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Written by Zorgon
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Wednesday, 30 July 2008 20:15 |
At 5PM today, Clay Bennett announced on the Total Dominance Hour that WWLS the Sports Animal would be the new flagship station of the Oklahoma City. This is good news, seeing as how WWLS is the primary sports station in the area. Previously, the Hornets used NewsRadio 1000 KTOK in 2005-2006, and they used 94.7 THE BUZZ in 2006-2007. It's nice to see it on a station that's actually relevant to what it's presenting. I mean, I bet a bunch of people were angry when after a Green Day song finished, a Hornets games came on. Or, heck, even talk show radio fans.
I was psyched because I figured it would be word on the team's name, but I suppose this is important information as well. No word on who will be the radio or TV announcers, though. (Bob Barry Sr., please?)
UPDATE:
Darnell Mayberry of the NewsOK NBA in OKC Blog sponsored by John Holt Chevrolet has some more in depth details about the merger, as well as the announcement that Matt Pinto will probably continue to his 2nd year of play by playing with the team. This, however, still leaves the question of the TV Announcer.... |
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Written by Zorgon
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Sunday, 27 July 2008 07:24 |
Hey Again Guys, and Apologies if I missed your comment earlier. I thought it would automatically forward comments to my email, so I never checked. But, reguardless, your feedback is much appreciated, and much thanks to SoonerAlum for making me aware of the fact that Thunder means Thundering Herd, and could have a buffalo as the mascot. If this is true, I'm all for the nickname, and it probably takes fourth place in my rankings, behind Rough Riders, Marshals, and Bison. Still, that's kind of also ripping off of the Marshall University Thundering Herd.
Reguardless, on to the rankings!
#9. C.J. Miles, 4th Year Shooting Guard
(He got a big check from Utah recently, so I thought it was fitting....)
Best Season: 07-08 with the Jazz, 12 Minutes, 5 Points, 1 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 steal, 48% FG%, 39% 3PT%, 79% FT%.
Okay okay, he' not on the roster anymore, but these rankings are old, and I figured you guys would at least like to see where he stood. I like to think of C.J. as all of Adrian Griffins skill with some of Russell Westbrooks potential. I mean, he'll never be an All-Star, but optomistically he could be a solid starter, or a good backup. Still, the issue is moot now, so my analysis is short.
NBA Comparison: Martell Webster
#8. Donyell Marshall, 15th Year Small/Power Forward
 (No, that's not Ben Wallace.)
By far the oldest grizzled veteran on our team, and my personal favourite player. (He played on my favourite team of all time, the 1998-1999 Golden State Warriors.) He's played on many different teams, with his longest run from 1995-2000 with the Warriors. Some would say he's past his prime, but his game was never all that athletic anyway. He can still hit the 3 and the jumpshot, which is most of what he did back in the day. If you do know him, you probably know him from his days in Cleveland. Most of the time he shot corner 3s, and was an integral part of the NBA Finals team that beat the Pistons in the Conference Finals and lost to the Spurs in the Finals. Otherwise, he started on a bad Toronto team for a couple of years, and did likewise with a bad Bulls team in the mid-00s. In the early 00s he played with Utah, and was called "the future of the team" by Karl Malone. And for most of the 90s he played for a bad Warriors team, and before that he was a rookie on the Timberwolves. And there you go, the saga of Donyell Marshall. Last season he hardly played for the SuperSonics at all, and I don't expect it to improve much this year. In GM Kevin Pritchards eyes, he's a 5 Million Dollar expiring contract, which is valuable as trade bait. But, if he does stay, he'll be a valuable backup, and could help Kevin Durant learn a thing or to about his 3 Point percentage. (Surprising Stat: He had a 92% FreeThrow percentage last year with the SuperSonics.)
NBA Comparison: He's a wierd player....it's hard to find a comparison for a 3 Point Shooting Power Forward....Dirk Nowitski?
