Former University of Texas basketball player Kevin Durant and Dallas native Chris Bosh have been named the NBA Eastern and Western Conference Players of the week for January 25-31.  Durant averaged a league high 34.3 ppg for the week, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 2-1 record.  Bosh ended the week leading the league in rebounds with 16.0 rpg and a scoring average of 25.7 ppg while helping the Toronto Raptors to a 3-0 record on the week.

Kevin Durant has been quite a force this year.  He is averaging 29.6 ppg for the 2009-2010 season trailing only Carmelo Anthony for the league lead and helping the Thunder fight for the 8th spot in the Western Conference.

Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook both had big nights, but in the end it wasn’t enough, as the Rockets, sparked by Trevor Ariza, went on a run midway through the fourth and never looked back, winning handily 105-94.  The game was close through three quarters and much of the fourth, but the Thunder couldn’t get any stops on the defensive end when they needed them.  The Rockets ran their offense with ease, seemingly getting any look they wanted.  Ariza–who has become the focal point of Houston’s offense this season after essentially swapping teams with Ron Artest–drove uncontested to the basket on a number of possessions down the stretch.

And that is real story: the Thunder, despite playing well offensively, appeared out of sorts for much of the game on the other end of the court.  Aside from the fact that Jeff Green is undersized for the power forward position, the team also lacks a reliable shot blocker, an interior presence to, at the very least, contest shots around the basket.  For proof, look no further than what Carl Landry was able to do in thirty minutes off the Rockets bench: 21 points and 9 rebounds, most of which came in the second half.

The Thunder have played pretty well so far this season, but if they hope to improve upon last year’s 23 wins, they’ll need to find some answers defensively.  Otherwise, it’s going to be long, disappointing season for what could be one of the more promising young teams in the league.

Going into the All Star break, it appeared as if the Oklahoma City Thunder had finally taken their first step towards credibility.  The young trio of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook had propelled the lackluster Thunder to a solid 9-11 record since the start of the new year with Durant shooting well over .500 and averaging nearly 30 points a game.  The team had picked up its offensive output substantially through the month of January putting up 102.4 points per game nearly 12 points better than their average through the first three months of the season.  But the frosting on the cake was the sweet deal being made for New Orleans center Tyson Chandler.  Due to the Hornets’ financial woes, the Thunder were set to acquire the standout bigman in exchange the expiring contracts on Joe Smith, Chris Wilcox and the draft rights to DeVon Hardin.

With the acquisition of Chandler and two guaranteed first round picks in the upcoming draft, the prospect of Oklahoma City becoming a future playoff contender was definitely not out of the question.  With the offensive firepower of the Big Three and the inside presence of Chandler and possibly hometown hero Blake Griffin, the Thunder would prove a formidable opponent against any of the traditional Western Conference powers.

But the whole plan was nixed thanks to the ruling of team doctor Carlan Yates and Chandler’s big left toe.  After a physical examination, Yates determined that the risk of the re-injury was too great to issue Chandler a clean bill of health.  Oklahoma City summarily rescinded the trade between New Orleans.  Strangely enough, it was Yates himself who personally performed surgery on the center’s toe two years ago while the Hornets were playing in Oklahoma City.           

Thunder head coach Scott Brooks was despondent when he heard the news about the failed trade, saying, “He’s [Chandler] a coach’s dream.  He’ll do whatever you ask him to do, and he’ll do it to the best of his ability. … I told him I was sick. I said, ‘From a personal standpoint, I’m sick to see you go.’ But from a professional standpoint, this is our business and this is what happens in the business.”

Since the tread deadline ended, the Thunder are 0-5 and Kevin Durant is day to day with an ankle injury.  Instead of getting Tyson Chandler, the Thunder traded Wilcox for New York forward Malik Rose who is averaging 1.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 8.9 minutes in 18 games this season. 

Sometimes the basketball gods can indeed be cruel, but don’t despair Thunder fans.  The Year of Griffin is just a few months away.

       For most of this season, the Oklahoma City Thunder has had to settle for what head coach Scott Brooks has termed “moral victories.”  The phrase can loosely be defined as the internal satisfaction of knowing that you have the ability to achieve a goal but always seem to come up a little short.  It’s kind of like congratulating your son on making the varsity football team but knowing that he’s probably going to spend the whole year as a tackling dummy.  Despite their continued improvement, the Thunder have basically been the league’s whipping boys going 4-29 through December and possibly heading towards the worst record in the history of the NBA.

 But that was last year.      

