KD responds to Phil Jackson’s criticism: “Ever since KG said something, everybody’s been questioning how I get to the line,” Durant said. “If you watch our games, you wouldn’t question it. The NBA should put us on national T.V. more, I guess” Then when asked if that fired him up he said yes and went on: “Because it’s taking away from what I do,” he said. “That’s a part of my game, getting to the free throw line and being aggressive. If you say that I get superstar calls or I get babied by the refs, that’s just taking away from how I play. That’s disrespectful to me. I don’t disrespect nobody in this league. I respect every coach, every player, everybody. I never say anything bad about anybody else or question why they do this or do that. So for them to say that about me, I don’t even want to use no foul language.”
J.A. Adande says the Lakers have the most question marks going into the playoffs: “For months, it seems, we’ve been wondering if the Lakers will turn it up for the playoffs. Time to put that question to bed. The bigger questions are whether we’ve seen the last of Kobe Bryant as a game dominator, and whether we’re about to see the last of Phil Jackson as the Lakers’ coach.”
I hear there were an inordinate amount of DT shirts in the building last night. Props to you guys! I suppose now would be a fine time to purchase a Why Not? shirt if you already haven’t. You know, with the playoffs starting soon and all.
A couple fun Beat LA picture/avatars.
Sekou Smith on KD: ”Perhaps most impressive is that Durant’s scoring exploits have had a direct impact on his team’s fortunes (he’s not just piling up points on a mediocre or bad team). The Thunder are just a couple of days away from the first playoff appearance of the Durantula era; a date with the Lakers is their prize for a 50-win regular season. As big of a problem as that might seem like for the Thunder, Durant has become an equally puzzling issue for opposing teams to solve.”
Art Garcia makes a case for a playoff restructure: ”Those who argue that the NBA regular season is meaningless might get ample support from the Thunder, Spurs, Blazers and Nuggets. They’re stand to begin the playoffs on the road simply due to geography. Solution? Seeding the current playoff teams from both leagues 1-16, using the current tiebreaker rules, would even out the first round. The No. 1 seed would face worst record, No. 2 gets 15 and so on.”
A classy move by Silver Screen and Roll on accepting Thunder fans: “The Thunder fans don’t deserve to be treated poorly. They didn’t do anything wrong. All they do is support their professional basketball team. Sure, they are excited about having a team, but I’d wager even they aren’t thrilled with the circumstances by which the team was acquired. If you were put in the same situation, 80% of you would react the same way that they have and cheer your hearts out. 1% of you might actually boycott the team based on principle. Everyone else is lying to themselves.”
I should’ve pulled video of it, but did anyone else see Rumble almost kill himself last night? That was horrible.
John Rohde doing his darndest to sum up this improbable season: ”When the Thunder held its Media Day last September, here’s what I anticipated would happen on April 14, 2010: Beating the Grizzlies would give the Thunder its 34th win of the season. Instead, the 114-105 triumph was the Thunder’s 50th win. Fifty? Really?”
KD admits he kind of sort wanted the scoring title: ”It’s not something I came into the season saying I wanted to get,” Durant said. “But it feels good to be a part of history. … It feels even better to get 50 wins.” Durant has downplayed the scoring title and averaging 30 or more points. “I’ve got to tell you guys that,” Durant said, smiling. “But it was in the back of my mind the whole season to be honest with you. It’s going to be cool to go home and say you’re the scoring champ at 21 years old. It’s a blessing, something I can’t take for granted.”
this is a pretty sick video of Ibaka highlights
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGLKt9Vkky4&feature=related
@nick
Thanks! I didn’t expect Lebron to sit so many games. I figured 2 at the most. He’s like the Peyton Manning of NBA fantasy.
Ha Forgot to sign in. WE'RE TAKING THE LAKERS TO SEVEN GAMES!
@Rhett
Hey, I don't know if this is what you're referring to, but congrats on the fantasy league victory. You team dominated mine. Sad to be in first place all year and then lose in the playoffs ... here's hoping that's foreshadowing for the Lakers? Haha, building a team around LeBron is great until he stops playing in the last week of the season.
