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Bring The Thunder EP.16 - Thunder Discussions! · Bring The Thunder Podcast

0:01
What is going on, everybody? Welcome back to another episode
0:05
of the Bring the Thunder podcast.
0:07
Once again, we have a list of several topics we're going to go
0:10
over today, so let's kind of just jump right into it with
0:13
Satvir's topic at the top here. So, Satvir, what do you got for
0:17
us? Yeah, I think the main news that
0:20
we heard from this week was the new OKC Thunder Arena.
0:26
The main news about that was they're actually downsizing the
0:29
capacity of it for Paycom. I think it was like over 18,000
0:33
fans could fit in. Now it's around the 17,000 range
0:38
and the square footage of the arena itself is going to
0:41
increase to like 2000 square feet, so there's more legroom.
0:45
This is set to open in 2028 with construction costs around 900
0:50
million, which is ridiculous. I did want to pull up some of
0:54
the like architecture that they had for this.
0:58
I think like just showing that off would be really dope.
1:02
So let me go ahead and share my screen here.
1:06
Let's go ahead and look at this so on like what you guys think
1:14
about this new look arena. One thing I'll say like right
1:17
off the bat about it is it's kind of made out of glass and
1:21
the weather in OK C can kind of get wild.
1:24
So that's one thing that I was thinking about, but it is a
1:28
futuristic look. It's a bigger size arena.
1:32
I know like the front row seats are closer to the like players,
1:36
so it's going to be louder in the arena as well.
1:39
So it's great from a design perspective, it's kind of what
1:43
OK C resembles and then they kind of got Thunder Alley back
1:47
as well. So those are the kind of the key
1:49
main points, but I'd love to hear from you guys what you guys
1:52
think. Yeah, I mean, I think it's
1:54
definitely meant to kind of be like this big attraction.
1:57
I mean it looked incredible. So even if you're not really a
2:00
Thunder basketball fan, you can kind of like have some pride in
2:02
having this nice of a structure in your city.
2:05
I mean just especially that glass wall.
2:08
I I do agree with you, though, savier, I would be a little
2:10
concerned about the weather like that's that definitely has been
2:13
a factor in a ton of the obviously in ton of the
2:15
infrastructure in the city. But it that just looks great.
2:19
I mean, it looks very nice. It it, the glass is, is pretty
2:22
flashy and a lot of the interior seems really nice as well.
2:26
I'm curious if they focused on some of the some of the sound
2:30
design on the inside to really make sure, and I'm sure they did
2:34
their, you know, it's their job. I'm not going to undermine
2:37
their, their, they, they. Did to answer your question,
2:40
they did. So the way the design is is
2:43
focused towards the center, so it is going to get louder.
2:47
That's the biggest thing I wanted to note was as long as we
2:49
keep that, that loud atmosphere that pretty much every NBA
2:53
player recently has been saying that OK, C is the hardest place
2:55
to play, as long as we keep that, that that's all that
2:57
matters. So I'm a big fan.
2:59
Apparently it's going to be like the steepest possible, which
3:04
means that converts to noise. So it'll be loud, if not louder.
3:12
And I'm sure savvier that like they have a plan for the
3:15
weather. So hopefully it just doesn't get
3:18
destroyed in the first three weeks of being open.
3:21
But yeah, I mean, I love it. It's a new Gen. arena.
3:23
A lot of teams are going to be switching to this.
3:25
We already saw it with the Clippers and I I think it looks
3:30
awesome. It's something great for this
3:31
city of Oklahoma City, and I mean a perfect time for it to
3:37
come and come into place. Yeah, that was one of the set of
3:41
news. The other set of news that I
3:43
wanted to get into was Shay Gills.
3:45
It's Alexander winning and and the SPZ won the NBA Player of
3:50
the Year award and he also won best male athlete of 22 awards
3:56
in one night. Some of his teammates showed
3:59
out. I was kind of sad not to see
4:01
Chet's fit because we all seen those since all posts of his
4:04
different fits. So I wanted to see like what him
4:06
on the red carpet type of vibe would be.
4:09
But these guys showed out last night.
4:11
I'll pull up a picture of them, but I thought that was really
4:14
cool. He also mentioned his teammates
4:16
and then during his speech before he could thank the
4:19
organization and stuff like his mic got cut out for a funny
4:22
moment. I know like the host was making
4:26
fun of his Val baiting and everything else so I thought it
4:29
was. The only thing, though, not the
4:31
only thing. This was not the only thing
4:33
Shane Gillis was making fun of. He was going on a little bit of
4:36
a rant. Yeah, yeah.
4:38
But you know, focusing I guess back to the Thunder guys, I
4:42
thought him winning it like the list of people that have one
4:45
male athlete of the year is, you know, a top notch list.
4:49
Like you don't just win that. Like, like I think the best
4:54
athletes that have ever been around have won that award when
4:58
I looked at that list. So for him to kind of be
5:00
included and like, it's just every day that passes, at least
5:05
for me, like we get closer to like him just racking up all
5:09
these different becoming a trophy merchant and like, you
5:12
know, entering more atmosphere in terms of like, you know,
5:17
highly ranked, you know, top NBA player ever.
5:21
Like his ranking increases every time he wins an award.
5:24
And it's got me pumped up. But I'd love to hear y'all's
5:28
thoughts on like him winning those two at the ESPYs and what
5:33
you guys thought of the team. I'll bring up a picture of them.
5:37
Well, I didn't even know this was an award, so it's pretty
5:40
cool to add on another award, whatever it is.
5:43
But the team was looking pretty fly, I must say.
5:46
Wiggins and Hart had that on. I think you're about to shut up,
5:50
but. Yep, I'll pull it up.
5:52
Right now that's about it for for me.
5:54
I didn't really know what what Espy's is but.
5:59
Pretty dope for Shay. Individually.
6:01
I was kind of pulling for them to win, you know, best team of
6:05
the year, saying that they won 68 games.
6:08
But there was a team in Philadelphia we weren't I'm not
6:12
going to speak of anyway. But like, the NFL has an edge,
6:16
to be honest. Yeah, yeah, I, I think it was
6:19
awesome that he won Male athlete of the Year.
