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Written by OkLuschen
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Monday, 04 August 2008 09:54 |
Curiosity struck recently. I wondered how the movement of a pro sports franchise from one city to another has historically impacted a team's winning the next season. I expected to find something profound, either excellent news or a death sentence for Oklahoma City fans. I found neither. However, there may be some good news for the Ford Center faithful. Take a look at the franchises from "The Big 4" that have moved in the last 25 years and how their winning percentage changed from one city to the other.
MLB
2005: Montreal Expos (67-95) to Washington Nationals (81-81) (Up .086)
NFL
1984: Baltimore Colts (7-9) to Indianapolis Colts (4-12) (Down .188)
1988: St. Louis Cardinals (7-8) to Arizona Cardinals (7-9) (Down .029)
1995: Los Angeles Rams (4-12) to St. Louis Rams (7-9) (Up .188)
1995: Los Angeles Raiders (9-7) to Oakland Raiders (8-8) (Down .063)
1996: Cleveland Browns (5-11) to Baltimore Ravens (4-12) (Down.063)
1997: Houston Oilers (8-8) to Tennessee Oilers (8-8) (Push)
NBA
1984: San Diego Clippers (30-52) to Los Angeles Clippers (31-51) (Up .012)
1985: Kansas City Kings (31-51) to Sacramento Kings (37-45) (Up .073)
2001: Vancouver Grizzlies (23-59) to Memphis Grizzlies (23-59) (Push)
2002: Charlotte Hornets (44-38) to New Orleans Hornets (47-35) (Up .036)
2005: New Orleans Hornets (18-64) to New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets (38-44) (Up .243)
NHL
1993: Minnesota North Stars (36-38-10) to Dallas Stars (42-29-13) (Up .089)
1995: Quebec Nordiques (30-13-5) to Colorado Avalanche (47-25-10) (Down .043)
1996: Winnipeg Jets (36-40-6) to Phoenix Coyotes (38-37-7) (Up .030)
1997: Hartford Whalers (32-39-11) to Carolina Hurricanes (33-41-8) (Down .006)
The notorious Colts 'Midnight Mayflower' incident.
The average win% improved by .023 percent, which sounds decent but for an NBA club, that's a difference of a little less than 2 games. Thus, in the grand scheme of pro sports, a move means very little, showing that the players make the ultimate difference, not necessarily a change in scenery.
There are reasons to be optimistic for the Oklahoma City team, though. As one can see, when the Hornets had to relocate to Oklahoma City due to Katrina, it made the biggest impact (both positive or negative) by far among any other movers in the past 25 years. I think this truly is a testament to the fans here. I mean, OKC residents probably aren't the most knowledgeable NBA crowd as a whole, but years of college fandom has made them as passionate in their cheering as any other fanbase.
Also, OKC fans can take refuge in knowing that in the past 25 years the NBA seems to be the kindest to relocating teams. Of all 5 basketball teams that changed their address, none of them deproved from the previous season. So there's no way this team can do any worse! Not that you could possibly get any worse than last season.
All in all, I think the numbers show that one shouldn't expect any miracles just because we've ditched Key Arena. Yeah, I think a slight improvement is in the works, but nothing major. Like I said earlier, its the players that make the biggest difference, and staring down this roster...well...don't worry about saving up for your playoff tickets.
