Baskets don’t come easy in the playoffs, as SGA & Jokic can attest | Berry Tramel’s ScissorTales

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander made three baskets in the fourth quarter Sunday in Denver.

Only one came in the final four minutes.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 27 points on 8-of-19 shooting, which for half a decade has qualified as an SGA off-night.

Those three field goals? His only makes of the second half.

Yet SGA was peppered with questions after the Thunders 92-87 victory, all about his ability to close out games and finish off opponents.

Welcome to the playoffs, where the ball gets bigger and the basket gets smaller.

Where the internal pressure rises and the defensive pressure spreads.

The Nuggets Nikola Jokic is considered the worlds best basketball player, and Gilgeous-Alexander is the presumptive most valuable player in the NBA.

Yet their showdown in the Western Conference semifinals is mostly about futility.

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This is the playoffs, Mark Daigneault said.

Its really hard to get great looks.

Its really really hard because the physicality, the scheming, the familiarity.

The Tuesday ScissorTales salute OSUs late, great Frank Parker; list the biggest brands that never have played on Owen Field; and wonder if Donald Trumps interest in Pete Rose will pay off for the memory of Shoeless Joe Jackson.

But we start with the defensive clamps put on Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic.

Every February going back, I dont know, 15 years, 20 years, we all gripe about the NBA All-Star Game.

Points are too easy.

Shots are not contested.

The game is a farce.

Keep that in mind if you dont like the Thunder-Nuggets playoff series.

OKC led Denver 17-8 after a full quarter in Game 4 Sunday.

The Celtics and Knickerbockers played a 91-90 game in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Warriors beat the Timberwolves 99-88 in Game 1, and that was before Golden State lost Steph Curry to a hamstring injury.

Defense usually reigns in the NBA postseason.

It tests your will as a player, Daigneault said.

Both Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic have had monster games.

Jokic had 42 points and 22 rebounds in a Game 1 upset for Denver; SGA made 11-of-13 shots in a Game 2 rout.

But otherwise, the defensive gravity of the playoffs have punctured the orbit of these superstars.

Gilgeous-Alexander in the regular season averaged an NBA-best 32.7 points a game, shooting 51.9% overall and 36.7% from 3-point range.

In this series, SGA is averaging 27.5, while shooting 47.5% overall and 21.1% from deep.

Jokic in the regular season averaged 29.6, with 57.6% shooting and 41.7% on 3-pointers.

In this series, Jokic is averaging 26.5, 39.1% shooting and 21.4% from deep.

The Thunder is swarming Jokic with a variety of defenses and defenders.

The Nuggets are playing zone on Gileous-Alexander, begging him to pass the ball.

The series has thrown so many random things at us, things that are unexpected, out of the norm, and I think weve done a really good job accepting where we are and not fraying from who we are and who weve been all season, Gilgeous-Alexander said Sunday.

And thats why we got a W tonight and were able to even the series.

Felt good.

Always feels good to win.

Sucks to lose.

Im always willing to take the good and the bad.

And last game I took the bad, and tonight Ill take the good.

When Jokic produced that epic Game 1, some labeled SGAs presumptive MVP a fraud.

But now that trophy seems a lot more legit.

The Thunder has made Jokic seem human.

The last three games, hes made just 21-of-63 shots, with more turnovers (17) than assists (16).

Jokics frustration has mounted, as the Thunder supplements Isaiah Hartensteins defense with a variety of help.

I know theres frustration there, Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said.

But Nikola will figure that out.

Hell watch the film just like we do as a coaching staff.

Well talk about finishing around the rim, playing through the contact.

The Nuggets made just 10-of-25 shots in the paint in Game 4.

Twenty-five is an absurdly low number of paint shots.

Forty is an absurdly low percentage on paint shots.

Ten of 25s not going to cut it around the basket, Adelman said.

You have to complement the 3-point line with some paint points.

On rare occasions, Gilgeous-Alexander has shown frustration.

But not in this series.

Hes remained as cool as Richard Roundtree.

I always marvel at his ability to get himself back to zero after every single game, Daigneault said.

Usually hes getting himself back to zero off a great game.

Thats his secret sauce.

He stays so level and humble, despite his success.

But when he does fail, he doesnt point fingers.

He doesnt pout.

Hes not emotional.

Hes not angry.

Hes just so level.

Then he just gets himself back ready to play.

And the last thing you worry about bouncing back from a tough shooting night like he had the other night, is him.

And he delivered big time for us down the stretch.

Well, thats relative, of course.

SGA made three field goals the entire second half.

He missed three shots in the final two minutes, any of which would have put away the game.

Instead, the Thunder had to sweat a little more.

But thats OK.

This is the playoffs.

Youre supposed to sweat a little more.

You want easy baskets, theres always the All-Star Game.

A forgotten Cowboy: Big Frank Billy Frank Parkers obituary called him an icon for Broken Bow Lake, Broken Bow and Hochatown communities alike.

Big Frank Parker probably ought to be an OSU football icon, too.

Parker, who died April 23 at age 85, played in the shadow days of Cowboy football.

From 1959-61, Parker was a big-time (and big) tackle, but OSUs record was 13-17 in those seasons, including back-to-back 2-5 records in the Cowboys first two Big Eight years.

Then Parker played eight seasons in the National Football League, the first six for the Cleveland Browns.

Great heart; loved him, said Jerry Isbell, another Broken Bow native who became friends with Parker.

Greatest player by far in Broken Bow history.

There isnt a close second.

