By THE PICKER Sports Columnist on Jun 20, 2012, at 2:08 PM Updated on 6/20 at 2:08 PM
THE PICKER
Here's what all the experts are saying about the Thunder, past and future:
Blah, blah, blah, blah.
Blah, blah.
Blah.
Blah, ...
Who gave Perkins all that money and said he was the real deal?
Who drafted the KU center who couldn't play?
Who ...
OU football coach Bob Stoops had this scoop during his Tulsa campaign stop: The bottom of the SEC stinks.
What campaign ...
Game four of the NBA finals had some historical importance beyond Russell Westbrook's masterpiece performance: That was as lousy a coaching job as you're ever apt to see in a playoff situation.
The Thunder started the crucial game roaring, scorching hot. Led by the pure genius of Westbrook, OKC tore off to a 17-point lead. AND THEN THE THUNDER COACH TOOK WESTBROOK OUT OF THE GAME!
When Westbrook was put on the bench for no reason whatsoever, the Thunder was up by 15. When he returned, OKC was up by 7. Westbrook had been cooled off in the most crucial stretch of the game.
Why interrupt a streak of brilliance like Westbrook's? These guys play pick-up games lasting three days without eating or sleeping.
Let them play the stinking game.
Taking hot-playing guys out of the game for no reason whatsoever is what they must call "coaching."
Brooks could do better sitting quietly at crucial moments. The Thunder has no half-court offense to speak of. None. It's embarrassing. There are few actual plays. The team has gotten this far because of mind-boggling individual talent. Durant or Westbrook or Harden take the ball out by the half-court line and usually make solo plays. When they do, they win.
In more playoff notes:
The officiating has been some of the worst in the history of playoff sports. LeBron gets every single call all day and all night. The officiating has been so bad, there should be an asterisk in the league handbook that adds the footnote that league champ Miami was greatly benefitted by consistently rotten calls.
The national electronic media has once more presented itself as a bunch of incompetent nincompoops, led by one of the most unpleasant people on earth, Skip Bayless. The NBA network has the good sense to use some of the TNT people, so the second the game ends, switch there. Michael Wilbon is typical of ESPN's smug star-lovers.
Just look at these game four lines:
Harden, two for 10 field goals.
Ibaka, four points.
Perkins, three rebounds, four points.
Sefolosha, five points.
Fisher, no points.
The Thunder has nothing inside. Except Westbrook.
His fantastic game was wasted by:
The coach.
Harden.
The scrubs.
It was foul.
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