Oklahoma City Thunder: What if it’s Denver?
The Thunder is expected to play the Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals. But what if it’s Denver instead? The Lakers lead the best-of-seven series three games to two, with Game 6 Thursday night in Denver. We’ve all speculated on a Thunder-Laker series. We haven’t spent much time on the Nuggets, who are a fascinating team.
The Nuggets have undergone their second remake in 15 months. We saw Denver up close last April, when the Thunder eliminated the Nuggets in the first round of the 2012 Western Conference playoffs. That Denver team persevered despite the trade of superstar Carmelo Anthony to the Knickerbockers. But Denver has retooled again.
Here’s how crazy the Nugget turnover has been. Anthony was traded on Feb. 21, 2011. That’s less than 15 months. And only four Nuggets remain from the Denver roster of Feb. 20, 2011: Arron Afflalo, the Birdman, Al Harrington and Ty Lawson. And Birdman no longer is in the rotation. So Denver is using just three players who were on the team before the Carmelo trade.
That’s wild. So many of the Nuggets who were part of that spirited series against the Thunder — Raymond Felton, Nene Hilario, J.R. Smith, Kenyon Martin, Wilson Chandler — are gone. The Nuggets since then have added Andre Miller and JaVale McGee and Kenneth Faried and Corey Brewer.
Compare that roster stability to the Thunder, which has six of its top seven players — Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Serge Ibaka, Thabo Sefolosha and Nick Collison — the same as November 2009. Only Kendrick Perkins is new to the equation. Derek Fisher would be the No. 8 player, and he’s on the roster only because of the injury to Eric Maynor.
How would the Thunder fare against Denver? The Thunder finished nine games ahead of the Nuggets in the Northwest Division. OKC won two of three vs. the Nuggets:
* 124-118 in overtime on Feb. 19 in that epic Oklahoma City game in which Durant had 51 points, Westbrook 40 and Ibaka posted a triple double;
* 103-90 at Denver on March 15, void of much drama other than the Thunder played solid.
In the Thunder’s regular-season finale, on April 25, the Nuggets won 106-101, and while the Thunder played all-out and didn’t significantly rest its starters, the game had the feel of an exhibition. Had the Thunder won that game, and Dallas won its season finale at Atlanta, the Thunder and Nuggets would have played in the first round.
The Lakers are a good matchup for the Thunder, even though Kendrick Perkins’ hip injury would make things a little hairy for OKC. But the Nuggets are an even better matchup for the Thunder. Denver can run, but the Thunder handles transition well when it’s focused, which the Thunder almost always is in the post-season. Denver has no clear answer for Durant or Westbrook, while the Thunder has some defensive answers for the Nuggets’ best weapons — Thabo or Westbrook on Lawson, Durant on Gallinari.
The Thunder should do well if it happens to play Denver. Just don’t expect the same Denver team you saw last spring.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Playoff leaders
The NBA playoffs near the end of the first-round series, and here are the statistical leaders in the post-season so far:
Scoring: 1. Kobe Bryant 31.2; 2. LeBron James 27.5; 3. Dirk Nowitzki 26.8; 4. Kevin Durant 26.5; 5. Carmelo Anthony 26.0; 6. Chris Paul 23.5; 7. Russell Westbrook 22.3; 8. Paul Pierce 21.8; 9. Rudy Gay 21.8; 10. Blake Griffin & Dwyane Wade 21.5; 16. James Harden 18.3.
Can you believe Paul is sixth in scoring? CP3 is having a heck of a series against Memphis. Of the top 11 scorers, only Griffin is shooting better than 50 percent (56.9). Durant is shooting 45.5 percent. LeBron is shooting 48.6 percent. Kobe 42.9.
Rebounding: 1. Josh Smith 14.8; 2. Paul Millsap 11.0; 3. Roy Hibbert 10.8; 4. Andrew Bynum 10.4; 5. Kenneth Faried & Kevin Garnett 9.8; 7. JaVale McGee & David West 9.6; 9. Derrick Favors 9.5; 10. Carlos Boozer & Glen Davis 9.2; 22. Kevin Durant 7.5; 27. Serge Ibaka 6.8; 34. Kendrick Perkins 6.3.
