I like the Oklahoma City Thunder.  I think I had a mini love affair with Kevin Durant during the FIBAs this summer.  He swooped in, took control of the team, swept me off my feet, and took me to a land of milk and honey while I watched him drain 3 after 3, short ranged jumper after short ranged jumper.  He scored, and dammit, he did it the right way.

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But, I just don't know.

Did anyone watch those Thunder last night?  Did anyone hear the grumblings from Bulls fans?  They are the same grumblings our own fan base was echoing during last years playoffs: How do they get so damn many calls!?

Westbrook is a good player!  I like Jeff Green.  Kevin Durant is the man!  Sefalosha plays great D!  Harden is a youngn' with a grizzled beard and an old mans game.  Theres a coach of the year on the bench.  Nenad is an asshole, and yes, he throws chairs and sucker punches like a wrestler... but, really, who gives a damn about a "Nenad"?

All I'm saying is... I like these Thunder, but I am suspicious.  Why?  Well, hot dammit, lets go to the hoop data.

http://www.hoopdata.com/boxscore.aspx?id=301027025

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Bulls:

Shots at Rim/Close to Basket: 49

Free Throws: 22

Thunder

Shots at Rim/Close to Basket: 36

Free Throws: 47

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Something smells, ladies and gentlemen, and its my gym shoes that I dropped 9 dimes in last night that stench needs someone to breathe it deep, note its repugnant aroma, and attend to it if necessary.  Is this coincidence?  This is just game 1 of 82, mind you.  Is OKC beloved by someone more powerful than I?  I doubt it.  Were Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant really worthy of 26 free throws between the two of them (more than the entire Bulls Team)?  No, they were not.

The Bulls are a middle of the pack free throw giving team, as evidenced by the Hoopdata, giving out and taking around 28 free throws a game.  Maybe they just picked up a bunch of foul happy hooligans (which is not necessarily unbelievable, because several of them are ex-Jazz players, and Thibodeau [Celtic strategist: enough said] is the new coach) and this is going to become business as usual.  Maybe that's what it is..

 http://hoopdata.com/teamgl.aspx?team=CHI

All I can say is that I'm suspicious... but I'm no conspiracy theorist.  I just like basketball, chocolate chip cookies, red wine, a good historical fiction book on a rainy night... and logic.  As it happens, my logic-o-meter has a built-in bull shit detector, and its tingling, damn it, its tingling.

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