Jenni Carlson NewsOK.com Blogging Community

So, it’s raining again today.

Big shocker, eh?

Some folks around here are beginning to wonder if we’re being punished for something. I say we’re preparing for something.

The Sonics.

They are still Seattle’s squad,  but if they don’t get an arena deal done in the Pacific Northwest, Oklahoma City is doing its darnedest to roll out the welcome mat. A soggy one, but a welcome mat no less.

Oklahoma City feels more like Seattle than Seattle does.

Cloudy skies? We got ‘em.

Constant rain? Check.

Seattle isn’t even getting as much rain as we are. Friday marks our 19th consecutive day with the wet stuff, a new record in a place with its share of weather extremes.

The old record: 14 consecutive days.

In 1937.

Just think, we were in a drought last summer. Think about the turn of events for a moment.

Last summer: drought.

Late summer: Oklahoma City businessmen buy the Sonics.

This summer: rain, rain and more rain.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Looks like Oklahoma City is trying to make the Sonics feel as comfortable as possible. With such hospitality in mind, here are some other ways we can work to make this feel like home to the guys in green.

Coffee: Seattle has Starbucks. Oklahoma City is building a new one about every 2.7 days. I don’t know about you, but every time I see a new building going up, I assume it’s a Starbucks. We have 30 locations and growing in the metro.

Seattle has 464 locations.

OK, so we’re a little behind there.

Music: Seattle has grunge and Pearl Jam. Oklahoma City has The Flaming Lips. Their quirkiness counts for something, right?

Landmarks: Seattle has the Space Needle. Oklahoma City has a space needle.

Really.

It’s wee, it’s on the state fairgrounds, but it’s a space needle, darn it.

Industry: Seattle has Boeing and Microsoft. Oklahoma City has Chesapeake and Sonic.

I know Windows is cool and everything, but it doesn’t taste nearly as good as tator tots or cherry limeades.

Natural wonders: Seattle has the Puget Sound. We may never manage to duplicate that, but if it keeps raining, we’ll see what we can do.

The 2007 NBA Draft is only hours away.

That means the 2008 draft is only a year away.

I know, I know, this is jumping a gun a little seeing as how this year’s picks have yet to be made, this year’s millionaires have yet to be named. And yet, there are already folks out there thinking about what happens next year.

Ran across this mock draft on nbadraft.net. I don’t know who what’s more interesting — that they’ve projected the draft order or that they’ve predicted Oklahoma big man Longar Longar will be an early second-round pick.

That’s right. The lanky project player is being considered a kid with NBA potential. Wasn’t that long ago that Longar was the guy at the end of the bench that the student section chanted for in a blowout.

You know the drill. Home team gets big lead. Students let the visiting team know it by chanting the name of the kid buried deepest on the bench, begging the coach to put him in for some trash time.

Longar was that guy a year and a half ago. Now he’s could be drafted in the second round?

Go figure.

There’s talk wafting around the Pacific Northwest that the draft might go Durant-Oden instead of Oden-Durant.

Yep, some folks up that way believe Portland might take Texas phenom Kevin Durant instead of Ohio State big man Greg Oden with the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft. That’d leave Seattle, of course, with the easy choice of taking Oden with the second pick.

Suppose that could happen.

Ain’t gonna, though.

Portland is taking Old Man Oden. Seattle is picking Kevin The Kid.

No doubt Durant wowed the Trail Blazers with his workout. They loved him. They raved about him. They talked like a bunch ready to draft him.

And in a world without Greg Oden, they just might.

But last we checked, Oden is still around. As good as Durant is — you’ll find no one who’s a bigger fan of his game than yours truly — NBA teams covet dominant centers. They will bend over backward for one. They will do anything to get one. Oden has yet to prove he’ll be dominant in the NBA, but the foreshadowing is there.

So, why the talk about Portland drafting Durant?

This draft has become highly predictable. Everyone knows Oden goes first, Durant second, even Al Horford’s spot as the third pick is almost sure. Perhaps the pot needed to be stirred a bit. Perhaps the predictability needed a shake up.

Portland might shock the world and select Durant.

Ain’t gonna happen, though.

The news last week that JamesOn Curry would leave Oklahoma State and remain in the NBA Draft despite working out for exactly zero teams shocked many.

Contrary to popular belief, though, this isn’t the worst idea ever.

Fantastic?

Tragic?

No on both counts.

Curry will be undrafted. Of that, there seems little doubt. He wasn’t invited to the draft camp, so why would teams that refused to invite him to camp suddenly be willing to invest money in him?

But he could still make it in pro basketball, maybe even in the NBA.

Such is the promise of the NBA’s developmental league. The NBA began the D-League in 2001. Then known as the National Basketball Development League, it aimed to give a chance to those fringe NBA players. Perhaps they found college wasn’t for them. Perhaps they needed income and basketball was their only means. Perhaps they were at risk of falling through the cracks.

