SB Nation User Blog: Mr Pappagiorgio

Kevin Durant's a team player, Nick Collison concerned about ankle, Hope for Thunder Defense, More...

Mr Pappagiorgio — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:00:39 -0000

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.

Kevin Durant Wants You to Know He's a Team Player
"I felt like I wanted to defend myself,'' Durant said in an interview with FanHouse while the Thunder was in Tulsa for Wednesday's 96-91 preseason win over Miami. "I've let a lot of stuff slide. I shouldn't have done it. But when contributions to this team [are questioned], I got kind of offended because I'm passionate and emotional about all that stuff. I try to do everything to my best of my ability. Some people overlook that, and don't see how hard we work every day.''

Athletes must be cautious using Twitter
Twitter can be a valuable tool when it encourages communication and gives individuals a chance to speak out on important issues. Earlier this week, Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant posted a response to a recent ESPN.com TrueHoop blog criticizing his contributions to his team. I felt this was a very practical use of social media. It allowed Durant to defend himself when he lacked the resources to respond with an entire article or website.

NBA At 2: Next Step For Durant
"I've got to be more of a leader for this team," Durant told John Thompson on ESPN 980 in DC recently. "Lead by example. Be more vocal. Collectively as a group we got to find what we have been learning in training camp…Towards the end of the season last year which is become a better defensive team. I think if we all feed into what we are trying to do on the defensive end we will continue to get better."

SLAM ONLINE'sTop 50: Kevin Durant, no. 8
One of my favorite things about working for a magazine that covers basketball from high school through the pros is getting to watch players develop every step of the way, and see hoKevin Durantw my/our projections pan out. When I saw Kevin Durant play in high school, to be honest, I had my doubts. Not doubts about making the League or anything, especially because the scoring was obvious then, but his skinniness drove me to distraction and I could not project NBA greatness for him.

The Kevin Durant Conundrum - TrueHoop By Henry Abbott
The Thunder's big three, for instance, are Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Jeff Green. Last season, in the 387 minutes Westbrook and Green were on the floor without Durant, the team outscored opponents by a dozen points. In the 1,683 minutes all three of them were on the floor together, they were outscored by 245 points.

Thunder notebook: Nick Collison concerned about ankle; Kevin Durant plagued by foul trouble
"I haven’t even practiced, yet, so I’m definitely going to be behind," Collison said. "Yeah, I’m concerned. I’ll be fine eventually. You never want to be behind. But you also want to be 100 percent. I’m doing pretty good with the pain. It’s the explosiveness is what I don’t have."

New Piston Chris Wilcox excited over different atmosphere
The Pistons like the ingredients that Wilcox, 27, can bring to the roster with his 6-foot-10, 235-pound frame. He's big, athletic, and has shown an ability to finish around the basket. "He's somebody that plays with reckless abandon," coach John Kuester said. When, that is, Wilcox can stay out of foul trouble.

Best Places to Launch: Oklahoma City is a heartland haven
Oklahoma City has its drawbacks. Among the most tornado-prone cities in America, it has the dubious distinction of getting hit in 1999 by the worst twister on record, with winds topping 320 miles per hour. And forget about entertaining your visiting clients with top-notch sporting events: Oklahoma City has only one professional franchise, the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, which had its first season in 2008 and finished 26th in the league.

Thunder notebook: Coach Scott Brooks not ready to announce starting lineup for Season Opener
Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green are locks. Thabo Sefolosha is the leading candidate to start at shooting guard. Nenad Krstic and Etan Thomas are competing for the center vacancy, but Nick Collison could be an option.

Glimmer of hope for Oklahoma City Thunder defense
The Thunder’s biggest need remains a dominant big man who can erase defensive lapses. But some teams offset interior deficiencies by using length and athleticism to create havoc on the perimeter.

Game Recap: Oklahoma City Thunder 96, Miami Heat 91

Mr Pappagiorgio — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:55:53 -0000

So I know I'm a little late to the party with this game recap, so I'll try to keep it short and sweet. Last night the Thunder picked up win #2 of the preseason, and did it by overcoming a double digit deficit heading into the 4th quarter. Leading the way was Kevin Durant who dropped in 18 of his game high 30 points during that fourth quarter surge. He struggled to stay on the court much of the night, due to foul trouble, but still managed to put in 32 minutes of playing time. Jeff Green was the other guy getting the job done for the Thunder tonight, and for the first time this pre-season, really shot the ball well, knocking down 9-16 shots including 3-3 from behind the arc. Russell Westbrook continued to dish the ball well and finished with 7 assists tonight, but also turned the ball over 4 times. RW0's statline looks fairly similar tonight to what it did nearly every game a year ago, but hey, if this is his worst effort so far this pre-season, that definitely bodes well for sophomore season.

I wish I could give you some better details on the game, as well as thoughts and comments but unfortunately I didn't get to see much of the game. Hey, its pre-season though right? If I'm going to be missing games, I should probably do it now as opposed to when the actual regular season tips off right? On top of that the games so far have only been in standard def and you can't actually expect me to watch that can you? Seriously, it hurts my freakin' eyes, and half the time I don't even know what the score is because the picture is so junky. I'm kidding, but anyway, the Thunder did pick up their second win on the pre-season and evened up their record at 2-2 with 3 games left to play next week, only one of which (Tuesday) will be televised. Make the jump for the box.

