When the schedule for the Oklahoma City To-Be-Announceds (but probably the Thunder) came out there were some bittersweet feelings for the old Hornets fans. Desmond Mason, who acted as the de facto face of the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets while they played in a market whose fanbase struggled to name five players from the entire league but were intimately aware of him as a former Oklahoma State star, was coming to town for opening night as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. Not anymore.
Just as the Bucks traded Mason to the Hornets on the eve of their debut in Oklahoma City three years ago, the Bucks again have traded him to the TBAs on the eve of their debut in Oklahoma City. In a three team deal that also included the Cleveland Cavaliers, OKC picked up Mason and Joe Smith and parted with Luke Ridnour and Adrian Griffin. The deal is being characterized as a salary dump by the TBAs, but it will likely be much more.
Sure Desmond was known primarily for his fugly jumpshot and jawdropping dunks, but what he really brings to the team is tenacious defense and the willingness to make hustle plays (something many NBA players refuse to do). He also brings the steadiness of a veteran to a team loaded with young talent. The fact that he is a former Cowboy and an established fan favorite in this market fails to hurt, as well. And from a personal standpoint, I am happy that Desmond never had to play for Kelvin Sampson who is now an assistant coach for Milwaukee.
I tried to get Patrick’s input on today’s deal, but after I told him the news, I heard a bunch of screaming and profanity. Plus, it sounded like he was throwing things. I will take that to mean he, too, wishes Desmond luck.
Category: Basketball in OKC and NBA in OKC.
When making such a fuss about rebranding the Seattle SuperSonics into the Oklahoma City (Team Name to be Announced)s, you would imagine that the owners of the city’s new NBA franchise would want to control the announcement of their team name. You know what happens when you assume?
Well, the NBA schedule for 2008-2009 was announced today and the inaugural season of the Oklahoma City franchise is set to kick off with a match against the mighty Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, October 29th. More interesting, to us at least, is what is listed above the team schedule on the NBA’s official website.
Link: Oklahoma City Thunder Schedule
Update: The link is now dead. Thankfully screen shots live forever.
Category: Basketball in OKC, NBA in OKC and Uncategorized.
When not on a high horse about message boards, Berry Tramel has a day job. He works for the Dark Tower where he writes a daily column giving his take on sports related topics. In the past, we have even labeled him as the most tolerable writer at The Oklahoman, a status that was not hurt when he dropped a reference to my recap of the Season II premiere of Saving Grace.
But for the sake of intelligent conversation in this state, Berry must stop brainstorming. Short of that, he could just stop sharing his off the cuff ideas. It all started when he mused on names that should be considered for the team-formerlly-known-as-the-SuperSonics. In concluding that “ThunderBirds” was the best option, he first considered some gems like: Bandits. Outlaws. Jellicle Cats. And the cherry on the top of his craptastic name list, Wildcatters.
First of all, he should have left the name suggesting to people who know what they are doing. Had he ended with this, though, we could have let it slide. Continue reading ‘Brainstorming Privileges Revoked’
Category: Basketball in OKC, NBA in OKC and The Daily Oklahoman.
Even before Clay Bennett and his posse were able to break their lease in Seattle by relinquishing the name “SuperSonics” (as well as ponying up as much cash as T. Boone Pickens keeps in his shoe), speculation regarding what the NBA franchise would be called in Oklahoma City was rampant. This website even succumbed to the temptation. Others have taken interest in what colors the team should adopt. Now, a writer on ESPN.com has taken it to the next level.
Paul Lukas, the author of ESPN.com Page 2’s feature “Uni Watch”, has announced a contest for designing the team’s new uniforms. Considering the team does not have a name or colors (as I alluded to above) this could be interesting. It also opens up an opportunity for us to hold our own competition.
For any enterprising LostOgle reader who can get a design immortalizing one of the team names we suggested in this article by having Lukas mention it, a prize will be awarded (probably a t-shirt). If you can get a design for the Oklahoma City LostOgle’s mentioned in the column, we’ll even throw in an authgraphed copy of The Gazette.