6:20
I didn't really expect him to Like, we know what he's done,
6:24
but he's not even like the biggest superstar in the NBA yet
6:27
and he's winning these awards. So this is definitely throwing
6:30
him up there. Like he he's going to start
6:31
pulling in a shit ton of money for himself and hopefully the
6:34
play stays the same. I I know Shohei Otani was one of
6:38
the nominees and I was shocked they didn't give it to him
6:40
because he has so much international pool, especially
6:43
in Japan where he's from. Yeah, I agree that I kind of
6:46
thought that as well. It's the ESPYs, you know.
6:48
Not normally they screw up the awards, but they did right by
6:54
our our boy yesterday. Lou looks like an 80s R&B
6:57
singer. That's hilarious.
7:01
Jay kind of looks like a like a evil villain.
7:04
He's hitting that pose. So, so do we think that do we
7:07
think that top coat's attached to the undergarments?
7:12
It can be with some pins, but I usually like it's able to come
7:16
on and off and stuff. But I would kind of hope so.
7:19
That seems like annoying as hell to carry around the whole night,
7:22
but. I don't know, but lose Lose got
7:25
me laughing. Yeah, I also wanted to I also
7:30
wanted to thank Brooks Barnheimer for the West
7:34
yesterday he he showed out we're a perfect porno start and.
7:39
Thunderbuss is ready. Yeah, yeah, this, this might,
7:44
I'm not gonna like dive into this, but this guy is gonna
7:47
become a fan favorite, like fast.
7:50
Yeah, he just puts his whole energy into the game.
7:55
I mean, he's just a rebounding machine, just full, full energy,
7:58
steals, blocks. He's he's like the perfect role
8:01
player. Like he, he knows his role.
8:03
He's also really willing to give the ball up, go into pick and
8:07
roll sets, get wide open. Like it's just rare to see a
8:12
player know his role that well. The other thing I wanted to
8:15
mention is today is Kenrich Williams Day, so make sure you
8:20
guys celebrate that. Yeah, you got to throw one up
8:25
for Kenrich. I saw a YouTube or Twitter
8:30
comment that was like make sure everyone gets a haircut in honor
8:35
of. I'm good.
8:37
I made sure to get my fresh fade as you guys can see.
8:40
I got my. I got my.
8:42
I got my little. I left a little in the back
8:44
though, just. Just we hit we hit 1000 Subs by
8:47
the end of next week. I'll get the K rich.
8:50
Oh Lord. That's getting posted.
8:54
Yeah, we'll post that. Don't.
8:55
Worry I'm. Serious too.
8:57
I believe him. I believe him.
9:00
All right, well, with that, we can go ahead and jump over to
9:03
the next topic we have. Landon's SO stage is yours, man.
9:08
Well, the Thunder just won a championship and they're looking
9:10
to go back-to-back. Shocking news, but we're going
9:16
to go over the three biggest threats.
9:18
Some teams have messed with their rosters.
9:20
Of course, teams want to get over the hump and so they make
9:25
moves during the offseason to try to improve their roster.
9:28
Some riskier than others. But my first threat to the
9:34
Nuggets, they took us to seven games.
9:36
They got deeper. Feel like that one's pretty
9:38
self-explanatory. Nicola Yokich is one of the best
9:40
players on the planet. I think this team's a potential
9:46
threat. I don't think they're I don't
9:48
see them as a threat at the moment.
9:50
But if they do stay healthy, I think they could be a threat.
9:53
And that's the Dallas Mavericks. Their starting lineup, if they
9:56
stay healthy, will be Kyrie, Klay, Thompson, Cooper flag.
10:01
It's kind of an unknown. He did show some good flashes
10:04
during the summer league. And Anthony Davis, who has won a
10:09
championship before with the Lakers, and Derek Lively.
10:14
Or I guess it could be Daniel Gafford.
10:17
And. Then they'll also have PJ
10:18
Washington and D Angelo Russell off the bench.
10:21
If they stay healthy. I feel like they're just when it
10:23
comes down to the playoffs and rotations get crunched down to
10:26
8-9 guys, I could be a really solid rotation for them and they
10:31
could be a team to kind of be worried about.
10:34
I think the Thunder would do their thing against them.
10:36
And then if we were to make the Finals again, which I'm a little
10:40
biased, I obviously think we will, I think we could run into
10:43
the Knicks. I think this might be the Knicks
10:44
year, they added. I think this might be the Knicks
10:48
here in the East, Tibbs, Tibbs didn't like to play bench guys.
10:57
MM Brown has championship experience as an assistant.
11:03
I don't know how it'll be as a head, as a head coach with a
11:07
team that could potentially make the Finals in the East.
11:10
But they added Jordan Clarkson, added Yabu Sele from the Sixers.
11:15
I think they'll dig into their bench more and they might have a
11:18
chance in the East. I don't think they'd give the
11:20
Thunder problems. But I mean, I also saw the
11:23
Pacers take us to seven games. So is what it is.
11:28
I like that. I didn't even think about going
11:30
Eastern Conference, but that's a good pull right there.
11:32
Probably favorite favorites to win the East as of right now,
11:35
so. They're my they're my personal
11:37
favorite. I would take them in the series
11:38
over the Cavs. Yeah, Yeah, I would too.
11:42
I guess not. I'll just bounce off that.
11:46
Yeah, I actually agree with all three of those.
11:49
But just Western Conference wise.
11:50
I mean you mentioned I think Dallas is going to be a match up
11:57
problem for OK C guards wise. We kill everybody in the league
12:01
guards wise. But when they getting into 3-4
12:03
and five with flag AD and then one of Gafford lively, they're
12:07
huge and flag super athletic and can handle the rock and can
12:11
shoot it. And then obviously AD is a
12:13
monster healthy and Gafford is just a huge, huge guy block
12:19
shots and you know, catches alley oops.
12:21
So I mean, they're, they're going to be dangerous if Flag
12:24
lives up to the hype, even in his first season.
12:28
They, they can't keep doing the lottery behind closed doors.
12:31
I I just. I mean, I think it's, I think
12:33
it's absolutely ridiculous that he's there, but he's there.
