Friday, January 2, 2009

First, we were like "YEAH!!!" but then we were like "NOOO!!!"

Adfsdfgfsgfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff (finally picks head off keyboard).

Dang. That really, really, really sucks. Big time. Kevin Durant hits an incredible shot -- an INCREDIBLE shot -- to put Oklahoma City up one with 2.7 to play. The Thunder actually may beat one of the best teams in the West. The Ford Center is ballistic. But Carmelo Anthony did what he's paid to do. And in the end the Nuggets did what we all thought they would do.

Not to be lost in the killer, heart-wrenching, wooden spoon to the nards, 122-120 defeat is how well OKC played. Not only did the Thunder push out to a 14-point cushion at one point, but after Denver did what we all knew they would do -- comeback -- the Thunder weathered the storm (pun intended) and stayed in the game. They got the stop they HAD TO HAVE and KD knocked down the shot. Durant had 33 points, nine boards, five assists, was 10-21 from the floor and 4-5 from three. Jeff Green played a perfect sidekick, chipping in 18. Russell Westbrook was effective, scoring 14 and dishing five assists. Desmond Mason and Damien Wilkins both finally played a little offense. And what the heck has gotten into Earl Watson? Are you actually trying to get me to like you?

I just hope the team can get over it. I hope they realize that they proved themselves in a big way tonight. Coming off a win, they played awesome for 48 full minutes, taking one of the best teams in the league to the edge. It will be tough for them to refocus and get back at it when they were so, so close to the biggest win of the year.

It's a weird thing to watch one team that's clearly over-matched battle a far more talented team to the limit. Anthony had 31, Chauncey Billups 24 and Nene 27. Every possession late, it just seemed it would take a miracle from the Thunder to stop the Nuggs.

Honestly, other than the obvious poor defense, there's nothing really to complain about. It sure would have been sweet to pick up win No. 5 and for it to be over a great team, but OKC played about as good as it could. The Thunder shot 58 percent from the floor. They hit free throws. They rebounded (relatively) well. They didn't turn it over an absurd amount. They just got beat by a better team.

There were some lost possessions late in the game where Jeff Green airmailed a pass into the eight row and Chris Wilcox inexplicably threw it away. Those would be nice to have back. But dang, I feel for the team. They wanted this one. They played so hard and so well. To come up empty-handed has to hurt. But this happens in the NBA. Happens a lot in fact. It just has to be forgotten as OKC prepares for a Tuesday night run against the Knicks. I think it's pretty clear right now: You better not come into the Ford Center and expect to roll the ball out, jog up and down the court and walk out with a win. It's just not happening anymore. This team will play you. And if you're not ready and focused, they'll beat you. I really feel that the Thunder could win every two out of five the rest of the way. Mentally, you can see they believe they can win. I think they're finally getting over the "Here we go again" mentality.

OKC tries to shake this one off against New York Tuesday night at the Ford Center. Good game Thunder. Nothing to hang your heads about.

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

They have a lot to hang their head about. They have to play and live in Oklahoma City.

Anonymous said...

Nuggets fan here. You guys have a lot to be proud of in your team despite your record. You guys play extremely hard and gave us all we could handle. I'd take Kevin Durant on my team any day of the week. Good game and keep your heads up.

Anonymous said...

Tough loss by the Clunk Monkeys. The Boombox was rocking.

Anonymous said...

The league should change the rules about continuation and out of bounds pass ins so we could win. We saved the league and they should change the rules to accomodate us.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, I'm an OKC fan pretending to be a Nuggets fan. We...err, you guys...really should have won tonight. You have the far superior team. Russell Westbrook reminds me of Magic Johnson in his prime. Kevin Durant is the messiah. Robert Swift has the muscles of a Greek god. You guys are going to win at least 12 championships during Durant's tenure with the Thunder. Gosh we are lucky to have escaped with a victory over the Thunder tonight.

Anonymous said...

What a great game last night. The Ford Center was packed and just got louder and louder as the game went along. At the end it was deafening. Everyone just had such a great time. Even though we lost, all you saw was smiles after the game and the place was buzzing.

You can see the team getting better almost every game and it's obvious that these guys love their home court. There is a real love affair building between this team and our city and it'e a beautiful thing to see.

Anonymous said...

Good write up Royce. Like you, I hope the guys don't take this loss too hard. They played a very good team last night and deserved a better fate.

