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I’m not big on this whole idea of forcing a rivalry. Some are, but I’ve always said rivalries just sort of happen and in most cases, are forged from the playoffs.
A reason? Because during the playoffs you see a team a whole lot in just a couple weeks. You have to see their team over and over. Instead of getting ticked at Kenyon Martin one night and then forgetting about it the next because the schedule has made you move on, you have to see him again in two days. You’ve got to argue with the other team’s fans for a couple weeks. You’ve got to deal with that one player on their team that just seems to always kill you (see: Gasol, Pau).
As a result, it’s very easy to hate that other team. You start noticing even the little things. Man, I hate Ty Lawson. Look how he wraps his ankles. So stupid. It’s the nature of the beast. As fans, we take every little thing personally. When some Nuggets fans says something simple and harmless like, “I dunno, I think we’re actually have the deeper bench and probably an advantage at shooting guard,” it’s natural to blow and say, “Gah! Nuggets fans are SO STUPID.” Like I said, it’s life in the postseason. And sometimes, depending on how things play out, it’s how you end up with a rival.
(Let me clear something up though: In sports, the word “hate” is very relative. It’s not real. It’s not like actual hate. It has a whole different meaning. My dad used to always snap at me when I’d say things like, “Ugh, I hate Ruben Patterson. I just hate him.” But it’s not an actual hatred of him. It’s different in sports. You hate him as a player, not as a person. Unless we’re talking about Chris Bosh. Then it’s different.)
The more you hate the team you’re going against, the sweeter it is if you take them down. The more it makes you want to cheer, the more it makes you want to scream DEE-FENSE! at the top of your lungs, the more passionate it makes you about each and every grueling possession. It’s good to hate. In this specific sense, that is.
It’s been covered ad nauseum as to how Kendrick Perkins has changed the mentally and toughness of the Thunder. One thing he’s said is that he figures out a way to hate his opponent. He even goes as far as to make things up in his mind. Lord knows what those things are, but we all need to need fall in step with our scowly leader.
So with that said, let me add a little more wind to this Oklahoma grassfire and help you find your inner Perk. Here are five reasons to get you started with why you should really, really hate the Nuggets.
1. Nene’s hair. Really, it’s just easy to sort of hate Nene in general. He’s got a single name situation going on, he sort of looks like Donkey from Shrek to me and he’s already tussled with Perk. But his hair is just a whole other story. It’s some sort of weird pony-bun thing. Like I said, the more you have to look at it over these next couple weeks, the more you’re going to find yourself saying, “I mean really, what is the deal with his hair?”
It’s also very natural to dislike the other team’s best player because he’s going to kill your team at different parts during the series. And Nene is almost definitely the Nuggets’ best player.
2. Tattoos. The biggest contrast in this series is the ink-to-visible skin ratio between these teams. The Nuggets only have a couple players that aren’t entirely covered with scribbles. Some of their guys — Chris Andersen, Kenyon Martin, J.R. Smith, Wilson Chandler — are basically wearing a tattoo body suit every night. I mean, look at this. Just look at it. If the NBA dress code ever included neck tattoos, the Nuggets would have to be contracted. It’s like they’re all wearing mock turtlenecks and we all know how uncool mock turtlenecks are.
3. Trash talk. The Nuggets accused the Thunder of being “cocky” and of talking a bunch of smack. George Karl even said this: “We know what they were saying after the game here. We know what they were saying. We know. I’m not going to bring it to the public, but we know. It gets back to us.” It’s almost like the Nuggets are trying to manufacture their own bulletin board material. Because we know they will get none from Oklahoma City. Just look at what KD said on Jim Rome Is Burning today about it.
“We just play basketball. We don’t do any talking other than letting people know how good a team they are and how tough the series is going to be.” They might be young, they might be inexperienced, but these Thunder know better than to open their mouths. That’s why the Nuggets are trying to pretend they crossed some sort of cockiness line on the court. I do think the Thunder’s playing with a little added swagger and I definitely can’t say whether or not the level of smack talk has increased, but the way Denver is trying to toss it out there to everyone is a bit weird.