Josh Smith is a heck of a player. Can’t make foul shots worth beans, but he scores and he rebounds and he defends. Smith threw away that inbounds pass that Rajon Rondo stole in the final 10 seconds Tuesday night, but did you see the defense Smith played on Rondo going upcourt? Refused to let him get in the middle of the court, making the double-team easier. Rondo never got off a shot or a decent pass.
The Thunder doesn’t have one of the top 21 rebounders in these playoffs, but one reason is the Thunder spreads the wealth. The Thunder starts four solid rebounders — Durant, Ibaka, Perkins and Westbrook.
Assists: 1. Rajon Rondo 12.8; 2. Chris Paul 8.8; 3. Mike Conley 7.5; Jameer Nelson 6.6; 5. Tony Parker 6.5; 6. Andre Miller 6.4; 7. Jason Kidd & Ty Lawson 6.0; 9. LeBron James 5.3; 10. Jrue Holliday 4.8; 18. James Harden & Russell Westbrook 4.3; 23. Kevin Durant 3.8.
What a ballplayer is Rondo. Averaging four assists more than anyone else in these playoffs. Averaging more assists per game than Westbrook, Harden and Durant combined.
Blocked shots: 1. Roy Hibbert 3.8; 2. Andrew Bynum 3.6; 3. Serge Ibaka 3.3; 4. JaVale McGee 3.2; 5. Elton Brand 2.6; 6. DeAndre Jordan & Paul Millsap 2.5; 8. Pau Gasol 2.4; 9. Marc Gasol & Kenyon Martin 2.0. 11. Kevin Durant 1.8.
Big upset — Ibaka does not lead the playoffs in blocks. Of course, it’s tough to block shots against Dallas. Not that many Mavs drive the ball, Dallas has little low-post game and the one guy that does have a low-post game, Dirk Nowitzki, shoots the ball straight up, it seems.
Steals: 1. Rajon Rondo 4.0; 2. Jason Kidd & Dwyane Wade 3.0; 4. James Harden & Chris Paul 2.5; 6. LeBron James & Russell Westbrook 2.3; 8. Andre Iguodala 2.0; 9. Mario Chambers & Blake Griffin 1.8;
Griffin is in the top 10? What’s that all about? And how about Kidd, 39 years old and still a cat burglar? Harden and Westbrook are getting better on defense, let me tell you.
Three-point shooting: 1. Derek Fisher .625; 2. Mike Conley & Nick Young .615; 4. Steve Novak .571; 5. Keyon Dooling & Gary Neal .556; 7. Stephen Jackson .533; 8. Matt Bonner, Jason Terry, Delonte West & Thabo Sefolosha .500; 13. James Harden .462; 35. Kevin Durant .346.
That’s right. Derek Fisher is the hottest 3-point shooter in the playoffs, having made five of eight. You’d think the Thunder would rank near the top in team 3-point shooting for these playoffs, but OKC is just fifth out of the 16 teams, shooting 38.1 percent.
Free-throw percentage: 1. Brandon Bass & Gordan Hayward 1.000; 3. Kevin Garnett .933; 4. Danilo Gallinari & Chris Paul .917; 6. Dirk Nowitzki .905; 7. Jason Kidd & Shawn Marion .900; 9. Jeff Teague .895; 10. O.J. Mayo .882; 11. James Harden .871; 21. Kevin Durant .818; 24. Russell Westbrook .810.
No surprise, the Thunder leads all teams in foul shooting — .844. Dallas is next at .832. Some teams just can’t consistently make foul shots; the Bulls are .622 and the Clippers .640.
Field-goal percentage: 1. Joakim Noah .731; 2. Serge Ibaka .645; 3. Andrew Bynum .603; 4. Blake Griffin .569; 5. Amar’e Stoudemire .552; 6. Spencer Hawes .548; 7. Dwyane Wade .545; 8. Darren Collison .543; 9. Roy Hibbert .535; 10. Al Jefferson .529; 13. James Harden .500; 25. Kevin Durant .455; 27. Russell Westbrook .453.
