Speaker 1: Before I start out on the Okay, see thunder, let
Speaker 1: me just get a couple of things off my chest.
Speaker 1: One Number one, if you're watching on YouTube, thank you
Speaker 1: and you're wondering.
Speaker 2: What's up with my lip?
Speaker 1: How do I say this in a way that doesn't
Speaker 1: make me seem like either negligent or a victim.
Speaker 2: My dog bit me in the mouth. I don't know why.
Speaker 1: Really, it was unprovoked, sort of, she's a rescue made
Speaker 1: me bleed.
Speaker 2: So there's a little.
Speaker 1: Piece of skin on my lip that's still sort of
Speaker 1: halfway still on.
Speaker 2: I can't pull it off or it'll just start bleeding again.
Speaker 1: So if you're wondering, I've had multiple people ask me
Speaker 1: what's going on with your lip? That's what's going on
Speaker 1: with my lip. If you're listening on the podcast, you
Speaker 1: probably didn't need this information, but we're gonna keep it
Speaker 1: where it is. So let's start out with the pod.
Speaker 1: NBA fans this morning woke up to a crazy, crazy, No,
Speaker 1: not Austin Reeves going off for thirty five. I'm talking
Speaker 1: about the Oklahoma City Thunder, who were down one hundred
Speaker 1: to ninety two to the Suns with a couple of
Speaker 1: minutes left.
Speaker 2: To play in Oka See.
Speaker 1: They go proceed and have an eighteen to two run
Speaker 1: against Phoenix. They walk away with a one twenty four
Speaker 1: to one to twenty win over a team that had
Speaker 1: given up sixty nine points nice in the first half.
Speaker 1: It was their seventh win in nine games. That includes
Speaker 1: wins over the Nets Warriors and the Jazz twice.
Speaker 2: But that win was significant.
Speaker 1: You look at the standings, which I pretty much have
Speaker 1: to do every single day to figure out what's going on,
Speaker 1: and the freaking OKC Thunder are now in eighth place.
Speaker 1: They are thirty five and thirty six, one game out
Speaker 1: of sixth place. The Oklahoma City Thunder is one game
Speaker 1: out of not being in the play in tournament and
Speaker 1: actually being in the actual playoffs. And guess what, folks,
Speaker 1: are you kidding me?
Speaker 2: This is stunning.
Speaker 1: I think many people thought this team was gonna pack
Speaker 1: it up at the All Star break. Shut Shay Gilgess,
Speaker 1: Alexander Down, shut, Josh Giddy down, shot both Jalen Williams down.
Speaker 1: I have loved the Thunder for two years now, and
Speaker 1: even I am like, this is not part of the
Speaker 1: playing guys, Uh, you're supposed to be trying to get
Speaker 1: Scoot Henderson, Victor Wantbiyama, one of the Thompson twins, who
Speaker 1: whoever else? That?
Speaker 2: Brandon Miller one of my favorite.
Speaker 1: League past teams. But I did not expect them to
Speaker 1: be in the playoffs. I think though, people are sleeping
Speaker 1: on this ok See Thunder team. I was talking to
Speaker 1: the mainstream media a couple of weeks.
Speaker 2: Ago on Amazon.
Speaker 1: They didn't even know who Shay Gojess Alexander was no
Speaker 1: shade to them, but they said, who who is shay
Speaker 1: Gilgess what?
Speaker 2: Who is Sga? Is that the same guy? Yes? I
Speaker 2: don't know.
Speaker 1: Just the top at one point, top five and scoring
Speaker 1: in the NBA, just an absolute bucket leading. This team
Speaker 1: has been stolen for Okasee stole him, which we'll get
Speaker 1: to in a bit. So let's break down how they
Speaker 1: got here, because it's very clear that they've taken a
Speaker 1: lot of people by surprise. You're just waking up to
Speaker 1: the thunder or you're still sleep on the thunder. Let's
Speaker 1: get you there because okayc He's a problem. So it
Speaker 1: all begins with one of the most mysterious, secretive, cryptic,
Speaker 1: elusive men on the planet Earth. And I'm not talking
Speaker 1: about worldwide West. I'm talking about Sam Presty right now.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about some flowing right now, the myth, the man,
Speaker 1: the legend. You don't hear his name much. You don't,
Speaker 1: but behind closed doors people talk about him in whispers.
Speaker 1: You talk about him too loud, you might not even
Speaker 1: be allowed into the building. There's some mainstream media talk
Speaker 1: too much about what the Okac thunder do, spilling a
Speaker 1: little too much tea. Now they're blackballed, and most people
Speaker 1: are pretty that are in the know, in awe of
Speaker 1: what he's been able to do in the smallest market
Speaker 1: in the NBA. So if you don't know about Sam Presty,
Speaker 1: he's been the GM of the franchise since two thousand
Speaker 1: and seven, back when they were actually still in Seattle.
