OKC Thunder Podcast: Loud Noises - episode 25; Round 1 preview with Mavs Moneyball

Oh hi everybody. It's been a couple weeks, but that's mostly because the Thunder basically wrapped up the 3 seed and were waiting for an opponent for that time. Well, that opponent is finally set, and as you've hopefully already seen across the site, we have plenty of thoughts on that.

On that note, I'd like to point out that the folks at Mavs Moneyball have been very cordial in an almost eerie way. Like, it's not out of the question that the Mavericks pull off a stunning upset, and Kevin Durant walks into the offseason completely pissed off and says, "You know what, I'm over this," then flees for a new situation. It isn't likely, but it definitely isn't out of the realm of possibility. And yet, here's Mavs Moneyball, playing coy with a very convincing "Oh we're just happy to be here, maybe we win a game or two, but you guys will be fine." That's not how the playoffs are supposed to work! This is scaring me! Tell us we suck and you're going to whoop us up and down the court!

I'm mostly kidding, but as you can tell from this show, I'm far less confident in the Thunder than my guest, Rebecca Lawson seems to be. She's a writer at Mavs Moneyball (and she's on Twitter @beccaaftersix) and has plenty of insight on just why the Thunder should be just fine. And in all honesty I agree with her in just about every way. That doesn't change the fact that the Mavericks have a very, very good coach, and a very accomplished superstar. That in itself seems like enough to steal a game for the Mavs, let alone the countless of ways the Thunder seem to be able to beat themselves.

But I'm just being overly cautious, and I promise I do my best to make the case for the Thunder in this show as well - which isn't hard by the way. Listen in as we discuss Carlisle, Dirk, and the importance of Enes Kanter in this series. And, of course, it wouldn't be Thunder/Mavs without JJ Barea! 2011 may have been mentioned once or twice.

As always, you can subscribe to the Loud Noises Podcast on iTunes and Stitcher, and please leave a review. PLEASE!