OKC Topic Thunder

An OKC Thunder Podcast & Blogsite

After the Storm: A Multiversal look at OKC and Hurricane Katrina

Posted on August 29, 2025 by Alex Roig

If you know me, you know that I’m a sucker for a good comic book story. Whether it’s the MCU or the DCEU, a story where the hero (or villain) goes through an ethical journey is one that I will sit through while killing a bucket of buttery, salted popcorn. Lately, the MCU has explored the concept of the multiverse, where there is a boundless collection of infinite realities and timelines, each with its own unique variations of the universe. For example, in another universe, the Portland Trailblazers don’t draft Sam Bowie in 1984, and instead, draft a guard from the University of North Carolina by the name of Michael Jordan. Unfortunately, in that universe, Jordan tears his ACL midway through his rookie year and never develops into the Michael Jordan we know in our universe. In that universe, Nike never explodes into the company we know and the closest thing to Jordan as a brand is Jordache (if you know, it’s probably time to schedule a colonoscopy).

Back on our universe, on August 28th, 2005, a monstrous hurricane by the name of Katrina was releasing all it’s force on the city of New Orleans, Louisiana. The power from the storm overwhelmed the levees, and NOLA, a city that was already located below sea level, was inundated in flood water from the failed infrastructure. The devastation wrecked everything in it’s path, whether it was living or non-living. Once the waters receded, the picture in front of everybody was bleak at best. Casualties from those who decided to ride out the storm. Homes, even those of the multistory variety, completely flooded to the roof. A population transplanted to other cities in the general vicinity. A city decimated to the studs.

Once the important stuff was noted, the things that make a city, a city, were next on the docket. New Orleans, known for the French Quarters, Mardi Gras, jazz, world-class cuisine, and a unique night life, was a city that was put on pause. Included in that was the city’s sports scene. The NFL season was about to begin and the New Orleans Saints needed to find a replacement home due to all the damage sustained by the Superdome. They would not be able to play in New Orleans that season and found refuge in San Antonio, Texas.

On the horizon, was the NBA season. The New Orleans Hornets also needed to find a new home, not just due to the damage to their home arena, but also due to the fact that, at that point, early in the city’s recovery, there was not enough population in the city to sustain a season of home basketball games. We all know the story…The NBA needed an arena (and a city) that was NBA-ready for an unknown amount of time. In walks Oklahoma City, with their small city sized population and an arena ready for a tenant. The rest is history. The Hornets played in OKC for two years. The city fell in love with their new team and lusted to have this feeling for the rest of time. The political, civil, and business machinations did their things over the next couple of years, and eventually, OKC ended up with a team of their own, albeit via Seattle.

The Thunder were born. We fell in love with young men by the names of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. We felt the pain of losing a championship and then the pain of watching “our guy” voluntarily leave to play for a rival. We were nursed back to the health by the King of the Prairie. We lived through our first real rebuild and then fell in love with another iteration of the team, which eventually netted us a championship. A sports story for the ages. From tragedy (the Murrah building bombing) to triumph (the championship parade), these bookends in this chapter of the city will be the anchor points that we point to when we talk about our story.

But what if…

Hurricane Katrina never happened?

When you talk about the multiverse, they always point to events that lead to where we currently are in time. They call these points in time “Nexus Events”. For Oklahoma City, their nexus events were the bombing and Hurricane Katrina. They shaped the city we know of today. They shaped the relationships we’ve built, the buildings we’ve constructed, the memories we’ve forged. It opens up a cornucopia of questions for how things change if Katrina never occurred.

Thousands of miles away, they shaped what happened in Seattle, WA. Imagine a world where you’ve only known Durant to play for the Seattle Supersonics. A world where Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp gave way to Kevin Durant and….Jerryd Bayless?

What about New Orleans itself? Do they continue to be at the bottom of the league for attendance? Or do they pull an OKC and fall totally heads over heels for those Chris Paul and David West teams. Or does the bad attendance continue and the forced hand eventually leads to the Hornets moving to, oh, I don’t know, somewhere like Oklahoma City?

So many question. So many possibilities. But the tie that binds is still the same. There is no championship in Oklahoma City without the destruction from Hurricane Katrina. A tragedy that had major ramifications in the lives of many people. A lot can definitely change in 20 years.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Los Angeles Clippers preview (Game 78 of 82)

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Alex Roig

When: Wednesday, 09 April 2014 at 9:30 PM CST
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

For the first time in nearly 2 months, the Oklahoma City Thunder could trot out a completely healthy roster. Now, the words “completely healthy” can be debated as Thabo Sefolosha and Kendrick Perkins are still working their ways back from injury. But the fact still remains that this will be the first time since February 20th, that the Thunder will have the ability to put out the same starting line-up that we’ve all grown accustomed to in the last 3.5 seasons.