Miami
Starters		Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
Q. Richardson	G	33:03	4-11	1-7	2-3	-2	1	3	1	2	1	0	0	5	11
M. Chalmers	G	31:58	4-7	1-2	4-4	-1	0	4	4	4	0	0	0	4	13
J. O'Neal	C	23:14	4-7	0-0	2-2	+2	2	3	0	2	0	0	1	4	10
M. Beasley	F	37:53	9-13	0-2	6-6	+3	0	4	2	7	1	1	0	2	24
U. Haslem	F	34:47	3-7	0-0	3-3	-2	2	9	1	1	1	2	1	2	9
Bench		Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
D. Cook		29:35	5-15	4-7	0-0	-12	0	1	1	2	1	0	0	3	14
C. Arroyo		16:02	0-2	0-0	0-0	-4	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	4	0
J. Jones		14:57	3-4	2-3	0-0	-3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	3	8
J. Anthony		13:00	1-1	0-0	0-0	-11	2	3	0	0	0	2	0	3	2
S. Randolph		5:30	0-0	0-0	0-0	+5	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Y. Diawara		DNP - Coach's Decision
J. Lucas		DNP - Coach's Decision
J. Magloire		DNP - Coach's Decision
C. Quinn		DNP - Coach's Decision
A. Tolliver		DNP - Coach's Decision
D. Wade		DNP - Coach's Decision
D. Wright		DNP - Coach's Decision

Totals			33-67	8-21	17-18		7	32	11	19	4	5	2	32	91
Percentages:			.493	.381	.944		Team Rebounds: 4

Oklahoma City
Starters		Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
R. Westbrook	G	35:32	3-12	0-1	6-10	+7	3	6	7	4	3	0	1	5	12
T. Sefolosha	G	24:33	2-7	0-3	2-3	-4	1	2	1	0	2	0	0	1	6
E. Thomas	C	23:33	4-4	0-0	3-4	+1	2	2	0	0	1	1	0	3	11
J. Green	F	36:14	9-16	3-3	4-5	+2	0	3	1	2	1	0	0	1	25
K. Durant	F	32:13	10-16	1-5	9-10	+9	0	6	2	4	1	0	1	5	30
Bench		Min	FG	3Pt	FT	+/-	Off	Reb	Ast	TO	Stl	BS	BA	PF	Pts
S. Livingston		19:02	0-3	0-0	3-6	+14	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	3
B.J. Mullens		15:53	2-3	0-0	0-0	+14	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	2	4
K. Weaver		13:26	0-1	0-1	2-2	+5	1	3	2	3	1	0	0	1	2
S. Ibaka		11:57	0-1	0-0	0-0	-7	1	2	1	1	1	0	0	1	0
M. Ruffin		11:45	0-2	0-0	0-0	+4	0	1	0	1	0	0	2	1	0
N. Krstic		8:34	1-2	0-0	1-2	-10	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	3
T. Kelley		7:17	0-0	0-0	0-0	-10	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0
R. Bowen		DNP - Coach's Decision
N. Collison		DNP - Coach's Decision
J. Harden		DNP - Coach's Decision
M. Harris		DNP - Coach's Decision
K. Ollie		DNP - Coach's Decision
D.J. White		DNP - Coach's Decision

Totals			31-67	4-13	30-42		9	30	16	15	10	2	5	23	96
Percentages:			.463	.308	.714		Team Rebounds: 17

Miami Heat at Oklahoma City Thunder OPEN THREAD

Mr Pappagiorgio — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 22:16:27 -0000

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)

Oklahoma City Thunder Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Ryan Bowen	40	F	11.20.75	218	6-9	Iowa
Nick Collison	4	C	10.26.80	255	6-10	Kansas
Kevin Durant	35	F	9.29.88	215	6-9	Texas
Jeff Green	22	F	8.28.86	235	6-9	Georgetown
James Harden	13	G	8.26.87	220	6-5	Arizona State
Mike Harris	33	F	6.15.83	240	6-6	Rice
Serge Ibaka	9	F	9.18.89	220	6-10	None
Tre Kelley	6	G	1.23.85	188	6-0	South Carolina
Nenad Krstic	12	C	7.25.83	240	7-0	None
Shaun Livingston	14	G	9.11.85	185	6-7	Peoria Central HS
Byron Mullens	23	C	2.14.89	260	7-1	Ohio State
Kevin Ollie	7	G	12.27.72	195	6-2	Connecticut
Malik Rose	9	F	11.23.74	255	6-7	Drexel
Michael Ruffin	51	F	1.21.77	248	6-8	Tulsa
Thabo Sefolosha	2	G	5.2.84	215	6-7	None
Etan Thomas	36	C	4.1.78	260	6-10	Syracuse
Kyle Weaver	5	G	2.18.86	201	6-6	Washington State
Russell Westbrook	-	G	11.12.88	187	6-3	U-C-L-A
D.J. White	3	F	8.31.86	251	6-9	Indiana

