Wednesday Bolts – 9.19.12

Aaron McGuire of Gothic Ginobili on Cole Aldrich: “It’s hard to find much to say about Cole Aldrich, all things considered. It’s not that he’s an awful player, but he’s certainly not a good one — for a 3-year college player that came into the NBA at the age of 22, he’s awfully unpolished. His freshman season was notable mostly in how ridiculously bad he looked — just a terrible fit on the court, seemingly several hundred steps slow on defense and several dozen steps lacking on offense. He posted a freshman PER of 7.0 and it felt a hell of a lot worse than that. Last season he had a PER of 17.7 (and a PER of 19.8 in the postseason), but I’m hesitant to really assess much value from that. First off, he was playing against busted competition — the Thunder blew out a hell of a lot of teams last year, and the vast majority of Aldrich’s minutes came in garbage time during blowout wins. In fact, the Thunder went 25-6 in the 31 games that Aldrich saw the floor last year. Kind of skews the picture a bit. What’s worse is that not only did he virtually only play in wins against poor late-game competition, he also managed to be part of bench units that were incredibly awful.”

Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on KD, who finishes ranked second: “Durant has become a force only topped by our No.1 player (you know who), and he’s just 23 years of age, 24 when the season begins. He’s just getting started and he’s already accomplished so much. To say the sky’s the ceiling gives the sky too much credit for its altitude. He’s no longer on his way. Kevin Durant has arrived. The only question is whether he can become great enough to claim this time as his own.”

Cool time lapse of OKC.

Thanks, BDL.

Zach Lowe formerly of SI.com on Derek Fisher’s Hall of Fame chances: ” Only because it will come up: No. Fisher has hit some monstrous shots en route to five titles with the Lakers, including the 0.4 shot against San Antonio, the tying and clinching shots in Game 5 of the 2009 Finals and an improbable series of baskets late in Game 3 of the 2010 Finals in Boston to swing that game — and that series. And there is precedent, in the form of K.C. Jones and others, for letting in low-scoring members of dynastic teams. But Fisher was a limited role player on two mini-dynasties set apart by a half-dozen seasons, and he has been a below-average player his entire career. And just to reiterate: Bernard King is not in the Hall of Fame. Fisher’s had a nice career and his stewardship of the players’ union will win him gravitas points, but he’s not a Hall of Famer.”

Perk didn’t make the NBA’s most terrifying list.

David Thorpe of ESPN.com on big men: “When a team drafts a big man in the top 10, the hope is he becomes that coveted “franchise center” most teams believe they must have in order to win an NBA title. Indeed, unless a team is blessed with top-flight wing players as the Oklahoma City Thunder and Miami Heat are, a featured and prodigiously productive center is typically one of the necessary components for a franchise to return to relevance.”

Perry Jones in a Q&A: “A Big Five? That’s a big deal (laughs). Pretty much just work hard and learn from Kevin. We’re sort of the same size, sort of the same skill sets. He’s just at a much better level. So definitely learn from him on the offensive end and being able to guard him on defense every day, or trying to guard him on defense every day, is gonna help me defensively. Hopefully I’ll be able to do a lot for the team.”

Jeff Miller of the O.C. Register on Scott Brooks: “The Lakers power forward, however, shouldn’t feel special. Perkins is quite open and generous when it comes to being ornery. “He gives us an edge,” Brooks said. “He hates his opponent. He’s not happy unless he’s unhappy. His teammates love him. He’s always in a bad mood. I love guys who go out on the court and compete. He’s not shaking hands and trying to be buddy buddy. He respects them, but he’s going to try to beat them and then move on.” So, this is what the Lakers are up against, even if so many of us are convinced the rest of the NBA is up against it. “There are a lot of good teams in the league,” Brooks said. “We just can’t focus on how good the Lakers are going to be.” That’s for the rest of us to focus on. Scott Brooks, nice guy, great guy, just months removed from the NBA Finals, is focused on something much larger.”