Thunder Wins Round Two Against Nuggets
News, notes and observations from Friday’s 104-89 win over the Denver Nuggets.
- Nobody from the Thunder really wanted to acknowledge how big this week’s two victories against the Nuggets were. That’s too bad. Doesn’t matter, though. I think we all know they were huge. To get two convincing victories against the team you’re all but guaranteed to play in the first round should do wonders for this team’s confidence. Sure, the playoffs are different and the series goes back to zero-zero. But the Thunder has the all-so important mental advantage. That can’t be ignored.
- I’m wondering how much of a difference Arron Afflalo, Chris Andersen and Timofey Mozgov would make. Just something to consider. They certainly won’t hurt the Nuggets.
- I felt like I was watching Butler UConn all over again in the first quarter. Wait, the first 12 minutes of Butler-UConn might have been better than the opening period tonight.
- If this is the first-round series, good luck to the officiating crews that get assigned to this series. Kendrick Perkins and Nene are sure to have it out. I can’t wait to see it.
- Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. But we’ve never seen an on-court fight in Oklahoma City’s NBA history. I can’t remember the Hornets having one during their two years here. And the Thunder’s altercations have never amounted to more than jawing and a few shoves. Perk might be on pace to break the streak.
- How good was the bench tonight? Eric Maynor, James Harden, Nazr Mohammed, Daequan Cook and Nick Collison all played their roles to perfection. Harden was instant offense. Maynor made great decisions all night and helped build big leads. Cook sparked a second-quarter run. Collison was gritty inside and on the boards (career-high eight offensive rebounds). And Mohammed was just money offensively in the fourth quarter.
- Someone asked me on Twitter about the chances Mohammed returns. If I’m the Thunder I’m seriously looking into re-signing him. The guy has skills and is incredible useful and efficient. Even if Byron Mullens or Cole Aldrich develop enough to supplant him in the rotation, he’d be a pretty dang good third string center for emergence purposes.
- Russell Westbrook made an extremely smart decision in the first quarter to take over. It was the switch I’ve been referring to. He came out trying to be patient and get everyone else involved. And after the Thunder started 0-for-6 from the field and Russ saw it wasn’t working, Westbrook said enough of this. He promptly buried three straight jumpers to give the Thunder a lift.
Open Scrimmage Set For Oct. 1
The Thunder will offer fans their first look at the 2010-11 version of the team at an open scrimmage at Yukon High School on Oct. 1. Doors will open at 5 p.m. The scrimmage will start at 5:30. Admission is free to the general public.
The scrimmage will conclude at 6:45, just before kickoff of the Yukon-Norman North football game.
This will be the third straight year that the Thunder has held an open scrimmage. The Thunder Girls and Rumble the Bison will be on hand as well. Following the scrimmage, Thunder players will participate in the football game’s opening coin toss.
“The Blue/White scrimmage is a great opportunity for our team to get out in the community and see the fans that support us throughout the season,” said Thunder Coach Scott Brooks. “We are excited to go out to Yukon and support athletes from Yukon and Norman North. It should be a great night for everyone involved.”
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Oh Great, More Of The Thunder Dummers
I received an e-mail this morning that I was hoping would never arrive.
It was a media advisory sent out by the Thunder to announce auditions for the Thunder Drummers.
For those who don’t know who the Thunder Drummers are, they are a small band of guys who are camped out in the upper deck in one of the end zones and fill the Ford Center with more unnecessary noise. But the Thunder takes things a step further, allowing this group of young men to come on down on occasion and do their thing at center court. It probably ranks somewhere among the top five worst ideas in NBA history.
That’s not taking away anything from the drummers. They’re not the problem. They actually had moments of quality music last season. It’s the idea that’s rotten. It’s as if the man who came up with this idea had never seen an NBA game. The Thunder Drummers descend from the nosebleeds at the most inopportune times. And nothing, I mean nothing, sucked the energy out of the building like a timeout with these guys on the court. There were games in which the timing couldn’t have been worse. Thunder down one. 34.5 seconds left. OKC ball. Let’s send out the Thunder Drummers. That’ll get everyone pumped. No, it actually does the exact opposite. It leads to folks sitting on their hands, wondering what they just experienced. Check out how fired up this crowd grew, at Game 6 of the Lakers-Thunder playoff series for crying out loud. And trust us when we say this was one of the drum teams best performances.
So it looks like we’ll be subject to another 41 games of these guys. Let’s just hope that the game night operations staff fills fourth-quarter timeouts from here out with T-shirt tosses or two-steps by Thunder Girls, you know, something that actually gets the crowd animated and maintains interest. The Thunder Drummers do not.
