Game 51 Preview: Thunder vs. Blazers
by Dave on Feb 10, 2009 11:57 PM PST
Email
PrintAfter doing a Sonics memorial for last week's preview of the first meeting of the year between the Blazers and Thunder I promised Oklahoma City an honest preview this time. So I'm going to try.
A Look at the Thunder
Despite the 13-39 overall record in a generally sad-sack season Oklahoma City does have a couple of big names on the roster worth noting. They are "Kevin" and "Durant". As in, "At 25.5 ppg, 48% shooting, 6.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 7 free throws per game, and 86% foul shooting Kevin Durant is showing himself to be one of the best young players in the league." Also, "Kevin Durant plays in Oklahoma City, so nobody notices." Seriously, if this guy played on either coast he'd be mentioned in the same sentence with potential league MVP's. He's the next T-Mac. Heck, he's probably the current T-Mac without the injuries. He is worth the price of admission.
The other two guys you have to watch out for are Jeff Green, a 6'9" athletic small forward with a nice all-around game and Russell Westbrook, the point guard nouveau who has discovered a vicious scoring streak in the last month.
Between those three young, hot players Oklahoma City is capable of putting up points. They've been over 110 in 4 of their last 7 games. If you let them get rolling you're going to be treading water against their scoring all night.
The things the Thunder struggle with are...well...pretty much everything else. They draw a lot of fouls and they're decent rebounders. If you don't come with energy they will beat you to the spot in both aspects. But they're not great defenders themselves, they don't intimidate in the lane or on the wings, they turn the ball over a lot, and they usually find a way to lose if any are available. These are all hallmarks of a team depending on young players and retreads. Their big man lineup looks like the 22nd round of your local fantasy draft. That's not a slight as much as an admission that the rebuilding project in OKC has a long way to go yet. You have to watch out for Earl Watson and Desmond Mason every now and again, with Watson having the hot hand lately. Everybody else needs a lot of space to score.
The Thunder are a pretty good three-point shooting team but they don't take them often. It's still not a good idea to leave them alone out there. Durant and Green will jack it and hit it.
Keys to the Game
There's really only one key. When the Blazers take the court they should each go up to their counterpart and repeat after me:
(If you don't know how to do it, ask one of the guards. You've got a decent chance of finding one who can tell you exactly how to deliver the line.)
Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my win streak. Prepare to die.
That's it. Look 'em right in the eyes and say it. If the Blazers aren't out for revenge tonight, if they don't play with enough energy to put this team away and keep them there, nothing I explain is going to make a difference. Losing to the Thunder at all was a bad idea. Losing to the Thunder on your home court (OKC road record: 3-21) in your second game against them in a week would require a full-on gut transplant. Greg Oden, Lamarcus Aldridge, Jerryd Bayless, Brandon Roy...these guys should have a field day with a little effort and intensity. At some point during this game we should be thinking, "This is (or is going to be) a massacre." If we don't get that opportunity tonight I'll be surprised and disappointed. Get that loss back with interest. End of story.
Check out the Oklahoma City perspective at WelcometoLoudCity.
You can enter tonight's Jersey Contest form here.
--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)
81 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
but seriously blowout
you heard it here first
"Howard, he know me" Rudy
by phillyduck23 on Feb 11, 2009 12:04 AM PST up reply actions
i said that the first time
oops
Oderint dum metuant
by WhiteRabbit on Feb 11, 2009 12:14 AM PST up reply actions
then think of it
as paying my respects
"Howard, he know me" Rudy
by phillyduck23 on Feb 11, 2009 12:15 AM PST up reply actions
no i meant the first game
I aint callin nutin on this one
Oderint dum metuant
by WhiteRabbit on Feb 11, 2009 12:18 AM PST up reply actions
Zero is still a number
But if you want…
“You killed our momentum.”
“You killed our fan buzz.”
“You killed our self-respect.”
—Dave
"you killed our perfect 4 gimmie game record right out of the gate"........? maybe? :)
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
I thought it was Doug Henning
until I saw the actual caption, I thought it was going to be, “We’ll make the memories of that awful game from last week, just…DISAPPEAR!!” [magician clap, and it helps to say it with a kind of fey mysticism…]
Even worse
They killed our win streak before it was born. The Thunder are baby killers.