4. Pepsi sucks. If you like Pepsi, well, that’s stupid. I just don’t see how anyone really thinks it’s good. And where do the Nuggets play? The Pepsi Center. I DO NOT LIKE THAT.
One of my biggest pet peeves in life is going to a restaurant and ordering a Coke but the waiter says, “I’m sorry, we don’t have Coke. But we have Pespi!” As if the two taste even remotely alike. Point is, I’m not a fan of Pepsi. It tastes like flavored motor oil. Am I reaching here for things to hate? Very much quite possibly.
5. Respect. I can’t be the only one that’s grown frustrated over the past few weeks hearing people rave about the Nuggets and how well they’ve played while overlooking the Thunder. Latest example, Rick Reilly of ESPN.com: “The Thunder, everybody’s cool new kid in class, is about to get a wedgie in front of the whole playground. Since the Nuggets traded Melo on Feb. 21, they’ve been the third-winningest team in the league (.720). They have double-kick-start Tar Heel point guards who can drive, score or feed to six other scorers. Who you gonna guard on the last shot? Nuggets in 7, proving George Karl should’ve been Coach of the Year.”
I don’t have to say it because I’m sure you yelled it out loud within seconds of reading that, but yes, the Thunder did just beat the Nuggets twice in the last couple weeks. Yes, the Thunder did beat them in Denver as well as by an average of 11 points. Yes, the Nuggets are 18-7 since the Melo trade, but Oklahoma City is 20-8 (with again, two wins against Denver).
Not to pick on Reilly here, but this seems to be the general opinion of most. The Nuggets have been handed a large amount of respect — and rightfully earned, no doubt — while the Thunder were mostly overlooked in every power rankings column up until a week ago when OKC beat the Lakers in Los Angeles. Now, the Thunder are gaining ground in this department, but if Scott Brooks is digging for a little extra motivation to add to his pregame speech Sunday night, he definitely has a little ammunition to work with.
I have Insider (for better or for worse) and here's what it says about Denver 'making a run':
The Nuggets are already well-known as a hot team coming into the playoffs, but late-season results don't appear to have any extra impact on playoff performance, so they're not gaining any advantage there. The two strongest historical factors indicating playoff success do work in their favor, however, as they play at the fastest pace of any playoff team and have one of the league's better centers.
The Nuggets rank second among all playoff teams in our OP score, which means that, historically speaking, they figure to play almost two points better in the playoffs than they did in the regular season. Denver has actually played roughly equal to its regular-season level during the past seven playoffs, but with a career year from Nene they could finally buck that trend. Based off previous performance, the Nuggets have an above-average chance at making a Butler-esque run through the Western Conference playoffs.
/end post.
Personally, I don't get why Denver is STILL being so hyped by the heads at ESPN, especially when we've shown we're just better than they are and have been since the All-Star break/Perkins trade. We will shut them up tonight, hopefully.
walker :
Let’s go Thunder Fans.I’m ready.You to Justin we both love THE GLOVE and the RAINMAN.DJ,JJ,DS,GW,who am I missing.
You missed X. How could you?!?
Are those "Thunder the F#@K up" shirts available online? Any more info there?
ThunderHorn :
As bad as I feel for Roy, his injury is what had to happen for Aldridge to make the next step in his game. He was never gonna make the leap from solid player to All-NBA caliber player as the #2 guy. Glad to see him tearing it up and he was beasting tonight. Honestly, I’m not surprised he excelled when he was forced into the #1 role.
Dirk was Dirk. Kidd was the surprise of this game. Dude turned back the clock to 2002-2003 tonight.