 Coming into Sunday night’s game against Sacramento, Oklahoma City is posting a very respectable 7-7 record through the first 31 days of 2009.  With Kevin Durant playing some of his best basketball this season, the Thunder seem to have finally hit their stride after such a dreadful stretch.  The team is averaging more than 7 points better than its December mark and has notched wins over legitimately good teams like the Utah Jazz and the Detroit Pistons.  In large part, this increase has been due to #35 asserting himself more aggressively on the offensive end.  He is averaging nearly 28 points per game through January, including a season-high 46 point performance against the Clippers.  Durant currently ranks sixth in the league in scoring percentage with 24.5 ppg and is showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon.  By season’s end, it would not be the least bit surprising if KD starts dropping 25-30 on a nightly basis.

 But like any great film, the lead actor is only as good as his supporting cast and during this run, the Thunder’s role players have been extremely productive, specifically rookie guard Russell Westbrook and forward Jeff Green. After being inserted into the starting line-up, Westbrook has provided Oklahoma City with some much needed offensive output from the point guard position.  His ability to penetrate the basketball has allowed the Thunder to spread the floor and camp out their big three point shooters along the perimeter ala San Antonio.  In their last game against Memphis, Green knocked down a season high five three pointers which led to a 114-102 overtime victory for the Thunder.  Green is nearly averaging 48% from beyond the arc this month nearly 15% better than in December.

 OKC’s Big Three have also been selected to participate in this year’s All-Star Rookie Challenge with Durant and Green starting for the sophomore team and Westbrook for the rookies.  Coach Brooks joked to reporters Wednesday night saying, “They’re already talking trash to one another about the rookie game, like who’s going to get the first dunk on who.”  Oklahoma City was the only team to have three players selected from a single club.

       For many, the inaugural season of the Oklahoma City Thunder marked a bitter chapter in the history of the 50+ year franchise.  Once an institution of the Seattle sports world, the club’s highly controversial move to Oklahoma has left many fans and former players feeling betrayed and cheated of their city’s birthright.  Appropriately enough, one of the Sonics most vocal advocates has been former point guard Gary Payton who has openly stated his desire not to have his retired jersey number hung in the Oklahoma City rafters.  In a statement made last October to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Payton made it quite clear that his #20 will only be raised if and when the Sonics franchise is resurrected in the Emerald City.   

“I didn’t play in Oklahoma, so it wouldn’t be anything that I’m looking forward to because I didn’t play for the Oklahoma Thunder,” he said. “I don’t think that Oklahoma should get the benefits of seeing me raise my number. I think these people here [Seattle fans] are the people who have seen me and made me who I am.”

Payton, who is currently the Sonics all-time points, assists and steals leader, has also expressed his wishes of bringing an NBA franchise back to Seattle. He stated that when the Sonics come back home to Seattle, he wants to be part of

 the franchise to ensure the team won’t ever be relocated again.

This particular issue has been a nightmare for many Sonics fans, including myself.  As excited as I am to have the NBA in my own backyard, I am not thrilled at the prospect of stealing an honor which rightfully belongs to the city of Seattle.  I can’t speak for all Thunder fans but the thought of seeing Shawn Kemp’s #40 or Lenny Wilkins’ #19 raised to the rafters of the Ford Center makes me want to apply a massive amount of pain to team owner Clay Bennett. 

I’ve posted a link that has Gary and Shawn talking about the Sonics move to Oklahoma City on Best Damn Sports Show, Period.  Enjoy.

       It is indeed Christmas time in Oklahoma City as the Big Red Guy gave Thunder fans an unexpected but very thankful early present.   With the Raptors chipping away at tenuous OKC lead, Nick Collison made a diving leap onto the floor of the Ford Center to wrestle the ball away from Toronto center Chris Bosh.  Collison came away with the loose ball and set up teammate Russell Westbrook for a key jumper that put the Thunder up 85-81 with under 1:30 to play.  After a missed Toronto jumpshot, Jeff Green answered with a monster slam dunk which cemented the team’s (gasp) third victory.

 ”The difference tonight was guys made plays instead of standing around and seeing what was going to happen,” Collison said. “We didn’t just stand around and wait for something bad to happen. We made good things happen.”

 Much of the victory can be attributed to a newly, re-energized Thunder defense which was bolstered by starts from Collison and veteran guard Desmond Mason.  The tandem provided Oklahoma City with a more energetic defensive attack that upset an already weakened Raptors team who were playing without All-Star forward Jermaine O’Neal. Toronto shot a woeful 36 percent from the field and Bosh continued his offensive struggles going only 6-18. 

 Friday night was truly a time of jubilation for both the Thunder team and the Oklahoma City fans that have had little to celebrate during the franchise’s inaugural season.  With only two wins in the previous 26 tries, it felt as if the team had won the NBA Finals instead of a regular season game.

 ”It felt like that,” Collison said after the game.  “With the season we’ve had, who cares? Let’s celebrate tonight.

 I’ve got the tap if you’ve got the keg Nick-o.