Thunder @ Raptors preview (Game 72 of 82)

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okc logo atraptors

  • When: Sunday, 18 March 2018 at 12:00 pm CST
  • Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)
  • TV: FSOK
  • Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 930 AM (Spanish))
  • Line: Tor -6.0 | O/U – 217

Here we go. That stretch run we all pointed to after the All-Star break. Eleven of the final 12 games against opponents that are currently above .500. The Oklahoma City Thunder took care of business on Friday evening against the Los Angeles Clippers to begin that tough stretch. Now they start the real test.  Continue reading Thunder @ Raptors preview (Game 72 of 82) →

Weekend Programming: Corey Brewer, the scorer

Weekend Programming,

After averaging just 3.7 points per game as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers in the first half of the season, everyone has been surprised by the scoring output of Corey Brewer since he was inserted into the Thunder’s starting line-up. In those five games, Brewer has been averaging 14.8 points on 52/50/95 shooting splits. And while Brewer may not be a consistently great scorer, he has had surprising outbursts. In one of those, Brewer became on of 135 players in league history to score 50 points or more in a game. Here are the highlights.

NTTB Podcast (Episode 28) – The Unsuccessful Successful Week

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IMG_4109On Episode 28 of the NTTB podcast, we discuss the following topics:

  • Week in Review – Wins vs. Magic, Mavericks, and Suns
  • This week in crappy officiating
  • Acquisition of Corey Brewer
  • JR Smith’s Campbell saga
  • Harden crosses Wesley Johnson
  • Western Conference craziness
  • NBA injury news
  • Black Panther names

Intro/Outro music provided by OSC Productions

Thank you for listening. We will be doing a podcast once a week. If you have any Thunder or NBA related questions, make sure you hit us up on Twitter (@alexroig_NTTB or @Montero_A13).

We are on ITunes under the NTTB Podcast. Make sure you leave us a 5-star review if you can. As always, Thunder Up!

Sales Rack Shopping: The Thunder and the buy-out market

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tony allen corey brewer

The Oklahoma City Thunder head into the March 1st buy-out deadline with an empty roster spot and several needs. Before we head any further into this article, there are a few things you might need to know about the buy-out market. First off, no team is acquiring a superstar via the buy-out market. In fact, it’s always questionable whether the player being obtained will even be that much of a difference maker. Buy-out signings are usually veterans the acquiring team hopes will make a small incremental difference in the positive direction for and during a playoff run.

For the Thunder, their recent buy-out signings over the past few seasons have been Norris Cole, Nazr Mohammed, Caron Butler, and Derek Fisher. These were veterans that weren’t necessarily useless, but also weren’t game changers moving forward. Fisher filled a role as a back-up point guard during the Finals run of 2012. Butler was important in the first round series against the Memphis Grizzlies in 2014, but his importance decreased with each successive series. Mohammed was more of a locker room/veteran presence during Durant’s final season in Oklahoma City. And last season, Cole was brought in be a better option at back-up point guard than Semaj Christon, but neither totally worked out.  Continue reading Sales Rack Shopping: The Thunder and the buy-out market →

NTTB Rumblings – 27 February 2018

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img_4063Royce Young (ESPN) on Paul George saying the Thunder’s Big 3 are officiated differently: “George was demonstrative talking with the officials a number of times after driving at the basket with contact and no call. Westbrook, George and Anthony combined for nine free throws, with Westbrook taking two and Anthony taking none.”

Nick Gallo (OKCThunder.com) with a recap of the Magic game, where the bench came up big: “During pregame warmups, Russell Westbrook called over reserve forward Patrick Patterson and gave him a very straight forward message: “Shoot the ball”. It was as much an instillation of confidence as it was a directive. Turns out it was an effective message not just for the Thunder stretch forward, but the entire reserve unit.” Continue reading NTTB Rumblings – 27 February 2018 →

NTTB Rumblings – 23 February 2018

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img_4063Tim Keown (ESPN) on the evolution of Carmelo Anthony’s game: “The world has moved on, and he’s trying to move with it. Lord knows he’s trying. But for 15 years, Carmelo Anthony has tied his worth to what he can create from this one spot. It has given him 10 All-Star appearances and a scoring title and a cosmopolitan lifestyle that comes with nearly $250 million in career earnings. He drinks only the best wine and smokes only the best cigars and is close enough with Barack Obama that the two of them are in the process of finalizing Anthony’s future role in the Obama Foundation. It has also created divisions on teams, serial conflicts with coaches and none of the postseason success that his talent seemed to portend when he left Syracuse in 2003 after one championship season.”

Nick Gallo (OKCThunder.com) on last night’s last second win over the Kings: “I caught it clean enough,” Westbrook smirked. “I gotta find a way to get space, obviously with one second left and kind of run him off of Steven. Coach drew up a great play,” Westbrook added. “They thought I was going for a lob. I just read the defender and tried to pop back and get some space.” “Competitors are winners,” forward Paul George said of Westbrook. “That’s what it comes down to. Guys who are super competitive find a way to win.” Continue reading NTTB Rumblings – 23 February 2018 →

Thunder vs. Kings Preview (Game 60 of 82)

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okc logo atkings

  • When: Thursday, 22 February at 9:00 pm CST
  • Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, CA
  • TV: FSOK
  • Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 930 AM (Spanish))
  • Line: OKC -7.5 | O/U – 214

The Set-Up: Rest. Relaxation. Reset. When you look at the Oklahoma City Thunder roster, names like Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Carmelo Anthony, and Raymond Felton jump out at you. These names are known because those guys are all veterans. They’ve been through past wars and know what it takes to get through a grueling 82-game season.  Continue reading Thunder vs. Kings Preview (Game 60 of 82) →

NTTB Rumblings – 22 February 2018

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img_4063Brett Dawson (NewsOK) on Carmelo Anthony using the All-Star break to unwind and disconnect: “Anthony hadn’t had a chance to “decompress,” he said, since that whirlwind weekend in September. The All-Star break afforded him the opportunity. Oklahoma City hasn’t played a game since last Wednesday. “I haven’t really got a chance to sit down and kind of breathe a little bit and relax,” Anthony said. “Everything’s happened so fast. So this past week was very helpful for me.”

Berry Tramel (NewsOK) on scheduling and prime-time matchups ahead: “But as the NBA comes out of the all-star break Thursday for the mad dash to the April playoffs, time to salute not only the efforts at easing the physical demands of scheduling, but also the dramatic effects. In a Western Conference race in which the No. 3 team (San Antonio) and the No. 10 team (hard-charging Utah) are separated by only 4½ games, the teams jostling for playoff positioning play each other repeatedly over the next seven weeks.” Continue reading NTTB Rumblings – 22 February 2018 →

Scoreboard Watching: The Traffic Jam

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karachi-traffic-jam

With the All-Star weekend in Los Angeles ending, I think it’s quite apropos to look at the Western Conference standings as we head into the unofficial second half of the season and see a giant traffic jam. Eight teams are within 4.5 games of each other, with the bottom two teams in that mix likely ending up as lottery teams instead of playoff teams.

This has always been the major difference between the Western Conference and Eastern Conference over the past decade. The East is top heavy (usually just one or two teams – many of those teams usually involving some guy named LeBron James), while the West has a lot more depth, team-wise. It hasn’t been rare over the past decade for the eighth seed in the East to be at or below .500, while the West eighth seed has to win at least 45 games to get in. While that disparity seems to be improving, there is still a visible gap between the two conferences. Continue reading Scoreboard Watching: The Traffic Jam →