Oklahoma Thunder's Oklahoma City Thunder friend's fan blogs

USC was put on probation today.  They must forfeit all games in 2004 and 2005, including the National title win over Oklahoma.  Does that mean that Okalhoma wins another title?  Very interesting.

They are banned from the post season for the next 2 years and a total of 30 scholarships over the next 3 years.  This is a huge blow to the Trojan program.    But, don't worry PAC 10 fans,  the Big 12 is here to the rescue.

 Colorado officially accepted the PAC 10s offer to join.  That means it's only a time before the Oklahoma and Texas schools follow. 

Last year, USC finished 22nd and Oregon 11th.  USC is a sinking ship and so is Oregon.  The rest of the Pac 10 doesn't look so well either. Arizona is on the rise, but that's it.   Now here comes the Big 12.  Colorado already has joined.  That won't help the conference to much in the immediate future, but Texas and Oklahoma contend for the title on a yearly basis.  Texas A&M and Tech get national recognition. And, Oklahoma State is a team on the rise.  This is a good thing for the Pac 10.  Saving them just before things get real bad. 

Continue reading "OU another title? USC fiasco. PAC 10 and Big 12 soon to merge."

This is going to be a classic series.  The Lakers have 2 things that clearly give them the edge:  1) Home court advantage and, 2) Kobe Bryant.

But, the Celtics have a lot of things going for them.

First the matchups.  The Lakers have caused problems with how big they can get.  They start 2 7 footers and that isn't going to be a problem for the Celtics.  Perkins can guard Bynum and Bynum's mobility is really limited.  Garnett can guard Gasol.  The Celtics can bring in Odom, which normally causes matchup problems for their opponents, but Garnett can guard him too.  Big Baby Davis is a high energy player that can compete with anyone inside.  Normally I'd say this is a draw, but with Bynum being hurt, the advantage goes to Boston.

Continue reading "Advantage Celtics"

The Celtics are in a really good place right now being up 3 to 1 on Orlando.  They hope to win in Orlando, but do have another home game if they need it.  

 All 5 starters are really playing well right now.  The Lakers look to be the odds on favorite to play in the final.  They don't have anyone that can stop Rojan Rondo.  They couldn't stop Russell Westbrook, they won't stop Rondo.   Paul Pierce is peaking at the right time and is scoring in more ways than one.  Ray Allen is starting to the shoot the ball really well. Then, you have Kevin Garnett anchoring the defense, and when needed, he can score.  Big man Kendrick Perkins can bang with the big boys.

What is really coming together is the bench.  Rasheed Wallace is gaining his stroke. He and Glen 'Baby' Davis are a tough duo off the bench to compete with.  Davis is a hungry warrior.  Also playing well off the bench is Tony Allen. Allen slowed LeBron down as much as one can in the previous series.  Michael Finley is ready and can be counted on at any time.  But, what I liked in the loss the other night is that Nate Robinson got some time.  That may or may not be needed in the future, but it didn't hurt.

Continue reading "Boston is looking really good right now despite loss."

Here are my 10 sports predictions for the weekend of April 2.  I'll try and keep track thoughout the year and reply with yours as well :)

1)  Michigan State will beat Butler.  Izzo and company has been here many times before.

2) Duke over West Virginia.  WVU is a great story, but so is Duke.

3) Charlotte over Milwaukee  friday

4) Boston over Houston Friday

5) Cleveland over Atlanta Friday

6) Atlanta over Detroit Sat

7) Portland over Sacramento Sat

8)  Denver over the Clippers Sat

9) Washington over New Jersey sun

10)OKC over Minn Sun

Continue reading "10 sports predictions for the weekend. Apirl 1"

To win the final four you have to have players---NBA type players.  Let's take a look at recent history to prove the point.

Last year N Carolina won with 3 first round draft picks in Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Wayne Ellington.

The year before Kansas won with 3 of their own:  Darrell Arthur, Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers. Runner up Memphis had Chris Douglas-Roberts and Derrick Rose.

2007 Florida--Cory Brewer, Al Horford, and Jakim Noah were starters and Richard and Speights were bench players.  Runner up Ohio State had Greg Oden and Mike Conley.   Note: Lighty played in that game.

2006 Florida had the same group as in 2007. UCLA had a pretty good group:J Farmar, Mbah a Moute, A Afflalo, D Collison

2005 An exciting game had UNC champs again with Raymond Felton, Scott May, Ronnie McCants--Illinois had Derron Williams and L Head

Continue reading "Who will win the Final Four?"

