I’m on a flight early Monday from Los Angeles back to the promised land. Still, quite a weekend in LA. The Thunder had a monster presence and it’s almost easy to forget that there are still 28 really important games to go. A couple days off and then back at it though. Plus, it’s trade deadline week!
“From Elias: Kobe Bryant (37) and Kevin Durant (34) each score 30 points for the Western Conference. It’s just the second pair of teammates to score 30 points in a NBA All-Star Game. The others were Bob McAdoo (30 points) and Julius Erving (30 points) in 1977.”
Pretty cool video as Jamie Foxx and Jason Sudeikis give out some Thunder love.
Nice piece by Jenni Carlson on KD’s dad: “The superstar’s dad could’ve quit his job the day his son declared for the NBA Draft, could’ve handed in his badge and his gun when his kid signed that first contract, could’ve punched his last time card when his boy snagged that massive contract extension. Instead, Wayne Pratt is taking vacation days to see his son make his first start in the All-Star Game. Ever wonder why Kevin Durant is a humble superstar? Look no further than the superstar’s dad.”
Video of KD talking All-Star postgame. KD says, “If [Kobe] passes the torch to me, I know what to do with it.”
Darnell Mayberry looking into the crystal ball a bit: “One of his most reliable refrains has been about his young roster. Presti maintains that the organization still isn’t quite sure of the extent of its team’s talent. The players, Presti says, “have yet to reveal themselves.”
Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com scores KD an A-: “Durant scored 25 points in the second half and 34 overall and it appeared for a minute or two as if his total output might overtake Kobe’s. A rhythm shooter, Durant had a tough time early getting comfortable in the flow, but found his shot and then some.”
And Westbrook an A- too: “The OKC guard was the portrait of how to play an All-Star Game — always looking to start a play or finish it. If there was a way to stylize a move, Westbrook put his signature on it. He charted serious aerial distance on a breakaway dunk, then later unleashed a crossover on Wade, then stepped back and knocked down a J.”
Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com: “Best Potential – Russell Westbrook: Of the first time All-Stars, few looked like they belong as much as Oklahoma City Thunder guard Russell Westbrook, who threw down a vicious dunk in transition, yanked his defenders around with crossovers and finished one move in the paint with an acrobatic lefty hanging flip shot. He will be a staple of future All-Star Games for years to come. Westbrook finished with 12 points, five rebounds and two assists in 14 minutes.”
Yes, and everyone with a girlfriend/wife should know they don't care about your friends. They care about YOU. Your job, your career. Jeff can easily be a star 3 for a team that dosn't already have a super-star scoring champion at that position. His girl probably wants this, and Jeff will want what his woman tells him he wants. That is, if she's pretty enough :)
@DJ R7
point is, if hes serious with that girl, he would much rather go to another team for a bigger pay, and be a star on that team than be KD's shadow. He deserves it. Maybe thats why KD hasn't stressed out the point of us keeping him lately. I mean trade deadline is right around the corner, KD could have came out with "you better not trade him" but he hasn't. I forget sometimes KD, is only 3 years older than me. My best friends are their age, and now that i think about it, when your best friend gets that girl that hes dreamy about, then you pretty much lose contact with him,
Greg :@gr8ball83
Green has slowly, but surely faded out of the picture. Out of all the youngsters, I believe he’s the only one with a signifcant other. And as you pointed out, he doesn’t seem to be around a lot of the other guys as much. I think this whole thing has been weighing on him, causing him to press, you can see it in his performance this year. Green wants his chance to shine, and he will get it, but that’ll have to be outside of OKC.
your right, he does have a girl now. I remember hearing from someone saying our Big 3 will big torn when one of them get a girl. Green is the only one out of main 7 players who is young and has a women. Collison is a vet so he's not considered. Anyhow Green has smilingly faded out. I'm starting to think Green doesn't mind playing for another team anymore. I mean when you find that significant other, you pretty much shut yourself away from the world.
@walker
I'm not sure what to tell you. Sure, those guys don't JUST get their points and boards, Green ALLOWS them to with terrible defense. He gives up an average opponent PER over 21 - that's all-star level. That means, on average, he allows his opponent to look like an all star when they play against him. There are only 7 PFs in the entire league with a better PER than JG gives up on average. So yeah, many (most) of his opponents DO only look that good against him. His defense, by any reasonable measure, has been terrible his entire career. He's not a PF and he can't defend PFs. This isn't new.
