Dan Devine on Ibaka and Spain: “And so Ibaka’s role was clear, and clearly defined, to anyone paying attention — if the Gasols were healthy, he was going to play reserve minutes behind two firmly entrenched national team members who also happen to be better scorers, passers and all-around basketball players than he is at this stage in their respective careers. That’s not 20/20 hindsight; that’s the application of logic to a lineup. And before he goes off and does any more unfriendly gesticulating or post-practice-buffet-avoiding, Ibaka should apply some to upcoming iterations of the Spanish side.”
Chris Broussard of ESPN.com on KD’s MVP chances: “While it was nice to see Durant grab eight boards a game — he should always be around that number — he actually had a drop off on the offensive glass. Early in his career, he would get you an offensive rebound per game, but last season, he averaged a career-low 0.6 offensive boards. The decline was indicative of Durant’s decision to play outside more. I like him outside since he is such a great shooter, but he needs to be more aggressive in attacking the rim. Last season, he averaged just 7.6 free throws per game, his lowest average in three seasons. For Durant, who could very well lead the league in scoring for the fourth straight season, the MVP formula is to get more aggressive in the paint, both by driving and by rebounding, and to improve defensively. Leading OKC to the best record in the league will be a huge boost for his MVP chances as well.”
ESPN.com’s survey of writers has KD second for MVP.
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN.com on Andre Iguodala: “The biggest boost will come from Iguodala’s ability to defend the game’s best perimeter players one-on-one, leaving the rest of the defense to pressure and play the passing lanes. This will be especially important if the Nuggets come up against Oklahoma City in the postseason. No one can stop Kevin Durant, but last season, the Thunder’s scoring superstar lit up the Nuggets for 35.7 points per game on 59.1 percent shooting. He put up 51 on Denver in one February game. In six career games against Iguodala and his former team in Philadelphia, Durant averaged 23.8 points on 45 percent shooting. If you factor in Iggy’s edge in assists (6.5 to 1.7) and the fact he has averaged 19 points on 53.7 percent shooting against Durant, he actually has been responsible for creating more points than Durant when the two go head-to-head.”
Via Seattle Weekly: “Always wanted to get your hands on an ivory leather half-moon sofa once owned by former Sonic and current member of the Oklahoma City Thunder Nick Collison? Now is your chance. According to an email sent out this morning by Seattle company Estate Teams – which handles estate sales, business liquidations and moving sales according to its website – this Saturday those interested will have an opportunity to peruse high-end furniture being offered for purchase as part of a estate/moving sale at 16 Comstock Street, a parcel of land on Queen Anne registered to Collison. Several posts on the Estate Teams Facebook page also announces the sale.”
in 2010-11 season this image was very popular in our BBS
http://i1.hoopchina.com.cn/user/125/5163125/1302984991_06402.jpg
76er fans wanted to add KD's name on it,but KD got 30 pts(iincluding some clutch points),nobody mentioned it after that game.
Iggy is a great defense player as this image and some stat show,but thunder is 5-0 against 76ers since 09-10 season.record is the best stat and Iggy never won
I like the way you think : )
At work, I asked a Laker fan co-worker and a Mavs fan co-worker which Harden trade option they would take and here were the responses:
Laker Fan - Send him to Houston for young players and high draft picks I would definitely trade him.
Mavs Fan - I don’t think Orlando would give up JJ and 3 first round picks for Harden. I would go the Cleveland or Atlanta route.
My answer (Thunder Fan) - I like either the Magic trade or Houston deal that includes the likely lottery pick.
Conclusion...
If I were asked who was the Laker, Thunder, and Dallas fan in this conversation it’d be pretty clear.
Laker fan wants a definite trade (most drastic move).
Thunder fan wants the smartest deal for future that gets most prospects out of it (including Lottery pick).
Dallas fan wants the worst deal, thinking the others are too good to be true.