12:36
But they'll screwed up somehow. And then Denver, obviously
12:40
Jokic, they had Cam Johnson over MPJ, which I think is fantastic
12:45
for them. I think it's a better shooter,
12:47
creates more offense than MPJ off the dribble, can actually
12:51
assist and get to the rim as well and better defense too.
12:54
So you just in my opinion, much better player than MPJ.
12:57
And then I, I mean, a lot of people, a lot of people saying
13:03
Houston, I'll give it to Houston as of now.
13:06
I mean, I like to add Dorian Finney Smith and obviously Kevin
13:11
Durant, but I still think OKC takes them out.
13:14
The only thing with Houston is like Thompson could guard Shay.
13:19
Nobody could guard Shay, but Thompson is like one of the
13:21
better defenders in the league specifically for Shay.
13:25
But then when you move over to like J Dub, no one's guarding
13:29
him. But I'll give it to Houston,
13:30
'cause I I like your pull of the Knicks, but against OKC they get
13:36
they get wiped out fast. I just personally don't think
13:40
there's really three legit threats.
13:43
Yeah, I think, I think for me, if it if it's anyone, it's like
13:46
it's it's Houston just because of like just because everyone
13:53
thinks it is. But I, I I.
13:56
Fair enough. I guess I'll go.
13:58
There you go. There you go, Jack.
13:59
I'm good. You go.
14:03
I got Nuggets obviously took us to seven and they got way
14:08
better. As you guys said, Dallas,
14:10
they're big and then those are the only teams I see as threats
14:13
for us to win another championship.
14:15
But the last, the third biggest threat for us to win a
14:19
championship is our three-point shooting.
14:23
If it doesn't? Yeah, you.
14:26
Like that? You like that?
14:28
You. Like that yeah it just depends
14:34
if if it really takes that leap because we haven't added
14:37
anything to address address it, but if we improve then we don't
14:42
really need to so it just depends on our development but
14:45
this team with consistent 3 point shooting is insane, which
14:49
we didn't have last year and we want see ya.
14:53
Those are my three biggest. Friends, Jack's playing chess.
14:57
That's big job. Well.
14:58
Played well. Played.
14:59
Yeah, I'm going to sound like a broken record just to get out of
15:02
the way because I also had Nuggets, Mavericks, Rockets,
15:06
same ones. The reasons Nuggets, not a whole
15:09
lot to say other than they have the second best player in the
15:12
world behind Shay, of course, but they're an incredible team.
15:15
I mean, they always are. They're they're tough.
15:17
I think people kind of like kind of turn them into underdogs at
15:21
the start of this last season where they were like thinking
15:24
that they just weren't going to be a good team, which is just
15:27
laughable. But the big thing that I want to
15:29
point out was what Joe said as well.
15:32
Switching out MPJ for Cam is huge.
15:36
I am a big, I am a big trash talker on MPJI.
15:41
Mean you give him the ball and it's going up whether you like
15:43
it or not. And I hate that about him.
15:45
That's like the worst kind of player.
15:46
If I was a Nuggets fan, I would have been praising the Lord when
15:50
they shipped him out. So huge addition there and then
15:53
Jonas at the back of that's big. They almost lost him overseas.
15:56
But yeah, Nuggets are dangerous for sure.
15:59
Mavericks, same thing you guys said.
16:01
If they're healthy, this team is so scary.
16:04
I mean, Cooper could be half of as good as what people think and
16:07
they'd still be a really good team because of everyone else
16:09
around them. The depth is kind of insane.
16:12
I mean, they just have a lot of things that I don't like to see.
16:15
So definitely worried if they stay healthy.
16:17
And then the Rockets are, again, same thing Joe said.
16:20
They're kind of just there because I needed a third team
16:22
and like everyone says, we should worry about the Rockets.
16:26
I'm not really worried about the Rockets, but that's just how
16:29
confident I am in our team. So I I guess I'll slip them into
16:33
the third spot. But yeah, mostly just Denver and
16:36
the Mavs for me. I'll go next.
16:41
I'll say we've already said everything we need to say about
16:44
Denver, about the Mavs. PJ Washington still over there,
16:49
had to mention his name. And then the third team.
16:53
I've been reeling towards two teams, maybe not like initial
16:57
threats this year, but future threats is one team I would say
17:02
is either the Spurs or the Suns. And I know you everyone's
17:07
probably like, yeah, Gabe's making the face about the Suns,
17:10
but actually like the move of moving away from KD.
17:16
They're under the first apron. They can still add like ACP 3
17:20
this season. They have a bunch of young
17:23
pieces that they added and they took the leading scorer off of
17:27
the Rockets, added him on next to Devin Booker, drafted a bunch
17:31
of young bigs around Devin, which is his weakness.
17:35
So I really like that about their roster.
17:38
Like I think they're going to win a lot more games and people
17:41
are thinking Devin Booker with a real point guard or him being
17:45
the point guard can work out for them.
17:49
Like I, I still believe in Devin Booker in my opinion, maybe just
17:53
not around the roster composition of just straight
17:56
offensive pieces. And then the Spurs, I feel like
18:01
if they figure it out, like between all their lottery picks
18:04
and stuff, like they just got a crazy roster like that can
18:07
develop very quickly. Like they can be us three years
18:10
from now where they're going and becoming a first seed in
18:14
back-to-back seasons and going to a finals run.
18:17
So those are my, I guess 2 honorable mentions.
18:20
I'm not really afraid of the Rockets.
18:24
They're one KD injury away from, you know, not even making the
18:28
play offs and then every other team doesn't really scare me.
18:32
So that's where I'm at. You I was ready to blow up when
18:37
you said Phoenix, but then you mentioned that they they'll win
18:43
more games than people expect. So I quickly looked it up the
18:46
lines at 31 1/2. So yeah, I agree with that.
18:49
But they're not doing anything, Let's be real.
18:52
I think if they're in a playoff setting with Devin Booker as
18:57
their lead guy, like they're still dangerous.
18:59
That's just my opinion. Like when he doesn't have to
19:02
share the offensive load with other people, like it's really
19:06
hard to stop him just by himself.
