OKC Thunder in the news: Reflections on losing
By Reid Belew
Womp womp. There’s your sad trombone sound signaling the underwhelming start to the OKC Thunder season.
The OKC Thunder are 0-3, and no one saw this coming. OKC Thunder in the news takes a look at the ramifications of losing.
Nobody likes losing. Find me someone who likes losing, and I’ll show you a liar.
The OKC Thunder weren’t supposed to start the season this way. We were supposed to explode out of the gate, showing a new and improved squad. That didn’t happen, and it’s okay.
I’m going to wait until the 15th game to be worried. Please join me in this small display of grounded fanhood.
All the OKC Thunder news this morning is going to swirl around losing, so strap in.
Russ Hates Losing Too
Another reason to love our fearless leader.
Russ spoke to the media after Sunday’s loss and dished out a super relatable take.
"“I was okay, it wasn’t my best night,” Westbrook said. “We have however many more games left to play so I’m not worried, my first time, I just hate losing, honestly. I really don’t care to talk about how hard I played.”"
It’s hard to expect anything except this type of response from Westbrook, who has mastered the art of efficient post-game sound bites.
Westbrook shined in his debut with 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 8 assists. Russ will likely bring the heat again this Thursday when the OKC Thunder take on the eastern conference powerhouse Boston Celtics.
The Thunder are 5-25 from 3, which is really terrible obviously, but their defense is a major concern. The Kings are completely carving OKC.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) October 22, 2018
Early Season Defensive Concerns
The Thunder defense, largely thought to be one of the more certain things about this roster, has been lackluster to start the season.
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On Sunday, the Thunder allowed the Kings to have whatever they wanted to the tune of nearly 55 percent shooting from the field. That sort of porous defense isn’t sustainable. Defense is largely a product of effort. Let’s hope having Russ’ energy back on the floor starts to seep into teammates on the defensive end.
Rankings Plummet
And of course, with losing 3 games in a row comes dropping in ESPN power rankings. The Thunder, who started the season at 7th in ESPN’s rankings, are now at the 16th spot.
ESPN didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, but offered the following blurb:
"The Thunder started the season with a close loss to the Warriors, a blowout loss to the Clippers and a surprising home loss to the Kings, which has resulted in their drop in the rankings. Russell Westbrook has played only 35 minutes so far. The Thunder just aren’t the Thunder without their MVP."
Check back later today to see where the OKC Thunder landed on the major National media sites in our weekly power ranking article.
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Let’s hope things change this week headed into Thursday’s matchup against the Celtics.