Speaker 1: And at that point, Sam Presty was just twenty nine
Speaker 1: years old, twenty nine years old, wet behind the ears,
Speaker 1: no one expected much.
Speaker 2: He was one of the first.
Speaker 1: Young guns that come into the league in this spot.
Speaker 1: He was right after theo Epstein was named GM of
Speaker 1: the Red Sox at twenty eight. Broad end is this
Speaker 1: new era, smart analytically driven executives later coaches that would
Speaker 1: get their shot way earlier than ever. Right, he was
Speaker 1: one of the pioneers in that era. And because of
Speaker 1: his age, and because the SuperSonics were a mess, and
Speaker 1: because the SuperSonics were seen as maybe a team that
Speaker 1: would leave the area, everyone thought Sam Presty doomed to fail.
Speaker 1: Bad scenario, Night night sleep mask for you.
Speaker 2: First shot out of the box, first moves he makes.
Speaker 1: He gets Kevin Durant in the draft and number two
Speaker 1: has not looked back since.
Speaker 2: He then goes on to draft Russell Westbrook, James Harden,
Speaker 2: Serge Ibaka, etc. Etc. Etc.
Speaker 1: Changes the way that the league works. Because he was
Speaker 1: so crafty in how he makes deals, they actually created
Speaker 1: a whole new league protocol to thwart him, you know how,
Speaker 1: like Augusta tigerproofed Augusta and it did not work. That's
Speaker 1: what they did with this thing called the Steppian Rule.
Speaker 1: It really should be called the Presti rule. But you
Speaker 1: know why they didn't call it that because you can't
Speaker 1: even say his name without you getting into trouble. So
Speaker 1: they had to come up with a new name that
Speaker 1: was really about him, and that keeps teams from trading
Speaker 1: multiple first rounders in consecutive years. So say you have
Speaker 1: only your own first rounders. You can't trade a twenty
Speaker 1: twenty two and a twenty twenty three first rounder.
Speaker 2: Boom Boom.
Speaker 1: Can't be left with no first rounders in two consecutive years.
Speaker 1: It also prohibits, which is also very much him. He
Speaker 1: was trading players to get draft picks in like thirty
Speaker 1: years from now. Like, you can't, Sam, you can't do
Speaker 1: that only seven years down the line. Can you get
Speaker 1: a draft pick for You can't trade some random player
Speaker 1: right now for a twenty thirty two first round pick.
Speaker 2: This kid's not even in elementary school yet. Okay, you
Speaker 2: can't do that.
Speaker 1: Back to his success, Sam Presty, within five years of
Speaker 1: getting the top gig has the Thunder in the NBA
Speaker 1: Finals in twenty twelve. Pretty good, pretty impressive, very big
Speaker 1: deal maker. Nobody's had more blockbuster trades than Sam Presty,
Speaker 1: and nobody's managed to keep up with the times more either. So.
Speaker 1: The Thunder built around Russell Westbrook Kevin Durant, that hits
Speaker 1: a wall, Kevin leaves, Russell Westbrook starts to stall. Then
Speaker 1: he starts his first real rebuild since the franchise moved
Speaker 1: from Seattle in twenty nineteen. So they had Paul George
Speaker 1: and they had Russell Westbrook, and they moved them both
Speaker 1: for a boat logan of draft picks that is the
Speaker 1: genesis of today's okay see Thunder team. In essence, here's
Speaker 1: what Presty did four years ago. He turned Sirgebacca into Shay,
Speaker 1: Jalen Williams and three future first round picks through three trades.
Speaker 1: Here it is as follows, Serge Ibaka for Victor Oladipo
Speaker 1: and Demona Sabonas. First of all, that's a fucking theft.
Speaker 1: No shade to Sergeabacca, but that is theft robbery. Then
Speaker 1: takes Oladipo and Sibonis and flips them almost immediately for
Speaker 1: Paul George, turns Paul George into Shay Gilgess, Alexander Danilo Gallinari,
Speaker 1: and five future first round picks. One of those first
Speaker 1: round picks has already turned into Jalen Williams. Now you
Speaker 1: have three first round picks coming up in the next
Speaker 1: two years. That's how it's done. That is how it's done, folks.
Speaker 1: The team was supposed to be probably a contender either
Speaker 1: next year or the year after. After Chet Holmgren goes
Speaker 1: down with the list Frank injury when he was playing
Speaker 1: in that proem right, You're like, okay, you're over. Chet's done.