If you want to debate offensive value or positional strengths, by all means. But even those who like Green realize he'll never be that good with Durant taking 90% of all the SF minutes.
walker :@Keith I’m sure it’s not as easy as you think’and them same pf’s you are talkin about don’t just put them numbers up against JG.
"them same pf's", didn't we just go over this for over an hour?
@gr8ball83
Green has slowly, but surely faded out of the picture. Out of all the youngsters, I believe he's the only one with a signifcant other. And as you pointed out, he doesn't seem to be around a lot of the other guys as much. I think this whole thing has been weighing on him, causing him to press, you can see it in his performance this year. Green wants his chance to shine, and he will get it, but that'll have to be outside of OKC.
@Keith
I'm sure it's not as easy as you think'and them same pf's you are talkin about don't just put them numbers up against JG.
@DavyTheWise
14 wins as a low 25 as a high
yeah i'm pretty excited to see what happens. i think if they get hot, we could see some pretty good streaks! I'm gonna repost this q in the new thread
@DavyTheWise
Looking at the remaining schedule, I see 7-10 more losses, so long as we don't blow any easy games. That would put us between 52 and 56 wins. Though, it will be very interesting to see how the final games go down. If Melo is traded, our final couple weeks could be a cakewalk. In that case, even if we are still playing for seeding, we might be able to rest players - or at worst limit their minutes.
@Lefty
Does it seem like Green doesn't hang out with the guys as much anymore to anyone else? Whenever there are pictures of them in the studio or hanging out it seems like its a combination of KD, Harden, Russ, Maynor, and Cook?
@Keith
But, Keith, the chemistry! KD will be mad if we get rid of Uncle Jeff! It's all about building through the draft and developing talent! Grrrrr
@walker
If by opposing players agree his is a big part of a team, I'm sure they do. Every PF in the league knows they are going to have a career night. That seems a pretty big part of every team's gameplan.
@DavyTheWise
Could you actually name your child "Doctor?" That would seem to give them a headstart.
So I have a question for everyone, looking at the remaining schedule, what are your highs and lows for wins the rest of the season?
I'm thinking 20 more wins is possible... the schedule seems a little light here in the last stretch of the season...
@Moog
well if we wanted a couple of sissy boys we would have named them Dr. Quinn and Medicine Woman
If we can keep JG we really need to,I don't think he should play as many minutes as he does,but he is a big part of our team rather most of you guys think so or not.And if you ask oposing players they would agree.Most of you guys look at all these stats.Stas don't always tell a players worth to his team.JG for Murphy really dumb trade.
@DavyTheWise
*throws Davy's war medals off the bridge*
@walker
is your brothers name texas ranger?
If you can understand what a person is saying who cares.That's some real BS.Sounds like you just want to complain about anything.
I think a team taking on Troy Murphy would have to absorb most or a portion of his salary into a TE or cap space, which the Thunder no longer have.
f5alcon :@innocent
bystander
halftime last night my roommate had to ask who drake was, and I replied “drake” and he said ” Sir francis drake? the english explorer?”
ah, I like your roomie! can definitely relate
what the...
someone is using Kevin Durant for their classroom anatomy project!
@innocent bystander
halftime last night my roommate had to ask who drake was, and I replied "drake" and he said " Sir francis drake? the english explorer?"
You guys see this from Susan Bible? http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=18833
Durant says not only does he have no chance at MVP this season, but his best chance to win it was last season. Uh KD, you're only 22!
Jax Raging Bile Duct :
u guyz r bn 2 hard on ppl dis is 4 fans 2 tlk bball not 2 win a spelling b who carez how u type i mean i jus wan 2 cheer 4 my thunders witout u fools tryin 2 mess wit my typing n wen i say i think we shud trade 4 a big u shudnt dis my opinion bcuz i didnt spell it rite bcuz evry1 no we need a big to win a ship n that just bball not spelling
haha thats painful to read.
@RWisMyFavThunder
The level of language on here is fairly good. I am lazy online with punctuation, the internet usually does not need it.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
This is awesome!
@gr8ball83
Twice as long to read, three times as long to write.
Jax Raging Bile Duct :
u guyz r bn 2 hard on ppl dis is 4 fans 2 tlk bball not 2 win a spelling b who carez how u type i mean i jus wan 2 cheer 4 my thunders witout u fools tryin 2 mess wit my typing n wen i say i think we shud trade 4 a big u shudnt dis my opinion bcuz i didnt spell it rite bcuz evry1 no we need a big to win a ship n that just bball not spelling
+100
:)
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
that took a long time to write didn't it....? haha
@RWisMyFavThunder
2 masters and a PhD? does that make you a professional student?
of course, you have to catch the reference (in this case a famous book)
that's the problem with references, especially pop references -- you're never sure who will get them
I'm afraid that Royce gets me on this from time to time. He has put up posts that make references to (presumably) current pop singers or actors (or movies) that I don't know anything about, so the point sails over my head. Oh well.
