Tag Archives: Paul George

Recapping Thunder Media Day

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Alex Roig – NTTB

Media days can sometimes be an exercise in repetition. The same 2-3 questions can be rinsed, washed, and repeated for every player. What do you expect your role to be this season? What do you think about “latest talking point in the country”? What are the team expectations?

You can probably fill an entire article just with the answers from those 3 questions alone. The difficult part is trying to cut through all that player-speak and listen in to what the real themes are for the team. For the Oklahoma City Thunder, the one theme that consistently permeated throughout the entire day was winning.

But every team heads into the season talking about winning. Even those teams looking at an entire season of ineptitude find ways to think of sunshine and rainbows before the season starts. The Thunder’s talk of winning felt different though. It was talked about with brazen confidence. And for good reason, too. The brand new Big 3 of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony gives the Thunder a collection of players they’ve never had since they moved to the Great Plains.  Continue reading Recapping Thunder Media Day →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 24 September 2017

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Now That’s Thunder Basketball (NTTB) is going to be at Media Day on Monday. Please check back for more content on what is sure to be an eventful media day.

Sam Amick (USA Today) interviewed Paul George after the Carmelo Anthony trade: “This feels like a championship team,” George told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m in a good place. I know Russ (Westbrook) is in a good place. Melo is motivated more than ever…You put us three together, who all have something to prove still, (and) we’re going to be a special team. We have a young group, a lot of talent here, an unbelievable coach (in Billy Donovan), (and) as you see, a front office that’s willing to do whatever it takes to improve the team. It just has all the makeups to be a great organization and a chance to put championships together.”

Weston Shepard (Daily Thunder) with 5 things about the Melo trade: “Could this result in a disastrous train wreck? I mean, yeah. It could. It’s not a perfect union at face value, as three of last season’s top ten isolation scorers now reside in the same starting five. Anthony also comes with a hefty price tag that gives the Thunder a luxury tax bill of $27.8 million. There’s also the whole “Russ, PG, and now Melo can all leave after this season” thing. But at the end of the day — it’s Melo. And because the Warriors still exist, it’s going to take some Hail Mary’s to compete.”

2K with a look at the new Thunder.

Who said Russell Westbrook doesn’t recruit?: “Westbrook and George reportedly played key roles in convincing Anthony to agree to come play with them. After they did that it was up to the Thunder to get a deal done, and that’s exactly what they did. Now that Anthony is heading to OKC it’ll be up to those three to make it work on the court.”

Moke Hamilton (Basketball Insiders) says it’s all on Westbrook now: “Instead, Durant’s decision to leave was seen as a rebuke to Westbrook, who he is as a player and his style of basketball. At the time, the implication was that Durant didn’t think he could win with Westbrook. For someone as fiery and fierce as he, Durant’s decision to bolt and the subsequent questioning as to the reasons why was the quintessential poking of a bear with a stick. In the end, Westbrook roared. No matter what happens from here, a part of Westbrook’s legacy will be that he averaged a triple-double for an entire season and he was named the Most Valuable Player the year after the one who was deemed to be his Batman abandoned him.”

Dieter Kurtenbach (The Mercury News) on the Thunder becoming the Warriors’ biggest threat: “Is that roster good enough to beat the Warriors? Probably not. But it is good enough to make a seven-game series between the two as interesting as it could get in the Western Conference. The Warriors are still prohibitive title favorites and were 4-to-11 favorites to win the Western Conference before the Melo trade, but rest of the Western Conference continued it’s significant paradigm shift on Saturday.”

Sam Presti put on a clinic on super-team building this offseason: “Kanter and Oladipo, though young and talented, were also signed to large, long-term deals that the Thunder have now wisely gotten off their cap sheets. McDermott and Sabonis, both on their rookie deals, have potential, but their ceilings are certainly questionable. Turning the four of them into two stars — and in the case of George, arguably a top-15 NBA player — is a huge success. The deals also don’t rid the Thunder of all that much depth. Players like Steven Adams, Patrick Patterson, Andre Roberson, and Raymond Felton are all rotation-worthy players who are still in place. The cost of building a super-team is often sacrificing depth — the Thunder have largely avoided that.”

Fred Katz (Norman Transcript) says the Thunder are hoping they got Olympic Melo: “Anthony goes from ball-dominant in the NBA to efficiency-dominant during the Olympics, from dribble-happy to swish-happy. It runs counter to his earned reputation as a ball-stopper. Granted, it’s far easier to knock down shot after shot against Nigeria than it is against the Golden State Warriors. Still, it’s worth noting the way Anthony sticks to his strengths when he’s on a team with talent that he recognizes as elite — even if he’s never actually implemented that style into his NBA habits. The Thunder are hoping he will.”

