Things aren't terrific in Oklahoma City. The Thunder had trouble selling out the Ford Center early this season, though the sales team managed to fill the building for Wednesday's epic matchup with the similarly terrible Clippers. (Mad daps; that's the upset of the year so far.) But more fans in the house meant there was a bigger opportunity to disappoint. Falling behind an awful team by more than 20 points will do the trick: the Thunder heard their first home boos of the season.It's hard to blame Seattle fans like SonicsCentral's Brian Robinson for crowing about the predicted reality in OKC.
Even I thought that the honeymoon would last longer than this. ... The biggest problem I see coming forward is that the franchise has no tools in place to get better. ... [B]ased on complaints about the in game product it sounds like they are trying hard to save money. Skimping on everything from mascots giving out T-Shirts to music, etc. Now they are in a situation where ownership had to make a Nov. 1 capital call from partners, [Aubrey] McClendon, [Tom] Ward, and [Clay] Bennett have completely lost their asses in the stock market and McClendon is even reportedly trying hard to sell his share of the team.From Seattle, the sour grapes are perfectly understandable. For the rest of us, it's sad to see a newborn franchise wilt so effortlessly. Cap space and draft picks don't give you carte blanche, it appears.
How can this team put out the money for major free agents? They know they will have to overpay to get a guy to play for the worst team in the least desirable city for an NBA player to live. ... It is stunning that it has fallen apart so quickly. I would have never, never expected them to have boos and critical articles written just 11 games into the season.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-20-2008 @ 3:10PM
Paul from Vancouver said...
I hate to add to the sour grapes here, but no-one is talking about the Memphis Grizzlies move? The are still mediocre, Heisley has dumped salaries and won't be signing anyone soon and they are drawing fewer people than they did even at the low point in Vancouver (11 games in).
Memphis is a college ball town and the Grizzlies haven't changed that. Vancouver is still growing, the Canadian dollar has rebounded and even at the current 83 cent level it's undervalued, and the Olympics are here in 2010.
Turns out that the unnecessary move to Memphis wasn't such a great idea after all. And yeah, I am happy to see the Thunder struggle, too. The Stern era is way past its best before date.
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11-20-2008 @ 5:29PM
Steve H said...
Its hard to tell who the bigger moron is here- Robinson or Ziller. The Thunder are really bad this year. Everybody and their dog knew they would be. Please spare us the dire predictions based on Aubrey Mclendon's finances and OKC's inability to sell out nightly. As bad as this team is this year, they will STILL probably finish in the top 10 for attendance. They have 4 first round picks over the next two years- with a great shot at the #1 pick in 09 (Griffin?Rubio?) and an unprotected pick from Phoenix in 2010 that could be interesting. THIS year they did not have monster cap space b/c of the expiring contracts they had to take for Sczerbiak and Ridenaur, plus there just wasn't that much available for those unable to compete in the Maggette/Brand derby. NEXT year, and the year after, there will be an insane number of all-star calliber players available, and Presti will have more cap room than anybody else-with the possible exception of the Grizzlies- to play with. The idea that the oil and gas tycoons that own the Thunder can't afford to hire free agents is laughable. Not only is carrying the full 60 to 70 million per year in standard cap friendly salary manageable for struggling billionaires- it's the smart financial move to make to protect the investments they have already made in the team. I understand it has become fashionable in some circles to bash OKC as some dust bowl hell hole, but that's just a line of crap. Unless the prospective player is abnormally commited to seeing Broadway musicals or Scuba Diving, there just isn't that great a difference between being an NBA player in Dallas, or San Antonio, or Cleveland, or OKC. If you PAY them, they will come. So on behalf of Thunder fans everywhere- thanks for concern, but you really don't need to worry about us, we are going to be just fine.
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11-20-2008 @ 7:22PM
f5alcon said...
according to current attendance figures the thunder are 11th in the league, and considering that they cant be better then 6th because a sellout is still less seats then the top 5 thats not too bad for a team with 1 win. last year seattle averaged 13,335 and the thunder are averaging 18,472.
Now they just need to fire carlisimo and they should improve.
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11-20-2008 @ 8:22PM
Grizzlies Fan said...
Paul from Vancouver is full of sour grapes....and crap.
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11-21-2008 @ 7:21PM
john said...
Sour grapes? I call it recognizing karma. You stole a team with the help of idiot owners and now you will pay the price. I am a blazer fan and would love to see the okcity blunders fall on their faces. CRETINS!
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