Published: October 29, 2008
Modified: October 30, 2008 at 10:55 am
This season could be longer than originally thought, Thunder fans.
Given what transpired Wednesday night at the Ford Center, patience not only will be a virtue with the Thunder, it will be a minimum requirement.
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The Thunder got rolled by the Milwaukee Bucks 98-87 on opening night inside the Ford Center.
The home team trailed by double-digits for the final 29 minutes and trailed by as many as 24 at one point.
Granted, it's only one game, but is that a good thing or a bad thing?
Keep in mind, people, the Bucks aren't very good.
Much like the Thunder, no one is picking Milwaukee to play more than 82 games this season.
The Bucks wore green, but they hardly resemble the world champion Celtics, who next Wednesday will make their only visit here.
“We didn’t play like we were capable of playing, and that's a shame,” Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo said afterward.
The Thunder struggled from the very beginning. The effort in the first half was questionable.
All summer long, we've been selling this team as a group that might not win, but it will at least play hard.
The Thunder did neither, and that's unacceptable, even to a bunch of forgiving, impressionable newcomers like us.
The effort improved in the second half, but the outcome never was in doubt.
The sellout crowd of 19,136 was above-average in its performance, which is acceptable given how the Thunder was below-average.
When the Thunder excelled, so did the fans. That’s usually the way it works.
Nowhere else in the NBA can the home team trail 50-35 at halftime and leave the court to applause.
Rarely is an 11-point loss at home accepted with a standing ovation.
Even Thunder fans leave early, but they stuck around until the 3-minute mark.
Asked at halftime what he thought of the show, former OU football coach Barry Switzer joked, “Didn't make enough first downs.”
Not enough assists, either.
The Thunder had 16 assists and 19 turnovers, not a good ratio.
Quality NBA teams have a solid point guard and at least one 3-point shooter, and the Thunder appears to have neither.
Trouble is, both are hard to come by.
They’re out there, but they're all taken.
The player with the biggest role is often the smallest guy on the court.
This state has three great Division I-A quarterbacks, but it has no NBA quarterback.
Perhaps that will change in time, but the timetable will change if the Thunder doesn't build off what happened on opening night.
John Rohde: 475-3099. John Rohde can be heard Monday-Friday from 9-11 a.m. on New JOX 930 (AM).
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I like the jerseys. "Thunder blue" is designed to be the color of the Oklahoma State flag, so its' not as if we're "stealing" that color from anyone. I don't think there has to be a connection between the colors and the jerseys, necessarily, although I agree it might have been nice. But, Hornets aren't teal. Bulls aren't red. Mavericks aren't blue. We've got navy as one of our colors, which means there will probably be an alternate jersey at some point in time that's navy. There will be alternate logos. The Hornets have four logos, and they've got at least three different road unis that I can think of. Rarely is any color, jersery design, logo going to be agreed upon by everyone, as there are many kinds of personal taste, and we all know that complainers are more likely to post on message boards than people who are happy with something. I love the blue color, but was hoping for red instead of red-orange. I wouldn't have picked the logo they did, although it's growing on me. Still, it's not that big of a deal to me. I'm much more interested in basketball than what the players are wearing.
As far as the team not being very exciting to watch, there were some exciting preseason games. Basketball can be exciting, even when your team loses, as you don't know that's going to happen until the last few minutes at the earliest. The game in Tulsa was great. We weren't promised a great or even a good team. This team only won 20 games last year. They're really young, but there is promise. If we'd gotten an expansion team like I'd hoped, we'd probably be worse. Getting NBA basketball in Oklahoma City is an amazing thing, something I'd never dared hope for a couple of years ago. Why don't we sit back and enjoy instead of looking for things to criticize? Even the worst NBA team has amazing athletes, and we'll see some amazing performances from time to time, even if less consistently than with a good team. Why can't we just enjoy the fact that we've got a team of our own, no matter how good or bad? If we're terrible this year, we have a great chance of getting a really good draft pick. Sam Presti may make some good trades later on in the season. There is reason to hope, regardless.