#7. Luke Ridnour, 6th Year Point Guard
 (He's a NBA basketball player and his wife is taller than him....not just taller, but noticably taller. Creepy. (I have nothing against tall women, just a funny fact.))  (Had to include this pic, too. It shows him in his playing digs!)
Luke Ridnour is about as average and Pure of a Point Guard that you'll get. However, on defense, a lot of people accuse him of being a Bruce Bowen. If you're unfamiliar with the NBA, that basically means he's a really dirty, floppish defender, which can't be too good for his pocketbook going into this season. He's the longest consecutively tenured SuperSonic. The stats shown above are about his apex, as he should be fully developed at 27. But last year he lost his job to Earl Watson, who is a better marksman, but slightly worse in defending. Still, the Oklahoma City have a very good situation with their Point Guards, as interchangability and competition is never a bad thing.
NBA Comparison: Jamal Tinsley
#6. Damien Wilkins, 5th Year Small Forward/Shooting Guard
Best Season: 06-07 with the SuperSonics (07-08 looked very similar), 25 Minutes, 9 Points, 3 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, 44% FG%, 41% 3PT%, 88% FT%.
Damien Wilkins is NBA Royalty (according to Wikipedia). He is the son of Gerald Wilkins, a long-time NBA starter, and the nephew of Dominique Wilkins, who we all know as the human highlight flim. But, this is no Chris Simms (OU fan plug!). Yet, he's no Peyton Manning, either. Nonetheless, he can certainly hold his own in the NBA, and is a solid Dunker and 3 point shooter. He certainly has a great future with the SuperSonics, and will be a crucial backup to future stars Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook. You know, someone who can bring energy off of the bench and shoot 3s. If you remember Rasual Butler from a couple years back on the Hornets, then there you go.
NBA Comparison: Rasual Butler
#5. Earl Watson, 8th Year Point Guard
Best Season: 07-08 with Seattle, 29 Minutes, 11 Points, 3 Rebounds, 7 Assists, 1 Steal, 45% FG%, 37% 3PT%, 77% FT%.
Earl Watson is kind of a more ideal Luke Ridnour. None of the bad defensive reputation, and a better shooter. Indeed, he did take the starting job from Luke Ridnour last year, and has been highly coveted by other teams (evidenced by frequent trade talks). Earl Watson was drafted by the SuperSonics in 2001, before going to Memphis and Denver and then coming back to Seattle. Thus, he is the oldest SuperSonic, but not longest consecutively tenured. Anyway, the Seattle Point Guard situation is good. Not great, but good. Two unselfish guys who will distribute the ball.
NBA Comparison: A better passing Derek Fisher
Stay tuned for the relatively unsurprising Top 4, and Strategies for P.J. Carlesimo and Sam Presti to consider! |
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Written by Zorgon
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Friday, 25 July 2008 20:27 |
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According to the NewsOK NBA in OKC Blog Sponsored by John Holt Chevrolet, Utah has matched C.J. Miles' offer sheet, and will retain him next season. They just wanted to keep us waiting until the last day, eh? Honestly, this isn't much of a loss, and no one should get worried yet. We still have Adrian Griffin, who will fill his poition well, I'm sure. Not to mention Russell Westbrook, who everyone expects to be good. And even if he was here, I can't imagine him winning games for us. So, there you go. This kind screws up my player rankings, but, oh well, he'll stay in them hypothetically. |
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Written by Zorgon
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Friday, 25 July 2008 19:42 |
Well, it looks like KOCO was wrong. What a surprise. Who called it? Me. And it looks like NewsOK is doing some investigating of their own, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if they were also wrong. But, since the NBA filed for trademark rights to six names....this one seems pretty serious.
The Six Names Are:
Barons
Bison
Energy
Marshals
Thunder
Wind
Well, you've already heard my spiel about the Thunder, but I'll let my opinion be known about all 6 of these names anyway.