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Written by OkLuschen
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Friday, 01 August 2008 09:30 |
 Wassup. Back from the mountains now and better than ever. I had a blast and grew a mountain beard ala Jake Plummer. I hope you missed reading me as much as I missed being read. OK, maybe not... I could rip (constructively, of course) Zorgon's list like he ripped mine, but I don't really think that's necessary. It was sort of straight-forward anyway, and I think that Zorgon did a good job except that I might have put Russ Westbrook a tad higher. What really sticks out from the list if the startling lack of talent on this team. Anytime your 3rd and 4th best players are Wilcox and Collison, you know you're in trouble. What I'm really here to talk about though is the recent purchasing of the D-League Tulsa 66ers by Clay Bennett and the City. OKC becomes just the third NBA team to own its own D-League squad. The others...only top Western Conference powers the Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs. Though I don't think anyone around here called the buying of a D-League squad, I don't think it can be called a surprise. It's common knowledge that for the last couple of years, the OKC organization has been following the Spurs path to success. They hired Sam Presti and P.J. Carlesimo from the Spurs a few years ago, and spent this last draft picking defensive and international players. Maybe, they figured this was the next step. Not that the D-League was really responsible for any Spurs rings. I think lottery luck has more to do with it, something the Seattle team was hit and miss on in the last couple of years (heres to better luck for OKC) I think both sides win in this case, or at least theoretically. Tulsa (again, theoretically) should become more attached to the OKC now, helping with merchandising and building a state-wide fan base. However, I think it can't be overlooked that a good deal of jealous Tulsans still resent the great things that have happened to "cow town" and will insist for the rest of their lives that the BOK Center is, was, and always will be better than the Ford Center. Still, a good many Tulsans will gladly follow the Team-That-Shall-Someday-Be-Named. Also, owning a D-League team does give the team a lot more control on the development of their players. They can do things that they know are in their best interest and sleep easily at night knowing that their developmental players are in their own hands. |
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Written by Zorgon
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Friday, 01 August 2008 04:18 |
Darnell Mayberry of the NewsOK NBA in OKC Blog Sponsored by John Holt Chevrolet recently interviewed Clay Bennett.
Basically, the interview revealed 3 pieces of information:
1. There will probably be a Pre-Season game played at the BOK Center in Tulsa, but more than one is a bit iffy. I hope Tulsans are psyched!!!!
2. We will have a dance team. Not much of a surprise, given that the Celtics were the last team to get a dance squad, and they did it a couple of years ago. And, there's the fact that the SuperSonics had a dance squad. But still, I'd like us to be pioneers to the fact that we don't need un-talented women to flaunt themselves on the court in order to be a successful basketball team.
3. Clay Bennett says that he won't comment on Marshalls being spelled with two ls, and that he won't comment on if the name is finalized. I really, really hope we don't have a deal going with the family clothing store. |
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Written by Zorgon
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Friday, 01 August 2008 02:50 |
Well, if you haven't, check out our player rankings and familiarize yourself with our roster (Work from the bottom post to the top post.)
Now that you're familiar with the players, it's time to figure out a depth chart. NBA teams are limited to 15 players on contract maximum, and must have 12 players on contract minimum. They must have 8 active (not injured) players at any time to officially start an NBA game. So, since we have 19 players, we'll need to trim this number down some.
The first, and most obvious to get rid of, is C.J. Miles. He is now with Utah, so that trims it down to 18. Second of all, we have the bird rights to Mike Wilks, but we really only signed him as an emergency point guard, and I doubt he'll get resigned by us or any NBA team. Look for him to play extremely well in the D-LEague or Europe. Now we're down to 17. Ronald Dupree is not on contract, and he played horribly in the Summer League. Nuff said, down to 16. Francisco Elson is not on contract. In my opinion, he would be a good signing, but he's not essential to the City's future, so he probably won't get signed. Now, we're down to 15, but we still have two problems....
DeVon Hardin isn't signed. Honestly, this is very little ventured. Sing him to a two year 300-400kish deal and no harm done. If you need the space, just cut him. Nonetheless, he may not be signed. I'll include him here for all intents and purposes.
Robert Swift is still technically under contract. We could extend a qualifying offer of roughly 3.6 Million. Personally, I think this is a large waste of time, since we have Collison, Petro, Sene, and Wilcox on the roster. Still, if his knee holds up, he's probably better than Sene and somewhat like Petro. If the doctors OK it, I'd bet he'll be signed.
So, now we have our 15 man roster. Lets take a look at it position by position, starting at Point Guard. Keep in mind that we must have 3 players on "injured reserve", which basically means that they come to the game in a suit and sit on the bench, praying that some guy gets hurt so that they can play. So, I'll only look at the starter and backup, so we can consider 3rd stringers later.
