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Tuesday Bolts – 3.9.10

by Royce Young on March 9, 2010 at 9:37 am 43 Comments

Eddie Johnson for HoopsHype says KD will be a top five scorer in history: ”There are five reasons why Kevin Durant is one of the top scorers in the game and these reasons will eventually move him into the Top 5 scorers in NBA history if he stays away from injuries. We already know Durant is an excellent jump shooter, but that skill alone does not make him the great scorer that he has become. Jason Kapono and JJ Redick are very good shooters, but are not and will never be big-time scorers. Durant understands angles, timing and, most importantly, how to catch the ball in his range. These weapons make him extremely dangerous on the basketball court. Durant is a rhythm three-point shooter. That is not his strength, although defenders for the most part think it is.”

Russell Westbrook, the football player: ”Bob Stoops was asked to speak to the Oklahoma City Thunder last season. During that session, Russell Westbrook asked Stoops if Westbrook would have made a good football player. You’re not kidding, Stoops said. Stoops sat courtside and watched the Thunder-Sacramento game last week and came away amazed at Kevin Durant’s development and Westbrook’s physical attributes. “6-3, long arms, ballhawking skills,” Stoops said of Westbrook. “He’d have made a great cornerback.”

Which of course reminded me of these pictures.

P.J. Carlesimo is reportedly interested in the Oregon head coaching position.

Ranking based on power. Marc Stein with OKC at eight: “Take it as a compliment, young Mr. Durant, that you’re being pestered by media gnats about your OKC future all the time now. That annoyance is yet another sign that you’ve crashed the game’s uppermost stratosphere.”

SI with OKC 10th: “Road losses are the hallmark of most young teams. Just not Oklahoma City. The Thunder’s 19 road wins are the second most in the Western Conference, and that total is four short of their overall victory total last season. OKC has won seven of nine on the road, including victories last week at the Clippers and Sacramento.”

Seven on NBA.com: “The Thunder got away with a pair sub-par defensive games against the Kings this week, but they got spanked by the Nuggets in between. Two of OKC’s worst offensive games have come against Denver, who they would meet if the playoffs started today.”

HoopsWorld with OKC eighth.

Dime answers James Harden’s All-Beard Team question: “Other than just being the guy who posed the question, Harden is pushing the beard for a whole new generation. And while his beard has grown since this shot was taken, unlike some guys just experimenting, I don’t see Harden shaving it off any time soon.”

Etan Thomas and the Thunder held a slam poetry competition.

Ziller with an NBA playoff matchup matrix.

Kelly Dwyer has Scott Brooks third in Coach of the Year: “Has a proper superstar, sure, but he’s also in the midst of a rebuilding project – a team that merely moved from one town to another but was made to look like an expansion team – and the Thunder are way, way ahead of schedule.”

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crick
crick 5pts

Joe :
Wouldn’t it be rich if P.J. gets the Oregon job, returns the team to prominence, and at about the same time OU gets good again, and Oregon beats OU in a tournament game on some questionable calls…..

forgot you're from Oregon... man the speculation about P.J. must generate all kinds of strange feelings, huh?

Joe
Joe 5pts

Wouldn't it be rich if P.J. gets the Oregon job, returns the team to prominence, and at about the same time OU gets good again, and Oregon beats OU in a tournament game on some questionable calls.....

crick
crick 5pts

Rhett :@crick

The team being “ahead of schedule” is due to our main draft picks from the last several years improving individually and as a team faster than would be reasonably expected based on any historical precedent. Players may create their own reality on the court, but they can’t create a low-post presence that will get us into the 2nd rd., much less past it.

if expectations were placed too low on these guys for the regular season, then isn't it possible the same thing is happening with regard to the post season?

isn't that a possibility?

we'll see!

crick
crick 5pts

Which team would the Lakers least want to face in the first round?

take the poll at espn.go.com/nba
(scroll to the bottom to see the poll)

also, view the map

current results, nationwide:

Spurs: 19%
Suns: 20%
Thunder: 36%
Trail Blazers: 25%

Rhett
Rhett 5pts

@crick

The team being "ahead of schedule" is due to our main draft picks from the last several years improving individually and as a team faster than would be reasonably expected based on any historical precedent. Players may create their own reality on the court, but they can't create a low-post presence that will get us into the 2nd rd., much less past it.

crick
crick 5pts

Jeff Green on the other hand... so cool...