@justin
No also. How does he match up against K-mart, Gasol (P), Duncan, KG, Nowitski, Boozer, ie, top pfs? Not very well imo. I like the matchup with Ibaka much better, esp assuming Serge continues improving. He shot .333 from 3 (admittedly better in 2nd half) and does not look strong outside of 10 feet--and that is supposed to be one of his strengths, to balance his lack of size/rebounding. I think he would be great off the bench, at 3 and 4. But if Ibaka starts, Harden needs to start as well to balance the offense.
The matchup with Gasol (even Odom) will be a good test--if he kills it (them) in this series, maybe we begin to change our tune. I'm not holding my breath.
@Royce Young
I kid about the trophy, unless it's got lots of tattoos.
@Royce Young
Royce, I'm hoping there's an actual Robert Swift memorial trophy I can put on my fireplace mantle.
Can't believe the Lakers are coming to town.
Who were the guys wearing the fake beards w/ Beard shirts that I saw on the broadcast last night?
12 titles for Phil if u count the Knicks
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/chris_ballard/04/15/bryant.thunder/index.html?eref=si_writers
@Snowflake
yeah durant's response was brilliant. he out zened the the zen master.
justin :Now that the regular season is over I’m interested in what people think about Jeff Green? During the offseason there was still some 20/10 whispers, which changed to 20/8, etc. His season is statistically nearly identical to last year. Some marginal decreases and increases in productivity, but overall the same effect.
Is he a starting NBA PF?
No. However we would be one of the top 5 sixth man types in the league. If Serge can work on the ballhandling and low post moves over the summer he and Krstic would make a pretty good pair of bigs. Free throw shooting WAS an area of improvement for Serge, but he seems to have taken care of that. Great improvement at the line. Her could go from shooting 50% to someone you could see shooting about 70% at the line. Pretty good for a PF.
Henry Abbott on Phil Jackson vs. Kevin Durant
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/14963/kevin-durant-killing-them-with-kindness
http://www.nba.com/2010/news/04/14/westseries1_preview/index.html
@4razr
It's a reflection of how far he's come this year offensively more than anything. He's finishing, hitting jump shots at a reasonable clip. He got compared a lot to Ty Thomas, who put up similar rebounding / block numbers, but he's far more efficient scoring the basketball in his rookie year. That's the difference between rookie Serge and a lot of those 'energy' PF's you see (like Thomas, Lou Amundson, etc.).
@justin
That reminds me of one of those spots on Sesame Street with the song, "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong." Amazing company for Serge, though. He has been a revelation. Can't say enough good things about him.
Governor Henry Has declared tomorrow "Oklahoma City Thunder Day" in Oklahoma. If you have a casual Friday at work, wear your Thunder gear! Shoot...everybody wear your Thunder stuff. BEAT L.A.!
@justin
I dont think JG in his current form is a starting PF, if he took less 3s, no more then 2 per game, drove to the basket more to utilize his speed over most PF, then i could forgive his weaknesses in rebounding and defense at PF. However if he wants to play the way he is playing he needs to come off the bench, behind a real PF, or be paired with a upper tier center, that has double digit rebounds.
If Minnesota cannot get top 2 pick,Sam can try to trade Green for Love.Love is a tough man,very good at keeping rebound.
@KingGondo
@f5alcon
The Van Gundy / Mark Jackson banter has grown on me over time, but I still prefer Tirico and Hubie only because I feel like Hubie is like my grandfather figure for basketball - one who just pours out knowledge and stories at the dinner table. The only person on TV who teaches more about basketball is Doug Gottlieb.
Harlan is good since he has so much enthusiasm, and Doug Collins is fine until he gets angry. If he decides to be condescending, he can be pretty negative (causing fans to get pretty defensive).
Underrated part of this series: seeing Phil Jackson get interviewed between the 1st and 3rd quarters. Always the most awkward and exciting one minute of a sideline reporter's night.
Now that the regular season is over I'm interested in what people think about Jeff Green? During the offseason there was still some 20/10 whispers, which changed to 20/8, etc. His season is statistically nearly identical to last year. Some marginal decreases and increases in productivity, but overall the same effect.
Is he a starting NBA PF?
@Elegy444
hahahaha
@f5alcon
shhhh! Shawn Kemp will hear you.
@Andy Sweeter than Candy
Now that is cool. Maybe when I walk my dog later on campus today I'll see a few.
