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Bobcats vs. Thunder: Pregame Primer

by Royce Young on November 26, 2012 at 3:59 pm 1,685 Comments

vs.

Charlotte Bobcats (7-5, 2-2 road) vs. OKC Thunder (10-4, 6-2 home)

TV: FS OK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 110.4 (3rd), Bobcats– 101.3 (25th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 104.5 (18th), Bobcats – 103.8 (16th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.6 (12th), Bobcats – 93.5 (6thth)

View from the enemy: Queen City Hoops

I’m kind of excited for this one. A spunky young team coming to OKC. A Bobcats group that has won as many games in 12 tries as it did all of last season. They don’t have marquee names, but they play hard, play together and figure out ways to keep it close in the fourth. It’s becoming pretty obvious that if you overlook the Cats, they’ll burn you. Keep Reading…

Thunder Player Power Rankings: Russell, the hero

by Royce Young on November 26, 2012 at 11:35 am 177 Comments

Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images

WEEK 1 | WEEK 2

A recap: Win against the Clippers, loss at the Celtics, win at the 76ers.

Being realistic and using common sports sense , wouldn’t you say that’s a pretty good week? It’s one of those weeks where if I told you in August when the schedule came out that the Thunder would go 2-1, you’d probably have said, “cool.”

One thing though: The defense has very clearly slipped. In OKC’s first eight games, it only allowed one team to score more than 95 points. In the last six, the Thunder have allowed 95 or more in all of them. Five of those games they allowed more than 100. They went from a top five defensive team per 100 possessions to now in the bottom half of the league. Or look at it this way: First eight games points allowed per 100 possessions, 94.7. Last six, 109.1. The offense is clicking along extremely well in terms of points per 100 possessions (third currently), but the defensive slide has been a bit concerning.

Anyway, let’s numerically order the roster. (Note: There weren’t any rankings last week so the “last week” rankings are actually from two weeks ago.)

Keep Reading…

Monday Bolts – 11.26.12

by Royce Young on November 26, 2012 at 9:42 am 64 Comments

From Elias: “Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both had 30+ Pts Saturday night. That’s the 20th time they’ve both had 30 or more points in the same game. That’s only second to Shaq and Kobe in the last 20 years.”

Darnell Mayberry on backup point guard: “Maynor’s lack of explosiveness also seems to be hurting him more than ever. At both ends. Although he never was a player who relied on athleticism, Maynor has been unable to turn it on when needed. It was most evident at New Orleans, when Maynor couldn’t beat 6-foot-10 Hornets forward Ryan Anderson off the dribble. Perhaps that scene explains why Maynor is settling more for long range attempts, launching 1.7 3-pointers per game, rather than knifing into the painted area looking to create like only he can. The season is still young, and the steady hand might soon return. There have been flashes of the old Maynor, after all. They’ve just been far too infrequent to not wonder whether a change should be in the works.” Keep Reading…

TGR 82: So far so… good?

by Thunderground Radio on November 25, 2012 at 3:16 pm 447 Comments

This week Brad and Joel recap this past week’s games and take a look at what we’ve learned about this team so far this season. Topics of conversation include:

Various degrees of turnovers

Player development from last year

Missing Reggie Jackson?

A glance at the league standings

Download, listen and comment.

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OKC finds the range in OT against Philly, 116-109

by Royce Young on November 24, 2012 at 9:30 pm 764 Comments

BOX SCORE

With other events unfolding the way they did in the state of Oklahoma, it was only fitting the Thunder joined in with their own overtime game.

And evidently that’s what the Thunder needed. Total fourth quarter output: 13 points. Total overtime output: 18 points.

I can’t decide if that’s really great, or really terrible. Either way, the bottom line is that the Thunder bounced back from a tough loss in Boston to top Philadelphia in overtime, 116-109.

It was one of those games where OKC led for most of it, going up by 10 then watching the lead dwindle to two, then going back up by eight, then watching it tighten back up. There was just a killshot missing, at least until the Thunder started making everything in overtime. In regulation, OKC was 2-16 from 3. In overtime, 4-5. According to an advanced statistic I just made up in my head, that’s a winning OT formula.

Truthfully though, there wasn’t a whole lot fixed or changed from the disappointing loss to the Celtics. The bench was still mostly non-existent — Kevin Martin finished with six points on 2-of-9 shooting, but did hit a big OT 3 — and the game came down to mostly Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant being awesome. As I said last night, that’s often a pretty strong strategy. Those two guys can win the Thunder a whole lot of games exclusively on their own. But that’s not the Thunder at their highest level. Keep Reading…

Thunder vs. Sixers: Pregame Primer

by Royce Young on November 24, 2012 at 2:30 pm 1,353 Comments

vs.

OKC Thunder (9-4, 3-2 road) at Philadelphia 76ers (7-5, 4-3 home)

TV: FS OK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 6:00 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 109.6 (4th), Sixers– 98.7 (28th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 103.9 (14th), Sixers – 99.8 (2nd)
Pace: Thunder – 93.0 (8th), Sixers – 91.1 (25th)

View from the enemy: Philadunkia

These are the type of games the Thunder have built a reputation on. The kind that has made them an elite bunch the past few seasons. Lose an ugly one the night before but immediately wash it away with a good bounce back win on the road. Keep Reading…

Saturday Morning Cartoons: #PointGuardPerk

by Royce Young on November 24, 2012 at 9:45 am 359 Comments

Happy Saturday. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. I hope your team wins today.

“Pass the ball Perk. Pass the ball Perk. PASS IT PERK. PASS THE BALL PERK. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD PASS THE BA– NICE PASS PERK!” — Every Thunder fan last night

Maybe the solution for the second unit creating some offense is as simple as Kendrick Perkins, isolation machine.

OKC’s bench gets worked in Boston, 108-100

by Royce Young on November 23, 2012 at 9:50 pm 345 Comments

BOX SCORE

Thirty-five to thirteen. That’s really what Friday’s game in Boston came down to.

Boston’s bench 35 points. Oklahoma City’s, 13.

If you’re perusing the box score, that’s probably the stat you circle first in red ink. But naturally, it’s not only as simple as that. Because despite the porous output from the reserves, Kevin Durant had a pretty good look from 3 to knot the game with a little over a minute left. It was one of those standard Thunder comebacks where they just start flying around and out-talenting the other team. Russell Westbrook and Durant got to work, Scott Brooks finally seemed to get a handle on his lineups and the Thunder made a strong push.

In the end, too much Paul Pierce, not enough magic from Westbrook and Durant. Keep Reading…

Charlotte Bobcats (7-5, 2-2 road) vs. OKC Thunder (10-4, 6-2 home)

OKC Thunder (9-4, 3-2 road) at Philadelphia 76ers (7-5, 4-3 home)

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