Oklahoma Thunderballs

Oklahoma has seen its fair share of horrible weather related events in the past and the past two days are no exception. People have lost homes, and in some cases, loved ones. As I'm writing this, I'm glued to the TV as the current storm is being compared to May 3 of 1999. If that turns out to be true, many people will need as much help as they can get. For those of you in Moore and south Oklahoma City, please be safe and know that we're thinking of you. The situation is ongoing, so, again, please be safe. Sorry for brevity, but this is a "if you're not below ground you will not survive" storm and I've got my get-the-hell-out bag packed just in case. From The Oklahoman: The American Red Cross continues to respond to the areas impacted by Sunday tornadoes, according to a news release Monday morning. Officials report at least 310 structures were damaged or destroyed in Oklahoma. Most of the tornado damage Sunday was in Pottawatomie County. The Red Cross of Oklahoma's Twitter feed has the pertinent information if you want to help, or you can call 1-800-RED-CROSS: Best way to help tornado victims is to donate to the Red Cross at redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999. #okwx — Red Cross Oklahoma (@redcrossokc) May 20, 2013 Also, here's a link from the City of Oklahoma City that should be included w/ general information on tornado safety. The University of Oklahoma is opening up spaces in Housing for displaced families (405) 325-2511. For blood donations, http://obi.org/donor-centers/. The destruction is growing, so if you're local, do what you need to do to be safe. If you're watching the events unfold, consider donating to the Red Cross so that peoples' lives will be able to be restored. It's just... gone RT @stormyweather25 @mikefranciswx Moore Oklahoma is flattened..... twitter.com/MikeFrancisWX/… — Colin Schultz (@_ColinS_) May 20, 2013

Jonathan Tjarks of Real GM says fire Scott Brooks: “Replacing Brooks after a 60-win regular season might seem rash and unfair, but it would hardly be unprecedented. The Pistons fired Rick Carlisle in 2003, the Bulls let go of Doug Collins in 1989 and the Lakers removed Paul Westhead in 1982. For a coach, growing a young team takes a different skill-set than getting a team through the playoff gauntlet. Sometimes, a front office has to take a PR hit for the long-term good of the franchise. The Thunder made a business decision and parted ways with Harden nine months ago. Now, they need to be just as cold-blooded with Brooks.” Berry Tramel: “Meet the new sixth man of Thunderland. Fellow by the name of Jackson. Reggie Jackson. Meet your new sharpshooter off the bench, Boomtown. Lamb. Jeremy Lamb. Remember when Sam Presti made all those deals, some in Seattle, some in OKC, to clear galaxies of payroll space for some future day when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green and James Harden and Serge Ibaka would come of age? That day has come.” Darnell Mayberry: “Successful regular season. Five days after trading James Harden, the Thunder embarked on a regular season that ended with the franchise earning its third straight Northwest Division crown, its first 60-win campaign in the OKC era and the top seed in the Western Conference. Add to that, individual improvements were made from nearly everyone on the roster. You can’t ask for any more than what the Thunder did in the regular season. As for the postseason, all bets were off once Russell Westbrook went down.” Best and worst of the season. David Thorpe ranks KD fifth for postseason MVP: “It’s easy to say that Durant missed Westbrook. What player wouldn’t miss All-NBA production at point guard? But without Westbrook, the team also lacked fire, passion, purpose and someone who could always generate a fast-paced game. The Thunder were ultracompetitive in every loss (except Game 5), thanks to Durant’s heroics. But Durant’s “ice” was not as effective without Westbrook’s “fire.” Still, OKC won 60 games in the regular season and played Memphis incredibly tight without its star guard — great signs that the Thunder will be very strong again next season. However, Durant must learn to take the final step from astounding talent to someone capable of making all the right plays to help his team win a title if he wants to approach LeBron’s claim as the world’s best player.” Anthony Slater says Russell Westbrook is a 2o12-13 season winner: “Anyone doubting Westbrook’s importance to the Thunder’s success any more? *Crickets*. Over the past couple seasons, as a talented scoring machine who never seems to tire, Westbrook made a strong push toward etching his name among the league’s elite. But, ironically, his sudden absence from the court, for the first time since grade school, may have strengthened that case. He’s a top-10, likely top-5 talent and one of the NBA’s most indispensable players. You can use this past month as evidence.” Kevin Pelton of ESPN.com on Seattle: “There was a small victory for Seattle basketball fans (including me) Wednesday night. The town’s resident NBA team, whatever opponent is playing the Oklahoma City Thunder (in this case the Memphis Grizzlies), knocked the Thunder out of the playoffs. But that was barely consolation for the day’s crushing news. When the NBA’s Board of Governors voted down the proposal by a group of local businessmen to buy the Sacramento Kings and move them to Seattle as the Sonics, it ensured Seattle will be without NBA basketball for at least a sixth season — with no guarantees that will change any time soon.”

