NBA 2012 Playoffs

Seattle · Post by **Seattle** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:23 pm

Fine, we can hate the team and owners but like the character of the "12th man". Go oklahoma fans, go.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 6:39 pm

That's the spirit! Now let's all Thunder Up together!

[youtube][/youtube]

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:10 pm

Flack wrote:Yup. It's too bad the city of Seattle didn't put as much effort into supporting the Sonics then as they put into hating on the Thunder now.

They had just given their team a stadium 12 years before, hadn't they? I may have the facts wrong. In fact, I am going to go all-in on having the facts wrong. Do you see all my chips? I am pushing them to the tabl--

They had just given the NBA a new basketball-only stadium four years before!

Ice Cream Jonsey · Post by **Ice Cream Jonsey** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 8:13 pm

Bill Simmons is terrible, but all this goes away when the NBA expands to 32 teams and puts one in Seattle. It's so stupid for them (the NBA) to do it this way, but they love moving teams. The NFL had the same situation with the Browns. I really hope that the NBA is bright enough to keep the team that eventually goes there as "the Sonics" or "the Super-Sonics." But I think some squid will say in a meeting that they might sell more merchandise if it's the Washington Yetis and that will be that.

(I also think it sucks that baseball didn't go with the Washington Senators when they moved the Expos.)

I just like it when teams are like the teams they used to be. But clearly Oklahoma needed its own team. Getting one there is one of the best decisions that league has ever made.

Seattle · Post by **Seattle** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:24 pm

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote:
Flack wrote:Yup. It's too bad the city of Seattle didn't put as much effort into supporting the Sonics then as they put into hating on the Thunder now.
They had just given their team a stadium 12 years before, hadn't they? I may have the facts wrong. In fact, I am going to go all-in on having the facts wrong. Do you see all my chips? I am pushing them to the tabl--

They had just given the NBA a new basketball-only stadium four years before!

more like four score and twelve years ago, Key Arena was built in 1960. The sonics were due a stadium and its really the fault of all the fucking mealy mouthed passive agressive losers who kept voting down any possible solution short of spontanious creation of a stadium that exists in anybody elses neighborhood

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Jun 13, 2012 9:48 pm

I don't think anybody here in OKC is thrilled about how we got the team, but to be honest I also don't think anybody here cares how we got the team. Part of it is the name change. I don't think I have ever heard anyone here ever say "Hey, remember when the Thunder used to be the Sonics?" Like, never. Ever. Nobody here ever thinks about Seattle, or the Sonics. The only time it comes up is when some jackass wears a Sonics jersey to one of the Thunder games. And that pretty much quit happening the first season.

The best (and somewhat vulgar) comparison I can make is if someone you barely knew got divorced from his hot wife and she moved in with you. You weren't that great of friends in the first place, and the sex is so good that you don't think about that other dude very often. To bad for him.

If I lived in Seattle I would be bummed too. I would have been bummed when they left, and I would be bummed right about now that the Thunder (not the Sonics) are in the finals. It's easy to play "what could have been."

I think the best thing to come out of this for Seattle is the people of Seattle want another team so bad they can taste it. Just think, if everybody in Seattle gave up Starbucks for one day they could buy a new arena. (I just made that up.) Point being, there is a renewed interest in basketball in Seattle and enough rich basketball fans in the area (Steve Ballmer) to make it happen. At that point the "Sonics" name will return to the Northwest, and the Thunder will finally break any Seattle ties. Except of course when the two teams play and the Thunder obliterates them.

Here's another good timely article: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-ball- ... --nba.html

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:57 am

They might have lost game 2 but it was a quality game.

I even started to learn the rules.

THE
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
AARDVARK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:36 am

All of Oklahoma City was wondering what just happened, so it wasn't just you.

Rule number one of the NBA: you can't start out down 2-18 and win.

Seattle · Post by **Seattle** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 5:39 pm

For the record, this guy is a jerk and a douchbag:

Seattle · Post by **Seattle** » Fri Jun 15, 2012 6:21 pm

And this shit found in a seattle barbershop is just stupid:

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:08 am

Seattle wrote:And this shit found in a seattle barbershop is just stupid:

Please. Nobody gets kicked out of any business in Seattle. You just eventually walk out after being ignored for twenty minutes by the single employee scheduled to work the entire place.

THE
LITTLE HELP HERE?
PINBACK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sat Jun 16, 2012 10:07 pm

That was our experience at a few places, including Starbucks #1.

pinback · Post by **pinback** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:22 am

Flack wrote:That was our experience at a few places, including Starbucks #1.

It has also been our experience at every single place we have been here, 100% of the time.

That is an exaggeration, for comic effect.

But not by much.

This is not related to the NBA playoffs, though.

JONSEY!!! SPLIT MA SHIT!!

AArdvark · Post by **AArdvark** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:57 am

I consider that flattery.

THE
GRINNING
AARDVARK

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 8:19 pm

Thursday night the Miami Heat won game two, and tonight they won game three. I'm sorry I gave you all false hope. YOUR OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER are letting you down.

The referee calls in this series are amazing. This is not coming from a blind, crazy fan. This is coming from a rational adult, watching the game. All the calls are going in the Heat's favor -- even the commentators mentioned it. I don't see how the Thunder can win if the calls keep going against them. All James has to do is walk past somebody and the refs blow the whistle for him. It would be funnier if it weren't killing my team's chance at making history.

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:48 pm

Tonight was pretty much "do or die" for YOUR Oklahoma City Thunder. No team has ever come back from a 1-3 deficit in the NBA finals, and the Thunder went into tonight's game down 1-2 against the Miami Heat.

