Need to waste a little time clicking the same button over and over?

Try ESPN's 2009 NBA Lottery Mock Draft! I know I've done it about 59 times. The last three times I ran it, OKC got the fourth pick and took James Harden. And I cried. Out loud.

It sucks that even though OKC could potentially (and realistically) go 2-79, it would still only have a 25 percent chance of winning. There should be some kind of "total and unbelievable suckage" clause that gives a team at least a 50 percent chance of winning the lottery. And also gives said team 20 or 30 million in "spending money" for the offseason. And lowers the rim to eight feet on the offensive end.

With this draft, whoever gets No. 1 takes Blake Griffin. That hasn't changed yet. But the top five changes almost every time depending on who picks where. OKC has taken Griffin every single time at one. At two, the Thunder has taken Ricky Rubio every time. When Wizards got Griffin at one and Minnesota picked second, the Wolves almost always took Hasheem Thabeet and left Rubio to OKC at three. The lowest OKC ever fell was fourth to which it took James Harden every time. Basically everyone but Minny wants Rubio at two.

A couple of oddities:
- Once, Rubio fell to OKC at four. Washington took Griffin, Minnesota took Thabeet, Indiana took Harden, and the Thunder took Rubio.
- Once, the Thunder took Thabeet at four. Washington took Griffin, Golden State took Brandon Jennings, the Clippers took Rubio and OKC took Thabeet. Which means Thabeet is in front of Harden on OKC's board.

I would say the Thunder's big board (according to Chad Ford) is:
1. Blake Griffin
2. Ricky Rubio
3. Hasheem Thabeet
4. James Harden

OKC never took a player outside of these four. Not once did it take Stephen Curry or Brandon Jennings. According to Ford, one of those four guys will be in a Thunder uniform next year.

One thing to keep in mind is the Thunder's chances of getting Griffin really don't get better with every loss. I think it's pretty clear OKC will finish with the league's worst record. The Thunder will have a 25 percent chance to get him, which is more than anyone else. So now that you've pretty much got the most ping-pong balls wrapped up, how about winning a few boys?

Let's just go ahead and start looking forward to next June

When your team starts 1-11, there's a few things you can do.
1. Stop paying attention
2. Look for positives and convince yourself improvement is coming
3. Call for your coach's head
4. Watch each game with your arms folded and with a cynical, "I don't care" attitude.
5. Start talking about next year's draft.

And that's what we're going to do here. Why not? It's clear that Oklahoma City will have another lottery pick, but the question is where? By no means am I giving up on the season, because we all knew we'd be in the lottery. It's just, there's not a ton to say about a team that 1-11 besides, "They stink." And plus, it's always fun to look ahead and dream of one player turning your life around.

So who is going to impact the Thunder the most? Who could be our Tim Duncan - the guy to take us from the bottom of the basement to the top of the townhouse?

Blake Griffin - Oklahoma
If OKC picks No. 1, this is who they take. No questions asked. Don't even think twice. Blake Griffin is your man. First, he's obviously a hometown guy. Second, I truly don't think there is another player in the country that can match him athletically or physically. He's the best player in the nation. Period. He's big (6-10, 260 lbs) but he's quick. He's developing a nice little jumper and the dude can handle the ball. I've been saying it before Fran Fraschilla decided to say about 14 times on national television - he's Amare Stoudemire, version two. Except honestly, at this point, I think Blake is stronger and more developed than Amare at 20. Blake is impossible to guard one-on-on in the post because he'll overpower you. He can face you up and take you off the dribble. And he's an ideal guy to run pick and rolls or pick and pops with. He will immediately impact whatever roster that he winds up on. Take him OKC. Take him. (Highlights)

B.J. Mullens - Ohio State
He's clearly got ability. He's 7-1 and is extremely athletic. But one thing about him is nobody will know if he will be NBA ready when he comes out after this year. Watching video of him, I see a little Greg Oden in him, just because of his length and the way he dominates the post. But he's so much more athletic than Oden. This pick wouldn't hurt OKC. He should be a nice post player in the future, but I don't see him as an immediate impact player. Right now, the Thunder doesn't need anymore projects and I fear Mullens would be one. (Highlights)

Ricky Rubio - DKV Joventut
I would love Rubio for a couple reasons:
1. To stick it to Bill Simmons. The Sports Guy (who is probably my favorite sports writer) is hell-bent on disrespecting Oklahoma City. He was outspoken about the move and now only refers to the Thunder as the SloppySeconds, the Bennett City Hijackers or Kevin Durant's Team. But he has also declared in two columns, that he has such a crush on Rubio that he "would move to whatever city drafts him." Welcome to OKC Bill. Give me a call. I'll show you around.

2. Because he's a darn fine player. At 17, he showed his talent in the Gold Medal Game against the United States in Beijing. He's extremely gifted with the ball, has excellent court vision and gets to the rim with ease. He looks like a combo of Steve Nash and Chris Paul, but with more size (6-4). If OKC took him, the Thunder might be labeled the Detroit Lions of the NBA having taken two straight point guards, but Russell Westbrook is more of a combo guard while Rubio is a straight point man. He runs a fast break with such fluidity and is awesome at penetrating and finding someone to dish to. One thing that concerns me is how much of a set-shot jumper he has. He gets basically no lift and he's got a slow release. Obviously, he did fine for himself against Team USA, but I don't know how well that would translate to the NBA. Also, he appears to be developing a bit of an ego and I'm not sure how thrilled he would be to play in small market OKC. All that aside, I am behind Rubio and would be buying billboards downtown begging Sam Presti to take him if Blake Griffin weren't involved. (Highlights)

Demar DeRozen - USC
Some are calling him the next Vince Carter. Is that a complement? I assume so, but I have to think he really doesn't fit into what Oklahoma City already has and what it wants to do. He dunks, he's freakishly athletic, but where does he play? Well, unless OKC wants to shuffle things around for him. Jeff Green would either have to move to the four or to the bench, Kevin Durant to his more natural small forward spot and DeRozen play the two. Otherwise there's a crowd. It's hard to ignore his pure, unbelievable ability, but unlike former Trojan guard O.J. Mayo, DeRozen probably won't be able to come into the league and play right away. He has absolute superstar potential, but sometimes those guys pan out and sometimes they don't. He's far from a sure thing and OKC really needs a sure thing right now. (Highlights)

James Harden - Arizona State
Get ready. I'm about to do it. I'm about to compare a black guy not just to a white guy, but to a Spanish guy. James Harden reminds me of Manu Ginobili, except without all the falling down. He's lefty, he's talented but he gets his points in different ways. He's not your traditional scorer. He's does little things well and scores a lot of awkward baskets. If the Thunder somehow fall to the fourth, fifth or sixth pick, this would be a pretty good one. (Highlights)

Brandon Jennings - Lottomatica Roma
For 6-1, the guy is a freak. He throws down windmills, 360s and reverse jams. He is the most "pure" point guard in the top 10. He's a lefty so of course, since when we make comparisons we have to stay within the realm of someone who is short, black and left-handed. So I'm seeing a lot of Kenny Anderson here, but with more athletic ability. Or maybe Dee Brown. Or Mayor Kevin Johnson. They all fit the dense comparison. But seriously, the guy can play but he really reminds me a little of Sebastian Telfair. A ton of hype, undersized and will have to understand that he can't come into the NBA and play like he did in high school. Passing lanes are smaller, jumpshots are harder to get off and getting to the rim is much tougher. He could definitely help the Thunder, but again, he's not a safe pick. (Highlights)

Hasheem Thabeet - UCONN
Let's see - Robert Swift, Johan Petro, Mouhamed Sene, Nick Collison... Hasheem Thabeet. Fits right in. One of these guys has to pan out, right?

