Jonah Bromwich of Off the Dribble on 50-40-90: “There is still a lot of season left. And while Durant has built a small cushion with his 3-point and field goal averages, he will need to stay focused at the line to join the ranks of the 40-50-90 pantheon. His free throw percentage in his last five games was just under 90 percent, and with only a tiny buffer between his current percentage and the dreaded 89 percent, every missed free throw represents a missed opportunity.”
From Elias: “The Wizards, who entered Monday with a record of 4-28 (.125), posted a 101-99 home win over the defending Western Conference-champion Thunder. Last month, Washington brought a 1-13 (.071) record into a victory over the defending NBA champions, the Heat. Only one other NBA team has ever posted victories over each of the previous season’s finalists in games it entered with a winning percentage under .200 (minimum 10 games). In 2004-05, the Hawks were 3¬-15 when they defeated the defending-champion Pistons, and 9-37 at the time of their victory over the Lakers, the runners-up in 2003-04.”
Eddie Maisonet of SB Nation on things the Thunder need to do to win a title: “Scott Brooks has to believe in his small-ball lineup: During the finals last year, I always believed that a lineup of Westbrook-Harden-Sefolosha-Durant-Ibaka was the best five to counter what Miami would throw on the floor. For whatever reason, Brooks wanted to have former reserve Derek Fisher in the lineup, which frustrated me to no end. With this team, there are several iterations that could work, but with Maynor back and Durant capable of playing bigger, its something I’d like to see more of. Could a lineup of Westbrook-Sefolosha-Martin-Durant-Ibaka work? What about more Maynor? Perry Jones even? We must find out eventually.”
Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on Brad Beal: “Looking back, though, it’s clearer now what Presti may have been thinking — a young score-now guard like Beal, on a rookie scale contract and improving by the month, would have done wonders for the Thunder’s long-term cap situation. In all likelihood that ship has sailed, and Beal is likely a Wizards keeper. But no doubt, however much the Thunder may have liked Beal and his game on draft day, surely they respect it even more today.”
Trade rumor about the 76ers being interested in Eric Maynor.
KD last night: “We let them stick around because we’re not taking it serious enough,” Durant said. “We can’t do that, man. We can’t do that, and it falls back on the leaders. We can be beat by anybody. Everybody’s going to bring their best against us. No matter who we’re playing, they want to beat us.”
Zach Lowe of Grantland singing music to my ears: “A bane of League Pass is when one of the sponsored mini-segments stays on the screen too long, preventing us from watching the actual game. I hate you, Hyundai Drive of the Game and KFC Bucket Chart.”
Anyone else see Royce on camera starring at Durant when there was 1 sec left in game? It was on League Pass?
Re: Varejao - surgery will be on leg, near knee. Quad muscle near right knee is split & "herniating and pinching with knee flexion," per CLE
Spurs are signing one of the best centers in Europe , Dejuan Blair will probably leave
DarnellMayberry Quote of the day courtesy of Kevin Durant when asked what makes J.J. Barea so good: "He's a great flopper." 1/9/13 11:11 AM
@tydude and Barea goes for 35 :(
@tydude #NotNice
@KellOne @tydude KD's mean streak is still alive.
@dakasler: It's now been upgraded to a denial. #NBAKings official says no sale to Seattle group http://t.co/4AQ7tT6Z
we are 6-1 after our 1st loss so thats pretty good
DarnellMayberry Scott Brooks on the Thunder: "I think the guys will respond. We've always been a team that responds after a tough loss." 1/9/13 11:00 AM
@dailythunder For those saying Perk was injured when OKC got him: He had an MCL sprain. He wasn't coming directly off knee surgery.
MCL sprain is not injury royce?
@Lost Ones He was comparing injuries/length of recovery obviously.
@Podirk @Lost 6-8 weeks is trade deadline time, perkins didnt play until almost feb
@Podirk April*
@Lost Ones bwhahahahahahaha
You so wrong LOL
dailythunder For those saying Perk was injured when OKC got him: He had an MCL sprain. He wasn't coming directly off knee surgery. 1/9/13 10:56 AM
Right now the rumors are not true that the kings is moving to Seattle
Please let these rumors about Seattle getting the Kings be true. I'd feel very bad for the fans in Sacramento, I really would, but the hypocrisy that would stem from Seattle getting a team in such a manner would just be too good to be true. And I only mean that towards the Seattle fans that have long hated on OKC and their fans. There's plenty of classy Seattle fans. Anyways, I'd be most excited because we'd instantly have our biggest rivals.
@TempBoy Brandon If Seattle gets a team again I think the league will rearrange the divisions to keep Seattle in the Northwest. Not sure what they would do with OKC. Put us or someone else in the Pacific?
@KellOne @TempBoy Brandon Move to the EAST!!!
@TempBoy Brandon if only the kings were in our division. it'd make the rivalry a bit juicier.
