Thursday Bolts – 11.15.12

Sports Business Journal: “Team profitability is on the rise in the NBA, fueled by a projected $200 million in revenue sharing among the clubs this year. Total league revenue for 2012-13 is expected to reach $5 billion, according to league estimates, up from about $4.2 billion for the lockout-shortened 2011-12 campaign. It is expected that 22 of the league’s 30 teams will make money this year, up from 18 clubs last season, which was the first year operating under the NBA’s new 10-year collective-bargaining agreement and with the installation of its new revenue-sharing system. For the 2010-11 season, prior to the new CBA and revenue-sharing plan, eight teams were profitable.”

Jenni Carlson: “NewsOK.com videographer Tim Money was in the bowels of the arena, setting up for the postgame press conference in a room that is right next door to the Thunder locker room, which is only about 20 steps from the visitor’s locker room. He and others in the press conference room heard yelling in the hallway. They thought nothing of it at first; with several restaurants and bars around the court-level, drunk and disorderly folks occasionally have to be escorted out. But the yelling didn’t stop. Then, they heard things hitting the walls and the doors of the hallway. The thudding continued for several seconds. All told, the commotion lasted at least 20 seconds.”

Z-Bo: “Man, I play basketball. I don’t worry about all that. Perk awright. There’s a lot of bluffin’ going on the court, that’s all, you know. And I don’t bluff.”

John Rohde: “The players were separated by Oklahoma City police officers and Thunder security personnel. People in the postgame interview area heard “It’s a fight” and something being slammed against the door. Security members huddled briefly thereafter to discuss the matter, but no action was taken against either player.”

Neil Paine of ESPN.com on overrated and underrated players: “Defensive-minded players are frequently overlooked in the public’s mind, especially if they don’t rack up impressive block or steal totals. Sefolosha is a great example — with a 10.4 career Player Efficiency Rating, 5.4 career points per game, and fewer career steals per game than noted defensive sieve Kevin Martin, you might not realize that Sefolosha has actually helped his teams be 1.8 points better than average for every 100 possessions he’s on the court.”

John Hollinger of ESPN.com says KD has been one of the most disappointing players early: “That jives with his numbers from a year ago. According to NBA.com, he played roughly half his minutes with Harden and half without. In the without portion, he averaged 3.4 points per 40 minutes fewer but 0.6 assists more. Now that his entire season is “without”, he is taking on that performance permanently. That’s terrible news, because Durant’s one-of-a-kind skill is scoring, not making skip passes for Thabo Sefolosha jumpers. As Zach Lowe keeps pointing out, changing OKC’s painfully bad starting lineup to add more scoring is one potential cure. Adding Eric Maynor to the starting group and playing small with Westbrook at the 2 could relieve some of Durant’s playmaking burden and make it easier for his scoring game to shine.”

Darnell Mayberry: “Serge Ibaka did a fantastic job throughout the night guarding Randolph. It showed Ibaka’s continued growth as a position defender. He was physical. He crowded both Randolph and Gasol. He contested shots. And he stayed down on the majority (not all) of their fakes. Ibaka’s performance easily will be lost in this defeat. But he played his butt off tonight and provided even more reason for optimism going forward.”

Matt of 3 Shades of Blue: “As Charles Barkley says, ‘you got to have a crazy guy’. Ask Kendrick Perkins, he might tell you the Griz have two (and Ken Mauer almost certainly would). ZBo is one of the only guys in the NBA who is completely unafraid to get in Perkins’ face, and I just love it. Odd to see two ejections without any strictly extracurricular physical contact-they must have been saying some very magical words to one another. Also loved Gasol popping Westbrook in the head and drawing a rise out of him. Funny stuff. No, Gasol’s not the other crazy guy, that’s TA of course, but it was just fine to see Gasol take out a bit of frustration with his offensive slump on one of the guys in the NBA who is most consistently an annoying gnat in the ear of his opponents.”