But you know where most teams make the most strides? Those late first, mid-second round picks. The guys that turn into really nice role players or in some cases stars (Kevin Martin, Michael Redd, Kwame Brown, oh wait). These solid role players are what the Thunder need more than anything.

SLEEPER PICKS

Connor Atchley - Texas
This guy has solid contributor on a contending team written all over him. He's tall (6-10) and can shoot. He can defend and he has the awesome scrappy white guy stereotype.

Eric Maynor - Virginia Commonwealth
Want a perfect backup point guard or maybe the next Chauncy Billups. Maynor is your man. He's had four years in college, knows how to run and offense and knows how to lead a team. This guy has solid pro written all over him. (I guess my cliche sports phrase of the day is, "written all over him." You know, I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. I just really need to step back and refocus. I'm getting better... ok I'm done now.)

Darren Collison - UCLA
Russell Westbrook's defensive running buddy. Collison is a nice point guard that can score a little but will be more of a solid defensive guard that's got floor leadership and nice game management skills.

Josh Heytvelt - Gonzaga
See: Atchley, Connor. But with a better post game and a little more scoring ability.

Curtis Jerrells - Baylor
A little Michael Redd but with insane slasher ability. He may not be a starter, but he'll be that type of pure scorer every team want to have waiting. He could easily be the kind of guy that puts up 14 or 15 a night in 20 minutes. He's got basketball player written all over him.

If Oklahoma City lands to the top pick, the official Thunderworld endorsement goes to Blake Griffin. He's an Oklahoma guy through-and-through. He can immediately impact the team. He fills a spot that OKC desperately needs help. And he's a great human being. Take Blake.

Tuesday Bolts - 11.18.08

• Ball Don't Lie, Behind the Box Score: "Robert Swift started. He started and he played 25 minutes with six points and eight rebounds and two assists with two blocks and he started. Jokes aside, good news. Albeit three years too late. Russell Westbrook needed 14 shots to score 14 points, he had more turnovers (three) than assists (two), and he may not ‘ave a clue, but he is the future. And he had five steals in 28 minutes."

• Blue Blitz's take: "Part of the reason the Thunder had such a successful first half was because they followed the gameplan that I laid out in the preview. Specifically, that means pick n' roll things to death. They got so, so many easy midrange shots and drives to the basket, it was awesome. But in the third, it's like they decided they could do it on pure energy alone. They felt the arena intensity and completely abandoned the gameplan. They started trying to create for themselves, and I even saw Petro take a turnaround jumper with two guys in his face. Hello? Heck, Jeff Green tried to lift it over 3 guys and do this layup at the free throw line."

• SI's power rankings: "Seven straight losses have killed a lot of the excitement surrounding the NBA's newest franchise. We're guessing there will be more than a few wistful OKC hoops fans when the city's one-time adopted club, New Orleans, makes its first appearance as a visitor Friday."

• Kevin Durant is "glad we made the move": "Pretty good, actually. I'm loving Oklahoma City. I was just telling that to my teammates last night at dinner. It's a great town. It's quiet, the people are nice, the fans are unbelievable, and that's what we need as a team. It goes a long way with us that the fans are there every day, whether we are winning or losing. I'm glad we made the move."

• P.J. sees good stuff in another loss: "It was a very good first step,” said coach P.J. Carlesimo. "Again, it’s still a loss. So we have to play better. "We have to build on it. We can’t settle for a much better performance over 48 minutes against a really good team and slip back the way we did last week.”

• Desmond Mason will be out at least 10 days with a sprained elbow: "Coach P.J. Carlesimo expected backup Damien Wilkins to get extra playing time in Mason's place, and said guards Russell Westbrook and Kyle Weaver could also eat up some of Mason's minutes."

• Joe's recap: "Again the practice of putting four quarters of efficient, consistent basketball eluded the Thunder Monday night against the Rockets. I think actually, the concept has been missing in every game so far this season."

Friday Bolts - 11.14.08

Slightly new look today, as the centered version was getting a little crammed and making stories stretch out too much. So we'll see how this new layout goes. 

• Kevin Durant status is still up in the air for tonight.

• Bleacher Report has its All NBA Embarrassment team. Coach Peej is heading the list: "Carlesimo has no business coaching in the NBA. Sure, he put up some wins as the Portland Trailblazers head coach, but the Blazers were already a solid team when he was hired. He was let go by the Blazers and the Golden State Warriors picked him as their next head coach. In a little over a season as the Warriors coach, he went a combined 46-113 during that time. Now he's coaching the Seattle Sonics/Oklahoma City Thunder and is off to the same way he started as Warriors coach. So far his record as coach of the team in just over a full season is 21-68. Talk about embarrassing for a NBA team to pick him as a coach."

• Check out SI's Ian Thompson's interesting answer to this question: Is there a possibility that another franchise will relocate after what happened to the Sonics? My guess is Memphis. --- Sanjeev, Perth, Australia. My guess is the Nets, who have been trying to move to Brooklyn. If that falls through as many believe it will, then it will be no surprise if they are sold and the team is moved to another market. The other vulnerable franchises include New Orleans, Memphis and Charlotte (which appear unlikely to break its leases), as well as Sacramento and Milwaukee (which can escape). "The Nets aren't going to be moving to the Barclays Center, that's not happening,'' a rival NBA owner said of their proposed move to Brooklyn. "And they're losing money.'' (Very interesting. Crazy to think about the chain reaction effect the Sonics move to OKC could have. And even crazier to think about if Oklahoma City would have been more patient, could it have had it's pick between all those franchises? How ironic would it be for the Hornets to move to Seattle and Oklahoma City demi-god Chris Paul is a Sonic? Oh, the irony.) 

• OKC has been playing from behind all season writes Mike Baldwin: "The most sobering statistic? In half of its games, the Thunder has trailed by 20, 14, 10 or 8 points after one quarter. "We can’t do what we did against Utah and what we did against Orlando,” said coach P.J. Carlesimo. "It’s encouraging we get back into games, but we can’t keep digging holes.”

• A little pre-game warm up from the Thunderguru: "Friday night the OKC Thunder go to the Big Apple to play the resurrected New York Knicks. I say resurrected because the Knicks have been a very craptastic team for quite some time; they haven’t had a winning season since Jeff VanGundy was their coach in the 2000-01 season. Now they have Mike D’Antoni calling the shots, bringing his run and gun, high power mojo from Europe via the Phoenix Suns."
  

And high school playoffs start tonight. Go Mustang Broncos!

Thunder storms back but comes up short in Utah

BOX SCORE

The Thunder walked into the half down 29 points to the Utah Jazz and if I weren't writing a recap of the game, I would've turned it off.

I'm glad I didn't.

Because if I had flipped over and started watching Mythbusters, I'd have missed a real character-building, possible turn-the-page kind of game for the Thunder. These guys absolutely played their butts off in the second half in 104-97 loss to the Jazz.

The Thunder outscored the Jazz 68-46 in the second half and clawed their way back into it. And honestly, if the rake across Kevin Durant's arms would've gone OKC's way with the Thunder (1-4) down 12 in the fourth, the game might have ended up much closer. Well, closer in the sense that Utah (5-0) might not have gone on that 9-0 spurt to essentially lock the game away.

