Friday Bolts – 11.13.15
Chris Palmer for Bleacher Report on Russell Westbrook: “During a defensive drill, Westbrook was
supposed to get back after a shot and be the safety valve. Instead, he crashed the offensive boards each time. Howland grew increasingly frustrated and kicked him off the floor. Westbrook mumbled under his breath and flashed that trademark scowl. Over the days, Keating began to watch Westbrook, closely paying attention to body language, tone of voice and how he reacted to any and everything. Then it hit him.”
Eric Freeman of BDL on KD’s injury: “The good news for the 5-3 Thunder is that they should be able to weather Durant’s absence over the next 10 days. They are set to face the Philadelphia 76ers (Friday) and Boston Celtics (Sunday) at home, the Memphis Grizzlies on the road (Monday), and the New Orleans Pelicans (November 18) and New York Knicks (November 20) back at home. None of those teams currently holds a record over .500. Plus, Durant’s injury and the passing of his only visit to D.C. this season should end some of the hubbub surrounding his pending free agency. At least the basketball world has something else to focus on when it comes to one of the few clear superstars of this era.”
On how the Thunder get by this time around without Kevin Durant.
Anthony Slater: “Let’s say OKC, entering a crucial year in the franchise’s history, declined to match, choosing to go cheaper on a big man. Because of salary cap restrictions, the Thunder’s only method to add a piece on the open market would’ve been through a minimum deal or the taxpayer mid-level exception. Here’s a list of the 14 free agent big men who signed in that price range this offseason: Jeff Withey, Bismack Biyombo, Luis Scola, Kendrick Perkins, Amar’e Stoudemire, Cole Aldrich, Kevin Seraphin, Eric Moreland, Boban Marjanovic, Joel Anthony, JaVale McGee, Salah Mejri, Cristiano Felicio and Shayne Whittington. Draw from a bargain bin of aged, severely flawed or unknown out-of-the-rotation fill-ins? Or retain a highly skilled 23-year-old offensive center with the capabilities of putting up Sixth Man of the Year-type numbers off the bench? Wanting to maximize its talent ceiling around Kevin Durant, who is famously entering free agency this offseason, the Thunder chose Kanter. Eight games into that scrutinized mega-deal, Kanter is helping prove OKC correct.”
Hey, it was Russell Westbrook’s birthday yesterday.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider: “OK, we’re cheating a little bit here. The Thunder aren’t really “new” to the playoffs, having made it five consecutive seasons as one of the West’s better teams before falling short on a tiebreaker at the conclusion of an injury-plagued 2014-15 campaign. Barring similar calamity, Oklahoma City will make it this season. While the Thunder’s 5-3 start is relatively modest, a plus-7.8 point differential (third-best in the West, fourth-best in the NBA) more accurately reflects the Thunder’s strength.”
Zach Harper of CBSSports.com: “We won’t know just how good this Donovan system is for the Thunder until we head to the postseason (and we make sure Kevin Durant’s hamstring is just fine), but I like the early returns. The offense isn’t as intricate as maybe was advertised with Donovan coming in, but it’s definitely a smarter attack. You have to go back to 2012-13 so you can take a gander at what a healthy Thunder team was doing under Brooks, but they’ve gone from 17.5 percent isolation possessions and 26.4 percent pick-and-roll possessions under Brooks to 9.8 percent isolation and 37.7 percent pick-and-roll under Donovan. It’s less of “just go beat the man in front of you” and much more “go make the defense make a decision.” We’ll see how it holds up but their offense looks to be on par with what the Warriors are doing.”
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