Jeff and Russell are like the yin and yang of the team

But I like both qualities.

crick
crick 5pts

Of all the guys on the team, Russell may have the most fire, intensity, and iron will... which has its good and bad side...

Russell's flaming mohawk

crick
crick 5pts

great find f5alcon!

some money quotes:

"To get better, Westbrook often worked out three times a day last summer. The Thunder claim he grew a half-inch during the offseason and they don’t think his 6-foot-3, 187-pound frame is done expanding yet, either."

hmm, interesting -- never heard that before

"“He’s one of the fastest guys I’ve played against besides Tony Parker(notes),” Sacramento Kings guard Tyreke Evans said."

and Tony's not playing right now, either

“ ‘Why not’ is how I think, how I go about things,” Westbrook said. “It goes with everything I do, how I play and off the court with the decisions I make.”

'Why not?' -- Westbrook's personal mantra

f5alcon
f5alcon 5pts

article about westbrook

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AipdT2Tx_GQ_z7xCLiTTFla8vLYF?slug=mc-westbrookthunder030910&prov=yhoo&type=lgns&

crick
crick 5pts

from the current cover of HOOP magazine:

Thunder or Grizzlies... WHO'S GOT NEXT?

sweet!

but, umm... look at the current playoff odds to answer the question!

crick
crick 5pts

another poetry slam:

Roses are red
Rubies are redder
Our young Thunder wonders
Keep gettin' better and better

:)

crick
crick 5pts

Rhett :@crick

I only say Utah b/c I don’t believe we can beat Mavs/Nugs/Lakers in a 7-game series. Not this year anyway. Ideally, we’d be #4 seed, have home-court and find ourselves in the 2nd rd. several years ahead of schedule.

yea, I know. Lotta people think that. But I like our chances.

also, when people talk about "being ahead of schedule"... yea, but... that "schedule" is just some imaginary thing in their heads. The players create their own reality on the court.

Rhett
Rhett 5pts

@crick

I only say Utah b/c I don't believe we can beat Mavs/Nugs/Lakers in a 7-game series. Not this year anyway. Ideally, we'd be #4 seed, have home-court and find ourselves in the 2nd rd. several years ahead of schedule.

crick
crick 5pts

on another note...

the ever insightful (and funny) Mike Prada has posted his weekly power rankings:

SBNation NBA power rankings: Where March Matters

doesn't matter whether you agree with his rankings or not -- it's just a good read, period

crick
crick 5pts

justin :@crick

Volleyball?

nah, he can only bench press 180 -- never make it in volleyball!

;)

crick
crick 5pts

Rhett :
Hoping we play Utah in the 1st round.

I don't really care. I think it's going to be war, whoever we meet.

It's become the conventional wisdom that we match up better with Utah, based on our regular season meetings. But who knows how that holds up in a series. Utah (via Sloan) may be uber-talented at locking in on player patterns and weaknesses and make adjustments they never could in a regular season game that was just one of many.

Or vice-versa, we may find that our guys are awfully good at that, as well. For example, Dallas, which vexed us during the regular season, might struggle far more if it turned out our players could watch, learn, and adjust on a game-by-game basis in a series. It might turn out that our young Thunder pups are quite adroit at that kind of thing -- we just don't know.

It's uncharted waters, folks. All the bold pronouncements about what OKC will and won't do in a playoff series strike me as fanciful guessing.

justin
justin 5pts

@crick

Volleyball?

crick
crick 5pts

Russell's brother is a football player.

Russ strikes me as the all around athlete type that could have played any number of sports. Football a very definite possibility. But he decided on basketball.