But holy crap, had they not played like a middle school jayvee team in the first half, things could have been different. Not only did Oklahoma City go 8-38 in the first half (21 percent) but it looked like the team had quit in the second quarter. Jeff Green looked like he was busting his butt in the frame but honestly, the rest of the group that played the last five of the second looked like they were thinking about their flight tomorrow morning. Every stinking loose ball in the second the Jazz picked up. They couldn't hit a shot. They threw the ball away constantly. There was no reason for anyone to think this team was going to ratchet it up and plays like that in the second half after the first. But boy did they ever.

Two guys got them going after the break. Earl Watson and Desmond Mason. OKC came out of halftime on a 14-3 run. And then followed that one with another 7-2 spurt. As Coach Peej goes to sleep tonight he's going to be wondering, "Why didn't we play like that in the first half?" I have an answer maybe - Utah was getting bored and let up a little. But they sure shouldn't have because this Thunder group didn't lay down and wound up giving the Jazz everything they wanted.

And they just kept plugging. Dez went crazy. He was knocking down jumpers, blocking shots, looking great. Down eight with 5:50 left, it was time to go back to Durant and the starters. This was his time. But like a punch in the nose, the Jazz knocked the lead right back to 15. It happened so fast it was hard to understand. "So wait, Kirilenko had a dunk... then Boozer had one... then I thought we scored? And then Ashton Kutcher hit that three... Wait, how are we down 15 again?" Quite simply, the Jazz realized they were about to crap one away and the Thunder ran out of gas. It's tough to pull off that kind of comeback. But the good thing is they still didn't quit. Green knocked down back-to-back treys and easily played his best game of the year scoring 22 on 6-13 shooting.

Just like Wednesday against the Celtics, the Thunder started hot scoring the first eight with Durant hitting two quick jumpers. Things were looking good. I was nodding my head in approval as I thought the group was going to validate my prediction of a good offensive night. But after only 29 points in one of the worst offensive halves I've ever seen, I was clicking around trying to figure out how to delete this blog. Utah went on a 22-0 run and OKC missed 10 straight shots. Russell Westbrook finally ended the pain by getting to the stripe. But luckily the guys bailed me out with a second half explosion of 68 points.

As for Durant, he scored 24 on 9-15 shooting in just 34 minutes. And before we get upset about his minutes, we have to realize that the group on the floor was bringing the team back led by Dez so KD just had to sit and wait. As for Westbrook, tonight wasn't his best night (6 points in 17 minutes on 1-8 shooting). These type of things happen to rookies. Plus, Watson was playing his best game of the season so it was tough for Russell to get on the floor.

Here's some application to take out of this: This offense is just so inept when they aren't knocking down jump shots or running the floor. If the jumper isn't falling, they aren't scoring. That was the difference in the halves. In the first, OKC shot 21 percent. The second, almost 60 percent. The Thunder ran the floor, upped the energy and started hitting shots. Right now, that's the key for this offense - shot making.There's just no other option. Westbrook brings the run to the rack, but other than that, there's really no Plan B. It would definitely help to have a post-scorer. And as seen tonight, the goal for next year: Get Carlos Boozer. He's like, good.

Utah was the first team to go over 100 on OKC (which shows the defensive improvement) and this was the first time the Thunder has gone over 90 (which shows a step forward on the offensive end). Strange to see so many good things out of a game where the team was down 31 at one point, but there are lots of positives to come out of this one. Let's not forget, this Jazz team is a favorite to win it all this year.

The Thunder gets tomorrow off and then returns to the Ford Center to take on unbeaten Atlanta. Let's all hope for four quarters of solid ball Sunday.

Friday Bolts - 11.7.08

• Jeff Green is learning on the fly: "But unlike the good old days in Washington, D.C., where Green excelled from the start and led Georgetown to a 67-27 record over his three seasons, Rivers witnessed Green’s baptism by fire continue Wednesday night in the Thunder’s 96-83 loss to his Celtics club."

• No one goes to Salt Lake and wins, writes Mike Baldwin: "The Thunder plays tonight at Utah, which was 37-4 at home last season. "Every time you play there it’s a tough game,” said Thunder forward Chris Wilcox. "We have to run hard in the first half. You need to get off to a good start and try to destroy the crowd early.”

• Not exactly Thunder news (though it could be one day, fingers crossed) but SI.com says Blake Griffin is the top prospect from college: "He's undersized for a 4 but unbelievably powerful," the scout said. "He can jump out of the gym, he has great hands. Really, really strong and explosive. He's going to have to improve his perimeter game a little because his size will make it tougher for him to get to the rim; he can get there with ease in the Big 12, but he can't do it in our league on a nightly basis. He can become a pick-and-pop guy, and I think he will because he has a really good work ethic. He wants to be good, so I think the skills he needs to develop will come his way. He would have been in the lottery last year had he decided to come out as a freshman.''

• Thunderguru previews tonight's game: "Tonight the Oklahoma City Thunder travel to the high desert to play the unbeaten Utah Jazz in a game that has all of the usual suspects minus one: Deron Williams. The Jazz’s impressive Olympian point guard is still out rehabbing his gimpy wheel. Against the solid Jazz we will take any advantage we can get, however this team hasn’t had much trouble dispelling with their opponents so far despite the loss of one of the games best young point guards."

• The Salt Lake News Tribune previews tonight's matchup: "Utah coach Jerry Sloan stands on the precipice of history as the Jazz welcome the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder to EnergySolutions Arena on Friday. When Mehmet Okur recorded 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Utah to a 103-96 triumph over Portland on Wednesday, Sloan recorded his 999th win with the franchise. He is now just one victory shy of becoming the first coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games with one team."

• And this is just not acceptable. The Thunderstruck being played during player introductions isn't even the AC/DC one? (I couldn't tell up in Loud City.) It's by the minor-leaguer Nickelback, Hinder? Geez: "If you’ve attended any of the first three home games, you probably realized the pregame introduction of the song "Thunderstruck” isn’t AC/DC’s version of the hit song. Thunder officials hired the Oklahoma City-based rock band Hinder to record a new version."

So I thought this Durant guy was supposed to be good?

We are four games into the season and the Thunder is 1-3. Not too far off from what everyone thought they would be. Most would say bravo for winning a game this early. But when eyeballing the team, most are a little surprised by the production of the proclaimed team star, Kevin Durant.

Checking other blogs and fantasy sites, one thing is on people's lips when it comes to the Thunder (well, besides all the usual spew about Seattle and the name): What's the deal with Durant? Is this the beginning of a sophomore slump?

They say he's not scoring enough. He's not shooting a high enough percentage. Where's the stat stuffer we expected? Should we panic?

Answer in short: No. He is still playing relatively well (18.3 ppg, 41.4 percent from the field) but isn't popping eyes like some thought.

Keep in mind a couple things here:

1) He is only 20 years old. When Kobe Bryant was 20, he averaged 19.9 for the season. Durant already has a 20.3 average in the books. Seriously, think about it for a minute. He is only 20 years old. We are expecting quite a bit from a guy that voted for his first president and can't buy a brew. For 20, the guy is quite a stud. Heck, overall in the general sense 20 or not, he's a stud.

