Daily Thunder.com

Will it ever end? From Darnell’s blog:

Thabo Sefolosha has sustained a sprained MCL and is listed as day-to-day.

Sefolosha only shot free throws during today’s practice and his status for Saturday’s game at New Orleans is unclear. Coach Scott Brooks labeled Sefolosha a game-time decision.

If Sefolosha is unable to play against the Hornets, he will become the fourth injured player on the Thunder’s roster, joining forwards Desmond Mason, Kevin Durant and Jeff Green.

Also, he had an update on Jeff Green, who said his sore back feels “great” but was unsure if he’d be cleared to play tomorrow night. Kevin Durant took part in some shooting drills and is walking without a limp, but is still likely doubtful against New Orleans.

If there’s no Thabo to go along with no Green and Durant, then this winning streak may make it to four. Because the more Thunders that go down, the more we win. That’s how it works, right? But seriously, the thought of Damien Wilkins playing 44 minutes makes me shiver. Get well soon Thabo (and by soon, I mean, like now) .

Man I wish I could get away from this subject. I just want to pack up, jump in my car and drive away from it. But it’s always in my rear-view mirror. It’s like Walker, Texas Ranger. Per usual, Bill Simmons has been referring to Oklahoma City as “The Team That Shall Not Be Named” and taking it so far as to bleep “Oklahoma City” in podcasts when he slips. You know, keeping up with his shtick. He gets these shticks and themes and he runs with them. And a lot of times, I love him for it. It’s funny, it’s witty and it’s clever. Not so much this time. In his latest mailbag, he let a question from a guy in Tulsa slip through.

Q: You are unfairly killing an entire fan base with your refusal to call the (Team That Shall Not Be Named) by its name. In your attempt to make another state feel better (rightly deserved) you are coming across as a pompous jerk to another one. Can you please start calling our team by its proper name?
– John H., Tulsa, Okla.

SG: No way. It’s like (TTSNBN) was a married couple and couldn’t conceive a child on their own, so they went and stole another couple’s kid (in this case, Seattle’s) after proving in court that the kid was living in an aging house and deserved to live in a new one … but then, in the insult of insults, it turned out they lived in a house that was just as old and decrepit as the kid’s old house. How would you expect me to support this? You stole their team. I will continue to call it The Team That Shall Not Ne Named, the Bennett City Hijackers and the Seattle SloppySeconds. And if it costs me every reader in Hijack City, so be it — I have 49 other states and hundreds of other countries to work with. I’ll be fine. You stole someone else’s team. If you were friends with a buddy who stole another buddy’s wife, you would not be friends with that person anymore. Hijack City is not my friend. At least until Seattle remarries.

Bill’s wrong here. It’s more like what happened in Gone Baby Gone. (If you haven’t seen Gone Baby Gone, stop reading and do it. It’s good. Plus, I’m about to spoil it.) The ending to that movie caused instant debate among friends. You had Group A (Oklahoma City) that thought the little girl was better off staying with her new parents even though they stole her. Morgan Freeman was going to be able to give her everything Amy Ryan couldn’t. She would be loved, cherished and even spoiled at times. She’d have a nice house, nice clothes and grow up happy and healthy. Her new parents would give her attention and love and have everything she deserved.

But you had Group B (Seattle) that thought the little girl should stay with her rightful mother. She birthed her, she raised her and no matter how terrible of a mother she is, it’s her daughter dadgumit! So what that she lived in a cramped apartment and it was a mess all the time. And so what that the mother was a crack addict that ignored her baby and went out on dates with strange men. She gave birth to her and that’s that. Doesn’t matter if she left her at home by herself while she went out and got high. She came from her, so she can’t go anywhere, no matter what the situation. Keep Reading…

Evidently, there’s some big comic book movie coming out today. The only way you wouldn’t know that is if you were trapped in a coffin the past month.

How D.J. White is dealing with his lost season: “The three-inch scar on the left side of D.J. White’s neck, nestled just below his swollen jaw, might someday fade away. For now, the mark left by the doctor’s incision serves as a daily reminder of the Thunder forward’s lost rookie season. White, the 29th overall pick in last year’s NBA Draft, has been sidelined all season after undergoing surgery to remove a benign growth in his jaw. And with 21 games remaining, it’s beginning to look like White will miss the entire year, turning what should have been a dream come true into an unimaginable nightmare. White has a doctor’s appointment scheduled for March 16. Only then will he know if he’ll be cleared to resume full-contact practice and possibly be able to join his Thunder teammates for the home stretch.”

Kevin Durant checks in at No. 4 in the NBA’s plays of the week with his ridiculous double-cross on Josh Howard.

I’ve been avoiding the NBA financial situation because frankly, I just don’t want to think about it, but Shoals writes a really interesting piece about five signs of the NBA Apocolyspe: “Granted, some version of these dire pronouncements has been with us since last summer. But seeing them together all at once, with little or no mitigation, or appreciation for the finer points of, say, Detroit’s search for a new identity, did what it was supposed to do: Scare me and make me believe that really, anything could happen in the NBA as the economy continues to bring us all down to our knees. With that in mind — or rather, going on the possibility that I’m missing the forest for the trees — here are Five Signs of the NBA Apocalypse we should all watch for. Or expect, if you’re the WSJ:” Keep Reading…

I know when Sam Presti signed Nenad Krstic, I was one of many that were pretty excited about it. At the time, the team was 3-and-freaking-29 and things weren’t looking good. Help was needed everywhere and Krstic seemed like a start.

It’s probably more coincidental than anything else, but since Krstic offically became a Thunder-er Dec. 31, the team is 13-16 (though he didn’t actually play a game until Jan. 7 against Minnesota in a huge blowout loss). He averaged 8.8 points per game and 5.5 rebounds per game in about 22 minutes a game in January. In February, his minutes went up to 26 a game and he averaged 8.3 ppg and 5.4 rpg. But so far in March (two games albeit), he’s averaging 22 points and 5.0 rebounds a game and has led the Thunder in scoring the last two.

I think more than anything, the change is in his confidence. With Kevin Durant and Jeff Green both out for the Dallas game, somebody had to elevate their game. And Krispy was the man. But it even started last Friday against Dallas when Durant first went out. Krstic was 5-11 from the field for 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Then against Memphis he was 5-8 from the field for 10 points. He took up the cause and stepped up in big spots for the team.

And from what I can tell, he’s not doing anything that much different. He’s still taking a majority of jump shots, but now he’s making a really high percentage of them. Against Washington last night he showed off a couple of nice post moves including a sweet baseline spin that resulted in the game’s first bucket. But really he’s just getting the same solid looks he was getting before but now he’s very decisive in his shot with no hesitation. He catches, sets and shoots. No thinking and no second guessing. Just swish. Keep Reading…