Karma
by Sabonis4Ever on Feb 11, 2009 12:16 AM PST up reply actions
*giggled myself to sleep*
That’s funny :)
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
We'll win solidly
but no guarantees of a blowout. These guys have turned into an average team over the last 20 games.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Yup, kept the L*ker game fairly close,
But you’ve got to wonder if they are going to be a little gassed coming in the 2nd game of a back to back when they have so little depth.
Travis Outlaw is an alien, but in a good way.
Awesome Graphic was provided by CIC, because he felt like he should be hazed.
by Clevelander among roses on Feb 11, 2009 12:37 AM PST up reply actions
10 & 10 last 20 games
GO
THE TEACHER ......come into my classroom "THE PAINT" for some tutelage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The rancor reflected in that remark I won't dignify with comment. But I'll address your general attitude of hopeless negativism." – Everett "O Brother, where art Thou?"
And a point differential of 0.05 (in OKC's last 20 games)
2.05 if you subtract the 41 point blowout Minnesota put on them.
GO
THE TEACHER ......come into my classroom "THE PAINT" for some tutelage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The rancor reflected in that remark I won't dignify with comment. But I'll address your general attitude of hopeless negativism." – Everett "O Brother, where art Thou?"
nick collison is particularly objectionable
because it seems like he always kills us and he kills no one else
ignacio
yeah, how does he do it?
Now there’s a backup banger for you backup-banger fans. – Elgin
Since when do we need to ponder to froth? - jscot
The Princess Bride!
Haha! Dave, what a great quote from Inigo Montoya in the ’87 classic The Princess Bride. When Mandy Patinkin delivers that.. it has to be one of the best lines ever delivered in movie history. You just FEEL how much he really means it!
Why am I not surprised you liked that movie?
Go Blazers!
/Anders in Sweden
Favorite movie
Great quote, that’s my favorite movie of all time
Sometimes I feel like I'm going in different directions...
by porterfan30 on Feb 11, 2009 10:54 AM PST up reply actions
Amen
Another day, another buzzer-beater. This man is so clutch he sets his body clock to go off one second before his alarm does every morning.
lol...didn't catch the "racism" you threw in there dave,
nice touch!!! ;) (a fine example of why it’ll never go away, it all starts out as fun and games until someone get’s hurt…..then it becomes a sport and people start selling it, next thing you know people are being thrown into jail for it, and the final outcome is public figures declairing it a national tragidy and condoning it’s existance all together putting it on the minds of everyone everywhere and you can’t have a dinner conversation without someone elses nittwittness being brought up becuase they felt like teasing someone who was diffrent…….
but you pull it off with such flair that…well..it almost went unnoticed……almost ;))
not that it bugs me, I just figured I’m awake…I may as well do something and writing out thought seemed like a good idea….maybe it wasn’t ….ya never know, keep up the good work though…..
and na, oklahoma still ain’t worth the e paper this preview was e-typed on……..
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
wow..
can I get nitt-wittness?
"Slum dunk? You just go to the rim, and crush.. crush the ball in the rim."
- Nic Batum
if you like,
BUT, to use my cool word,
“nittwittness”
I’d like a buck fifty every time you use it.
don’t read too much into it though, mostly just a cheap shot at dave in good fun ( I think it was my beligerant outburst that containing generally bad klee-shey’s of diffrent persons of diffrent places over a year ago that got me my signifigant bannage.)
I love what dave does with his words. Lord knows I’m jelly-licious of the man, but that was ment to be a secret between him(the lord) and I…..oops ;)
The Faith don't panic, the faith freaks out burns out farms and torchs small villages in the name of The Faith.
???
What does this even mean? Is this meant to add anything to the discussion about the game?
Princess Bride!
" Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my win streak. Prepare to die."
Stroke of pure genius there Dave! You made me spit out my drink laughing!
Inigo: I give you my word as a Spaniard!
Dread Pirate Roberts: Not good enough! I’ve known too many Spaniards…
by EngineerScotty on Feb 11, 2009 11:18 AM PST up reply actions
The Blazers need to foul KD Hornets style any time he enters the paint
I want the Blazers big men to foul out hitting KD so that he’ll never enter the paint in Portland again.