2) He is it. Right now, there's really not much of a Plan B for the Thunder. Jeff Green played much better last night, but he's not that second scorer yet. When Durant is on the floor, teams are locking on him. There's really no post man to dump down to that can kick out. No guy that can isolate on one side of the court and play the two-man with him. He's already got a team on his super-skinny shoulders and he needs time to progress.

3) He's only playing 34 minutes a game. Likewise, when Kobe was 20 he played almost 38 minutes a game. Why is Durant not getting 5-10 more minutes on the floor? Think about it: Five minutes is almost half a quarter. That much time Durant could easily add two more buckets and be averaging 22 ppg and no one would be saying a word right now. Maybe Coach Peej is trying to ease him into the superstar mold of 40 minutes a night (he played 34 last season) so that he doesn't wear out. Maybe there's a method to this. Who knows. I just know I get a little frustrated watching the offense completely shut down and Damien Wilkins dribble the ball of his foot while KD sits on the bench with a towel over his head. But maybe that's just me.

4) He's forcing it, but not forcing it enough. Let me explain. When Professor Chaos/Big Train/Kid Delicious is on the hardwood, you can almost read his mind: "Get me the ball. I need to score. Get me the ball. I need to score." Which in turn, when he gets it, he sometimes rushes it. He takes two dribbles and shoots with 16 on the shot clock. He needs to have the mind set of scoring, but if the shot isn't there, kick out, move around and try again. There's nothing wrong with shooting with four on the clock. I want KD taking most the shots. He's the best player. But he needs to force it in the right way, if that makes sense. Take it to the rack. Wiggle loose and get a clean look at the hoop. Last year, the complaint about him was poor shot decisions. He took too many threes. This year, he's only tried four. He hasn't made one yet, but still, only one per game.

5) He has to create his own shot way too much. There's no offensive rhythm. I'm not calling for a change yet, but it just seems there's too much jump shooting going on and not enough ball movement. Durant is getting little to no support when he's on the floor. When the ball is in his hands, everyone in the arena is thinking, "Shoot it. Shoot it. SHOOT IT!" Durant isn't getting any "flow" shots. What I mean is, he's not getting the chance to float around the perimeter and get a dish from a driving guard where defense collapses, leaving KD standing wide open to knock down a 15 footer. Most of Durant's shots are ones he creates for himself. He either is dribbling at the top of the key and Nick Collison sets an on-the-ball screen to which Durant steps over and shoots over his defender; or he curls off a screen and gets no air, but he still pulls the trigger because what else is he going to do? Kick it to Earl Watson with the shot clock running out?

Look, I'm an unabashed Russell Westbrook fan. When he's in the game, he's all I watch. I don't know why. There's just something about him. I feel like he can do something special all the time. But one thing is for sure - he adds another dimension to the offense that Earl Watson doesn't. Westbrook can penetrate and get to the rim. Watson prefers to stand and distribute. Westbrook likes to get up the floor. Watson is always the guy giving the slow-down motion with his off hand as he walks it up the court.

Ok, so maybe I do want change. I'm all Obama'd up right now and maybe a-change needs to be a-coming. Why is Westbrook only getting 21 minutes compared to Earl's 28? Like I said, I'm not saying the starting lineup needs to be changed up right now, because the worst thing we can do is get impatient and start panicking over a team no one thinks will be any good anyway. We are only four games in with 78 more to go. A lot can happen. Maybe KD goes puts up 44 for Obama and Earl has 14 assists tomorrow night. But right now, when you look at the production, it's clear Westbrook is ready for more time. Watson: 6.3 ppg, 5.3 apg, 25.7 percent from the field - Westbrook: 11.5 ppg, 2.5 apg, 38 percent. And when you look at those numbers in average per 48 minutes, it gets worse. Russell Westbrook is leading the team in most categories! He averages 26.3 points per 48 while Watson is at the bottom of the team averaging 8.0. To me, that is extremely telling.

So what I'm getting at, is maybe one thing to aid Durant is more Westbrook. I understand Russell is a rookie and there's a grooming process and there will definitely be growing pains, but he needs more time. It will help Durant and most likely, help the Thunder. Don't panic about KD. The guy is a star on the cusp and the thing is, he can get his shot anytime he wants it. He will score. Before the season is over, people will fawning over his ability and dreaming of what he may do next year. Right now, he just needs some help. Jeff Green's progression is a start. Russell Westbrook's is the big step.

Thursday Bolts - 11.6.08

• Game reaction from Thunderguru: "Finally P.J. must’ve seen what I was seeing, lackluster effort, squishy defense and no offense so he yanked all 5 that were on the floor and put in a lineup of Wilcox, Smith, Mason, Westbrook and Wilkins. That particular lineup didn’t impress me at all, and it went -7. By the end of the third period we were down fifteen points (70-55), we were being out rebounded, and our shooting had fallen to .34% for the game. It was some ugly, uninspiring basketball."

• Ball Don't Lie Behind the Box Score: "A pretty miserable offensive game for the Thunder, this tends to happen against Boston, as Oklahoma City managed to only hang somewhat close due to a strong bench effort and a strong outside (6-13 from long range) touch. Boston could have let this one get ugly, but they picked up their offense after a slow start. 25 assists to 12 turnovers for the C's, which warms Doc Rivers' cold heart. Rivers only went with nine players in this game, throwing Paul Pierce out there for almost 40 minutes and Ray Allen on the court for nearly 39. Not sure how I feel about that. Russell Westbrook shot just 4-13 and had only one assist in 19 minutes, but this is a rookie that needs to start. If you're going with the youth movement, Earl Watson does not need to be playing 23 minutes."

• Red's Army says the Thunder remind him of someone else: "Do the OKC Thunder remind you of another team? How about the 2005 Celtics? They are loaded with young players. And as we all know, unless some veterans are added, it’s going to take 3-4 years before this team is significant."

• CelticsBlog says "half-hearted wins count too": "The opponent tonight was one of the worst teams in the league and the Celtics mostly played down to the competition. It was a sloppy, half hearted effort, which turned out to be enough. The Thunder (that still seems odd) came out strong and pumped up in the first quarter. Once the Celtics wiped the sleep out of their eyes, they easily took over the 2nd quarter."

• John Rhode likes the Celtic mold and thinks the Thunder could mimic it: "The Celtics finished 66-16 last season en route to their first world title since 1986. Their 42-game improvement was the greatest one-year turnaround in NBA history. If Boston could do it, why couldn’t the Thunder? The Thunder has plenty of wiggle room to lure talent, with a projected $32.5 million in salary cap space and two first-round selections in the 2009 draft. How about using that to acquire two future hall of famers, and place one on each side of Kevin Durant?"

• Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: "The election-spiced fervor from Tuesday night was replaced by a college-like crowd, boisterously happy to simply have a new professional basketball team."

• Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated with more woe is me for Seattle: "Think your city's suffering? Imagine if your favorite team bolted town after 41 seasons, not for some cosmopolitan burg but a dusty outpost where oil derricks qualify as urban skyline. Now imagine turning to your city's other teams for solace only to find each to be avert-your-eyes abysmal. Welcome to Seattle, home of the Sportspocalypse."

Defending champs show the young Thunder a thing or two

BOX SCORE

As actual thunder rolled outside the Ford Center tonight, the Thunder did little of the same in a 96-83 loss to the defending champion Boston Celtics.

Oklahoma City (1-3) got off to the hot start that was needed, scoring the first six points of the contest and held a nice 29-21 lead after one frame.

But it all started to change in the second quarter.