PG- Watson/Ridnour
This one is a no-brainer. It's been this way for years, no reason to change it.
SG- Wilkins/Westbrook
Shooting guard is easily our weakest position, which is probably why we drafted Westbrook. Wilkins will fit as a 3-Shooting Swingman, and Westbrook can come off of the bench until he's ready for the big time.
SF- Green/Marshall
Jeff Green is valuable talent to us, so it's a good idea that we get him to start. Putting him at Small Forward with the silky smooth veteran talent of Donyell Marshall behind him is a great idea, as you have something to rely on inf Green gets a bit shaky on the 3s. Plus, PJ Carlesimo used to coach Marshall at Golden State back in the 90s, so they definately have a psychic connection by now.
PF- Durant/Collison
Kevin Durant is easily a starter. But at power forward, you say? Well, the dude IS 6 foot 9, so he has the body for it. The only big liability here is rebounding. Right now, 4 a game simply won't cut it. Hopefully this can improve at the Power Forward position, and if it becomes too bad, you can always put Collison in. I think this will also help Durant get away from the 3 point line, while still not completely closing the option (See: Austin Croshere, Troy Murphy, Donyell Marshall when he played PF, Antawn Jamison when he played PF).
C- Wilcox/Petro
Now, this is where it will be a it hard for P.J. Carlesimo. He is definately very big-man happy, so I wouldn't be surprised to see him throwing out Sene, Swift, White, and Hardin all Willy-Nilly. But, if we want to win, it's only smart to move Wilcox up to put the best possible talent on the floor. Petro is probably the most reliable and still-promising out of the remaining big men, slightly trumping Swift and Sene.
So, now that we have our Starters and Backups situated, it's time to look at our remaining third-stringers. We have: Adrian Griffin (SG), Sear Sene (C), Robert Swift (C), D.J. White (C), and DeVon Hardin (C). Can anyone guess what we have an excess of? We can't have 4 centers on our active roster, so you kind of have to put Adrian Griffin in there as a no brainer. You know, in cae something happes to our SF-SG-PG situation. He could probably handle all 3 if need be. Then, you have to decide between our 4 centers. Obviously DeVon Hardin is a straight to D-League guy. Now, this doesn't mean we're cutting him, but rather we put him on the inactive roster, but let him develop his talent in the D-League. It also would seem that D.J. White should take this route. I know it's tempting to put him on the active roster so we can see what he's got, but he's probably better served playing for the Tulsa 66ers (our D-League affiliate).
So, we come down to what is probably our most pressing dilemma of how to allocate the roster. The descision of Robert Swift or Saer Sene. Robert Swift has cetrainly proved ha can at least ball in the NBA....but 3 injuries on the same knee leads a lot of people to arise suspicion. Saer Sene hasn't proved himself on the NBA floor, but he did share D-League defensive player of the year award honours with "Baby Foyle" Stephane Lasme. You can't send Sene to the D-League again, as he is in his 3rd year (only 1st and 2 year players can be sent down while still being attached to a team) and one team can only send down two players (we've already sent White and Hardin). Now, most would say, "Go with Swift, and if his knee can't take it, cut him and give Sene the job". But, an important thing to remember is that Swift hasn't exactly been resigned. So, the choice here is simple. If you resign Swift, give him the job and let him keep it (unless his knee fails/hinders him). If you don't resign Swift, give Sene the job.
So, you're left with a roster of:
Center: Wilcox/Petro/Swift or Sene
Power Forward: Durant/Collison/Swift or Sene
Small Foward: Green/Marshall/Griffin
Shooting Guard: Wilkins/Westbrook/Griffin
Point Guard: Watson/Ridnour/Griffin
Injured Reserve:
1. Sene or Swift or Nobody
2. D.J. White (D-League)
3. DeVon Hardin (D-League)
It's not NBA Finals material just yet, but it's nothing to sneeze at, either.
Now that we have that out of the way, it's time to look at our assets. Namely, who's tradeable, and who other teams are coveting.