Miami Heat Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Joel Anthony	50	C	8.9.82	245	6-9	U-N-L-V
Carlos Arroyo	8	G	7.30.79	202	6-2	Fla International
Michael Beasley	30	F	1.9.89	245	6-9	Kansas State
Patrick Beverly	25	G	7.12.88	180	6-1	Arkansas
Mario Chalmers	6	G	5.19.86	190	6-1	Kansas
Daequan Cook	14	G	4.28.87	210	6-5	Ohio State
Yakhouba Diawara	9	F	8.29.82	230	6-7	Pepperdine
Robert Dozier	4	F	11.6.85	215	6-9	Memphis
Udonis Haslem	40	F	6.9.80	235	6-8	Florida
James Jones	22	F	10.4.80	220	6-8	Miami-Florida
John Lucas III	15	G	11.21.82	165	5-11	Oklahoma State
Jamaal Magloire	21	C	5.21.78	255	6-11	Kentucky
Jermaine O`Neal	7	C	10.13.78	258	6-11	None
Chris Quinn	11	G	9.27.83	175	6-2	Notre Dame
Shavlik Randolph	42	F	11.24.83	236	6-10	Duke
Quentin Richardson	5	F	4.13.80	228	6-6	DePaul
Anthony Tolliver	43	F	6.1.85	243	6-9	Creighton
Dwyane Wade	3	G	1.17.82	220	6-4	Marquette
Dorell Wright	1	F	12.2.85	210	6-9	None

Thunder Gameday: Miami Heat at Oklahoma City Thunder (BOK Center)

Mr Pappagiorgio — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 23:31:01 -0000

The Thunder got a big pre-season win on Monday night at the Ford Center, against the Phoenix Suns, via overtime. While it was nice to see the team get a notch in that "W" column, it wasn't all peaches and cream either, as the team blew a sizable fourth quarter lead before heading into overtime and taking care of business. That said, it honestly seemed like they were taking care of business against a Suns team that seemingly just wanted to get the hell out of there, and rightly so, its pre-season, nobody wants to see these guys play longer and risk injury. But enough about Monday nights game, seriously, if you want to read about it, we've put down plenty of thoughts on the game right here for you to check out.

Tonight's game will be the 2nd home game of the pre-season of the Thunder, but it won't exactly be a true home game since it won't be taking place in the Ford Center. Instead, it will be taking place up the Turnpike in Tulsa, where fans on the other side of the state will get a chance to see the team play in their own backyard instead of having to make the drive to Oklahoma City. For any of you down in OKC planning on making the drive up, you won't be disappointed too much with the BOK Center. It's about a year old now and a damn fine facility on its own, in fact, at least before the renovations this season, I'd say it was superior to the Ford Center. But having not seen the improvements this season first hand, I can't say how the two compare now. Either way, sometimes its fun to see the team play in other arena's, and this will be your only chance to do that while still in the great state of Oklahoma. Oh, and if you were active in our Live Commenting thread during Mondays Suns game (or even if you just read through it later on), you might have noticed my bitching about the game not being broadcast in HD, well, after a looking poking around I noticed something, take the jump to find out what.

Last week we posted the 2009-10 Oklahoma City Thunder broadcast schedule directly from the Oklahoma City Thunder website and upon quick recheck earlier today, I noticed that they have since changed the pre-season KSBI games from KSBIHD to KSBI. Interesting huh? Perhaps someone inside the Thunder organization is reading our little blog here, and taking note of my constant bitching. Now, if only I can convince them to give me a press pass and let me sit at the scorers table for every home game we might have something. Seriously though, its nice to at least see this corrected because I was quite scared that all KSBI games would be broadcast in SD only for those of us outside Oklahoma City. I still have this fear for Cox Cable users in Tulsa as they generally just broadcast KSBI games on Channel 3, but now having DirecTV, I still have hope for HD KSBI Games.

Anyway, its still pre-season, so I don't really see the point in talking about matchups or what this teams needs to do to win since that's not even really all that important. For those of you in Tulsa though, who haven't made the trip down to Oklahoma City for a Thunder game, go ahead and make your way down to the BOK Center tonight and check out our professional basketball team. If Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the rest of the crew have another game like they did Monday, you surely will NOT be disappointed! Tipoff is 7pm and the doors probably open at 6pm if I remember correctly from last years game at the BOK. We'll have a Live Commenting Open thread during the game for you guys watching on TV in Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma City Thunder Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Ryan Bowen	40	F	11.20.75	218	6-9	Iowa
Nick Collison	4	C	10.26.80	255	6-10	Kansas
Kevin Durant	35	F	9.29.88	215	6-9	Texas
Jeff Green	22	F	8.28.86	235	6-9	Georgetown
James Harden	13	G	8.26.87	220	6-5	Arizona State
Mike Harris	-	F	6.15.83	240	6-6	Rice
Serge Ibaka	9	F	9.18.89	220	6-10	None
Tre Kelley	6	G	1.23.85	188	6-0	South Carolina
Nenad Krstic	12	C	7.25.83	240	7-0	None
Shaun Livingston	14	G	9.11.85	185	6-7	Peoria Central HS
Byron Mullens	23	C	2.14.89	260	7-1	Ohio State
Kevin Ollie	7	G	12.27.72	195	6-2	Connecticut
Malik Rose	9	F	11.23.74	255	6-7	Drexel
Michael Ruffin	51	F	1.21.77	248	6-8	Tulsa
Thabo Sefolosha	2	G	5.2.84	215	6-7	None
Etan Thomas	36	C	4.1.78	260	6-10	Syracuse
Kyle Weaver	5	G	2.18.86	201	6-6	Washington State
Russell Westbrook	-	G	11.12.88	187	6-3	U-C-L-A
D.J. White	3	F	8.31.86	251	6-9	Indiana

