Thunder plays better this time around, but still comes up short against the Magic

It doesn't happen very often that a team can go 1-6 under a new coach and you still think, "Boy, they sure are a lot better under this new guy." Clearly, you have to be pretty bad in the first place (and Oklahoma City was) but the improvement under Coach Scott Brooks is obvious.

I know, I know. Another loss for OKC (2-18) tonight in Orlando (15-5), 98-89 to the Magic, dropping the Thunder to a dismal 2-18, but considering the way the first matchup went, this team is different. Completely, 100 percent, totally, different.

The most OKC trailed by tonight was 11 (compare that to the first meeting where the Thunder trailed by as much as 32). The spread was consistently four to eight all night. When you stay close like that, you're going to get some wins. With the way this group is playing under Brooks, there's no way they only win nine games.

The Thunder did some things very well to stay in the game, but also did some things very poorly that cost them.

THE GOOD
1. Forced turnovers - Oklahoma City forced 16 Orlando turns, and cashed those in for 16 points.
2. Did much better against Dwight Howard - Howard still got 21 points and 23 rebounds, but he wasn't nearly the same force he was a month ago at the Ford Center.
3. Russell Westbrook - A complete line tonight for Westbrook: 19 points, nine boards and five assists. He also ripped two steals and I counted, got his hands on the ball eight times defensively tonight (tips, pokes, steals, etc.).
4. Johan Petro - We had a a Johan sighting and he played excellent. 15 points in 19 minutes on 7-9 shooting. Nice work off the bench.

THE BAD
1. Free throws (again) - OKC went 14-21 from the line (66.7 percent). When you're not a good team, you just absolutely cannot give away free points.
2. 16 turnovers - And most of those coming in the second half. Down the stretch there were multiple bad decisions and forced passes.
3. Perimeter defense - The Magic started the game 1-8 from the three-point line, but after that went 12-19. It seemed like the Thunder wasn't getting the hint: Hey, Orlando hits threes. Cover them. Like, get on Keith Bogans. He wants to shoot that.

THE SORT-OF BAD
1. Kevin Durant and Jeff Green - Durant had 16 and shot the ball poorly (5-18), but played solid defense and grabbed 10 boards. Green just never really could shake free and had just nine on only seven shots, but did a nice job on the glass and helping on Howard.

Other than the game itself, I can't help but wonder what's going on with Nick Collison. Last year he averaged 28.5 minutes a game but tonight he saw just four. Against the Bobcats, he had six. He's been completely unproductive this year, so I understand the slash in minutes, but why? Why isn't he playing better? Last season he busted his butt and averaged nearly 10 and 10. Now he's seeing under five minutes a game. Is he disgruntled? Hurt? What's the deal?

Two other things I have to say:
A. Brian Davis makes me hurt. I just can't help it anymore. He's trying so hard, he just overdoes it. First of all, there's no way that is his normal voice. There is no way that when he's blessing a meal or asking for a napkin that he talks in the forced, pretend, announcer voice. Well, it may be his normal voice now, since he's probably trained himself to talk like that, but he seriously sounds like when you or your friends act like an announcer with that thing. Second, enough with saying "Wow." when anything happens. If ANYTHING of note happens that unusual or cool, all he says is "Wow." Bogans hit another three late and he just said, "Wow." The ball got stuck between the glass and the rim and he just said, "Wow." And on top of that, don't say "triggers" every single time someone shoots a jumper. Mix it up. I swear there were four straight jump shots he said, "Durant triggers," "Nelson triggers," "Green triggers," "Nelson triggers." I know it's a catchy, fun and different way to say "shoots" but just mix it up. I appreciate the effort Brian. You're doing your best. I definitely enjoy your upbeatness or upbeatability or whatever you want to call it about the team - but just tone it down a little.

B. I cannot look at Scott Brooks without having a quick, five-second mental debate of "Does he look more like Michael J. Fox or Eric Murphy from Entourage?" You be the judge. I think I'm settling on E.



I'm glad I got those things off my chest. Again, solid effort tonight. I love the way the team is playing under Coach Scotty. Improvement is happening and the effort it better. I think Brooks is making a pretty darn good case to get that "interim" label dropped.

One more game in Florida as OKC takes on the Heat (10-9) tomorrow in Miami - at roughly the same time as the Big 12 championship. I like DVR.

