From Elias: “Russell Westbrook scored 23 points and Kevin Durant added 22 in the Thunder’s 104-92 win at Toronto. It was the fifth consecutive game in which both Westbrook and Durant scored at least 20 points. They had two such streaks of at least five games last season. Only two other pairs of teammates did so even once during that time: Kobe Bryant and Andrew Bynum (5 games last season) and Stephen Curry and David Lee (5 games last month).”
Marc Stein’s power rankings: “Tough to move the Thunder up after the shock of (A) OKC getting spanked at home by the Nets and (B) Kevin Durant getting ejected near the end of that spanking. Can’t get too worked up about it, though, when KD & Co. are 17-3 in their last 20 games and 23-1 when they score 100 points.”
NBA.com’s: “Reggie Jackson is the back-up point guard du jour for the Thunder. Individually, he’s played better than Eric Maynor, but the Thunder’s efficiency numbers are better with Maynor on the floor. As long as Russell Westbrook is scoring as efficiently as he has the last five games (25.6 points per game on 52 percent shooting), the identity of his backup doesn’t matter much.”
Darnell Mayberry: “One thing I love about Reggie Jackson: the way he barks instructions. He’s the most vocal point guard on the team. Westbrook doesn’t call out orders like Jackson, and neither does Eric Maynor. Westbrook’s calling the play one time. If you don’t get it, sorry for ya. Maynor does a little better but still is not great. Jackson? He’s shouting instructions and pointing all over the place. If you never saw him cross the 3-point line, you’d say ‘Now that’s what a point guard looks like.’”‘
Darnell Mayberry on the rise of Serge Ibaka: “Ibaka’s recent rebound rate perhaps provides the blueprint for how he might someday reach his still unfathomable ceiling. Though he’s polished his post game, mid-range jumper and 3-point shot, Ibaka still must take a backseat on offensive to Durant, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Martin. But as we’ve seen over the past three weeks, Ibaka is more than capable making an impact with hustle plays that lead to points off putbacks. And while pleased with his development, Ibaka still isn’t satisfied.”
KD tweets: “3 techs in 3 games, not like me…@kendrickperkins is a bad influence on my life lol jk..I will be better, sorry guys”
David Aldridge of NBA.com: “Thunder will make up for a light road schedule so far with 10 of their next 12 games on the road, including three trips to Staples Center — two games against the Lakers, one against the Clippers — along with games at Portland, Denver and Golden State before the end of January.”
Raptors Republic: “This just in: Kevin Durant is really, really, really good. He just adds more to his game every year. This will be his league sooner than later.”
Watching the 60 Minutes feature on FC Barcelona sort of in a roundabout way made me think about the Thunder. Their motto is “Mes que un club” which translates to “More than a club.” I think you could apply a similar motto to the Thunder.
i was born. i commented. i passed on to the next thread
http://dailythunder.com/2013/01/thunder-player-power-rankings-high-standards/#respond
the Thunder better play like they have just lost the the Heat in all their games... That is the only solid motivational poster I have
I'm actually a little excited about this run of tough games coming up. I think we'll perform well and it well help ease a lot of the worries that people have about our team this year. It seems like everyone is worried because it seems like all our big wins come with a disclaimer. If we do well on this road trip, all of us will feel much better about the team going forward. If we don't perform well, maybe it will get Presti to start thinking about using some of those assets for a deadline trade.
Guess yall not excited bout the wizards game tonight? Slow day on DT.
Chris Paul at .300 WS/48. Jordan, LeBron, Kareem, and Wilt are the only four players to have a season of .300+ WS/48.
@justin_mia Impressive. Of course, he also plays the fewest minutes of the big 3 players at the top (Lebron and Durant). Not trying to take away from his individual brilliance, but I have to guess his season wouldn't be as historic if he was carrying the team for 40 mpg like the other two.
@Keith00 @justin_mia
Chris Paul has a 14-20 career record in the post season.
@FF_pickups @justin_mia Just an example, but if KD never wins a championship, it won't be due to his lack of being a "winner" or "real impact player." For years fans wanted to tear down Lebron because he didn't have a ring. I never saw the point in blaming Lebron for the poor creation of those painfully flawed Cleveland teams.
@FF_pickups @justin_mia I try not to use records/championships myself. It feels like ripping on a player thanks to management's mistakes.
I'm also very confident that KD35 will go off tonight. Why? Because he's in Washington (hometown boy)
@okcthunder2013 That and every SF Washington might throw at him is a poor defender.
@Keith00 ariza is not that bad of a defender
@cemitten If you think I'm wrong about him, I'm open to discussion, but I think a lot of his game nowadays is based on a rep he made in a very short stint of good playoff games. He wasn't that good in LA either, he just got hot at the right time.
He's right per 82games.
@okcthunder2013 @Keith00 82games.com says the same. The defense is slightly worse and opponent SFs have a PER of 14.7. The 14.7 doesn't sound bad until you realize he generally plays against backups whose average PER is below that.
@Keith00 do you have the stats to back up your assessment?
@okcthunder2013 @Keith00 Not that good of one either. The Wiz actually defend worse when he plays.
I'm very confident we will have a goid road trip because we are a team that's together and chemistry is clicking. Am using One word for my conclusion, resilience.
January will probably show the true colors of our team. If we still have one of the best 2 records in the West by the end of this month, we'll probably end up finishing with the best record in the league.
