{"id":4910,"date":"2017-10-20T11:31:59","date_gmt":"2017-10-20T16:31:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=4910"},"modified":"2018-08-20T14:35:29","modified_gmt":"2018-08-20T19:35:29","slug":"okc-thunder-are-back-to-the-business-of-being-significant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=4910","title":{"rendered":"OKC Thunder are back to the business of being significant……."},"content":{"rendered":"

OKC beats New York in home opener 105-84<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Anthony, fighting for the ball with the Knicks\u2019 Kristaps Porzingis, finished with 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting. Credit Sue Ogrocki\/Associated Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last night was my 10th\u00a0opening game as a season\u00a0ticket holder for the Oklahoma City Thunder.\u00a0 Having attended upwards of 450 games live and in person in the venue now known as the Chesapeake Energy Arena, I have had many pleasant experiences viewing the Thunder in this large gym on Reno Street.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The excitement last night was hard to beat as the expectations of this current version<\/span><\/strong> of Big Blue is as high as it has ever been here in downtown OKC.\u00a0 Yes, the addition of two\u00a0future\u00a0Hall-of-Fame stalwarts, Carmelo Anthony from New York and Paul George from Indiana, have made the Thunder, again, as one of the best teams in the world.\u00a0\u00a0They are\u00a0worthy of a strong run for an NBA championship even if they play in the ultra-tough Western Conference.\u00a0 <\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Realistically, I understand that the Larry O\u2019Brian Trophy goes through the Bay Area of California.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Yes, \u00a0the abilities of the Golden State Warriors with Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry,\u00a0Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, are major,\u00a0but that is of no matter. Yes, that team plays great \u201cteam\u201d ball.\u00a0 This Thunder has their own triple threat in the afore mentioned greats Anthony and George,\u00a0to pair\u00a0with the reigning\u00a0 MVP of the league, Russell Westbrook.\u00a0Throw in a couple of defensive stoppers in Steven\u00a0Adams and Andre Roberson, OKC\u00a0should hold their own with a smothering\u00a0defense that is long and effective.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Just less than a year and a half ago did I have a good feeling that the Thunder would play and also take a championship from this league, only to be devastated by the departure of the great Thunder Kevin Durant in a less than gracious move to the west coast.\u00a0 His chicken shit move to the enemy was no less crappy in that he did not give any indication of his unhappiness with his home team in OKC, let alone an internal wish to fulfill personal goals even if he had to play a second or even third fiddle on a stacked team.\u00a0 His lack of\u00a0 personal fortitude to win a title as a leader was stunning and for me, showed the metal of a weak sportsman that is not worthy of praise.\u00a0 So much for that individual,\u00a0 My feelings of championship for OKC is back.\u00a0 The fact that I do not have a certainty on that possible title is what make sport so wonderful.\u00a0 You never know until the games are played.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There were many memorable\u00a0visuals last night to file in my sports\u00a0cabinet.\u00a0 First, Anthony and George in Thunder blue. It might have been the first time OKC played a home game in their road blue, I really can not remember truthfully.\u00a0\u00a0George wore\u00a0leg stockings that were indicative of style one the court with Anthony in pre-game warm ups donning\u00a0his iconic hoodie and then his head ban\u00a0during\u00a0game time.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Nike now the official uniform fitter for the league, home teams car wear their choice of dress and this night the blue looked exquisite.\u00a0 With the free t-shirts the fans were provided, the most of the 18,203 made the\u00a0Peak a colorful Thunder environment against the white clad New York Knicks.\u00a0 I have to say the new uniforms, with the tweaking by Nike, were stunning. As any OKC fan knows if they follow style of the game, the Thunder\u2019s duds are not ranked high among league fashion critics, but for me, those blues are perfect.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The return to Enes Kanter was significant for Thunder fans.\u00a0 Include me in that. For two seasons and a half Kanter\u00a0was big time with regard to lovability as a Thunder player.\u00a0 No matter where the NBA road takes this gentle giant, Enes will always be a Thunder in the heart for us.\u00a0 And I know he actually loves our city and the state of Oklahoma. Expect to see him here on occasion during the off seasons.\u00a0 With his best friend in the league being Steven Adams, you can bank on it.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

As for on-the-floor action, having players of such high quality in a starting role with the ability to score and defend, OKC toyed with the Knicks until they took over the game in the last minutes of the second quarter.\u00a0 Better perimeter shooting was noted as Westbrook did not need to jack up contested three pointers (I think he shot just one in the game).\u00a0 With a stronger and deeper bench, and having Anthony or George on the court when Westbrook takes his scheduled breaks, OKC has a first class scorer on the floor for a full 48 minutes when needed.\u00a0 That offensive pressure a George\u00a0or Anthony can put on a bench group\u00a0is a major difference this year\u2019s team has on the one in 2016-2017.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Finally, even from my seat in Loud City (I use eye glasses), I could see that this team is together in play.\u00a0 They show excitement on the court and compliment each other on great plays.\u00a0 George mentioned that he never felt as open for shots as he did last night. Anthony seemed totally at ease with the game, as Coach Billy Donavan always gives his players the green light to pull the trigger when the shot is there.\u00a0 That goes with a great such as the triplets or Andre Roberson, not the best shooter on the team.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

There will be games when OKC doesn\u2019t look perfect, will take losses as the season plays out.\u00a0 The bumps and grinds will cost players minutes measured in game minutes or lost games as of being injured. But it will be a season that consumes this writer as this Thunder team will not set foot\u00a0on any floor in the league (Golden State, yes) and not have a great chance to pull out a win.\u00a0 That was not the way it was last year sports fans.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/pre>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n
Feature Photo:\u00a0 Carmelo Anthony after hitting a 3-pointer during the first half of the Oklahoma City Thunder\u2019s win over the Knicks, his former team, on Thursday.<\/span> <\/em>Credit<\/span> Sue Ogrocki\/Associated Press\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/h6>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
OKC beats New York in home opener 105-84 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Last night was…<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/path><\/svg><\/i> \"Loading\"<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[512,447,1134,1179,328,58,688,786,53,1178,54,649,513],"class_list":["post-4910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","tag-andre-roberson","tag-billy-donavan","tag-carmelo-anthony","tag-dramond-green","tag-enes-kanter","tag-kevin-durant","tag-klay-thompson","tag-new-york-knicks","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-paul-geroge","tag-russell-westbrook","tag-stephan-curry","tag-steven-adams"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":198,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4910","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4910"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4910\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4925,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4910\/revisions\/4925"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4910"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4910"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4910"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}