Berry Tramel on Harden’s market: “James Harden made the U.S. Olympic basketball team, which certainly is great for the status of the Thunder and Oklahoma City, not to mention Mr. Harden himself. But will Harden’s inclusion on the exclusive squad eventually cost the Thunder? Does being an Olympian — being grouped with the likes of LeBron and Kobe and Durant and CP3 — drive up the price tag for Harden’s next contract? That’s the ultimate question about Harden, who until Oct. 31 can sign an extension with the Thunder, but otherwise would become a restricted free agent next off-season. And the answer is no. The Olympic selection will not drive up Harden’s price tag. Harden’s price tag already is at its limit. The Olympic selection is a sign that Harden’s value already is at the max. The Olympic selection is not setting the market; it’s just following the market.”
Bradford Doolittle for ESPN.com on Big Threes: “Oklahoma City’s Big Three was every bit as potent, especially on offense, and it was an organic group of players plucked from the upper rungs of the NBA’s lottery ladder. Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden have grown together quickly, making the Thunder the hot pick to dominate the West for the foreseeable future. With the Heat and Thunder poised to contend for the crown the next few years, it’s no wonder that teams are scrambling to assemble big threes of their own.”
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com on OKC’s Big Three: “This is the current runner-up and favorite to overtake Miami’s big three down the line. But don’t expect it to happen anytime soon. Not because the Thunder’s three-headed monster will be broken up in the near future, but because the Heat’s three are just that good. This trio is so young that the oldest player (Durant) is younger than every player in the rest of the top seven. The sky’s the limit.”
A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com: “Perry Jones III has got some serious skills for the Thunder. There’s no way this kid should have been a late 1st round pick.”
Vince Goodwill of the Detroit News: “Perry Jones III is beyond smooth…easily impressing me thus far.”
Brett Koremenos for The Post Game on Westbrook for Team USA: “For Westbrook to play often, he will have to relish a role as a defensive stopper. At 6-3 and one of the best athletes in the NBA, Westbrook has always had the potential to be an elite defensive player. But with the Thunder, he is asked to expend quite a bit of energy on the offensive end of the floor as a primary creator and his defensive presence has never materialized because of it. Expect Coach K to implore Westbrook to spend his time with Team USA expending his limitless energy pressuring opposing guards up and down the floor. If he can adopt a similar role that Avery Bradley did for the Celtics this past NBA season, Team USA’s opponents will be in a world of hurt.”
KD says Blake Griffin had a “power layup.”
From a site chronicling an epic road trip, Oh Now We’re In The South, a stop in OKC: “The starters got ready for the tip and said what up to each other while Rumble the Bison, the Thunder Mascot, banged a big drum at mid court to get everyone even louder and keep the crowd on their feet until the first made basket. The fans obliged, sitting down after a driving Serge Ibaka dunk. Oklahoma City felt more like the NCAA tournament games I watched in the skybox than the Mavericks game itself. The crowd felt like a 15,000 member student section.”
Matt Tolnick of HoopsHype wants to change the charge: “Perhaps defenders could be required to maintain a more formal defensive position before drawing an offensive foul, as opposed to cupping one’s nether region with two hands, as if he were setting a screen. Defensive players could be required to have their hands up, or to be crouched in a defensive stance, or both. Under today’s rules, defenders seeking to draw offensive fouls appear more concerned with getting planted and selling the contact than actually doing anything that would practically defend the offensive player’s move.”
Kobe says Westbrook could be Team USA’s Wade: “One of the things that D-Wade brought to our team in Beijing was he created extra possessions for us,” Bryant said. “He shot the passing lanes extremely well. He got a great amount of steals, which created a lot of easy run outs for us, and Russell’s just as good at that.”
Larry Coon doesn’t have any amnesty candidates for OKC.
Sam Amick of SI.com says Derek Fisher could still return to OKC, but Cleveland is the frontrunner with the Nets and Dallas close behind.
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com on Perry Jones: “You would understand if Perry Jones never wanted to hear the word “motor” again, much less use it himself. Motor, or lack thereof, was one of the reasons Jones was the biggest slider on draft day, all the way down to the 28th pick, by the Oklahoma City Thunder. The concept that Jones didn’t play with consistent energy was as big of a negative mark on his scouting report as an old knee issue that concerned some teams. But in his first foray with the Thunder on Monday at the Orlando Summer League, Jones was throwing around the word in casual conversation. So were his teammates when talking about him. Motor this and motor that.”