Miami Heat Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Joel Anthony	50	C	8.9.82	245	6-9	U-N-L-V
Carlos Arroyo	-	G	7.30.79	202	6-2	Fla International
Michael Beasley	30	F	1.9.89	245	6-9	Kansas State
Patrick Beverly	25	G	7.12.88	180	6-1	Arkansas
Mario Chalmers	6	G	5.19.86	190	6-1	Kansas
Daequan Cook	14	G	4.28.87	210	6-5	Ohio State
Yakhouba Diawara	9	F	8.29.82	230	6-7	Pepperdine
Robert Dozier	4	F	11.6.85	215	6-9	Memphis
Udonis Haslem	40	F	6.9.80	235	6-8	Florida
James Jones	22	F	10.4.80	220	6-8	Miami-Florida
John Lucas III	15	G	11.21.82	165	5-11	Oklahoma State
Jamaal Magloire	21	C	5.21.78	255	6-11	Kentucky
Jermaine O`Neal	7	C	10.13.78	258	6-11	None
Chris Quinn	11	G	9.27.83	175	6-2	Notre Dame
Shavlik Randolph	42	F	11.24.83	236	6-10	Duke
Quentin Richardson	5	F	4.13.80	228	6-6	DePaul
Anthony Tolliver	43	F	6.1.85	243	6-9	Creighton
Dwyane Wade	3	G	1.17.82	220	6-4	Marquette
Dorell Wright	1	F	12.2.85	210	6-9	None

Game Recap: Oklahoma City Thunder 110, Phoenix Suns 105 (OT)

Mr Pappagiorgio — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:14:17 -0000

This Thunder team came out of the locker room ready to play tonight. Perhaps energized by playing in front of their home fans for the first time, or maybe it was the two pre-season losses last week. Whatever the case, the Thunder came out extremely aggressive defensively and jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the very first minute of the game. Thabo Sefolosha, playing in his first pre-season game, lead the defensive charge early and was really the catalyst for the defensive effort tonight which was pretty much off the charts all night long. They weren't shy about crowding the passing lanes or playing pressure defense in one on one situations. It didn't really matter whether it was the starting rotation on the floor or guys fighting for roster spots, the intensity and defensive aggression was strong tonight, and if they take anything from tonight's win, its that defensive aggression leads to points, and eventually a win.

We saw Thabo make the difference defensively so many times last season after being acquired from the Chicago Bulls mid-season. Then with the drafting of James Harden, one would expect that his time as the starting shooting guard for this team became just a matter of how long it takes to develop Harden into a and everyday starting player. I think Thabo came out tonight and delivered a message to the Thunder coaching staff, James Harden, and the fans in the Ford Center. The message was, "My name is Thabo Sefolosha, and I'm the starting shooting guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder." He played 26 minutes tonight and scored 12 points on 5-6 shooting (including 2-2 from downtown), and had 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks to go along with that. Yeah, I don't really think James Hardens 9 points on 3-11 shooting (0-3 from downtown, 3-7 at the line) with 3 boards, 2 assists and 1 steal in more minutes than Thabo is going to get him into the starting lineup anytime soon, as long as Thabo stays healthy. Of course we aren't bagging on James Harden here, he is still just a rookie, but more of trying to convey how great of a game Thabo had tonight. We've got more thoughts on tonight's game inside, so make the Jump.

Even bigger news than the game tonight might have been the 15,000+ fans that showed up at the newly renovated Ford Center for a PRE-SEASON game. I mean, I'll be honest, with 82 Thunder games to watch and comment on, I don't really watch a lot of non-Thunder regular season games, much less non-Thunder pre-season games. Point being, I have a REALLY hard time imagining too many teams in the NBA drawing 15,000+ fans for a pre-season game. It just goes to show how much the fans here have embraced this team, and how much support they are willing to give them, even during the pre-season. Anyway, enough about how great all of you guys are, we already know Loud City has some of the best fans in the Country, so lets get back to more impressions on the game tonight.

Kevin Durant....Yes, KEVIN FREAKIN' DURANT! You might have seen all the hoopla on the net about the Kevin Durant "Conundrum" or whatever the hell it was. In all honesty, I didn't even waste my time reading it because its nothing we haven't heard before from some nay-saying journalist. Guess how much of that story you saw here? None, we haven't even mentioned it until now, because just like when he was injured for a few games last season and this type of talk started to surface, we blew it off knowing that it was complete idiocracy to think and believe this team would be better of without Kevin Durant. Just to prove his point, even though its pre-season, Kevin Durant went off tonight, and take a look at his stat-line. First of all we'll get his shotty +/- stat out of the way since it was only a measly +24 tonight, the highest of anyone on the team. KD scored 30 points in 31 minutes and was 10-16 shooting (5-5 from downtown, and no you didn't misread that, and 5-5 from the line) and pulled down 11 boards. All pretty impressive stats to say the least. Of course we couldn't list all the positives without the glaring negative stat for KD tonight, which was turnovers, and he had plenty of them, 7 in fact. I think thats forgivable though when you take over the game in the third quarter and build the team 20 point lead nearly single handedly.