19:07
He's. I'll be the one to go ahead and
19:11
I'll be the one to go ahead and say it.
19:12
I don't think they make the playoffs.
19:15
That's fine, I disagree. I just don't see.
19:19
We we can talk about it later. Yeah.
19:24
I, I do like your mention of the Spurs, though.
19:26
I was thinking about the Spurs a little bit.
19:28
I don't think that it's exactly like you said, it won't be this
19:31
year, but they, they are building something super, super
19:35
good in San Antonio. And I'm pretty, pretty concerned
19:39
about it for us in the future, because if that, let's say in a
19:43
few years when we do have to start dealing with that, that
19:46
second apron and what not, and we take a year where we need to
19:49
switch some things up, that could be the year where San
19:51
Antonio kind of goes over the top to try to take the number
19:55
one spot from us. So San Antonio's building
19:57
something good. Dylan Harper's I'm, I'm really
19:59
high on him. They, they're doing good over
20:02
there. So I, I agree with San Antonio.
20:03
That's, that's a good one to at least mention for sure.
20:06
But yeah, Phoenix, I don't know. I don't know.
20:09
I I get what you're saying. My thing with Phoenix is 1 game
20:12
Jalen Green might drop 8 and the next game might drop 20 so if he
20:16
can be consistent maybe they'll be better.
20:18
But there's still some things I think he's got to fix so I'm a
20:21
bit worried about him still. So I don't know.
20:24
We'll see. I like him.
20:25
I'll say he'll be better in the Phoenix system with the speed.
20:30
Also the attention on Devin Booker.
20:32
So I think he'll just play a lot better in that system.
20:35
Which Shingun and him, they clearly didn't vibe because when
20:38
Shingun was out, he was very more like very much consistent.
20:42
So I'm going to rely on him around him.
20:46
Like the guard when they're just there's just two guard play like
20:49
that's when both of them thrive. And so I think they'll thrive.
20:53
Yeah, I like it. All right, let's go ahead and
20:56
move on to the next topic for all you sports gamblers out
21:00
there. We got Joe's got a little topic
21:02
here for us. Yeah, I'm going to answer these
21:04
first and everybody play along as well.
21:06
Obviously you guys will. We'll also get some input in
21:10
there, but got some over under predictions, early predictions
21:13
for next year. You know, I'm not telling you to
21:16
bet the money, but if I were to, I'm betting.
21:18
The money. This is this, Yeah, I'm betting
21:20
the money, so this is what I'm going to do.
21:24
So I put the line over under Shay points per game next year
21:27
at 31 1/2. I feel that's a bit hefty.
21:30
I think 31 is like actually perfect, so I would take the
21:35
under. I'm not going to take 32 plus
21:37
especially I think J Dub is going to be averaging like 25
21:40
next year compared to his 21 this.
21:44
So I'm going to take the under on Shay, but it's literally just
21:48
31.3 something like that. Next one.
21:53
I guess I just already answered my second one.
21:56
Smart Joe. I put the line for J Dub at 24
21:59
1/2. I think he's pushing 25 plus
22:02
next year I'm going to take the over.
22:05
You've seen the increase every year.
22:07
Last year it was 21.4. Dealt with a few injuries,
22:10
healthy J Dub super confident. J Dub coming off a 40 point
22:14
finals, a finals win and then obviously a 40 point game in the
22:17
finals with the wrist surgery. I think he's pushing 25 plus.
22:22
I really do. I think he's going to become
22:25
that bona fide second superstar in Oklahoma City next season.
22:29
I got to the line at Chet Holmgren, 2 1/2 blocks.
22:33
This one is interesting because I truly think he could actually
22:35
push three blocks a game if he's healthy the whole season.
22:39
But that is pretty hard to do, so I'm going to take the under.
22:41
I do like him sitting around like 22.2.
22:44
What? That's insane bro.
22:47
You know how hard averaging 3 blocks a game is bro I'll get to
22:52
let. Me finish, Let me finish.
22:54
I I think Chet's going to sit around like 2.2 blocks per game.
22:58
I would, I would love for him to sit at three.
23:00
I just don't like. That's incredible. 3 blocks the.
23:03
Highest I stall for eligible players was EDI think and it was
23:06
2.5 no. There.
23:08
You go. I didn't count Wimby because of
23:10
his injury. And then for my last one, this
23:14
is kind of more of like a play along kind of joke thing, but it
23:16
could end up being serious. Aaron Wiggins, I currently have
23:20
him as becoming the 6th man of the year next year, but Mark
23:23
Dagnolt needs to allow that to happen.
23:26
I got the minutes line at over under 15 1/2 minutes.
23:29
I know he played 22 points, some per game.
23:32
This past season. We've had some injuries that
23:34
allowed him to step into that role.
23:35
And then we also didn't have guys like AJ Mitchell and Nicola
23:38
Topichu are going to be pulling minutes away from some of these
23:40
guys, especially during the regular season.
23:43
I'm, I'm going to pray and take the over.
23:45
I I hope it's closer to like 22/23/24, but it's questionable.
23:52
But I'm going to take the over on 15 1/2.
23:54
So to wrap up, I got Shay under 31 1/2.
23:57
I think he's going to sit at like 31 with the resurgence of J
24:01
Dub over 24 1/2. I think he's going to sit 25
24:04
plus Chet. I I pray that it's over 2 1/2,
24:09
but that would be like one of the better defensive seasons
24:10
ever. So I'm going to say like 2.22
24:13
blocks a game for Chet hopefully.
24:15
And then Wiggins pray to God that he gets over 15 1/2
24:18
minutes, especially with the additions of Topich and
24:20
Mitchell. Fair enough.
24:23
I'll go ahead and go next here first one Shay three 1 1/2
24:27
points per game. I agree, Joe perfect line.
24:30
I mean, that is like right where?
24:32
Well, that's you know, that's how those darn better's work and
24:36
they set the most like difficult lines to predict.
24:39
But I'm going to agree with you. I'm going to go under.