Sorry, but as I get older, my knowledge (and interest) in what the kids are doing these days is rapidly diminishing. And btw, I don't really know who Rihanna is (well some singer, I guess) and don't really care. Just an old fogey. ;)
u guyz r bn 2 hard on ppl dis is 4 fans 2 tlk bball not 2 win a spelling b who carez how u type i mean i jus wan 2 cheer 4 my thunders witout u fools tryin 2 mess wit my typing n wen i say i think we shud trade 4 a big u shudnt dis my opinion bcuz i didnt spell it rite bcuz evry1 no we need a big to win a ship n that just bball not spelling
Keith :@RWisMyFavThunder
Are you British? American English is very… dumbed down, and so we don’t make any distinction in modern usage between inquiry or enquiry – and thus use inquiry almost exclusively.
No. Though I'm finishing two Masters and trying to get into a PhD program, so I'm cognizant of these things. It doesn't necessarily come across on blogs/ fan sites, because I don't really proof read or worry about that in those discourse communities. I am American, but if I get into the PhD program I want to get into in Canada maybe I'll have to pay more attention to the subtleties of the English language.
Mrs. Daily Thunder :@Loud
City Jimmy
Job? Yes. Job paying enough to live on? No. Aside from DT-Shirts and the one ad on here, he does tis all for free.
Point taken. I am not jealous of the money. I just think it would be a really fun job that's all.
@Greg
hopefully it is one of the nets better picks.
gr8ball83 :are we the third team yet to be determined that would get troy murphy and a first round pick….??
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=6144608
Troy Murphy and a 1st rounder for Jeff Green and Mo Pete? Sign me up.
@anonymous
probably why his lady friend might not want him there.
@gr8ball83
i could probably get away with hosting a party with o'baka, if it was westbrook my gf would probably throw the party.
but I do appreciate it when sports writer get creative with titles
last week, when the Lakers lost to the Bobcats in Charlotte, ESPN had a TrueHoop post on it called
"Lakers remain stuck in Charlotte's Web"
I love that
@innocent bystander
I agree, and its funny because - like - the older i get, the more these things bother me.
And also sometimes i think that i should - like - not worry about it so much... haha.
@DSYIII
Being an obviously frequent sports commenter, that just makes me want to throw something at people. They'll say it and I just want to stop whatever discussion is being had and yell, "You don't even know how to speak/write, I no longer care what you think."
@innocent bystander
like, totally
are we the third team yet to be determined that would get troy murphy and a first round pick....??
http://sports.espn.go.com/new-york/nba/news/story?id=6144608
@DavyTheWise
one verbal habit that I find slightly annoying (also a little amusing), which usually shows up in conversations, is people using "like" instead of "says" or "said"
instead of: She said "I don't know about that". So I said "you're kidding", etc.
you hear: She was like "I don't know about that". So I was like "you're kidding". And she was like "oh yeah". etc.
@anonymous
Exhibit A: Tony Parker.
Steve H :
Greg :
Steve H :Anybody else think it odd that single, twenty-somethings Jeff Green and C. Aldrich did not make the trip to LA to cheer on their buds? I know maynor made the trip. Maybe Presti gave them a “heads up” that they have some serious packing to do. My final trade deadline prediction is that Green and Aldrich go to Cleveland for Verejao, and that we aggressively go after K. Perkins this off-season with a seriously front-loaded 4 year offer.
Green actually isn’t single, come to find out. But I think it’s becoming quite obvious that he’s days in a Thunder uniform are outnumbered.
Never mind. Wife= easy explaination for not spending weekend in LA with your single, millionaire buddies.
Right, because an NBA player would never ever ever cheat on his significant other.
@Keith
The thing that really irks me is when people use the word dominate as an adjective, instead of dominant, to describe players.
I'm impressed that the guys from OKC scored 90 points in the A.S. and R/S games! That's gotta be a record!
@innocent bystander
You aren't alone, though. Between then/than, your/you're, there/their/they're, its/it's, etc, I have to have my own mental "grammanity filter" -- Profanity filter? Don't need that nearly so much.
@f5alcon
Same here, even if I was just hosting a party with my Irish friend O'Baka