Friday Bolts - 10.24.08

• Blue Blitz's recap of last night's game: "As soon as I saw that for some inexplicable reason Suns were starting Shaquille O'Neal, Steve Nash, and Amare Stoudemire, I knew we were screwed. Even a Shaq who could care less about the game and, judging from his quotes, hates the idea of NBA basketball in Oklahoma, he's still 10x better than anything we could have put on the court tonight, as far as big men go. Despite my forecast of impending doom, the Thunder showed heart in the first quarter, led by KD and trailing only by one."

• Thunderguru's: "I did a little number crunching as always and I compiled our Offensive Rating, Defensive Rating. our Pace and the number of possessions for last night’s contest. You may be surprised. We had 101 possessions and our Offensive rating was 92.3. 101 possessions is a lot. We had the ball in our hands and had our opportunities to score. The Offensive Rating was very low because we didn’t score as effectively as we needed to. The league average Offensive Rating 107.5!"

• The Commish will be in the Thunderdome for opening night: "NBA vice president of communications Maureen Coyle said Thursday that Stern would be attending the Thunder’s season opener against the Milwaukee Bucks. It’ll be the first official game for the franchise, which relocated from Seattle and changed its name during the off-season. Stern attended the Hornets’ final game in Oklahoma City in 2007."

• ESPN's David Thorpe has Kevin Durant and Jeff Green in his '10 sophomores that should soar': "I'm not expecting Durant's scoring numbers to jump nearly as much as his overall efficiency and productivity. Yes, he could average close to 25 points per game -- which would be impressive -- but doing so while rebounding better, defending with more purpose and getting more buckets inside the paint will establish Durant as a true future star. Building on this past April's play would be a good start ... The Thunder might see improvement only if Green makes a big jump in production. He settled for far too many outside shots last season with too few makes (similar to Durant). But he finished the season strong and occasionally dominated Orlando's summer league in July. The talent is there. He'd be better served by focusing on defense and rebounding, though, where he has the ability and agility to be excellent."

• What are they eating? Darnell Mayberry tells us: "The Thunder contracts a local catering service to provide meals for its players every day before and after practice. The goal is to ensure players receive optimal nutrition to help keep their bodies healthy and in the best possible shape. Team officials also hope players learn the importance of having healthier diets."

• SI's Power Rankings: "After two years of legal wrangling in Seattle, owner Clay Bennett finally got his wish and relocated the franchise to Oklahoma City. As a result, the NBA has a new team with a new nickname and a new uniform color scheme. Unfortunately for Oklahoma fans, the team still looks a lot like last season's Sonics. At least Kevin Durant is back to build on his Rookie of the Year campaign."

• Pro Basketball News' Sam Amico: "I wrote it before and I'll do so again -- my heart aches for pro basketball fans in Seattle. That city shouldn't sleep until a new version of the Sonics is brought to town. And someday, it will happen. That said, the fans in Oklahoma City have already been a constant reminder that when all else is wrong in the world, there's always the NBA. My goal this season is to get there for just one game and experience the love these people have for their new team. Just reading the blogs and message boards can tingle your spine. In OKC, the Thunder can do no wrong."

Wednesday Bolts - 10.22.08

Don't forget to go vote for your favorite Thunder blog.

• ESPN.com's massive team preview is up for both the Western and Eastern conferences. Be sure to check out point No. 6 on the Thunder page. Booyah.
  

• Please read this wonderful season preview from Pro Basketball News. It's perfectly written and it really expresses everything I've ever tried to say concerning the Sonics evolution into the Thunder. "Set aside how screwed the people in Seattle feel long enough to realize that fans in Oklahoma City have nothing to do with said screwing. All they did was support New Orleans' team impressively enough to wind up inheriting their own when local businessman Clay Bennett essentially gifts it to them ... Sentimentality is all that makes the situation different. Seattle just had a team ripped away from it. Oklahoma City is perceived as a pack of poachers. The wound is too fresh right now to see it at face value. That knowledge won't stop many of you from casting an evil eye towards the league's newest fan base, anyway." Amen. Amen. We just love our new team. Don't hate us.

• Big surprise here, the Thunder waived Chris Alexander and Derrick Byers.

• The Ankle Sprain Fairy has struck again. Doesn't seem to serious with the way Coach Peej was talking and the fact that Kevin Durant "may" miss the last two preseason games.

• And here's some *awesome breakdown of the injuries by Darnell Mayberry and some other guy. Could NewsOK possibly put anyone more awkward on camera? That's not a challenge NewsOK.
  

• Here's a look at OKC's season tickets which started arriving on folk's doorsteps yesterday. (Thanks to artbypaul from OKCThunderFans.com, click to make bigger.) Where does Paul live? In a Saudi Arabian castle?

Thursday Thunderbolts

Well, the Cubbies lost game one, so I'll be bummed all day today. Big Z needs to save us in Game Two. Anyway, on to the Bolts.

