Marc Stein of ESPN.com: “The closest thing to a prediction here, if you’re looking for that, is that Harden will go the Ginobili route and ultimately agree to an extension by Halloween for something less than the max. Knowing how close he is to Durant and Westbrook, how badly Harden wants to stay, and how much they all want to hold off the Spurs and star-studded Lakers just to get another title shot against the Heat, gets me leaning that way.”
John Klein of the Tulsa World: “The Thunder has plenty of work to do to make that final jump to a championship. Durant needs to continue to score but his evolution as the team’s leader is critical, too. Westbrook, who at times is a dominating point guard, needs to be more consistent. Harden can contribute more, especially to help ease the scoring load on Durant. Kendrick Perkins needs to give the Thunder some punch on the inside.”
Darnell Mayberry: “The thing that impressed me most tonight was Kevin Durant’s passing. His improvement as a playmaker was evident last year, but he looks even more comfortable creating this year. He had five assists and would have had more if a few of his passes weren’t fumbled. Then there was this. Zero turnovers. Durant has had more turnovers than assists in every year he’s been in the league. But he has a certain bounce about him now that says “I got this.” Against the Nuggets, it didn’t matter who was on him or how many visiting players were blocking his path. Durant got to his spot and made the best decision once there, be it pulling up or dump-off passes to big men. This could be a big year from KD as a playmaker.”
Scott Brooks was a terrible rebounder (via persiansooner13).
Charley Rosen of HoopsHype ranking NBA coaches: “17. Scott Brooks (Oklahoma City): Has great talent at his disposal, but his X’s and O’s acumen remains unproven.”
Steve McPherson of HP on fandom: “I, for instance, hate frontrunners and bandwagoners. I value sacrifice and toil, am suspicious of anything that comes too easily. I’m a faith and good works guy—I don’t think you get to the promised land just by deciding you’re a Heat fan. But you might reasonably ask why: Why bring an element of suffering into something that’s supposed to make you happy? And I guess I don’t know. I only know I’m not a Baptist when it comes to teams—I just can’t go for a deathbed conversion to the Lakers.”
With Brooks having been a strong 3 pt shooter, it surprises me some that the Thunder are not better and more active at that.
I still wish somebody could find Presti's college stats to see if he took / hit the 3 pointer much.
Ah, finally figured it out:
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/MBB2/B/Men's%20Basketball_Men's_Division%20III_1998_214_Emerson%20College.pdf
25 for 85 that year. 29%.
Soph. season at VA Wesleyan
http://tinyurl.com/9huo5r5
1998 season
http://tinyurl.com/8tbh578
tiny url for his senior season
http://tinyurl.com/9nqjg6z
Got to copy the whole thing, including the non-highlighted part.
Or just put in the main site and select the school and year yourself.
@CP2 @Crow
They're working for Jooseppi . . . unless he's just blindly trusting Crow. :)
He did win at Emerson. Not sure the level of league play but probably not that strong. Probably less to much less strong than the league he transferred out of.
@Crow Mr. Crow - I don't think any of your links are working, at least not for me.
My bad. that was his sophmore season.
Here is freshman year were he played even less, only a few minutes all year.
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/MBB2/A/Men's%20Basketball_Men's_Division%20III_1996_745_Virginia%20Wesleyan%20College.pdf
I guess he only had 2 yrs of elgibility left at Emersom. Maybe he wanted to get older for his senior season, last chance at team and / or individual success.
His freshman year at VA Wesleyan. The divison 3 powerhouse (I think) that he transferred from.
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/MBB2/B/Men's%20Basketball_Men's_Division%20III_1997_745_Virginia%20Wesleyan%20College.pdf
Ouch.
Looks like he played 2 years at Emerson and skipped a year. For academics or injury?
pretty strong on steals
#2 rebounder, only slightly behind team leader. Playing at a G-F.