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com on parity: “What I don’t understand is why an owner would want to aid the process through trades. We keep hearing about teams afraid of losing their star and getting nothing in return. In the NBA system, nothing is something. “Nothing” can amount to room under the salary cap. Didn’t the Atlanta Hawks garner praise for accumulating expiring contracts for Joe Johnson and Marvin Williams?”
Can we just go ahead and nickname PJ3 "The Motor"?
T-shirts coming soon.
Maynors not as easy to replace as some like to think:)
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/07/summer-school-game-2-grades/#comments
and
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/07/grant-hill-considering-thunder-heat-and-lakers/#comments
@ou_sas making up for the late bolt, I see
@ou_sas
Royce and DT have a good motor today.
@ThunderChick2010 @ou_sas mercedes?
@ThunderChick2010 @ou_sas now that you are here, started slow this morning
@f5alcon @ou_sas
Morning work schedule is interfering with my DT life . . .
anybody here a former or continuing spurs fan? anyone a former or continuing spurstalk.com regular? just curious. that board is pretty free-flowing.
@Crow TD will always be my favorite player of all time and the reason I was attracted to the NBA in the first place
@FREE_COLE that adds depth to your profile and adds my respect
@Crow Used to be a big Spurs fan David Robinson era. He was Navy, I was Navy... blah blah blah.
@Tronchaser good guy to be a fan of, if you don't need theatrics
Definitely changing my mind on Lat Will after today. I know its just summer league, but I loved the motor he played with.
@dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! oh god. not motor again
@cleandoe @dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! motor is a good term is you're using it as a positive...stupid if you're trying to give an excuse on why a player hasn't lived up to expectations
@OBoymuzik @cleandoe @dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! who has good motor? who has good motorhead? ...
@cleandoe @dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! if*
@cleandoe @dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! motor is too vague. who is a really good fuel injector? who has the highest rpm? most torque? most torque per hp? who has the dialed in supercharger?
Why is Cole not getting more shots? This is not meant to be an excuse for his bad play, b/c it sounds like his defense and rebounding are not good. It just seems like he would have gotten more than 6 shots in the 40ish minutes he has played. Is he not getting open or does the ball only go to the post via a shot from the perimeter.
@bsdpm He also is pretty point guard reliant. Him posting up is an ok option but not really the best. His rebounding wasn't bad, defense was suspect today but I'd argue if you take away the fouls it was fine. The people who think Cole is suddenly the worst are just a very vocal group
@FREE_COLE @bsdpm Expectations for Cole are different now than they were just a few weeks ago. Before, loveable bench celebration guy. Now, backup center expected to be better than rookie/summer league guys.
Of course he's gonna gather the ire of the teeming hoards of Thunder fanatics.. which if you are posting on this board, you are a fanatic.
@f5alcon @Tronchaser maybe
@f5alcon @Tronchaser baby blue last looked good on jordan / worthy
@f5alcon @Tronchaser i see. maybe orange lightning would be appropriate add for contrast.
no baby blue for you.
thunder blue is half way between duke blue for aubrey and carolina or laker blue for whoever likes that
@Crow @Tronchaser Nothing too big really I just want something with red lightening and thunder logo, I have a red/black theme with my car, I have a '12 focus nothing that screams custom paint job.
@ThunderChick2010 @Tronchaser @FREE_COLE @bsdpm reamers vs dreamers... the classic contrast / showdown
@f5alcon @Tronchaser as in what level of size and what kind of ride?
@ThunderChick2010 @Tronchaser @FREE_COLE @bsdpm when y'all start breeming get out the fishing poles
@Tronchaser @bsdpm I mean kinda. As the front runner of the Cole train, my expectations have not changed at all. People want all of our guys to be world beaters and that's just not gonna happen. My goal from the very start, especially for a back up center who will see at most, 12-14 minutes a night, was to be servicable. From what we've seen so far, I haven't seen anything to suggest he can't be that. The foul rate can be troubling but the refs are calling lots because this is a glorified rookie camp. He is setting some very very effective screens, rotating up. He's also slow footed and could use some work on his conditioning. But for a guy who is gonna play maybe 8 minutes, those problems aren't the eye sores people think they are.
It's not about evaluating what he's showing now in 30 minutes, it's about what positives and negatives he's showing examined under the time of 8 minutes in a much more structured environment.
It's especially more apparent when you consider his position. He's a center whose strength is not in posting up but in the screen and roll. He's playing in a summer league game, with players he's now played with a grand total of 3 days. You can't expect them to use a system when they just haven't had the time to build to that. Summer league will primarily be a guard showcase unless you're the real focus of development, like say Drummond is right now. Look at what Lance Stephenson just did. Look at how RJ played. That's the rule, not the exception. Expecting Cole to come out and do more is a logical failing that places expectations outside the real world.