Since February 20th, the Thunder have suffered from bouts of inconsistency and complacency, especially on the defensive end. With their two defensive stalwarts out and Russell Westbrook being held out in one of the two games on back to backs, the Thunder have had a difficulty time carving out any sort of rhythm. But now, hopefully, the Thunder are getting healthy when they need it the most.

This will be the fourth and final meeting of the year between these two teams. The Clippers lead the season series 2-1 and are 1.5 games behind the Thunder for 2nd place in the Western Conference.

The Opponent

The Clippers are currently sit at 55-23. They are an offensive juggernaut, averaging 107.8 points per game, which is No. 1 in the league. Their attack is led by PG Chris Paul, who in his 9th season, leads the league in assists (10.8) and steals (2.5) per game, while also averaging 19 points. Blake Griffin has taken that next step and is now a bonafide MVP candidate. His game has become more diverse (better mid-range shooter, better play-making skills) and his free-throw shooting has improved. When defenses converge on either of these two players, they have a cornucopia of shooters around them to make the defense pay. Jamal Crawford, JJ Redick, Darren Collison, Matt Barnes, Danny Granger, Willie Green, and Jared Dudley are all shooting over 34% from 3-point territory. On the inside, DeAndre Jordan has been a defensive monster, averaging 13.8 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game.

Probable Starting Line-Ups

Los Angeles Clippers

PG – Chris Paul
SG – JJ Redick
SF – Matt Barnes
PF – Blake Griffin
C – DeAndre Jordan

Oklahoma City Thunder

PG – Russell Westbrook
SG – Thabo Sefolosha
SF – Kevin Durant
PF – Serge Ibaka
C – Kendrick Perkins

* It’s been a while since I wrote that starting line-up down.

3 Keys to the Game

1. Perimeter Defense – As mentioned in the “The Opponent” section, the Clippers have 8 players that shoot over 34.1% from the arc. Luckily, Crawford and Granger, appear to be out for the rest of the regular season. In the last game these two teams played, Crawford and Barnes torched the Thunder for 60 points on 11-18 shooting from 3-point land. With a full compliment of players, look for the Thunder to stay more on the shooters and hope that whoever is guarding Paul (be it Westbrook, Sefolosha, or Reggie Jackson) can stay in front of him most of the night.

2. Attack – Of the top five teams in the league (San Antonio, Miami, LAC, OKC, and Indiana), the Clippers are the worst defensively. They allow 100.7 points per game (14th in the league) and struggle defending the paint when Jordan is not in the game. While head coach Doc Rivers has made the team better defensively, they were still average, at best, to begin with.

3. Playoff Atmosphere – You smell that? It sure does smell like the playoffs. I have a feeling this game will be completely primed. I put the O/U on technicals being called at 5…..and I’m taking the over. This will probably be the last big game of the season for each team. With so much riding on it, I expect nothing less than a playoff atmosphere-type environment. April 19th cannot get here soon enough.

The Thunder and the 2nd Seed

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Alex Roig

With San Antonio’s win over the Portland Trailblazers on Monday night, the Oklahoma City Thunder were assured of the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference. While it is disappointing that they stumbled in the last month of the season to fall to the 2nd spot, the fact still remains that this is progression in a positive direction. Three seasons ago they were challenging to become the worst team in league history. Two seasons ago they were a surprise 8th seed and took the eventual champion Los Angeles Lakers to 6 games in their 1st round matchup. And last season they were the 4th seed and made it to the Western Conference Finals where they lost to the eventual champs, the Dallas Mavericks. Progression from here on out will be measured by what happens in the playoffs.

Now that the Thunder are set in their playoff seeding, it is time to look ahead and see how they match up with their potential opponents, both of whom are very familiar to the Thunder. The Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks are both battling for the 6th seed. The Nuggets hold a ½ game lead over the Mavericks and have 2 games remaining, the first of which is against the Thunder, and the last of which is against the “nothing to lose” Minnesota Timberwolves. The Mavericks have one game remaining, on the road, against the Atlanta Hawks, who may still be battling the Orlando Magic for seeding. The Mavericks hold the tie breaker if the teams finish with identical records.

Denver

The Denver Nuggets have become the Thunder’s regular whipping boys these last two seasons. Including the playoffs, the Thunder are 9-2 in the teams’ last 11 meetings. When these two teams meet, points will definitely be scored as it features 2 of the top 3 scoring teams in the league. The Thunder’s rate of success against this team is surprising because the Nuggets have a deep collection of talent at all positions. They feature 6 players that average double figures and 4 other players that average at least 8.6 points per game. That’s 10 players that average at least 8 points per game! The crux to all the scoring, though, is that no one on the team averages more than 16.3 points per game. In crunch time, this team lacks a clearly defined offensive star to score that necessary bucket.