Know what?

It has actually worked.

The D-League has its share of success stories. Rafer Alston. Matt Carroll. Smush Parker. Bobby Simmons. Even Hornet guard Devin Brown. All played in the D-League before making it to The League.

But if Curry is looking for a role model, he should look no further than Kelenna Azubuike. The kid was a high school star at Tulsa Victory Christian. Some even talked of him jumping from high school to the NBA. Instead, he went to Kentucky, struggled for two years then blossomed in his third.

He declared for the 2005 NBA Draft.

There was moaning and groaning, grumbling and gritching.

“If the draft were open only to players 6-feet-5 and under,” one internet columnist mused, “Azubuike might be drafted in the first round. Might be. Not sure.”

The kid went undrafted, then spent two years in the D-League with the Fort Worth Flyers. That’s a lot of long bus trips, a lot of lonely hours, a lot of anxious days.

But then in January earlier this year, Golden State found itself in a pinch. Injury-riddled, the Warriors signed Azubuike. A couple weeks after his arrival, he scored 28 points in 48 minutes against the Los Angeles Clippers.

He finished the season averaging 7.1 points a game and giving the Warriors every reason to re-sign him.

Curry could take the same path, but he has to be ready for the journey. It could be difficult. It could be long. But if Curry is willing to stick it out, to stay on course, the payoff could be big.

Is his decision the worst idea or the best idea?

Much of that has to do with Curry.

The 2008 Olympics are not so far away, and USA Gymnastics is already gearing up.

It has teamed with AT&T to do a series of online videos about the sport in the States. Three episodes are already linked up, and in the first one, you’ll notice a nice dose of Oklahoma flavor.

Olympic hopeful Jonathan Horton appears. The Oklahoma Sooner is one of the favorites to make the team and be on his way to Beijing next year.

By the way, the hopefuls who appear in the video are not identified, so you’ll have to make sure you know what Horton looks like before watching.

Also seen on the video, Shannon Miller.

Videos No. 2 and 3 focus on the women’s team. There are shots of Nadia Comanechi, now married to Bart Conner and living in Oklahoma, as well as Steve Nunno, who coached Miller.

The first video’s a little long — running time is around 5 minutes — but the other two are in the one- to two-minute range.

I hope the focus of the series turns eventually toward the men’s team. While Oklahoma’s deep gymnastic roots are strongly tied to Shannon Miller, the state has a more lengthy history in the men’s history. Plus, this might give some of you a first look at Horton, who is really amazing to watch.

J.R. Smith became a fan favorite during his one year in Oklahoma City with the Hornets.

It wasn’t his game we loved.

It was his youthful spirit.

Smith acted like a big kid. Goofy. Funny. He’d come out of the locker room at halftime, and if they were playing the “Everybody Clap Your Hands” song, he’d dance. He would still be shooting baskets, but he’d be doing all the dance steps as directed by the song.

Heck, even when he came back this past season with the Nuggets, he danced at halftime.

It was that child-like attitude, though, that got Smith relegated to the end of the Hornets’ bench. Byron Scott’s doghouse.

And now, Smith’s immaturity has landed him in an even worse place. He was driving an SUV during the weekend that ran a stop sign, collided with another car and flipped over. Smith was thrown from the vehicle but suffered only minor injuries.

Andre Bell was not so lucky.

Smith’s 21-year-old friend died Monday from the injuries he suffered in the accident. He had massive head injuries. He spent a couple of days in a coma. He did not survive.

Who knows what Smith was doing when he ran that stop sign. Singing to what was on the radio. Talking on his cell. Yacking to someone in the car. Time — and a police investigation — will reveal what happened.

Used to be, Smith’s antics were goofy and endearing. Now, they’ve cost a man his life.

Time to grow up, J.R.

Past time, actually.

Hope you had a chance to catch our scholar-athlete package on Sunday.

Every year, these kids amaze me. Talented athletes. Dedicated students. None were more impressive this year than Leigh McCoy of Casady and Steven Perry of Bishop McGuinness.

Here’s a little leftover tidbit about Perry, who’s going to play soccer at Notre Dame:

“He’s got a great attitude, a very positive attitude,” said Notre Dame soccer coach Bobby Clark, who Perry first impressed at camp two summers ago. “When you see he’s got speed and a good attitude, not everyone has that.”

Clark likens Perry to Joseph Lapira, who will be a Notre Dame senior next fall. Lapira, a speedy, skilled forward, came to South Bend somewhat unheralded out of Louisiana. Last year, he won the Hermann Trophy, the Heisman of college soccer.

Could Perry be one of the nation’s best soccer players in the next few years?

He definitely has the work ethic.