I like frogs.
by Dragline on Feb 11, 2009 5:11 AM PST reply actions 1 recs
Yes!
They were just watching him drive to the rack. Get in there and stop him! I think even Sergio out weighs him.
My favorite teams are the Blazers and any team that is playing the Lakers.
by OCBlazerFan1 on Feb 11, 2009 9:35 AM PST up reply actions
You guys should have written "Iñigo Montoya".
Now is too late. You´ve killed my beloved Spanish letter “ñ”. I´ll take revenge on your language, again and again. :)
Sergio + Rudy = 16
Sergio + Bayless = 16
Batum 8+8=16
more than you have already?
Kidding!
"its tough to play with one eye, unless you're a pirate." Delonte West
"una canasta a Pau en la cara" Rudy
by Honka Playboy on Feb 11, 2009 8:56 AM PST up reply actions
Oxford English Professors
have probably done far more damage to the language than any furriner could do.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Indeed.
The main reason that the correlation between sounds and letters in English are so haphazard is silly attempts to make the language look more like Latin, with the result that English vowels are an unholy mixture of Celtic, Germanic, and Latin conventions.
by EngineerScotty on Feb 11, 2009 11:23 AM PST up reply actions
I would gladly type an en-yay
if I could find one on my keyboard. – Elgin
Since when do we need to ponder to froth? - jscot
Oh yes, I´m worried about my improvement.
I think I´m losing part of my personality. I´ll take it back to the past.
Sergio + Rudy = 16
Sergio + Bayless = 16
Batum 8+8=16
Any language
that is dumb enough to consider “ll”, “rr”, and “ch” to be a single fracking letter, rather than two adjacent letters, deserves to be insulted.
:)
And why is ñ a different letter from n, but í not the same as i?
by EngineerScotty on Feb 11, 2009 11:22 AM PST up reply actions
what language are you referring to?
Spanish hasn’t considered “ll”, rr (this was never a letter) or “ch” to be a single letter for years…
Blazers should be PO'ed at allowing themselves to lose to these guys
I’m hoping to see some fire and competitiveness. I will be worried if I do not.
Blazer Fan
I'm hopeing that GO goes off tonight.
If he doesn’t come out excited to play then I give up. I mean, at least look interested in the game pleeaaasssseee!
What about...
If the players walk up before the game and say:
…"You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The most famous is never get involved in a land war in Asia, but only slightly less well-known is this: never go in against a Blazer when home-court is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! Ha ha ha…
kid: "Hey Jerryd, what's it feel like to dunk on someone?"
Jerryd: "It feels good"
by cic on Feb 11, 2009 8:25 AM PST reply actions
Are you implying...
That Portland is going to keel over and die tonight?
haha
Nah, Portland has spent the last few years building up an immunity to iocane powder.
kid: "Hey Jerryd, what's it feel like to dunk on someone?"
Jerryd: "It feels good"
by cic on Feb 11, 2009 8:51 AM PST up reply actions
And which of those sneaky Thunders (wow...that both looks and sounds weird)...
…has six fingers? Must be Durrant.
I'm not too sure...
…but my guess is that the role of the Hunchbacked-Albino will be played by Nick Collison.
kid: "Hey Jerryd, what's it feel like to dunk on someone?"
Jerryd: "It feels good"
by cic on Feb 11, 2009 9:20 AM PST up reply actions
Are we ready for this game?
I am always in the Blazers corner, but man I thought we were gonna pound NY. We almost let the Knickerbockers steal one. Isn’t anyone at all a little nervous about how we come out?
"Every time Troutlaw touches the ball, I pop an anti-anxiety pill."
They are also coming off a back-to-back against the Lakers...
………………………. and they looked QUITE GOOD, thank you very much, against the Lakers.
Three ponies: Kevin Durant — who LEADS THE NBA IN SCORING SINCE JAN. 15 with a 32 ppg average!.
Then add Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook, both QUALITY NBAers.
That doesn’t even touch their PG.
Which means you are gonna be playing against 4 very capable wing players, with an out-of-position Power Forward (Collison) playing Center.
Oden USUALLY does very well in such scenarios.