The Thunder needs to get Ibaka more shots; he’s had 31 in four playoff games. I’d like to see that move up to about 10 per game. Get him 10 shots per game, and his percentage won’t suffer; he’ll still shoot over 60 percent. That’s an extra 5-6 points a game. That will come in handy the deeper into the playoffs the Thunder goes.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Chaos eligible for all OKC-LA games
It’s official. Metta World Chaos won’t be barred from any potential Thunder-Laker playoff game. The Lakers took care of that Tuesday night, losing 102-99 to Denver in Game 5 of their Western Conference playoff series. With only one game left to serve in his suspension for elbowing the Thunder’s James Harden in the final week of the NBA regular season, Chaos will either return for Game 7 of the Nuggets-Lakers, Game 1 of Thunder-Lakers or the regular season opener next November.
Laker coach Mike Brown laughed at the notion his team lost to the Nuggets on Tuesday in order to get Chaos back for the Thunder series. The Lakers could use some rest for Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum as much as they could use Chaos.
But the verdict Tuesday night does mean Chaos will be available to chase Kevin Durant in Game 1, provided the Lakers don’t squander a three games-to-two advantage over Denver. How important is that? Well, it’s big. Chaos is a quality defender, one of the best-suited for Durant. Second-year pro Devin Ebanks has been starting in Chaos’ stead, and though he did a decent job on Durant in the second half after Chaos was tossed from the game 21/2 weeks ago, Chaos is the much better option.
The Lakers’ aura seems to present a tough challenge for the Thunder. But I don’t know. Watching the Nugget series, Denver looks sluggish and out of sorts. Yet it’s 3-2, going back to Denver. I don’t like the looks of this Laker team. If Kendrick Perkins can’t play for the Thunder, that’s a huge disadvantage, since Perk is uniquely qualified to guard the manchild Bynum. But I don’t see the Lakers beating the Thunder, even if Gran Torino is sidelined. Limited bench, old legs, too much reliance on Kobe.
The Lakers absolutely need Chaos to make it competitive. And the Thunder needs Perk to dominate. But even Chaos’ availability for the entire series and Perk’s absence wouldn’t be enough to take down the Thunder.
Big 12 football: Grant of rights key to television contract
Big 12 football’s reported $2.6 billion television contract with ESPN (ABC) and Fox Sports has reached verbal-agreement status among the conference presidents, cbssports.com has reported. Included in that agreement is an expected extension of the grant of media rights – the Big 12 schools would sign away their television rights for 13 years, which would virtually shackle each school to the conference.
When new Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby was introduced last Friday, he was asked about the “grant of rights” element to conference stability.
“The grant of rights is certainly the essence of any ongoing media package,” Bowlsby said. “The longer we go, presumably the more stable we are. But I’m satisfied with the mutual responsibility and commitment each of the institutions have.
“Just as in the discussion of expansion, it’s important we look at it through the lens of what do the various options do for us? You have to take the long view as well as the short view.
“You look at the contracts that are out there, most of them are very long contracts. They’re between 12 and 15 years. There always are ongoing conversations about the media environment. We will certainly continue those and engage vigorously. There again, I don’t know that there have been any decisions made. I think there will be some options that present themselves.”
Bowlsby said another factor is the BCS/playoff discussions that have been staged this spring and are expected to produce significant change, probably by this summer.
“That’s going to be a very interesting discussion going forward,” Bowlsby said. “The good news for us is that we’re probably going to have some opportunity to get some information on that structure relatively soon. All of those bodes well for us making a good (television) decision.”
Oklahoma football: You won’t believe where Bob Stoops ranks
I was looking at a list of Big 12 football coaches the other day, and it included ages. And I was stunned.
Mike Gundy, we still think of as a young coach. He’s 44. But we don’t really think of Bob Stoops as a young coach anymore. He’s coming up on his 14th season leading the Sooners. But in the Big 12, Stoops absolutely is a young coach. He’s the seventh-oldest coach in the 10-team Big 12.
Here are the rankings:
1. Bill Snyder, Kansas State, 72
2. Mack Brown, Texas, 60
3. Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech, 57
4. Art Briles, Baylor, 56
5. Charlie Weis, Kansas, 56
6. Gary Patterson, TCU, 52
7. Bob Stoops, OU, 51
8. Paul Rhoads, Iowa State, 45
9. Mike Gundy, OSU, 44
10. Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia, 40.
