“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the MVP” – ESPN reacts to Thunder beat Pelicans 119-112; Zion: 29 Pts

“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the MVP” – ESPN reacts to Thunder beat Pelicans 119-112; Zion: 29 Pts

To conclude the road trip and get to 50 wins on the year take a look at the seasons and which they have done that you may have heard fish mention it the two encircled or encased there in yellow are seasons that would have been uh mathematically they would have been 60

Win seon or rather 50 win Seasons if the season had played out fully those were both shortened Seasons Nance eight that’s half of your Seasons that you’ve ever played basketball in Oklahoma City our 50 win season yeah I I’m going to go back and say that’s the culture of this

Organization they are very systematic in what they do and how they plan and it’s meticulous and they live for these type of moments and by the way while while you were you know boxing and I don’t know if you were in Vegas or what was happening this team met the challenge of

Physicality that’s a very strong team especially with Zion and you know I thought the game against the Bucks you know the the game got too physical and we didn’t match it tonight it was matched on that 120 run with you just told me 247 to go in in the fourth

Quarter they’re going to look at this and say okay we’re resilient we have what it takes to play a great team pels are really a great team and you have to just be so thrilled to get your 50th this way grinding it right and boxing it

Yeah taking a punch and giving a punch let’s take you back now to Smoothie King Center where they sat ringside I mean court side Chris fiser and Michael cage yeah thank you John it felt like we were ringside because this felt like a heavyweight bout Michael and I just

Talking about how this felt like a playoff game it was intense it really cranked up in that third quarter it was extra tight in that fourth quarter and this was extra tight Michael down the stretch this game was close these two teams came in playing well and this game

They both played pretty well and it was the Thunder making the plays down the stretch well I if there’s ever a game where you can talk about resilience this is it and first of all congratulations to the the Thunder organization coaching staff and players for reaching a 50- win

Mark That’s A Benchmark and that’s something you can hang your hat on because in my 15th season I only got there twice and it it it’s just really a hard number to get to it’s a full body of work that it takes to get there and

They did it because they didn’t give up they didn’t back down they withstood the physicality they ex they exit exploited it at times themselves and made some plays down the stretch that you just don’t see young teams making and it was really fun there that bottom part of the fourth quarter you

Brought it up where it was two 47 left in the game the Thunder went down five and the Pelicans had the basketball and all of a sudden they just turned it on and this is what happened in that fourth quarter partner yeah about 2 and 1/2

Minutes to go this was the play that just gave the Thunder enough to see that ball go in the basket that cut it to three and then the three started to fly SGA with a big one well these are all big shots you know us you say that’s a

Dagger no that was a dagger this is a dagger right here is a dagger they just made one play after another and we we’re not talking about just one guy and this is why this team is really fun to watch because they they feed off of each other

And they it took all Five Guys on the floor to make plays at the end of the ball game and beat one of the hottest teams in the NBA on their home for tonight the New Orleans Pelicans yeah we’ve seen that resilience all season long from this Thunder team JN and Nancy

We saw it in the fourth quarter they end the game on that big run and we’ve just seen them respond after after tough games they got beat by the Milwaukee Bucks but they’re now seven and one on the season when losing by double digits really impressive stuff for this young

Team great response game in a tough place to play really great response game guys we appreciate you great call and I know you’re coming home now and a quick turnaround too with that Rockets game tomorrow night we didn’t mention that the pels had a 20-2 run of their own in

The third quarter of this one the the M the uh the Thunder were up by 20 Nance 20 points in this game and then that 20 to2 run ER raced it and that’s how they got that lead well basketball is game of runs okay and it’s going to happen

During the course of a game somebody’s going to get hot these are great really great basketball teams so how do you meet a run you know you could either how do you stop a run you can either call timeout or you can knock down some shots and what the Thunder did was they

Started getting to the rim they started drawing Defenders they’re Elite passers not just giddy not just Shay not just you know Jay Jay dub you know everybody from Chad they’re Elite passers and they know where their teammates are because there’s a trust and they’ve done this repetitively so of the 119 points the

Starters had 9 of them the bench has 22 but you have three guys with over 20 points and then Chad uh you know has I believe 16 in this game this was a total team effort it really was and you mentioned it every

Team makes a run in an NBA game or or in some cases every team makes runs in an NBA game and the last run belonged to the Thunder it was a 120 run at the end of the game the guys were showing some of this Shay with a three you had you

Know Dort with the three you had Jay Dub with his great play great defense n this is how you take a you know take a chance and and take a lead well they did such a great job of moving the basketball and getting it to the next possible you know

Guy who’s going to score and Jay dub this young man is I mean they have three elite players they have you know an MVP candidate in in Shay now you have Jay dub who is just pretty much Unstoppable then you have Chad then you have every