We haven't even mentioned Russell Westbrook yet, and we're going to go ahead and just throw him onto the All-Star team as a starting point guard right now because dude is sick. Okay, so he may not be the best point guard in the conference this season, but if his progression can continue the way it has, he's well on his way. RW0 was 1 assist away from a TRIPLE DOUBLE tonight. Russ had 10 points, 10 boards, and 9 assists to just 3 turnovers. He continues to prove that not only can he play the point guard position, but he can do it well, while at the same time, continuing to do some of those other things that really set him apart from other point guards, namely his ability to battle in the trees for boards, and tonight's 10 rebound effort just further backs that up.

As for the rest of the team, well, they blew a 20 point lead so what can you say really? Aside from having a very young core of starters, this bench isn't very deep at all. At least its not in terms of them all being on the floor at once and being able to stay competitive. Now as far as working some of these guys into the rotation, sure there is depth, but just like the previous two games, it was the reserves on the court late in the game that blew the lead. Serge Ibaka was the one reserve today that stood out a bit as he looked great defensively, swatting balls like a Madman. Other than that, there was not a whole lot to get excited about. D.J. White was not able to continue he stellar performance from last Wednesday, and Shaun Livingston wasn't nearly as productive as you'd like him to be, especially considering he should be back near as close to 100% as he'll probably ever be able to get. He's not even wearing a knee brace anymore, and I for one don't know if that's scary or a good sign that the knee is solid.

For the most part it was a great night for the Thunder, even though it was just pre-season, it was still a win, and still a win in front of a large 15k crowd. The played aggressively and proved that they know how to get after and play defense. There is still a lot of work to be done before the season rolls around (someone please fix Uncle Jeff's shot), but tonight was a definite step in the right direction.

Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder OPEN THREAD

Mr Pappagiorgio — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 21:21:09 -0000

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)

Oklahoma City Thunder Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Ryan Bowen	40	F	11.20.75	218	6-9	Iowa
Nick Collison	4	C	10.26.80	255	6-10	Kansas
Kevin Durant	35	F	9.29.88	215	6-9	Texas
Jeff Green	22	F	8.28.86	235	6-9	Georgetown
James Harden	13	G	8.26.87	220	6-5	Arizona State
Mike Harris	-	F	6.15.83	240	6-6	Rice
Serge Ibaka	9	F	9.18.89	220	6-10	None
Tre Kelley	6	G	1.23.85	188	6-0	South Carolina
Nenad Krstic	12	C	7.25.83	240	7-0	None
Shaun Livingston	14	G	9.11.85	185	6-7	Peoria Central HS
Byron Mullens	23	C	2.14.89	260	7-1	Ohio State
Kevin Ollie	7	G	12.27.72	195	6-2	Connecticut
Malik Rose	9	F	11.23.74	255	6-7	Drexel
Michael Ruffin	51	F	1.21.77	248	6-8	Tulsa
Thabo Sefolosha	2	G	5.2.84	215	6-7	None
Etan Thomas	36	C	4.1.78	260	6-10	Syracuse
Kyle Weaver	5	G	2.18.86	201	6-6	Washington State
Russell Westbrook	-	G	11.12.88	187	6-3	U-C-L-A
D.J. White	3	F	8.31.86	251	6-9	Indiana

Phoenix Suns Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Louis Amundson	17	F	12.7.82	225	6-9	U-N-L-V
Leandro Barbosa	10	F	11.28.82	202	6-3	None
Earl Clark	55	F	1.17.88	220	6-9	Louisville
Dan Dickau	12	G	9.16.78	180	6-0	Gonzaga
Goran Dragic	2	G	5.6.86	180	6-4	None
Jared Dudley	3	F	7.10.85	225	6-7	Boston College
Channing Frye	8	C	5.17.83	245	6-11	Arizona
Taylor Griffin	32	F	3.16.89	238	6-7	Oklahoma
Grant Hill	33	F	10.5.72	225	6-8	Duke
Robin Lopez	15	C	4.1.88	255	7-0	Stanford
Steve Nash	13	G	2.7.74	178	6-3	Santa Clara
Carlos Powell	11	F	8.29.83	225	6-7	South Carolina
Emir Preldzic	-	G	6.9.87	220	6-8	Bosnia
Jason Richardson	23	G	1.20.81	225	6-6	Michigan State
Amare Stoudemire	1	F	11.16.82	249	6-10	None
Raymond Sykes	4	F	7.3.86	220	6-9	Clemson
Alando Tucker	29	G	2.11.84	205	6-6	Wisconsin

Thunder Gameday: Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder

Mr Pappagiorgio — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:32:48 -0000

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.

The starters have yet to play much more than 25 minutes in either game last week, but perhaps being the first home game, guys like Durant, Green, and Westbrook can get into the 30's (minutes) for the first time this pre-season, in an effort to not only get them a little bit closer to regular season type minutes, but to also re-energize Thunder fans as they make their way back into the Ford Center for the first time since last spring. In the process it could very well give this team a much needed win and a boost as we head closer to the regular season opener. I also apologize for not getting this up sooner and being as late as it is, we'll skip the long winded game preview that usually gets posted, and instead let you take a quick look at the roster as you're probably already about to head down to Bricktown for a little wining and dining before trotting on over to the Ford Center for tonight's game. So make the jump and take a peak. Tipoff is 7pm, and we'll have an OPEN THREAD posting 30 minutes prior as we usually do for commenting and such.