24:42
I think our team is so stacked that there's and it's not just
24:45
like guys like J Dub. I mean, Chet can have a big year
24:47
offensively. We have so many guys who can
24:49
just step up and hit their shots and all around just add to that
24:53
point total. So I don't know if he's getting
24:55
over three 1 1/2. So yeah, I'm going to start at
24:57
under. Next is Dub at 24 1/2 points per
25:00
game. I'm also going over, I agree
25:03
with the whole confidence thing and signing that contract.
25:05
I mean, that's a big thing that goes to to confidence as well.
25:08
I mean, that tells you that this franchise has a lot of faith in
25:11
you and they know that you're just going to get better.
25:14
So I definitely think he's going to go over chest 2 1/2 blocks,
25:18
savor plug your ears because I'm also going to say under, I think
25:23
2 1/2 is a pretty, pretty steep prediction there.
25:26
And his career? He's averaging 2.3.
25:30
I just I was just about to say his rookie year he played every
25:33
single game and he only had 2.3 last year.
25:35
I know he was hurt. Only 2.3.
25:38
Well, and compared to the line, yeah, I mean, but, and I know
25:42
he's getting better each year, but we're an incredible
25:44
defensive team and there's other people that help add to those
25:47
blocks. Shay is pretty much the best
25:49
guard blocker in the NBA. Heart holds down the paint.
25:53
We have Sorber now who's a great defender.
25:55
I just think that takes a lot of the pressure off of Chet to half
25:58
the average 2 1/2 or more. So it's not that he can't, it's
26:02
just that we're so good that I don't think he will need to.
26:05
So I'm going to go under on that.
26:07
And then Wiggins, 15 1/2 minutes.
26:10
This is tough because I know you made it as a joke, Joe, but
26:13
really, I mean, the amount of talent that this team has, like
26:16
we genuinely don't know where those minutes are going to go.
26:19
I'm gonna say over hopefully. I really think it'll be right at
26:24
that like 1617 minute range. And I don't think we'll see more
26:27
than that 'cause I think Sorber is gonna rise and get some
26:30
minutes pretty quickly. And tobich I mean, I, I think
26:34
it'll be AJ who will be unfortunately having some of
26:36
those minutes taken for Wiggins, which kind of stink.
26:40
I I don't want that. Like I want AJ to get more
26:42
minutes. But we are just, we are way too
26:45
deep. So that's unfortunate.
26:47
But yeah, I'm gonna sit at a hopeful over.
26:50
So yeah, I'll just to say same thing Joe did.
26:52
Wrap it up, Shay, I have under 31 1/2 points per game.
26:55
Dub I have over 24 1/2 points per game.
26:58
Chat I have under 2 1/2 blocks per game and Wiggins I have over
27:01
15 1/2 minutes. All right, I'll, I'll go next.
27:08
I got Shay on the over. I got J Dub on the under.
27:16
I got Wiggins on the over on the minutes and I got over on the
27:20
blocks for chat. Am I missing 111 other thing
27:24
there? No, that's it.
27:25
You're, you're bullish. That's it.
27:26
Ready for over, over, over. Well, I'm over on Shay and then
27:30
I'm under on J dub I makes. Sense.
27:35
I think he's going to take a leap, but I don't think it's
27:37
going to be like a 25 point per game leap.
27:40
And I, I just don't see Shay averaging under 32 because
27:46
there's just no way. Like he's too much of an
27:49
offensive engine. Like from what I saw from him
27:52
this season, like 30 comes to him way too easily.
27:56
Yeah, you're right, you're right.
27:57
I my only rebuttal to that would be like, obviously what you
28:01
expecting dub under makes sense. But I think this regular season,
28:06
not to sound ignorant or arrogant or cocky or whatever
28:09
you want to call me, but like I think it's going to be a little
28:11
bit more of a coast. The West is top heavy.
28:15
But after that, in my opinion, it's nightly games are going to
28:19
be very easy to OK see. And obviously we only lost what
28:21
like one or two games to the East last year anyway, and they
28:25
got worse. So I can see Shay just not
28:29
having to do as much also in a lot of these games.
28:32
I know he's going to get his 30 nightly, but there's going to be
28:36
a lot of days where he's again, not playing fourth quarters.
28:39
He's not going to be having to score 35 in a overtime game to
28:43
win the game as often. So I, I, and now with the depth,
28:48
with the guards, with Topitch and Mitchell, not that Shay's
28:51
going to regress, but he's just not going to have to be playing
28:55
as well as he did last year. What my thought process was.
28:59
I, I just fully I fully disagree like Shay Spurtman work this
29:03
summer. He's he's not one that takes
29:06
possessions off or time off. Like I've never seen him make a
29:11
comment towards I'm going to coast.
29:13
His comment has never been that, so don't see it.
29:17
Not, not, not coast in terms of play.
29:20
Coast because we're so good that we can.
29:24
Afford to. I just don't think he's either
29:28
way, but he's even when he sat his fourth quarters, he made
29:31
sure to get his 30 regardless. So.
29:34
He wouldn't even go out until he hit his 30 mark, so I don't see
29:37
that happening. Well, I think the 31 1/2 is a
29:42
real good line, but I have under just from other people scoring
29:47
pretty much all the all the reasons we've listed not by not
29:50
by much, but still over 30 under 31 1/2 for dub.
29:54
I have over. I think they kind of go hand in
29:57
hand. If you're over on dub, you're
29:59
under on Shay for the same reasons.
30:03
Shet 2 1/2 blocks. If anyone can do it, he can.
30:06
Like I mean, I'm taking the over.
30:10
I back him. I believe he can.
30:12
It'll be interesting to see. And then Wiggins over 15.5
30:17
minutes. He deserves more obviously.
30:20
But I think if you gave me that line before every game, I would
30:26
not put any money on it at all. If you gave me the line before
30:29
the season, I put the other one game it'll be 30, the next game
30:33
it'll be 5. He could put up 40 points and
30:35
still get 2 minutes the next game.
30:38
Yeah, we'll see. But I would love him to start or
30:41
be the 6th man. But his minutes are just going
30:43
to be all over the place like it always has been.
30:45
We're going to be like, oh man, we could really use Wiggins in
30:48
this game to win. Mark's like, Nah, we got topics.