Is the Big 12 just an old-coaches league? Let’s look.
In the SEC, six of the 14 coaches are older than Stoops, so he’s right in the middle. Here are the SEC coaches’ ages: Steve Spurrier 67, John L. Smith 63, Nick Saban 60, Gary Pinkel 60, Les Miles 58, Mark Richt 52, Gene Chizik 50, Joker Phillips 49, Kevin Sumlin 47, Derek Dooley 43, Hugh Freeze 42, Will Muschamp 40, James Franklin 40, Dan Mullen 40.
Four Big Ten coaches are older than Stoops; eight are younger. Here are the Big Ten coaches’ ages: Kirk Ferentz 56, Mark Dantonio 56, Danny Hope 53, Brady Hoke 53, Jerry Kill 50, Kevin Wilson 50, Tim Beckman 47, Urban Meyer 47, Bo Pelini 44, Bret Bielema 42, Bill O’Brien 42, Pat Fitzgerald 37.
Stoops is younger than seven of the ACC’s coaches, and Virginia’s Mike London is only a month younger than Stoops. The ACC coaches’ ages: Frank Beamer 65, Frank Spazinai 65, Tom O’Brien 63, Jim Grobe 60, David Cutliffe 57, Paul Johnson 54, Randy Edsall 53, Mike London 51, Larry Fedora 49, Jimbo Fisher 46, Dabo Swinney 42, Al Golden 42,
Stoops is younger than three of the Big East’s eight coaches. The Big East coaches’ ages: Paul Pasqualoni 62, Steve Addazio 52, Charlie Strong 51, Skip Holtz 48, Doug Marrone 47, Paul Chryst 46, Butch Jones 44, Kyle Flood 41.
The Pac-12 is the league of young coaches. Stoops is older than all but two Pac-12 coaches. Pac-12 coaches’ ages: Mike Riley 58, Kyle Whittingham 52, Mike Leach 51, Jeff Tedford 50, Jim Mora 50, Rich Rodriguez 48, Chip Kelly 48, Todd Graham 47, Jon Embree 46, David Shaw 39, Steve Sarkisian 38, Lane Kiffin 36.
So that’s the major conferences. Sixty-eight coaches. Stoops ranks 29th in age. He’s in the middle third. The average age of those 68 coaches is 50.2. Stoops turned 51 in September. The median age of those 68 is 50.
So Stoops, despite 14 years on the job, ranks in the middle in age of his peers, even though only 14 have been head coaches more years than has Stoops, and only three have served on their current job longer than has Stoops (Frank Beamer, Bill Snyder, Mack Brown).
Meanwhile, only 17 of those 68 coaches are younger than Gundy, and of the coaches 44 or younger, no one has been on the job longer than Gundy’s eight seasons. Wisconsin’s Bret Bielema and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerland both took over as head coaches in 2006. Gundy’s first season was 2005.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Metta World Chaos speaks
Arms raised and smile wide, Metta World Chaos walked onto the set of the Conan O’Brien show amid cheers Monday night. He blew kisses to the crowd.
Not the demeanor David Stern hoped for, but probably the demeanor Stern expected. Chaos’ first public comments since elbowing James Harden came on Conan’s TBS talk show.
Chaos was alternately confrontational and contrite about the elbow that landed him a seven-game suspension. Even accused Harden of instigating the incident, to some degree. What’s most relevant is that he did not give the NBA any reason to lengthen the leash. Chaos will be a watched man in the upcoming Western Conference playoff series against Harden’s Thunder.
Here is the elbow-related exchange between Conan, who to his credit asked some tough questions and made some interesting points, and Chaos.
Metta? World Peace? Metta World Peace? “Right now, they’re calling me Animal.”
Conan showed the clip of Harden getting clocked, then Chaos had a squeamish look on his face and Conan said, “You’re reacting the way everyone in America reacted, but you’re the guy that did it. You’re like ‘wow.’”
“When I did it, I didn’t realize anybody was going to be behind me,” Chaos said. “When I got in the locker room and saw the tape, I was, ‘ooh, that was nasty.’ I felt something, but I didn’t know it was an actual head. Maybe a shoulder. I knew somebody had suffered something. I didn’t know it was Harden until I got in the locker room. But actually he does that a lot.”
