Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images
Today was officially the first day of work for the 2012-13 installment of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The team began training camp at the Integris Health Thunder Developmental Center, working an extra long session.
After the jump, post-practice comments from Scott Brooks, Kevin Durant and Nick Collison:
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On the first practice: “It was great. A great practice. Like I’ve told our coaches, I think everybody that’s opened up camp will say the same thing. There should be 30 teams that feel good about their first day because if you don’t, it’s a long season if you don’t. But I felt like our guys did a good job competing and carrying over from what we know as a unit the ‘Thunder knowledge’ as I like to say, in all our coverages and offensive sets.”
On practice participation: “Perk did probably half the practice, but all the non-contact stuff. Thabo did probably about half of the practice with contact. So everybody did a real good job staying real competitive and getting after each other.”
On Eric Maynor: “It’s been great. He’s put a lot of time in getting his body right to open up camp on the first day. I give him a lot of credit and our staff a lot of credit. He played well. Coming back from the knee injury he really put the time in with our staff to be in the position to open up camp. I thought he was good. A couple of parts of practice it was just like the old Eric, just going out there and competing and really facilitating the team. But he was good.”
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On the first practice: “It was good. Good to get back out there with the guys, coaches. It was day one, so just got to keep pushing.”
On taking Perry Jones under his wing: “I think he’s going to be a very important part of what we do here. Just trying to help him out as much as possible. Just like the guys when I was that age, when I just came in to the league, helping me out. Just trying to be a help and trying to be a good leader. The sky’s the limit for Perry and I’m excited he’s on our team.”
On if he’s gotten stronger: “I hope so, I hope so. I guess we’ll know when we start banging during the season. I feel a little bit bigger. And coach is going to put me down low a little more at the 4. So I gotta be stronger to guard those guys. I’m just looking forward to doing what I can to help this team.”
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On the first practice: “It was a good first day. But everybody in the league probably had a good first day. The key is to be able to do it all year long.”
On the backup centers: “They had a good first day. They played with energy, which is big. Like I said, it was just the first day and you’ve got to do it all year long. But they had a good first day.”
On being more aggressive with his jumper: “Yeah I think so. I want to look for open shots and be an option. The way teams play us they jump pick-and-rolls and we have to be able to throw out and hit shots. I hit shots last year and I just want to make some more opportunities for myself.”
http://www.dailythunder.com/2012/10/wednesday-bolts-10-3-12/
Hey @OkcBaby , some EM Love for ya!
http://gothicginobili.com/?p=4415 (3rd profile on that page)
Scott Brooks' would either faint or fly into a blackout rage at this paragraph:
"I want you to imagine something. Remember how Derek Fisher shot 37% from behind the arc in last year's playoffs? Imagine that he also knew how to pass the ball. Imagine if Derek Fisher had actually remembered how to pass -- he coupled that three point shooting with a hilariously bad 1.3 assists in 22 minutes a night. Imagine if the opposing team actually had any reason to foul Fisher. Imagine if Fisher had been a positive rebounder from the point guard position, and had actually played anywhere near a level that required the other team to guard him when he was on the floor. Imagine if Fisher -- rather than simply plugging into the offense as a spot-up three point shooter with a proclivity for taking stupid long twos and defending poorly besides -- actually changed the structure and the dynamic of the Oklahoma City offense, with more ball movement and markedly different pace."
@cemitten If we'd had a healthy Maynor then (1) Presti wouldn't have even acquired Fisher and (2) Brooks, with his stuck in stone rotations, wouldn't have even played him.
Look at these guys.
http://fyeahbballplayers.tumblr.com/post/32800676015/2012-13-okc
@novelisticbee0 Awww Hasheem, you ol' charmer you.... I mean, YOU OL' CHARMER YOU.
Yahoo story on Dwight trying to be back for Preseason: tinyurl.com/9z6k295
Y'know, it seems like Dwight is trying to come back earlier and earlier and I can't help but think it's going to be bad for him, both short term and long term.
@ou_sas I still think chris paul will punch him in the back or something in a vicious "rivalry" game.
@f5alcon I could get behind this.
