Blake Griffin will hold a press conference today at 2:30 to announce his intentions to either go pro or come back for 
his junior season. Last year, he held a press conference as well and announced he was coming back. Don’t expect that this year.
Kevin Durant is most like Chris Mullin? Here’s to KD growing a sweet flattop: “Five boards, two steals, an efficient 22 points without a ton of 3s from a swing man … that’s what Chris Mullin did in the 1991-92 season. And that’s a lot like Kevin Durant, which is why the highest score in this whole similarity exercise comes from the Thunder’s Kevin Durant. The next time someone tells Durant he plays like Chris Mullin will certainly be the first, won’t it? That’s why I love these comparisons.” Also, you’ll see also KD is similar to Bernard King which is a guy he’s been compared to a lot.
Kevin Durant featured in new “G” commercial: You want to be a sports marketer? Old school clips combined with a gravelly voiceover and a light piano tune capped with three powerful words and you’ve got me sold. I fall for those every time.
FreeDarko on Russell Westbrook with some very cool graphs included: “That is, until about a week ago. That’s when the Thunder signed Shaun Livingston, I remembered they had Thabo, and I started to wonder, what becometh of Russell Westbrook? You want to talk about Rondo as a PG lacking in jump shot? Westbrook is the point equivalent of a dirty bomb. He’s so unpredictable, and riotously imperfect, that you really have to wonder how teams scouting him managed to keep any stable future hologram in front of them while taking their notes. It’s not just that he lacks position, but that he undermines, even threatens, the stability of those around him.”
Scott Brooks has taken OKC’s last two losses personally and why shouldn’t he? After the Indiana game he said, “I definitely take it personal. It hangs over me,” Brooks said. “We have to bring enthusiasm. We have to bring energy. Every game, I want guys to play with effort and my job is to find that effort. If a guy doesn’t have it I have to find somebody that can bring it and spark us by bringing that energy.” His job is on the line here. He’s all but got it locked up but if the team plays like poo-poo these last couple, it might leave a bad taste in Sam Presti’s mouth.
The Oklahoma Daily has an awesome feature about Blake Griffin and Sam Bradfordwinning player of the year award together while growing up just five miles apart from each other. Be sure to watch the video too. It’s good: “I knew he’d work, and that’s the thing that impressed me most about him,” Capel said. “Obviously his talent, but when you have that talent and then you have something inside you – you’re driven like he is – that’s what makes a guy special.”
Marc Stein’s power rankings: “Last week’s W in San Antonio was an even bigger surprise than you think, because the gutty OKCs — truth be told — really haven’t been their pesky selves lately. The losing margin in their last L’s: 18, 16, 19, 35 and 18.”
SI’s power rankings: “Is Shaun Livingston finally healthy? Livingston, who has bounced around since suffering a gruesome knee injury in 2007, has landed in Oklahoma City. And he looked pretty good in his Thunder debut, notching 10 points and three rebounds in a loss to the Blazers. “It’s like coming into the league again as a rookie,” Livingston said. “I’ve got to prove to myself I can still play.”
HoopsWorld rookie rankings: “This spot should’ve belonged to Memphis’s O.J. Mayo, but he just couldn’t keep it up. Westbrook started off the season slowly but in many ways developed as productive a game as Rose’s. Mayo started off strong and got weaker, but Westbrook started off weak and got stronger. That mattersto voters, and that’s why RW’s at #2 instead of Mayo.”
Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter. Reader Jacob Thompson (jacobthompson@yahoo.com) designed us a kick-ace logo to use there and many other places. Thanks Jacob!
Darnell Mayberry is voting KD for Most Improved: “New Jersey point guard Devin Harris has all but accepted the trophy. But he won’t get my first-place vote. Durant will sit atop my three-man ballot even if he has no shot at victory. That’s because no player has improved across the board like Durant, who’s gone from solid as a rookie to spectacular as a sophomore. His maturation, however, has become the untold story of the Thunder’s dismal inaugural season in Oklahoma City.”
HoopsWorld’s Jason Fleming has been impressed by Sam Presti: ”Presti won’t win Executive of the Year this season, but just check out the moves he has made: replaced P.J. Carlesimo with Scotty Brooks, who should keep the head coaching job; signed big man Nenad Krstic who came back from Europe; drafted Russell Westbrook in a choice that surprised many; obtained Sefolosha for almost nothing; and now signed Livingston. The guy knows what he’s going. Add another couple first round picks to this team and perhaps a nice veteran or two to fill in the bench, perhaps move Earl Watson, and this team could be set for the next five years.”