“Does what,” Conan asked, “runs into people’s elbows?”
“He puts his chin right there,” Chaos said.
Said Conan, “Yeah, yeah, it’s all his fault.”
Chaos tried to explain himself: “When you dunk on somebody, it’s like ‘get off me, you can’t guard me. Don’t touch me.’ There’s like this aura. Ah, get off me. Nobody’s around. Get off me. It’s passion. Passion.”
Conan asked Chaos if he had talked to Harden since the elbow.
“No,” Chaos said. “When it happened, I didn’t know he was really that hurt until the day after, because guys flop in the NBA. So you don’t really know. I knew if I was to get some games, it would benefit Oklahoma, if they was to get me suspended possibly for the playoffs. I didn’t know what was happening, Couple of days, called some third parties, he was doing OK.”
Chaos said he didn’t call Harden “because I might have to play him in the playoffs. I don’t really want to talk to him. But I did want to make sure he was OK. It’s so competitive, you know. I want to make sure he’s OK first, so I did that. But to call him, knowing he would be OK, I could not call him right now, because we have games to play.”
Chaos said he had no comment on the seven-game suspension: “That punishment, I really had no thoughts on the punishment. It was just all the comments. You get a guy like Bill Laimbeer, not him exactly, that was wrong. This guy was clearly in the ’80s playing exactly like I play now. I’m like a retro player. I am. I’m like retro. Lot of guys making comments. Lot of hypocrites. The regular media, I was like ‘OK, they can have their judgment,’ because that’s what they do. But when you get a player that you play with, that you were in the same locker room with, that’s talking about you on TV because he has a new job, a new gig. You’re like ‘OK, man. You was in the locker room when you asked me to protect you. People I know for a fact either did or was happy the way I played game. Then they’re on TV. People calling me, they’re little brother, to see them on TV bashing me, I was like wow. That’s amazing.”
No surprise, Chaos alternately went from serious to goofy. When Conan sidekick Andy Richter leaned in to listen, Chaos turned, smiled, said, “Don’t breathe on me” and put up his elbow.
Conan asked Chaos if he regretted hurting his reputation, which Chaos has worked to restore since his season-long suspension for a brawl early in the 2004-05 season. “I knew I was going to be at a point in time where there was going to be some aggression come out on the court,” Chaos said. “The only thing I was disappointed in was, when people tried to take that aggression on the court and translate it to off-the court things I’ve done. On the court, I’m very passionate. I would do anything it takes to win. But don’t try to tarnish my image in everything I’ve tried, the mission I’m on as far as helping mental patients. Going to different countries, working with different organizations in different places, involving mental health. Don’t try to tarnish my image because of how I played. That is not going to change how I play on the court. That was the only thing that upset me. I knew changing my name was going to be a problem. There is no peace on the court.”
At the end, Chaos became a little contrite: “That elbow was a little bit too much, and I deserved a suspension. I don’t know if I deserved that many games. A week before that, a guy (Kevin Love) looked at a guy and stepped on his head. I said, ‘maybe I can get the same amount of games (two games) he got.”
But Chaos received seven games, in part because of his past. Which is the problem. Chaos will be under a microscope in the Thunder series. Referees, the NBA office, the TNT and ESPN analysts, everything Chaos does will be minutely studied.
Does that mean he will hold back in the way he plays? Maybe. If not, does that mean he can hold back what he calls passion and what most of us call rage?
Conference realignment: Will Big East keep all new members?
The Big East’s problems continue. Commissioner John Marinatto has been pushed out, which some would say is a plus for the conference and others would say is a plus for Marinatto. Worse yet, the BCS talks make it less likely that the mid-majors needed to fill out Big East football need to be in such a crazy-geographic conference.
Boise State and San Diego State, for example, announced they would leave the Mountain West Conference and join Big East football in 2013. Boise State’s other sports found a home in the Western Athletic Conference; San Diego State’s other sports were accepted into the Big West.
Joining a trans-continental league was attractive to the Broncos and Aztecs on two fronts: enhanced television football money and an automatic BCS bowl berth for the Big East champion.
