Kelly Dwyer of BDL on KD passing on Griffin’s dunk: “In some contexts, that drive manifests itself as a little ridiculous. When the Thunder lost the Western Conference finals to the Dallas Mavericks last spring, it made sense that Durant didn’t feel completely thrilled for Dirk Nowitzki. But not acknowledging the greatness of a dunk like this one? Really? Did it matter that much? For Durant, it did, because in order to get a psychological edge in a playoff series, he needs to treat everything on the court like it’s a personal issue. The same qualities that make him an admirable basketball player don’t necessarily make sense in a more normal human context.”
Scott Brooks on Reggie Jackson: “See improvement, there’s a learning curve for every player in this league when they come in. It’s a tough position to play, backup point, because you don’t get a lot of minutes. You don’t have time to really get eight, nine, 10 minutes at a time,” Brooks said. “He’s done a good job. He has to keep working, keep improving and he’s done that. He’s working with our coaches. He’s getting better every game.”
Brooks on Perk not backing down: “I’m a fan of the game and I appreciate what he did,” Brooks said of Griffin. “But I also appreciate what Perk does. He challenges baskets. That’s what the good defenders do. The sorry defenders are going to back away because they don’t want to be posterized. You put yourself in a position to get embarrassed, but by doing that you protect us from being scored on. And we’re a pretty good defensive team because of Perk.”
KD talks about what it means to be named an All-Star starter.
Better block party — Ibaka’s or Camby’s?
Timofey Mosgov on Perk getting dunked on: “No one likes someone to dunk on them,” Mozgov said. “It’s not a great feeling.” … “After my dunk, everybody said the dunk was unbelievable,” Mozgov said. “Nobody thinks it can be a little bit better. And, two nights ago … [Perkins happened.] So who will be next?”
KD in his All-Star jersey. I think that’s photoshopped, but you get the idea.
KD raps with Privaledge on a song. Warning: KD uses some not nice language.
PBT has Russell Westbrook as an All-Star reserve.
Wages of Wins on James Harden: “The numbers tell a simple story: Harden’s production is so high because his shooting is fantastic. This of course has both good and bad implications: it is good that so many of Harden’s shots go in the basket; it could be bad in that he might not be able to sustain this high percentage. Perhaps bad isn’t the right word; the point is that if Harden’s shooting regresses to the mean to some extent, his production might not stay so high. Given how high his effective field goal percentage is, this is very likely to happen. But even without the ridiculous shooting, Harden is a good player. In particular, he is a very good passer and rebounder. He has also generally been good at creating possessions and taking care of the basketball, though his steals and turnovers have been worse than usual this year.”
