vs. 
Chicago Bulls (31-37, 10-26 road) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (19-48, 14-20 home)
TV: FS Oklahoma HD (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 7:00 CST
Offensive Rating: Thunder: 103.4 (28th), Chicago: 107.2 (18th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 109.2 (18th), Chicago: 108.4 (17th)
Pace: Thunder: 93.6 (8th), Chicago: 93.2 (9th)
Tired legs anyone?
The Bulls are coming off an exhausting 127-121 win over Boston last night in Chicago. It was a physically and mentally draining game for the Bulls who desperately needed it to hang on the eighth spot in the East. So common sports sense says, Chicago should come out flat against a “lesser” opponent. The Thunder’s already got one win over the Bulls (OKC is looking for a season saaweeep) and Chicago is mangled in the ever fascinating Eastern eighth spot playoff race. Where 10 games below .500 and still in the playoffs happens!
One matchup will have most everybody’s interest though. Brad Miller vs. Nenad Krstic Russell Westbrook vs. Derrick Rose. These two are separating themselves in the Rookie of the Year race as the two top candidates and a head-to-head win could be a nice swing vote in favor of either guy.
In the first meeting, Westbrook and the Thunder won 109-98 in overtime, but it’s tough to say who won the head-to-head there. Rose went for 16 points on 8-18 shooting, dished out six assists and grabbed three boards. Westbrook had 14 on 5-20, but grabbed 12 rebounds and dished four assists. So a bit of a push there. But the thing working against Russ is that he doesn’t have the cache Rose does, he’s not in the “playoff” hunt and he’s not playing in Chicago. So if Westbrook wants that trophy, he’s going to need to show Rose up.
Oh and Thabo gets a crack at his old mates. That’s always fun. Ben Gordon is Chicago’s main scorer and you’ve got to love Thabo matching up with him. With Blanks’ length and athleticism, it could be tough for the 6-3 Gordon to get off his lollipop jumper over Thabo.
I love how the Ford Center is developing into the Thunderdome we all wanted it to be. It’s just not an easy place for opponents to win. The team plays with a lot of confidence at home and it shows. The home crowd is definitely influencing some of these games. The Bulls themselves have won seven in a row at home, but that’s the thing – they do their best work at home. On the road, it’s a different story. A 10-26 type story. And OKC’s won four straight at the Ford Center, gone 12-6 since New Year’s Eve and won six of nine overall. So in other words, you better play well Chicago.
I hate to put the expectations of win on the Thunder, but I honestly feel like OKC should take care of the Bulls tonight. They’re tired, they’re on the road (where they stink) and OKC has played very well at home lately. And for some reason, I expect Russell Westbrook to outplay Derrick Rose and for Kevin Durant to score some serious points. (Psst, and this could be 20 wins for the Thunder…)
Tip at 7:00 CST. Go Jet Zero.
Spike, do you think Durant still would have won it if Oden wasn't injured? I mean, that's hard to fathom, as the kid is constantly injured, but still. Let's not stretch things and say Oden put up Horford's numbers. Would Oden have won it? He certainly would have been the more hyped player.
I'm not sure. I think Horford and Oden would have diminished each other's accomplishments, just like Mayo brought Rose down to earth with his fantastic start. If the award was decided by Jan 1, Mayo or Rose would have been the only ones in the conversation. But because they both started strong, they evened out the hype between them. I think Westbrook has just as much a chance of winning it because he came on strong when the others leveled off. But as Kev mentioned, he's been way too erratic, in many cases appearing to have a negative impact on the team. That, and that alone, are keeping him from being the prohibitive favorite right now.
It's more that Rose was the best player in college last year and was the first pick in the draft. So it's his award to lose. I don't think it has as much to do with market size and playoff contention as it does that most people thought RW was a serious reach at #4, even if it's turned out not to be the case. So he had a lot more ground to cover to win the award.
The same thing happened last year. It was Durant's award to lose and he did enough to win it. But he definitely got a huge head start on everybody else.
Kev :
In other words, I hope he is not thinking ” I have to outplay Rose tonight” - That sort of one on one thinking is not conducive to team ball, which should be priority one . . .
Oh I don't think he cares about that. At least I hope not.
In other words, I hope he is not thinking " I have to outplay Rose tonight" - That sort of one on one thinking is not conducive to team ball, which should be priority one . . .
I think the ROY award (like all individual awards)is overblown - It would be nice if RW won it - but honestly I dont think he deserves it - he has been to erratic. I am fine with him improving his game (especially in the 4th quarter of games) so OKC can win more games -
Well the way I understand it, Larry Hughes, Rose and Gordon got most of the minutes in the backcourt until the trade deadline, and so Thabo probably went up against all three quite a bit. Now, Hughes is gone, and Salmons is in, and Hinrich is finally healthy. So the backcourt will be some rotation of Salmons/Gordon/Rose and Hinrich. To my way of thinking, Thabo can handle all those guys, so can Weaver imo. No stars there really, just good scorers in Salmons and Gordon. Hinrich plays a lot of one and Westbrook will see some time on him I guess.
Go Thunder.
I feel the exact same way about Westbrook. He's outplayed Rose for a while now but people still pump up Rose because he plays for Chicago and he plays for a "playoff" team. RW outplaying him tonight would be really nice.
And I think he'll play well. He seems to always bounce back after a sub-par performance (check his game log). I'd love to see a 18 point, eight assist, seven rebound game on 6-13 shooting or something.
I can't help but want RW to have a great game, turnover free, at least matching Rose on assists and FG%. I keep telling myself that ROY isn't the important thing, it's what these guys are playing like in 3 years that really matters, but I just can't help myself. I think the ROY is Rose' to lose, and I don't think he will. I just want to have at least one head to head where RW plays better.
It bugs me that just because RW plays in a smaller market that it somehow takes away from his performance. I'll accept that Rose' team made the playoffs and RW's didn't. That is a perfectly fine delimiter in my mind. And if someone wants to point to FG% as the final straw between RW and Rose, then I'm also fine with that. But if it's because Rose gets more exposure, that's a load of crap. It may be reality, but it's a load of crap.
Anyway, I wonder who Thabo is most used to guarding? You know he manned up against those guys in practice all the time, I just wonder which one he knows he can shut down the best?
Lastly, I'm afraid of the pace. We still tend to run with the fast paced teams, and Chicago can play fast, and if I'm not mistaken, are playing faster since their trades. While the Spurs aren't pushing anyone to play fast, the Suns sure do. So we play slow with the Spurs, but run with the Suns. I just hope Chicago doesn't get us in a fast paced game. I hope we're disciplined enough to slow them down to our pace.
Lastly also, I hope to see RW and Green show up tonight, to make up for not showing up on Monday.