"I can't get out of this blasted glass box!!!!"

Yahoo! Box Score

A new era has arrived.

Alright, after tonight, I'm ready to say it: we have entered a new era of Thunder basketball. We can finally compete with the best, and win with the best. Also, anyone who still thinks that we are one of the worst teams ever is a complete fool.

It was nice to have a difference in the Thunder statistics department for once. Kevin Durant (Thunder Wonder) had another fantastic game with an astounding 32 points, but Russell Westbrook went 2-10 and Jeff Green (Thunder Blunder) went 2-16. The Thunder recieved a huge boost in scoring tonight from Chris Wilcox (Thunder Down Under) who had 17 points to go along with his 11 rebounds. Desmond Mason also added 11 on 5-9 shooting, but the scoring really wasn't the winning factor for the Thunder tonight. It was, quite simply, rebounding. The Thunder Outrebounded the Pistons 52-35, which is a huge disparity. If that's not enough to convince you, think about this: we had 3 rebounders in double digits, and also 3 scorers in double digits. Now that is an amazing stat.

Now is not the time for high-fives, Jeff!

The Pistons are really in a pickle because they have no true Point Guard. Allen Iverson is a good player, but it's hard to fit him in at PG because he's mainaly a scorer and not a passer. Rip Hamilton is also a scorer, so while it's okay to have him at SF, it's a travesty to have an undersized Tayshaun Prince (Thunder Plunderer) at Power Forward, and then forcing the outside-shot oriented Rasheed Wallace into Center. Meanwhile, Rodney Stuckey is making a complete buffoonery of himself at Point Guard (1-10 Shooting, 3 Points, 3 Rebounds, 3 Assists in 33 Minutes). The Pistons have another trade to make if they want to become a contender again, because tonight was a perfect example of how to exploit them through their lack of rebounding even if we play horribly offensively. If they could get Ben Wallace back or get a solid Point Guard, they would be back in business.

I think George Gervin is regretting coming to this game....Seriously, could they take a more unflattering picture?

That being said, I hope that as some point this rotation doesn't get too exhausted. A good example is the Warriors last season when they went with a 8-9 man rotation all year, and completely collapsed down the stretch, falling out of the playoffs. We might need to sprinkle in a little (but not too much) of Atkins or Wilkins in order to relieve Durant and Green of some of their heavy, heavy minutes. But, for now, they seem to be performing fine, so that's something to worry about down the stretch. Luckily, our team has the advantage of depth, and if we start pooping out, there's always only slightly more crappy players willing to take a players place.

Next Game: Sunday, January 18th vs the Heat.

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