Unlike Kevin Durant, who is pure basketball through and through. From his physique to his mindset, he is 100% basketball. Can't imagine him in any other sport.

crick
crick 5pts

ok, maybe the best "almost without a beard" pic:

Mr. Suit and Tie

looks like a college pic - ya know, business student, majoring in accounting

Rhett
Rhett 5pts

Hoping we play Utah in the 1st round.

Rhett
Rhett 5pts

@f5alcon

Thanks for the dates. Filming Norman Music Festival 24th & 25th. Hoping to make it to at least one playoff game.

crick
crick 5pts

holy moly, how old was Harden in this picture?

sixteen?

crick
crick 5pts

is Harden not the funnest, most upbeat Thunder player? He's just got a sense of merriment about him all the time.

and since I'm on a Harden photo kick, here's another:

It's gotta be the shoes

crick
crick 5pts

hmmm... he also looks kinda beard-less here:

James in Arizona red

crick
crick 5pts

what would Harden look like without the beard?

dunno, but maybe this gives a clue:

Arizona James strikes a pose

ok, there actually is a beard in the pic, but it's trimmed so heavily, that might be as close as we're gonna get...

crick
crick 5pts

my slam poetry entry:

Roses are red
Violets are blue
OKC Thunder rocks!
Whoohoo!

:)

Vega
Vega 5pts

@andrew
He's a moody jerk. Not the sort of guy that would fit well in the Thunder locker room.

DizzyDai
DizzyDai 5pts

Anderson from OSU named first team all american. Not Thunder related, but I consider it to be big news for OK basketball.

f5alcon
f5alcon 5pts

@Dylan
The 22nd, 23rd or 24th of april will be the first home game, 24th,25th,26th 2nd home game

Omar
Omar 5pts

The Thunder need to make a serious run for the 5th seed if they want to advance past the 1st round. They do not match up well against Dallas or Denver.

f5alcon
f5alcon 5pts

@Nax
yeah first rd they said only $5-15 more then normal games, but beyond that prices will jump a lot i think

andrew
andrew 5pts

If The T-wolves give Darko some decent minutes for the rest of this year (20-25 a game) and he is productive i would not mind signing him this summer.. I know it has been said he has no intentions of staying in the NBA and he just wants to go back to Europe.. But if we could get him for 6 million for a couple years I would be okay with that... This is obviously extremely unlikely to happen but i just thought i would throw it out there..

Dylan
Dylan 5pts

Kind of a random question here, but let's say we get in the playoffs as a 5 or a 6 seed ... when would our first two home playoff games be?

I have 2 days at work that i have to take off before the end of april and i'd like to schedule them so i can be sure and go to our playoff games.

Nax
Nax 5pts

@f5alcon
Yep. Me too. I need to start saving money for a playoff ticket.

IceOrEnder
IceOrEnder 5pts

Agreed Nax. Parker's injury hurts them too.

f5alcon
f5alcon 5pts

@Nax
without parker they are going to struggle a bit, i dont see them falling out but probably wont pass us for a 6 or 7 seed, so at least we shouldnt play the lakers first rd. really id like to play utah or suns in the 1st rd

Boots
Boots 5pts

@Brandon
Well there isn't anywhere else to make comments on DailyThunder, and they're just trying to spark conversation :)

Nax
Nax 5pts

Off subject but....this is the time of the year where the Spurs usually turn up their defense and make a nice run towards the playoffs. I just don't see it happening for them this year. Which will be good for Thunder.

f5alcon
f5alcon 5pts

@Pennington
at least this year we will have at least a week less of offseason then last year because of playoffs

Brandon
Brandon 5pts

i don't see how either of the first two comments have anything to do with anything i just read.. :)

Thundercat
Thundercat 5pts

I know its early, but I can't wait to see who Presti picks in the draft.
Will he surprise us, or pick the best player available?

Pennington
Pennington 5pts

I am going to go through serious withdrawl this summer with no Thunder to watch

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