So I haven't posted a Loud Links all week, and its about time I got around to it. I have to admit I'm still trying to make that adjustment back into basketball season, which can call for three or more posts per day on gamedays (Gameday, Open Thread, and Game Recap), and I haven't been able to get as much commentary and editorial type pieces up as I'd like to. I will say that there are a few ideas rattling around in my head, and although they will take some time to get up and running, I'm hoping to add another dimension to the blog as soon as the resources to do so become available. Until then, I'll do my best to try and get more original commentary up between games and on off days. But right now, lets get on with today's edition of Loud Links which features plenty of articles that might peak your interest and also a header that you might think is new, when in actuality it was rough first draft that got trimmed back down. Anyway, I felt like using it today, so there you go, not that it even matters.

First up in today's edition of Loud Links is Kevin Durant, and get used to it because a lot of today's links have to do with our boy KD, and why not? Dude is sick amazing right? Right. So anyway, Kevin wants everybody to know that he's a team player, and is also an example of an athlete using twitter in the proper way, according to the DailyCardinal.com. Hoopsworld contemplates the next step in Kevincredible's development, while Slam Online selects KD as #8 in their Top 50. Of course we have to throw the True Hoop article in which Henry Abbott basically said that the Thunder were a better team when Durant wasn't on the floor, even though I personally could really care less about what Henry Abbot thinks, or +/- stats for that matter. Nick Collison still having ankle problems and newsok also hits on Kevin Durant's foul trouble issues so far this pre-season. Remember Chris Wilcox? Sure you do, he was a member of the Thunder for a few months, and with the Sonics for a few years before that. Anyway he's excited about the change of atmosphere he is experiencing in Detroit. Finally, Oklahoma City is one of the best places to "Launch," Thunder Head Coach Scott Brooks hasn't settled on a starting lineup for opening day, and there is still a Glimmer of hope for the Thunder defense. So make the jump and check out all the links and don't forget to drop a comment or two.

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TV: KSBI (Cox 15/715 OKC / Cox 3 Tulsa / DirecTV 52 / Dish Network 52)

Radio: WWLS (98.1 FM, 640am in OKC, 97.1 FM in Tulsa)

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TV: KSBI (Cox 15/715 OKC / Cox 3 Tulsa / DirecTV 52 / Dish Network 52)

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So the Oklahoma City Thunder will make their 2009-10 home debut tonight in the Ford Center as they take on the Phoenix Suns. Thus far the Thunder are 0-2, with both losses coming last week on the road. All in all the Thunder have been able to take a lot of positives and negatives from each of their first two games. In reality, The Thunder probably should have won both those games as they let 4th quarter leads slip away to big runs. Tonight will be another important step in getting this team ready for the regular season, and being as its the first home game, perhaps head coach Scott Brooks has a plan to get us a win.

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TV: None | Radio: WWLS (98.1 FM, 640am in OKC, 97.1 FM in Tulsa)

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The first thing you need to know about tonight's second pre-season game is that it isn't "tonight's" game at all, its actually an EARLY afternoon game, which tips off at 1pm Local time. Once again, the game won't be televised, and you're only chance to watch this one is going to be listening to WWLS, The Sports Animal, on FM 98.1 / AM 640 in the Oklahoma City area, or on 97.1 FM in the Tulsa Area. Again if there is anyone out there with a little bit of pull or power that wants to push for all the pre-season games to be televised next season, we'd certainly appreciate it, and I think just by me watching the game it'll have better ratings that "Matlock" and "In the Heat of the Night"  which apparently was more important for KSBI to broadcast than showing a Thunder pre-season game. So if you can get that taken care of for us, I'm sure all us die hard Thunder fans would appreciate it.

As the Oklahoman points out in this article, essentially four players are battling for one roster spot. Those guys are Ryan Bowen, Mike Harris, Tre Kelley, and local boy Michael Ruffin. In the Thunder's first pre-season game the other night against the Memphis Grizzlies, Ryan Bowen got a nice chunk of playing time to show what he could do, while the other 3 guys watched from the bench. Bowen got 21 minutes of playing time which he used to take just 2 shots, both of which he missed (1 of which was a 3 point attempt), grab 3 rebounds (1 offensive), block 1 shot, and turned the ball over just once. All in all, just looking at the stat-line its hard to judge his performance, especially when we didn't get to see the game since it wasn't televised, but he didn't have too bad of a game, considering he's making an attempt at being the last guy on the bench, so to speak. From the article linked above, it was his hustle that really stood out, and I think one thing all Thunder fans love, and me especially (which is why I love Nick Collison so much), is hustle. Today's game should give one of the other three an opportunity to prove what they can do. Click the jump link to hear some more about today's game and what we are hoping to see.

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Well, I gotta be honest here, it wasn't a whole lot of fun listening to a basketball game on the radio, but what are you gonna do? This game was apparently not broadcast anywhere on TV, so the only option Thunder fans had to get  in on the action tonight was to listen to the game on the radio. As you might imagine, or as you might have experienced tonight, its not really a whole lot of fun, or easy to listen to a basketball game on the radio. Maybe its just me, but not being able to see the guys playing together for the first time was almost infuriating as I had to sit there and just listen. Anyway, enough complaining, the Thunder did actually play a game tonight, so lets get right to it.

