****Official 2012/2013 Oklahoma City Thunder Basketball Thread****

[Jim Kyle]

I was a little pissed at Westbrook for staying up in the suite in his lil blue Thunder fan t-shirt. Homie shoulda been down on the sideline with his teammates.

I wondered about that, but NewsOK reported that he couldn't be on the bench because he has to stretch his right leg and there's not enough room between bench and court to allow it...

[Anonymous.]

What? Westbrook has crutches and his leg bandaged, and you are pissed because he was up in the suite? He was even sitting on the top of the chair to give his legs more room. Have you ever been to a game? You have about 3 inches in front of your knees before you are against the chair in front. Noway to comfortably sit there with your legs extended.

Some people just can't give RW a break, even when he is off the court.



Anyways, Martin has to show up in HOU tomorrow night or Game 7 is going to be tough. Rockets for sure think they can win it now, they have nothing to lose.
One thing to note here, it took Harden to go 7/7 and Garcia 4/6 from 3 early on to even give HOU a comfortable lead. NO chance that happens again. Law of averages - I like our chances tomorrow night.

[SoonerDave]

Okay, guys, I admit it. I know the real reason we lost last night.

Wasn't Westbrook's absence.

It was me.

This was my second Thunder home playoff game ever. We lost the last time I went. And we lost again last night.

It wasn't K-Mart's horrible shooting, or the Thunder's lethargic, often disinterested play, or their dazed and confused offense, or their often nightmarish defense.

So if this does come down to a Game 7 back here in OKC, I feel a lot better about the Thunder's chances as I likely won't have tickets for that one.

(intense sarcasm light off).

[Just the facts]

Okay, guys, I admit it. I know the real reason we lost last night.

Wasn't Westbrook's absence.

It was me.

You have been watching too much Celtic Pride. If you haven't seen that movie - you should.

[Anonymous.]

I think we finally close it out tonight in HOU, the guys were embarassed the other night in the 'Peake. Many of Thunder players left a lot on the table and will likely make up for it tonight.


Also don't expect Harden to have another lights-out 3 pointer party. That was utterly ridiculous.

EDIT: Harden was diagnosed with strep-throat yesterday evening. And is expected to play tonight. <--- He played his best game in the series with strep... Yea I'm not sure I am buying it.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/houston...1209--nba.html


Game is @ 8:30 on ESPN.

Grizzlies and Clippers will also be playing at the same time, on ESPN 2.

[dankrutka]

Well, Harden can't shoot better and Martin can't play any worse. Hopefully as can get it. But there are a lot of other factors too. (For example, KD can't play much better).

[warreng88]

If Martin goes even 1-5 and Brooks doesn't replace him with Jeremy Lamb (because, seriosuly, he couldn't d any worse) then something big needs to happen. I have completely given up hope that we will win the next series, I just want to get out of this one so the Harden worshippers will go away.

[OSUMom]

Brooks has to do a better job too. Why, why why was Collison not in the game at all in the second half? Why was Jackson left wasting away on the bench while the MIA Martin was left in as a big hole in our offense and defense.

In the first half during his 6 minutes of play Collison had 6 points. All of those were cleaning up missed shots. He would have had a feast of garbage to clean up if he had been on the court during the second half.

[warreng88]

Brooks has to do a better job too. Why, why why was Collison not in the game at all in the second half? Why was Jackson left wasting away on the bench while the MIA Martin was left in as a big hole in our offense and defense.

In the first half during his 6 minutes of play Collison had 6 points. All of those were cleaning up missed shots. He would have had a feast of garbage to clean up if he had been on the court during the second half.

Brooks reasoning was the Rockets went small and Nick doesn't work into their small rotation. It's Reggie, Martin, Thabo, KD and Serge with Fish and Liggins rotating in.

[okcboomer]

yeah, let's blame the coach. Good grief people. Losing Westbrook is equivelant to NE losing Tom Brady to begin the playoffs. Difference here is people would not expect the Patriots to make it back to the Super Bowl because we all know how important Brady is. Many around here don't understand just how important Westbrook is to this team. You don't lose an All-Star point guard who runs the show and think everything is going to be just fine. Like I said in another thread, people will soon find out just how important Westbrook is.

[warreng88]

yeah, let's blame the coach. Good grief people. Losing Westbrook is equivelant to NE losing Tom Brady to begin the playoffs. Difference here is people would not expect the Patriots to make it back to the Super Bowl because we all know how important Brady is. Many around here don't understand just how important Westbrook is to this team. You don't lose an All-Star point guard who runs the show and think everything is going to be just fine. Like I said in another thread, people will soon find out just how important Westbrook is.

I'm not blaming the coach because K-mart played horribly, I'm blaming him for not taking him out and trying something else when he wasn't hitting his shots.

[SoonerBoy18]

I cant wait for next season. Particularly next seasons playoffs. That when I will have all of my excitment, confidence, optimism BACK! =(

[Dustin]

Guys, guys.... We might actually win this series...

[Just the facts]

Whew, I am glad that is over.

[ljbab728]

Yup, and here come the Grizzlies. ( A team we're very familiar with )

[SoonerBoy18]

Yup, and here come the Grizzlies. ( A team we're very familiar with )

A team in my opinion all season has been Thunders worst enemy. I'm going to bet we win. Our home games.

[Mississippi Blues]

I think Memphis wins this series. Hope I'm proven wrong though.

[Jake]

I'm just glad we beat the Rockets. Losing a series to Memphis is understandable given the circumstances, so I won't be too bummed if the Thunder are knocked off by them.

[Anonymous.]

I'm just glad we beat the Rockets. Losing a series to Memphis is understandable given the circumstances, so I won't be too bummed if the Thunder are knocked off by them.

This. A million times this.


Winning round 1 without Russ was a great accomplishment. These guys have relearned plays and strategy over the course of 3 actual games. Expecting them to trot through the west is ridiculous.


I feel as if most of the Thunder fans feel the same way. Everything from here on out is icing on the cake.

[SoonerBoy18]

This. A million times this.


Winning round 1 without Russ was a great accomplishment. These guys have relearned plays and strategy over the course of 3 actual games. Expecting them to trot through the west is ridiculous.


I feel as if most of the Thunder fans feel the same way. Everything from here on out is icing on the cake.

But come on we gotta have a LITTLE FAITH. Its not like we are going to suck like the Cavaliers did when Lebron left.

[Easy180]

Get a little break that Memphis isn't a run and gun high scoring team so should help our chances....Be a tremendous accomplishment at this point to make it to the Western Finals

[Praedura]

Allied Arts showing their support:

[dankrutka]

I'm not blaming the coach because K-mart played horribly, I'm blaming him for not taking him out and trying something else when he wasn't hitting his shots.

Brooks makes plenty of mistakes, but leaving your best scorers in even they're shooting bad is not one of them. Martin needs his shots and minutes because he's one of our most efficient scorers. You don't take out scorers when they shoot bad because they can turn it around at any moment. Martin did that last night. He won't be that good regularly, but Martin is our second best scorer so we have to stick with him.

[Praedura]

I'd say that we have a little less than a 50% chance of winning the series with Memphis.

But at a minimum, we're guaranted at least four more playoff games. Yoohoo!

[OkieHornet]

hey guys. we still have one of the best basketball players on the planet on our team. don't give up hope.

and last night with brooks showing he can actually adapt and adjust during a game, there's something too.