30:51
We'll fight him instead. Wiggins win the game of 5
30:54
minutes. But so I'm I'll, yeah, I'll take
30:57
the over for the whole season. All right.
31:00
Well, I got Faye over. I think he's going to put a lot
31:03
of emphasis on working on the three ball this summer.
31:06
Threes are greater than twos, which so I think that will make
31:09
his scoring go up naturally. So I think he'll hit the over on
31:13
that. Mark J Dub.
31:15
I have the under. I think I don't think he'll get
31:18
enough shots with all the guys coming in because he he likes to
31:22
play with the second unit a lot and AJ is also a score.
31:26
So I think that might take some shots away from him.
31:29
Chat, I actually have the over. I think with the full season
31:32
under his belt, he's going to have a lot of high volume games
31:34
when it comes to blocks. He'll have like some games where
31:37
he gets 5 or 6 blocks, which will not naturally boost his
31:40
averages there. And then Wiggins, I got the
31:44
over. He average 22.9 minutes.
31:48
For some reason, Mark Dagnell likes to play Aaron Wiggins when
31:51
we're like up 20 points with 5 minutes left in left in games.
31:55
So I can see that continuing and that will boost his minutes
32:01
averages. But yeah, that's my thoughts,
32:05
all right. Fair enough.
32:06
Well, let's hop on over to the next one.
32:08
We have Jack's topic. As you know, I'm from New
32:13
Zealand and that is international.
32:15
So we're going to rank our five favorite international players
32:18
on Augusty ever. I'm going to start off with two
32:20
honor honorable mentions. I have Jalen Williams, well,
32:25
he's got Vietnamese descent, but born, born and raised in
32:30
America. And then Dennis Schroeder from
32:31
Germany didn't quite make my top five, but I had to shut them out
32:36
at 5:00. I have Josh Giddy, really
32:38
enjoyed when he was playing here.
32:40
I mean, it didn't didn't end as fun, but the Tik Toks, you made
32:44
all that. Yeah.
32:46
It was real fun in its prime before.
32:48
I have Dort from Canada and Haiti, actually.
32:54
Yeah, he's just part of this team, longest tenured player,
32:57
just pretty much the man that I have.
33:01
Isaiah Hardenstein. Really happy with the pick up.
33:04
I think we wouldn't have won the championship with Adam and
33:08
obviously Caruso and other things, but I really love the
33:11
way he plays and I really value that.
33:13
Not not every basketball fan can appreciate someone like Isaiah
33:18
Hardenstein, but I think we did a great job here at OKC of
33:21
appreciating what he does and how much he dogs it out.
33:24
Two, I have Shay pretty obvious nearly ever, like probably the
33:29
best Thunder player of all time from Canada.
33:33
Again, we wouldn't have won a championship with Adam, so it's
33:37
pretty easy to to like him. And then number one, with no
33:40
surprise at all, the man who got me into basketball, the man who
33:43
made me a Thunder fan, Steven Adams from New Zealand.
33:47
Just I've said the man a lot, but he's the man.
33:50
Like I yeah, everyone loves him. If he's not in your top five,
33:54
then I might get off this call. But yeah.
34:01
I'll go next. I was going to say I'll go next
34:04
and he's not on my list, but I got I got Shay Ludort, Josh
34:11
giddy, Hokushevsky and Thabo Sepholosia.
34:17
Those. That's my.
34:18
List Hoku over Steve O. Just just just to be different.
34:25
Obviously, I feel like Steven Adams should make everyone's
34:27
list, so I wanted to get other people on my that's all.
34:33
Game he's, he's being considerate.
34:36
Yeah, I wanted to have other people have a chance.
34:39
It's like, I feel like Steven Adams is going to be on
34:42
everyone's list if you're asking.
34:44
For a reason. Come on.
34:47
That's true. I mean, he's he's one of my
34:49
favorite obviously, but I wanted to shout out some other guys so.
34:54
OK. OK, I guess I'll go next.
35:01
Shay 1, Steve O2, Ludor 3. As much as I absolutely kind of
35:09
like despise the guy, I'm going to throw Alec Sabrina's on
35:11
there. I didn't enjoy him being on our
35:15
roster, but he was on teams that I enjoyed watching growing up.
35:23
So I got to throw Alec Sabrina's on there.
35:27
And then what was that? Three?
35:31
I just list three of them, Shay Stevo, Abrinus, Lou Dort.
35:35
And I mean, I got no love for Pokashevsky.
35:37
I don't know why a lot of Oklahoma City fans do.
35:39
I I don't really understand it. I'm probably just going to go
35:44
with like Josh, Josh, Josh giddy.
35:49
I was going to throw like Ooze in there, but Ooze is, yeah,
35:53
I'll just round it out with Josh.
35:54
I mean, not a lot of players that come to mind, but I do
36:02
respect Sapir leaving Steve O for the rest of us.
36:06
But come on man, just just be selfish.
36:13
Yeah, first I want to shout out all our international followers
36:16
and fans since we're on the international topic.
36:20
But I like players. I like players that I like
36:22
championship teams. I like players that win
36:23
championship. So I chose 5 championship
36:25
players, Alex Dukas, Isaiah Hartenstein, Lou Dort, Shay and
36:29
Uzman Jane because they won. They won the first championship
36:32
in Oklahoma City. So I got to give them their
36:34
respect and their flowers for that.
36:39
For Landon, it is it is not about the friends we make along
36:42
the way. It is only about winning.
36:47
For me at #5 I got the the hometown bias.
36:51
I got Abdul Nader, Iowa State legend.
36:53
Absolutely love Nader I. Forgot about Abdul Nader.
36:57
Absolutely loved Abdul Nader when he played for Iowa State.
37:00
Can I interrupt you real quick just.
37:01
Yeah, go ahead, go. Ahead, you're gonna bring this
37:03
off my fucking get him off my list.
37:05
Put Abdul Nader in there. Thank.
37:06
You. I will respect that Abdul
37:08
Nader's bond. Can someone in the can someone
37:10
in the comments let me know what Nader's up to nowadays?