I had so much fun at the game last night. I couldn't believe how loud it got. My husband and I are both hoarse this morning. We love going to the games. Bring on the Knicks!

Anonymous said...

GREAT GAME THUNDER! That was one of the most exciting finishes in recent memory. Even though they have only won 4 games my hats off to OKC. That's why they play the game. If the scoring had been on a subjective system like diving Durant's game leading and Melo's game winning shot would have been 10's. Just glad that Melo had the last chance. I thought Nene's FT miss before Durant's shot would do us in. Even though he had made 7 of 7 before the miss in a close game they all count. The heck with the dunk practicing in practice place more emphasis on FT practice, "Clueless George"! I know it's early in their careers but no doubt Portland screwed up once again in going for a "Footer" in Odem rather than Durant. They did the same thing back in the day when they passed on "Air" in favor of a stiff "Footer" name Sam Bowie out of Kentucky. Their reasoning was you can't teach height. So much for that logic!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, had to steal this from Bend it Like Bennett. Too funny:

"I just wanted to say kudos to the men in rainbow for another epic almost-win. To think; they nearly beat a team above .500 for the first time all year. The Nuggets! But they didn't. Beating the Nuggets in a close game would have finally shown all the nay-sayers that the Thunder are FOR REALS now, and would have proven how far they've come since the beginning of the year and how much they've improved since last year, when, in fact, THEY DID BEAT THE NUGGETS."

The Sonics also beat the Spurs last year, and came within a buzzer-beater of taking down Detroit. So yes, they've improved since the start of the year, but they're still nowhere near as good as they were last year.

Anonymous said...

This is pathetic. You can't sellout a Friday night game against a good, exciting team like the Nuggets? I shudder to think about season ticket sales next year.

Anonymous said...

The best game I've seen them play.... it was awesome, exciting, suspenseful and they played their asses off.... the crowd was insane and I loved every minute of it! (well, until the very last minute, lol).

Yeah, the ref sucked! But, what an effort... Go Thunder!!

Anonymous said...

Ford Center was Loud against the Nuggets on Friday Night. At times, I couldn't hear myself think.

There was a lot of hustle by the team. Only a few let-downs (a couple of poor passes by Durant, Green and Wilcox). Shooting was great, rebounds were good and free-throws were awesome.

Am I the only one that cringes every time that Wilcox gets the ball? Also, I wanted to strangle the bald ref. He was single handedly giving the game to the Nuggets.

Too bad we couldn't pull off a win. This team is getting really close to turning it around.

Anonymous said...

I got to go to my first Thunder game last night and I don't know when I've ever had a better time. The atmosphere inside the Ford Center is unbelievable, we have got the best fans in the country.

The guys in the Sonics jerseys that were giving blowjobs in the bathrooms was an added bonus. I wasn't sure what to think at first but a guy handed me a Thunder Girls calender and said that if I just layed it on the guys head and looked at the pictures while they were sucking me off, then it wouldn't mean that I'm gay.

The little guy named Brian seemed to be their leader and had a great mouth. That boy could suck start a Harley...LOL

Anonymous said...

I am happy our fans are enjoying the losses. Keep proving why you are the dumbest I mean greatest fans in the NBA. I'll be giving blow jobs in the men's bathroom as usual at the next game. Thanks again.

Anonymous said...

I like having a team in OKC, but it's the whole excessive OU mentality that I find troubling. You people are morons. I am an OU fan myself, but really, to be disrespectful to anyone who is not from here, especially the Thunder players, who now play for, and represent our city, and wear the city name on their clothing, is beyond ridiculous. You are the reason people think we are incest driven yokels.

There were some extremely "unkept" people in the section next to us last night wearing nasty OU gear (One had a filthy OU hat that can not possibly have ever been washed or off his head in decades, as evidenced by the tangled mullet of matted dreadlocks that oozed out underneath, and a nasty, stain ridden OU shirt that also had no doubt, never seen a washing machine, and had obviously been used as toilet paper) booing Kevin Durant with the "devil horn hand gesture" during his announcement. They are typical Okies, idiots. What is the purpose of that? I am sure they are the exact same people who first went to Hornets games with "HorneyBee" signs and asked to leave.