The Oklahoma City Thunder watched their season go down like a sinking ship this week, as the hungry and tenacious Memphis Grizzlies put an end to it all by winning the decisive Game 5 on the Thunder's home court. This ending was not what we Thunder fans had in mind after watching Kevin Durant walk off the Miami court last year and fall into the arms of his parents, weeping unashamed. Even if that teary ending was not what we hoped for, at least it made sense. These playoffs though, they did not make sense. Instead of peace, we're only left with frustration and a longing for what could have been but never shall be. To break it all down, we return to Eleanor Roosevelt one final time to set up the framework. "Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people." - Eleanor Roosevelt We at WTLC shall endeavor to conquer all three and in the process hope to be made hole again as we hope the team will be in time. I. THE PEOPLE From OKC Kevin Durant: Durant, more than any other player, was profoundly effected by the loss of Russell Westbrook. It was upon him now to not only score the bulk of points, but to run the offense, set up his teammates, play 45 minutes a game, and defend the likes of Tayshaun Prince Marc Gasol. In other words, Durant was expected to play the LeBron James role on both ends of the court for the first time in his career. To Durant's benefit, his downside risk was limited, but the upside opportunity to carve out a legacy was profound. Reggie Jackson: Jackson was charged with filling the Westbrook role full time heading into Memphis. Precariously, we all wondered how he would stand up to the intense Grizzlies defensive pressure. They are the best at forcing the other team into high turnover games, and for a player who was used to playing only 18 minutes a game against the 2nd unit of other teams, he was about to experience something entirely new. They don't play defense like this at Virginia Tech. Scott Brooks: Brooks suffered a very shaky opening round as the Thunder took a few games to adjust to the lack of Westbrook. Actually, check that. They once again did not know how to deal with a smallball line-up. Brooks' match-ups were plagued by two Rockets bench guys and a 2nd round draft pick that seems to morph into Scottie Pippen every time the Thunder play the Rockets. While the Grizz are a little bit more of a classic match-up of bigs and guards, Brooks still needed to do a better job at recognizing and exploiting places in the game during a series where offense would be at a premium. Russell Westbrook: This series was also a referendum on a guy who would not even be playing. If the Thunder won, questions about Westbrook's value to the team would loom large. If they lost, his value would be recognized, but only at the expense of his tight-knit team. In any event, the only sign we'd see of the HAM Badger would be sitting in a box seat with his leg in a cast. From Memphis Zach Randolph: Every time I watch Z-Bo, I think about a bare-knuckled brawler from the 1920's. If you watch him play in the post, whether he's backing a guy down or facing him up by sticking his melon inside some poor bloke's chest, he's exercising a game of subtle variations. It is only pretty if you consider a boxer's body blows or an MMA fighter's inside holds pretty. How would the Thunder deal with him? Marc Gasol: Gasol, the newly minted Defensive Player of the Year, is a guy whose art is also in his subtlety. Unlike Randolph, his sense is in how to act as the conductor. To be sure his own offensive and defensive talents are considerable, but as guys like Zach Lowe has written ad nauseum, Gasol possesses a certain Bill Walton-like sense for the flow of the game. He could play with just about anyone, and make anyone play better. Mike Conley: The biggest reason why I'm a Conley fan is because when he came into the league (#4 pick a year before Westbrook) he was about as limited as Reggie Jackson.

