Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on the MVP race: “Voting Durant is a vote for a different, younger player, a recognition of his ascendance. Voting Anthony is about rewarding a player for improving and doing it in New York. (No, that should not matter, but like I said, some of this is awful.) Voting for Paul is a lifetime achievement award deal. Voting for LeBron is voting for the best player in the league, and who wants that? So there you have it. 3-3 LeBron vs. Durant. But Durant’s second-place votes give him an edge there. Let’s be clear, though. Durant has played at a phenomenal level, and honestly, if he played like this last season, he might have been the leader. I’m keeping James at the top based on the totality of his play, but Durant’s improved rebounding and overwhelming scoring punch makes this exceptionally tight. And a very fun race.”
OKC stayed No. 1 in Marc Stein’s power rankings: “A true privilege to be in the building for Durant’s 52 points. A mild surprise, too, even after KD’s 40 against Dallas in December, since he showed up with a career scoring average of just 22.4 ppg against the Mavs — and a FG percentage of .413 — for his lifetime lows against any franchise.”
NBA.com dropped OKC to No. 3: “The Thunder have split the first two games of their six-game road trip, both of which went to overtime. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combined for 156 points in the two games, but Westbrook’s two blocks on Rocky the Mountain Lion was the best job OKC did of defending the basket all weekend. Tuesday brings a showdown with the Clips for first place in the West.”
Players pick their All-Star reserves.
KD was named Western Conference Player of the Week.
Anthony Slater of NewsOK on KD and 20,000 points: “As of Monday, Kevin Durant is 24 years and 113 days old. His birthday is September 29th. That means, his cut-off date for the 20,000-point record would be Oct., 16, 2016, when he’d be the exact same age LeBron was last Wednesday in Oakland. D has scored 11,187 points up to this point in his career, counting the 37 he dropped last night in Denver. Including the 41 games left this season, there will be 287 regular season contests before the 2016-17 season starts in late October, days after Durant will have hit the deadline date. So KD has 287 games to score 8,813 points. That’s 30.7 points per game (at a minimum), a number he’s yet to hit during a full season at any point in his career (30.1 is his highest). He’s averaging 29.5 points per game this year. It’s certainly not impossible, but at this point seems unlikely. He’s going to need to stay freakishly healthy (something he’s done so far) and start scoring at an even higher rate. Not saying he isn’t capable, but not betting on it either.”
Jeremy Lamb and Daniel Orton have been assigned to the 66ers.
Jenni Carlson: “Russell Westbrook snagged the loose ball and heaved it toward the goal in the final frantic seconds at Denver. The shot never got above his waist. Swatted away. Can you say karma? On Sunday night when the Thunder point guard became Public Enemy No. 1 in the Mile High City, he swatted away not one but two halfcourt shot attempts by … wait for it … the Nuggets’ mascot. Yes, the mascot. And I don’t get the feeling like Westbrook regrets it in the least. He’s embarking on a West Coast swing that will pit him against Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, Isaiah Thomas and Steve Nash. Here’s betting a little extra mojo will come in handy, even at the expense of a giant stuffed animal.”
Zach Lowe of Grantland on All-Star reserves: “Ibaka has improved on both ends, but the jump has been higher on offense, where he gets to work as a third cog around two stars who bend defenses away from him. He has a fairly low usage rate for an All-Star candidate, and though he’s more solid on defense this season, he can still struggle with positioning against shooting power forwards — and against pump fakes. In a crowded field, he’s a painful final cut.”
http://dailythunder.com/2013/01/thunder-vs-clippers-pregame-primer/
What do you guys think of this? Predicated on the "if" of Bynum returning before the deadline and we would give our #1 as well as the Toronto and Dallas pick to othe other teams in some fashion. Not quite sure which would go where. http://espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=a427s9f Shoot away, folks.
@PNT The bobcats, magic, and sixers all give up 2 players....we give away five including the best player on the board? No thanks
Am i late here?....lets give J.A. Adande some love for this... http://es.pn/144TwRx
@wearetougherthanthis I love reading mobile articles on my computer....
@SoCal Thunder hush, bear with me for two more weeks ;)
@wearetougherthanthis @SoCal Hmmm. a 4g phone, eh?
@wearetougherthanthis i'd rather talk about my dislike for Israel Gutierrez.
@OBoy Jones III that article was a mess
@OBoy Jones III no...ill get too upset
I'm Thinking we need to get Johnny Manziel as our back up PG right in front of Reggie.
@Hounddog We already have Johnny Basketball, his name is Nick Collison.
whaaaaaaaaa, gone for just a few hours and i see some avi changes~!!!
looool matt bonner is the red mamba??/ hahahahah
@O O O O O O is this the new power rangers now? lol
@O O O O O O According to kobe lol
@Lost Ones loool hes crazy for that one
@f5alcon I got distracted by Martin Luther King and forgot to fix my roster yesterday.
You got this... LOL
@MJOKC
Yeah man i called you up last week to see what you were up to, and if that bball league you were talking about was gonna happen.
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@MJOKC
Alrighty man! Gives me enough time to get back into running. Maybe lifting a bit of weights, and running a shit load with keep me fresh against the bigs down low. I might not outmuscle them but maybe i can be how Faried is and just be a pest down there.
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder @justin_mia
Nope.
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder @justin_mia
I do want one though, know nothing about them. Don't evne know what it takes to get one. I got guap, that ain't the problem. I'm cheap though. What could I get for like 3bills
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder @justin_mia
I live in a VERY rural town anyways. Ain't nobody breaking into shitz. Lawton is having a crime overload lately though. But Elgin, nah I could leave my doors wide the hell open and come back a week later and I'd be good. Mostly Army folks on my block too
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder @justin_mia
Then he can have whatever he wants. I ain't tryna be shootin people.