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Your 2010-11 Thunder Girls
Here they are. The 20 women who will make up the 2010-11 team of Thunder Girls.
The official team Web site has all kinds of videos, picture galleries and other info on this year’s members, which features 13 veterans and seven newbies. Check them out. Decide which Thunder Girl you like best. Friend her on Facebook.
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Forty Potential Thunder Girls
After a day of auditions down at Ford Center, only 40 bubbly young ladies remain as possibilities to become a member of the 2010-11 Thunder Girls. The process started Saturday with more than 100 hopefuls. The finals will be held at Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar and Grill in Bricktown and will be open to the public. Here is a sneak peak video (courtesy of the Thunder) of the women who could become the next group of ladies that test your ability to focus on the actual game.
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Russell Westbrook Bowling For Charity
Russell Westbrook taught himself to bowl last summer.
Less than a year later, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s starting point guard has put purpose behind his newest passion.
Westbrook recently held his first celebrity bowling tournament in Oklahoma City, with proceeds going to the Oklahoma City Urban Youth Scholarship Fund.
And while this event was for a good cause, Westbrook made sure to let everyone know how good he is. Even while kidding around, Westbrook recorded strikes, showing off a jaw-dropping hook that starts left, drifts right and finishes in the gut for consistent strikes.
“It’s what I do in my off time,” Westbrook said. “Especially in the summer.”
Westbrook said he learned by watching others and asking for tips to perfect his own pitch. His personal best is a 279.
“A lot of guys pick up golf and other things,” Westbrook said. “I like to bowl.
ESPN Analysts Weigh In On OKC
So I decided to watch a bit of preseason ball on ESPN last night — as if I haven’t had enough exhibition games for one beat reporter. And just as I turned to the broadcast I caught Jamal Mashburn saying during the pre-game show that the Thunder will make the playoffs as the eighth seed. And ya’ll thought my 35-win endorsement of this team was high last year. : ) Avery Johnson gave the eighth seed to the Clippers and essentially laughed at Mashburn’s prediction.
But two days earlier a few of their colleagues, Jalen Rose and Jon Barry, also weighed in on OKC during a national teleconference. Here’s what they had to say.
JALEN ROSE
“I really like the young core group of this team. Kevin Durant is going to be one of the league leaders in scoring. I think he’s a tremendous talent. Russell Westbrook as a combination guard can break defenses down and get shots for himself as well as others. He’s going to continue to get better. The rookie Harden is a slasher. He’s going to be able to score and is real nifty and crafty. And Jeff Green, here’s a guy that can rebound, do the intangibles, get blocks, get steals, he’s real strong, he finishes around the basket. That group of young players continuing to grow together is really going to create a lot of excitement for their fans. Not yet a playoff caliber team, but definitely a team that will show promise and on a nightly basis will be the kind of the team that can put up big numbers and make a lot of contending teams look bad. ”
JON BARRY
“Another very young team. The average age is 25, or something like that. I like Harden the rookie. Another year at the point guard position for Westbrook will help. He still needs to learn the position. I think he’s still a bit out of control. Not used to the position. A terrific athlete. He’s going to be a terrific player. Durant is a stud, big-time all-star. I love Collison. He’s a dirty work guy. But they are a couple of years away. As long as they continue to grow, I love the young pieces. I don’t think there are a lot of moves that have to be made. If this team stays together, in a couple of years they are certainly a quality playoff team in the West.”
GET YOUR THUNDER GIRLS CALENDAR
The Thunder Girls are having a calendar release party tonight at 7 at Mickey Mantles in Bricktown. Thunder fans can get and advanced copy of the Thunder Girls calendar before they go on sale for the first time at Wednesday’s season opener. Calendars cost $15, and tonight will be the only time all the Thunder Girls will be in attendance to sign copies of the calendars.
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Pick Your Favorite Thunder Girl
I’ve got to admit. I’ve campaigned with certain Thunder officials who shall remain nameless for quite some time to be the judge of which Thunder Girls hopefuls make the final cut. Things didn’t quite work out for me for various reasons.
But you, yes you, can help decide which girl will become an actual Thunder Girl for the 2009-10 season. It’s sort of a dream come true. Only you’re using your Internet browser rather than your wandering set of eyes in real life. Come on, don’t act like it’s just me. These girls have some of the best, uh, dance moves around.
The Thunder has given fans the opportunity to vote on the 19th and final member of the dance squad by logging on to thunder.nba.com. The Thunder whittled down a list that began with more than 100 girls to 40 hopefuls and 18 on Tuesday night. Now you can vote on one of two candidates for the final spot. Voting begins Wednesday and is open through Noon on Monday and the results will be announced on the team’s Web site shortly after voting ends.
Use your voice people.
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