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TSNs Jack Armstrong offers his thoughts on Thunder GM Sam Presti, The Eastern and Western Conference finals, the firing of Vinny Del Negro in Los Angeles and Mike Krzyzewski returning to Team USA. 1. Sam Presti (Thunder GM): As I watch the first two games of the Memphis-San Antonio series, I keep telling myself that neither team is better than the Thunder if James Harden is still there this season, even if Russell Westbrook is injured for the Playoffs. The Thunder would win the West with Durant and Harden in my opinion. Look at Thursdays announcement of the All NBA Teams, Kevin Durant along with Westbrook and Harden were selected to the Teams. OKC has three of the top 15 players in the league. As a GM, you to hold onto them as LONG as you possibly can and if you need to do a salary dump for luxury tax/cap purposes you do it after you give this thing as much of a chance to win a title. You owe it to your fans. With all due respect to Kevin Martin, he isnt even close to James Harden and we saw it in the Memphis series. Martin is a nice player but not a difference maker. Harden was a restricted free agent at the end of this season. The Thunder should have played it out for this season and maybe even another year/two to give themselves more time to win it. Instead they jump the gun and miss an opportunity. Has the window shut in OKC? No way, but when I look at a guy like Kendrick Perkins I shake my head because he looks like a guy thats aged a bunch in the past 18 months. You dont get many chances in a market like OKC, so you must capitalize. Sometimes folks Over-Think issues, which I think Presti did. 2. Memphis vs. San Antonio: The Grizzlies have to win four of the next five games to get to the NBA Finals, and I think they can do it. Will they? Not likely but it wouldnt shock me. I look at the Grizzlies and the whole key is going to be taking care of the ball and slowing the pace of play down considerably. Memphis needs to get into the power-game mode with points in the paint and rebound differential. The Spurs are one of those team that if you can take away transition and guard the three-point line you give yourself a chance. The Mike Conley-Tony Parker match-up will still prove to be a huge factor. The Grizzlies must keep Parker out of the lane and Conley needs to play at the elite level weve seen from him in the past few months. Its do-able yet not going to be easy. 3. Pacers vs. Heat: Paul George was brilliant late in Game 1 and gave his team chances to win, yet in the defining moment he allowed LeBron James an easy look. I would like to have seen George play sound and make James shoot a contested Jumper. Im sure coach Frank Vogel didnt sleep well last night having his rim protector Roy Hibbert on the bench with him. Was it a mistake? I say yes. You always make a team beat you on the perimeter with a hand in the face. You cant allow an opponent to have a easy shot in the heart of your defense at crunch time. I know match-ups were a concern yet the Heat needed to know by Hibberts presence that youre dictating to them the type of shot theyre going to have to take. Indy looks like they can play with the Heat and they believe they can yet a loss like that is the defining moment. Either the Pacers get by it and prove that theyre truly better or that loss will crush them. 4. Vinny Del Negro (Clippers): He sets a franchise record in wins and loses his Job. The NBA is a great business aint it? Youve got to win in the playoffs. This is the best available job (Brooklyn Nets are the second best) in the NBA right now. The Coach they hire will surely be a guy that will pass Chris Pauls inspection. The Clippers must hold on to Paul in free agency. This hire will set the stage for whether Paul sticks around and if they can take that next step as a franchise. This is a defining moment. 5. Mike Krzyzewski (Duke & Team USA): Stick with what works. Back for the 2016 Olympics. If youre USA GM, Jerry Colangelo you do everything in your power to convince him that he needs to give you one more run. Mission accomplished. Coach K has amazing leadership, coaching and most importantly, people skills. He gets it". Players respect him and play hard for him. Only truly talented coaches can lead the best and get the most out of them. He does it beautifully. Matt Wile Jersey . The incident occurred at 19:56 of the second period of the Kings 4-2 road win over Edmonton on Sunday. Nolan punched Oilers forward Jesse Joensuu in the jaw in front of the Kings goal during a scrum. 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FORT WORTH, Texas -- Vlad Brodziansky was quite impressive from the field for TCU, with the 6-foot-11 forward from Slovakia making all seven of his shots and blocking five others.Hey, you missed one free throw, Horned Frogs senior guard Michael Williams said, leaning over to Brodziansky after the game.That can be forgiven considering that Brodziansky scored 18 points, on 7-of-7 shooting and 4-of-5 free throws, and had six rebounds as the Horned Frogs remained undefeated under Jamie Dixon with a 77-54 victory over Arkansas State on Saturday night.TCU (8-0) led by only a bucket before Brodziansky scored seven consecutive points in a 55-second span, part of a 9-2 run for the Horned Frogs that JD Miller ended with a short jumper for a 46-37 lead.My teammates are finding me in the open spot on the floor. ... I didnt have to take any hard shots, or tough shots, Brodziansky said.I was excited. He kept the ball up, weve been working on that. He had a tendency to bring it down, said Dixon, calling that one of his pet peeves for big men. Weve been working on simple little drills.Kenrich Williams added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Frogs, while freshman point guard Jaylen Fisher had 13 points despite some early foul trouble.Devin Carter had 22 points and C.J. Foster 13 to lead Arkansas State (7-2). Grant McCasland is in his first season with the Sun Belt Conference team after the past five seasons in the Big 12 as a Baylor assistant.Theyre playing with a different level of confidence, and from what I see, you can tell theres a physicality still to the way they play and theyre good defensively, they swarm you, McCasland said of TCU. Theyre playing with a little different confidence, different composure.BIG PICTUREArkansas State: The Red Wolves had won seven in a row, including a win at Georgetown, since losing their season opener. Starting guards Dontee Thomas and Rashad Lindsey both came in averaging more than 10 points a game, but were a combined 2-of-12 shooting with each scoring only one basket.ddddddddddddTCU: The Horned Frogs still have four more games before starting Big 12 Conference play against fourth-ranked Kansas, but Dixons team -- which includes four seniors and a trio of talented freshmen -- is growing together. After consecutive wins over Washington, in a tournament in Las Vegas last weekend and then at home Wednesday, Dixon said the Frogs played their best overall game against the best team theyve played.STILL UNBLEMISHEDDixon, the former TCU player who was Pittsburghs coach the past 13 seasons, is the first Frogs coach to ever win his first eight games.MATH LESSONDixon took a few minutes after the game to give his team an algebra lesson. Some of his players didnt know how RPI is calculated, so he explained it to them. They may still be confused on all the calculations, but if they keep winning, all those numbers and decimals will take care of themselves.HE SAID ITYou get a chance to get exposed when you play a team like that, McCasland said.UP NEXTArkansas State will spend most of December on the road. The Red Wolves played the first of five consecutive games away from home, but now have a 10-day break before going to UT-Martin on Dec. 14. Their next home game is their Sun Belt Conference opener on New Years Eve against Louisianng finals exams. The Horned Frogs go to the other side of the Dallas