Speaker 1: This is another development year. Maybe try to get Victor
Speaker 1: Wombanyama or Scoot Henderson or something. Compete, build on it,
Speaker 1: but you're not a playoff team. But now you got
Speaker 1: three healthy twenty twenty two draft picks that are Jalen
Speaker 1: Williams with a knee, Jalen Willams with an e Uzman Jangs,
Speaker 1: all finding a way to play valuable minutes, and one
Speaker 1: of them, Jalen with a knee, might be the best
Speaker 1: rookie in the league not named Palo Ban Carrol. Right now,
Speaker 1: in his last ten games, Jalen Williams is averaging twenty
Speaker 1: point four six and five and two steals per game.
Speaker 2: I mind you stole him, stole him.
Speaker 1: Jalen with and I is averaging seven to five and
Speaker 1: one in his last ten and Uzman Jang is coming
Speaker 1: around as well, eight four and one in his last
Speaker 1: ten games. Quick trip to maschool, let's do that for
Speaker 1: a second, shows that the thunder have three rookies on
Speaker 1: this team contributing thirty five, fifteen and seven. Did I
Speaker 1: mention again, Chet Holmgren sitting on the bench, Liz Frankentry,
Speaker 1: he was the one who was supposed to be bringing
Speaker 1: it home. He hasn't played one NBA minute yet and
Speaker 1: also taking Jumper's pregame he's currently back in the gym.
Speaker 2: Come on, this is ridiculous. This is ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Most teams would hope that just one rookie can get
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes without destroying the team chemistry and turning the
Speaker 1: ball over a million times and not being in winning
Speaker 1: basketball situations. All three of the rookies averaging anywhere from
Speaker 1: eighteen to twenty seven minutes per game and winning and
Speaker 1: in the playoff hunt.
Speaker 2: This is scary.
Speaker 1: Here is something that should scare everyone who is not
Speaker 1: a fan of the Thunder. The average age of the
Speaker 1: Thunder is not even twenty four years old. Wow, there's
Speaker 1: no one on this roster over the age of twenty eight.
Speaker 1: Dario Sarich, who was let's be honest, came in on
Speaker 1: a salary dump. He was born in ninety four and
Speaker 1: he's three years older than the next oldest player, which
Speaker 1: is Lyndy Walters, who is ancient for this team at
Speaker 1: twenty five. For this team to be this good, with
Speaker 1: this many players who can contribute on a night to
Speaker 1: night basis with no chet this fast, Oh my god,
Speaker 1: it is scary.
Speaker 2: Ours.
Speaker 1: Be afraid. If your favorite team is in the Western Conference,
Speaker 1: be afraid. Look at these numbers of the last ten games.
Speaker 1: Josh Giddy seventeen nine and eight with a steel per game,
Speaker 1: Shay thirty five five and five with two steals per
Speaker 1: gamee those are the as a laughable stat line.
Speaker 2: Lou Dort fourteen four to two with the steel per game.
Speaker 2: They all are averaging a steel.
Speaker 1: They also, mind, you have deep bench guys like Aaron Wiggins,
Speaker 1: Isaiah Joe trey Mann, Kenrick Williams. Guys that if the
Speaker 1: mainstream media doesn't know who Shay is, I promise you
Speaker 1: they don't know who Kenrick Williams is, all contributing at
Speaker 1: various times.
Speaker 2: These kids don't even care that they.
Speaker 1: Get DMP coaches decisions, dmpcds. They're like, they will sit
Speaker 1: out three straight games for no reason whatsoever, and then
Speaker 1: all of a sudden, get twenty eight minutes and put
Speaker 1: twenty five up on your head.
Speaker 2: That's how ready they are. They stay ready, and then
Speaker 2: they've got this Poku kid who.
Speaker 1: I've talked about before, Alexi Pokashevsky, who's been on rehab
Speaker 1: in the G League. Be afraid of him as well.
Speaker 1: He could be ready by playoff time. He is giving
Speaker 1: buckets up. He is blowing the doors off p.
Speaker 2: In the G League.
Speaker 1: Quick question, if you're a top four seed the West,
Speaker 1: are you afraid because I would?
Speaker 2: Do you want any part of the okay Seat Thunder
Speaker 2: in the playoffs? I would not. I would not.
Speaker 1: The Kings and the Thunder would be an amazing match.
Speaker 1: I would love to see a two A two seven
Speaker 1: Kings Thunder matchup. The Suns obviously don't want any part
Speaker 1: of the Oka Seat Thunder because they were up how
Speaker 1: much with two minutes left to go, and then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden they look up. They're like, this dude's
Speaker 1: has scored twenty straight points on us and we have
Speaker 1: scored zero in the span of three minutes. We looked
Speaker 1: like we had a comfortable lead to all of a sudden.
Speaker 2: We were like, uh oh, this is not good. They
Speaker 2: can score fast.
Speaker 1: The runs are largely based off of deflections, steals, block shots.
Speaker 2: Quick little fact.