That is not what "I" want for the NBA, this team, or Oklahoma City, and I am not afraid to say so. The only way to shed the bumpkin reputation is to first accept the fact that most Oklahomans are subhumans. I think we (The entire city) have the potential to be MUCH better than that, and the whole "Boomer" and Trammel thing just makes us all look like "Bucktoothed Bethany Bafoons", "Mustang Morons", "Guthrie Goobers", "Yukon Yokels" or "Nichols Hills Nincompoop's".

What happened to the big league city? That was a joke to begin with. We don't matter. Small town mindsets and small circulation sports casters do not help our city image whatsoever. Netither do sloppy OU homers who won't be happy until every player on the roster is an OU graduate.

Look idiots, you can be a good Thunder player who went to "another" school, even a school in Texas.

I know that is hard for some of you to accept, but the SOONER you accept the fact that you are morons, the BETTER we will all be. Durant is the best player we have and yes, he came from Texas. I, for one, do not want him to hate playing here because he is constantly booed by ignorant "mobile homers", who never even went to college in the first place, and do not yet know how to use indoor plumbing to their best advantage. It's bad enough he has to play in a hillbilly town like this to begin with.

We do not have to be "OU" to have pride in who we aspire to be. We have some colors to rally around and they are not crimson and cream. There is a time and place for that, like when your mom is dressed in her OU nighty and seducing you. Have OU pride, but for the love of God, leave it at Owen field. It would seem to be much better if we distanced ourselves as far from the unwashed OU trailer dwellers who show up at the Ford Center on a regular basis as possible. Those few of us who are human need to break from the rest of the low classed Okies.

Anonymous said...

Just a note to let everyone know that the fundraiser to raise money for our float in the Gay Pride Parade is going better than anyone could have expected. In keeping with tradition, we started the SOS campaign (Suck One for the Sonics) and raised over $625.00 bucks last night giving headjobs in the bathrooms of the Ford Center.

We want to give a special shoutout to Mr, Baker, Speedcat, Joshu@, Mark Stocker, phenom, Myk, Patches Pal, Scott and RmcD for giving special discount blowjobs up in Loud City for $1.00. I know those guys knees are sore this morning but their enthusiasm is an inspiration to us all.

If things keep going this well we might be able to spring for a second room at the Motel 6 and be able to spread out a little bit.

See you guys at the next game!!!!
Brian and Steve

Anonymous said...

I make it a point to NEVER spend a penny in okaysee, so my money won't go to the tax to pay off the bord center and I would never give clay clay my money by buying a ticket to a dunder game but I'm really tempted to try and sneak in to the next game so that I can get a blowjob from my SOS brothers. I don't have any money to donate but I would gladly return the favor.

Anonymous said...

Great comment section, Royce. Keep inspiring people with your writing!

Anonymous said...

Royce, if you had asked me a month ago if it was possible for your blog to suck even more, I would have said no. But the way this comments section has devolved, you have set a new low in amateurism.

Anonymous said...

Lots of good positive comments here today. It's a shame that the gay Seattle people try to ruin it....oh well, they're getting what they deserve. All of their teams stink and they are now nationally recognized as the worst sports city in America. Did they really have 400,000 people attend their gay rights parade?

Anonymous said...

This guy is really smart.

Anonymous said...

Seattle is now the new "Gay Capitol of America"......

Published: Monday, June 30, 2008

Seattle Gay Pride parade draws 400,000

Associated Press

SEATTLE — An estimated 400,000 spectators turned out on Sunday for the 34th annual Seattle Pride Parade, a three-hour event from the south end of downtown Seattle to the Seattle Center.

Anonymous said...

Stick it to them, Carmelo. Eat a f-ing dick, Oklahoma.

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Hey Royce,
Bendit clearly opposes the actions of the ownership group, not the people of OKC, pretty sure I've never seen any potshots on your kind there like i have seen you do to Seattlites in the past on here. Also, the boards are clean. Looks like good writing really does inspire insightful and lively discussion.

Anonymous said...

Nice blog you have here. To bad that most of the comments posted do not have anything to do with the article written.

I believe the Thunder has come along since the departure of P.J. but still need to clear that last hurdle. I, too, have found myself saying to myself, "Here we go again." Wish I could do more of the "Alright!!" thing.

As to all the "Okie" comments. Is that suppose to offended anyone who lives in Oklahoma? It seems like all the "intelligent people" from other states who post here, could come up with something a little more original.