Oklahoma City Thunder Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Ryan Bowen	40	F	11.20.75	218	6-9	Iowa
Nick Collison	4	C	10.26.80	255	6-10	Kansas
Kevin Durant	35	F	9.29.88	215	6-9	Texas
Jeff Green	22	F	8.28.86	235	6-9	Georgetown
James Harden	13	G	8.26.87	220	6-5	Arizona State
Mike Harris	-	F	6.15.83	240	6-6	Rice
Serge Ibaka	9	F	9.18.89	220	6-10	None
Tre Kelley	6	G	1.23.85	188	6-0	South Carolina
Nenad Krstic	12	C	7.25.83	240	7-0	None
Shaun Livingston	14	G	9.11.85	185	6-7	Peoria Central HS
Byron Mullens	23	C	2.14.89	260	7-1	Ohio State
Kevin Ollie	7	G	12.27.72	195	6-2	Connecticut
Malik Rose	9	F	11.23.74	255	6-7	Drexel
Michael Ruffin	51	F	1.21.77	248	6-8	Tulsa
Thabo Sefolosha	2	G	5.2.84	215	6-7	None
Etan Thomas	36	C	4.1.78	260	6-10	Syracuse
Kyle Weaver	5	G	2.18.86	201	6-6	Washington State
Russell Westbrook	-	G	11.12.88	187	6-3	U-C-L-A
D.J. White	3	F	8.31.86	251	6-9	Indiana

Phoenix Suns Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Louis Amundson	17	F	12.7.82	225	6-9	U-N-L-V
Leandro Barbosa	10	F	11.28.82	202	6-3	None
Earl Clark	55	F	1.17.88	220	6-9	Louisville
Dan Dickau	12	G	9.16.78	180	6-0	Gonzaga
Goran Dragic	2	G	5.6.86	180	6-4	None
Jared Dudley	3	F	7.10.85	225	6-7	Boston College
Channing Frye	8	C	5.17.83	245	6-11	Arizona
Taylor Griffin	32	F	3.16.89	238	6-7	Oklahoma
Grant Hill	33	F	10.5.72	225	6-8	Duke
Robin Lopez	15	C	4.1.88	255	7-0	Stanford
Steve Nash	13	G	2.7.74	178	6-3	Santa Clara
Carlos Powell	11	F	8.29.83	225	6-7	South Carolina
Emir Preldzic	-	G	6.9.87	220	6-8	Bosnia
Jason Richardson	23	G	1.20.81	225	6-6	Michigan State
Amare Stoudemire	1	F	11.16.82	249	6-10	None
Raymond Sykes	4	F	7.3.86	220	6-9	Clemson
Alando Tucker	29	G	2.11.84	205	6-6	Wisconsin

Game Recap: New Orleans Hornets 88, Oklahoma City Thunder 79

Mr Pappagiorgio — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 00:43:54 -0000

Game #2 of the pre-season came at a time when many of you probably didn't even know the Thunder were playing. Reason being was the early 1pm start time which happened to be going on at the same time as the Arkansas, Oklahoma State, and Oklahoma football games. Now maybe you'd have paid more attention if this was a regular season game, but since it was pre-season, I'm willing to bet not many people listened to the game today, and sadly that includes me. I was only able to listen to parts of the first quarter before I had to head out. I am willing to admit and plead guilty to not finding out about todays early start time until this morning, and by then it was a little too late to change personal plans for the day. Anyway, enough of my weaksauce excuses for missing the game, and lets instead give you a little bit about what actually did happen today.

Russell Westbrook is the biggest story coming out of today's game, without question. He followed up Wednesdays 10 assist, 2 turnover game, with an 8 assist, 1 turnover game today. Its beginning to look like Russell Westbrook really does have the will and desire to be a true point guard in this league, and not only that, he's proving it with his play on the court. His 2-8 shooting night and only 7 points still leaves a lot to be desired in the contributing direct points category, but he still has plenty of time to get that ironed out. He also nabbed three steals to go with 2 rebounds. I really can't wait until Monday nights game against the Suns so we can all finally see (either at the Ford Center or on TV, KSBIHD) his progress for ourselves and see exactly what he's doing. We'll be able to see if his court vision has improved, and see just exactly what is making the difference in his point guard stats, as I like to call them (Assist/Turnover). We've got a few other things to discuss about todays game as well, such as how Serge Ibaka did in his first outing with a sizable amount of playing time, and how did Jeff Green respond after his poor performance on Wednesday. So go ahead and click that little "continue reading" link below and find out.

So we teased about Serge Ibaka before the jump, and we'll get to him, but if you read our game preview this morning, you know I was more than curious to see how Jeff Green would respond to the poor performance on Wednesday. Offensively, it looks like he continued to struggle shooting the ball, knocking down just 7 of 18 shots from the field, and hitting only 1 of his 5 three point attempts. He also turned the ball over 4 times, but to his credit, he did nab 9 boards, and 2 steals. If you take a look at all of that in a snapshot, and I can only guess, since I didn't see the game, but it really looks like he was hussling and trying to make things happen today. Perhaps pushing a little too much on the offensive end trying to force shots. But on the defensive end, that hussle translated into rebounds, 9 in total, to go along with two steals. It really looks like the passion and the want to make things happen was there today, but the shots weren't falling, and I'm willing to bet he was pressing a bit offensively. Overall, it was an improvement, but offensively, still leaves a lot to be desired.