If Nate fails to put Batum in Durant’s face and use him to shadow Kevin the whole game, that’s on him. Sure, Batum is a rookie, but he’s also the only guy on the team remotely capable of staying with KD on defense.
I do not want another crap sandwich. I want a win.
The cilantro in your tapioca pudding since 2007.™
Yeah
If we can get Oden rolling, he should put a major hurt on these guys.
If Batum is on Durant, I hope he moves, moves, moves without the ball on offense to wear the kid down. Then throw Travis at him for a few minutes and tell Trav to forget about help and just stick to him and try to deny him the ball. Then give Brandon a few minutes on him, and then bring Nic back.
Make him work on defense and throw fresh bodies at him all the time. And on the other end, drive the lane and pound it in to Greg.
When I rule the world, everyone will know how to use Excel.
Yes, make Durant play D.
He should be literally chasing around Batum and Travis all night. Also we need to make the other Thunder do the score.
"Every time Troutlaw touches the ball, I pop an anti-anxiety pill."
Revenge
is a dish best served in front of 20,000 screaming fans.
Just got the call from my brother. He picked us up a pair of tickets so we can go watch the dismantling of the Thunder in person. There is a vendor in the 300 level who will give you a dollar off the cotton candy if you yell out “party in a bag” when he comes through. Little known fact.
Dunk
by Billy Ray Bates on Feb 11, 2009 9:59 AM PST reply actions
Don't expect a blowout
Dave, I’m not sure where you get your confidence that we’re going to destroy this team. Not only are they basically a .500 team in 2009 (9-10), they were only blown out twice: once at Minnesota (yes, I know) and once at Utah (where the Blazers didn’t exactly fare so well either). They played Denver very tough – twice – as well as the L*kers, and beat Detroit.
I expect this game to be close, and I wouldn’t give the Blazers more than 3-1 odds to win, at this point. They’ve been playing poorly, atrociously on defense and mediocre on offense, and got lucky several times over the last 6 games or so. They should approach this game very seriously, and not expect the Thunder (man is that a bad name!) to roll over. This feeling of entitlement is misplaced and dangerous.
I don't need
a blowout. Just at some point during the night to look at this game and say, “It’s in the bag and the Blazers might stomp them.” If we play wire-to-wire tight or we have to come from behind then we didn’t do what we were supposed to.
—Dave
the thunder really really wanted that game last time, you could tell in the way Slick Nick Collison and some of the other players who had lived in Seattle looked like this was some type of personal vendetta and really took it to us. We can only hope we come out with that same type of intensity this game, after all, they did kill our father…how much more personal can it get?
(I just don’t like the fact we have beef with one of the worst teams in the league)
* "Chick flicks are illegal in my house... the only girly thing my girl watches is Project Runway." Which Blazer yelled this out in the locker room? Who else? Channing Frye. I know that's going to be somebody's signature.
by BlazermaniacAndy on Feb 11, 2009 11:16 AM PST up reply actions
Oh...and
going out and destroying somebody is not a sense of entitlement. It’s a sense of going out and destroying somebody. A sense of entitlement is exactly what we’re arguing against, as that would cause laziness and apathy. Which are the opposite of destroying somebody.
—Dave
What if
they double the guards at the Main gate? Maybe the Blazers should dress Oden in a harlequin cloque , set it on fire and have him shout:
“My men are here! I am here! But soon you will not be here!”
kid: "Hey Jerryd, what's it feel like to dunk on someone?"
Jerryd: "It feels good"
by cic on Feb 11, 2009 11:32 AM PST up reply actions
Inigo Montoya needs to help Sergio play defense.
They both speak spanish, maybe Inigo can help Serg defend the pick and roll, if Inigo’s man gets by him, he just stabs him with his custom made 1200 year old sword made by his father.
So we also need a T-Rex?
Bayless’ cousin played the T-Rex in Jurassic Park. He needs to come teach Bayless how to chomp down on Watson.
Dear Blazers,
Please please don’t loose again to this city-wrecking team again,
I admit it, I was stunned and amazed at our lose last week, All things considered it couldn’t of have been a worse week for me. I lost my job. The Blazers lost to the (what’s the new name again, the OKC Blunder?) and I didn’t loose my spare tire round my belly. SO! This week, I am starting a new business and have already secured a job in the mean time, I am stopping the caloric intake of alcohol in hopes of dropping a few pounds and also clearing my mind, now, if the Blazers could just do their part, we could call this A COMPLETE 180.