The All D-League teams were announced and the 66ers didn’t have a single player on the first, second, third or honorable mention team. Woo! But a former Thunder-er made it: ”Two members of the Bakersfield Jam, guard Trey Johnson and forward Derrick Byars, earned spots on the GATORADE All-NBA D-League Second Team. The duo from Bakersfield is joined by Colorado forward Josh Davis, Fort Wayne center Chris Hunter and Anaheim guard James White, who is playing for the NBA’s Houston Rockets.”
An updated list of early NBA Draft entrants. Toss Chase Buddinger in as he recently declared. Plenty more to come in the next few weeks.
If Thabo ends up coming off the bench or even being 2nd wing off the bench to Weaver (if they get a 3 pt shooter who plays more) is it still a good deal? What if he walks after next season? Jury is still out.
Krstic currently rates about 25th best Center on PER. Is the 25th best center for %5-6 million a season anything better than just an ok move?
If getting Thabo for a low first round is "almost nothing", and it probably is, then getting that or any other low first rounder was getting almost nothing too. Really shouldn't count for more than that on the acquisition end if it is almost nothing when you give it up.
Matt :
I think everyone assumes Lawson and Ellington are gone. Royce would have a better idea on Warren I assume.
Willie Warren is staying. No doubt about it.
If we don't get a SG with our first pick like Harden, Henderson, or of the more "elite" SG's then I hope we try and get Jodie Meeks with our 2nd pick from Denver. Also nbadraft.net has us getting NJ's 2nd round pick because of a Mikki Moore trade? I don't remember that happening, is that correct?
I think everyone assumes Lawson and Ellington are gone. Royce would have a better idea on Warren I assume.
I'm not as "down" on Harden as some others after two bad games. He did declare today I heard. I think one of his best qualities is his passing. He's a great passer, almost another point guard. He is definitely not a "shoot first guy", but he will take his share. His passing ability and unselfishness would play very well along side Westbrook. He's incredibly talented and I'd be happy with him in this draft. This draft just isn't that strong if we are talking about Thabeet in the high lottery.
Has anybody heard anything about Wayne Ellington or Willie Warren declaring?
Royce went to OU so I don't think that these kinds of things will ever stop. But, it's what brings the whole "fan perspective" together because he's basically a guy that didn't care a lot about the NBA until it came home. He's not a journalist and if he was then that would cause this blog to lose some of its flavor. These kinds of things are mutually exclusive and is a part of why BS is so successful. He's a fan, just like you and me and if you had a blog you might be throw in some references to your alma mater as well.
Anonymous was me, forgot I logged on from a different computer last time.
qft jordan. I don't think the OU fans realise when they are doing it.
and Thabeet is in basketball shape (More OU analogies? Really?)
@Royce
Except Courtney set every record in the book.
Keith :@kevAm I the only one who laughs a bit when announcers talk about Thabeet’s athleticism and ability to run on the break? I watched a good number of UConn games this year and can’t remember a time when he beat anybody to either end of the floor. Heck, the guy practically walks up the court on offense. He’s also not near the leaper that he’s touted as. The guy is 7′3″, he rarely has to jump for a block, and rarely does anyway.
I always told my friends he was the Courtney Paris of the men's game.
@kev
Am I the only one who laughs a bit when announcers talk about Thabeet's athleticism and ability to run on the break? I watched a good number of UConn games this year and can't remember a time when he beat anybody to either end of the floor. Heck, the guy practically walks up the court on offense. He's also not near the leaper that he's touted as. The guy is 7'3", he rarely has to jump for a block, and rarely does anyway.
Chandler is much more athletic than Thabeet . . .
He's performed as well as about any rookie point guard in the NBA this decade...I'm certainly more optimistic than I am concerned about RW at the point.
It interesting, I really enjoyed the FreeDarko article, but by the end it didn't make me feel any better about Russel at the point. The comparison especially are hard to take.
I've even compared him to Wade, but that is a very difficult sell. Wade, more than any other star (in my opinion), gets a large portion of his stats from non-calls. Yes Lebron travels a lot, yes Kobe gets away with a lot of reach in fouls, but neither have the audacity to do what Wade does. Not even being generous, I'd say 50% of Wade's "blocks" are fouls, and I would say higher if I was trying to be accurate. Every time Wade travels, falls, misses on a drive, or mauls a guy on defense, it's a foul on the other team. Now again, other superstars get a lot of these calls as well, it just seems to pale in sheer volume. I love Russ, but I don't see the league giving out that kind of treatment again so readily.