Poor shooting and poor defense began to doom OKC. In the second, the Thunder shot something like 3-21 in the quarter and scored only 15 points. The terrible offense carried over to the third as OKC scored only 11 in that quarter and overall the team shot only 36 percent from the field.

As color man Grant Long said, the Thunder played well as evidenced by the Celtics (4-1) still having Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in at the end of the game, even after playing the night before. So that means the team played relatively well. But as the clock ran out, all I could think was, "Dang. That was a missed opportunity." I can forgive a poor shooting quarter. It happens. In the second, the looks were there. They just didn't drop.

But the third was a pull-you-hair-out, scream-into-a-pillow, take-a-shot-of-whiskey kind if quarter. Every possession, I thought, "Ok, here we go." And every possession the Thunder would come out empty handed. The Celtics scored only 19 in the frame and turned the ball over a number of times. So many chances to be right in it heading into the fourth. But instead, OKC trailed by 15. And as the offense went unbelievably stagnant, I just stared at the Thunder bench waiting for Russell Westbrook to get up. Waiting. Waiting. Earl Watson's offense was stale and there was a ton of standing around. OKC wasn't scoring but neither was Boston. The door was open. Inject some life into the game with your spark plug and maybe you can make up some ground. Waiting. But Coach Peej never pulled the trigger. He left the same lineup on the floor and watched them helplessly struggle through six solid minutes of totally offensive inept basketball. It was frustrating.

Then the fourth starts. Westbrook comes in but now the entire second five is on the floor. And the situation totally flip-flopped. The Celtics were turning it over, missing shots, committing dumb mistakes and the Thunder couldn't score still. Wasn't this the time your superstar, Kevin Durant, should be in the game trying to take it over? Not Desmond Mason and Damien Wilkins (no disrespect to either, because Dez played pretty well, but come on). Finally with about four minutes left, Westbrook starts putting good attacks together and ends up with 13 on the night, including 3-5 from downtown (yes, that's one more three than the entire team had made all all year). But it was way too little, too late.

The Thunder hung around and was down 10 to 13 for most of the fourth. And the thing was, the Celtics kept missing shots and never could pull away. A bucket here or there and the Thunder cuts it to single digits. But then there were the possessions where OKC could not secure a life-or-death rebound. Boston got two, three and once four chances at the bucket. To which you give any team four cracks in one possesion and I don't care if they're Hickory High, they'll likely put one through.

Overall, there are positives to take out of it. Your superstar (Durant) scores only 17 and you "only" lose by 13. That's sort of encouraging. That means the Thunder played solid defense. Also encouraging is that I nailed Boston's scoring total for the evening. Discouraging is that I missed OKC's total by eight.

The game got sloppy in the second half. At halftime time, both teams had four turnovers. The Celtics finished with 12 (for you math wizards, that means they had eight in the second half) and OKC with 15 (11 in the second).

Some people are hell-bent on saying the team "sucks" and claiming it won't be good at all for the whole season. But I'm not really feeling that way anymore. I truly think they are close. They are just a good six minutes away from being competitive with anyone. If they can take those awful stretches of six terrible minutes of bad rebounding and embarrassing offense and either cut them in half or eliminate them completely, they can actually be good.

The commitment to defense is obvious, but I fear that because of it, the offensive side has suffered. Durant really hasn't had a chance to take over a game. It just doesn't seem like he's able to get totally immersed in the game and sink into a solid offensive rhythm. Once that happens and he starts finding that game we know he has, and consistently puts up 20-25 a night, this team will be right in these games - even against the NBA elite. Stay the course fans. It's going to come. Plus, they were playing maybe the best team in the entire league. So that kind of makes it tough to, you know, win.

The Thunder gets a day off before traveling to Salt Lake City to play Deron Williams (he is supposed to play Friday) and the Jazz.

Celtics vs. Thunder: Pre-game primer

vs.

Boston Celtics (3-1) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (1-2)
Wednesday, November 5
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, OK
7:00 p.m. CST

TV: Fox Sports Net Oklahoma (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

Game thread (I also want to point out, feel free to use this an "open thread" if you like. I know a lot of people enjoy the forums, but if there's interest, feel free.)
NBA.com preview

It's no secret what tonight brings. An opportunity to really make a statement or an opportunity to lose to a really, really good team. Either way, this is a great chance to see where the team is at and where it needs to get. I said the same thing about the game in Houston and the Thunder was competitive throughout the night, but it's tough to win in the other guy's place. Now the Celtics come to the Thunderdome and with 10,000 free "fanbanas" the place should be nuts (Fanbana likely to be sold on Ebay next week by some jerk trying to make a buck if you miss out on getting one tonight.)

One thing to watch:
Rajon Rondo vs. Russell Westbrook. Many have compared Westbrook to Rondo. Similar body styles, similar type of game, similar defensive... uh, good-ness. While Rondo is just in his second year, he already was the point man on a championship team. It helps that three of the best players in the world were in his starting lineup, but regardless, that's good. Westbrook and Rondo should have a good showdown with both trying to slash and both playing Saran wrap defense on each other.

Three reasons the Thunder has a chance:
1. The most important one - the Celtics are coming off a grueling win over the Rockets in Houston last night. All the starters played 35 plus minutes and the team expended a ton of energy to win that game. There's a chance they may come out flat against a lesser opponent.

2. The Thunder feeling a little momentum and a little less pressure after getting that first win out of the way. A few players admitted to being nervous and tight during the home opener versus the Bucks. Now that the home win is out of the way, hopefully they can relax and just go play.

3. It's tough to win on the road in the NBA, especially when you're playing at a place with maybe the loudest fans in the league. The Ford Center should be loud and excited tonight with the defending champs visiting.

In order to win... three things are key.
1. A fast start. This is vital. Absolutely vital. If Boston kicks off with a 10-2 run to start the game and is leading 30-18 after one quarter, the Ford Center faithful will likely sit on their hands the rest of the night and clap for a made bucket. But if Kevin Durant can come out firing and Russell Westbrook ignite a few fast breaks early, the fans will start to build and maybe put the team on its back and push them to keep it close. A sluggish start will kill any crowd bump. As mentioned, the Celtics are a candidate to come out with heavy legs and look sluggish for a half. The Thunder needs to jump on that.

2. Intangibles. Every loose ball, every free throw, every possession is so key for the Thunder. There's no wiggle room when you're playing a team like this. You just can't afford to give away points at the free throw line or because someone out-hustled you to the ball.

3. Someone "different" needs to get hot and stay hot. Whoever it may be - Jeff Green, Desmond Mason, Chris Wilcox, Johan Petro - someone needs to play well and continue to play well throughout the night. I remember in some upset Hornets' wins, some random guy would step up with a 22 point game - most often my man, Big Marc Jackson. Tonight, OKC needs a Marc Jackson. Whether it be Damien Wilkins sneaking out of Coach Peej's doghouse for a couple minutes and then promptly hitting back-to-back threes and playing a great game or Petro getting hot from 17 feet out and nailing that little J all night. Either way, someone needs to play above their head.

Prediction: I'm not saying Oklahoma City will win, but I'm also not saying it doesn't have a chance. I foresee the club playing extremely hard for 48 minutes and staying with a tired Celtics team. OKC has had two days off and should be fresh while the Champs are probably a little heavy. The Thunder stays close all the way through and even leads for a few extended stretches, but in the end, there's a reason Boston is Boston. Celtics 96, Thunder 91.