• UPDATE: Single game tickets to go on sale Tuesday: "At 10 a.m. Tuesday, fans can purchase single game tickets through Jan. 18. The Thunder is offering up to 1,500 tickets for each game, including opening night. About 200 tickets will be reserved for game day walk-up sales. Single game tickets will start at $10 and a limited selection of seats are expected to be available throughout the building. Fans can purchase tickets online at thunder.nba.com, at the Ford Center box office or by phone at 1-800-4NBA-TIX. There is a limit of four tickets per transaction."
  


• Recliner GM has a little season preview of the Thunder: "The Thunder drafted Durant and Green last year (and Westbrook this year), to be the cornerstones of their franchise. Durant showed enough potential last year to be considered a star in the making, and Green showed flashes as well. This will not be a very good team, and at this point for the franchise, all the OKC fans are looking for is some hope. If Green can improve on his solid rookie season (10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds), they can certainly dream about the potential of these two down the road. In order to do so, Green will have improve his poor shooting % (42.9%) for a 6′9 forward."
  

• Sportsline.com has a quick preview capsule: "Player to watch: Joe Smith is a pro's pro, just the kind of player who can help a contender. The Thunder is the furthest thing from a contender, which would make him a veteran on a young team. Nothing like trade rumors in October."
  
  
• A peak at the starting lineup? Not so fast says P.J. Carlesimo.
  
  
• Thunder fans excited to see Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol may have to wait. According to the Oklahoman, Lakers' coach Phil Jackson is considering holding the two stars out. "This week I'm just seeing how they feel, how's their energy level, and then we'll adjust," Jackson told NBA.com. "I was told not to say that I wasn't going to play Kobe in exhibition games. So I'm not going to say Kobe's not going to play in this exhibition game or that exhibition game. But there is a chance they may not play in an exhibition game."
  

• A first look into preseason training camp. Looks like they're having a good time. I just hope they're getting better at dribbling, passing, shooting... you know, basketball.
  
  

• And Day Two video with amazing, scintillating breakdown and commentary by Berry Tramel and walking mouth-fart, Darnell Mayberry.
  
  
• Mike Baldwin of the Oklahoman on Earl Watson's teaching ability: "I came in the league with Gary Payton so it will be easy for me to teach him the position, which to me is one of the hardest positions in the NBA,” Watson said. "The transition from college to the NBA at that position is as much mental as physical. It's an opportunity for me to teach him and get better myself.”
  
  
• Blue Blitz has started a "Getting to Know You" spot and the first feature is P.J. Carlesimo: "Anyone who has heard the name P.J. Carlesimo before he became the coach of the SuperSonics last year, probably knew about the time he was choked by Latrell Sprewell. In fact, that's probably the only thing they knew about him. But, lets start at the beginning..."
  
  
• One quick note: It's time to move on folks. I'm sick of every article about the Thunder having some little snip or quip or lip about the team. Enough. We get it. You think Clay Bennett stole them. You think the name sucks. You think the logo sucks more. You think the road jerseys look like Kramer's technicolor coat. You think OKC doesn't have internet and we still have black and white TVs. I get it. But just once, I want to read a preview article, a column or something that isn't tongue-in-cheek making fun of Oklahoma or the team. We're a team. We're named the Thunder. I cringe every time I type it or read it, but it's time to get over it. Move. The Eff. On.

We're not last!

ESPN.com's Marc Stein put out his first NBA power rankings of the year. And he has the Thunder coming in at a solid No. 25.

And the Milwaukee Bucks are in at No. 24. Oooh, a top 25 matchup in game one at the Thunderdome. Exciting.

Here's what Stein had to say:

"Kevin Durant's super young Sonics-turned-Thunder figure to make less of a first-season splash than the Hornets did in Oklahoma City. But the team that broke the hearts of Sonics diehards everywhere -- including several at the home office in Bristol -- can take a bit of encouragement from the fact that OKC and its loud crowds were very, very good to the Hornets, rankings-wise, as you'll find by clicking here."

Well, that's ok, right? Maybe the Thunder can surprise people. I'd be very stoked if they can be at least .500 at home. That would be a good start. And Stein's point about the Hornets' climb in OKC is not to be taken lightly. They were preseason No. 29. And with the OKC bump - something very similar to the Colbert Bump - who knows what the Thunder can achieve?

(Also, can we get official word from team management if Thunder is supposed to be plural or singular? Because it's really throwing wannabe writers like me way off. I'm all over the place with my subject/verb/pronoun agreement. Is it, "The Thunder are going to play like they want to win" or "The Thunder is going to play like it wants to win." I'm so confused. I found this sentence in a column from the Miami Herald that may give some aid: "As is, the Heat is set to open training camp in perilous shape at point guard... yada, yada, yada."

So the Herald refers to the Heat as singular. I guess we should do the same. I was really pulling for plural though.)