Jill, www.okcthunderfans.com - Oct 31, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Since all of the other colors on my TVs and the various computer monitors I have seen them on look ok, and other "sky blue" items appear to be correct, can only presume the color they used is "off". What I saw on TV of the blue unis, is almost teal looking (what I remember the Hornets unis looking like. A dark blue (navy or even mid-night or even black, like the Barons one) would be a much better choice. The darker colors ALMOST make the logo acceptable.
Jill, what comes to mind when you hear the word "Thunder"? Vibrant colors and sky blue?? Seriously, there is no connection with the team colors and name.
And Jill by "Thunder blue" you must have meant Knicks blue. The thunder uniforms are very similar to the Knicks jerseys and I don't like them at all. The Barons jerseys people were coming up with were a lot cooler, I think they made a poor choice whoever designed the ones they're wearing.
My guess is that as the season wears on, a LOT of people are going to be taking long bathroom breaks and wandering around the Ford a LOT if future performances as as "exciting" *snort* as it was last night.....
The arena was jam packed. Anyone who thinks it wasn't doesn't understand that at any given time during a game, a certain number of people are out of their seats. At the start of the game the crowd intensity was as high or higher than I've ever seen at an NBA game anywhere, including the NBA finals. I watched every preseason game on television, and this was the worst they've played. There will be better nights. And as "H" says, we're in a win-win situation. If they're better than anticipated, it will be great. If they're worse, we've got a low lotto number and Blake Griffen might be sitting there for the taking. Or Rubio. Either one would be a great pick-up. As far as the uniforms go, I thought the home unis looked great last night. The logo even looks good on them, and I was not originally a fan. The floor looked great. The colors are really vibrant, and Thunder blue is a really good color.
Jill, www.okcthunderfans.com - Oct 30, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Thanks Rhode for chosing to indict the players' effort after the first home game in Thunder history. And the "long season" comment just shows what an ingrate you are, especially as a sports reporter who now has more meat to sink his jowels into. Considering everything actual professionals and leaders, especially Bennett, went through, to churn out your petty "long season" theme shows how small and ungrateful you are. No exemption for sports writers for "telling it like it is," because most fans are excited for the season and don't seem to dread the "long season" you bemoan or expect to win most games.
"Sellout crowd? On TV it looked about 3/4 full. What was the confirmed attendance?"
Are you kidding? The place was packed! You must have only watched the 4th quarter on TV. I was in the nose bleed section and every seat was full. There were a couple of people sitting in the isle.
Maybe now that the local media can relax on the intense support, and start to objectively criticize the team's play and such, someone will finally listen to this...
The logo and uniforms STINK!!!!
I had hoped they would look good on tv, next to other uniforms and stuff. I was wrong.
The "Oklahoma Blue" is just fine. I like the sentiment. But the clashing orange and red trim??? The orange and red clashes with each other AND the blue. The white uniforms are only marginally better (less color, so less clash).
And, the logo is just as un-inspiring and void of creativity as it ever was. Shouldn't it depict "Thunder" or complement "Thunder" or something, without having to say "Thunder" to help us get it.
Hey, I'll support the team anyway. I'm just sad that our "look" is the best that the "experts" could come up with. It looks cheap, like clip art. And the colors just don't work.
Could have been really great. They cop'd out.
Can't wait for the redesign, or an alternate jersey.
Kelly, It was jammed packed! There were a few seats in the lower level that were open (I heard that some people defaulted on their tickets when the 2nd payment was due) but as is the case in all events, when the game got a bit dull, people started leaving their seats and wondering around the Ford Center. The restaurant / bar was jammed packed, the lines at all apparel stands were long throughout.
Ny the way, the confirmed attendance was over 19k so bark up another tree. Just cause you didn't get tickets, don't start hatin (even though everyone on here knows that's your MO)
As for Rhode's article, I agree with Larry, I think John's covering his own tail. I think we need to give this team the benefit of the doubt, at least for a month. The team will quickly understand that around here, we can take losing some (even alot for awhile) but you better work your ass off to change it! Effort is pretty noticable and the Hornets were always flying around. Either these guy's will play for 4 quarters or they'll (including Carlesimo) will be on short leashes.