Improved pretty much everywhere. 39% from 3 pt land. Went back to #3 on shots taken. Lead team in assists (under 3 per game)
better senior year
http://web1.ncaa.org/app_data/statsPDFArchive/MBB2/B/Men's%20Basketball_Men's_Division%20II_2000_214_Emerson%20College.pdf
Most FGAs of anyone. 2.2 assists per game.
Mini-Russell?
42% FG% overall, only 64% from the line.
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/10/thunder-waive-guard-walker-russell/
The 1st cut of the year... will Liggins and Orton survive?
@Tronchaser only 1 can make it so one of them has to be cut
@f5alcon @Tronchaser Saying it again, Lazar's spot could make 2 available. Even more possible, but unlikely if there is a trade.
Next two games are back-to-back. We already know Durant will sit Will Collison? I imagine he'll sit at least one. Has looked tired and he's played in every game so far. Aldrich leads the team in minutes and hasn't missed a game yet, will he sit one of them?
I said this last night, but I imagine Orton's chances for playing time could be over with Perkins healthy. Even if Aldrich sits, Thabeet will probably get the minutes.
I wonder if the Thunder make any cuts soon. Most teams have by now.
@Jooseppi I expect Orton to be signed to a Tulsa 66er contract. I think Liggins makes the team.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct @Jooseppi
Aside to Jax: Sorry I missed appreciating your awesomeness in person at the game. When you announced you were going, I didn't have tickets in hand yet . . . We did end up going though and had a fantastic time. :)
@f5alcon @Jax Raging Bile Duct
Contrary to what anyone else is saying, I was NOT that liquored-up woman yelling at Serge and offering to have his babies.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Maybe for the best though . . . Like I told Tron yesterday, I'm a little hesitant to let Mr. TC meet you guys. I'm afraid he'll be so impressed that he'll want to run home and create a livefyre account. Then where would I be? I don't know how I'd handle the real-life-me/internet-me and red pill/blue pill dilemmas.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct @ThunderChick2010 We need a livefyre of DT phone app to make it easier, I was there last night too
@ThunderChick2010 Oh dang! I wish I had known, I'd have bought you a beer. I didn't think to check DT on my phone while at the game.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct That could be in the cards and a possible reason they haven't cut anybody yet. Trying to keep those guys with a favorable attitude toward the organization.
I'd be shocked if anybody other than Liggins made the team. Brooks clearly likes him and he's played well.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct @Jooseppi I hope your right #teamliggins
can you imagine if we play durant at 4 and ibaka at 5 in lineups and Ibaka can shoot threes? That paint will be wiiiide open
@Thunder S Ibaka on the 3 pt line and Westbrook posting up...reverse rolls a bit, but playing to their advantages I suppose.
@Thunder S we'd get destroyed specifically on the boards and defense , I dont want to imagine that
@Lost Ones depends who we're playing.
@Thunder S i know i just dont like the idea of serge spotting up at the 3pt line routinely which takes away one of his best qualities off. rebounds.
If Ibaka misses his corner 3s,he will be the last one who goes back to our half court to defense.
@shiki As long as he is not whining ie Westbrook, he has had a lot of success chasing down blocks.
@shiki It also removes him from position to grab an offensive rebound.
Fortunately he's athletic enough that he may be able to overcome everyone else's head start.
I like Ibaka's jump shot. It has always been fundamentally and technically sound, he's got good form, and he seems confident with it. His post game, however, needs about a decade of work, and even at that I don't believe that he'll ever catch the ball in motion. I think that's a motor skill that if you don't have it by his age, you just aren't ever going to have it. He can catch when his feet are set and he doesn't have to move with the ball.
I guess if I were in charge of his development I might just put all my chips on red and spin the wheel by focusing on that corner 3 as his main, go-to move. Just turn Serge into Matt Bonner who leads the league in blocked shots. I've never seen anything like that before. So who knows.
But I don't care if it's Shaq shooting 3's - as long as he's upwards of 40% then he should shoot it. If Ibaka develops that kind of corner 3 consistency, then he's a serious weapon.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct All the talk from camp and from what we've seen preseason is that Ibaka is becoming much more fluid in the post with a few basic turn and hook moves and is developing his passing out of it. He's done something out of the post each game that has made Matt say, "If he keeps doing that consistently the Thunder will be scary." Have you been paying attention to preseason?