Defensively, the Nuggets are the 3rd worst team in the league, allowing 101.2 points per game. They are a lot like the SSOL (Seven Seconds Or Less) Suns of the early 00’s, focusing a lot of their energy on transition opportunities and increased offensive usage. With the acquisition of Javale McGee and the increased playing time of rookie Kenneth Faried, the Nuggets have become even more of a transition team. But when the Nuggets play another offensively potent team that plays good defense, such as the Thunder, the Nuggets eventually run out of gas in the 4th quarter. That’s been their M.O. in most games that they play against the Thunder.

Dallas

The defending champion Mavericks are a bit of an enigma this season. They lost their defensive anchor (Tyson Chandler), their offensive sparkplug off the bench (JJ Barea), and had a failed offseason acquisition (Lamar Odom). They have been consistently inconsistent this entire season, alternating winning streaks with losing streaks. The Mavs ended the Thunder’s season last year in the Western Conference Finals, defeating them in 5 games. This season has been a different story, though, with the Thunder winning the season series 3-1.

The Mavericks are still led by Dirk Nowitzki, but his scoring average has dipped this season from 23 points per game to 21.6 points per game. A lot of their core is a year older and a step slower. The young players (Rodrigue Beaubois, Ian Mahinmi, and Brendan Wright) are just now getting their feet wet and are playoff neophytes. This team is middle of the road in nearly every statistical category, but still has enough championship moxie to be considered dangerous. The defense has suffered with the departure of Chandler and DeShawn Stevenson, but is still in the top half of the league, allowing only 94.7 points per game.

So who do the Thunder want to face? They already dominated the Nuggets in the playoffs last season, and have continued that trend into this season. They were beat by the Mavs in 5 games last postseason, but held the lead in the 4th quarter in 3 of the 5 games, and have dominated the season series this year. Will we see a different Mavs team emerge in the playoffs? Will they be similar to the 1995 Houston Rockets team that won their second championship in a row as a 6th seed? The answer to both those question, in my opinion, is no. The Mavs team is a shell of what it was last season. They are building for the future (ahem, Deron Williams, ahem) by sacrificing a year of their present. The Thunder finish off both of these teams in 6 games tops. The real question becomes, who do the Mavs or Nuggets want to face; the Thunder or the Lakers?

On the Road Again

Posted on January 16, 2012 by Alex Roig

I’m a child of the late 80’s / early 90’s. It was during that time that I was in elementary school learning, as most of the world was, about computers. And, of course, the best way to learn is to interactively play games that also teach you about the subject matter. My favorite games to play on those old floppy-disc induced Apple computers was Oregon Trail. If you, either, don’t remember, or were too young to know what a floppy disc was, it was a story-based game of a journey through the Oregon Trail. You are the wagon leader of a party of settlers going from Independence, Missouri to Oregon’s Willamette Valley over the Oregon Trail in an oxen-drawn wagon. Along the trail, you have to make decisions concerning food and directions to survive the trail. You and your fellow settlers can die from a range of maladies from drowning to snake bites to dysentery. Needless to say, it is a game about the difficulties of being on the road.

Many teams in this young strike shortened season are probably looking at their road records and wondering whether the entire team is suffering from a bout of cholera. Of the 30 teams in the NBA, only 6 have a winning record on the road. While most teams struggle on the road in any given season, shortened or not, the upper echelon teams usually buck that trend and win wherever they play. Such has not been the case this season.

The Southwest-leading San Antonio Spurs have an 8-4 record overall, but are an awful 0-4 on the road.
The Pacific-leading Los Angeles Lakers are also 8-4 overall, but carry a 1-3 road record.
The veteran Boston Celtics, a team that is supposed to know how to play on the road, is 1-3 in its games away from Massachusetts.

Winning on the road usually involves a balanced combination of veteran leadership, youthful legs, good defense, and good bench play. It should come as no surprise that the 6 teams with winning road records have some semblance of each of those 4 characteristics needed to be a good road team.Oklahoma City (5-1), Chicago (7-2), Miami(5-2), Orlando(4-2), and Indianapolis and Atlanta(both at 4-3) are all defensive minded teams with a nice mix of vets and youth, and good to great benches.

5 of the 6 winning road teams are in the top 10 for point differential.
4 of the 6 winning road teams are in the top 10 for opponent’s PPG.
5 of the 6 winning road teams are in the top 10 for opponent’s FG%.
Oklahoma City and Chicago have 2 of the best benches in the league.