Rohde says point guards and 3 point shooters are hard to come by. Consider that the hornets once had Jannero Pargo and Bobby Jackson backing up Chris Paul! Clay Bennet and Sam Presti just need to do a better job!
I'm sorry, but pressure or not, I felt they had zero energy and appeared to have given up by halftime. When you watch a rebound from a missed Bucks shot fly off the rim and see 5 Thunder players just staring at it, you know there's no effort. Maybe it all started with Kevin Durant's pathethic opening whisper to the crowd. Desmond Mason, Joe Smith, and Westbrook had some energy but noone else. What started the crowd going for awhile???---a dunk by Mason.
Now, that being said. GO THUNDER! It can only get better...
Ah, come on ... give them a break. The pressure of Opening Night probably factored into their performance. Not to mention, I doubt they've played in an arena as loud as ours, lol, probably threw them off. They'll have to get used to the loud crowd. DSea, we'll support this team, win or lose because that's how we do it here.
I know the NBA is new to OKC. But the 11 points they lost by is a large amount. 99% of the time, when a team is up over 15-20 points, they usually put in their backups so they can get some playing time too or not play at 100% to prevent potential injuries. I know the score would have been worse if the Bucks continued to go at 100%
Rohde does have some valid points (after all we are talking about very well paid professionals, not amateur college kids). The coach even said as much but even if the team "didn’t play like we were capable of playing" and "struggled from the very beginning" doesn't neccessarily mean they weren't trying. Just means what they were doing/trying wasn't successful in the end. But like I said in the post below, the final score was fairly close. Yes, I know, to get to the playoffs and beyond, it is the number of wins, not how close they are.
All of that to say this, the tone of the article sounds like he is taking their perceived lack of effort personally...
"All summer long, we've been selling this team as a group that might not win, but it will at least play hard."
Why was Mr. Rohde (and his colleagues at the Oklahoman) "selling" anything? That's the job of the team's PR department, not a sports reporter/journalist (or are the sports reporters actually the PR dept of Bennett?)
Again, think he is taking this personally... not so much the loss but the lack of effort makes Mr. Rohde look bad.
We're in a win-win situation. If they don't suck too bad, Hey, awesome, something to build on. If they suck really really bad, they could have a shot at Blake. That's effortless PR for connecting with the fanbase, you'd have to call in riot police to stop the people fighting over "GRIFFIN" jerseys.
"This article seems a bit harsh. While they were down by 24 they managed to come back and get within 11 at the end. In basketball, isn't this considered to be a close game? To suggest they weren't competitive seems unfair (one team scored 49 times and the other, 43.5 times) seems fairly competitive for two teams that are about the same level. If the Thunder do nearly that well against the world champion Celtics, it would be exceptional." Agree. I think it's harsh. This is a young team, perhaps there were some opening night jitters. One game does not a season make. Some teams, even playing ones that aren't that good, don't match up well. I remember some games when the Hornets were here when I was worried they wouldn't score 70 points. And I remember that despite the fact that the 76ers weren't a good team, the Hornets couldn't beat them...twice. The fourth quarter rally was fun, even if we didn't get it closer than 11. Desmond Mason's dunk was great. Even in bad games like this, there are exciting moments. We have to take the bad with the good....that's what being a home city means.
Jill, www.okcthunderfans.com - Oct 30, 2008 at 2:04 am
This article seems a bit harsh. While they were down by 24 they managed to come back and get within 11 at the end. In basketball, isn't this considered to be a close game? To suggest they weren't competitive seems unfair (one team scored 49 times and the other, 43.5 times) seems fairly competitive for two teams that are about the same level. If the Thunder do nearly that well against the world champion Celtics, it would be exceptional.
When Durant and Green have nights like they did tonight, we're not going to beat anybody. But there will be nights when they score 50 between them, and then we may well win. It's foolish to assume anything based on one game. I saw several far better games during preseason, and we have to hope that this team starts to click and can show us a bit more. On the other hand, no one promised us a 30 win season, and anything over 20 should be appreciated. Maybe we'll end up with Blake Griffen for our troubles.