Hey, my family store here in OKC sells the furniture that Collison is selling at his Seattle home. I'm kinda bummed he hasn't stopped by here and pimped his OKC crib yet. If he does, I'm totally telling him that his biggest fan Royce has the most badass Thunder blog on the planet and that he NEEDS to sign up and become a regular poster. If given the chance, I can make this happen. I'm a pretty darn good salesman.
Is it possible that we could have gotten Bynum for Harden in the Dwight deal? I know Presti probably didn't want to be involved in a trade that made LA better, but it's interesting to think about. The tough part would have been dumping Perk.
@OBoymuzik No...LA would not have taken that deal. Look at the direction the league is going to -- everyone is selling their souls for a Big. To give up Bynum wouldnt have made any sense.
@Tricia_Status @OBoymuzik I think he means we trade harden instead of iggy to denver
@f5alcon @Tricia_Status yep
@Tricia_Status i'm talking in the existing Dwight trade, where they just gave up bynum
@OBoymuzik If I have to make a choice between bynum and cousins,I pick bynum
but 76ers have Truner and Holliday who need ball on hand now,harden is better than them but he is not better than Iggy.If they accept this deal it means they will face the same problem again--who controls the ball
@shiki I'd take Cousins. I see signs of growing maturity in Cousins...just as I do in Javale McGee. I think a lot of Cousins attitude problems are related to frustrations with his situation. IF...(and that's a big 'if')...he could bring the right attitude, I think he could be the perfect big man for the Thunder. He's got Perk's anger in a younger, healthier, more athletic body. I think that he could be a "Dwight-killer" with the Thunder.
@OBoymuzik Might make for a good video game trade but Bynum's attitude should be nowhere NEAR a Thunder locker room.
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@FF_pickups I agree. While Bynum is less of a project, we already picked up a couple of big men who need work on their attitude and effort for FAR less money.
@MisterJohnsonOKC @Fuzzy Logic @OBoymuzik
I wouldn't do that deal. Bynum as a player in a vacuum, I'd strongly consider but when you factor in injury history, attitude and his spotty effort then it's a slam dunk, no way on that trade, imo.
@Fuzzy Logic @OBoymuzik True and Bynum wants to be the #1 option but if we trade Harden now we're going to get nowhere close to someone with Bynums talent.
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@SergeIblocka he had less minutes than euro 2011 but better stat(9+4.4 vs 8+3.9) ..If no Ibaka who gave team USA big trouble when Marc was in foul trouble,they had to play the Reyes who cannot do anything positive.
In team Spain a talent player like Rubio had to play a secondary role,it is the reason why I dislike them.And I dislike them more because of Ibaka.they are just like Titanic so I hope Ibaka doesn't waste time for them.
@SergeIblocka Maybe it will motivate Serge the way criticism seems to motivate Russ and KD. If Serge could develop the ability to pump-fake at 18 ft, then drive, his game would jump to another even higher level. Serge-get thee to Houston to see Hakeem!
It's a shame. Media is going to drool over Lebron for the next 5 years. KD doesn't have a chance to win MVP - even if he clearly should (still think he should have last year, based on regular season).
@BallSoHarden
The problem is Lebron is a far batter defender, and passer then Durant. The media is not at all bias against Durant in fact they are very favorable to him. If Durant wants to win the MVP he must DEMAND the ball from Westbrook more, and be more aggressive early in games.
Far too often Durant is just way too passive. its very frustrating that Durant alst ayswaituntil we are the 2nd alfor util we ae way dowbeforetrying to take over the game.
@BallSoHarden LeBron is the best player in the NBA and deserves the adulation, especially after carrying those cruddy Cavs teams for seven years. I don't think there's any way Durant should have earned MVP over LeBron last season, LeBron was as dominant as ever. Durant is going to have to make a name for himself defensively or become a beast on the boards throwing up 30/10 seasons if he's going to seriously challenge peak LeBron for MVP. The only thing that would win it for him as things stands are injuries or voter fatigue.
