{"id":1982,"date":"2016-03-03T13:11:54","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T19:11:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=1982"},"modified":"2017-07-08T15:32:25","modified_gmt":"2017-07-08T20:32:25","slug":"thunder-and-sooners-are-at-a-crossroads-its-nut-cutting-time-in-oklahoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=1982","title":{"rendered":"Thunder and Sooners are at a crossroads; It’s nut cutting time in Oklahoma"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sooner Coach Lon Kruger (photo-USA Today)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Commentary<\/h6>\n

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The Oklahoma Sooner men\u2019s basketball team has been ranked number one this season and have the best player in the land with senior Buddy Hield.\u00a0 The National Basketball Association\u2019s Oklahoma City Thunder have a playoff birth in hand and have two of the four highest rated basketball players in the world. Yet, concern surrounds both teams and future success in the post season is not guaranteed amid recent past play.\u00a0 High expectations by fans for both teams have been tempered with losses and in fact, total game breakdowns in the final minutes of games.\u00a0 Will each team right-the-ship before the games become win or go home or as\u00a0in the NBA,\u00a0\u201cgone fishing\u201d.<\/h6>\n

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In the case of the Sooners, giving up large leads, playing as good as you can followed by stretches of extreme turnovers, or a complete shutdown of the offensive where the team can\u2019t \u201chit the side of the barn\u201d are becoming the norm and not the exception.\u00a0 A last minute\u00a0 (after a big blow-out lead) win over Baylor in the final home game and a total shut down of scoring on the road in Austin against the Texas Longhorns worry those who supports the Big Red. If the trend continues, a good run in the following Big Twelve and NCAA National Tournaments could be shorter than Head Coach Lon Kruger would want.\u00a0 A team based on three point shooting with a most experienced team, OU has to be on their game, both in shooting and defense, or they will be history for 2016. Getting production out of Hield is consistent, but this Player-of-the-Year\u00a0cannot take off long stretches of the game is OU is to be a significant player come this post season.\u00a0 As with his play against Baylor, a quick start followed by nothing for many minutes both in the first half and most of the second half is a plan for disaster.\u00a0 Hield needs to be drop a cool thirty or more.\u00a0 And as the saying goes, you live by the three, you die by the three.\u00a0 OU needs to use their experience and it is not acceptable for a team that\u00a0good for it\u2019s\u00a0players to fold.\u00a0 OU could be one and done in each of the upcoming tournaments or they could win both. They have the talent.\u00a0 It is time for Lon Kruger to show that he has the keys to a good run, and stop with this \u201cchoking\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0He is just too happy for me and some butt chewing might be needed, even if Kruger doesn\u2019t do much of that during a game.<\/h6>\n

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If I would tell you that the Thunder had the puzzle figured out and they were a major player in the 2016 NBA playoffs I could not make a strong case. But then I might just be blowing smoke after last night as the Los Angeles Clippers came from a\u00a022 points\u00a0deficit\u00a0as OKC\u00a0blew a 17\u00a0point third quarter lead.\u00a0 And when you study the tape you will see that the\u00a0big guns for\u00a0the Thunder, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, played like they were in junior high.\u00a0 Westbrook\u2019s final three point shot at the end\u00a0with the game still winnable was especially ridiculous.\u00a0\u00a0Westbrook is a world class basketball player that again\u00a0allowed his less than stellar\u00a0basketball IQ force him into another poor decision.\u00a0 Sure, Westbrook doesn\u2019t have\u00a0these moments as\u00a0much in the past and he has become one of the finest point guards in the league. But really Russell?\u00a0 That was the best you could get in that final possession,\u00a0in that final two minutes, in that final five minutes, in that final quarter? Kevin Durant, ditto for you too.\u00a0 You played hot potato with the ball.<\/h6>\n

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I\u00a0had a great deal of confidence in this Thunder team, for this season and the future.\u00a0 That good feeling is evaporating quickly.\u00a0 Comments of Kevin Durant last night were telling and not positive. \u00a0As Durant said last night:<\/h6>\n

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They made plays, we didn\u2019t. They were disciplined, we weren\u2019t. We want to be a great team. We\u2019re fooling ourselves. If we just want to be a great team, the way we\u2019re playing, we\u2019re fooling ourselves. We want to win a bunch of games in the regular season, that\u2019s cool, but we\u2019re fooling ourselves with the way we\u2019re playing.<\/em><\/span><\/h6>\n

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Kevin Durant, the fooling starts with you. You have to be the man and the nonchalant way you turn the ball over has to stop.\u00a0 The lack of allowing Westbrook to take the last shot is on you.\u00a0 Accountability starts with you.\u00a0 Not Russell Westbrook\u2026\u2026Kevin Durant you are the one.\u00a0 The Thunder didn\u2019t have a first quarter turnover in that great twelve minutes. You don\u2019t want to know how many they had in the final three quarters.\u00a0\u00a0Kevin\u00a0Durant, \u00a0if you think that it doesn\u2019t, start with you, maybe\u00a0it is\u00a0time for you to go somewhere else where other players can lead<\/strong><\/span><\/em> you to a title.\u00a0The ball is\u00a0in your court.\u00a0 Not Coach Donavan, not Serge Ibaka, or even Steven Adams or Enes Kanter.\u00a0And not Russell Westbrook. \u00a0It\u2019s nut cutting time in OKC Mr. Durant.\u00a0 Take charge and win you a title.\u00a0 The ability of the team\u00a0is there.\u00a0 What are you going to do about it?<\/h6>\n
\"la-clippers-thunder-wre0036962390-20160302\"<\/a>
Russell Westbrook, Cole Aldrich Mark J. Terrill \/ Associated Press Clippers center Cole Aldrich forces Thunder guard Russell Westbrook to adjust his layup during the first half.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\u00a0 Commentary \u00a0 The Oklahoma Sooner men\u2019s basketball team has been ranked number one this…<\/p>\n

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