*Ahem* I mean, how could you suggest that an NBA player would willingly attempt to injure another! That's ridiculous! That never happens!
@f5alcon Or Nic Batum.
Too Soon?
@ou_sas lol, yeah that never happens, just ask metta world peace
@ou_sas
well if he can dance like he did on ellen then he should try and play soon.
@Bsooreal I guess. It just seems like his timetable is moving further and further forward. It just sounds like he's rushing himself back.
@Bsooreal Kobe's still overrated defensively at this point in his career, but Iggy would be a better option to limit Durant than MWP at this point.
@ou_sas
Yeah a Kobe-Iggy-Howard Combo would instantly make them the best defensive team in the league if Kobe's knees held up
@Bsooreal God, Iggy on that team (+amnesty MWP, presumably) would be a devastating move for the West. I could see them trying to do it too. Pau might be awkward to fit onto Denver though, so might have to get a 3rd team for that to work.
OTOH, the Lakers picking up Melo would be hilarious, and virtually guarantee them flaming out in the first round every year.
@ou_sas
I agree. Its a fine line to walk. I just believe Dhoward doesnt think for himself and is most likely letting his agent make his life decisions. I , honestly, think he will stay in LA after there is a realization that no one can make LA or Howard happy. They will give him the 100+ mil contract and pay an outragous tax for one season until they trade gasol for someone ridiculous like melo or iggy.
@Bsooreal That's true, but if he ends up reinjuring his back and killing his career because of it, he's not going to thank his agent too much.
@ou_sas
i think it could be his agent more than anything. A short season or him not playing until Christmas might damage some of his leverage to determine which team he wishes to play for. Remeber he doesnt want to follow Shaq's footsteps so LA may not be his final destination after this season.
ok i havent commented on here i a lonnng while. i still read daily though. Can someone explain this point system with likes. Do i lose points if i give out likes? how many pts does a comment give you? its a science i see.
@Bsooreal
If you don't see your points, sometimes signing out and/or back in makes them visible to you. Right now, I see 81 for you. Not sure, but since you weren't really active here during the summer, you might've been missed on the advanced stat sheet. But it'll be updated soon, I bet.
@ThunderChick2010 @Bsooreal
Is there a stat for LARP? Likes Above Replacement Poster? I think there should be. Someone get on that.
@Landstander @ThunderChick2010 @Bsooreal We're still working on that. In part because while individual statistics are easy enough to measure, the statistics for DT as a whole are trickier. There's a lot of combing and counting to do, though the actual calculation is something senceandsenesence and I have talked about before.
@ThunderChick2010
let me puff up and stuff my stats (Carmelo Anthony it) before you update that @ThunderChick2010 . :-)
@Bsooreal 5 for registering + 1 point for each like received. No, you won't see your points - it'll show up as 0. You can click on your profile though to guestimate it. And likes given won't affect your points.
And we (I) invented some advanced posting stats over the summer. But those aren't necessary at the moment.
HAPPY 55TH EL PREZ, a true original and our resident say-anything pyro tough guy. Whether you're talking sports, movies, women, food, or drink, we never have to wonder where you stand.
What would DT be without you? TSN might be your thing, but some of us aren't fooled. I know all that talk is covering a heart of mush. (Sleepless in Seattle? 'Nuff said.) Also, DT After Dark would be a lesser place without the Deer Creek Wildlife and Weather Reports--often delivered from your flaming patio furniture or the edge of your hot tub.
Hope it's a good one for you. Stay out of the Dollar General, find some stuff that needs burning, and make it a Kramer day. Love ya, Big Fish!
It's fun talking to you guys on DT After Dark. There's some very interesting, very intelligent, and very funny people on here.TC---you pretty much got me pegged. Part Teddy Roosevelt, part Nora Ephron, part Action Jackson. Hope I never offend anyone on here because it's not intended in that manner. You left off political guru. Big Fish was a really good movie, but if you ever want to see another film along that genre line Second Hand Lions with Robert Duvall and MIchael Caine was even better. Life is good.
@El Prez I too am a sucker for a good Nora Ephron flick (RIP, Nora). "My Blue Heaven" is a sleeper favorite. Happy Birthday. Free likes.
