OKC Thunder 2013 - 2014

[catcherinthewry]

I support the Thunder. I just wish The Oklahoman did as well. Their headline today was "Mr. Unreliable" in 3" copy with a big picture of KD beneath it.

I wrote the sports editor, Mike Sherman a letter to state my disgust. I suggest all Thunder fans do the same. His email is msherman@opubco.com

[Jersey Boss]

I support the Thunder. I just wish The Oklahoman did as well. Their headline today was "Mr. Unreliable" in 3" copy with a big picture of KD beneath it.

I wrote the sports editor, Mike Sherman a letter to state my disgust. I suggest all Thunder fans do the same. His email is msherman@opubco.com

Welcome to the major leagues. It's like that in any major league city with the press. It is not the job of sports reporters to be uncritical cheerleaders.

[dankrutka]

The irony is that KD is arguably the most consistent player in the NBA. Even when he has struggled during this series, his production has been largely consistent... just inefficient.

[catcherinthewry]

If you are as disgusted with today's headline as I am, please share your thoughts with the sports editor, Mike Sherman, msherman@opubco.com

[catcherinthewry]

Welcome to the major leagues. It's like that in any major league city with the press. It is not the job of sports reporters to be uncritical cheerleaders.

There's a big difference between being critical and being right. Is Durant Mr. Unreliable? He may be the most reliable player in the NBA. How many great seasons and great playoff series has he had? Calling him Mr. Unreliable during one bad series that is not even over yet is a case of the "what have you done for me latelys" at its worst.

The Oklahoman owes him an apology.

[gothundergo]

please leave your comments to show the OKC thunder team your support for tonight game.


Attachment 7690

yes I have seen those rude comments too. but is time for the thunder team to rise over criticisms, and all that. I know the OKC thunder team have what it needs to win, they just have to focus on winning and give their best on court, no holding back anything. they have to give all tonight.

[OKVision4U]

Welcome to the major leagues. It's like that in any major league city with the press. It is not the job of sports reporters to be uncritical cheerleaders.

When a paper writes a headline like this, they need to be at least 51 % accurate. In this case, this is the furthest from it.

KD has another nickname, ... Mr. Clutch. Ice water in his viens.

Mr. Clutch is human. ..he gets tired too. Scott Brooks knows this, he just doesn't know HOW to manage it.

[Jersey Boss]

There's a big difference between being critical and being right. Is Durant Mr. Unreliable? He may be the most reliable player in the NBA. How many great seasons and great playoff series has he had? Calling him Mr. Unreliable during one bad series that is not even over yet is a case of the "what have you done for me latelys" at its worst.

The Oklahoman owes him an apology.

Was the article about the professional career of KD or was it more about the current series with Memphis? If it was about Memphis, what are the numbers for KD in shooting % and % outside the arc?

[gopokes88]

Welcome to the major leagues. It's like that in any major league city with the press. It is not the job of sports reporters to be uncritical cheerleaders.

Yeah but cities like NY and LA can get away with stuff like that because it's NY and LA. OKC? Not so much.

[Of Sound Mind]

There's a big difference between being critical and being right. Is Durant Mr. Unreliable? He may be the most reliable player in the NBA. How many great seasons and great playoff series has he had? Calling him Mr. Unreliable during one bad series that is not even over yet is a case of the "what have you done for me latelys" at its worst.

As has been already pointed out, the criticism is about THIS series and playoff run. And the criticism is spot on. I love KD, but he isn't looking very much like the league MVP so far in the playoffs.

The Oklahoman owes him an apology.

No, they do not.

[gothundergo]

Tonight is the night when KD will have to prove that he is the best player in the NBA! so lets all watch tonight game and see how he will play. I personally think he need to play a little more hard to prove what he already is, the best NBA player. go thunder! go KD

[catcherinthewry]

Was the article about the professional career of KD or was it more about the current series with Memphis? If it was about Memphis, what are the numbers for KD in shooting % and % outside the arc?

The articles are fair criticism of KD. I never said anyone on the Thunder is above reproach. In this case the headline did not match the articles and made The Oklahoman look like The New York Post.

Apparently, Mr. Sherman agrees with me:Headline over Kevin Durant story missed the mark | News OK
We take great pride in our headlines about big sporting events and news in Oklahoma. Thursday’s headline in The Oklahoman on Kevin Durant’s performance in the Memphis series missed the mark.

The words were overstated and unduly harsh. The headline and presentation left the impression that we were commenting on Durant’s season, career or even character. We were not. We were referring only to the Memphis series.

The fact the headline and presentation left that impression with so many readers is proof that we failed.

[catcherinthewry]

No, they do not.

They feel different seeing as how they've already issued one.

[Of Sound Mind]

They feel different seeing as how they've already issued one.

They should apologize for having no backbone. Even so, the headline is appropriate for THIS series, which is what Mike Sherman said was the intent.

[OKCisOK4me]

Tonight is the night that they all need to play like it's their first game in the Final Four! Hate to have to revert to college but it's ONE OR DONE time!


