Snatch that torch

Out of all the series that have started up and are starting this weekend, OKC and the Lakers is the most intriguing to me. On one side, you have a young and upcoming team that doesn't know any better and are having fun going against a tried, tested and veteran team. Something has to give, and usually its the veteran team that comes out on top. But wouldn't it be just insane if the Thunder clocked the Lakers? I'm sure David Stern would love that.

The Thunder are a young core of ballers that genuinely like playing with each other and are not in the stage of their careers where they get concerned about touches or playing time. Hell they even like living in Oklahoma City. To put in perspective here, Oklahoma City is the size of Brampton, except with less coloured people. I've always said, this team should still be in Seattle, that's my only knock on this organization, but that's towards the owner. Kevin Durant is the leader of this squad and at 21 hasn't even hit his ceiling yet. Consider in his rookie year, he averaged 20 ppg, and now is pillaging the league for 30 a night. What??? For Durant, this series will be the biggest games he's played since he was in college and we're going to see how he does in his first big test as a pro. Either two things will happen: 1) he continues playing at the level he was all year and takes up a notch or 2) he gets a hard lesson from Kobe and crew on what it takes to play in the playoffs. Either way, the kid gets better which gets scary for everyone else.

The only fear I have for the Thunder is that after this experience in the post season, they will be feeling good about themselves and will start to over evaluate their value on the team. This is where players come contract time will now demand big time money and possibly ruin the vibe they have created. The Thunder are a hungry team and I understand that these guys want to get their own, but think of this team growing together and creating a dynasty. Not even LeBron and his crew would be able to step up to these guys for years. OKC is one veteran piece away from being bulletproof and when thinking of names to join them, how about Chris Bosh? Bosh has been in the league for 7 years and it seems like his vibe would work with these kids. If Bosh is really concerned about winning, he should consider this option.

In order to win a chip, you gotta take your lumps and learn to play playoff basketball before you can run this league. There is a huge difference from playing in January in Memphis to playing in April in LA, and if the Thunder can skip this learning step to be squad busters, you just know they ain't coming down for a while.

Post by Kevin S

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