While it is still early in the season, trends like these don’t tend to change too much throughout the course of the season. We are already at least 1/6^th of the way through the season (unless you are the Los Angeles Clippers). At this point, most teams are Denny Green (“They are who we thought they were!”). In the playoffs, you have to know how to win on the road. So take a good look at the 6 teams with winning road records. More than likely 2 of those teams will end up playing in the Finals.

Thunder Rumblings – Week In Review (Jan 2 – 8)

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Alex Roig

Oklahoma CityThunder: Week in Review (Jan 2^nd – Jan 8^th)

Record for the week – 3-2

Overall record – 8-2

Games played:

Jan 2^nd (@ Dallas)

After starting the season winning their first 5 games, the Thunder were looking to stay on pace with the Miami Heat to remain the only unbeatens in the league. This was the 4^th meeting between these two teams within a 2 week period, and started to take on the feel of a playoff series. With the Mavs looking to get their season on track, the Thunder came out flat and ultimately lost the game 100 – 87. The Mavs bench dominated the Thunder’s, outscoring them 47-25. The only good news of the night came with the fact thatMiami also lost their first game, and lost it, chronologically speaking, before the Thunder game was over.

Jan 3^rd (vs.Portland)

Looking to get back on track after their first loss of the season, the Thunder went back home to face division rival Portland. With starting SG Thabo Sefolosha out with an injured foot and flu-like symptoms, 6^th man of the year candidate James Harden was inserted into the starting lineup. The teams played pretty evenly in the first half, with the Thunder taking a 2 point lead into halftime. Behind the great play of Lamarcus Aldridge and Kevin Durant’s shooting struggles,Portland took over in the second half and won the game 103 – 93. With Harden starting, the bench scored an anemic 14 points and could not muster much when they were in the game.

Jan 6^th (vs.Houston)

Looking to get back on the winning track, the Thunder took on the Houston Rockets, who were 0-4 on their previous road games. With Thabo Sefolosha returning to the lineup, the rotation normalized and the Thunder jumped out of the gate to finish the 1^st quarter up by 10 and never looked back, eventually winning 109 – 94. The starters rested in the 4^th quarter, and every player that was active played.

Jan 7^th (@ Houston)

If games were played purely on paper, then this game wasn’t worth playing. The Thunder had beat the team by 15 on the previous night. The only difference was the locale. Well, the Rockets came out and gave the Thunder a good game, matching them bucket for bucket for much of it until late in the 4^th quarter. The Thunder got a couple timely stops late in the game and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook worked the two man game in the 4^th to perfection with Durant scoring the Thunder’s last 13 points. The Thunder escaped with a 3 point victory 98 – 95. The only blemish in the game was the loss of back up PG Eric Maynor to a torn ACL in the 4^th quarter.

Jan 8^th (vs.San Antonio)

The dreaded 3rd game in as many nights. The strange thing is that every team that has played a back to back to back, has won the 3^rd game. So why should the Thunder be any different? While the first half stayed pretty close, the 3^rd quarter belonged to the Thunder who blew the lid off the game, outscoring the Spurs 37-21 in the quarter. The Thunder had a 22 point lead heading into the 4^th quarter and the starters sat for the entire period. Rookie Reggie Jackson saw his first extended action of the season, replacing the injured Eric Maynor as the Thunder’s backup PG, and scored 11 points on 4-9 shooting with 4 assists.

My Takes:

The loss of Eric Maynor could prove to be big. If you’re are looking at it, strictly, from a statistical point of view, then Maynor’s 4 points and 2 assists per game may seem inconsequential. But from a game manager point of view, his loss could have major ramifications on the Thunder’s bench play. Maynor set the tone on the 2^nd unit, and provided a change of pace to the starters whenever necessary. There will be games where this aspect of what he brought to the table will be sorely missed. Here’s to sending a get well wish to Eric Maynor.
Its amazing how the return of a defensive minded SG could have such a positive effect on the offense. In the two losses, the offense seemed out of sync with the loss of Sefolosha. The players, especially Durant and Westbrook, seemed unsure of themselves and the bench suffered with Harden’s insertion into the starting line-up. Here’s to Scott Brooks not messing with the lineup unless he has to.
Durant seems to be efficiently scoring again and Westbrook seems to be returning back to form after starting the season in a bit of a funk. Here’s to realizing that this is a weird season, and players (even superstars) will probably have more ups and downs than an oscillating wave.

Player of the Week:

While Durant and Westbrook both struggled a bit in the beginning of the week, James Harden remained consistent throughout the week, averaging 19.5 points on 51% shooting from the field and 43% shooting from 3 point land, while contributing 3.8 boards, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals. If the Bearded One continues this, I don’t just see a 6^th Man of the Year award in his future, but also an All Star nomiation.