Body else on this team that is such a major contributor whether you’re on the bench or you know getting knocking down career high five threes he’s playing with such confidence this comes from the coaching staff this comes from Player Development this comes from the support

Staff saying you be you we are here for you trust yourself trust your instincts and they did on that 120 run cuz Shay didn’t shoot the ball really well but that three when it mattered yeah went down yeah that’s so important uh for a shooter like that to keep shooting and

He comes through in the clutch as we mentioned now the guys were talking about the fact that jdub had four years of college maybe that’s one of the reasons Nance that he plays Beyond his years of experience in the NBA because he looks as you’ve said like a seasoned

Veteran and he did again tonight uh you know what I remember asking uh Damien Lillard why he stayed in school four years and he said it really set him up to get to the NBA now you know Jay dub he has his four years he’s big he’s

Strong he’s mastered the game and he’s not afraid he’s not afraid of the moment and now you have Shay on one side you have two Playmakers which can go off the dribble watch this you know you sit in the corner sh you know SGA sets that up

Right here and going left the man is almost Unstoppable yeah so take a look n you mentioned the 20 point guys tonight there’s jdub there’s Josh there’s Shay and as you mentioned Chad holgren not too far behind with 16 points and and you had you know Lou Dort with six and

Then as you mentioned the bench with 22 balance balance balance that will help you win a lot of games cuz there’s a lot of weapons well there’s a lot of weapons but if you’re on the other side you know the Pelicans respect everybody uh you

Know Willie Green is a heck of a coach but in The Scouting Report it’s you take you know SGA away you don’t go for his counter moves J dub you don’t let him get left you know make sure you press up on him send him sideline to sideline

That’s a Scouting Report nobody in The Scouting Report I’m sorry Josh is saying make sure you don’t let Josh you threes you’re now you know breaking the mold of if I’m doing the Scout it’s like man the dude just hit 53 five out of eight he’s

Working on his game look what he’s done in March so now you start getting the attention of everybody else Dort might not have scored a lot today but his defense was unbelievable he did you know you can switch all five if you want if you’re the Thunder uh a dart’s game

Sometimes is so powerful but it’s so invisible he just does his job night after night yep got it done tonight no doubt about that Zion Williamson got his job done too we talked about him in the pregame edition of Thunder live and and this is a young man who when he’s

Healthy is always very good but actually having lost some weight and that you he may be better than he’s ever been right now yeah he is I mean you know he has such great spatial awareness watch him when he has the ball everybody goes don’t let him go left don’t let him go

Left okay by the way he just went right and went back to his left he really knows how to get in between those little creases and then he’s he 10 assists yeah look at him he’s seeing the floor he’s looking for the next pass when he sees that they’re crowding the middle what

Are you going to do with him I mean he’s just so powerful and just a great finisher we talked about he was shooting 64% his last nine games because he just knows how to finish last two he had a season High 36 the other night uh against the Pistons in Detroit and then

Of course he adds 29 tonight so a huge but uh you know fish mentioned it and we brought it up during Thunder live the pregame show which is that the Thunder are so good in these situations the day after or the game after I should say a

Blowout loss 10 points or more this makes it seven- one on the season well that’s a lot that’s a coaching staff I mean coach dagnal is unbelievable I believe he’s going to get coach of the year in the NBA but you know how you talk to your players how you teach your

Players how you master the things that take no talent and they they have a feeling they have an understanding okay I know don’t laugh at me don’t don’t you know hit me on Twitter or X whatever it is but those postgame interviews with either you know um you

Know Paris or you know Nick when those three four five guys are there this is a happy team it is easy to coach a happy group of guys who really care about each other and those guys care about each other because you’re seeing it organically in those interviews I start

Giggling no doubt every time yeah it’s absolutely fantastic to watch those it’s also fantastic to listen to Mark dagnal talk after a game and we will be doing that here Alvarez went head long into the base and was just slightly shy of the throw Maya Brady turning in some defensive Wizardry from

Short take a look here spinning throw the takeaway from these 45 minutes from Houston in this game were what we’ve often talked about this how will the game be officiated uh you know if they’re allowed to play free and be physical at the defensive in the floor

They can really be become disruptive uh if it’s a tight whistle all of a sudden you’re seeing your opponent go for 40 free throws that’s 45 45 yeah 45 free throws for Texas A&M uh it it forces you to be a little bit less aggressive at the defensive end of the floor that

Allows you better the other thing that concerned me a little bit about Houston tonight offensive rebounds all just the ability to get on the offensive class 23 offensive rebounds by Texas an Radford who you mentioned at the big scoring day also LED them in offensive rebounds from

