Noam Schiller of HP with a panda breakdown: “Moving to the defensive end, it’s clear to see that Durant excels over Melo at defending the panda. The panda easily overpowers Melo in the post, establishing prime position despite being much smaller. Meanwhile, Melo seems to be making an effort of doing what every high school coach would tell you – sitting down on defense – but doesn’t seem to understand exactly what this means. This creates a situation in which Melo is forced to grab the panda in order to stop it. Odds are, Melo was called for a foul right after this picture was taken. Can’t let a panda do that to you, Melo.”
Sam Presti was part of a group that went with Peace Players International to the Middle East.
Clipperblog revisits the Thunder/Clipper comparisons: “If you will accept the idea that the Thunder are a couple years ahead of the Clippers in their development as a team, then you can easily buy into this concept, but the Clippers are probably behind Oklahoma City in this regard. DeAndre Jordan has been an asset to the locker room as Griffin’s de facto sidekick and Craig Smith, Ike Diogu and Mo Williams have embraced their supporting roles, but only DeAndre seems like a near-certain bet to be around for the long haul. Both Eric Bledsoe and Al-Farouq Aminu showed glimpses of immaturity, particularly down the stretch last season when playing time became inconsistent, and it is yet to be seen how Kaman adjusts to his role next season if he is even back with the team.”
KD was courtside last night in Tulsa to watch the Shock lose.
Big news: FIBA has approved players to go overseas and play while under contract in the NBA.
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on the upcoming labor talks: “So, yes, if you see this purely as a fight over a pile of cash, then the big high-stakes game of chicken is likely how we’ll get there. The pressure will build to a point of both sides blinking some, and there’s precious little thought required in tug-of-war. But if you see it also as a chance to integrate new ideas, to make the league’s operations more intelligent, well if Carsten de Dreu knows his stuff, the last good chance for that is now, short of the deadline.”
The Painted Area previews Olympic qualifying: “Reigning Euro champ Spain is once again the odds-on favorite to win gold this summer. After disappointing at the 2010 Worlds, Spain basically has the same team that rolled through the knockout phase in ’09, with Pau Gasol returning to the national team. And just for overkill, Spain decided to add Serge Ibaka, now a naturalized citizen; I guess they didn’t think the Gasol bros. were enough of an advantage.”
