thunder rocks!! (Okc Thunder)

[CKR13]

The Oklahoma City Thunder will play a pair of home games at the Ford Center and host a neutral-site game in Tulsa as part of a seven-game preseason schedule leading up to the 2010-11 NBA regular season, the team announced today.

As part of the Thunder’s 2010 Training Camp, Oklahoma City will open the preseason with two road contests: Wednesday, October 6 vs. Charlotte at the Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville, NC and Friday, October 8 vs. Miami at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, MO. The Thunder will then make its third annual trip to Tulsa for an exhibition contest against Memphis on Tuesday, October 12 at the BOK Center.

Oklahoma City welcomes CSKA Moscow, the 2006 and 2008 Euroleague champion to the Ford Center, for an NBA sanctioned preseason contest on Thursday, October 14. The Thunder will then embark on back-to-back road games beginning with a contest vs. San Antonio on Monday, October 18 followed by a game in Denver vs. the Nuggets on Tuesday, October 19. Following the back-to-back, Oklahoma City concludes its preseason schedule at the Ford Center on Thursday, October 21 in a match-up vs. New Orleans.

[CKR13]

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed rookie draft pick forward/center Cole Aldrich to a 4 year contract worth $20 Million.

I'm expecting Aldrich to bring in toughness and rebounding for the team.

[dxjayrock2008]

The Oklahoma City Thunder has signed rookie draft pick forward/center Cole Aldrich to a 4 year contract worth $20 Million.

I'm expecting Aldrich to bring in toughness and rebounding for the team.

Cole Aldrich



No. 45 Oklahoma City Thunder
Center
Personal information
Date of birth October 31, 1988 (age 21)
Place of birth Burnsville, Minnesota
Nationality American
High school Bloomington Jefferson High School
Listed height 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight 245 lb (111 kg)
Career information
College Kansas
NBA Draft 2010 / Round: 1 / Pick: 11
Selected by the New Orleans Hornets
Pro career 2010–present
Career highlights and awards
All Big 12 tournament 2010 Player All Big 12 First Team (2009, 2010)
All Big 12 Defensive Team (2009, 2010)
Big 12 Defensive POY (2009, 2010)
Academic All Big 12 First Team (2009, 2010), ESPN/CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year (2010)
AP All-American Honorable Mention (2009)
NABC District 8 First Team (2009)
USBWA All-District VI Team (2009, 2010)
USBWA Second Team All-American (2010)
NCAA Tournament All-Midwest Regional Team (2009)
Yahoo! Sports Third Team All-American (2010)
Foxsports.com Third Team All-American (2010)
AP All-American Third Team (2010)
Cole Aldrich at NBA.com
Cole Aldrich (born October 31, 1988) is an American basketball player who is currently playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder. He completed his junior year at the University of Kansas in March 2010. Aldrich was selected as a McDonald's All American in 2006.[1] He attended Bloomington Jefferson High School. Aldrich won the 2008 NCAA Championship and three Big 12 Championships during his time at Kansas. The New Orleans Hornets selected Aldrich eleventh overall in the first round of the 2010 NBA Draft. [2]
Contents [hide]
1 Collegiate career
1.1 Freshman season
1.2 Sophomore season
1.3 Junior season
2 NBA career
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
[edit]Collegiate career

[edit]Freshman season
During the 2007–08 season at Kansas, Aldrich's freshman season, his playing time was limited due to playing behind future NBA draft picks Darrell Arthur, Sasha Kaun, and Darnell Jackson. He averaged three rebounds and 2.8 points a game on 8.3 minutes a game during the regular season. Statistically, Aldrich's best performance was an 11-point, 11-rebound outing in a win over Texas Tech on March 3, 2008.[3] Probably the most crucial game for Aldrich was during the Final Four game between Kansas and North Carolina on April 5, 2008, when he played only 16 minutes but managed to grab 8 rebounds and score 7 points along with blocking 4 shots while also playing effective defense against National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough, helping lead Kansas into the NCAA national championship game.[4]
[edit]Sophomore season
With the departure of the other Jayhawk big men to the NBA draft, Aldrich became the premier big-man going into his sophomore season. Through the first 29 games, he averaged a double-double with 15.1 points and 10.8 rebounds in 29.7 minutes of play. He grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in an 87–78 win over Oklahoma on February 23, 2009,[5]. On March 8, 2009, Aldrich was named to the 2008–09 Big 12 All-conference first team.[6] On March 22, 2009 Aldrich recorded the first official triple-double in the history of Kansas basketball against Dayton in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Aldrich accumulated 13 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 blocks in a 60–43 victory. [7]. On Monday, April 13, Aldrich announced that he would return to KU for his Junior season.
[edit]Junior season
He won the 2009–10 men's college basketball Academic All-American of the Year as selected by CoSIDA and presented by ESPN the Magazine.[8]
[edit]NBA career

