Of Thunder, Dopey dopers and starters

Guess no one’s surprised by the Thunder being the new Oklahoma City nickname, it’s been out there for a few weeks, I believe. But how’s everyone feel about it?

AP PHOTO

Personally, I’m dead against single-identity names like Thunder, Heat, Magic, etc., so this isn’t a huge hit over here.

Mildly disappointed in the logo, too. It looks pretty lame and uninspiring but I’m sure the saps – um, spendthrift Okies – will snap up merchandise like it’s going out of style. And that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it?

Guess the one issue with Thunder is that it’s also the nickname of the Golden State chicken and there was some angst in chicken-land about a team stealing the name of a stuffed animal that entertains the throngs at games.

Me? I couldn’t care less about that. The Chickens I know and love are far more mature than to get riled up about a team having the same name. It’s certainly not going to cut into the stuff the Warrior mascot does. And why wouldn’t a Warrior mascot be named, you know, Warrior, or something like that? What’s Thunder got to do with Warriors, or the Bay Area?

Chickens! We’ll never entirely figure ‘em out.

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From the Knuckleheaded Nincompoop department, we bring you these two dopes.

Seriously, smoking or having dope at the NBA’s rookie transition program? What’s that say about the (a) intelligence level, (b) maturity level and (c) common sense level of the two rooks?

No one’s naïve enough to think that no NBA players enjoy a smoke every now and then but there’s a time and a place for everything and you’re room at the resort where they’re teaching you how to be a professional and conduct yourself accordingly is not it.

I don’t know what the “sanctions” will ultimately be, but a one- or two-game suspension would be a good bet.

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Here’s a throwback question, sort of:

Q: So, it's back in mid-August, and you've had a very reasonable rant about softball players in the Olympics high-fiving far too much, where a friend of yours explained it as, "... team building and supporting each other and all that kumbaya-ish psychobabble."
A few days later I see all of Kobe's teammates giving him a supporting tap after he missed a free throw and wondered how many of these his Lakers teammates give him in a game, or on the year.
My question is how do you view this form of support that all NBA players show?  I mean, there's rarely a specific set of high-fives for a clutch 3 pointer or crazy dunk that happens midplay (for good reason)... couldn't the constant free throw support slaps be seen as somewhat "kumbaya-ish", just like those softball high-fives?

Charlie D, Montreal

A: Yes, they could absolutely be seen as ‘kumbaya-ish psychobabble’ no question about it. They aren’t nearly as intrusive, or as frequent, as I saw at the kabillion softball games I had the pleasure of covering in Beijing (they did it after every inning, before every inning, after every out, far, far too often). But, the NBA taps are rather ridiculous, I think.

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Lots of questions lately about who might start for the locals this year and while it’s foolish to try and guess since camp hasn’t even started, we do some foolish around here so why not.

Without having spoken about it at length with Sam, or any member of the coaching staff for that matter, the feeling I got from brief conversations is that they’ll take a very long look at Kapono at the small forward rather than Moon.

The thinking, as far as I can tell, is that Kapono’s play in the playoffs – where the three-point ace actually took three-pointers – was exactly the kind of shooting they’ll need with both Bosh and O’Neal commanding so much attention inside.

Of course, this could all go out the window when they start pre-season games but that seems to be the rationale at the moment.

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More from the mail, and judging by the inbox, I’ve got some work ahead of me today answering all your queries for Friday’s mailbag:

Q: Hey Doug, love the blog and what you're doing with the place.
My question is a 'what if' question.
What if Roko is not ready for the NBA, do the Raptors let him take his lumps or if he isn't working out and not ready for the NBA, do they slide him to third string and bring a vet in to play the point for 10 minutes a night? If so who?

David G, Wallaceburg

A: If he’s horrible, or just can’t do the job, they’ll look to Will Solomon first and foremost. They don’t have the money to go get some veteran (unless they make some mid-season trade) so it’ll be Solomon’s job if Ukic can’t do it.

But, despite a rather so-so Olmypics, they are going to give the kid every chance to play himself into that role.

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So, Manu Ginobili had reportedly successful surgery on his left ankle this week and will miss more than a few weeks. It’s doubtful he’ll be anywhere near ready to even start practicing all out before the start of the regular season (he’ll be on crutches for the next three weeks and then has to rehab during the pre-season portion of the schedule) and I’m wondering what this all means to the Spurs.

You know what? Probably nothing. And, in some ways, if this clears up Manu’s ankle woes forever, it might even be considered a good thing.

Giving a tired veteran some rest, even if it is after an operation, can’t be a bad thing. The Spurs aren’t going to win the NBA championship, or even contend for it, in October and November. Everything they’ll do is to be ready for April and the playoffs and if that means missing Manu for two months and he’s fresher at the end of the year, so be it.

I don’t for a second think a team with Tim Duncan and Tony Parker and the rest of ‘em is in any danger of even falling out of the playoffs in the first month or so of the season, either.

So, sure, it sucks that he’s hurt, and it’ll raise all kinds of questions about players spending the summers playing for their countries but this isn’t that much to get worked up about.

Comments

[dsl]

Doug, you know the old saying about people in glass houses? As a fan of the NBA team located in Toronto, I'm not at liberty to comment on the quality of a franchise's nickname and/or logo. I mean, our nick is actually embarrassing. The only Raptors stuff I see people wearing is the garbage that comes free in a case of beer. Most of the time, those guys are just wearing their beer 'trophies', rather than showing support for the team.

[Uncle Zeke]

Actually Golden State's mascot "Thunder" is not a chicken at all but a guy in a blue suit- but as always top notch research Doug....