Jason Concepcion (The Ringer) on Anthony’s legacy in New York: “The no-trade clause you conned Phil into when you re-signed in 2014 is your Pietà. That was Jackson’s undoing. When you became — as everyone knew you would — an impediment to Jackson’s beloved triangle, there was nothing Phil could do. Trapped in a prison of his own design, unable to deal you, Jackson resorted to trashing you in the media. His buddy and alleged personal blogger Charley Rosen took his shots.”

Never changed, Enes!

Several teammates stopped by on Saturday at Kanter’s last kids’ camp and it was a tear-jerker for those witnessing. (Seriously, I’m going to miss the big guy). This tweet shows Westbrook and Andre Roberson, but Patrick Patterson, Josh Huestis, and fellow ‘Stache Bros. Steven Adams all stopped by.

NTTB Podcast (Episode 14) – We Got Carmelo Anthony!!!

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IMG_4109On Episode 14 of the NTTB podcast, we discuss the following topics:

  • Carmelo Anthony trade (wait, what?)
  • What that means for the Thunder moving forward
  • Sam Presti Pre-season presser
  • Russell Westbrook’s “procedure”
  • Kevin Durant “Twitter-gate”
  • Enes Kanter (sad face emoji)
  • Trey Burke
  • 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!

NTTB Rank: Top 2

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Previous Player Rankings: 20-16 | 15-12 | 11-8 | 7-5 | 4-3 |

Think back to last season. The Russell Westbrook show. What an amazing ride! The 42 triple-doubles. The insane finishes. The record usage rate. Another MVP season for Oklahoma City. But with all the beauty, you also had to take the ugliness. The packed paint. The box-and-1 defenses. The clanging of long-range jump shots. A first round exit. The dependency on just one player.

Last season was great on an individual level. Westbrook had a season for the ages. But it was a season that was necessitated by the departure of Kevin Durant. If Westbrook doesn’t got supernova, the Thunder likely struggle to make the playoffs. And thankfully for the Thunder, Westbrook is not one to go quietly into the night. But last year’s team was not for just Westbrook. It was designed for both Westbrook and Durant. With one of those components gone, the Thunder were a walking identity crisis for 87 games. Continue reading NTTB Rank: Top 2 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 22 September 2017

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I don’t usually advocate for things. But Hurricane Maria decimated the island my parents call home. The island my grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles all currently live on. They are all okay, but the recovery process now begins. Please help me in easing that recovery process. Donate what you can. Every little bit helps. Thank you. Gracias.

On to the Rumblings:

Dom Flaim of WTLC on how the Thunder players live the Thunder way: “By now, we’ve all seen the social media comments made by our departed number 35, a player who inhabited the Thunder home locker room for 9 years and then left in 2016. Recently, #35 decided to comment via his main Twitter account (and not on the ghost account he thought he was using) that his past Thunder teammates just weren’t up to snuff.”

Cole Cashwell, the truth exposer: “Cole Cashwell, 16, tweeted at Durant’s @KDTrey5 handle Sunday evening, saying “man I respect the hell outta you but give me one legitimate reason for leaving okc other than getting a championship.” Cashwell on Thursday said he sent the message with the mindset “what’s the worst that could happen?” He said he was shocked and “didn’t understand why he would respond to me.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 22 September 2017 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 18 September 2017

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Fred Katz (Norman Transcript) writes about the importance of involuntary workouts for Thunder players: “These NBA involuntary workouts aren’t the same. Coaches are there. Players are around. People may call them “involuntary,” but they are without a doubt necessary. And the Thunder’s are mostly indistinguishable from the workouts you’d see if you walked into training camp. “We do a great job of keeping things consistent and predictable in that way,” Thunder forward Kyle Singler said. “It’s as demanding as a practice would be, which is great. I love that about the team. It’s a business mentally. We go in there for work, and we get our work done.”

Enes Kanter is not a fan of Minnesota’s new Statement jerseys.

Paul George is setting the bar high this season: “At the Nike NBA statement jersey reveal, George represented the Thunder and modeled the new jersey. Before the reveal, however, he talked with Dennis Scott of NBA TV about his goal to win MVP next season while also helping Westbrook.” Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 18 September 2017 →

NTTB’s Weekend Programming 

NBA, News, Offseason Beat,

On Friday night, Nike, in conjunction with the NBA, unveiled their Statement jerseys. Each team had a representative to show off their team’s new alternate jersey. Paul George held the honor for the Thunder. The video focused on the Thunder from 5:55 to 6:55. Enjoy!