(That's my dog walking place.)
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
maybe there was cosmic fairy dust.
so walking to class today and i saw 4, yes count them 1 2 3 4, why not? playoff shirts on campus in norman today, not including my own, awesome
It is crazy that so many people think KG is right.KG had said Boston would win 2 champions,does anyone believe?They just dont want to acknowledge KD is a new superstar.
And KD has 90% FT% this season,can it be higher next season?
It's time for me to eat my words. When predicting our season, I said 40 was only possible if everything went our way, and that 45+ wins was a pipe dream that would only happen given the sprinkling of cosmic fairy dust.
Well, I was wrong.
Whenever I see JVG, all i see his him hanging onto LJ's leg when he was fight Alonzo like my son does when he wants to be picked up.
@RH
cool, i am a big van gundy fan, more of his coaching then his announcing, but he was the knicks coach when i really started watching the nba a lot.
Classy article by SS&R. I like to see that.
@RH
I like Harlan, but I wish Tirico and Hubie were calling the Sunday game. JVG and Mark Jackson tend to chit-chat during the games rather than calling the action.
They're still entertaining though.
@Dane
Just to be clear, it's not "my site"....But in keeping with DT's aim to capture all Thunder-related articles (especially the positive ones), I just wondered why they never link Bible's stuff anymore.... No biggie, just wondered and Royce answered.
I am so hyped for the playoffs, win or lose. This has been a great season.
It looks like Mike Breen, JVG, and Mark Jackson will be calling Sunday's game. Press Release
And Kevin Harlan's twitter account (@Kevinharlan
) says he's broadcasting the Tuesday and Thursday OKC/LAL games, presumably with Doug Collins.
BEAT L.A. BEAT L.A. BEAT L.A. BEAT L.A.
@cwilson
KD for president,lol
Those comments from KD were amazing. He defended himself, pumped the refs, and told the NBA to put us on nationally more in like two paragraphs... Is his major in political science or what?
@ThunderFan
Maybe it's because your site's articles use 2001's most popular font.
"ESPN/ABC, for the first time on the NBA playoffs, will use the technology that converts live interviews with players at games into studio sit-downs with holograms of those players. Why bother? Because the technology is there."
Uhh... super creepy?
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/hiestand-tv/2010-04-13-nba-playoffs_N.htm
Rumble attempted that same move at the end of last season too. Missed it then as well. This one looked a lot worse tho.
I can't hardly explain how excited I am. BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A.! BEAT L.A.!
Lakers should be worried, thunder can get hot and are hungry and lakers got some injuries that could add up fast. I think we have a better chance of beating LA than Dallas or Denver. Unless Bynum is 100% and Kobe is MVP form both of which I doubt. Farmar pulled a hamstring, Vujachich sprained ankle, Fisher looking old lately, Artest tweaked an ankle, watch out LA!
@ThunderFan
It's mainly because I got a few complaints from folks about HoopsWorld's autoplaying videos. And to be honest, I didn't like them myself.
It's my mistake though, I'll try and start checking there more often.
DT, not to be overly critical, but this site used to pull articles by our local writer Susan Bible at Hoopsworld (they cover all NBA teams) all the time, who has very favorable stuff to say and fairly presented...but it's hardly ever shown here anymore. She does have a nice quote from Stern himself on the Thunder. http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=15942
Maybe not a superstar but if his shooting isn't a fluke since the ASB anything can happen.
@Royce Young
i think he landed barely on the mat.
@justin
serge is gonna be a superstar, if you do modern era only 3 players. serge, shaq and david robinson.
Yeah he could have easily broken off the rim if he landed on it that way. Would have been an interesting delay to the game.
I saw Rumble's flip and the crowd was horrified. For some reason he thought it'd be cool to stand on the ladder and not look back at the rim to get his distance correct. I thought he was going to hit his chest on the rim. That's how bad of an attempt it was.
"I should’ve pulled video of it, but did anyone else see Rumble almost kill himself last night? That was horrible."
http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/runninfoo/Rofl-mao.jpg
@Danny
He tried to do a backflip off a ladder for a dunk and he completely screwed it up, landing on his back on the ground.
I like this: http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=HQsbz