Agree with whoever said Howard is gone. This season was big for Orlando in getting him to re-sign and they failed miserably. They’ve handled things just as bad as Cleveland did with Lebron IMO. Just like Cleveland, instead of building a team around the guy, they panicked got into win-now mode….when they had at least 5-6 years to build something, and started wheeling and dealing all over the place and wasting picks.
exactly, instead of getting Vince they should have got someone younger, i understand the trade they made with lewis they needed a two guard desperately, but Pietrus and Gortat we're young and can be developed well, Move Gortat to the 4, have Pietrus work on his offensive game, or get an Offensive SF, and build the bench. Jameal may berly be considered an all-star caliber player(i don't consider him), but he's their #2, Pietrus is athletic, talented, and young. They had a chance into developing him into a very good two guard,
Nelson, Pietrus, -, Gortat, and Howard would be a crazy good rebounding and defensive team. they should have drafted a 3 instead of Orton, having Bass, Anderson, Reddick, and ect is enough fire power, and decent defense. thats where they missed up, they had the players all along but management didn't see that.
As bad as I feel for Roy, his injury is what had to happen for Aldridge to make the next step in his game. He was never gonna make the leap from solid player to All-NBA caliber player as the #2 guy. Glad to see him tearing it up and he was beasting tonight. Honestly, I'm not surprised he excelled when he was forced into the #1 role.
Dirk was Dirk. Kidd was the surprise of this game. Dude turned back the clock to 2002-2003 tonight.
Agree with whoever said Howard is gone. This season was big for Orlando in getting him to re-sign and they failed miserably. They've handled things just as bad as Cleveland did with Lebron IMO. Just like Cleveland, instead of building a team around the guy, they panicked got into win-now mode....when they had at least 5-6 years to build something, and started wheeling and dealing all over the place and wasting picks.
@Dunkin’Durant
you know half of those will be sold tomorrow AT the game, you know those guys who stand around and sell tickets, people think its illegal but it isn't, and you can get real good deals by them too. Especially if the game already starts and they can't get rid of them they'll sell them in a heartbeat.
Getting a little concerned about empty seats. Over 800 left on StubHub.
I have 2 tickets in section 313 I'm trying to sell if anyone is interested. I will sell for face value ($50 per ticket).
Yeah... And of course trump is a bball expert right? Ha
lol did you guys see this:
http://twitter.com/RealTrump2012
"If the Oklahoma City Thunder make it to the NBA Finals, I'll be running for President of the United States of America #thunderup #YoureHired"
@Sammy
Sound's like KD must have had some stuff working today in practice. Hope that carries through to the game tomorrow night.
i can't wait for tomorrow im not going to the game but i can't wait for that Magical Blue Aurora to be all over the town again, i remember being on the road and honking at people and just shouting "Go Thunder" and getting honks back, or going to eat breakfest in the morning at Jimmy's Eggs and hearing all the old timers talk about the Thunder and wearing blue instead of talking about the Sooners, or running by Lake and seeing everyone running beside me wearing something Thunder related, even more right before i went to the game i was seeing people getting their Watch Out parties ready. This town has took this team in, and i just can't wait for all the excitement to build up again. Last year the Thunder we're all anyone could talk about from April till the beginning of college football.
@DJ 7
lol, yeah I know they're just playing around.
Yeah I'll be at the game tommorow too but I'm not sure about the other playoff games.
cool article on the team's prep:
http://www.newsok.com/thunder-nuggets-know-each-other-well/article/3559344?custom_click=pod_headline_nba-news
cant wait for tomorrow!
@Sammy
lol thats friendly talk, i play with guys from McKinley Park in OKC, if you can't handle trash talking there then you don't even show up, im talking about you better not go alone, and be ready to get elbowed.
On average the winner won 2.5 of the Four Factors to 1. 5 for the losing team.
make that... to win you need to win the big one (FG%) and "probably" at least one other. If you shoot really great it could override everything else in some cases.
Teams who won today or are winning right now won
3 of 4 times on FG%
3 times on offensive rebounding
2 times on turnovers
2 times on FTAs
If you want to win you need to win the big one (FG%) and at least one other, or alternatively win big enough on one or several others to offset the size of loss on FG%.
KD and Nazr talking trash to each other on Twitter.
@darin
Cool, I am in row QQ seats 3 and 4 for game 1 and 2
@DJ 7
I went to see my Jayhawks win the National Championship in 2008 (15 rows behind the Jayhawk bench)... that was my sports highlight so far. I hope this playoff season will top that.
