Thunder in the News: Nobody knows what to think with this team

Whether or not the OKC Thunder can turn things around is a complete unknown. Today’s In the News impresses that narrative on all of Thunder Nation.

This season has instilled a new routine in yours truly. After every game I genuinely ponder whether or not this team will ever reach their potential. Their rare moments of brilliance are championship-level – their exceeding spans of ineptitude are Lottery-worthy. Luckily I’m not the only pundit who has zero clue where the fate of this team lies. It just so happens that almost everybody with an honest opinion feels the same way.

Tonight’s preview brought to you by the Thunder

The OKC Thunder PR team deserves their own place in the Smithsonian Institute. Their ability to instill hope in their fans is a true work of art, something Ivy Lee and Edward Bernays would be proud of. Their notes leading into tonight’s game is no different. In fact, we’re 29 games into the season and we’re still getting factoids like this:

"Over the summer, the Thunder acquired two perennial All-Stars in Carmelo Anthony and Paul George. Anthony is a 10-time All-Star who started in eight of those ten games and George started in two of his four All-Star appearances."

Don’t get me wrong, I respect the Thunder for doing their job. The fact the organization still believes in this team is the only thing that truly matters moving forward.

A statistic that can not possibly continue

It’s easy to be overly-optimistic when stats like these aren’t presented. The Thunder are struggling because their three stars are the three least efficient volume shooters in the entire league.

"This has been clearly exemplified through each of their respective shooting struggles this season, holding the three lowest shooting percentages for players averaging at least 15 shots a game."

Here’s the spin zone. (Reminder: I’m notorious for being pessimistic.) The fact the Thunder are only one game under .500 when three of their four best players are having the worst seasons of their careers is actually somewhat positive. Are there any signs Russell Westbrook, Paul George and/or Carmelo Anthony are going to turn things around? No. But if they do? This team becomes the top-five team we all expected heading into the season.

Power rankings hammer the point home

And to wrap up our discussion we check out what the national media has to say about this team. Much like this article, it’s incredibly wishy-washy. Because Oklahoma City has been so inconsistent it’s impossible to predict their future – that’s why their’s so much inconsistency in the past week’s power rankings.

"Week eight NBA power rankings lists find the OKC Thunder ranked as high as 7th and as low as 15th."

Next: Thunder Nation should not start panicking

That’s it for today’s issue of Thunder in the News! Don’t look now, but we’ve got loads of great content just waiting to be read. Okay I lied – you should 100% go check out the full site this very instant. Then return to us post-game for the best analysis the World Wide Web has to offer.