First of All, the Untradables:
Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook
Many want them, but these guys will be the future core of our team. They won't go unless some drastic offer comes our way.
Second of All, those who are coveted by our neighbors:
Chris Wilcox and Earl Watson
These guys shine on a statistical level, and many teams have thrown around trade offers for them. They can easily be held as bait, and should get value in return. Watson is a bit old for our team, so he's likely to go if the right offer was to come along, but I'd hold onto Wilcox if I were Sam Presti. Guys like him don't spring out of nowhere, while it's not that hard to find more Earl Watsons. At 26, Wilcox still has plenty of years to offer.
Third of All, those who are not coveted but are still tradeable for value:
Nick Collison, Luke Ridnour, and Damien Wilkins
These guys aren't nessessarily coveted, but most other teams will see them as proven NBA players, and their contracts aren't that bad. Enough said.
Fourth of All, those who are expiring contracts:
Donyell Marshall, Robert Swift, and Adrian Griffin
Expiring contracts are valuable in the sense that they're good if the other team wants a lot of cap space to sign Free Agents with in the off season, or if they have a player they want to trade to you with a big contract, and you don't have enough money in return. They all do still have a little bit of individual value, though. Marshall could be viewed as good backup talent on a veteran team running for the championship, Griffin would be viewed as a stringy but resourceful guard, and Swift could be a nice gamble. Still, their expiring status holds more weight.
Fifth of All, those who are "Failed Talent":
Johan Petro, Saer Sene
These two are considered to be NBA Draft busts, and relly won't get much of anything on the trade market, unfortunately. Keeping them is the best thing to do.
Sixth, and last of All, those who are Unknown Quantities:
DeVon Hardin, D.J. White
They are tradeable, but noone knows how good they actually are. So, they'll probably also be kept or thrown in as bonus to a larger trade.
And....that's it. I hope you have a better idea of how our lineups will be and how valuable each of our guys in trades. Who to trade for? A Center is probably what we need most, but look for them to get a young guy or a draft pick in return.
Thus, we have reached the end of the long, loong, looong, loooong series about players. Coming up next: Getting to Know The Coaches and Staff!!!! |
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Written by Zorgon
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Saturday, 29 November 2008 20:04 |
First of all, the rookies had their photo shoot this weekend.
Here's The Gallery (if you're into that sort of thing.)
And, seeing as how we don't have any real jerseys yet, the NBA decided to photograph our rookies in their old ghetto Summer League jerseys. The logo isn't that bad, but the jerseys are mesh. No worries though, these photos are usually one and done, and no one sees them again.
Word is, the Sacramento Kings, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Orlando Magic have new uniforms, and were photographed at the shoot. They are kept under tight wraps until the official unveilings closer to the season. The Kings and Magic are slight surprises, but the Timberwolves are long overdue, having the same uniforms since 1996 (which is cool though).
Also, in more important news, Adonal Foyle is probably going to get signed by the Orlando Magic. This news is probably the most Earth-Shattering news this offseason, as Adonal Foyles veteran experience will clearly outshine Dwight Howard and land him the starting job. Championship in Orlando, anyone?
Oh, and Ron Artest got traded to the Rockets. Now that's scary.
From Yahoo! Sports:
"Houston Chronicle reports Kings will send Ron Artest to Rockets for Bobby Jackson and No. 1 pick."
Pretty cheap....man, if we make the the playoffs, it'll be a miracle.
The final article in the Player Rankings Saga should come later tonight/tomorrowish. |
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Written by Zorgon
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Wednesday, 30 July 2008 21:04 |
#4. Nick Collison, 5th Year Power Forward
(Hoop Dreams.)
Best Season: 07-08 with the SuperSonics, 29 Minutes, 10 Points, 9 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 50% FG%, 74% FT%
Okay, this list isn't very controversial, but if there was something to argue, it would probably be Nick Collison going so high. Honestly, he's an average Power Forward, but in todays NBA, that's a blessing, not a curse. His stats have significantly improved every year of his play (and that's not due to increased playing time). You could argue that the team has gotten progressively worse, but theres no arguing that this dude has improved somewhat, and a 10-9 guy with 50% FG% is nothing to sneeze at. Why ahead of Rinour and Watson then? Because, in general, big men in general are more valuable than small men. Pay attnetion to trades and stats, and you'll know what I mean.