But one of the developments to come out of the recent playoff talks is that automatic BCS berths apparently will disappear in 2014. One of the ideas offered is that the top 10 teams, in whatever rating system is adopted, would qualify for the BCS, with no maximum per conference.
And with the Big East in free fall — no West Virginia this season, no Pitt or Syracuse by 2014 at the latest — its television contract doesn’t figure to be great. Better than the Mountain West’s, but not great.
Worse yet for Boise State, the Western Athletic is falling apart. Literally. League members for 2013 are Seattle, Denver, Idaho, New Mexico State and Boise State. Seattle and Denver don’t play football.
Muddling the issue is a reported $10 million buyout for Boise State to not join the Big East. Which could be bad lawyering on the part of Boise State; a $10 million buyout should have been accompanied by a guarantee that the Big East would retain its automatic-qualifying status for the BCS.
There seems little doubt that Boise State would be better off remaining in the Mountain West than going to an inferior Big East and trying to find another home for its other sports.
The reconfigured Mountain West will consist of 10 members — Colorado State, Wyoming, Air Force, New Mexico, Nevada-Las Vegas, Hawaii, San Jose State, Utah State and Nevada.
The Mountain West would like to get to 12 members and could get there by welcoming back Boise State and San Diego State.
If this all strikes you as a big mess, you’re keeping up. Boise State is a football power — six Broncos were picked in the NFL Draft, including two first-rounders and four defensive players. But circumstances from academic reputation (Boise State was a junior college until 1965) to geography to market size conspire to make Boise State unattractive to the Pac-12 or the Big 12.
Boise State is going to have some decisions to make. It does not have a good option.
Big 12 football: Bob Bowlsby loves the round robin schedule
When I chatted with new Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby last Friday in Irving, Texas, one of the things that most appealed to Bowlsby was the league’s round-robin schedule for football and double round-robin schedule for basketball. You can read the column here:
But I didn’t get too much into it. I thought I would let you read all of what Bowlsby had to say. As athletic director at Stanford, Bowlsby was part of a 10-team Pac-12 Conference that in 2006 embraced a full round-robin schedule – every team played all other nine teams.
“The nine-game football schedule is a statement of mutual support,” Bowlsby said. “There are a lot of other institutions and leagues that haven’t been able to get there, to a full round robin. The round robin in men’s and women’s basketball is another indication of that.
“Those are difficult things to do, because for the most part, coaches oppose those kinds of things. It’s easier to find a non-conference opponent for that ninth game than it is to play a league game. That’s a commitment to strength.
“Playing a full round robin, if I put my chairman’s hat back on for the basketball committee, I would tell you that one of the best markers in the post season of legitimacy is a full round robin conference champion in basketball. When you look at some of the leagues, they have four no plays, four one play and a little bit of a round robin among the rest. You never know what kind of credibility the league schedule has.
“That’s a commitment that, probably if the truth were said, basketball coaches would rather play additional non-conference home games. But a commitment like that speaks volumes about the philosophy of the league.”
You guys know me. I’m a big proponent of a 12-team league with a championship game. I don’t think the Big 12 can go long without a title game. I think the cultural pressures and financial demands eventually will bring the Big 12 back to a two-division format.
But I have to say, the nine-game conference schedule was superb in 2011. It made for more good games. It made for more continuity – every school in the Big 12 played both of our Oklahoma teams, so we became more acquainted with the likes of Kansas State or Iowa State, after 15 years of them playing an Oklahoma squad just once a season.
So while I favor the 12-team format, I liked the 10-team format. Bob Bowlsby likes it, too.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Sweep script hard to beat
The Thunder swept the Mavericks in a first-round Western Conference playoff series and did so in a manner that would be difficult to trump. The four Thunder victories should pay dividends for the way they happened.
Game 1: The Thunder won 99-98 on Kevin Durant’s last-second shot. Getting a decent shot — and getting it to fall — in hero time is difficult in the NBA. The defense usually wins those scenarios. To get a basket from Durant on a must-make shot will instill confidence in the Thunder and its offense.