The Thunder came out playing like a team with their backs against the wall, which is good, as their backs are against the wall. Within just a few minutes, the Thunder were up by 10 with a 15-5 lead over the Heat.

Unfortunately for the Thunder, the Heat are simply an amazing team. LeBron James is an amazing player. Dwayne Wade is an amazing player. These guys seem to be unstoppable. By the end of the second half, the Heat had caught up.

So many calls went in the Heat's favor that at least twice during the game, the commentators mentioned that either they had missed the foul, or couldn't believe the call. So it's not just me, or the Thunder, or Oklahoma. It's as if NBA Commissioner Stern has already written the end to LeBron James' fairy tale victory, and has the referees ensuring that it comes to pass. I have never seen another team get so many weak calls. Simply amazing.

However. When a boxer gets down in points, there is no disputing the knock out. And with the Thunder slowing losing their lead, they could have -- no, should have -- turned up the intensity. Instead, some of them seemed to resign themselves to the fact that if things weren't going their way, they were going to stop playing. I've never seen James Hardin play so broken-hearted.

The only guy left with any heart on our team tonight was Russel Westbrook. Westbrook has been filleted in the press before on multiple occasions for shooting too much. Tonight, he had 43 points. If no one else was going to do it, Russel was going to go down fighting.

In the 2nd quarter, Dwayne Wade went down hard on his back and looked to be in pain. "Dear God," I said, "please let something be broken." Wade went out of the game for a bit and I thought maybe, just maybe, this was the push we needed. Nope. The Heat remained in the game.

In the fourth quarter, LeBron James seemed to stretch his ankle on a layup attempt. That stretch turned into cramps. He was in so much pain that he had to be carried off the court. Trainers furiously pumped him full of Gatorade and covered him in heating pads. And the Thunder, seeing this, pulled ahead by 2 points late in the 4th.

But it wasn't meant to be. When James briefly came back out, hobbling around like a wounded animal, instead of driving through him the Thunder kicked the ball out to Sephaloshia for a three. Seph hasn't hit a 10 foot jumper all night, so chances are he wouldn't make this one either. He didn't.

There were a few bad plays by the Thunder at the end that didn't help the situation, which is kind of like blaming the last donut you ate for making you fat. I think the Thunder have heard the critics say that they're too young to win the championship, and tonight for whatever reason, they decided to believe them.

Heat win by 6. Game 5 is Thursday night in Miami.

gsdgsd · Post by **gsdgsd** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:46 pm

So, I'm kind of for the Thunder. This is a "I have no local interest/but/I rooted for the Johnson-Sikma Sonics of the early 80s" thing.

Also so -- I don't pay attention to the NBA, in a I'm still surprised that Dikembe Mutumbo isn't still playing sort of way.

so x2 : are the Thunder built for long-lasting satisfaction, and we're going to see them back year after year? Or is this a one-and-done sort of deal?

gsdgsd · Post by **gsdgsd** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 8:47 pm

Drunk etc, but you get where I'm coming from, no?

Flack · Post by **Flack** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:04 pm

gsdgsd wrote:So, I'm kind of for the Thunder. This is a "I have no local interest/but/I rooted for the Johnson-Sikma Sonics of the early 80s" thing.

Also so -- I don't pay attention to the NBA, in a I'm still surprised that Dikembe Mutumbo isn't still playing sort of way.

so x2 : are the Thunder built for long-lasting satisfaction, and we're going to see them back year after year? Or is this a one-and-done sort of deal?

There are only four groups of people:

- Those for the Thunder because they like the Thunder
- Those for the Thunder because they hate Miami/LeBron
- People who live in Miami and Seattle
- People who don't care about basketball.

The core of the OKC Thunder team is Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook. Kevin Durant has the top scoring average of the 2012 season. Westbrook scored 43 points in a finals playoff game last Tuesday against the Heat.

Both of these guys are machines. Both just re-signed 5 year deals with the Thunder. Both are 23 years old. Harden, the 6th Man NBA Player of the Year, is 22. These guys have many years ahead of them, and at least 5 years together with the Thunder.

In game 4 between the Thunder and the Heat, LeBron James simply could not physically keep up. Don't get me wrong; he's a monster, and while he could barely walk he still hit a 3 that pretty much sunk OKC, but OKC was still running, still jumping, and still flying to the hoop while James was moaning on the sideline with leg cramps.

Is OKC great? Maybe, but they're only going to get better. They are one of the, if not THE, fastest teams in the league. They run for 48 minutes. The team has issues (inconsistent shooting and too many jumpers), but with a year or two behind them, yes, we are looking at the birth of a dynasty.

After going down 0-2 to the Spurs in the playoffs, the Thunder decided to play their game (running) and won the next 4 games. The Thunder beat the previously undefeated Spurs 4 games in a row. They put out the Lakers as well. It wasn't easy, but they did it. Kobe has 1, maybe 2 years left in the league. Those guys are getting old, while most of the starting lineup of the Thunder has only been able to buy beer for a year or two. (I think we have 3 players in their 30s.)

In the east, you've got Chicago (who lost their two stars due to injury in the first round), Miami, and the Celtics who I suspect are losing two or three players to retirement this year. The path is already clearing for the Thunder to waltz into the playoffs again next year.

gsdgsd · Post by **gsdgsd** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 9:13 pm

So this is all looking good. My basketball rooting can be better summed up as "the Lakers aren't winning? Well excellent." Here's a better question: is Russell Westbrook an actual malcontent, or is he just excellent in a white-America-can't-handle-it (a la Mario Balotelli for the soccer fans) way? I saw that he scored 40+ points in game four -- and people were still throwing fits about his performance.