Monday Bolts – 4.12.10
Good news for OKC: Brandon Roy will miss tonight’s game with a bone contusion.
Berry Tramel on the game: “This was a game given away. With a chance to avoid the Lakers in the first round, the Thunder instead resorted to the kind of team you expected OKC to be a season after going 23-59. A team that appeared to be trying to have fun while a wayward season trickles down. Maybe the Thunder will learn from this. Maybe the Thunder will realize that with simple, fundamental basketball in the second and third quarters, it would have led Golden State by 30 points and the regulars could have sat the final 12 minutes, awaiting tonight’s showdown in Portland. Instead, the Thunder lost an embarrassing game that shows sometimes kids act like kids.”
Scott Brooks on last night’s game: “The way we played tonight is unacceptable.”
The 66ers are doing well in the playoffs having just beat Sioux Falls to advance and more importantly, Kyle Weaver is kicking butt: “Kyle Weaver finished with 27 points on 15 shots, eight rebounds and seven assists. He settled for some tough outside shots at time, but for the most part was scoring and creating opportunities by driving to the rim.”
Why did Thabo wear a headband last night? He said: “You don’t want to know.” Darnell Mayberry with some excellent investigative reporting found out that a rogue cameraman smashed Thabo in the head, opening a gash.
Sam Bradford is matched up with Kevin Durant in the Ogle Madness Final Four. That’s quite an interesting matchup right there.
Adena Andrews gives out seom senior superlatives on NBA.com: “From Zero to Hero: Oklahoma City Thunder – They moved 2,000 miles, had no real practice facility and scored a GM who knew little about managing a team in a town that knew even less about basketball. The Thunder also flirted with disaster by tying the franchise’s record 14-game losing streak. Just one season later they have clinched a playoff position in the tight Western Conference race and the OKC boys are schooling veteran teams around the league. Tiger Woods can take a key from the Thunder. This is how you make a comeback.”
Ian Thompson’s MVP ballot has KD fourth, but he still listed Durant on his first team. Plus, he voted Scott Brooks as Coach of the Year: “Scott Brooks, Oklahoma City Thunder. This annually becomes the most difficult category to choose because there are so many worthy candidates. Among those I considered but didn’t list on my ballot were Alvin Gentry for returning the depleted Suns to the playoffs; Nate McMillan for keeping the Trail Blazers focused despite their injuries and front-office fiasco; Utah’s Jerry Sloan for all of the same reasons he has deserved votes for 20 of the last 21 years; and Orlando’s Stan Van Gundy and Cleveland’s Mike Brown for integrating new personalities and talents while maintaining the East’s top two contenders.”
Ziller breaks down all the tiebreakers.
Hey, at least this game didn’t cost the Thunder the playoffs or something horrible, right? RIGHT?
Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus puts out his All-Defensive team and Thabo makes first team: “We’ve seen no shortage of “next Bruce Bowens” over the past half-decade, but with Bowen retired I think it is the Thunder’s shooting guard who has inherited the title of the NBA’s best one-on-one perimeter stopper. At 6’7″ with an enormous wingspan, Sefolosha has greater physical tools than peers like Bowen and Raja Bell and puts them to excellent use. His addition catalyzed Oklahoma City’s transformation into a defensive power, and opposing wings have had a terrible time against the Thunder this season (both Sefolosha and teammate Kevin Durant, who often trade defensive assignments, have elite dMult ratings). A poor net defensive plus-minus seems more attributable to the strength of the defensive-minded Oklahoma City second unit.”
Oh yeah, and ESPN has picked up Wednesday’s Memphis game. So that’s cool.