Wednesday Bolts - 11.5.08

• Our good buddy Joe did a nice little interview with John Karalis of Red's Army: I notice that this year’s Celts are playing much faster (pace 96.3, 3rd in the league vs. last year 90.9, 20th in the league). Has there been an emphasis on playing faster or has it been more of a result of the teams you’ve played so far? John: “Part of it is a comfort level that didn’t exist last year. Last year, they were just getting to know one another. Now, all these guys know where the other will be on the court at all times. Rajon Rondo’s further progression means he’ll be able to push more, and go to the hole more, rather than sit and wait and give it to one of the “Big 3.” That comfort level also exists on the defensive side. That comfort level allows for smoother rotations, more hands on passes, and more chances to get out and run.”

• CelticsBlog.com previews tonight's game: "The Celtics are playing in their second set of back to back games of this young season. They didn't fare well in their first back to back situation, falling to the Pacers by double digits on the second night of that set after blowing out the Bulls in the first. The Celtics were undefeated in the second of back to back games last season and hopefully will get back to that trend with this game ... The Celtics played a very tough game against the Rockets that went right down to the wire with KG playing 36 minutes, Ray Allen 35 minutes and Pierce 44 minutes. Even Perk played 35 minutes. Add that to the fact that they had to travel after the game and fatigue could be a problem in this game."

• Darnell Mayberry on how the Celtics help promote the league: "The Boston Celtics are back on top of the NBA world as they make their lone visit to the Ford Center tonight to face the Thunder. But the celebration of the Celtics’ success stretches from Massachusetts to Minnesota, from Orlando to Oklahoma City. The adulation stops at the feet of Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo. "It wouldn’t have bothered me if they stayed down as they had been for a while,” Carlesimo said. "That’s me. I’m not anti-Boston but I didn’t really care.”

• ESPN.com has P.J. Carlesimo at No. 3 in its Coach of the Year watch: "Seattle didn't crack the win column until game No. 9 last year. Playing in Oklahoma City, the Thunder accomplished the same feat in game No. 3."

• Sports Illustrated has Russell Westbrook at No. 10 in its rookie rankings: "After tweaking his ankle in the team's final practice before the regular-season opener, Westbrook turned in a pair of so-so games in losses to the Bucks and the Rockets. But the 19-year-old point guard shone Sunday in a comeback victory over the Timberwolves, getting consecutive steals down the stretch and scoring the last of his 14 points on a layup that put the Thunder ahead for good. "We're going to have to be scrappy to win games," Westbrook, who's averaging 11.0 points through three games, told The Associated Press."

• This made me chuckle. Want to buy one of the magnet schedules that were FREE (well, other than the price of the ticket...) at the last home game? Don't worry, they're on Ebay!

• And the Thunder signed former Arkansas big man Steven Hill to be cut at a later date: "Hill, who went undrafted this year, averaged 4.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 2.1 blocked shots as a senior with the Razorbacks last season. Hill was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year during his junior season after averaging 2.8 blocks and 1.1 steals."

Tuesday Bolts - America! Edition

First off, a big happy birthday to my little brother who turns 17 today. Oh, and go vote today.

• FreeDarko watched the Thunder's first win and saw a flash of brilliance: "I'm hopped up on some ill green tea right now so I'm having a hard time gathering my thoughts, but let me keep it on the topic of guard dominance would like to point everybody's attention to Russell Westbrook, who I had the pleasure of watching last night. If Westbrook isn't starting over Earl Watson by December, I'm putting a bounty out on PJ Carlessimo who has been killing this team with his starting lineups since last year (PUT KD AT PF, and make Jeff Green sixth man!!!). I'm not sure I'm sold on Westbrook being as good as Derrick Rose, and it's too early to put him on that CP3/Deron Williams level, but the kid is just sick at getting to the rim... (Just want to point out, that I said in early October that Westbrook would overtake Watson in the starting lineup as well. *pounds chest*)

• If the season ended today, the Thunder would be in the playoffs, Thunder8thSeed from OKC Thunder Fans points out.

• The Thunder moves up three spots in Marc Stein's power poll: Progress? As a Seattle rook, Kevin Durant had to wait nine games for win No. 1. As an Okie, KD's wait was only three games. P.J. Carlesimo spoke for everyone involved when he admitted, "Any win feels good, honestly."

• Russell Westbrook is winning over the good folks of Fanhouse too: "Russell Westbrook is quickly becoming one of my favorite NBA Rookies. Sunday night he helped the Oklahoma City Thunder collect their first ever victory as an NBA franchise. Westbrook made his mark on the contest by pressuring the ball on defense and pushing the ball on offense. Westbrook finished the contest with 14 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 25 minutes of play and led an OKC second half comeback."

• Mike Baldwin thinks the best way to beat the Celtics is to run, run and run some more: "We’d always like to run,” said coach P.J. Carlesimo. "We just want to run intelligently. We don’t necessarily want to come down and put up a jump shot the first three seconds of a clock.v"That’s not an easy line to walk. If you’re running and pushing it, and guys are open, they’re saying, ‘If you want to run, you want to shoot.’ But you can shoot yourself in and out of games. Do we want to run? Absolutely. But we need to make good decisions.”

• Joe has more, excellent statistical evaluation for us: "Three games are in the books now and each of the three have had a distinct flavor of their own. For the most part we’ve played the best defense this team has played in quite a few years, but our offense has been stagnant. Just one heartbeat above rigormortis. The team has it’s second day off in a row today before the Champion Celtics hit town for the second game of a back to back. We play again on Friday before we really get busy playing 5 games next week."

John Lucas Three waived by Thunder

Not really a big shocker, but John Lucas, Part: III was waived Monday. Which begs the question: Why?

With one roster spot open, why waive Lucas now? Was he just insurance in case Russell Westbrook struggled mightily to open to the season and the Thunder needed someone to back up Earl Watson and since Russell is evidently totally awesome, he was cut? Or is GM Sam Presti working on something and needs that extra roster spot?

User StarksFan311 from OKCThunderFans.com made mention of cutting Lucas about two weeks ago to sign recently available guard Salim Stoudamire. It's definitely a good thought because Stoudamire is an excellent shooter and currently, OKC is just 2-13 from downtown on the season. Two for thirteen! That's awful. But Salim Stoudamire is not the answer there. Like I've said before, maybe Kyle Weaver progresses into a nice deep threat. Or maybe the Thunder deals/signs a proven three-man. Whatever the case, something needs to be done in the future to help in this area.

My gut says Lucas was just insurance and wasn't going to see the court at all this season unless Westbrook struggled, so Presti went ahead and cut him to make room for any potential future needs.

With the loss of Lucas, OKC loses one part of its genius marketing plan to assemble a team full of former state college stars. Hopefully the Thunder signs Longar Longar as his replacement.

Monday Bolts - First Win Edition

• Joe from Thunderguru breaks down the win: "This was one of those ugly, back and forth, nobody can really deliver the finishing blow types of games that Thunder GM Sam Presti must have envisioned we would gut out on occasion when he put together the pieces on this team. I bet he dropped his ice cream cone in his lap when the final buzzer sounded (is he old enough to drink)?"

• Kelly Dwyer goes behind the box score of OKC's win: "Oklahoma City's offense stunk on Sunday night, as its level of efficiency was right around its 2007-08 league-low mark of a hundred points per as many possessions. What the Thunder did kick a little tail on was the defensive end, both in getting stops and demanding crucial turnovers from the Timberwolves."

