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For a few years now, the Thunder haven't been able to do any significant damage due to unfortunate injury plagued seasons. I feel it has reached the point that many people have now forgotten how dangerous the Thunder are, and this is a position that I'm very happy to find the team in. I love the quotes coming from some of our players about how excited they are to return to the court and KD's message that "he's still the best in the league". This is the kind of hunger that I think will drive us deep into the playoffs. This is the teams year to prove to everyone that they are still relevant. We have our best squad (perhaps even coaching staff) in years and several of our players are coming of age.

I know that labeling us "underdogs" is stretching it a bit, as the majority of analyists would have us in the top 4-8 teams in the league. But oddly, I feel like that is an underestimate of this squad's ability and would come as an insult to the players. Anyway, I'm damn well excited to be in this position. I was tired of all the media praise telling us that this was the Thunder's year. I'm happy that we now have to prove to people that we can be great, and that we have to go out there and earn it. The past few seasons could be a blessing in disguise.

Let's get this season started already!

We'll never be a true underdog again with this team. You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.

I dont think any basketball fan has forgotten about the Thunder. As Spearsy said, "You can't put the toothpaste back in the tube.".
Even if we were to have a significant injury, we could still be a top 4 in the West. There is just no way to make this team out to be an underdog again.