Game 2: The Thunder won 102-99 with defensive stops down the stretch. The teams traded the lead most of the fourth quarter, but after Dallas took a 97-96 lead with 2:18 left in the game, the Mavericks scored on just one of their final five possessions. The only Dallas basket came on a layup by Jason Terry with 20 seconds left, with the Thunder up three and willing to give up an easy 2-pointer just so the Mavs wouldn’t shoot a trey. Defensive intensity was apparent when the Thunder really needed it.
Game 3: Blowout city. The Thunder won 95-79 and led by 26 with five minutes left. Think about it. The Thunder totally snuffed Mav confidence. Dallas had played two tossup games in Oklahoma City and had to feel good about its chances at home. But the Thunder dominated throughout the game and issued a clear statement on which was the better team.
Game 4: The Thunder won 103-97 after trailing 86-73 with 101/2 minutes left. A stirring comeback. Not an epic comeback, not the caliber of that Clipper rally from 27 points down a week ago, but still impressive.
Look at that quartet. A victory on a last-second shot. A victory earned by defensive stops down the stretch. A statement-making blowout in front of a hostile crowd. And a big comeback.
The playoffs are supposed to be about surviving and advancing. Which they are. But if you can build on a victory, all the better. Every game gave the Thunder a different jolt of confidence. Success under four sets of circumstances.
Four blowouts always is the goal. But it would be hard to script a better series for the Thunder in terms of how the games were won.
Oklahoma football: Good-bye to a link to the past
My friend Ed Frost — who is your friend, too, since he supplies me with all kinds of great insight and nuggets as an OU historian — wrote me Friday to tell me of the death of Bob Reeds.
I didn’t know Reeds, and there’s no reason for you to have ever heard of him. But he was a great link to the distant, distant past of Sooner football. Reeds was the son of Claude Reeds, OU’s first football all-American.
The days of Barry Switzer are growing more and more distant. Switzer hasn’t coached the Sooners in 24 years; he became head coach 39 years ago and arrived in Norman 46 years ago.
The days of Bud Wilkinson have become the dusty days of history. Wilkinson arrived in Norman 66 years ago, can you believe it?
OU historian Harold Keith arrived as publicist in 1930 and pioneered the vocation. That was 82 years ago.
Claude Reeds was an all-American 17 years before Harold Keith. He played before Owen Field was laid out as a gridiron. He played before World War I. He lettered as a freshman the year that Oklahoma City stole the state seal from Guthrie and became the state capital.
Claude Reeds was an accurate passer — Bennie Owen was an innovative coach, sort of the Sid Gillman or Mike Leach of his day, embracing the forward pass when the sport looked more like rugby — who would could run or throw effectively out of his tailback (shotgun quarterback) position. The OU media guide also says Reeds was “an outstanding punter and was also used at end, where he was an outstanding blocker and equally adept on receptions. During the final game of his career against Colorado, Reeds had one of the greatest runs of his career as he took it 70 yards on a fake punt for a touchdown. Most observers said he must have run at least 200 yards on that play alone as he crisscrossed the field eluding Buffalo tacklers.”
Reeds was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1961.
And his son was alive in Norman until Thursday.
Here’s the note I received from Frost: “Just a heads up on the death of super nice guy Bob Reeds. He was the son of Claude Reeds, OU’s first football All-American. Bob lived in Newcastle for many years. That’s where I met him when I did a story on the Reeds clan. In recent times, he had been in assisted living in Norman, and a friend called this morning and said Bob died last night. I visited him Tuesday afternoon at Norman Regional and, as always, he thanked me for coming and said he enjoyed the visit.
“He was 92, I think, and he had told me stories about Bennie Owen, Indian Jack, Jack Mitchell and a lot of others. Bob played football for his dad at Central State when Claude was the head coach there. He went out for football at OU after transferring here and participated in spring drills under Snorter Luster. But he got a job in Tulsa and didn’t play here.
“Like so many others who are fading away, he was a real link to the past of OU sports. I think he also played basketball for Central State. He was an officer in the Navy during WWII. His one regret that he told me about was that his dad’s 107-yard punt vs. Texas in 1910 wasn’t listed in the OU media guide, even with an asterisk. I know they don’t list the records before 1936, but that one deserved special mention. Harold Keith wrote a couple of detailed pages about it in Oklahoma Kickoff. I don’t think Harold made it up.”