That is a big if though.
@lethalizer the first half of the month is easy, the clippers warriors back to back is the toughest part. lakers are bad now.
If i'm Presti I wait for chicago to blow it up and trade as many assets as needed for Sodium Hydroxide. (Noah or NaOH).
@PerkPunt if presti really wanted noah he woulda just drafted him instead of jeff green
@OKman nobody expected noah to be as good as he was.
@OKman @PerkPunt
Presti drafted Jeff Green?
@Keith00 @OKman @PerkPunt
I see. My recollection was that deal took place after Boston picked Green. At any rate, its kind of silly to slam him for not drafting Noah which is based on hindsight alone.
@Keith00 @anonymous12345 @OKman
he wast worth it then. he is now. they developed him well
@anonymous12345 @OKman @PerkPunt The deal was in place before the pick was chosen. Presti told Boston who to take because Boston couldn't trade actual picks in consecutive years. Why would Presti have a deal in place for a pick that he didn't want?
@Keith00 @OKman @PerkPunt
I'm fairly certain Boston drafted Jeff Green and then traded him for Ray Allen and Big Baby. I'm too lazy to look it up though.
@anonymous12345 @OKman @PerkPunt Three picks behind Durant, yes anonymous. A lot of pundits felt Noah was overdrafted at 9.
@PerkPunt why are they blowing it up? they are 5th in the east without rose
@f5alcon
they wont while boozer is bawling but i think they get to a point where they will have to choose between Deng and Noah i hope they choose stupidly and overpay deng. Blow it up may have been the wrong words.
@PerkPunt @f5alcon
Still 2 years until Deng is a free agent. They still have the option to amnesty Boozer if it comes to that.
@PerkPunt @f5alcon Chicago believes themselves to be championship bound so long as Rose is healthy, and they are a pretty wealthy team. It's highly unlikely they trade any of their starters unless they are upgrading the team. Moreover, they would buyout Boozer before messing with their younger players that actually make the team better.
royce white just getting suspended by rockets, has been away from the team for 6 weeks already, they should have suspended him day 1.
@f5alcon
documentation. settingthe tone for a breach of contract maybe?
so wheres the cheapest place to find tickets??
@O O O O O O
thunder alley
@PerkPunt looool to a portland game tho
@nomad looool nice, that mustve been fun.
@O O O O O O @PerkPunt I also live in Portland, went to the OT win last year, you know, "The Call".
@O O O O O O
thats gonna be hard. the garden sells out a lot. good luck .
How would you guys feel about Perkins, Toronto pick, and another draft pick for Nikola Pekovic and Derrick Williams?
Pekovic is a free agent after this season.
Why would Minnesota do it? I think Minnesota is tumbling towards mid-level team status, and if they don't want to stay there for too long, they need to probably blow this thing up now and restart with Love and Rubio when they are completely healthy. Love, Rubio, Kirelenko, Top 5 pick.
@AlexR44 good.but minny wont do it. both guys are good rebounders.pekovic is really a good pick and roll player and derrick williams could use a change of scenery
@d21 @AlexR44 Actually, both guys are relatively poor rebounders. Pekovic is around 60th in the league, Williams around 80th.
@AlexR44 Toronto pick isn't going to be in the top 5 most likely.
@AlexR44 How much does Pekovic make next year? Anything more than Perk and there's reason to believe the management wouldn't sign off. Then, how much does it improve our chances to win a championship? Pekovic is a dynamite post scorer, but actually a pedestrian rebounder. He also was a relatively poor defender last year, better now but hard to separate individual value from the team-wide improvement.
Very generally, our offense isn't really the problem. When we lose, it's most often a lack of defense or an inability to force certain matchups. Pekovic helps, for sure, he's obviously a better player than Perk. But given his contract status and skillset, I would prefer a different option.
@Keith00 @AlexR44
free agent next year., sir
@PerkPunt @AlexR44 That's exactly the problem. He's going to hit RFA this summer, and he's a true center that can score. Those kinds of players often get massively overpaid. He was a 2nd round pick, so his initial contract was only 3 years.
Does he help us get better this year? Yes, definitely. But if we can't match his contract (note we just traded Harden for financial purposes), his future value is zero. Is Pek worth the Toronto pick if we get him for 3-4 years? Definitely. Is he worth the pick if we only get him for the rest of THIS year? No.
@AlexR44 perkins has negative value, they can probably resign pek.
@AlexR44
heartbeat..... If and Only if Pek signs a three year contract at 10 mil a year. that would be the terms. We are taking on a horrible contract for williams and Pek with no contract. I dont think we'd have to throw much else in with the Tor pick. Maybe PJ3.
@AlexR44
i think we can make williams servicable. at least with the same respect as Pj3. same player different body types. PJ3 should be better because of the way he's being developed.
@PerkPunt @AlexR44 I see no real difference between Williams and PJIII. They are both Jeff Green types, with no elite skills to determine their role, and no straight positional value. I really don't want Williams' contract.
@PerkPunt @AlexR44 It'd have to be an offseason trade though. No way in hell the T-Wolves would take it during the season.
@D-MC @AlexR44
yeah my thoughts too.
@AlexR44 You'd have to throw in Lamb at least. No team would take that trade.
@D-MC @AlexR44
dont think so. that williams contract is horrible. thats the kick back.