This comment has been deleted
@Barry Amenema @ou_sas
We all know now that you're a nerd, Barry Amnesia. (Troll said so.)
:)
@ThunderChick2010 @MisterJohnsonOKC @El Prez No, it isn't.
@ThunderChick2010 @ou_sas If you two keep this up....El Prez will never have time to scroll down to my Birthday wishes...(hey, I need all the TSN cred I can get)
@ou_sas @MisterJohnsonOKC @El Prez
Is too.
@ThunderChick2010 @MisterJohnsonOKC @El Prez No, it isn't. :)
@ou_sas @MisterJohnsonOKC @El Prez
I think disagreement for the sake of disagreement is his meme. :)
@MisterJohnsonOKC @El Prez Wait a minute, with which part? It's not fun talking to people on DT After Dark? Life isn't good? EX-PLAIN. EX-PLAIN!!!
/Dalek'd
@ThunderChick2010 This is how I imagine El Prez: http://memegenerator.net/instance/27757166
@ou_sas @ThunderChick2010
i know have a new site to play with........ thank you.
@ThunderChick2010 @Bsooreal True story. :)
@ou_sas @Bsooreal
http://www.theonion.com/articles/48hour-internet-outage-plunges-nation-into-product,779/
@Bsooreal @ThunderChick2010 I aim to destroy productivity.
Wait, that's not right. Let me try again.
I aim to please.
There we go.
@ThunderChick2010 Happy Birthday, by the way. Always enjoy reading your posts with movie reviews, restaurant reviews, or general tales of your adventures. And I'm looking forward to your big reveal on your TSN top ten, as well as the inner workings behind the ranking system.
@ThunderChick2010 As long as you know the variable input, and the function is internally consistent, that's fine by me.
@ou_sas
I fear the inner working behind the ranking system are heavily influenced by his nightly beverage-of-choice. :)
Now I see CP2's strategy, he posts commments, gets bunches of likes, then deletes the comments and keeps the likes. He's messing up cleandoes chart!
@EatSleepThunder 150 likes... 0 comments? YOU CAN'T DIVIDE BY 0. HIS EP% IS INFINITE. WHAT IS HAPPENING?!
@ou_sas @EatSleepThunder
Okay, I'm hearing Rod Serling's take on your situation: Meet ou_sas. You're looking at a man whose numbers no longer fit neatly into designated cells. A man with nothing to divide by. A man whose extrapolations have landed him squarely in . . . the twilight zone.
@ou_sas @EatSleepThunder
I don't get it, CP2. You're deleting your posts because there's an overabundance of articulate, on-topic comments and you don't want to crowd out the others? :) Maybe it's some strange DT-commitment social anxietey/phobia? Perhaps Darnell could write an article about you . . .
Hey guys, I subscibed to NBA League pass today. Has anybody else got it and is it any good quality wise?
@YoniFromIsrael I used it a couple of seasons ago, and agree you will enjoy good quality if you have a good broadband connection. However, living in OKC pre-empted me from watching the Thunder (blackout rules,etc.)...so it ended up not being a good value for me. Enjoy...also, glad to hear you're coming to OKC. Make a point to visit the Bombing Memorial.
@YoniFromIsrael the NBA League Pass International is really good glad you suscribed this year
@YoniFromIsrael I have it too, but mine is the international version and I find it works fine. I hook it up to my 42 inch TV and it looks pretty crisp. I think as long as you get good connection speeds you'll be fine.
@Stringer Bell Yes that the most important thing. I decided it was worth the 150 dollars. I cant stand another season with the free connection websites (although some were actually not to bad)
@YoniFromIsrael Not sure about internationally, but in the US I stayed up for almost every game. Nice quality here, but I think I heard some complaints about it from some people in other countries. Not sure though, but I hope it works for you.
@EatSleepThunder Our internet connection is one of the best in Europe so i dont think that'll be a problem especially because we here are seven hours ahead and the traffic is at its lowest at 3 am (your 7 pm) Thanks
@Sergio Santos God willing
@YoniFromIsrael @EatSleepThunder The quality is very good. You will enjoy watching a very good season :)