#1. Barons- Okay, I know this is a temporary issue, but what will we do when Baron Davis comes to town? He'll be so pumped up that he'll go for 50 points every time! Might as well be the Oklahoma City Baron Davises.
Secondly, according to Dictionary.com, a Baron is "an English Nobleman of the lowest rank". That doesn't seem like it would work out very well when the Sacramento Kings come to town, or whenever Prince Fielder decides to watch the Barons and also decides to root for the other team. I mean, we might as well call ourselves the Oklahoma City Ensigns or the Oklahoma City Interns. It just doesn't make sense! At least we're noble.
#2. Bison- Well, I really can't find too much wrong with this name. Of course, there's a few colleges with the nickname, but you can't be completely original or you'll end up like a Triple-A baseball team and call yourself the biscuits (seriously, it's a name). The Bison is a noble name I suppose, but are Bison really ferocious? I mean, they're really just beasts of burden like a yak or an ox. OR, to a lesser extent, maybe even a cow. I mean, could you imagine us being the Oklahoma City cow? I know the bison are native to Oklahoma, and they are a generally respectable animal, but I just don't think the name is all that ferocious.
#3. Energy- Okay. I'll be brutally honest here. This, to me, sounds like a Womens Soccer team. Maybe a Womens Lacrosse team. Maybe even a Womens basketball team. Now, I have nothing against women, or Womens sports. I respect Womens sports and think they should have a bigger place at the table, but Energy will get us laughed out of the NBA. What will our logo be? An oil rig? Or, even worse, ethanol? I mean, it could be a symbol of Oklahomas willingness to move beyond our oil companies and make Chesapeake Energy our main partner, but our name shouldn't have political implications. This is probably the worst name here. We're not the Chicago Sky, or the Atlanta Dream.
#4. Marshalls- This is a name from the Old West. The US Marshalls were basically....police officers in dangerous territory. A bad job, with the only thing keeping you going being a sense of Justice. I thought we wanted to move away from our "Old West" image, but, oh well. I think it's a nice name, but is this really Oklahoma-specific? It seems pretty general to me. If we wanted to go general, since Chuck Norris is an Oklahoma native, we should go with the Oklahoma City Walker, Texas Rangers. But I am only joking. Anyway, solid name here.
#5. Thunder- Again, the name of the Warriors mascot. I know it wasn't their idea first, but honestly, we shouldn't steal from the same league that we're already in. Knowing the evil money grubbing Chris Cohan (Warriors Owner), I see a lawsuit coming.
#6. Wind- Same issue as Energy. This is a soccer name, or the name of a womens team. And what would our logo be, three lines? Honestly, I know that Oklahoma has unpredictable weather, but it's not the first place you think of when you think, "Wind". I'd think Nebraska, Kansas, or even North Carolina. Bad, bad name.
So, out of the six, the best name is clearly the Marshalls, somewhat closely followed by the Bison.
Still though, I'd much rather have the name "Rough Riders". Even though that name seems impossible now, It's my odds-on favourite. But, if I had to settle for Marshals or Bison, I wouldn't mind. Any of the other 4 names? I'll be pretty dissapointed.
Oklahoma City BBall Poll: Go Vote! |
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Written by Zorgon
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Thursday, 24 July 2008 22:50 |
Sorry for the delay everyone! But, without further ado, here's the next 5 in our Ranking of the Players!!!!
#14. Adrian Griffin, 10th Year Shooting Guard
Best Season: 99-00 with the Celtics, 27 minutes, 7 points, 5 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 2 Steals, 48% FG%, 28% 3PT%, 75% FT%.
Well, I'm not a big fan of Adrian Griffin, but who is? He's just another old NBA shadow that's haunting our team. It's a wonder that he's still in the NBA. His rookie stats were somewhat promising for a rookie, but his PT and stats have steadily decreased. Still, I'm confident he could put up similar numbers to what is above. I mean, he owns Ronald Dupree, who seems to only score points. This guy can grab the rebounds, dish it, and steal. So, he's not all that bad, but I think his production is just too low for the amount of time he gets in a game.