Now if I just remember where I put my copy of the Princess Bride…
* "Chick flicks are illegal in my house... the only girly thing my girl watches is Project Runway." Which Blazer yelled this out in the locker room? Who else? Channing Frye. I know that's going to be somebody's signature.
by BlazermaniacAndy on Feb 11, 2009 11:13 AM PST reply actions
So if the thunder is wesley,
Is Lamarcus playing tonight? Who would start in his place? I’d rather have Frye start than Outlaw, because frye plays better when starting and last time outlaw started was against the lakers, ewwwww; but still, it’s like choosing between mcdonalds and burger king because burgervillie is closed.
Don't Redeactivate Shavlik Randolph
And McMenamins is too far away...
And Red Robin just isn’t an option…
And the Slow Bar got shut down because nobody knows they have the best burger in Portland…
But seriously, that was last year when Channing was playing well when starting, Yes Travis can not handle the role either, but I think C.Frye has taken a giant leap back in confidence this year, I say start him one game, and if he doesn’t do well, we do like they did in Monty Python to the witch…
* "Chick flicks are illegal in my house... the only girly thing my girl watches is Project Runway." Which Blazer yelled this out in the locker room? Who else? Channing Frye. I know that's going to be somebody's signature.
by BlazermaniacAndy on Feb 11, 2009 11:20 AM PST up reply actions
i always heard about that burger
but i couldn’t stand to be in that place longer than a few seconds, too many neck tattoos, i felt like i could become someone’s female dog at any moment.
Don't Redeactivate Shavlik Randolph
The biggest determining factor for this game is their best 3 players played
around 40 minutes last night. Back-to-backs are like turnovers in football. The Blazers should win handily tonight and make us wonder why that didn’t happen in OKC.
Spanish Main: The point of departure for enormous wealth in the form of gold, silver, gems, spices, hardwoods, hides, alley-oops, assists and three pointers.
inconcevible
BROY, you can not tell because I were a cape and a mask. but I am smiling to
kevin, Why
BROY,because I will score with my right or left hand on you..haha
kevin, who are you, how can you best me
BROY, It isn’t something I tell my foe’s
Kevin, I must know
BROY, then get used to disappointment.
nnot how the scene inthe move go per say but I like this better
"I like whatever metric makes a Blazer look better." jonestr
Don't forget
The Blazers could have came back and one that game in OKC, they just didn’t.
I like frogs.
I'm hoping
Greg will go for 20 and 20 at least. And why do so many people spell “lose,” “loose?”
because phonetically it's more similar
and if you have a spellcheck, it won’t catch it because it’s spelled right, just the wrong word. Looz and luce, iz how they could be spelled.
Don't Redeactivate Shavlik Randolph
by appel82 on Feb 11, 2009 5:12 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs
Caught part of Thunder vs L*kers last night on Coast to Coast
It was back and forth non-stop running and scoring from what I saw. Hopefully, OKC is tired! They are young, though. But I hate hearing that excuse from anyone on back-to-backs.
In old raspy voice- “Back in my day, I could run up and down the court for 3 or 4 hours a day, everyday! These young whipper-snappers should be able to as well!”
Anyone hear if LMA is playing tonight?
GO
THE TEACHER ......come into my classroom "THE PAINT" for some tutelage.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"The rancor reflected in that remark I won't dignify with comment. But I'll address your general attitude of hopeless negativism." – Everett "O Brother, where art Thou?"
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
NBA Playoffs Content Module
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
FanShots
Quick hits of video, photos, quotes, chats, links and lists that you find around the web.
Recommended FanShots
Recent FanShots
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- ‘Deep Thoughts’ and Cheap Thoughts: San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
- C-a-C: This is probably as close to LeBron James working with John Waters as we’ll ever get
- Dwyane Wade’s hot pink pants: The kind of thing you can get away with when you drop 41
- Lamar Odom to New York? Dwight Howard on the move? For now, it’s all talk
- David West hilariously denies each and every one of his young fans a high-five (VIDEO)