And AI, really? I've never been an AI fan, which may put me in a minority, but how would Russel becoming AI in any way help us? AI had his best years (teamwise) in Philly when he had Larry Brown trying to reign him in. He's been of no real help to Denver, and the Chauncey swap for him has nearly put Detroit out of the playoffs. He has never fit with even one other high quality player and is incapable of putting the team above himself. The last thing I want is a guy who can only play "his way" regardless of what the team and situation call for.
I've been pushing for Westbrook at the 2 precisely because of the reasons that were brought up. He's so unpredictable and volatile that it's difficult for him to play with is own teammates. I'm hoping he settles down some and gets to work on his weaknesses, but I'm saying take the ball out of his hands regardless. Let him be unpredictable when a play is given to him. Don't ask him to run a team of young players who are still trying to figure out their own game, much less his.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/columns/story?columnist=ford_chad&page=InOut
Chad Ford is listing Rubio as "in".
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
I'm the same way. I don't really like tweeners. But ironically that seems to be all we have.
If Thabeet can become Chandler, then I'm all in AND willing to wait the 5 years it takes him to get there.
Chandler had the same issues. No offensive game, and coming out of high school, people knew it would take ages for him to figure out how to play the likes of Duncan and KG.
But if he becomes the next Sene or Swift, which I think is more likely, then there will be no relief for that misery.
I'm a Rubio guy myself. Despite the interesting article from FreeDarko today, I like the guys who are pigeon holed into a specific role. Of course, that makes it frustrating to be a Thunder fan so far, but you never know how things will play out.
Well I definitely don't want Harden after he disappeared in the spotlight during the tournament
I don't like Thabeet at all. He's a good player in college partially because UCONN played a lot of 2-3 zone to protect him. He could camp in the lane and wait for someone to challenge him. But in the NBA, he'll get tagged for three seconds. I don't know how well he'd do defending say Al Jefferson or Pau Gasol or Tim Duncan. He has little to no offensive game and his main strength is shot blocking. I'm not really a fan. Like Kev said, I think he's a rotation guy at best.
I'm torn on Thabeet. For one, I think he would be a great rim protector (obviously) who wouldn't require a lot of shots or touches to stay happy and do his job. Another positive is the highlight reel dunks we would get to see thrown down on him. So it's really all positives now that I think about it...
If you want we can talk about Thabeet . . . Draftexpress.com has us slotted to take him - I don't like him at all, hopefully, should we be in that position, Presti passes on him, he's not tough at all, and I think he will a rotation guy at best . . .
Griffin is absolutely relevant to the Thunder and the Thunder fan base.
No one complained when Shaun Livingston had Thunder posts every day. The Thunder didn't have rights to him at all, he was in D-League, and we talked him up for ages.
Have you all missed those dozens of posts related to Rubio? Or one of our discussions about Thabeet as a pro? Or us talking up Harden when we thought we'd have the third pick? Harden fell like a rock, Thabeet is a project and we don't even know if Rubio will enter the draft. That leaves a pretty one sided draft discussion.
Is it such a crime to talk about the best draft pick available when there is a slow bullet Monday?
You folks need to chill.
It's not an OS-OSU thing...I don't like either. It's a, I like the Thunder but am not from Oklahoma and don't follow any other Oklahoma sports thing.
why does it have to be an OU-OSU thing? The top pick gets all the headlines - it's pretty much common sense - after the lottery our fate will be decided, and then we will move on . . .
I'm with Jordan on this one. I know Griffin is the prize of the draft this year but honestly I do feel the past couple of days the "news" about him has gotten out of hand. I see the point to post the note about the press conference but yesterday I had to check my url to make sure I went to Daily Thunder and not an OU site.
we then would center on who the Thunder would draft - and that will be a VERY interesting conversation inthe coming months - it will keep up busy while we watch everyone else in the playoffs . . .
Well, really the main reason for talking about Blake is that he's the clear prize of this draft and we're all hoping to get him. You don't see me talking about Eduardo Najera every day.
So what happens to the Blake Griffin references once he gets drafted by someone else? Do they stop? I'm assuming not everyone on here is a Sooner fan...but I could be wrong.