Tag Archives: Carmelo Anthony

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 18 Oct 2017

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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 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 17 Oct 2017

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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 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 16 Oct 2017

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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 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 13 Oct 2017

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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 →

Five Takeaways From the Preseason

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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 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 11 Oct 2017

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Chris Mannix (The Vertical) on what pushes Paul George: “You need special talent to build championship teams,” George said. “It’s no secret. You feel more comfortable out there when you have guys who can play at the same level, who can play at a high level, play with high energy as well. I’m not going to be perfect every night. But to have a guy that can play at that same level that I can some nights, that I can benefit from, is a luxury. Look at Russ — the guy averaged a triple-double and had a hard time getting [in] the playoffs. It’s just hard to do in this day and age. That was one of the hardest things for me in Indy. I wanted to be there, I wanted to stay there so much. It just didn’t seem like we were going to get to that level, of having high-level talent to win a championship.”

Nick DePaula (ESPN) says Jordan is looking to discontinue Melo’s shoe line: “Jordan Brand is halting the Melo shoe series after 13 models, according to industry sources, making last season’s Melo M13 sneaker the final model of the line. Though he has continued wearing the M13 during Thunder preseason games, it’s expected that Anthony will wear a combination of shoes from the brand this upcoming year, such as the Air Jordan XXXII, custom editions of retro models, and possibly even a remixed version of his very first signature model.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 11 Oct 2017 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 10 Oct 2017

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Matt Moore (CBS Sports) looks at how the new superteams are playing this preseason: “The biggest question for OKC has been whether Anthony will adapt and do the little things, if he’ll move the ball, or if he’ll just be the same player he was in New York. If you want to know what a great version of Anthony looks like, watch him defend in the transition post vs. Anthony Davis, snag the board, run the break and make quick decisions, leading to a secondary assist”

John Schuhmann (NBA.com) looks at one issue that plagued the Thunder last season and why it matters for this year: “The Thunder’s no-Westbrook issues weren’t quite as dramatic in the regular season, but they were 12.2 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor (plus-3.3) than with him off the floor (minus-8.9). That was the seventh biggest on-off NetRtg differential in the league and the Thunder lost eight regular-season games in which Westbrook had a positive plus-minus. As was the case in the playoffs, Westbrook and Adams usually sat at the same time.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 10 Oct 2017 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 09 Oct 2017

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Royce Young (ESPN) recaps the surprisingly close game between the Thunder and Melbourne United: “Their aggressiveness probably at times took us out of some rhythm and flow, which was good,” Billy Donovan said, “and us having to work through that was really important.” It has been a mild theme thus far in preseason as they work in two star pieces to play alongside Westbrook, who set a usage rate record last season en route to winning MVP. It’s also a bit of a touchy topic for Westbrook, as he tried to get in front of any conversation surrounding on-court chemistry issues or ragged offense on Saturday.”

Nick Metallinos (ESPN) looks at one of the players that impressed from Melbourne United: “I love talk like that,” he said. “We were always the underdog, we knew that coming in. They didn’t scout us, they didn’t know nothin’ about us, they didn’t respect us. We knew that and we made them respect us tonight.” Defensively Ware was tasked with the job of containing the explosive Westbrook, and played him close all game. Despite giving up five inches and about 25 pounds to the Oklahoma guard, Ware forced Westbrook into a couple of early turnovers, pulling the chair on him twice in the first quarter forcing him to fall to the ground.”

Westbrook’s attire after the game may have been a shot at an old teammate.  Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 09 Oct 2017 →

Melbourne United vs. Thunder primer (Preseason Game 3)

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  • When: Sunday, 08 October 2017 at 2:00 pm CST
  • Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: FSOK
  • Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 930 AM (Spanish))
  • Podcast Preview: Skip over to 56:50 to listen to the preview

The Oklahoma City Thunder have played differing styles in their first two preseason games. In their first game, they played against a perimeter-oriented Houston Rockets team that launched 55 three-pointers against them. In their second game, they played against a New Orleans Pelicans team that featured two of the best post players in the league in DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis.

Now they are playing a team that isn’t even in the NBA. Talk about running the gamut in terms of playing styles. It’s a good thing for the Thunder to be playing so many different styles. With much of their roster turning over this offseason, the Thunder need to face as many different situations as possible to get acclimated to life in the NBA. Playing a team that competes in an entirely different league (not to mention country) certainly fits that bill.  Continue reading Melbourne United vs. Thunder primer (Preseason Game 3) →

Pelicans vs. Thunder Primer (Preseason Game 2)

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  • When: Friday, 06 October 2017 at 7:00 pm CST
  • Where: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Oklahoma City, OK
  • TV: okcthunder.com or the OKC Thunder app (stream)
  • Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 930 AM (Spanish))

One preseason game down. Oklahoma City Thunder fans finally got to see what Paul George and Carmelo Anthony will look like in Thunder uniforms. It didn’t always flow smoothly, but the set-up for something bigger was there. The two of the Big 3 who played put their vast array of skills on display. George showed his overall ability (offense and defense) and Anthony showed his shot-making ability.

Were there hiccups? Of course. George and Anthony overpassed a little, leading to a couple turnovers. In addition, they seemed a little lost on how to use Steven Adams. The chemistry developed between Russell Westbrook and Adams took about two seasons to actually produce fruit. It would be foolish to think the new players on the team would have immediate chemistry with the old players on the team. Continue reading Pelicans vs. Thunder Primer (Preseason Game 2) →