@justin_mia @BallSoHarden im just curious justin but lebrons the best based on what? im being dead serious, give me facts as to why hes the best in the league right now
@Legendary_Dork One of the best defensive wings. Passes like a point guard. Rebounds better than our bigs, scores as much as kd.
This is all easy to say after the playoff and finals run Lebron had. Pre post-season this was not all true.
@f5alcon "...and shot better from the floor"
KD had the higher true shooting percentage which is a far better attribute than the archaic stat that you are referencing.
@MisterJohnsonOKC @f5alcon @BallSoHarden
Please dont make the rest of us look foolish with these dumb posts. They both play SF. This arguement only works if u ar comparing a C to a SF. Its Durants fault for not driving to the basket more like he did 3 years ago when he got to the line over 10 times.
So if anything you post is a criticism of Durant for not getting better shots, and driving to the basket more.
@BallSoHarden
That is totally false. Lebron was the clear MVP before the post season. Again people need to stop being bias. I unlike most OKC fans am able to view my te unbiasly. I wis more people oulddo the same
@MisterJohnsonOKC Yeah he had more dunks and layups, getting easy baskets is a good thing for him.
@MisterJohnsonOKC ah so you were debating his wording.
@MisterJohnsonOKC is this a serious comment?
@BallSoHarden Lebron had double the assists and shot better from the floor and was the better defender
@BallSoHarden it's like during the Kobe years when he should have won at least one or two MVPs but Nash got them.
@Jeremy2 @BallSoHarden
Nash deserved both MVPs. Those seasons he had turning around Phoenix from nothing were amazing. The best pg seassons outside of Magic Johnson.
@BallSoHarden
KD had more points, rebounds and wins than LeBron (who benefited from playing with Wade and Bosh!!) and yet idiot stat guys will tell you that it LeBron was 'head and shoulders' above KD.
@FF_pickups @BallSoHarden
I actually have Durant ranked #3 behind Howard. I am a UNBIAS OKC fan unlike the most of you. Howard is great at 3 things. The probem is that not only is Durant only great at one thing, but the one thing he is great at he is not aggressive enough in trying to do.
@MostJadedGamer @FF_pickups @BallSoHarden Durant is great at multiple things.... Which is why he is the second best player over-all in the league. Howard is the third. Was it would take KD to over-take Lebron, would require to double that.. I'm also un-bias but those 3 are on a level of their own, and Lebron is on a level of his own.
Preseason MVP talk is stupid. Let's hear more stupid trade rumours.
@duhsweetness Perk for Steven Jackson, there's your stupid trade for the day
Are my eyes fooling me, or are there really only two comments on this thread?
denver still won't be great with iggy, he is better but they were so far behind us last year.
@f5alcon I agree that there is a large drop from 2 to 3 in the WC which isn't even Denver (SA). A good question is what would the second best East team be in the West? I think I would rate the second best East team 7th in the West behind OKC, LAL, SA, Denver, Memphis and the Clippers. You could make an argument for Minnesota, too.
#Miami_gets_a_free_pass_to_the_finals
@FF_pickups Bulls and heat would both be top 5 in the west.
@f5alcon
The question was about the second best team, so that disqualifies the Heat from the discussion. As for the Bulls with no Derrick Rose and dismantling the bench (Asik, Korver, Watson, Lucas and Brewer), I think you are vastly overrating the Bulls. A lot of people don't even think they will make the playoffs. e.g. http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/08/01/jeff-van-gundy-thinks-the-bulls-may-miss-the-playoffs/
And you are going to claim the Bulls would be a top 5 seed in the West?? I have to politely disagree.
Solely by record the Heat were the second best team in the East last year... were the Bulls healthy Miami might not have made it to the finals. I still say that with as banged up and gimpy as the Heat were all through the East playoffs Wade and the rest of the old men looked surprisingly spry and pain free in the Finals. #Test_the_Heat_for_PEDs
@Fuzzy Logic
LeBrick owns 3 PED manufacturing companies in South America. He also owns stock in Rogaine while DWade is currently in contract negotiations to be a spokesman for Midol.