Thunder at Magic: Pre-game view

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Oklahoma City Thunder (2-17) vs. Orlando Magic (14-5)
Friday, December 5
Amway Arena
Orlando, Florida
6:00 PM CST

TV: KSBI-52 (Cox 9)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

Anybody else not really that psyched to watch this one tonight? And no, not because I've lost excitement over the team because its 2-17 (though, I'll admit, I have... a little). It's because of what the Man-Child did to us last time. Holy heaven in a hand-basket, he was dominant. Let's revisit that line: 30 points, 19 rebounds, 10 blocks. Moses.

As I wrote in that post game recap, not having Kevin Durant really hurt. At the time he was really the only Thunder player that could hit a consistent jumper (and still kind of is), meaning OKC had to drive the lane over and over only to to see their shots sent back, over and over. OKC was in a 30-point hole in what seemed like seconds and tried to stage a small comeback when the Magic players were already on the bus.

But the bright spot that night was Jeff Green. He had 25 points, including 3-6 from three. That game was really Green's season breakout night. He found confidence and found his stroke and in a weird way, Durant being out that night may have benefited the Thunder in the long run.

Friday against Charlotte, OKC shot 55 percent from the field and hit 7-11 from downtown. That HAS to happen again tonight for there to be any hope. In the first matchup, the Thunder was without Chris Wilcox which hurt because Robert Swift was doing his darndest to contain Dwight Howard. And by "darndest" I mean "I'm being nice because Swift tried hard, but got dominated in every way, shape and form."

(Speaking of Swift, I love this comment from Clark Matthews of The Lost Ogle: "I love to listen the announcers discuss Robert Swift’s great basketball IQ and understanding of the game, while watching him wander around cluelessly in the offense and bump into Kevin Durant trying to get open." When you've only played about 75 games in a three-year span and haven't contributed anything substantial to the franchise that drafted you in the top 10, people have to find something nice to say about you. It's like in little league, with the token worst kid on the team and the coach is going down the line and saying something about each player at the end of the season party and he gets to Melvin and says, "Uh, the thing about Melvin is, uh, he... uh, always comes to practice with a smile on his face. He has such a great attitude that it was contagious. Real hard worker.")

Tonight, Russell Westbrook must play within himself. He's been doing better at that lately, but hopefully he learned a lesson since the last meeting with the Beast. Pull up from eight. Don't take it to the rim unless Howard is on the pine. In the first meeting, Westbrook was 3-19 from the field. Yikes. Just let the game come to you Russell. If it's there, take it. Don't force it. Let Green and Durant hit jumpers if it's not.

It could be a long night in Orlando, but I'm cautiously optimistic. I like the direction of this team under Coach Scotty and if the team can duplicate the efficiency it had in Charlotte, but add the rebounding, the free throws and subtract the turnovers, the Thunder could be in this one. (That last sentence is pathetic - it reminds me of that Seinfeld where Jerry is on the train to Long Island and falls asleep and wakes up and the guy in front of him is naked. They go on and on about the Mets exchanging things like, "No, the problem is they've got no speed!" "No, the speed is fine. They've got no pitching!" "Well, you've got to like their chances." "Oh, I love their chances.") So yeah, if the Thunder can rebound better, shoot awesome, hit free throws, not turn the ball over, force turnovers, shut down Dwight Howard and play tremendous defense, then yeah, they might have a chance to win.

Magic overwhelms undermanned Thunder

BOX SCORE

As Oklahoma City fought its way back to respectability in the third quarter against the Orlando Magic, I wondered, "Is this the Magic just going through the motions or are the Thunder playing their hearts out again like in Utah?"

I think the answer is a little of both.

Orlando had no need to keep up the intensity with a 30 point cushion, but some teams quit when down like that. The Thunder didn't. They used the little light the Magic gave them and capitalized, outscoring Orlando 29-16 in the third cutting the Magic lead to 16. Orlando put up 71 points in the first half but then just 38 in the second. Of course, it wasn't enough as the Magic (5-3) thumped the Thunder (1-7) 109-92 Wednesday night.

But about four minutes into the game it was clear: Oklahoma City was not going to win the game. Some may have figured that out before the game even started with Kevin Durant sitting this one out with a sore ankle.

This was just an absolute mismatch. An absolute recipe for disaster. Dwight Howard doesn't let anyone in his lane and if they happen sneak in, he promptly throws their shot into the second row. The Thunder stinks at shooting jumpers. I think you can put two and two together there. And on top of it Orlando's big man was unstoppable offensively too. Just check out Howard's stat line - 30 points, 19 rebounds and 10 blocks. Yeah, pretty good game.

Nothing to really second guess or breakdown tonight. OKC was just overmatched in every way. Of all the games to miss, this may have been the worst one for Durant, because he's really the one guy that can hit a consistent jumper.