As for Serge Ibaka, he took a big first step today towards not only making this team, but towards becoming a regular contributing member of this team. Scott Brooks gave Serge 26 minutes of playing time, and in those minutes, he scored 12 points, on 6-10 shooting, nabbed 9 boards, 4 of which were on the offensive end, and also blocked 2 shots. All in all, a pretty productive and positive performance for Ibaka, who if he can continue to produce like this, while minimizing his mistakes (which at least on the statline, didn't appear to be any today), he'll not only make this team, but earn more and more minutes in the rotation. I'm hoping Brooks continues to give him these kinds of minutes as the pre-season continues and see if he can't keep up this strong play, or even improve upon it. Perhaps he's further ahead in his developement than any of us expected, which is a tremendously good thing.

Offensively tonight, as you can tell by the 79 point total up there, the Thunder struggled shooting. As I mentioned above, Jeff Green shot 7-18, Kevin Durant shot just 2-11 and scored 7 of his 11 total points from the free throw line, which is nice, but you'd like KD to score more than 4 points from the field, especially in 28 minutes of playing time. Kyle Weaver was another guy who had a dreadfull shooting night, making just 1 of his 7 shots, and finishing with just 4 points in 24 minutes. He'll need stronger performances than that if he plans on seeing any sort of adequate playing time during the season with RW0, Shaun Livingston, James Harden, and Thabo Sefolosha all ahead of him either guard position depth chart. He might even find himself designated for assignment in Tulsa, just to get him playing time, if he doesn't significantly improve before the regular season begins. Kevin Ollie and BJ Mullens also recieved quite a bit of playing time, but their statlines were both rather unimpressive. As a team, the Thunder shot 37% from the field and were outrebounded 36-50, and as we all know, you aren't going to win too many ballgames by shooting that badly and getting your ass handed to you on the boards.

Oklahoma City Thunder at New Orleans Hornets OPEN THREAD

Mr Pappagiorgio — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:54:26 -0000

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

Oklahoma City Thunder Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Ryan Bowen	40	F	11.20.75	218	6-9	Iowa
Nick Collison	4	C	10.26.80	255	6-10	Kansas
Kevin Durant	35	F	9.29.88	215	6-9	Texas
Jeff Green	22	F	8.28.86	235	6-9	Georgetown
James Harden	13	G	8.26.87	220	6-5	Arizona State
Mike Harris	-	F	6.15.83	240	6-6	Rice
Serge Ibaka	9	F	9.18.89	220	6-10	None
Tre Kelley	6	G	1.23.85	188	6-0	South Carolina
Nenad Krstic	12	C	7.25.83	240	7-0	None
Shaun Livingston	14	G	9.11.85	185	6-7	Peoria Central HS
Byron Mullens	23	C	2.14.89	260	7-1	Ohio State
Kevin Ollie	7	G	12.27.72	195	6-2	Connecticut
Malik Rose	9	F	11.23.74	255	6-7	Drexel
Michael Ruffin	51	F	1.21.77	248	6-8	Tulsa
Thabo Sefolosha	2	G	5.2.84	215	6-7	None
Etan Thomas	36	C	4.1.78	260	6-10	Syracuse
Kyle Weaver	5	G	2.18.86	201	6-6	Washington State
Russell Westbrook	-	G	11.12.88	187	6-3	U-C-L-A
D.J. White	3	F	8.31.86	251	6-9	Indiana

New Orleans Hornets Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Hilton Armstrong	12	C	11.11.84	235	6-11	Connecticut
Earl Barron	55	C	8.14.81	268	7-0	Memphis
Bobby Brown	6	G	9.24.84	175	6-2	Cal State Fullerton
Devin Brown	23	G	12.30.78	210	6-5	Texas-San Antonio
Darren Collison	2	G	8.23.87	160	6-0	U-C-L-A
Ike Diogu	1	F	9.11.83	250	6-9	Arizona State
Sean Marks	4	C	8.23.75	250	6-10	California
Emeka Okafor	50	C	9.28.82	255	6-10	Connecticut
Larry Owens	25	F	1.8.83	210	6-7	Oral Roberts
Chris Paul	3	G	5.6.85	175	6-0	Wake Forest
Morris Peterson	9	G	8.26.77	220	6-7	Michigan State
James Posey	41	F	1.13.77	217	6-8	Xavier
Darius Songaila	9	F	2.14.78	248	6-9	Wake Forest
Peja Stojakovic	16	F	6.9.77	229	6-10	None
Marcus Thornton	5	G	6.5.87	205	6-4	L-S-U
David West	30	F	8.29.80	240	6-9	Xavier
Julian Wright	32	F	5.20.87	225	6-8	Kansas

Thunder Gameday: Oklahoma City Thunder at New Orleans Hornets

Mr Pappagiorgio — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 12:44:32 -0000

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.