@TempBoy Brandon I'd rather them go to VA
@Lost Ones I think Virginia threw in the towel. Also, talk about ways to not make any money whatsoever.
@duhsweetness @Lost Ones ya, they called it off
@TempBoy Brandon
it would be epic.
Wolves assistant coach said that love might be done for the season
@d21 OUCH. Man... they'd be a pretty serious threat to be the #5 seed in the West if they could stay healthy.
@TempBoy Brandon @d21 note to self. Dont do Knuckle pushups.
@<--Dont Believe Me? Just Watch. with a broken hand
Varejao out 6-8 weeks
@d21 cleveland missed their opportunity
Hasn't played in about a month won't play for another 2.
Cleveland should have traded Varejao earlier this year. His value will never be that high again.
@OBoy Jones III Just makes me think it's better for the teams trading for him. Cleveland may take a bit less now, and he'd be back with a good amount of time left in the season to get used to his new surroundings.
@TempBoy Brandon @OBoy Jones III let's say we do trade for him. Do we put orton in the starting lineup and have him play maybe 15 minutes per game like joel anthony did for miami last year or do we start thabeet and pray he can resist from fouling out too quickly?
@OBoy Jones III @TempBoy Brandon ya, much better
@OBoy Jones III @areayewhy Yep, what OBoy said.
@areayewhy @TempBoy Brandon Hopefully we would start KD or Nick at the 4 and Serge at the 5
@TempBoy Brandon @OBoy Jones III That's a possibility. But it truly depends on the deal.
@TempBoy Brandon @OBoy Jones III
low ball the hell out of it now. they might just want to get from under his contract.
It's funny...an 82 game schedule and Russ goes 4-17 then the Harden comparisons re-ignite. They're different players. James Harden is an excellent offensive player. Harden no doubt has better court vision than Russell Westbrook and a more innate feel for play making. Russ has had to learn this---to integrate this into his game. They're both excellent players. Russ is by far the better rebounder, by far the better defender when he wants to be, a fear less penetrator to the rim. Plus, his assist and ball sharing have improved. Double plus, he is the most durable player in the NBA and has not missed a game in his NBA career. Consider the way Westbrook throws his body around and that tells you something about his toughness and willingness to play with pain. They'll both be top fifteen players in the NBA.
@El Prez
Hey El Prez, I intend to give you your 3000th like today. :)
@El Prez
Actually, just did.
@El Prez harden plays in a great system as well open pick and roll system one legit big man
@El Prez As a defense, you can stop Harden. You can't stop RWB...he can only stop himself by missing shots (which happens all too frequently).
@El Prez harden has scored 25+ in 13 straight games and so his hot streak is probably part of that
@f5alcon @El Prez It's what the world is today. It's what we are. We're prisoner of the moment fans.
Don't worry guys, this just means the "Trade for Gortat" posts will reach an all-time high.
@D-MC No---I'm not one of those clamoring for either of those trades. But I do want to see is a real and a realistic adjustment of Perk's role and minutes based on the nightly matchup and how he plays his first shift of the night. If he plays like a mummy that first shift---he should be 12 minute guy on those nights. If he comes out and plays crisp basketball that first shift---he should be a 16-20 minute guy on those nights. He's a role player, and I think what frustrates most fans is that Scott Brooks is at times giving him minutes he's not really earning. This notion that Perk will get rusty because he plays 14 minutes instead of 22 minutes is a bit of a stretch.
@El Prez lol @ the idea of Perkins being rusty
@FF_pickups Akin to a turtle losing his sleekness if he doesn't walk his daily mile. Sigh.
@El Prez I can agree on that. Would you rather we start the game small, or get a new center via trade? I would take either of the Dallas centers.
@El Prez
KD + RW + SI + TS + KM + NC + 1/2 RJ + 1/2 DL + 1/2 KP = 7-1/2
@D-MC You can't under any circumstances put Perk with the second unit. His offensive liabilities have to be camouflaged by KD, Russ and Serge. Can you imagine the potential clusterf--k with Perk out there when Reggie is having a low confidence night? No way--with Perk on that unit. I wouldn't trade him. I'd just alter his minutes based on how he looks that first shift. Hockey coaches do this all the time with defensemen. If a guy goes out there and stumbles around his first shift or two---he's probably not going to get as many minutes on that night. This is the part of Scott Brooks I do not like as a coach. This isn't Little League. Perk's mother isn't over there charting his minutes and hounding Scott Brooks on his cell phone. This is more on Scott Brooks than Perk, unless Presti is running this team like Billy Beane and telling Scott Brooks what he can and can't do. We have 7 and 1/2 players right now Scott Brooks can trust. Tell me how I came to that math.
@D-MC thats cool, lets leave Beasley out of it please.
@OBoy Jones III Damn Beasley is awful. A True Team Killer.
@D-MC
http://nooooooooooooooo.com/
@D-MC lol, true.