@Jax Raging Bile Duct initially i liked it, then i decided to unlike it cause i like my big men(pause) taking shots within the painted region. I also dont think we should give up on him finishing around the rim, he has the right qualities and ideas he just needs help putting it together. its pretty evident by our entire team of big men that our big man coach isn't anything to praise about.
@Lost Ones But just look at our bigs. Perkins wouldn't be any better if Hakeem and Kareem tag teamed coaching duties. Thabeet is the same. Cole isn't much to work with. Ibaka can't catch a cold. And previous to those guys we've had Krstic (who was serviceable) and a bunch of guys like Johan Petro.
Developing those players into a post presence isn't called development, it's called miraculous.
@Lost Ones I agree that Ibaka has the most natural ability to work with out of all our post players. And I'm sure he'll get some better in the post the further along he goes in his career. I just don't believe he has the motor skills he needs to do so consistently against a defense that knows it has to focus on his post play. I don't think he'll ever get that good.
I think it's much more likely that he could develop a corner three and be a threat from there. As I said earlier, his jump shot is top notch, his post play needs ages to get better.
@Lost Ones @Jax Raging Bile Duct Ibaka sucks at isolations, it's literally the area of offense he's worst at.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct also, we should try feeding ibaka the ball for an isolation instead of quick decision passes.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct perkins will never have be able to score effectively in the post i agree with you that. same with cole, thabeet is uncoordinated no fixing that but serge he has a ton to work with from a front facing/back to the basket perspective. look at this video http://youtu.be/pescFdOdskY he's gotten significantly better since then he has the pivot and the ballfake already there. the issue with him is he suffers from confidence as well as an timing issue. that front face dunk on duncan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pun5sBzHN8 shows what hes capable of if hes given the time/practice and help to be able to put it together.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct Closest I can think of is Raef LaFrentz, good three point shooter on volume who also blocked a lot of shots.
@justin_mia Excellent memory, as usual. Here is a quick query I put together. Your man Raef is there, along with Kirilenko, who I should have thought of.
http://bkref.com/tiny/Cv0Yb
@justin_mia @f5alcon @FreeFezzyFel/JG22 @Jax Raging Bile Duct Kirilenko has had 5+ blocks in a game 62 times in his NBA career?!? That can't be accurate, but if so that is INSANE
@f5alcon @FreeFezzyFel/JG22 @Jax Raging Bile Duct He doesn't get enough blocks. He's only had 5+ blocks twice in his career. Kirilenko did it 62 times. LeBron would have to be lucky to get all the other requirements while he's blocking that many shots...
@justin_mia @FreeFezzyFel/JG22 @Jax Raging Bile Duct I am surprised that lebron has not done it.
@FreeFezzyFel/JG22 @Jax Raging Bile Duct He had three 5x5's in his career (5 points, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals). Him and Hakeem are the only players to do that more than once since 1979. If you want some interesting trivia Jamaal Tinsley is the only guard ever to do it.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct @justin_mia Kirilenko really is just an odd player
@justin_mia Whoah - I'd have never come up with that name. I'm basketball-reference'ing right now.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct Also, if he can hit that consistently, that'll draw an opposing big out of the box, creating more room for our slashers. I like it. It's a good wrinkle.
@Tronchaser @Jax Raging Bile Duct I also like this because teams just ignore the roll man on the pnr. if the roll men are stuck in the paint, the angles for that pass become more difficult, and theres time for the help man to recover. harder to recover when the big is stationed on the perimeter. however, this is contingent on serge being efficient from out there.
@Thunder S @Tronchaser It is contingent, but I actually have more faith that Ibaka could become a better 3 point shooter from the corner than he would become any sort of low post threat. It would be interesting to see what he could do with that shot if 80% of his development work on offense was focused on just that one thing.