And hat's the thing that is bugging me. Out of everyone, seems like my expectations are the most tempered, and i'm the supposed obsessed stalker fan boy
@Tronchaser I am a fanatic, i am trying to get custom thunder graphics for my car
@Tronchaser @FREE_COLE @bsdpm
I like that we're teeming too.
@bsdpm Two words: Reggie Jackson.
@ou_sas @bsdpm should reggie mainly play with lots of starters and just be like westbrook? fairly hard to do but could be done. let maynor play the maynor role for the maynor desired minutes.
@Crow @bsdpm I have a feeling they were torn between whether they wanted Maynor to be the long term backup - with a safer style of play - or someone who could run the offense like Westbrook did. The signing of Fisher might point towards their preference for "game manager" rather than "Offensive force" in their ideal backup point guard. That's just my conjecture from the outside looking in.
@ou_sas @bsdpm what do Presti and Brooks actually want him to be? is it the right thing? is it realistic? what is it?
@Crow @bsdpm RJ just seems to be guilty of everything that people accuse Westbrook of being - a ball hog who doesn't pass when he should. Maybe it's the summer league - get your own mentality, but it just seemed like today he wasn't doing a good job getting the rest of the team involved.
@ou_sas @bsdpm rj is not eric and probably won't be
I was a bit too low in my guess what danny green would get paid. san antonio must have had some decent competiition. or they may end up trading him and might have wanted a higher resale value.
http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/23264489.jpg
@Tronchaser http://gifsoup.com/view/3918898/yes-no.html
@Tronchaser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loaeCbPXT6k
@dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! @Tronchaser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oawUi9s3ENE&
A DRYING PAN
@dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! @Tronchaser So many one liners I totally missed that are just horrendously awesome
@dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! @Tronchaser http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M68i7ray2Qo
@FREE_COLE @Tronchaser I was just thinking of that one. God I can't believe how stupid I was when I was younger haha
Breaking news. Darnell just reported that Grant Hill won't sign in OKC.
Just checking in . . . Is it safe to read the Bolts today?
@ThunderChick2010 Ummm.... probably not.
@Tronchaser @ThunderChick2010 i vary whether i want safe or not. i generally am not looking for a "clubhouse" but if it is happening, maybe go all the way...
@Crow @Tronchaser
Are you wanting in, Crow? I recall that you ARE our "migraine-inducing stat guy" or something like that. :)
@Tronchaser
Well now I GOTTA read them!
@FREE_COLE @Tronchaser
Love the courtsense . . . just don't think he's enough of a looser.
@ThunderChick2010 @Tronchaser I think Courtsense could have a case. We do need a spokesperson for us unedumacated people
@ThunderChick2010 @FREE_COLE @Tronchaser uh oh the trolls are unionizing or something
@dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! @FREE_COLE @Tronchaser
You qualify just on the basis of your Journey fixation. :)
@ThunderChick2010 @FREE_COLE @Tronchaser Uncle Jeff for President!!!! I mean...uh...yeah... I'm in
@ThunderChick2010 @FREE_COLE I profess peanut gallery status.
@FREE_COLE @Tronchaser
So . . . it looks like we've got myself (idiotic, aggie, and peanut gallery), you (Cole-obsessed stalker), ou_sas (STUPID), bmuelle21 (the original poser), Jooseppi (for living in a make-believe world and being an e-rent-a-cop), and Mr. Raysian (self-admitted idiot). Courtsense petitioned for admittance to the peanut gallery, but was denied on the basis of high basketball IQ. Looks like we've got adherents in dancassidy35 and Tronchaser. Are they in?
@dancassidy35/FreeFestusFromGSW! @ThunderChick2010 @Tronchaser lulululullu
@ThunderChick2010 @FREE_COLE @Tronchaser A club member!! All hail the magic conch!
@ThunderChick2010 @FREE_COLE @Tronchaser The infighting has been kept to a minimum today - mainly because everybody knew we were going to throw down.
That and everybody felt the need to let everybody know what Darnell was tweeting.
@ThunderChick2010 @Tronchaser of course! see how generous the likes are here?! That's our sign
@FREE_COLE @Tronchaser
Are you referring to our club? :)
@ThunderChick2010 @Tronchaser more in game trolling, collective darnell trolling. It was a good day for our idiot crew