• Berry Tramel on the collective sigh of relief cast after the win: "But after a dudsville opener against Milwaukee, a home loss to Minnesota would have made everyone — players, fans, Thundershirt vendors — wonder exactly who this team could beat."

• Mr. Monday of the Oklahoman on the win: "As you would expect, the crowd was pretty pumped. Either that or they were just glad to be somewhere not watching election coverage. Mr. Monday was tempted to run out to halfcourt and give some Electoral College projections, but nixed the idea when future Secretary of Agriculture Brad Henry walked by. Don’t want to ruin the surprise for the guv."

• Game reaction from Canis Hoopus, a T-Wolves blog: "If you were watching this game at home, there was one fairly obvious theme throughout: OKC's 2nd unit was murdering the Wolves' 2nd string. Have you ever seen a box score where a team's entire 1st unit had negative +/- while the 2nd string went nuts? It happened last night in OKC. The 2nd string troubles were noticeable from the get-go, yet if you look at PopcornMachine's GameFlows, you see the Wolves doing very little to adjust their match-ups against OKC's effective backups. Not until late in the 3rd do you see any movement beyond not leaving Craig Smith in the game with the starters during the 2nd quarter."

EDIT: And I meant to point it out but forgot, no sign of Never Been to Spain following the victory. Instead, Kool and the Gang's Celebration was played. Exactly what I didn't want. Boo.

The Thunder cracks the win column

BOX SCORE

Most times, I don't even know why I try and predict things. Sports are like Oklahoma weather - hard to know what's going to happen because in 15 minutes, everything might change.

But regardless, a tip-of-the-hat to me for going on record saying that a strong push by Russell Westbrook would carry the Thunder (1-2) to its first ever win. Also, a wag of the finger for saying OKC would come out shooting lights out. Not hardly as the team hit its first 6 of 17 shots. But oh well as the team produced an 88-85 win in front of an awesome crowd at the Ford Center Sunday night.

It was definitely a slow start offensively, but tonight, pure grit and determination got the job done. In the first eight minutes, the Thunder racked up something like eight offensive boards. The best sequence being three straight offensive grabs in which Nick Collison capped it off by diving on the floor to preserve another possession. Sequences like that are things that are going to get this city behind this team.

But how about that win. Playing a clutch, nasty, defensive fourth quarter, holding Minnesota (1-2) to 12 points and coming up with 18 in the final frame to lock away the win. Heck, OKC held the Wolves to only two points in the final five minutes. That's locking down.

These are the kind of games the Thunder can't afford to lose - home games to teams on the same level - if OKC wants to have a better season than last. It took nine games to get a win last year. Only three this year. OKC Bump anyone?

Russell Westbrook just made another strong case as to why he should be my favorite player. He sparked a 13-0 run in the third that got the Thunder back in the game. He played awesome defense and was extremely active in the passing lanes and on the ball. He hit the go-ahead shot in the fourth to put the team up 86-85 and that little floater he made in the first was just plain awesome. The guy is going to be a star. I think he is validating Sam Presti's "risk pick" more and more by the second. I have been pretty adamant about him starting, but honestly, having him off the bench might be a good thing. He can spark runs, get tough on defense and provide a really good pick-me-up for the team once he comes on the floor. I think he should see starter minutes, but maybe having him off the bench for a while is a good thing. Or maybe I'm just excited because we won.

Two things I said we going to be key tonight: free throw shooting and rebounding. In the free throw battle, OKC took four more but made three less than the Wolves. That's not good. But the Thunder made up for it on the glass by outrebounding Minnesota 50-38 with 19 of the offensive variety. 19! That's big time. And not to forget, Nick Collison had seven of the offensive boards. He is that guy that every coach is talking about in their preseason speech. "I'm going to play the guy that works his butt off and hustles every second he's on the floor." That's Nick. He's the guy that is relentless and gets things done more so with effort than skill.

Dr. Thunder wants someone to do something

But just as many have been clamoring for, Coach Peej had Westbrook and Earl Watson on the floor together down the stretch. Which worked well. Westbrook attacked and Watson distributed. The two were very complementary to each other's game.

To wrap up, this was a total team effort where everyone chipped in. Kevin Durant was ok, scoring 18 on 7-21 shooting. Jeff Green was better than ok scoring 13. Chris Wilcox was good off the bench, netting 12 with seven boards. Westbrook as mentioned was excellent, Collison great and Desmond Mason was solid off the bench. Just an all-around good game for the Thunder.

The Thunder gets two days off before taking on the defending champion Boston Celtics Wednesday at the Ford Center.

Thunder vs. Houston: Pre-game primer

vs.

Oklahoma City Thunder (0-1) vs. Houston Rockets (2-0)
Saturday, November 1
Toyota Center
Houston, TX
7:30 p.m. CST

TV: Fox Sports Net Oklahoma (Cox 37)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

Game thread
NBA.com pregame info
The Oklahoman's pre-gamer

For the first time, the Thunder will have to go head-to-head with the King - and I don't mean Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming. OKC will be bouncing the round ball while the Oklahoma Sooners run around with the funny-shaped one. The Thunder is sure to lose the ratings battle, but I am setting my DVR and will be sure to watch once I get home from the game.

Remember Two Things:
1. OKC's preseason win over the Rockets means nothing. Absolutely nothing. Ron Artest played little , Tracy McGrady played less and Yao dominated a half before he sat the next. The Rockets are very, very good. Tonight's game will be an excellent measuring stick to show how far the Thunder has to go. Throw out opening night against the Bucks. The team hinted at feeling added pressure because of the emotion and festivities of opening night. There's good reason they played so tight. But tonight's game will be an opportunity to get out and just play with no expectations and no pressure.

2. A good start is key. There was a lot of grumbling about the way Coach Peej managed the first game with his lineup combos. Not playing Durant enough even while he was in foul trouble. Messing with a lineup that went on a run. Not starting Chris Wilcox. None of that stuff would have mattered as much if the Thunder hit their first five out of seven or something. Tonight, KD needs a hot start and Russell Westbrook needs to play more than Earl Watson. Westbrook adds another dimension with his attacking the rim while Watson wants to just stand and distribute.

In order to win... OKC must rebound and take care of the ball. Losing on the hustle stats like it did against Milwaukee can't happen. Any lose ball has to go the way of the Thunder.

Prediction: Kevin Durant plays extremely well and finishes with a solid 30 point performance. Not enough as Yao is way too much inside for the Thunder to handle. Rockets 110, Thunder 102.

How to turn OKC into a contender today

Wednesday night was so bitter sweet.

The excitement in the Thunderdome was spilling over because you know, it was the first game ever, but the team didn't really produce on the court. At a few points, if you looked around you could see people resting their chins on their palms likely thinking, "I wonder what Chris Paul is doing right now... (loud sigh)."

This team is young, raw, talented and young. They will get there but it's going to take some time because, well, you know, they're young. Did I say they're young? But as I watched the Thunder fall behind by 24 for a third time in the third quarter, I started wondering, how could we turn this team into a contender now? What (reasonable) pieces could OKC acquire that could guarantee 45 wins? Even before a thunderous (see what I did there) fast-break dunk by Dez that ignited the crowd, I was already putting together trades in my head that I couldn't wait to rush home and plug into the ESPN Trade Machine. (Now, I'm no Bill Simmons, the self-proclaimed Picasso of the Trade Machine, but I was determined to try.)