37:12
Nothing good. But I I love him to death.
37:17
He was so fun to watch at Iowa State #4 Josh Giddy.
37:22
I feel like everybody liked Giddy, like if it at least for
37:26
the personality side of things. Like he was just a fun guy to
37:28
have with those younger, younger players and whatnot.
37:30
I loved him. And Chet's kind of like on and
37:32
off court chemistry and whatnot. But yeah, like Jack said, didn't
37:37
end the greatest. But yeah, big fan of giddy #3
37:42
Steven Adams. Love Steven Adams, always will.
37:45
Nothing hits more than the rust throwing up a lot and Steve just
37:48
slamming the dude underneath the hoop, through the hoop with him
37:52
#2 Dort. I mean, Dort's exactly what you
37:56
want from a basketball player. I mean, literally everything,
37:58
leaving his heart out, diving across the floor, trying to save
38:01
it. Just everything he did, you were
38:04
just like in awe of, wow, we really have a guy like this on
38:06
our team. And then number one, SGA, pretty
38:09
self-explanatory. I mean, best Thunder player of
38:11
all time. And yeah.
38:15
I gotta make a quick change real quick to my list.
38:19
Sorry to. Interrupt.
38:19
I gotta, I'm gonna take Shay off my list and I gotta, I gotta put
38:24
Ennis Panther on the list, bro. We're we're a bunch of morons.
38:28
I apologize to everybody who's watching.
38:30
I apologize to everyone in Oklahoma City, everybody an NBA
38:34
fan. Serge Ibaka, bro.
38:37
Oh yeah, Serge Ibaka. Represent Abdul Nader though,
38:42
you know. Yeah, yeah, of course.
38:44
But. But like Alex Dugas.
38:46
OK. I'm over here forgetting Serge
38:50
Ibaka and Ennis Kanter and like, I don't know, I can't believe I
38:54
didn't put them on the. List.
38:55
I'm going to restart. Shay Serge, Ennis Kanter, Lou
38:59
Dort, Josh Giddy. Thank you.
39:02
If only someone gave you a list of players you could choose
39:05
from. There's no.
39:06
Random shout out. Random shout out to Hashim to
39:08
beat. Joe, I think you should find a
39:11
way to slip Nader back in that list.
39:13
I don't know all. Right, we'll get Josh out of.
39:16
There. OK, thank you.
39:19
OK, well, with that, let's let's jump over to Gabe's list.
39:25
Gabe's list here is your top three favorite obscure Thunder
39:29
players. I think this is a great list,
39:30
but Gabe will go first. So #1 Deonte Burton, the Iowa
39:37
State love again. I love Deonte Burton, bro.
39:40
That guy was so much fun to watch.
39:42
I literally is like he is responsible for so many of like
39:46
my early basketball memories just being an Iowa State fan,
39:49
like really caring about going to games and watching Deonte
39:52
Burton. I've also met him multiple
39:54
times. So yeah, definitely.
39:57
Burton I watch him often. He he plays in the KBL, the
40:00
Korean Basketball League. Outstanding organization by the.
40:04
Just a very very fun player. Number 2 for me, Al Horford.
40:08
I love me some Al Horford, bro. I was so glad when he was on our
40:13
team. Al Horford is a beast.
40:14
I saw someone post the other day, like some of the most
40:17
obscure teams, like posting a player to say, vote for the All
40:21
Star game. They were like, why was OK C
40:23
posting Al Horford for All Star? Get out of here.
40:26
Because there was Al Horford. That's why.
40:29
And then #3 Brandon Carlson, yeah.
40:34
I think we all just found this deep love for Brandon Carlson
40:38
this season. That was just for no reason,
40:40
really, other than he was just this tall young kid that came in
40:43
and was hitting threes. And then the Cavs game happened
40:46
and we were like this guy, like Brandon Carlson.
40:49
So, yeah, I don't know. That's that's my top three I
40:52
guess. I love it.
40:54
I love it. I got a bit like different way
40:59
of going about it, but I love your list.
41:01
Me, I got Daequan Cook, one of my favorite early OKC players.
41:09
Absolute sniper from three. So we're going with daequan #2
41:16
you guys may not like it. One of my favorite Thunder
41:19
players ever, just because I thought he was going to be good
41:21
for us. He wasn't, but I thought he was
41:24
Randy Foye all time. I love that acquisition.
41:27
I really thought he was going to put us over the top.
41:30
I convinced myself that a long time ago, unfortunately did not
41:34
work out that way. But Randy foyet #2 and #3 again,
41:40
you guys may not like it, but I feel like I, I have to go this
41:46
route. Like I was trying to find anyone
41:48
other than this player, but I had to go this route.
41:50
I just went with Reggie Jackson, bro.
41:55
I just went with Reggie Jackson. Like, you look back on Reggie
41:58
Jackson's career, he's not going to be remembered for OKC at all
42:02
anymore. Play with the Pistons, you play
42:04
with the Clippers, you kind of forget that he even played for
42:07
OKC. And I don't like the guy, but
42:11
Reggie Jackson? How do you not like him but he's
42:16
one of your favorite players? No obscure players.
42:20
He was just like naming obscure like his top three, like most
42:24
obscure players. I see.
42:28
All right, I'm going to enter the list.
42:31
So Kyle Singler, Josh Hustis and I'm going to, I'm going to say
42:39
Perry Jones the third. Those are the three guys that's
42:43
on my list. So Perry Jones the 3rd as well.
42:46
Is there an update on Kyle Singler?
42:48
I don't know. There hasn't been much.
42:53
Well the only thing I did see like Kevin Love trying to reach
42:56
out and stuff but not much more. Yeah, Kevin Love might need
42:59
someone to reach out to him now, too.
43:00
I don't know. All.
43:04
Right my my top three obscure Thunder role players.
43:07
One I have Eugene Omarui. I, I, I kind of guess 10 times
43:12
out of 10 that you were going that I knew, I knew you were
43:14
going that. Way yeah wow #2 Olivier SAR Bola
43:21
and silly Torres AC outfit and then #3 vid Krejci just obscure.
43:29
It was cool, not much to it, but.