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[catcherinthewry]

They should apologize for having no backbone. Even so, the headline is appropriate for THIS series, which is what Mike Sherman said was the intent.

He also admitted that they missed the mark with their intent.

The fact the headline and presentation left that impression with so many readers is proof that we failed.

[Of Sound Mind]

He also admitted that they missed the mark with their intent.

Only because people with half-second attention spans couldn't make it past a two-word headline to read what the intent actually was. Apologizing to people too lazy to read for context just validates bad behavior.

[Urbanized]

He apologized for the headline, not the article. It was appropriate. The article was accurate, the headline unnecessarily ambiguous, sensationalistic and baiting.

[catcherinthewry]

Unfortunately, it's the 2-word headline that has made national news, not the two articles underneath it.

[OKVision4U]

As has been already pointed out, the criticism is about THIS series and playoff run. And the criticism is spot on. I love KD, but he isn't looking very much like the league MVP so far in the playoffs.


No, they do not.

Do you know anything about Athletics? ...obviously not. How many analogies do I need to make, to help you with your education...???

In the HIstory of Baseball, Cy Young / Nolan Ryan / Roger Clemens / Sandy Kofax / etc, could NOT pitch every inning of every game of the season, and then expect to have any "Pop" on their fastball in the playoffs.

In the History of Football, Barry Sanders / Waltor Peyton / Jim Brown / Bo Jackson / etc, could NOT carry the ball every snap of every game of the season, and then expect to have any "Drive" in their legs in the playoffs.

They even figured this out in 1860. The Pony Express knew that you can't just ride the same Pony Across The US !!!!! ( they break-down after a given distance )

So, this is NOT about KD, this is about Scott Brooks. The Oklahoman does owe KD an apology. This is a sports issue and the History of Sports has already spoken about this. The Oklahoman got it wrong on So Many Sports Levels.

Tramel, do your job, Apologize to KD, and then ask Brooks how he was able to find a way to beat Miami, but can't get passed Memphis in the first round? This is the story.

[dankrutka]

I wouldn't mind Stan Van Gundy one bit as a Scott Brooks replacements:

Do the Thunder Have a Scott Brooks Problem? Could Stan Van Gundy Solve It? «

[Of Sound Mind]

Scott Brooks certainly shoulders the lion's share of the blame/credit for the Thunder performance in the playoffs so far (I hope his tenure comes to an end as quickly as the Thunder's season is about to). Even so, and why the headline and article were not unreasonable, when you are the player-leader of the team and the league MVP, you also bear significant responsibility for being the leader you are supposed to be (and being handsomely paid to be), helping your team play like the champions everyone has thought they were supposed to be.

[SoonerDave]

He apologized for the headline, not the article. It was appropriate. The article was accurate, the headline unnecessarily ambiguous, sensationalistic and baiting.

Bingo. First thing I thought of when I read the article was that there's no way the guy who wrote that article would have expected that headline to accompany it, and a lot of folks don't realize the guy who writes the headlines is almost certainly not the person who wrote the story - can often be a layout or composition person, although someone has to proof the final release at some point, and that goes on Sherman, I think.

Baiting is precisely the word I was thinking. Tramel is going to get crushed with blame for this, and in all honesty, his article was a fair assessment. KD hasn't had a great series.

All that said, win tonight, bring it back home miraculously for a Game 7 and win then, all is forgiven

My heart is in this too much now. I somehow still think we'll win tonight, despite the fact I know better. Perhaps I've drunk too much coffee.

[SoonerDave]

Scott Brooks certainly shoulders the lion's share of the blame/credit for the Thunder performance in the playoffs so far (I hope his tenure comes to an end as quickly as the Thunder's season is about to). Even so, and why the headline and article were not unreasonable, when you are the player-leader of the team and the league MVP, you also bear significant responsibility for being the leader you are supposed to be (and being handsomely paid to be), helping your team play like the champions everyone has thought they were supposed to be.

I think the overarching sentiment right now is that Brooks has not helped his team in this series. The part of coaching that isn't very popular these days is when the Mack-like "clap 'em up" kind of coaching has gone as far as it can, and the job then becomes telling your guys when they're making wrong decisions. The next level of refinement for RW or KD is knowing when they're not making those smart decisions, and it's up to the coach - hard as it may be, I think Brooks has yet to get to a point where, as an example, he's comfortable telling RW to "stop shooting threes."

[dankrutka]

Do you know anything about Athletics? ...obviously not. How many analogies do I need to make, to help you with your education...???

I like how the post starts condescending... and then proceeds without really making much of an argument. At least use some facts to back up your point that Kevin Durant is playing too many minutes to win a title. So, I figured I'd test your theory and see how many minutes Michael Jordan played before his first title...

Michael Jordan played 3,102 minutes in 80 games in the year of his first championship. Kevin Durant played 3,122 minutes in 81 games this season. I guess you can "ride the same Pony Across the US !!!"