Berry Tramel, Sports columnist
Berry Tramel: Thunder is making progress, but still has a ways to go
By Berry Tramel
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42
Published: November 4, 2009
Always good when the Lakers come through town.
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant, center, takes a shot in overtime in front of Los Angeles’ Ron Artest, left, and Andrew Bynum during action on Tuesday at the Ford Center. The Thunder lost to the Lakers in overtime. Photo By John Clanton, The Oklahoman
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The regal purple uniforms.
Phil Jackson’s musings.
Kobe Bryant,
Ron Artest,
Lamar Odom. More celebrities than a
Hollywood premier.
But LA’s marquee sports franchise offers something even better than all that glitz and glamour and excitement in the
Ford Center.
The Lakers teach you something about yourself.
And here’s what the Thunder discovered at the end of an exhilarating, exhausting Tuesday night, when they lost 101-98 in overtime to the best team in basketball.
The Thunder has come a long way. The Thunder has a long way to go.
The maturity from last season’s debacle was apparent. The lack of maturity was apparent, too.
This game looked over once, twice, maybe thrice, including in the first two minutes of the game, when LA led 9-0 and seemed capable of scoring 200 points until
Etan Thomas entered and started cracking Laker skulls.
"We didn’t put our heads down and let the Lakers run away with the game,”
Jeff Green said, and there’s something to be said for that.
But when the Thunder had a chance to win, had a chance to make this one of the special nights in
Oklahoma City’s four-year
NBA history, the youngish Thunder went all squeamish on us.
The Boomers reverted back to last season, when they were either inept or scared.
The offense stagnated. No one seemed to want to shoot or move or do much of anything.
Coach Scott Brooks reminded that those guys in purple had something to do with it.
"They turned up the heat,” Brooks said. "They’re a physical team.
"We’re still understanding we have to buckle down, cut harder, set screens harder.
"I wouldn’t say we got rattled. When you play the Lakers and it’s a one-shot game, I wouldn’t say we were rattled.”
But rattled seemed to describe it.
Up 83-81 with five minutes left, the Thunder had the following possessions:
Kevin Durant turnover, no-chance
Russell Westbrook shot forced by the shot clock, Westbrook turnover, wild Westbrook miss off a drive, Durant turnover.
Somehow, the Thunder still clawed its way to overtime, where more stagnation awaited.
Westbrook’s lay-in, which forged a 97-97 tie, was the Thunder’s final field goal with 2:49 left.
Derek Fisher blocked a Westbrook jumper. Durant missed a wild drive. Green made one of two foul shots. Durant air-balled a 17-footer.
The final 25 seconds actually were decent: Thabo Sefalosha and Westbrook both missed tying 25-footers, about as good of shots as you’re likely to get against the Lakers in that situation.
Westbrook was mostly awful for the second straight game: six turnovers to go with seven assists and 12 points. Old pro point guard Derek Fisher did a number on Westbrook. Like his team, Westbrook is a work in progress with a bright future.
And Durant disappeared after scoring 24 points in the first 27-plus minutes. He finished with 28 points and didn’t score in the fourth quarter or overtime.
The road to superstar status is paved with blood and sweat exacted by teams like the Lakers.
Brooks said he’s not into moral victories, but "I’m proud of our guys.”
He should be. They put on quite a show Tuesday night. But these baby Boomers aren’t yet mature enough to win games like this against basketball royalty.
Berry Tramel: 405-760-8080; Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1.
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LMFAO idiot hicks! Give Clay my love!
Make sure you keep buying those $270 seats you suckers!
James Harden needs to play more at the point and needs to replace Thabo, a good NBA player and a very good defender, at the end of the game. Thabo shouldn't be taking critical shots at the end of the game. Harden will eventually light up the box scores with points. He was a great pick.
Ollie has been around a long time and was effective when he was on the floor last night. He calmed the team down, the opposite of Westbrook.
Scott Brooks will probably have to tweak his offense because opponents went back and watched the films of the Thunder from about February till the end of the season. Now, teams are sitting on the Thunder's plays. This is what playoff teams encounter during the playoffs. That's why you see much better defense-or one of the reasons.
Dirk has won plenty in the playoffs except for getting jobbed by the NBA and David Stern in the finals. Speaking of getting jobbed, the ref that caught fixing games was released from prison this afternoon. He needs to run for cover.
Dirk is going to the Hall of Fame, basketball, not Cowboy.
http://www.nba.com/nbatv/index.html
Let's get more national attention for this exciting team!
Who's there?
Kevin.
Kevin who?
I'm sorry, wrong door. Where's the jacuzzi room?
Jeff Green may be the best player on the team, not Durant. And I continue to like Thomas, Nenad, and Hardin.
Most of all, I like to see NBA talent play in OKC. Like many sports fans in our state, I appreciate seeing a good game with good hustle. For me, a win is icing on top of the cake. Watching good teams and talent is the cake.
Paul move back to France, you whiney cry baby...
Did you see what 31 year old Dirk did in the 4th quarter last night? He put up 29 -- 7 of 8 shooting and 14-14 from the line.
Are those rose-colored lenses prescription?
NEED TIRES
THINK HIBDON
Lemme ask this, if OU manages (doubtful) to beat OSU this year because the entire OSU team is down with the flu, is that "encouraging" as well??
The dunder got beat.
They couldn't close the deal.
They LOST.
End of story.
Wow
I thought we looked really good, but we need Durant to close out the game. He had 2 or 3 chances to put the nail in the coffin and came up real short.
Making good draft picks isn't hard, let's see if Presti can resign the studs.
And not to second guess but what's happened to Weaver and Livingston? Just curious.
We're not a playoff team, but at least the effort is there and Thomas, Green and Thabo have set a tone with team defense.
But in the NBA and in college ball--it's all about how your top two options play down the stretch. Our top two options struggled down the stretch.
El Prez, Deer Creek