43:31
Very obscure a bit. Pretty he he turned a lot of
43:33
Argentinian people into Thunder fans.
43:39
Why? He has like he's popular there.
43:43
He's like a is a big guy, big name now.
43:47
Only the Thunder coverage and Thunder Fan Zone would just like
43:50
go on a rant about this guy. No, I I thought, I thought he
43:54
was like Slovenian or Czech Republican or.
44:00
He's a baller. That's what he is from
44:02
Argentina. He's.
44:03
He's from the Czech Republic. He's definitely not.
44:06
Yeah. Well, he's a ball, but that's
44:07
why I was. Confused.
44:08
Why am I mixed up? Yeah, he must be.
44:12
That's so confused Argentinian fans for a Czech Republican.
44:17
Player. Either way, it's a it's
44:18
definitely a obscure Thunder poll.
44:20
Yeah, no Gabriel deck. Whoa.
44:23
We're talking about Gabriel Deck.
44:24
He was. No weirdo.
44:28
Nope. Bit crazy.
44:31
Oh my goodness. I mean, Gabriel Deck, yeah,
44:36
Gabriel Deck's got a lot of fans from.
44:38
Yeah, from Argentina. That's true because before we
44:41
filmed, I was looking at obscure.
44:43
I was looking through like the all time list of power players
44:46
that's. Awesome.
44:48
That's awesome. All right, who hasn't done their
44:52
list? Landon.
44:53
Are you up? Me OK Xavier Simpson I like the
44:57
hook shot is lethal. Never seen a point guard with
45:02
such a nasty hook shot. Never seen a player with such a
45:05
nasty hook shot. Oh, will Kim.
45:08
Nope. No, here we go.
45:13
I, I got to throw Meechich in the mix.
45:16
I was a Meechich propaganda spreader.
45:20
I was acting like he was the next.
45:21
I was acting like he was what toe pitch or AJ supposed to be
45:24
for us now, kind of that kind of that spark plug guard off the
45:29
pin, you said. You were a Meeche spreader, as
45:31
if there were others. I think you might have been the
45:33
only one, but I like the guy. I like the guy.
45:38
He's a really, he's a really good pass.
45:39
Wizard with the ball. He had flashy passes activated
45:42
and now he's update he's just out of the NBA.
45:49
I kind of forgot obscure was part of this and I went Moose,
45:52
Mike Muscala, but I feel like that's not super obscure.
45:55
That's fine. It's fine.
45:56
It does the job. It just definitely get more
45:59
obscure. But Mike Moose is a good one.
46:01
Mike Muscala just. Good vibes, every time he hit a
46:04
three the crowd went crazy and just a good vet for the younger
46:08
guys. Good guy overall.
46:10
Yeah, I don't have a any problem with that one right there.
46:13
That's a good one. I actually, I actually had him
46:16
on my list of potential players as well.
46:17
So that's a good one for sure. I was also thinking anyone
46:21
thinking hammy hammy Diallo slam dunk king.
46:24
Least, least, I didn't even think of him.
46:26
I was thinking a little bit about him.
46:28
I was, I was. Or like, what about Patrick
46:31
Patterson? I hated Patterson Oh my God what
46:35
a fucking bum bro. You know, Taquan Cook was like,
46:41
he, he's, he was like my hero growing up, bro.
46:45
I'm sure he'd be honored to hear that, Joe.
46:47
Yeah, yeah, I I think I wrote a school paper about him.
46:51
I think he's more honored now that's that's meaningful.
46:55
I love Dave Quan Cook. That's the title of it.
46:59
I love Dave Quan Cook. All right, well, I think we can
47:04
go ahead and wrap up this episode here.
47:07
As always, we really appreciate you guys listening.
47:09
Please let us know in the comments.
47:11
Yes, wait, we. Forgot to mention we were.
47:15
I was supposed to do this a while ago but I forgot and this
47:19
is on me. But when we were talking about
47:20
the three threats to the Thunder, there was one team we
47:23
forgot to mention that a lot of teams are underrating this year.
47:27
The Charlotte Hornets, man, they got written.
47:28
I'm Joe. There was a second, there was a
47:31
second Joe, where I was about to just end the episode.
47:36
Oh, man. But yeah, for sure.
47:38
Thank you guys for listening. Let us know in the comments if
47:40
you guys have any of your own kind of takes for the topics
47:42
that we did. We'd love to hear what you guys
47:45
think as always. But yeah, if anyone else has
47:48
something they want to drop before we head out and.
47:51
A lot of the fact that we could possibly be in the summer league
47:56
playoffs depending on the tiebreakers, which is the point
48:01
differential. So we're going to have to see, I
48:04
believe today depending on like if the Kings or the Timberwolves
48:11
or anything, you know, score a little bit more points to get in
48:14
or we get in. But AJ and Topich probably won't
48:17
be playing so. Well, basically the take away
48:20
from that is all we do is win around here.
48:23
So still still getting back in the playoffs.
48:27
But yeah, thank you guys for listening and we'll catch you
48:29
next time. Never mind Sabir, you want to
48:32
add something I. Was just going to say the other
48:34
thing is no summer league champion has been crowned at the
48:39
same time that ANBA champion also won the championship.
48:42
So it'd be pretty dope if like, you know, a Brooks Barnheiser
48:47
LED summer league squad wins, you know, right after we won so.
48:52
It's also. Yeah.
48:54
You're already here. Bet it.
48:55
Bet it. If you can find a book that has,
48:57
bet. It There we go, Joe and his Joe
48:59
and his sports gambling. We'll start a series just for
49:03
Joe. I might get a betting.
49:05
Yeah, you know what? We're gonna actually do that.
49:07
Like you, We'll. Talk about that after the
49:08
episode. Until we lose fans because Joe
49:10
keeps missing on his bets and everyone's like mad at him.
49:14
I would take 30 points on just pulling Thomas Sorber double
49:21
double tonight. Nah bro, trust I'm good.
49:24
All right, well, make sure you guys do try to check out some of
49:26
those Summer League games if we do in fact make the Summer
49:29
League playoffs. But as always, thank you guys
49:31
for listening and we'll catch you guys next time.