The first thing I'm looking for in today's game is Russell Westbrook, and whether that 10 assist effort the other night was a fluke, or if he's improved his style of play so much this off-season that he's already going to be one of the leagues better point guards this season. He took just 4 shots, and racked up assist after assist to go along with 4 rebounds and only turned the ball over twice. Sure, we're used to RW0 racking up at least double digits in points, but with the addition of James Harden to the mix, perhaps that pressure for him to score upwards of 20 points per game is being lessened, significantly. If that's the case, imagine how many double doubles the kid is going to have this season, seriously! If he can keep up distributing the ball like this he'll be pushing the double digit assist mark all season, and I think we can pretty much bet that he'll be at least double digit in score on a nightly basis as well, and that's not even mentioning his rebounding which can sometimes pop up there into double digits as well.

The next thing I'm looking for is Jeff Green, and a much a improved outing for him. In Wednesdays game he had probably his work game, at least statwise that I can ever really remember seeing from him. Again, its hard to know what else he was doing on the court just from listening to the game, but, in 26 minutes of play, he managed just 6 points on 3-10 shooting to go with only 2 rebounds and 2 steals. This is not the Uncle Jeff we know and love, and this is not the guy we expect to see on a nightly basis this coming season. So it'll be interesting to see how he responds today and what kind of game he has. I'm banking on a 16-20 point performance with 5-7 boards today for Jeff Green. Let's see if he can do it.

Thirdly, is that even a word? I guess so since spell-check didn't change it, anyway, we're going with it. Thirdly, I want to see more of the young guys, Serge Ibaka, James Harden, D.J. White, and Kyle Weaver. I want to see what Ibaka can do with 20-30 minutes if he was able to score 4 points (2-2 shooting) and grab 2 rebounds in just 4 minutes of playing time. I want to see if D.J. White can continue to perform at such a high level in back to back games, and against good competition. Perhaps throw DJ out there early in the first quarter to get him some time against Nola's starters and see what he can do. Of course to do that, you'd likely have to cut into Jeff Greens time early, but hey its pre-season, why not start D.J. and throw Green out there late in the first and let him work the remainder of the 1st and most of the 2nd before bringing D.J. back in with the rest of the starters to clean up the end of the half? Look at me trying to be coach here. Anyway, I'm just intrigued by the way D.J. played on Wednesday and want to see what the kid can really do, as I'm sure Uncle Jeff's performance was just a fluke, we all know what he's capable of.

Finally, I'm just interested to see what Brooks plans on doing today. Is he going to give starters 25 minutes of playing time again? Is he gonna play with the rotations more? Work some of the young guys in with the starters to see how they will work with our premier players and against better competition? What's he gonna do? How is he going to continue to get this team prepped for the season opener which is already less than 3 weeks away! Can you believe that? just 18 more days until live regular season Thunder basketball! Man I'm excited, so turn that radio (come on guys, its the Hornets!) on at 1pm today and Thunder UP!

Oklahoma City Thunder Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Ryan Bowen	40	F	11.20.75	218	6-9	Iowa
Nick Collison	4	C	10.26.80	255	6-10	Kansas
Kevin Durant	35	F	9.29.88	215	6-9	Texas
Jeff Green	22	F	8.28.86	235	6-9	Georgetown
James Harden	13	G	8.26.87	220	6-5	Arizona State
Mike Harris	-	F	6.15.83	240	6-6	Rice
Serge Ibaka	9	F	9.18.89	220	6-10	None
Tre Kelley	6	G	1.23.85	188	6-0	South Carolina
Nenad Krstic	12	C	7.25.83	240	7-0	None
Shaun Livingston	14	G	9.11.85	185	6-7	Peoria Central HS
Byron Mullens	23	C	2.14.89	260	7-1	Ohio State
Kevin Ollie	7	G	12.27.72	195	6-2	Connecticut
Malik Rose	9	F	11.23.74	255	6-7	Drexel
Michael Ruffin	51	F	1.21.77	248	6-8	Tulsa
Thabo Sefolosha	2	G	5.2.84	215	6-7	None
Etan Thomas	36	C	4.1.78	260	6-10	Syracuse
Kyle Weaver	5	G	2.18.86	201	6-6	Washington State
Russell Westbrook	-	G	11.12.88	187	6-3	U-C-L-A
D.J. White	3	F	8.31.86	251	6-9	Indiana

New Orleans Hornets Roster

	#	Pos.	DOB	W	H	College
Hilton Armstrong	12	C	11.11.84	235	6-11	Connecticut
Earl Barron	55	C	8.14.81	268	7-0	Memphis
Bobby Brown	6	G	9.24.84	175	6-2	Cal State Fullerton
Devin Brown	23	G	12.30.78	210	6-5	Texas-San Antonio
Darren Collison	2	G	8.23.87	160	6-0	U-C-L-A
Ike Diogu	1	F	9.11.83	250	6-9	Arizona State
Sean Marks	4	C	8.23.75	250	6-10	California
Emeka Okafor	50	C	9.28.82	255	6-10	Connecticut
Larry Owens	25	F	1.8.83	210	6-7	Oral Roberts
Chris Paul	3	G	5.6.85	175	6-0	Wake Forest
Morris Peterson	9	G	8.26.77	220	6-7	Michigan State
James Posey	41	F	1.13.77	217	6-8	Xavier
Darius Songaila	9	F	2.14.78	248	6-9	Wake Forest
Peja Stojakovic	16	F	6.9.77	229	6-10	None
Marcus Thornton	5	G	6.5.87	205	6-4	L-S-U
David West	30	F	8.29.80	240	6-9	Xavier
Julian Wright	32	F	5.20.87	225	6-8	Kansas