NBA Comparison: Kelenna Azubuike
#13. Robert Swift, 4th Year Center
Best Season: 2005-2006 with the SuperSonics, 21 Minutes, 6 points, 6 Rebounds, 1 Block, 51% FG%, 58% FT%.
Robert Swift is another one of the "indistinguishable SuperSonics big men". He had a solid season in 05-06, and seemed to have a bright future as an ok to solid big man in the NBA. But, after a season-ending injury to his right knee in February of 08, his future was seriously called into question. He had a similar injury to the same knee in the pre-season of 06, which also was season-ending. He'll definately remain on the roster this year, but it remains to be seen if his knee can hold up. Still, if he does recover, he'll definately be a solid big man (which is something we desperately need).
On a personal side note, WHOH! While gone, this dude grew out his hair and got some major tattoos. Hopefully he won't go the way of Brad Miller and get cornrows.... He's the only white player to be drafted straight out of high school. And, one of the few white big men.
NBA Comparison: Sam Bowie
#12. Russell Westbrook, Rookie Shooting Guard
This guy had a great Summer League, usually scoring more effectively than Jeff Green, and being a perfect compliment to Kevin Durant. Then again, Marco Bellinelli looked like the next Peja Stojakovic when he played in the Summer League, but in the NBA he looks like "Mr. Clank". So, I won't hold my breath on his greatness, and for now, he'll remain pretty low on the rankings list.
NBA Comparison: Too Early to Tell.
#11. Francisco Elson, 10th year Center (5th Year in the NBA)
Best Season: 06-07 with San Antonio, 19 Minutes, 5 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Block, 51% FG%, 78% FT%.
You might call this guy "Ol' Reliable". He's most famous for being a plug in behind Tim Duncan on the Spurs. If you need a solid backup center, this guy is ready and willing. Still, I would doubt that he'd want to stay with a team semi-permanently stuck in the NBA cellar, given that he's 32. But, if he does decide to stay, he might be essential to a good season, should we miraculously pull out over 30 wins.
NBA Comparison: P.J. Brown
#10. Johan Petro, 6th Year Center (4th in NBA)
Best Season: 06-07 with the SuperSonics, 19 Minutes, 6 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 51% FG%, 65% FT%.
This is another one of the "indistingishable big men". He was supposed to have a lot of potential, but if you look at all 3 of his seasons with the SuperSonics, they look essentially the same statistially. At 22, its still very possible that he'll get better, but right now he's looking like an eternal Francisco Elson. Not nessessarily a bad thing, but I'm sure the SuperSonics expected more, and will need more in order to become a force in the West. I will tell you guys that this is the last Center on the list, and if we can't get a good center for a Big Man happy coach like Carlesimo, it could spell disaster. Granted, I could easily imagine us going the small ball trend with Wilcox and Collison at Center, and Durant at Power Forward....but, I have already revealed too much.
NBA Comparison: Francisco Elson
Stay Tuned for Players #9-5!!!! |
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Written by Zorgon
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Wednesday, 23 July 2008 02:51 |
Well, with the recent lack of news from the Oklahoma City, and nothing further to confirm or deny the recent rumour that Thunder would be the team name, I decided it was high time for another editorial piece. I looked over the incredibly loaded roster (now holding steady at 19), and it seemed that this would be a good time to familiarize you guys with the players and make some predictions about the new season. To make things fun, I'll pretend that we're getting C.J. Miles.
Now, if you're familiar with OKLuschens lists, I'm sure you're used to a nice, prescise formula that easily proves his reasoning to you. I am the complete opposite of him....his id you might say. I like to pull lists out of my ass.
