Oklahoma State Taking Inspiration from OKC Thunder Finals Run

The Oklahoma City Thunder are in the NBA Finals, and another basketball team is taking full advantage.

Oklahoma State is in its first full offseason with Steve Lutz at the helm. After finishing under .500 last season, the Cowboys have revamped their roster and are looking to compete in the Big 12 next season.

While the road to contention is a tough one, any extra help could go a long way. That’s why Lutz’s team is taking advantage of the state’s NBA team being on basketball’s biggest stage.

“Well, everybody's going to come over to my house [Wednesday] night and we're going to watch the game. So we'll have food and swim and play cornhole and those sorts of things. We try to utilize the summer as opportunities to bond and get to know one another. Obviously, we've got a lot of new faces that are coming from a lot of different areas. So this is one of the opportunities for us to do that.”

Along with finding opportunities to improve team chemistry and help the team get closer, the Thunder provide a great blueprint for OSU to follow. Not only does Lutz believe in the Thunder’s philosophy on the floor, but he also believes in what makes them special beyond what happens on the court.

Oklahoma City is known for having one of the best home-court advantages in the NBA. With the nickname of Loud City just an hour away from Stillwater, Lutz would love to see that kind of passion to translate to Gallagher-Iba Arena.

“I go to the Thunder games, and they're wonderful,” Lutz said. “Those guys play hard. They play defense. They share the ball. They play the right way. The people in Oklahoma absolutely adore them, as they should. Our team did very much the same thing last year. We gave everything we had. We played hard. We played the right way. We shared the ball. We dove on the floor when there was a ball that was loose. 

“We need the same support here in Stillwater that is in Oklahoma City. We're going to put a better product on the floor next year for the fans and for the state, but we need people to come support it. If we can support the Thunder, we can certainly support the Cowboys.”