Between 1945 and the 1970s revival of OSU football, too many Cowboys have been overlooked or forgotten.

Jim Wood, Dale Meinert, Tony Banfield, Don Hitt, Harold Beaty, Earl Lunsford, Jim Dillard, William Bredde, Duane Wood, Leland Kendall, Harry Cheatwood, Dennis Randall, Charley Harper, Benny Goodwin.

In 2019, as part of the 150-year celebration of college football, I ranked the top 150 players in OSU history.

I put Frank Parker 112th; he should have been higher.

Way higher.

Parker played both offense and defense on Cliff Speegles OSU teams.

The Cleveland Browns drafted Parker 79th overall in 1962; he made 13 starts at defensive tackle for the 1963 Browns and was on the Browns 1964 NFL championship team.

Parker famously delivered a bone-shattering hit on New York Giants quarterback Y.A.

Tittle.

I damn near killed him, Parker told Isbell.

Isbell had hopes of writing a book with Parker.

They talked extensively.

Isbell said Parker felt estranged from OSU.

Which is too bad.

The Cowboys have produced a lot of great players.

Not too many better than Parker.

After retiring from the National Football League, Parker moved back to Broken Bow and built Big Franks Sports Center, Convenience Store & Gas Station, the first business in now-bustling Hochatown.

Parker sold the store in 1990 when he was diagnosed with leukemia.

After recovering, Parker began inspecting pipelines and stayed in that business until retiring in 2017.

Then he enjoyed the golf and fishing of McCurtain County, where he was an icon.

The List: Owen Field wish list Michigan, Louisiana State, Ole Miss and Auburn would be at or near the top of any list of the most prestigious college football programs that have yet to play on OUs Owen Field.

All four of them come to Norman in 2025.

Yep, its quite the home schedule for the Sooners, who are winnowing out the desired visitors to fill the OU historic bingo card.

After this season, here are the 10 top brands that will not have yet played in Norman.

One disclaimer: Texas never has played on Owen Field but played in Norman in 1901, 1908 and 1922: 1.

Penn State: The only meetings were in the Sugar Bowl (1972 season) and Orange Bowl (1985).

2.

Georgia: This oversight will be resolved in the next couple of years.

3.

Florida: This one, too.

4.

Brigham Young: BYU hosted OU in a 2023 Big 12 game, but the Cougars never got to return the game.

5.

Michigan State: The Sooners and Spartans never have played.

6.

Boise State: Hmm.

Wonder if these programs have ever met? Does anyone remember? 7.

Arizona State: The only meeting was a bowl (1982 Fiesta), which also was a Sun Devil home game.

8.

Georgia Tech: This would have been a heck of a series, circa 1956.

9.

Illinois: Only meeting was a 1917 game in Champaign.

Pre-Red Grange.

10.

North Carolina State: The Wolfpack was the OU foe for Gator Bowls on each side of the Bud Wilkinson era 1946 (season) and 1964.

Mailbag: Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred said he and President Donald Trump talked about ending the sports ban of Pete Rose.

Rose, who died in 2024, is ineligible for the Hall of Fame as long as hes on Major League Baseballs permanently ineligible list.

Bill: Berry, there is a move afoot, apparently from on high, to end MLB banishment of Pete Rose.

If MLB caves, then they must do the same for Shoeless Joe.

Berry: Shoeless Joe Jackson was the Chicago White Sox left fielder who took money from gamblers to throw the 1919 World Series.

Jackson, who hit .356 for his career and is considered one of the greatest hitters of all time, was banished from baseball after the 1920 season.

Jackson spent much of the rest of his life trying to clear his name, and a variety of supporters over the last 75 years have done the same.

The U.S.

House of Representatives even passed a 1999 resolution asking MLB to reinstate Jackson, who by then had been dead for 48 years.

But even that resolution is 26 years old.

Would supporting Jackson score the same political points as supporting Rose? No.

That makes it a hard sell.

Rattler in quarterback derby Four NFL franchises have handed their reins to former Sooner quarterbacks.

Could the New Orleans Saints become the fifth? The Saturday retirement of Derek Carr means the Saints, at least for now, will staged a three-man quarterback derby between 2025 second-round draft pick Tyler Shough, 2024 fifth-round pick Spencer Rattler and 2023 fourth-round pick Jake Haener.

Shough went to Oregon, Texas Tech and finally Louisville.

Rattler went to OU and South Carolina.

Haener went to Washington and Fresno State.

Second-round picks are a substantial investment, so Shough will get every chance to win the job.

Were going to let all three of these guys roll, and theyve all earned these opportunities, Saints coach Kellen Moore said.

Well let Jake, Spencer and Tyler, all three, go through this process.

Again, well play patience, let these guys compete, let them get into training camp and naturally these (competitions) take care of itself.

Rattler was the 2020 all-Big 12 quarterback as a redshirt freshman at OU.

But he lost the job in October 2021 to Caleb Williams.

Sooner coach Lincoln Riley left for Southern Cal the day after the regular season ended, and Rattler entered the NCAA transfer portal the next day.

Five weeks later, Williams did the same.

Williams, of course, has become the Chicago Bears starting quarterback, joining Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers), Kyler Murray (Cardinals) and Jalen Hurts (Eagles) as OUs starting quarterbacks in the NFL.

Rattler made six starts last season for the Saints but struggled, as rookies on bad teams usually do.

Rattler completed 57 percent of his passes, with four touchdowns and five interceptions.

Rattler was sacked a robust 22 times.

Hes at least got a chance.

A better chance than when Carr was in front of him..

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