As the Oklahoma City Thunder fans filtered out of the Chesapeake arena Wednesday night, the time to reflect on the past season was suddenly here. As the season’s stories start to fade, a new chapter in Thunder basketball ball has begun, and impending concerns come into focus. No approaching issue is more pressing than the expiring contract of shooting guard Kevin Martin. Oklahoma City acquired Martin and his expiring contract in the preseason trade involving James Harden. After negotiations broke down and the need to avoid substantial luxury tax penalties became the predominant concern, the Thunder struck a deal with the Houston Rockets, exchanging James Harden, Daequan Cook, Cole Aldrich, and Lazar Hayward for Kevin Martin, rookie Jeremy Lamb, and two first-round draft picks. Martin received $12.9 million during the 2012-13 season, and now at the season’s end, he will be an unrestricted free agent. Martin expressed his desire to remain in Oklahoma City, praising his teammates and the fans, but understanding the complications of the Thunder's financial situation. He stated that he will see what free agency brings. Free agency could bring offers around $8 - $9 million. An earlier published article ranking the value of upcoming free agents valued Martin at $5.5 million. Oklahoma City may not be able to match any of those offers. To continue with Oklahoma City, Kevin Martin would possibly have to take a 75% pay cut. Here is the sad truth facing Oklahoma City. A little more than $66 million is already committed to 10 players for next season. That figure doesn’t include: Kevin Martin, DeAndre Liggins, Daniel Orton, Derek Fisher, or Ronnie Brewer. Last season’s luxury tax ceiling was around $70 million. If that holds true for this next season, there will not be much of a gap. If the Thunder is looking to add a couple of players during the draft, all five of those players without a contract could be lost. The Thunder reached a franchise high of 60 wins this season. Martin was a big part of that success, averaging 14 points per game during the regular season. Oklahoma City’s General Manager, Sam Presti, expressed satisfaction in Kevin Martin’s performance and said that the Thunder would love to keep him. The feeling is mutual. Martin called this past season a, "What if" season, referring to Westbrook's injury. How did Martin ultimately feel about his first season in a Thunder jersey? "It ended too soon. That’s what I’ll say about the whole experience." Martin said in his exit interview. "From the outside looking in, I knew it was a great place, but when I was traded here, it turned out to be a special place." Time will tell if Martin wants to continue to play in a place that we all know is special and at what price.