Speaker 1: For you, okay See is third in the NBA in
Speaker 1: steals per game. What this little ramshackle team third in
Speaker 1: the league in steals per game. Baby team, they are
Speaker 1: a problem. They're growing up right before our eyes. This
Speaker 1: team actually reminds me of the Memphis Grizzlies the year
Speaker 1: that they knocked off the Warriors in the play in
Speaker 1: tournament and then they played the Utah Jazz and they
Speaker 1: beat the Utah Jazz in the first game of the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and everybody's like, oh my god, what is going on.
Speaker 1: Dylan Brooks just put up I think twenty five in
Speaker 1: that game, and Jaw was looking crazy and Utah looks
Speaker 1: scared in their boots. Utah ends up winning that series
Speaker 1: pretty comfortably. But you think to yourself, oh, yeah, this
Speaker 1: team's pretty good. This team could be.
Speaker 2: Really really good fast. That's the Okac Thunder right now.
Speaker 2: So will they win it all this year? Of course not.
Speaker 1: But when you add Chet Holmer into this team, and
Speaker 1: they have two first rounders in the coming draft, one
Speaker 1: of which will surely be a lottery.
Speaker 2: Pick, Sky's the limit. Sky's the limit.
Speaker 1: The thunder I'm calling it now, could be a new
Speaker 1: power in the West before you know it.
Speaker 2: So, speaking of the.
Speaker 1: Thunder, I thought I would update everyone on this NBA
Speaker 1: reffing situation. We talked about this what last week with
Speaker 1: Fred van Fleet. So you remember Fred van Fleet. He
Speaker 1: lit up Ben Taylor, who had called texts on him
Speaker 1: at grotesque, inappropriate, disproportionate levels. Right, Fred van Fleet said
Speaker 1: Taylor was fucking terrible. I think on most nights, you know,
Speaker 1: out of the three officials, there's gonna be one or
Speaker 1: two they just fucked the game up. That was Ben Taylor, Right,
Speaker 1: Tell me how you would really feel, Fred. Predictively things
Speaker 1: A couple of things happened. First, the league, of course,
Speaker 1: find Fred van Fleet. You knew that would happen. Second,
Speaker 1: multiple players that we discussed, like Marcus Smart came out
Speaker 1: and were like, yes, Fred is the man. He is right,
Speaker 1: listen to him. So it got worse it did. It's
Speaker 1: now getting at a boiling point. Mark Dagnio, the OKAC
Speaker 1: thunderhead coach that nobody knows who. Yeah, we did a
Speaker 1: peace on him a couple of weeks ago because nobody
Speaker 1: knows who he is. He said, I didn't get any
Speaker 1: technicals in my first two years. I'm prioritizing getting my
Speaker 1: point across at the expense of getting a technical, fairness
Speaker 1: and consistency. We need those things from the league and
Speaker 1: from the refs. So I have a theory about Mark
Speaker 1: Dagneol that I'm gonna run by you guys. Which is
Speaker 1: that Mark Dagneol? His name is really Tony from Long Island.
Speaker 1: He's in witness protection program and he's now the head
Speaker 1: coach of the OKC Thunder because he's.
Speaker 2: Laying low and no one knows who he is.
Speaker 1: But now Tony from Long Island's coming out and straight
Speaker 1: up yelling at refs.
Speaker 2: Did you see what he said? He said, if you're
Speaker 2: not talking to me, I'm not talking to you.
Speaker 1: What I think he is now putting himself squarely on
Speaker 1: the radar of Jimmy Baxter and them boys.
Speaker 2: He is now enemy number Well, they're like, yo, Tony,
Speaker 2: Is that is that Tony from Long Island? No? No,
Speaker 2: that's Mark Dagno. No, you see how he just said,
Speaker 2: are you talking to me? If you're not talking to me,
Speaker 2: I'm talking to you. That's Mark Dagnol.
Speaker 1: What a better way to hide in plainsight than to
Speaker 1: become the head coach of the OKAC Thunder Where Sam
Speaker 1: Presty protects all Sam Presty takes players in and rehabs them,
Speaker 1: takes people who are running from the mob and rehabs them.
Speaker 1: This is the perfect place to become someone else. So
Speaker 1: when the NBA's only coaching the Witness Protection Program risks
Speaker 1: flowing his cover and becomes a target, you know that
Speaker 1: you fucked up. If you're not talking to me, I'm
Speaker 1: not talking to you. Turns us back on, points straight
Speaker 1: into his face. Yo, we got a referee problem, folks.
Speaker 1: Memo to Adam Silver, you need to fix the ship
Speaker 1: with the refs, and fix it fast, because you can't
Speaker 1: have another Scott Foster situation in the playoffs, and you
Speaker 1: can't have our son Mark Dagnol aka Tony from Lyng
Speaker 1: Island getting put back onto the radar of those he's
Speaker 1: running from.