Daily Thunder.com US Fleet Tracking Basketball Invitational : Pregame Primer

TV: Cox (Cox 3, HD 703)
Stream: HERE
Radio: N/A
Time: 6:00 CT

White Team
Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, LaMarcus Aldridge, Jeff Green, Michael Beasley, Jamal Crawford, Monta Ellis

Blue Team
Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, James Harden, Rudy Gay, Amare Stoudemire, Damien Wilkins, John Wall, Jonny Flynn.

Teams look really even and really interesting to me. I’m a little disappointed that Durant and LeBron won’t be guarding each other all night, but LeBron versus Melo and Durant versus Melo will be great stuff. Not to mention Russell Westbrook going against CP3 and John Wall.

Harden will likely guard Durant for a lot of the game as the two tend to match up with Rudy Gay slipping in some as well.

And then of course what we all really want to see: Jeff Green versus Damien Wilkins. Two former Thunder greats going head-to-head. Doesn’t get much better.

This is as close to an All-Star Game as Oklahoma City will ever get so it’ll be a fun night. It also serves as a painful reminder that there’s no real basketball coming our way.

Tip at 6:00 CT. Go Basketball.

13 comments

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justin

Thomas :This game made me appreciate Westbrook even more. How many rebounds did he have? It felt like 100 or so. He is all effort. Even in a meaningless exhibition game that felt like an after practice cool down at times he couldn’t stop himself from crashing the glass and slashing to the rim. He’s constitutionally incapable of not giving a shit when he’s on the floor.

On the offensive end yeah, but there were plenty of times last season where Russ would check out defensively for some periods of time.

Stephen

@ Thomas

Glad someone else noticed. Everyone around me was talking about how great Beasley is and how the Thunder should've picked him up. Beasley clearly wanted to score 100 in a game where no one cared about defense. It wasn't like he was trying to put on a show for the fans, it was more like he just wanted to fill up his stat line.

Thomas

@ Stephen
Yeah I don't think most of us signed up to see B-Eazly score half a hundred on mostly uncontested put-backs.

Agree 100%. Westbrook and LeBron were great IMO. Melo was right there with them as well. Outside of that... eh...

This game made me appreciate Westbrook even more. How many rebounds did he have? It felt like 100 or so. He is all effort. Even in a meaningless exhibition game that felt like an after practice cool down at times he couldn't stop himself from crashing the glass and slashing to the rim. He's constitutionally incapable of not giving a shit when he's on the floor.

I was actually severely disappointed by the game. Not nearly as exciting as I was anticipating. Tons of missed dunks, pull-up 3s, and Beasley shots. Not to mention 3-4 of the bigger advertised names were no shows. Oh well... I enjoyed watching Westbrook and LeBron, and it was nice to see Jackson out there. But that did not scratch my basketball itch, and college hoops have been on the decline of late so that won't do either. I need the NBA... I'm desperate.