The guard position and so I think a little bit of concern there but I think really got to be pleased with Jamal shed I mean the the quintessential best leader on the floor the coach extension of the coaching staff all the superlatives you want to throw at this

Young man he has stepped up time and time again made big moments made big reads uh and put his team in position to win and the NCAA tournament you usually have to go through a game that doesn’t go your way go this might be that game

For Houston in order to make sure they get to the Final Four what a game we saw between Iowa State who knocked off Maryland and Tara Vander in Stanford 99 career NCAA tournament wins 100 sends them to the Sweet 16 and that is Cameron Brink and Audi

Crooks just came in with a 40-point game and it’s back and forth with Brink down low causing trouble for Kooks who was two of 11 Iowa state in the first half Iowa state had a two-point lead into the third Brink gets called for the foul that’s

Her fourth and had to head to the bench one of the stars in the college game but they have more and this young lady Kiki aren was absolutely out of her mind in this one Stanford leading by two Emily Ryan a spectacular game for Iowa State

Knocks down the three we’re tied at 57 Ryan step back bottoms Iowa State takes the lead on the other end off glass Stanford back up too First Blood and then the three goes for Brook Demetri down low in a tie game iopen can’t get the bucket to

Go we head to overtime my weapons in overtime put two more on the board here off and good there down low our base is under attack here offen Stanford up two on the other end Addie Brown a three and hammer on Brook Demitri it’s your turn and we need it if

For Stanford and we get it for Stanford shout out to Stanford team our base is under attack down low it doesn’t go in the paint Brown can’t get that free throws are made two subs so and then what it gave the guy is a boost that you got a guy like

Tyler Adams on the field you can see how impactful he was in the 45 and you know typical Tyler we get Into but we had to stick to it you know that’s what we agreed with this club and for for us as much as I wanted in my game as I did you know it’s it’s a safety thing want to make sure that he gets back because he has a lot The takeway from these 45 minutes from RE in this game or what we’ve often talked about this how will the game be officiated uh you know if they’re allowed to play free and be physical at the defense the floor they can really become disruptive uh if it’s a tight

Whistle all of a sudden you’re seeing your opponent go for 40 free throws that’s 45 yeah 45 free throws for Texas A&M uh it forces you to be a little bit less aggressive at the defensive end of the floor that allows you to get better quality shot the other thing that

Concerned me a little bit about Houston tonight offensive rebounds just the ability to get on the offensive class 23 offensive rebounds by Tex Bradford who you mentioned as a big scoring day also LED them in offensive rebounds from the guard position and so I think a little

Bit of concern there but I think you’re really got to be pleased with small shed I mean the the quintessential best leader on the floor the coach extension of the coaching staff all the superlatives you want to throw at this young man he has stepped up time and

Time again made big moments made big reads uh and put his team in position to win and the NCAA tournament you usually have to go through a game that doesn’t go your way this might be that game for Houston in order to make sure they get to the Final Four

Picture Perfect offense from Virginia Tech Walker a halfcourt he to beat the buzzer oh my goodness Jada Walker Jada Walker had something to say about it Baylor up three as we head to the Fourth for Carol Lawson’s team who played the fourth toughest schedule and who before this year had never played point guard and ni still on the bench with two fouls but they got a three from Richardson get Ohio State’s defense to collapse Richardson again a Richardson back over

Taylor nobody can stop her from D Richard that earch Richard at 47 and the ACC this season rean Richardson are you kidding me back on the floor kcks it out up three richson puts it in so much Buzz around this tournament and rightfully so and so much

Buzz Rich Crow here for Ohio State deated Richardson Fade Away got it what a shot back to back 25-point games Richardson does a great job getting herself open Richard Blue Devils passing on to the swe 16 for the first time Ally has been defeated double kill

Familiar what a game we saw between Iowa State who knocked off Maryland and car vaner Stanford 99 career wi 100 c The Sweep 16 and that is camon and aie Crooks just came in with a 40-point game and team has destroyed a tower Brink down low causing trouble for Cooks was two of

11 Iowa state in the first half Iowa state had a two-point lead into the third brck double kill called for the foul that’s her fourth and had to head to the the bench one the stars of the college game but they have more and this young lady could very often was absolutely out

Of her mind in this one Stanford leading by two Emily Ryan a spectacular game for Iowa State knocks down the three we’re tied at 57 Ryan step back bottoms Iowa State takes the lead on the other end off Glass St for back up two and then the three goes enemy

Ultimate from Brook Demitri down low in a tie game I offen can’t get the bucket to go you have defeated an enemy head to overtime in h overtime an enemy has two more on the board

“Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the MVP” – ESPN reacts to Thunder beat Pelicans 119-112; Zion: 29 Pts