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder @justin_miaNot a gun dude. I got a bunch of knives and swords though. I keep one right under my bed in arm's reach in the unlikely event of a home invasion but it's funny, i have nightmares literally every night plus I sleep like and my HVAC always wakes me up because it sounds exactly like a door closing when it shuts off. So I wake up at like 3 thinking I hear someone in the other room, grab this longass sword, and go tiptoeing around the corners and peaking in the other rooms (I live in a 3br house alone), realize it was nothing, pee and go back to bed.
If I had a gun, I'd probably accidentally shoot myself in the foot or something
@ElMexiThunder @MJOKC @justin_miaWaiting turns is weak sauce unless you mean waiting for next and winner staying on. I'm not worried bout any fouls. I'm built for it. I mean dudes tryna fight me, it;s whatever, but I'd be 70 miles from home dolo so that could be an issue. I don't carry the heat on me
@1 Knee 4 Points 5 Rebounds 35 Million Dollars @MJOKC @justin_mia
Man that was my fault dude, but i'm down to hoop whenever, there's a court right by my house litterally on Meiridan that we can go to, but the only problem is we have to wait turns to play pick up, they play hard too but i know you said you go hard in the paint too.
@justin_mia @MJOKC
I'm the "Never Fouls Guy" well not really when its that hard of a foul we all recognize it, but if its just rough body to body its all good. Its street ball.
MJOKC is the player/coach type but he's actually pretty good at directing plays. Likes that inside/out game.
There's actually a'lot of Baller the Kids here in OKC, i'm telling ya'll in about a couple of years Oklahoma is about to have a mad selection of prospects for college teams.
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder @justin_miaNo yall didn't. Nobody ever got at me. I would've been up there. I sit in Elgin bored as hell, there isn't even a court anywhere in the whole city that I have seen.
Well yea there was the one time E gave me not so great directions. Apparently I had actually found the place but yall were on the other side of the school. I passed like 10 unoccupied courts to get there too
@ElMexiThunder @MJOKC @justin_mia
I wanna run! Call me one day, it's an hr drive for me but I can be up there
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgZ-KQKrzZ0
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder Over and back!
@MJOKC @justin_mia
Seriously you cannot not go up to 16th and call that shit, and not expect someone to call you out on your bullshit.
@MJOKC
Hell yeah, i remember they all got happy at the end of the night when we left because they didn't have to worry about double teamming you anymore, and didn't have to worry about me fouling the shit out of em.
@ElMexiThunder @MJOKC Call illegal defense, or moving screens.
@MJOKC @justin_mia
Remember that one Mohammed dude that wanted to call And-1's on continued made baskets? Like motherfucker this isn't the NBA.
@MJOKC
I'm gonna have to learn to play without fouling, if i have that edge in my legs i won't have to worry about using body to recover, or to alter if i'm right in front of them.
Hell yeah that one time we played at OCU all of them dudes on the other squad would triple team you as soon as you got the ball. You'd do me the favor of passing it out to me for the open shot, but my ass has no shot LMAO!!
@MJOKC @ElMexiThunder I like calling three seconds in pick up games.
@MJOKC
That's bad ass, i don't mind coming off the bench. Like i said making if i keep my legs fresh, and i start doing jumping excircises it may give me an edge of speed compared to size. When you, and your boy get tired and we have to go small i'm not a complete liability against the biggers players if im out hustling them. Besides you know me, i'm not afraid to give up my body to make a play or two.
Just got out of my last class for today! AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH 5 more hours! What to do in the mean time. I definitely can't study (too excited) and I can't drink (Class at 8am :\)
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@MJOKC Me too. But I have to be 100% for my classes. My law professors pick on you hardcore if they see you hungover/sleepy. Besides, I am already planning on getting drunk Sunday for the Lakers game. I can't drink more than once a month when I'm going to school.
@SoCal Thunder @D-MC @MJOKC
Haha . . . I was really talking to D-MC. Hope you have fun! :)
@ThunderChick2010 @D-MC @MJOKC YES Ma'am, I'll be good today haha. I'm going with my best friend (who is the biggest Clippers fan I've ever met), it's going to be a fun, sober, night.
@D-MC @SoCal Thunder @MJOKC
Be careful. Remember what happened last time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IuwxZSIS__4
@SoCal Thunder @MJOKC I don't drink more than once a month...
Once a week?
...I may drink tonight.
@MJOKC @SoCal Thunder YEAH! COLLEGE! YEAH! CHUG CHUG CHUG...
*sigh*...I feel like crap if I try that anymore.
@SoCal Thunder @MJOKC @OBoy Jones III @D-MC That's awesome.
@justin_mia @MJOKC @OBoy Jones III @D-MC Yup! That's my dad! He started with a small car body shop in our own garage because he loved it and now he owns 8 car shops in San Diego. He doesn't need to, but every day he is the first one to get to the shop and the last one to leave
@MJOKC @OBoy Jones III @D-MC @SoCal Thunder This is true but running your own business is a lot of work that can take over your life. The only people I know who are genuinely happy running their own business are the ones who get into a business that they truly enjoy, and that's not always possible.
@OBoy Jones III @D-MC @MJOKC @SoCal Thunder The key is to figure out a way to work for yourself. I sacrifice some $$$ to be able to have the flexibility to live life the way I want to live. Was a slave to my job for the longest time... doesn't work for everyone, of course.
@D-MC @MJOKC @SoCal Thunder class at 8 is worse than work at 8, atleast at my job.