Tag Archives: Oklahoma City Thunder

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 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 12 Oct 2017

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The Thunder waived three players yesterday, as they get their roster number to 15…and then turned around and signed two more players.

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 →

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 →

Thunder vs. Nuggets Primer (Preseason Game 4)

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  • When: Tuesday, 10 October 2017 at 8:00 pm CST
  • Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, CO
  • TV: FSOK
  • Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 930 AM (Spanish))

It’s been kind of a mixed bag when the Big 3 are out there on the court for the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the first three games of the preseason, they have been on the court together for only 20 minutes. They have been joined in large part by Andre Roberson and Steven Adams, but have also seen time with Jerami Grant and Terrance Ferguson. Here are a couple findings via NBAWowy:

  • In that time frame, they’ve scored 22 points to their opponent’s 17 points.
  • They were 7/9 from inside the arc, but only 1/5 beyond the arc.
  • Out of the Big 3, George performed the worst, shooting just 1/4 from the field.
  • In their time together, Westbrook was the only one of the Big 3 to make an attempt at the rim. George and Anthony took all their shots from the perimeter (16+ feet out) when the Big 3 were together.
  • Adams and Roberson benefited from the attention being paid to the Big 3, going 3/3 from the field in their attempts.
  • Their time together led to 8 free throw attempts.

Continue reading Thunder vs. Nuggets Primer (Preseason Game 4) →

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) →

NTTB Podcast (Episode 16) – Preseason ball, All-Star Game shake-up, and Will Crouch

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IMG_4109On Episode 16 of the NTTB podcast, we discuss the following topics:

  • A recap of the Thunder’s first two preseason games
  • All Star Game changes
  • NBA preseason surprises
  • Will Crouch from 9News Adel in Adelaide, Australia jumped on to discuss:
  • Aussie Rules Football
  • Terrance Ferguson
  • Melbourne United preview

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!