On March 29, 2010, Aldrich announced that he would forego his final season of collegiate eligibility and enter the 2010 NBA Draft. He was the 11th pick at the 2010 NBA Draft, selected by the New Orleans Hornets, who traded his rights on draft day to the Oklahoma City Thunder. On August 6, 2010, Aldrich signed a 2-year contract with the Thunder with a two year option.[9]

[CKR13]

Oklahoma City Thunder 2010-2011 Regular Season Schedule

[dxjayrock2008]

KLAHOMA CITY, August 10, 2010 – The Thunder announced its 2010-11 regular season schedule today. The team will open the regular season against the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday, October 27th at the Ford Center.

The 2010-11 schedule is highlighted by two marquee holiday games that were announced by the NBA last week. The Thunder will host the Denver Nuggets at 7PM as part of the NBA’s Christmas Day Special, the first time Oklahoma City has hosted a Christmas Day game since the team moved to Oklahoma prior to the 2008-09 season. For the third consecutive season the Thunder will play on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. This year the team will travel to Los Angeles to face the Lakers in the team’s first meeting since their 2010 playoff series.

The Thunder is scheduled to make 15 appearances on national television this year. TNT Sports will feature four Thunder games (at Portland 11/4, at Dallas 1/6, vs. Orlando 1/13 and on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at LA Lakers (1/17)). ABC will broadcast two Thunder games as a part of their Sunday NBA lineup. Oklahoma City’s game vs. Miami (1/30) and vs. LA Lakers (2/27) will be broadcast on ABC with special matinee start times. The Thunder will be featured on ESPN nine times this season (opening night vs. Chicago (10/27), vs. Portland (11/12), at Boston (11/19), vs. Denver on Christmas Day (12/25), at Golden State (2/13), at San Antonio (2/23), at Orlando (2/25), at Miami (3/16) and vs. Portland (3/27)).

The Thunder schedule is highlighted by 22 home games that will be played on Friday, Saturday or Sunday continuing the Thunder’s tradition of family friendly scheduling. Of the 22 weekend home games 11 games will be played on Sunday, with eight of them tipping off at 6:00PM.

There are several games that will interest Thunder fans and among those are the annual appearance of Eastern Conference foes Boston (11/7), Orlando (1/13), Miami (1/30) and Atlanta on New Year’s Eve (1/31).

This will mark the third straight season that the Thunder will host a game on New Year’s Eve as a part of Oklahoma City’s Opening Night 2011 celebration downtown. Additionally, the Spurs (11/14) and Lakers (2/27) will make just one appearance at the Ford Center this season.

The Thunder schedule features four home stands of four or more games. The first is November 7th – 14th when the Thunder hosts Boston (11/7), Philadelphia (11/10), Portland (11/12) and San Antonio (11/14). The Thunder has two prolonged home stands in December starting with, the 12th – 19th the Thunder will face Cleveland (12/12), Houston (12/15), Sacramento (12/17) and Phoenix (12/19) and then after a brief two game trip the Thunder will return to the Ford Center to square-off versus Christmas night before hosting Dallas (12/27), New Jersey (12/29) and finishing with Atlanta (1/31). The Thunder’s longest home stand of the season comes March 18th – 29th when the team hosts six straight opponents at the Ford Center. The Thunder welcomes Charlotte (3/18), Toronto (3/20), Utah (3/23), Minnesota (3/25), Portland (3/27) and Golden State (3/29) during that stretch.

Fox Sports Oklahoma will air all of the Thunder’s regular season games (expect those televised on ABC and TNT). Play-by-play announcer Brian Davis, analyst Grant Long and newly named sideline reporter Kelly Crull will comprise this year’s broadcast team on Fox. Radio play-by play announcer Matt Pinto will bring every Thunder game to listeners on WWLS (98.1FM) and the Thunder Radio Network.

Fans interested in purchasing season tickets can call 405-208-HOOP (4667) or email thunder-tix@thunder-nba.com. Single game tickets will go on sale in early October.

[CKR13]

The Oklahoma City Thunder have granted General Manager and Executive Vice President Sam Presti a contract extension. A Non-Disclosure Policy on the said contract have been issued.

[dxjayrock2008]

The Oklahoma City Thunder have granted General Manager and Executive Vice President Sam Presti a contract extension. A Non-Disclosure Policy on the said contract have been issued.

Good move Oklahoma. Just continue your winning ways. You'll be a constant play-offs contender.

[CKR13]

The Oklahoma City Thunder will not review Nenad Krstic's involvement on the Serbian - Greek brawl.