A new-look Robert Swift actually played Howard relatively well. Swift blocked him twice and "sort" of slowed him down. Swift entered earlier (about eight minutes left in the first) and played his most minutes (18), pulling down seven boards and netting three. In a way, Big Robert's haircut might have been the highlight of the night.

Potential reasons Big Rob cut his do:
- Somebody on the canal mistook him for Ronald McDonald
- He kept getting it caught in the rim.
- He thought a haircut might help his image.
- Too many people were getting him confused with a mascot.
- He felt it was affecting his upside.
- He actually saw himself in a mirror.

Jeff Green did his darndest to pick up the slack for Durant as Green had 25 and 10. And he kept up the good three point shooting hitting three of six. Maybe he's coming around. I hate to be the "next year" guy, but if he's starting to get it and Durant is moving forward, then things may really start to look up soon.

Russell Westbrook went 3-19 from the field but actually played better than those numbers indicate. I counted at least three shots that were tossed by Howard. So I guess, "potentially" those could have went in. But he made some nice passes in the lane once he figured out he couldn't score over Superman. And how freakishly athletic is Westbrook? He really can go up with anyone. He has the ability. He just needs to put it together and he could be special.

And is it just me, or does Desmond Mason fade on every single jumpshot? I'm no jumpshot technique expert, but maybe that's why he struggles so much with the jay. Maybe.

When teams are as young and inexperienced as the Thunder, games like this can potentially happen every night. Things start to snowball, you get overwhelmed by the other teams sheer talent and you're in a 20 point hole before you know you tipped off. But the bright side is with a team this young and inexperienced, improvement happens at a rapid rate so by the end of the year these guys may be totally different than this. They'll limit the hurried bad shots. Limit the dumb transition turnovers. Limit the feeble shots into the chest of the best shot blocker in the world.

Tomorrow off and then to the east coast for a couple games starting with the Running D'Antoni's as OKC takes on the Knicks (5-3) Friday night in Madison Square Garden.

Orlando Magic vs. Thunder: Pre-game primer

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Orlando Magic (4-3) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (1-6)
Wednesday, November 12
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, OK
7:00 PM CST

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

Game thread
NBA.com preview

Oklahoma City returns home tonight to take on another singular nickname team, the Orlando Magic. The matchup problems are obvious - who is going to defend Dwight Howard?

Howard is an absolute animal in the paint and on the glass. With really the best guy that can match him physically and athletically out (Chris Wilcox) someone will have to fill that void. Nick Collison? Nah. Johan Petro? No thanks. Robert Swift? Yes sir.

Who knows if The Robert can defend Howard. Swift is no one near as athletic as Howard and probably not as strong. But Swift does have a size advantage and honestly, this is a great opportunity to show what the big guy can do and where he's at physically. Expect more minutes from him - I'm guessing about 20-25.

And let me tell you something about The Robert - I hope he turns out to be a star because I desperately want him to be my favorite player. There's nothing more that would satisfy my soul than to strut with a "Swift 31" jersey on my back. But if he doesn't pan out, a "Swift 31" is likely to be headed straight to the Straight Cash Homey Hall of Fame.

In order to win... the Thunder will have to contain Howard and keep him off the glass - as much as possible. Kevin Durant lit the scoreboard for 37 Monday night, but hasn't scored more than 20 at home. Hopefully, feeling a little bit of momentum from Monday, Durant can light the lamp like OG&E. But while KD scoring a bunch of points is needed for a win, he has to get some support from someone. Whether that's Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook or someone else, somebody has to provide some supplementary scoring.

Here's some perfect analysis from Third Quarter Collapse: "The Magic might be able to let Durant go off. They have no other reliable scorers. Of course, speedy rookie point guard Russell Westbrook is the sort of player who would light-up the Magic in the past, but he's shooting poorly (32.4% from the field) to start the season. However, he seems to be the most likely Thunder player, other than Durant, to have a monster game. I'm afraid that speaks more to the Thunder's talent than to the Magic's defense, however."

Tonight, the goal should be win or lose, four quarters of consistent basketball. No five minute stretch of no field goals and 10 consecutive missed shots. No 13-0 run for the Magic. No collapse in the final three minutes if the game is within reach. Focus on playing a full 48 and if you still lose, that's alright, Orlando is a pretty darn good club. I know some think moral victories are dumb, but learning to win is something every team has to do. For a squad as young as the Thunder, you build from the ground up and you better take something with you every night.