Happy Thunder’s Eve! Here’s a Thunder hype video for the upcoming season made by none other than my sister, @Jenyann_R. A lot of the footage was from KOCO-TV5. Enjoy!
20 Thunder-centric predictions for the season
Am I a homer? Heck yeah. I’m a fan of the team I write about. It’s not a difficult concept. I like to write about things I’m familiar with. I know basketball, but more specifically, I know Thunder basketball. So I write about it.
Predictions are always a difficult thing when it comes to sports. They are usually made with the caveat that a ton of variables remain static. Things such as injuries, front office moves, suspensions, chemistry can’t be taken into account.
When you look at these 20 predictions, know two things: 1) They are likely going to favor the Oklahoma City Thunder in some form or fashion. And 2) Because I know a little about basketball, I’ll never make a prediction so outlandish that it won’t have a chance of coming true. Without further ado, here are the predictions:
20. Josh Huestis will play over 750 minutes this season for the Thunder.
In his first two seasons, Huestis played a grand total of 86 minutes for the Thunder. But the third year forward looks determined to get some minutes this year, and his play in the preseason may warrant some looks. While 750 minutes may seem like a lot, that’s just 9.2 minutes per game over 82 games. I think Huestis will be a full-time NBA player this year and will get enough playing time to reach that minutes mark. Continue reading 20 Thunder-centric predictions for the season
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Daily Thunder Rumblings – 18 Oct 2017
Happy Thunder’s Eve. Prayers out to Gordon Hayward. Wishing a speedy recovery for him.
Royce Young (ESPN) on recent 2-way contract recipient P.J. Dozier showing up to his first Thunder practice wearing a familiar jersey number: “It was an unusual sight walking into the Oklahoma City Thunder’s practice facility Tuesday and seeing No. 35 on the wing, attempting 3-pointers with assistant coach Vin Bhavnani. No, Kevin Durant was not visiting his old stomping grounds. It was the Thunder’s newest signing, undrafted rookie P.J. Dozier, who signed to a two-way contract Tuesday.”
Tony Heim (Thunderous Intentions) on Billy Donovan figuring out the rotation through a hypothetical conversation with Sam Presti: “This season is different though Billy. We can’t be a four-seed, we can’t play Golden State in the second round. We need to make the Conference Finals to convince PG and Melo to stay. That’s why I brought you in here today.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 18 Oct 2017
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Daily Thunder Rumblings – 17 Oct 2017
Igor Sopar (Clutch Points) says the Thunder got more likable this offseason: “That exact win or bust situation will force the fans to continuously tune in and track the progress. If everything clicks, and the Thunder eventually face the Warriors in the latter stages of the postseason, they will get the support of an army of neutral followers, but if any adversity causes the train to derail, there will be loads of those who will wallow in schadenfreude. The Thunder will, without any doubt, be under relentless scrutiny of the public eye over the course of the season, and a good percentage of their matchups in the upcoming season will be a must watch even for the casual fans.”
Fred Katz (Norman Transcript) on embracing iso-ball, injury updates, and roster information: “The Thunder employ three elite isolation players, Russell Westbrook, Paul George and Carmelo Anthony. And though all three like to take opponents one-on-one often, coach Billy Donovan isn’t necessarily trying to stifle their habits. It’s the opposite. He’s trying to use them for good.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 17 Oct 2017
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Daily Thunder Rumblings – 16 Oct 2017
It’s Opening Week. Let’s Go!!!!!
Royce Young (ESPN) explaining why the Thunder could have a crunch-time conundrum on their hands: “With Paul George and Carmelo Anthony now his teammates, that appears likely to change. “Carmelo’s been a closeout guy the places he’s been, the same thing with Paul. But any time you have a team you have to do it by finding the open man,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said. “Clearly for us last year, somebody creating and generating a shot for himself or someone else, it was Russell. But obviously now with Carmelo and Paul being here, I think it’s about making the right play and right decision.”
The Thunder will be in the midst of a 3-game road trip when Halloween hits, so they decided to celebrate it a little early this year. Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 16 Oct 2017
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NTTB Podcast (Episode 17) Talking Shoes and Thunder with Travis Singleton
On Episode 17 of the NTTB podcast, we spoke with Travis Singleton of SneakerReporter.com and discussed the following topics:
- Sneakers (Jordan, Nike, Adidas)
- Thunder season preview
- NBA superlatives (MVP, Rookie of the Year, Defensive POY, Coach of the Year)
- Thunder predictions
- Twitter questions
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!
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NTTB’s Weekend Programming
“I feel glorious, glorious, got a chance to start again….” T-minus 5 days!!!!! Enjoy the video!
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Daily Thunder Rumblings – 13 Oct 2017
Happy Friday the 13th, guys!!!
Paul Pierce is now my favoritest retired basketball player:
Tim Cato (SB Nation) on how the team’s culture actually became it’s saving grace: “For the Thunder, this didn’t take years. It took one summer. After Durant’s departure, the Thunder doubled down on Russell Westbrook and let him run rampant for an MVP. It was delightful, but an inevitable first-round defeat followed. They were a team built for two stars in a league that demands several of them, and Westbrook was but one. From atop the franchise, general manager Sam Presti preached patience. “We feel really good about the momentum that’s been created,” Presti said at the Thunder’s exit interviews last May. “We’re trying to do something here that I don’t think there’s a ton of examples of in the NBA.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 13 Oct 2017
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Daily Thunder Rumblings – 12 Oct 2017
This Russell Westbrook/Nikola Jokic thing still has legs: “You mean the Flagrant 2?” said Malone following the game when asked about the incident. “Oh that’s right, they called it a Flagrant 1, I apologize.” “That goes back to last game here, that was sending a message and what I’m proud of with Nikola is that he took it, and it didn’t affect him… I think there was a message trying to be sent, and good for them.”
Erik Horne (NewsOK) says Paul George can be the missing link between the starters and reserves: “In this abbreviated preseason, George has thrived in his role as the Thunder’s second-unit leader, a role the Thunder was missing dearly in a year of Westbrook-centric offense. “He’s a leader, I have to give it to him,” Thunder forward Josh Huestis said of George, who closed out the Nuggets with 12 points in the final 9:11. “We had four young guys out there and we have Paul out there leading us.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 12 Oct 2017
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Five Takeaways From the Preseason
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s preseason came to a close on Tuesday with a road win over the Denver Nuggets. The Thunder finished the preseason 3-1, losing only to the Houston Rockets in their first preseason game. Also of note in that game was the fact Russell Westbrook did not play.
In the games where all the starters played, the Thunder went undefeated, ushering the era of the Thunder’s Big 3. When it comes to the preseason though, each team has a different objective for what they want to garner out of these practice games. For the Thunder, it was clear they wanted to build chemistry between Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony. And they wanted to see what they had in a couple of their young guys.
There’s not a lot that can be extrapolated from four games. The Thunder likely won’t win 75% of their games this season. And the Big 3 likely won’t average just 21 minutes a game. With that said, there were some takeaways I noticed from this past week. Some are positive. Others are worrisome. Here are five takeaways from this preseason. Continue reading Five Takeaways From the Preseason
Now That's Thunder Basketball 