The NBA will also not be defining any sanctions or any probe on the matter.

[dxjayrock2008]

The Oklahoma City Thunder will not review Nenad Krstic's involvement on the Serbian - Greek brawl.

The NBA will also not be defining any sanctions or any probe on the matter.

The Balkan neighbors really don't like each other. Lol.

[CKR13]

Looks like Kevin Durant will be strong contender for MVP next season as the Thunder are poised to win 55 to 60 games.

I expect another scoring title for Durant though.

[CKR13]

OKC Thunder forward Serge Ibaka has been cleared for workouts by the medical staff and should be ready for training camp after rehabilitation of his sprained knee incurred during the NBA Summer League in Orlando.

[CKR13]

The Oklahoma City Thunder will be renaming their home arena as the franchise has been negotiating with new commercial partners on which names have been with-held due to a non-disclosure agreement during the negotiating period.

From Ford Center to a new name before the new NBA Regular Season starts.

[CKR13]

The Oklahoma City Thunder will welcome back Team USA WC Champions Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Nenad Krstic.

[CKR13]

Kevin Durant is getting all-praise from players and teammates all over the league like:

Andre Iguodala: K-Du will be the game's all-time scoring champion someday.

Nick Collison: He (Durant) is among the best of all time already at 21 years old.

Tracy McGrady: He's just 21 and he is still getting better. That is scary.

[dxjayrock2008]

Kevin Durant is getting all-praise from players and teammates all over the league like:

Durantula for MVP!

[rikhardur]

Tracy McGrady: He's just 21 and he is still getting better. That is scary.

McGrady contradicts himself, "just" and "still" just don't make sense in that sentence Did he expect him to decay at 21? Durant is just starting.

[hustlerlt]

McGrady contradicts himself, "just" and "still" just don't make sense in that sentence Did he expect him to decay at 21? Durant is just starting.

I think he ment,that Durantula is already one of the best players in the league and he's still only 21 and that means,that he will still continue to get better.I completely agree with T-Mac,if he continues to improve,he will definitely be remembered as one of the greatest basketball players ever.

[kerdito]

Well KD is the most impressive scorer so far with his superb shooting ability and more than quick first step he has I guess the next question would be is who cna stop Durantula, I mean he never minds if you put a hand in his face he has long hands he is quick, tall with superb percentage, anyway I am curious about other parts of his game than scoring, how about his defense, vision on the court, I mean MJ, Magic, Larry Bird, Lebron they all had eyes in the back of their head but what about the next scoring freak what about his ability to be a perfect basketball player?

[Khalid80]

Well KD is the most impressive scorer so far with his superb shooting ability and more than quick first step he has I guess the next question would be is who cna stop Durantula, I mean he never minds if you put a hand in his face he has long hands he is quick, tall with superb percentage, anyway I am curious about other parts of his game than scoring, how about his defense, vision on the court, I mean MJ, Magic, Larry Bird, Lebron they all had eyes in the back of their head but what about the next scoring freak what about his ability to be a perfect basketball player?

Kerdito, what is so scary about KD is how quickly he has developed in just 3 years playing in the NBA. The guy went from averaging 20.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg in his rookie season to 25.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg in his second year and last season he posted 30.1 ppg and 7.6 rpg so u can see the constant development of KD. His FG % was also 47.6% last season.

I think if he continues with this professional attitude (working really hard during the offseason and staying "down to earth" personality) who knows.... he might end up being the best current player in the NBA and then gradually can be compared to the great players of the game like the names u mentioned above even though he still has ways to go to get to their level of play.

I think Durant can still work on improving his assists and also continue developing his defensive skills as mentioned as well.

[kerdito]

Kerdito, what is so scary about KD is how quickly he has developed in just 3 years playing in the NBA. The guy went from averaging 20.3 ppg, 4.3 rpg in his rookie season to 25.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg in his second year and last season he posted 30.1 ppg and 7.6 rpg so u can see the constant development of KD. His FG % was also 47.6% last season.

I think if he continues with this professional attitude (working really hard during the offseason and staying "down to earth" personality) who knows.... he might end up being the best current player in the NBA and then gradually can be compared to the great players of the game like the names u mentioned above even though he still has ways to go to get to their level of play.

I think Durant can still work on improving his assists and also continue developing his defensive skills as mentioned as well.

Well for a guy that once said: "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard,"' I am not really surprised Durantula is improving so quickly, moreover Lebron did the same when he first came to the NBA starting his career with a 20.9 ppg and 5.5 rbds to a 27 ppg and 7 rbds 7 assists in his 2nd and a 31 ppg 7 rbds in his 3rd not to forget his great assists, steals and blocks and I am still waiting for KD to improve those aspects of his game as I said but after all his way to a great career is already wide spread.