Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy on his first game in the Ford Center: "They may have the best fans in the league. It will be a difficult place to play. They have one of the best home-court advantages in the league.”

since i live in jacksonville, i'm gonna try to go to the game down in orlando on dec. 5. i'm pretty excited. i haven't been to an nba game in years, and now, i have a new favorite team!

that's a great compliment!

And well deserved, I think. The fans went nuts when we cut the deficit to 17. People are just looking for reasons to support the team. A few wins or close games at home and the crowd will be nuts. People didn't even leave as early last night, which was shocking.

We have to keep all of this in perspective too. Many of the great teams had to endure seasons very similar to this. The Celtics were the worst team in the league two years ago. The Magic got Dwight Howard four years ago, after a 21 win season. As fans, we have to understand that teams are cyclic, and there will be good and bad years over time. It's not like college football where a dominant program can keep recruiting great players. It would be fun to start with one of those exciting, winning, seasons, but the Thunder probably wouldn't be here if the Sonics had been winning consistently. And, if we'd gotten an expansion team, we'd most likely be even worse. So, we need to continue to support the team, recognizing that our time to make the playoffs will come. If we make this a fun place to play, where the players can count on great fan support, it will be a more attractive place for free agents.

3 home games next week, it'll be a busy week for us season ticket holders.

so, have you guys noticed that the flame fountains have been absent from the last two games? they also haven't been using the smoke "cloud" machines to replicate thunder clouds, I thought that was pretty cool while it lasted.

The Hender version of the Thunderstruck for the intro bites.

I appreciate that management was probably trying to put some local flavor into the pre-game music by using Hinder, but I agree. AC-DC does it better, no surprise.

I noticed the flame fountains were gone. Maybe there are mechanical issues. I was a bit suprised we've got flames after the Hornets fire extinguisher incident. I thought fire had been outlawed at NBA games, but perhaps it's just diving through flaming rings that has been outlawed.

I'm excited about the three home games, but it does put a damper in my hopes of seeing OU play Davidson Tuesday night. I was hoping to see that game too, but four in one week, with the OU-Tech game this weekend is probably a bit much, even for a sports fan.

funny, i have the exact same dilemma, have tickets to the ou game monday night and tuesday night but i think I'll have to lay low on Tuesday, Thunder wins out on Monday, the tailgate on Saturday will start at 9:am so I have to conserve some energy for the Hornets / Texas Tech weekend.

I think we have a good shot tonight?

Not so much...Had to turn this one off early in the 4th...I'm no fair weather fan but this is pretty ridiculous

Kharma is a bitch I guess

yeah, the player's don't care if they lose, terrible!

My grandma (who is a huge Thunder fan now) was so pissed.

yeah, the player's don't care if they lose, terrible!

I don't think that's true at all, at least of Durant, Green and Westbrook. I sit right by where they walk back to the locker room. They were all together at the end of the game, and went to the locker room last. You could tell they were all really upset.

We have to remember that Westbrook and Durant are 20 years old and Green is 22. They're so young. There are so many reasons why a team plays badly. First of all, most of our players probably wouldn't start or even be on a lot of the other teams. Our star player is a 20 year old in his second season in the NBA. I'm sure their confidence is completely blown, and the minute they get a lead they probably think, "Wonder when we're going to lose this?". Who knows how well PJ coaches? Who knows how well the team has meshed?

Then, someone has to have the worst team in the NBA every year. Had we gotten an expansion team, we'd even have a worse group of players. Many of the teams in the NBA were an expansion team at one point in time, and many cities have suffered through really bad seasons. Why do we deserve better?

We knew this team was going to be bad and, sure enough, they're bad. Let's be thankful we've got the NBA in OKC and enjoy watching these young players mature and get better, just like other cities have done.

22 is young, 30 is old. We knew they were bad, but a any pro franchise should be better than they were last game.

Just went by the Ford Center, calm and quiet, figured they'd starting setting up before now.

Doors open at 7.

Why did the clouds (fog machines), sparklers, and flame fountains disappear from the game intro?


It will be back soon. We are working on smoke and fog evacuation with the building that has kept us from achieving this effect without risking getting fined $15K from the league.