Just know: We miss you.

"Ok, how about Earl Watson, John Lucas III and cash for Kobe and Andrew Bynum? No? Ok, Robert Swift straight up for Al Jefferson. Denied? But Robert's upside! His upside!"

So I was a little overzealous with my trades. And the thing about the Trade Machine - as awesome as it is, it will basically accept any trade you propose as long as the money lines up. It doesn't really have a "common sense" factor. Chris Wilcox's expiring contract, Earl Watson and cash for Carlos Boozer? Yes please.

So moderating the fairness was difficult. You give me an hour on the Trade Machine and my starting five would be Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, Kobe, Carlos Boozer and Andrew Bynum. My bench would then have to consist of Keith Van Horn, a janitor and Matt Pinto, but you get the point about the Machine.

Anyway, I started plugging in stuff. I made a list of the team needs in "most needed" order. One was "big man to control the paint." Two was "deadly outside shooter." And three was "consistent complement to Kevin Durant." I truly believe the Thunder could win with a lineup like this:

PG Russell Westbrook
SG Kevin Durant
SF Consistent scoring complement to Kevin Durant (one day supposed to be Jeff Green)
PF Nick Collison
C Big man to control the paint

And then a lights-out shooter off the bench. So who should we go after? The thing is the Thunder doesn't have a lot of enticing pieces outside of the "off-limits" guys. The very tradeable guys are Joe Smith, Chris Wilcox, Earl Watson, Desmond Mason, Damien Wilkins, Mo Sene, Kyle Weaver and D.J. White. Not exactly a group that an opposing GM would skip lunch to swing a deal for. But regardless, that's who we were working with.

I set my sights on a good scorer to play the three. I needed to find a team that could use a decent point guard (Earl Watson) or a solid four (Chris Wilcox). I locked on to Indiana's Danny Granger. He's a good three-point threat (39 percent career and 40 percent last year) and averaged a solid 19.6 last season. He's got excellent size (6'8") and a good defender and best of all, he's got an expiring contract. The Pacers probably aren't going to contend this year, so they would likely be enticed by draft picks and expiring contracts themselves. So you send Chris Wilcox's expiring contract and next year's first round pick and get Danny Granger and Jarrett Jack in return (Jack is a throw-in to line the money up). Both Granger and Jack's contracts are up after this season and Indiana would probably go for unloading both to free up cap space. Plus, they could really use a body like Chris Wilcox on the blocks and it might give them a chance to groom Brandon Rush into a primo scorer. And honestly, I feel like Granger could kill two birds with one stone by giving OKC a consistent scorer and an outside threat.

Now I don't know enough about this and Granger may be an untouchable for the Pacers, but we can dream, right? Especially since Granger dropped 33 in the season opener, they might not take Kevin Durant and gold bullion for him. Oh well.

On to finding a good big man. With Wilcox gone, the best leverage to use is either draft picks or Joe Smith and Earl Watson. Here the Thunder needs to set their eyes on a well-tested big that they don't have to keep if they don't want to. The victim? Brad Miller. He's got a huge contract ($11 million plus) and the Kings would likely love to dump that. (Right now Miller is suspended five games for violating the league substance abuse policy). Miller has two years on his contract, so if the Kings could get rid of it for some expiring ones, they'd likely bite.

The Kings have a lot of needs so depending on what they'd bite on, you offer up any two-piece combination of Earl Watson, Joe Smith or Desmond Mason. More than likely, the Kings don't want Watson because he's signed through 2010. So a trade of Mason and Smith for Miller might work. Both Mason and Smith's deals are up this year and the money lines up. Smith could fill the void of Miller for the season and Mason could either start in place of John Salmons or provide a nice back up. It's win-win for both teams.

So now, the Thunder starting lineup looks like this:
PG Westbrook/Watson
SG Durant
SF Granger
PF Collison
C Miller

I think the Thunder could win 45 games with that lineup, don't you? Plus you've still got expiring deals with Granger and Miller in 2010, to which you could use Miller as trade leverage next season. Jarrett Jack or Watson could (and should) be traded to try and replenish Sam Presti's cupboard of draft picks. The bench just got lighter without Joe Smith or Dez, but you've got Jeff Green to play behind Granger and Johan Petro/Robert Swift/Mo Sene to fill the blocks.

Now, this will never, ever, happen because 1) The Pacers probably don't want to part with Danny Granger and 2) Presti doesn't really want to contend right now. It's not the plan. The plan is to draft wisely and sign a few good free agents. Which makes sense because the Thunder only has $20 million in committed salary for next season. So there's a lot of green to play with. Throw money at Carlos Boozer or Chris Bosh, draft Blake Griffin or Ricky Rubio... things are going to be alright in OKC.

But if we didn't want to slump in our chairs and dream of CP3 all season, this is what we do. Or maybe we just pray KD turns into a megastar, Jeff Green plays to potential, Chris Wilcox has a career year, Russell Westbrook develops faster than thought and Damien Wilkins shoots threes like he's lost his mind. It could happen. I guess. Until then... you think Chris Paul is maybe eating dinner now or breaking down game film?

Friday Bolts - 10.31.08

• An excellent feature from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "At some point you kind of have to let that go and learn from your mistakes, I suppose. But the thing is, nobody in this town has stepped up and said, 'My fault, I had a hand in this, I'm sorry.' Former ownership, politicians, nobody. I guess it's a region full of Fonzies. They can't say that 'S' word."

• And to be fair a feature from the Star-Telegram: "This NBA neophyte is still trying to get to a place where it can go through some growing pains. If you want to buy a No. 35 Durant authentic jersey, you’ll have to wait until January. None available now. The transplanted Seattle SuperSonics— now Oklahoma City Thunder — had only team logo-manufactured T-shirts and ball caps available for sale at the Ford Center on Wednesday night. And if you want to take the kids to see a cute-and-cuddly mascot ... well, uh, please hold that thought. One is still in the works."

• David Thorpe's rookie rankings has Russell Westbrook at No. 8: "Westbrook figures to get serious playing time right away, despite a far-from-ready offensive game. He was drafted because of his defensive talents and his ability to complement Kevin Durant and Jeff Green. And because he's a winner. Although he will suffer through some real struggles, especially as a shooter, the Thunder want him to develop into a future starter, so playing time is mandatory."

• You know you're in Oklahoma when people are already restless about Coach Peej after one game (See: OU message boards after an OU loss): "I am not a fan of PJ and I question many of his coaching decisions. His starting lineup and player rotations for one. This is the most glaring problem that the team has. The wrong players are playing at the wrong times. Second the fact that he didn't have his team ready to play last night was a horrible mistake. There was only one game that this team HAD to win and it was last night. Keep it up PJ, your days I numbered, I hope."
  

• More thoughts from Joe on the Bucks game: "I’ve been reading a book by Dave Berri titled “The Wages of Wins” after hearing so many good things about it, as well as reading Mr.Berri’s blog “the Wages of wins journal” (see link on blogroll). In his book and on his blog he puts forth a sort of big picture stat called the “Win Score”. The win score can be expressed in several different ways, one of them being win score per minute, and thereby can be compared to the win score per minute average by position to help us evaluate and compare players and performances."

• Looking for last minute Halloween costume ideas? Well, why not see what the Big 12 is dressed up as? "Sexy Nurse - Baylor. Robert Griffin is darn fun to watch but by the end of the night, everyone has had their way with them." (Sometimes I have to plug myself.)