#19. DeVon Hardin, Rookie Center
Was selected 50th in the second round of the NBA Draft this year. Had rather unimpressive numbers at Cal. Longar Longar is clearly much better than him, and would have brought some great hometown cheers (he played for the University of Oklahoma). But, quite frankly, even if Longar Longar was in his place, he would still be dead last on the roster. Devon Hardin was on the Summer League roster, but he didn't play. Maybe he was injured, maybe the coach hated him, or maybe he just didn't want to play. Fact is, it doesn't matter. With this packed roster, no one will be surprised to see DeVon go. I do like how he pronounces his name "De Von" instead of "Devin", though.
NBA Comparison: DJ Mbenga? Can't really tell.
#18. Ronald Dupree, 6th Year Shooting Guard
Best Season: 03-04 with the Bulls, 19 Minutes, 6 Points, 4 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 40% FG%, 44% 3PT%, 63% FT%.
Okay, I know I'm ripping into this dude, but he's shown practically nothing his entire NBA career. He's entering his 6th year in the NBA, and his best year was his rookie season, backing up for the still Post-Jordan Bulls? What? If you need further evidence, during the Summer League he was fighting for playing time amongst....Aaron Bruce. He was a 4th or 5th man at BEST, and never started. This guy should really, really be cut.
NBA Comparison: Amir Johnson
#17. Mike Wilks, 7th Year Point Guard
Best Season: 02-03 with the Hawks, 24 minutes, 5 points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Assists, 36% FG%, 35% 3PT%, 72% FT%.
He was only signed to a 10-Day contract earlier in the season, so I don't know why he's still considered to be on the roster. Simply put, this guys is a poor mans Earl Boykins (meaning he can score and run quickly, not much else). Considering that it's hard for Earl to get a job, it's even harder for Mike to get a job. He was only signed because the SuperSonics were in a severe Point Guard shortage. Honestly, this guys stats aren't any more imprssive than Dupree's. But, he's really small and quick in NBA 2K7, so he's pretty fun to play with.
NBA Comparison: Earl Boykins
#16. D.J. White, Rookie Center
His Summer League performance paled in comparison to Westbrook, Green, and Durant. He never had a really good game until the trio was on the bench. His performance was comparable to Duprees, but he would actually take care of other categories, like rebounds and blocks, while Dupree only scored points. He also had better FG%. You know, this guy probably WILL make the roster, but I'd go with Sene over him, simply due to his size and D-League prevalence. But, I could just be splitting hairs and they probably are both bad. His excellent performance at Indiana has to raise some eyebrows, though.
NBA Comparison: Too early to tell....
#15. Mouhamed Saer Sene, 3rd Year Center
Best Season: 06-07 with the SuperSonics, 6 Minutes, 2 Points, 2 Rebounds, 37% FG%, 59% FT%
If he doesn't show any potential this year, he should definately be cut. He was definately drafted as a project big man, but he's showed little improvement. He's part of this 4 person-group that I like to call "the SuperSonics project big men who are nearly indistinguishable from each other" (Sene, Swift, Collison, and Petro). Still, he was named D-League defensive player of the year (along with Baby Foyle, Stephane Lasme). But, unless he shows something on the NBA court, he could find himself back in Senegal soon. But honestly, I'm rooting for this guy to win. I just hope he can find himself a spot on this overloaded roster. Sam Presti was pleased with his D-League performance according to Wikipedia, so you never know....
NBA Comparison: DeSagana Diop
Stay Tuned for the 9th to 14th Ranked Players!!!! |
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Page 53 of 56 |
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Thunder Schedule
2010
February Schedule
| Feb 2 |
Atlanta
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| Feb 3 |
@ New Orleans |
| Feb 6 |
@ Golden State |
| Feb 9 |
@ Portland |
| Feb 16 |
Dallas |
| Feb 20 |
@ NY Knicks |
| Feb 21 |
@ Minnesota |
| Feb 23 |
Phoenix |
| Feb 24 |
@ San Antonio |
| Feb 26 |
Minnesota |
| Feb 28 |
Toronto |
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