dailythunder.com You’ll never believe this, but in Sam Presti’s final season media availability the biggest topic of conversation centered around Kendrick Perkins. And if I understood Presti right through his fancy words, lofty sentence structure and winding explanations, it doesn’t sound like the Thunder are considering using the amnesty clause on Perk. “Obviously I know that’s a topic that’s been talked about, and for us, the amnesty application is not something we really have ever considered as an organization,” Presti said. “I understand that it’s something that’s been talked about quite a bit, but organizationally that’s not something we’ve considered. “We just haven’t considered using the provision,” he said. “I wouldn’t necessarily attribute that to any player on our team. Every team looks at the amnesty provision different depending on their circumstances, but it’s not really something that we’ve explored.” Now, does that mean to this point they haven’t ever thought about using the amnesty? Or does it mean that philosophically as a franchise, they haven’t ever thought about using the amnesty? I suppose that’s still up for interpretation. I took Presti’s comments to say that unless circumstances change, specifically in the Thunder’s salary structure, meaning either getting under the cap or over the tax, they aren’t using the amnesty. Which makes sense, which is how this organization operates. I’ve already seen some using the anti-amnesty talk to somehow illustrate how Clay Bennett and the Thunder’s ownership group are “cheap.” To amnesty Perk means the Thunder would have to pay out his salary, making up the difference of any new contract he gets, meaning the Thunder would be writing a likely check in the $12-15 million range while still having to sign, and pay, a replacement. OKC’s ownership and front office aren’t “cheap.” They’re realists. They understand the circumstance of a small market team in the NBA and the challenges that presents. Throw money at every problem and what you do is damage the overall health and well-being of the organization. It hurts the opportunity to maybe sign a free agent later, or broker a trade, or re-sign Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook in years to come. It’s not just about the present money. It’s about the future as well. Some get sick of Presti’s company line of “sustained success” because they want titles and banners and rings and trophies NOW. Trust me, the Thunder want those things too. But they also want to be in a position to compete for them as well next season, and the season after that and 10 more seasons after that. If you don’t like the philosophy of attempting to sustain success over a long period of time in a small market by making every transaction and move with an eye on the future as well as the present, pick a new team to root for. Be a Lakers fan, or a Heat fan. This is the situation the Thunder are in, and this is how they operate. You should really be used to it and understand it by now. And just some evidence against the Thunder’s ownership being “cheap” — the attempted to re-sign James Harden. He said no to a four-year, $55 million extension that would’ve placed the Thunder deep into luxury tax territory. Currently, the Thunder are over the cap and flirting with the tax. They have two max players, and a third guy making nearly $50 million over four years. Would cheap owners do that? What shaped the Thunder’s postseason, and their subsequent failure — and I can’t believe I have to keep repeating this — was the injury to Russell Westbrook. Everything, and I mean everything, is different with a healthy Westbrook. Not just in what likely would’ve happened on the floor

Presti Proud of Thunder’s 2012-13 Season

The Thunder are sadly out of the playoffs, but like Kevin Durant's commercial says, basketball never stops. We have some great gear that we're going to be giving away over the next few weeks as the playoffs continue, so stay tuned as we look to put some great prizes in your hands. CONTEST #1 PREDICT THE FINAL SCORE OF WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS GAME #1 In the comments below, guess what you think the final score will be between the Spurs and Grizzlies in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. The game starts at 2:30CDT tomorrow, May 19th. The person who guesses the closest will receive a copy of: Let's see those predictions!

Good Saturday. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. 160 days. That Russell Westbrook, he’s pretty good. Here are his top 10 plays of the 2012-13 season. My five favorite things about them: 1. That strut after the dunk against Charlotte. 2. Him leaving Ibaka hanging on a high-five and instead choosing to flex after the dunk against the Warriors. 3. The dunk against Dallas in general, because he goes with one hand, gathers it, and then crushes the rim. 4. On the behind-the-back-crossover play against the Mavs, the person that goes “WOOOOOOOO!” right as he starts making the move. 5. The look after the long snap to Martin for a dunk. Russ is like, “Yeah, I know.”

Scott Halleran/NBAE/Getty Images Most interesting thing from today: Reggie Jackson said he was up until 3 a.m. last night dribbling a basketball. Said it’s something he always does. It was kind of his jumping off point to talk about how much he loves the game and how much he’s always looking to improve. Jackson said he hopes to be part of OKC’s summer league team, because he’s itching to play. Jackson has quickly become one of the more exciting and intriguing things about this Thunder team. His emergence in place of Russell Westbrook was incredibly impressive as he showed real signs and potential of blossoming into the Thunder’s bench stud of the future. The question is if Scott Brooks is willing to free his mind and not think of Jackson as exclusively a point guard. Jackson is a great combo player and needs to play alongside Russell Westbrook. And in a lot of ways, he needs to be the Thunder’s new sixth man. “If that’s the number that’s called, I’m doing my best to be ready for whatever situation I’m thrown into next year,” Jackson said. It was obvious in the postseason how good Jackson already is, and how good he can still be. He’s the type of player that can get to the rim almost at will, and he’s a splendid finisher. Where he needs to improve is with his jumper, specifically in the pull-up game. If that comes, along with a little playmaking, the Thunder have a serious bench piece and a potential secret weapon to use next to Westbrook. For now, Jackson isn’t focused on any of that. He’s not thinking about role or playing time. He said he still feels like he should be getting ready to play Game 6 tonight, but as he transitions into the summer and starts focusing on improving his game, you can be sure he’s going to tirelessly work at it. And because of it, he’s given Thunder fans something else to be really excited about. “I’m ready to flash forward to camp right now,” he said. Me too, Reggie. Me too. The rest of the exit interviews: REGGIE JACKSON HASHEEM THABEET JEREMY LAMB DANIEL ORTON RONNIE BREWER PERRY JONES III DEANDRE LIGGINS SERGE IBAKA

The Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2nd round of the 2013 NBA Playoffs, 4-1. In a series that was hair-splittingly close until it wasn't, we are left to enter the long off-season with a series of what-if's on our minds. Before we get to those questions, we take a final look at how each player performed in these 5 grit-grind-games. Individual Game Grades Game 1, Game 2, Game 3, Game 4, Game 5 Rockets Round 1 Series Grades *** (All statistics are series averages) KEVIN DURANT 28.8 PPG, 10.4 REB, 6.6 AST, 1.2 ST, 1.2 BL, 4.4 TO Grade Comments Zorgon I've said my piece about Durant in another article, and it pretty much echoes what J.A. say below. Kevin Durant blew a lot of opportunities in the fourth quarter after some amazing games because he was asked to do too much. Still, he did the best job that he could. However, this series did do an effective job of proving that Kevin Durant would make an excellent point guard. His court vision is almost as good as James Harden's, and his ballhandling and passing have definitely improved over the years. So I'll give him a B+ for showing off new skills, but I can't go any higher than that because of his bad clutch performance. Is this unfair? Totally. Sherman It is all but impossible to give Kevin Durant any sort of meaningful grade for this series. If you look at his game-by-game statistics, you see a steady decline in efficiency and production. After game 1, an ending that featured Durant hitting a dagger and reminding everyone how great he can be, the wear and tear of dealing with a Grizzly defense that was exclusively designed to shut down KD and no other for upwards of 45 minutes a game (including all 48 in Game 5) took its toll. Durant may not have played great in games 2-5, but I honestly don't know how he could have played any better. REGGIE JACKSON 13.8 PPG, 6.2 REB, 3.8 AST, 0.4 ST, 0.4 BL, 1.8 TO Grade Comments Zorgon C+ Reggie Jackson didn't exactly have a break out performance in this series. He's shown us all that he's an effective combo guard that's adept at creating his own shot within the mid-range, which is something that we already knew. But I can't help feeling like he didn't take enough of a role handling the ball in this series. Not being able to knock down threes or guard Mike Conley is forgiveable, but he really needed to take a bigger role with the offense and setting up other players. It would have given KD more time to relax, given the Thunder better shots, and gotten him away from that cursed three point line. He's an effective player and I look forward to seeing what he has next season, but as for now, I feel like he could have been so much more. Sherman For Reggie Jackson, this series will be remembered for two reasons: 1) he made us forget about Eric Maynor forever; and 2) he may have just written his ticket right out of OKC because there's little chance he's going to spend his career as a backup. Jackson's game is still by and large limited to drives to the rim and 10 foot jump shots, but he proved throughout the series that he is now very comfortable attacking a top-flight defense. While he did make some potentially costly mistakes (fouling the 3-point shooter at the end of Game 1), Jackson never made those mistakes a habit, but improved as the series went along. Next year, put him in the backcourt along side Westbrook and you've got a scary looking duo that can attack on both offense and defense. SERGE IBAKA 12.6 PPG, 8.4 REB, 0.4 AST, 3.2 BL, 0.8 TO Grade Comments Zorgon I'm neither here nor there on Serge Ibaka. For a while, it looked like he was going to have a really terrible series, missing the routine mid-range jumpers that he so often makes. But he recovered to his normal mode of production, and did a hell of a job on defense. I know a lot of us were expecting more from him, but the harsh reality is that Serge I