Blogger's note: I know you're not new here because I recognize the name, guess you just wanted to take a gratuitious shot for something to do. Thanks.
And, um, yeah, actually none of the Chickens are Chickens.

[dc]

speaking of excessive team huddles and unneeded moral support, watching olympic volleyball was horrendous. the skill level and actual game play was impressive. the problem was the constant team huddles and 'pumping themselves up' after EVERY SINGLE POINT. and we're talking like the opposing team fumbles the ball into their own side of the net and everyone is hugging each other, patting themselves on the back: "good hustle", "more like that", etc. it extended the matches oh.. about 2 hours longer than needed and looked ridiculous, frankly. and another thing, they were calling time out every 3 points. there were only 2 time outs per half in basketball. i couldn't stand sitting through the mens volleyball final waiting for basketball to finally begin and end the pain of constant, unnessesary team building.

[dc]

i really respect your take on the two rookies getting caught for smoking pot. It's true that the reality is that marijuana is part of a lifestyle and culture that is urban, young and non-traditional. Basketball, hip-hop, smoking pot and being independently wealthy are the essential characteristics for an entire generation of young people. I appreciate knowing that you can separate this from the fact that these kids are being groomed to be among the best athletes in the world. It's obviously an immature and selfish mistake on their part and they deserve punishment. But it's refreshing that you understand the context of the world these kids (and the majority of american nba players)are coming from and can even respect a professional player's desire to light up a fatty every now and then during the off-season.
as an aside, who are the all-time biggest pot-head basketball players you've ever known or heard of? (except keon clark)

Blogger's note: I'm not going anywhere that list, I have not nearly enough first hand knowledge to put anyone on it.

[Paul]

Doug, I totally agree with you with the "Thunder" thing (or the Heat, or the Wild). There is no way to identify with the team. "The Raps are on fire." "Don't mess with my Thunder?" Ridiculous. Certainly there must be some indigenous animal / Dust Bowl critter that they could have embraced in some way - even something as innocuous as the
"Roadrunners" or whatever would have been much, much better. That said, I was vehemently opposed to naming Toronto the "Raptors" as I thought it was a short term, cheap gimmick, trading on the then popularity of the Jurassic Park craze at the time, and it seems to have lasted. I say BOO to Oklahoma, in every way. BOO.

Annoying fist-bumping? Watch beach volleyball. They can't go between plays without some form of congratulation. This isn't always bad, the women's beach volleyball players hugging? That's not the worst sight to see.

[jake]

Not to nitpick Doug about Donyell being a Steelers' fan, but Cleveland is way closer than Philly to Pittsburgh.It's 118 miles while Philly is 259 and you have to travel on a toll road to get to Pittsburgh from Philly

[Paul]

OKC logo is good. Basketball (including the raptors) is finally moving away from a dependance on cartoon characters and going back to the classic look. No final judgements until we see the jerseys though.

[Jim K]

Oklahoma City Thunder? Bleh. There are only two names this team should have had.

Oklahoma City Okies or the Oklahoma City Wrath.

[Craig A]

Forget about upset chickens. I think the real plagarism is that logo. It's pretty similar to New Jersey's.

[LesCanard]

Like the Thunder logotype, nice and clean and modern (say as opposed to the Timberwolves type - yikes!).

The name, well at least it won't date itself (like some recent expansion franchises that I support as a ticket holder). You can also say things like 'The Thunder come crashing down!". Maybe their Chicken can be a TV Weather person.

But that logo is awful! It seems to me like it's some kind of weather map? A cold front and warm front colliding?

[Edgar]

why not the OKC Combines or Cows?

[tim]

the thunder logo colors, and stuff look like a cereal box or the pixar movies (toystory,cars) im pretty against the whole supersonics moving anyways clay beenet shoulda bought the 76ers because ive been hearing comcast doesnt want it

[Ryan]

Oh No!!! Oklahoma City stole the Warrior's Thunder..I slay me.

-By the way, what's the Raptor's "chicken" called?
-What "chicken" has the best/worst name in the NBA?
-Is the a chicken "chicken" in the NBA?

Blogger's note: The Raptor is its name; Squatch, who used to be in Seattle, was the best name ever; and I don't understand what "is the a chicken "chicken" in the NBA means.

[Jimbo]

Hi Doug,

I've been trying to see the olympic men's gold medal game as I could not watch it live on TV. The CBC website which has links to both men's semi final games and the woman's final game does not have it. I called the CBC to ask why and was given some non answer. Do you or any of your readers have any solutions/suggestions?

Blogger's note: Maybe through NBC or USA Basketball?

[Kevin]

Yeah, Thunder is pretty lame for several reasons:

1.) While I have nothing against the WNBA, it sounds an awful like a WNBA team...in fact, if I'm not mistaken the Seattle WNBA franchise was the Seattle Storm, was it not? I guess they're going for a theme.

2.) Thunder is something that can't really be made into an sort of logo, it's a sound....how do you convey that on a shirt or something?

3.) Thunder is the byproduct of lightning. There isn't anything threatening about thunder. It's the lightning that'll kill you, the thunder will just scare your dog.

4.) I think every city in North America can make the claim that they get thunder storms, so there is nothing regionally specific about the name.

Certainly there are some benefits to the name (well, one, you can play AC/DC's Thunderstruck at big moments, that rules) but I don't think they outweigh the lameness of the name.

[Steve]

Good to see the Grade 4 art class that designed the looks of the Bobcats got another chance. Too bad they blew it.

[John]

At least if the team gets moved again, they can simply keep their name this time.