If you want more information on the contest, follow the jump…
Continue reading ‘Uniform Design Contest-Contest’
Category: Basketball in OKC, NBA in OKC and The Lost Ogle T-Shirts.
If the above heading scared Sally Kern into fearing the impending rapture, running into the closet, and finding her son, that’s great news. What I am really referring to, however, is the impending verdict of the City of Seattle v. Professional Basketball Club of Oklahoma which is due at 6:00 CST today.
What rides on the ruling of Justice Marsha Pechman is not exactly of great significance to the people of Oklahoma. Should she rule in favor of the PBC, there is a chance that the Sonics could relocate to our fair state in time for the 2008/2009 NBA season. (More likely, the City of Seattle files an appeal delaying the move long enough that the team is stuck another season in Washington.) If Pechman favors the City of Seattle, the Sonics will probably be stuck as many as two more seasons on the West Coast until the lease runs out and Clay Bennett moons the Seattle City Council from the back of a moving van.
Either way, it is hardly a day of infamy. But, in order to beat The Oklahoman to covering the ruling, we offer our analysis of the verdict after the jump.
Continue reading ‘Judgement Day’
Category: Basketball in OKC, NBA in OKC and Sports.
Most years, the NBA Draft is a night I plan for far in advance. That was particularly true last year when the Sonics drafted Kevin Durant as the marquee player to usher the team into Oklahoma City. This year, not so much.
It kind of snuck up on me. I’m in the middle of changing jobs, I was on vacation early in the week, and the Sonics having bad luck in the lottery basically combined to the distract me to the point that I was actually surprised to see a commercial advertising it when I was sitting in a restaurant in St. Louis on Tuesday. Needless to say, Part II of my draft preview is not going to be published. That isn’t to say I don’t have an interest, and I’ll prove that if you read my minute by minute thoughts after the jump.
You can also see how I covered the draft for HornetsCentral.com in 2006 and for this website in 2007.
Continue reading ‘Clark Matthews’ 2008 NBA Draft Diary’
Category: Basketball in OKC, NBA in OKC and Sports.
Back before The Lost Ogle became a media sensation, I used to work with Patrick on a website called HornetsCentral.com where I was the “Hornets Central GM”. My role was to analyze business decisions made by the Hornets (during their stint in OKC) and make suggestions for how the team could improve their situation, or how the maximize the value in an upcoming event. That typically ended in me coming up with a plan to acquire J.J. Redick.
As the Seattle Sonics get closer to arriving here in Oklahoma City, I will probably begin writing more in that vein–beginning with today’s look at how the Sonics should approach this year’s draft.
Continue reading ‘Sonics Draft Plan (Part I)’
Category: Basketball in OKC, NBA in OKC and Sports.
Generally, a sports franchise is only named once in its lifetime. They are like children that way. For instance, when I moved out of the house, my mother did not demand that I leave the name Clark behind. My mother is obviously not Seattle, Washington.
While this has been speculated on for awhile, news broke Tuesday that Clay Bennett may actually consider caving to this Seattleian desire as a bargaining chip in lease buyout negotiations. This does not sit well with me. My beef is that any name that we could come up is going to sound like it is best suited for a minor league franchise. That’s because it takes a long time for a team name to become so ingrained that one does not question how stupid it sounds. Take, for instance, the Supersonics. Who in their right mind would want to play for a team with such a dumb name? Except with forty years of history behind the name, it makes sense. Also, the last time the city had a team to name, it became the Yard Dawgz.
I voiced these concerns to my fellow Lost Ogles and they were very sympathetic.
“We’re getting a team, quit crying,” said Patrick.
Then Tony said nothing because he’s still giving me the silent treatment over my passionate support of the “Yes” vote. “Tell Clark they should name them the ‘Tax Ripoffs’,” he finally relented to Patrick.
Because we are who we are, though, we came up with a list of potential names which come after the jump…along with my (because I am who I am) analysis of the history of name changes. Continue reading ‘Name Oklahoma’s NBA Franchise’
Category: Basketball in OKC.
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