start to finish. Desirable? No, but fairly easily accepted after a while especially given the expectation.

But games like Utah, where a valiant comeback comes up just short. Atlanta, carrying a lead through three and a half quarters only to lose it in the last six minutes. And now, at Indiana, racing out to a big lead against a team that is shorthanded, only to once again lose in the final minutes.

The thing that makes it hard is these guys are trying. They are close. They're likable and some of them are damn good.

I'm going to keep telling myself that losses like these are going to make the next win that much better. The first two game winning streak will feel like 10 straight and maybe, someday, the playoffs will feel like winning the lottery (instead of the draft lottery like the Thunder is on the way to doing).

Oklahoma City is an NBA baby. The Thunder are, for the most part, babies in terms of experience. We are all crawling through this learning curve. Can we please start walking?

Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

It's Monday and it's raining. Over the weekend the Thunder dropped one to the Utah Jazz. Once down by as many as 30 they showed some heart and valiantly came back before falling by 7, 104-97. Then, on Sunday, the Thunder lost what looked like almost sure victory against the Atlanta Hawks. The Thunder led by as many as 6 in the 4th quarter but turnovers doomed them and the Hawks won on the free throw line 89-85.

Disappointing though these losses may be, hopefully two key lessons can be taken away, one from each game. In the Utah game it's pride. Down by 30 and basically being mocked and toyed with by the Jazz, the Thunder collectively said enough is enough. The emergence of pride and tenacity was great to see. In the Hawks game the Thunder also came back from a miserable first quarter but put together roughly 3 quarters of quality basketball. Prior to this they've played one, maybe two quality quarters. They had a lead for a majority of the game. They need to learn to keep it. So, baby steps I suppose.

Since it's Monday and one of the highlights of Monday during the football season is Peter King's Monday Morning QB column, I thought I would blatantly rip off Mr. King with my very own 10 Things I Think I Think section, now 6 games into the season and standing in the rain with a 1-6 record.

Ten Things I Think I Think:

1. I think I can't decide if Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant is better. KD's game is so subtly smooth and when it's clicking a joy to watch and Westbrook looks like a runaway freight train most of the time but he's fearless and clutch. I'm excited to have this duo as the nucleus of this time for the next few years at least but one of these guys will need to emerge as the Alpha Dog for this team to go places.

2. I think P.J. Carlesimo (dba Uncle Rusty) has had so many different lineups on the court I'm not sure which one is best but I think I like this one; KD, Westbrook, Earl Watson, Jeff Green and (Joe Smith or Nick Collison or Dez Mason or Chris Wilcox or Robert Swift or Johan Petro).

3. I think before the season started I thought AC/DC's Thunderstruck would get run into the ground at home games and now I think it's not played near enough.

4. I think you could watch 50 random NBA games and not see a single team go through shooting slumps like this one does.

5. I think (nee, I know) I will be making a Robert Swift T-Shirt that says Go Big Red on the front with his number on the back. I will do it as soon he starts getting more playing time. He's a crowd favorite (or at least a crowd curiosity).

6. I think Earl Watson of all people could ultimately be a huge key for this team. The Thunder need a distributor for KD, Westbrook and Green.

7. I think if you want to pick up Thunderwear, the only place to do so is at the Thunder Shop at the Ford Center. Not Leadership Square, not the Internet. It's ridiculous what they have there that cannot be found anywhere else.

8. I think I like the energy of Westbrook, Dez Mason and Joe Smith. Having the veterans really energized says a lot to me and it's fun to watch.

9. I think the OKC fans have been really good. But they will not be great until they can keep from leaving close games early. It absolutely baffles me. Less than 10 points and 6 minutes left in the game does not mean it's over. Not even remotely.

10. I think we need a consistent 3-point shooter and I think we might have one. Jeff Green.

Who I Like Tonight and I Don't Mean Dancing with the Stars (Also a blatant ripoff of Mr. King):

I hope I'm wrong but at Indiana tonight I think the Pacers are a one or two years ahead version of the Thunder and they know this is a must win game for them. That said, they are imminently beatable and the Thunder have been in virtually every game. I'm quaffing Thunderblue Kool-Aid at this point so I'll say Thunder 94-Pacers 91.