First up a couple of notes on the game in case you missed our preview earlier today. Allen Iverson sat this one out for the Grizzlies after suffering an injury on Sunday, and also Thabo Sefolosha didn't play for the Thunder tonight, so James Harden got the start in his place. He didn't waste any time making his presence felt either, but not necessarily in a positive way by picking up 3 fouls in the first 6 minutes of the game, but had a nice 3 pointer to go with that. To his credit though, he made it into the fourth quarter before he picked up his 4th and 5th fouls. Nenad Krstic also got into a bit of foul trouble early by picking up 2 fouls in the first five minutes of the game, which pretty much set the pace for the Thunder all night long in terms of being in foul trouble. The Thunder racked up a whopping 36 fouls with every Thunder player who got in the action having at least 2 fouls. Make the jump for more thoughts on tonights game...

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TV: None | Radio: WWLS (98.1 FM, 640am in OKC, 97.1 FM in Tulsa)

Opponent Perspective: Straight Outta Vancouver

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I still maintain that I suck at gathering articles for Loud Links, but its Tuesday, and I've found another group of articles that might peak your interest. Some of them are old, some of them are new, but either way, we're just two days away from seeing this team in live game action, well, we won't be seeing it so much as hearing it on the Radio since it won't be broadcast on TV for reasons unbeknown to me. Well, anyway, on with the links.

Head Coach Scott Brooks is preparing for the first Thunder pre-season game by putting the team through game-like scrimmages. Kevin Durant and Jeff Green are apparently "Ol' Guys" now despite Durant just recently being of age to legally buy beer. Hoopsworld picks James Harden amongst its contenders for Rookie of the year, as if it wasn't already obvious enough. Our Good Friends over at Golden State of Mind have labeled this Thunder teams as "The X Factors." The NBA is expanding the use of Instant Replay, just another headache to deal with should we get stuck with replacement referees all season long. With the Thunder tipping off on Wednesday against the Grizzlies, what better time than now to contemplate which team will be better this season than now? Dimemag Discusses. Sactown Royalty takes a look at the defensive prowess of former Thunder player Desmond Mason, I think we all know what he brought to this team. Kyle Weaver gives NewsOk a quick little Q&A, and the Thunder's D-League Affiliate Tulsa 66ers wind up with the 16th and 17th draft picks in the upcoming draft as well as give their fans a sneak peak at the renovated convention center downtown where they will be playing this coming season, much to this bloggers dismay.

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With pre-season action set to get underway in just a couple of days here, that got me wondering about the television schedule and whether or not they would be showing each and every game as they did last season. I'm sorry to say I was a little bit disappointed to find out that it just isn't the case. Hold on now, before you go jumping off of a building, all of the regular season games will be televised, its just the pre-season that will be lacking in coverage for several games, most notably the very first game, which will be taking place on Wednesday evening in Memphis. With fans itching for their first taste of Thunder basketball, and being extremely eager to see the new additions in action for the first time with the likes of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook, you'd think that someone, either in the Thunder front office, or in the halls of either KSBI or Fox Sports, would realize this and make sure, at the very least, to get the first pre-season game televised.

In any case, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make just as long as all the regular season games get broadcast in High-Definition, something that wasn't the case last season, and guess what? Oh Hell Yeah! I don't know whether it had to do with the teams abrupt move last season or if someone was paying attention to all the whining and crying I was doing last season, but whatever the case, at least according to this list (Make the Jump), every single Thunder game, be it broadcast on KSBI or Fox Sports Oklahoma, will be televised in glorious High Definition! Thank God for that too because it was almost sickening having to watch standard def games last season, so much so that I almost didn't even want to watch the games. Anyway, enough blabbering, and just go ahead and make the jump to see the full tevelision schedule. I've gone ahead and added where you can find the games as well depending on your provider, so you might want to bookmark this page so it'll be handy anytime you aren't making the trip to the Ford Center for a game.

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Loud Links returns for the first time since our hiatus, and this time we're going to do things a little bit differently. Instead of it being your evening news source (Which let's face it, by the time we posted ours, you more than likely had already found a link dump somewhere else), we're going to make Loud Links the 4am post so you can get up to speed quickly on all the most recent Thunder news and events from the previous day, before you start out on your own day. During the season this will include links to game recaps, feedback, and any other post game team or player news that you are going to want to read. More than likely this post will be followed up by original content of our own later in the morning. I believe this new format will allow Thunder fans to catch up any news, scores, and events they might have missed so that when they read our new post later that morning, they won't be lost or wondering what we are talking about, not to mention they won't have to listen to the office know-it-all blathering endlessly about how much more knowledge he has on the Thunder than you do. But enough about how the format has changed, lets get on with the return of Loud Links!

In Today's edition of Loud Links Kevin Durant is, strangely enough, achieving celebrity status while at the same time managing to hide in plain site, even going to the movies without being recognized. Beloved and former Thunder player Desmond Mason gets a 1 year deal with the Sacramento Kings. Hoopsworld made a stop in Edmond to take a peek at Thunder Training camp and gives some impressions along with another article about head Coach Scott Brooks, who believes in his players. You can get a sneak peek of your own on Monday evening if you head down to Midwest City High School for an open to the public practice. Nenad Krstic puts in his two cents about the Marcin Gortat to Oklahoma City Rumors. USA Today thinks the Thunder have found some solid ground for their second season in Oklahoma City while the Oklahoman hits on a number of topics from Training Camp. And Finally, if you are curious as to how Thunder players spent their summers, we've got you covered as well. So click the mouse and make the jump to find out more on all of these topics, and let the discussion ensue.

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Head Coach: Scott Brooks
Assistant Coaches: Brian Keefe, Ron Adams, Mark Bryant, Nate Tibbetts and Vin Bhavnani
Head Athletic Trainer: Joe Sharpe

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