Jill, www.okcthunderfans.com - Oct 30, 2008 at 12:20 am
Let's not focus on negativity... This team has been thru a lot and extremely young. They'll come together as the season progesses and in years to come probably be very good. They need positive support from the fans to draw from.
Now you know why the fans in Seattle stayed away the last two years, there was no competitive product on the floor. At least there is a future in 3-4 of the younger players.
OKC Thunder: For Durant, a night to forget 10/29/2008 The front-row fan hollered at the face of the franchise. "Durant!” Waiting for play to resume after a timeout, Kevin Durant turned and locked his...
Stars come out for Thunder opener 10/29/2008 Barry Switzer sat down in first class on a flight to Los Angeles in September, and the woman across the aisle was adorned in Oklahoma City Thunder apparel....
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Jill, Oklahoma City - Oct 31, 2008 11:59 PM"
Oklahoma will ALWAYS be hoping, and hoping, and hoping.....
As far as the team not being very exciting to watch, there were some exciting preseason games. Basketball can be exciting, even when your team loses, as you don't know that's going to happen until the last few minutes at the earliest. The game in Tulsa was great. We weren't promised a great or even a good team. This team only won 20 games last year. They're really young, but there is promise. If we'd gotten an expansion team like I'd hoped, we'd probably be worse. Getting NBA basketball in Oklahoma City is an amazing thing, something I'd never dared hope for a couple of years ago. Why don't we sit back and enjoy instead of looking for things to criticize? Even the worst NBA team has amazing athletes, and we'll see some amazing performances from time to time, even if less consistently than with a good team. Why can't we just enjoy the fact that we've got a team of our own, no matter how good or bad? If we're terrible this year, we have a great chance of getting a really good draft pick. Sam Presti may make some good trades later on in the season. There is reason to hope, regardless.
Jill, what comes to mind when you hear the word "Thunder"? Vibrant colors and sky blue?? Seriously, there is no connection with the team colors and name.
GO THUNDER!
Are you kidding? The place was packed! You must have only watched the 4th quarter on TV. I was in the nose bleed section and every seat was full. There were a couple of people sitting in the isle.
The logo and uniforms STINK!!!!
I had hoped they would look good on tv, next to other uniforms and stuff. I was wrong.
The "Oklahoma Blue" is just fine. I like the sentiment. But the clashing orange and red trim??? The orange and red clashes with each other AND the blue. The white uniforms are only marginally better (less color, so less clash).
And, the logo is just as un-inspiring and void of creativity as it ever was. Shouldn't it depict "Thunder" or complement "Thunder" or something, without having to say "Thunder" to help us get it.
Hey, I'll support the team anyway. I'm just sad that our "look" is the best that the "experts" could come up with. It looks cheap, like clip art. And the colors just don't work.
Could have been really great. They cop'd out.
Can't wait for the redesign, or an alternate jersey.
Ny the way, the confirmed attendance was over 19k so bark up another tree. Just cause you didn't get tickets, don't start hatin (even though everyone on here knows that's your MO)
As for Rhode's article, I agree with Larry, I think John's covering his own tail. I think we need to give this team the benefit of the doubt, at least for a month. The team will quickly understand that around here, we can take losing some (even alot for awhile) but you better work your ass off to change it! Effort is pretty noticable and the Hornets were always flying around. Either these guy's will play for 4 quarters or they'll (including Carlesimo) will be on short leashes.
Now, that being said. GO THUNDER! It can only get better...
All of that to say this, the tone of the article sounds like he is taking their perceived lack of effort personally...
"All summer long, we've been selling this team as a group that might not win, but it will at least play hard."
Why was Mr. Rohde (and his colleagues at the Oklahoman) "selling" anything? That's the job of the team's PR department, not a sports reporter/journalist (or are the sports reporters actually the PR dept of Bennett?)
Again, think he is taking this personally... not so much the loss but the lack of effort makes Mr. Rohde look bad.