The Thunder needed to go 2 and 2 last week and that is exactly what they did.  They lost to San Antonio which put them into a tie for 6th. Then, they defeated Houston with an impressive comeback performance by James Hardin. They followed that with a romp of the Lakers.  Sunday was a defeat to Portland. 

The bad news is that they are in a 3 way tie for 6th,7th, and 8th with the Spurs and Trailblazers.  Phoenix also pulled away for the 5th spot.

The good news is they lowered the magic number to reach the playoffs to four. And, they sent a message to the league that they can play with anyone when they routed Los Angelos.

The Thunder end the month with back to back games at Philly and Boston.  It will be hard to be the Celtics on their floor as a second of a back to back series so, beating the 76ers is a must. This is a very tough end to a good season.  After a couple of days rest, they have another back to back at Dallas and home against Minnesota.  Another win and loss most likely. 

Continue reading "The Thunder playoff chances."

This year's sweet 16 has some fresh faces in the field.  If you compare this year's group to last year's things are different. I want to look at the trend of the sweet 16 over the last 10 years.

Duke, Michigan State, Syracuse, Xavier, and Purdue were in the field last year. 

Ohio State, Xavier, West Virginia, Tennessee, Butler, and Washington have all been there within the past 10 years.

Northern Iowa, Kansas State, Cornell, Baylor, and St. Mary's are all new faces.

Who are the best programs in the last ten years?  What I did to answer this question was simple. I gave a point for each team that made the sweet 16.  4 points for making the final 4. 5 points for the runner up and 10 for the champion.  Including all the teams that make the tournament would take too long and really wouldn't change the overall outcome.  The same goes for the field of 32. What people really remember is who made the final four.  And, who made the sweet 16.  Unless you are a fan of a school, your'e not likely to remember that they made the elite 8 three years ago.  (This list includes this year's field of 16. So, teams may move up this list in the next couple of weeks.)

Continue reading "Sweet 16 Fun Facts and more...."

Losing to Indiana last night was tough.  If they had one last night, they would be tied for the 5th seed with Phoenix and 2 games ahead of 7th in front of San Antonio.  But, that didn't happen.  All is not lost, it just makes this week more difficult.  Tonight they are at home against the Spurs.  They have a one game lead over them.  A loss tonight would put the Thunder in 7th.  A win would keep them in 6th and put 2 games between them and San Antonio and more breathing room going into the last 14 games.

The Thunder play the Spurs, the Lakers, Houston, and Portland. Going 2-2 would be fine.  That would keep them in the playoffs and still have a shot at a good seed. Anything above that would be great. Anything below that would put them in danger of falling to the 8th seed.  It all starts tonight with San Antonio. 

Continue reading "Big Week for the Thunder"

This has been an unbelievable tournament!  Not in the sweet 16--Kansas Jayhawks, the number one team in the country.--New Mexico, 29-4 and a 3 seed---Villanova, the numbe 2 seed and many who had in the final four---Georgetown, #3 seed.

What will be in store for today?

Michigan State vs Maryland.  I said a few days ago that this game didn't matter because the winnr would play Kansas.  Now, the winner plays Northern Iowa and a chance to get to the elite 8!  Maryland has one of the top players in the country and Michigan State has one of the best tournament coaches in the  country.   Let's keep riding the upsets and take Michigan State.

Xavier vs Pitt--Both teams are tournament good teams and it wouldn't surprise anyone if you said they were in the sweet 16.  Sean Miller played at Pitt and coached at Xavier and now is at home watching.  Who is he rooting for? Niether, he is trying to figure out how to get Arizona back into the tourney.  Anyway, I say that Pitt is too good for Xavier and will advance to play the other Kansas school. 

Continue reading "NCAA Madness: Sunday"

Here is how I see the first day of the NCAA tournament.  I'm going to pick a winner and also show how many times I think they would win if they played each other ten times.

Kentucky has gone from being a powerhouse to lost the last 3 years.  They high Calipari and he gets a couple of freshman and instantly they are a success.  One thing bothers me about this team going all the way is that they haven't been there.  This is all new to everyone but the program itself and Calipari. That will quickly return though. Will it be this year?

Kentucky 10  E Tenn St  0

6 Marquette vs 11 Washington---Marquette is from the Big East and that bodes very well. They are a defensive grind it out team while Washington wants to push the tempo, cause turnovers, and get easy buckets.  Washington is on a roll after winning against Arizona State which all the experts said they had to do to get in.  Then, they won the PAC 10 tournament.  I think they are looking really good.

Continue reading "NCAA Tournament Thursday"