NBA Comparison: Troy Murphy without the 3s.
#3. Chris Wilcox, 8th Year Power Forward
Best Season: 2005-2006 with the SuperSonics, 30 Minutes, 14 Points, 8 Rebounds, 1 Assist, 1 Steal, 59% FG%, 79% FT%.
Well, there's no doubt that this due is Sonic elite. He's been mentioned in a lot of trade talks, but if you ask me, the dude is still 26, so we should hang onto him. It's hard finding a guy who can score on the inside, so we should definately keep him moving forward. True, his stats have slightly decreased as of late, but it's splitting hairs, and he'll more or less put up the numbers above for the majority of his career. Truely solid big man, and who knows? He might have a Chris Kaman-like breakout year this year.
NBA Comparison: Chris Kaman, David West
#2. Jeff Green, 2nd Year Small Forward
Best Season: 07-08 with the SuperSonics, 28 Minutes, 11 Points, 5 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 43% FG%, 28% 3PT%, 74% FT%.
I know what you're thinking. "This retard just decided to put last years picks at the top of the board". Well, if you look at their record in 05-06, you'll know why. This team is utter crap by NBA standards. And Jeff Greens stats, while maybe worse than 2-4 of the above players, are still pretty darn good for a Rookie. The sky is the limit for Jeff, and that's why he's #2 on this list. I mean, he was #5 in tha draft, after all. That's not too far from Durants #2.
NBA Comparison: Younger Tracy McGrady (Good Situation), Younger Morris Peterson (Bad Situation).
#1. Kevin Durant, 2nd Year Small Forward
Best Season: 07-08 with the SuperSonics, 35 Minutes, 20 Points, 4 Rebounds, 2 Assists, 1 Steal, 1 Block, 43% FG%, 29% 3PT%, 87% FT%.
Well, what else is there to say but the fact that he's Kevin Durant? A one and done at Texas, he is probably the hottest star to come out of college in the past 3 years (since Greg Odens injury, at least). He has a pretty good game, but it has 2 gigantic flaws. One, he relies a lot on Phantom Fouling. (See: Dwayne Wade.) A large part of his game is getting to the line, and while that DOES work (See: Dwayne Wade) it's pretty ugly to look at, and people tend to respect a player more if he's got actual game. I'm sure he does, while others don't (See: Dwayne Wade). The other big problem of his is that his 3 Point shooting sucks. Sure, we've all seen his amazing buzzer beater against the Hawks, but that was a pure miracle. I actually watched this one live (NBA League Pass FTW), with no affiliation one way or the other, but I jumped up and shouted when it went in. Amazing stuff, but that's beside the point. Most of the time his 3s are ill-advised and go clank. He probably should take some advice from my main man Donyell Marshall on how to get the open 3 and take it. Reguardless, these are little quips on his play, and he'll probably iron them out as his career progresses.
NBA Comparison: Dwayne Wade
Hope you enjoyed my list guys! Any constructive criticism is appreciated! You can put it in the comments below, or email it to me at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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Now that you know the players, the next logical thing to do is to sort them out. You know, see who's tradeable/likely to be traded, who we need to keep, and where to put them on the Depth Chart. This will be my next major analysis article. Stay tuned! |
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Page 52 of 56 |
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Thunder Schedule
2010
February Schedule
| Feb 2 |
Atlanta
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| Feb 3 |
@ New Orleans |
| Feb 6 |
@ Golden State |
| Feb 9 |
@ Portland |
| Feb 16 |
Dallas |
| Feb 20 |
@ NY Knicks |
| Feb 21 |
@ Minnesota |
| Feb 23 |
Phoenix |
| Feb 24 |
@ San Antonio |
| Feb 26 |
Minnesota |
| Feb 28 |
Toronto |
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