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 15 September 2017

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Fred Katz talks about Russell Westbrook being ranked 6th in SI’s Top 100: “SI just concluded its list of top-100 players, and on the final day, it named Westbrook sixth, wedged between two Houston Rockets guards, Chris Paul, who was seventh, and James Harden, who was fifth. Two-time Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard was ranked fourth, two-time MVP Stephen Curry was third, reigning Finals MVP Kevin Durant was second and — of course — four-time MVP LeBron James was named the best in the NBA. Needless to say, Thunder fans thought Westbrook should have been ranked higher coming off an historic season, one in which he averaged a league-leading 31.6 points to go with 10.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists, making him the second player ever to average a triple-double. Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson, who accomplished the feat in 1961-62, is the only other man to do it.”

A run down of all the important trades in Thunder history.

If Westbrook doesn’t sign the extension this offseason, this is the going to be the season of “are Westbrook and George both going to LA next year”: “Perhaps the deafening Los Angeles Lakers rumors are to thank for the price of George being driven into the ground, but the Thunder gladly took advantage of it and snatched up one of the NBA’s best players. They might change their tune by next summer, though, when both George and Russell Westbrook can become free agents. Westbrook has yet to sign a five-year, $207 million contract extension the Thunder have put on the table, and with a star-studded 2018 free agency class on the way, things could get very interesting around the league.”

Apparently the dance-off between Westbrook and Giants WR Odell Beckham Jr wasn’t all it was cracked up to be: “Imaginations ran wild. A dance-off between megastars Odell Beckham Jr. and Russell Westbrook.Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like Catch NYC’s sixth anniversary party in New York City got to see all Beckham’s moves last week.”

Steven Adams’ humor is in mid-season form.

If this whole basketball thing doesn’t work out for Josh Huestis or Andre Roberson, they do have other options: “Thunder teammates Andre Roberson and Josh Huestis experienced first hand what it was like to work with a talented group that celebrated its 5A State Championship just last fall. The practice session inside the school’s gym was interrupted when Roberson and Huestis sauntered onto the court generating head turns as they were cascaded with whoops and hollers.”

Dan Favale of Bleacher Report looks at every team’s death line-up.

Steven Adams enjoying the increase in popularity of basketball in New Zealand: “Thursday’s event was sponsored by Homeland. In New Zealand, Adams’ basketball camp sponsor is “a dairy sort of company,” he said. “So it’s real weird, the kids after we do the camp, they get, like, a big block of cheese, some eggs and some bread and some milk,” Adams said. “The parents are, like, stoked, because they don’t have to go buy groceries anymore. They’re like, ‘Yes!’ It’s quirky, but it’s awesome.”

Seattle has a deal in place for a “new arena”: “If the NBA ever returns to Seattle, there could be a shiny new arena waiting. The city of Seattle and Los Angeles-based Oak View Group agreed to a $600 million renovation of KeyArena and construction could begin next year.”

 

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 14 September 2017

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Rob Hennigan returns to the Thunder: “Hennigan worked for four seasons in the Thunder front office, ascending to assistant general manager before being hired by the Orlando Magic as general manager in 2012. Hennigan was fired in April after the Magic went 132-278 (.322) in five seasons.”

For those of us who thought we had two top-10 players, we were wrong according to Sports Illustrated.

Here is the beginning of the NTTB Ranking of Thunder players.  Continue reading Daily Thunder Rumblings – 14 September 2017 →

Daily Thunder Rumblings – 12 September 2017

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Russell Westbrook was on the Jimmy Fallon Show last night and it was awesome.

A chronology of Paul George’s recent history with the Pacers that led him to this point. I don’t think Thunder fans will like the end of the timeline, though.

Lottery reform is on the agenda again, and the Thunder have a history of pushing back against any proposed lottery reform: “In 2014, Presti lobbied against lottery reform which would have given all 30 teams an equal chance at the first pick, citing how such a system could hurt organizations in small markets. ESPN’s Zach Lowe reported at the time that NBA owners voted 17-13 in favor of lottery reform then. The league needed 23 “yes” votes to pass the rule. The Thunder voted, no.”

Enes Kanter holding a camp for kids in Oklahoma City.

It’s from about 6 months ago, but this is an interesting read from training camp invitee Bryce Alford on the Player’s Tribune: “After almost four years here at UCLA, I like to think I haven’t let the haters bother me too much — I like to think that I’ve never cracked. There was one time, though. It was in a game my sophomore season. I can’t remember who we were playing, but we won. And — the strangest thing about it — I played fine, if not pretty well. At least I thought so. But as I was walking off the court, I heard a voice behind me.”