Mike, Mike, Mike…guess what day it is???? Here are the Rumblings.

The schedule will look a little different this season than in season’s past. A lot more emphasis on rest: “In a memo given to teams this week, the league outlined how it hopes to reduce the stresses of travel and give players a chance to recover more than in the past. This is a proactive measure aimed at both player safety and to reduce the number of games in which teams rest healthy players. After a series of high-profile players didn’t play in major matchups last season, the new schedule protects key national television matchups to make sure teams aren’t playing on back-to-back nights.”

Apparently, the Thunder are playing the Brooklyn Nets in Mexico City on December 7th.

Joshua Lea of Thunderous Intentions looks at the top 5 reserves in Thunder history.

Jeremy Lambert of The StepBack will a love letter to Alex Abrines: “There’s no point in keeping it a secret anymore. I already know you know. But you don’t think that I know you know. But I know. You know I have a crush on Alex Abrines. How can I not? He’s so dreamy. There’s just something about transfer students that make me swoon. I bet he can cook well. I’d love for him to whip me up some Spanish cuisine. And that beard. I didn’t know rising sophomores could grow a beard like that. Do you think it’s a Spanish thing? Their men just have better genetics. It’s so cute how he rubs it after he makes a 3-point shot.”

A great review by Bobby Chancellor of WTLC looking at the recent predictions by ESPN: “To suggest that this Thunder team will be worse defensively than the last iteration is a very bold stance. The two defensive stalwarts from last season – Andre Roberson and Steven Adams – return with another year of experience. Paul George, a former second team All-Defensive player, replaces Victor Oladipo. Patrick Patterson, while not a defensive anchor per se, is versatile on the defensive end and replaces a foul-prone rookie in Domantas Sabonis. On the bench, Raymond Felton replaces Semaj Christon. The rest of the second unit remains intact. There is no justifiable reason for the defense to get significantly worse.”

Terrance Ferguson remains the man of mystery from this past draft: “That full circle included a trip around the globe to play professionally in Australia. Ferguson takes a dim view of the NCAA and told reporters at a pre-draft workout in Charlotte that he actively encourages other players to skip college and get paid for what they do. “Most one and done players, you’re only going to spend a couple months at the college,” said Ferguson. “You have to do school work [and] all this other stuff. You go overseas, you’re going to spend the same amount of months, but you’re going to be focusing straight on basketball.”