@Luke
I am in Sect 110 also...
Whats up everyone, first time poster, long time reader.
I couldn't agree more with point number 5. We just can't seem to get any respect. Hopefully tomorrow nights game will change that.
I will be there screaming with the rest of you crazies. Sec 110. Thunder Up!
Portland's made only 3 shots from beyond 18 feet in this game so far.
Dallas doing a great job of pushing the pace. We need to slow it down tomorrow.
Top 5 big? Wow. Lots of guys in that group...
@Sammy
top 5 big may be stretching it, but he definitely is a top 10 since Wonder Boy went out.
Now that i think about it, top 5 may sound right.
@DJ 7
He's been okay his entire career, but he always relied too much on his mid-range game a la David West. Ever since December (when Roy went out for a while), he transformed his game, playing a lot more in the low post and improving his D to above league average. He's been a top 5 big since December.
darin :
Good to see who will be going and who I will be losing my voice with. Which of you will travel the farthest to make this game… who is the biggest fan? I am coming from N. of Tulsa, about 2 hrs.
I feel like going down to the arena tonight and camping out. I can’t wait for my first playoff game.
all i have to say is last year i went to Game 3, and that was easily the best sporting event i have ever been to in my entire short life.
@Sammy
LMA has been on the brink of being a star since his 3rd season. At least thats what i believe.
Good to see who will be going and who I will be losing my voice with. Which of you will travel the farthest to make this game... who is the biggest fan? I am coming from N. of Tulsa, about 2 hrs.
I feel like going down to the arena tonight and camping out. I can't wait for my first playoff game.
darin :
Just curious here… how many of you that regularly post on this site are actually going to the game tomorrow night?
I will be there in BLUE…
i wish i could be there, but im broke.
Mildly interesting stat I just saw. Denver is 1-9 all-time in road Game 1's.
@darin
I'll be there. Man, tomorrow is going to be a loooong day.
@justin
His transformation has been unbelievable. How often do you see and ultra-skilled jump-shooting big man who was always underwhelming and passive suddenly become a low-post beast in his 5th year starting? It'd be like if Jeff Green next year becomes a poor man's LBJ.
@darin
I will be there in a Perkins name and number t-shirt. Absolutely cannot wait.
LMA is beasting.
@darin
Yeah I will be there also, I will be the guy in the Blue Thunder T
Orlando gets zero points from their PF position wow.
Sammy :lol Jamal Crawford.
His shot selection is so horrible but wow.
lol Jamal Crawford.
MEM, BOS, @ATL, @LAL, @NOH, SAS, @DAL. I'd call those important wins. Losses @POR, @MIA, @ORL by a combined nine points.
I am not trying to take away what the Thunder accomplished, since they have been elite as well since the break.
@justin
I'm not blatantly ignoring Denver's performance. I just give more weight to head to head match ups in important games. They don't give the trophy to the team with the best stats.
@justin
One other thing..I think the "two worst games" by the Nuggets came in two important games against the Thunder. I don't think a loss to Toronto on an off night carries exactly the same weight.
@darin
i will be there
@John
Well, you can isolate them from their expectations by looking at how they have performed. When a team shoots better than the other, holds their opponents to worse shooting, rebounds similarly, gets more assists, forces more turnovers, etc., what would you call that? Wouldn't they be out performing the other?
+11 points per 100 possesions would be #1 in the NBA over the course of the entire season... how is that not 'amazing'? I think they've played a bit over their heads, but still. The only way you can come to your conclusion is if you blatantly ignore Denver's performance...
ok i have been out, but whoa, havnt seen this sort of disagreement on here in awhile.
@darin
I'll be there!
@justin
Part of their "amazement" has been their low expectations, maybe unrealistically low. Likewise, the Thunder have been victimized but unrealistically high expectations. It's just my opinion that the Thunder have out performed the Nuggets since the Trade deadline.
@John
Point differential is there, just per 100 possessions. So it's easier to compare.