Monday Bolts – 6.4.12
Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports: “The backpack is gone. No one seems to know where it went or why, only that Kevin Durant has stopped wearing it. A year ago, Durant brought his book bag to every news conference during the Oklahoma City Thunder’s playoff run. Both straps pulled tight around his shoulders, his long, lanky frame folded into the chair, Durant hunched over the microphone and answered questions as if he were a third-grader drilling flash cards with his language arts teacher. Everyone wanted to know what Durant carried in the backpack. Charles Barkley teased him about it. Nike started stocking its shelves with similar bags. It made for a cute story, and maybe that’s why Durant stopped wearing it. This year, in these playoffs, Kevin Durant doesn’t do cute.”
Lee Jenkins of SI.com: “Kevin Durant stood on the court at Chesapeake Energy Arena and let the noise wash over him, noise like you don’t hear anywhere else in pro sports, unique because of the volume but also because of the tone. It is less of a full-throated bellow than a high-pitched shriek, the sound of families with children who are hopped up on candy way past their bedtimes, at the state’s most delightful circus. Durant built this big top, with his youth and his bounce, his long arms and feathery jumpers. Fans around town wear T-shirts with his name in place of the Thunder logo. That’s about right. He and the franchise are interchangeable. They came to Oklahoma City together and they will likely win championships together. The only question is when.”
All of Russell Westbrook’s postgame shirts broken down by a fashion blog.
Kevin Arnovitz of ESPN.com: “In short, the Thunder are no longer putting themselves in the position to have to make the lesser of two bad choices, which is how the Spurs generally beat you. But if you can hold down the fort for 18 seconds without getting stretched, or having your guard get taken out by a screen, or being forced to send your center to step out on penetration, then the Spurs have to find someone to create for himself. And that’s not their game.”
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com: “I re-watched “Alien” the other night, and what struck me was how little time elapsed from when the creature first bursts out of the stomach until it’s a fully mature killing machine. Maybe Durant is evolving at a similar rate. Maybe he’s ready to reach the highest level of hoop, outstanding performances in the clutch on the road. It might happen in this series. Or it might not. The only thing I can say with certainty is that you’d better be watching.”
Perk’s kid Lil’ Ken likes pie.
Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com: “This is what we want from our NBA superstars, and this is all we want. We want them to do what Kevin Durant did Saturday night in the fourth quarter of a huge game, when Game 4 of the Western Conference finals was there for taking — and Durant took it. That’s what we want, and that’s all we want. If that sounds unrealistic, sorry, but it’s not. Kevin Durant is that good. LeBron James is also that good. So are Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki. The list of guys I’d write that about — This is all we want, for them to dominate — is small. In fact, that’s all of them. I just named the only five guys in the league who deserve that much respect, who can bear that much burden.”
My column for CBSSports.com on how the series feels like it’s changed.
John Hollinger of ESPN.com: “The part we haven’t seen before was the prelude: Durant taking his teammates along for the ride and turning the Thunder’s secondary players into huge offensive weapons. This is a potentially huge development for the OKC side. As good as they’ve been as a three-man offense by riding the prodigious talents of Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, their top-heaviness gave defenses an out — one exploited by Dallas, for example, in last season’s conference finals. Even playing that way, they were the league’s second-best offense this season, but if they move the ball the way they did on Saturday, they’re basically unguardable.”
Adande on Westbrook: “Typically, a player’s stature grows when he’s an adept passer. You know, the whole “makes his teammates better” thing. That’s not the case with Kevin Durant, primarily because any time he passes it means the ball leaves the hands of the best scorer in the league. In other words, do you want Durant taking the jumper, or Serge Ibaka? Scott Brooks has said that Durant shouldn’t pass if it’s going to result in a “lateral” shot or worse. It has to be a better shot, like a dunk or layup. And when Durant passes to Westbrook it often results in a 3-pointer. That’s not the best look for OKC. Westbrook, on the other hand, has the option of passing to Durant for jumpers. Or even better, alley-oops. What’s not to like about that? Four of Westbrook’s nine assists in Game 3 set up Durant baskets, part of a 23-assist night for the Thunder.”
ESPN Stats and Info: “Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, and Nick Collison combined to average just 13 points through the first 2 games of the Western Conference Finals. Over the last 2 games, those three have totaled 36.5 points per game on an eye popping 78 percent from the field.”
