Monday Bolts – 9.5.11
Beckley Mason of HoopSpeak on KD’s big summer: “Still, the NBA is at its soul about entertainment. Serious competition and a focus on efficiency enhances the escapism of watching and commenting on professional hoops. This summer Kevin Durant, like a Baller Without Borders, has delivered entertainment by the truckload to hoops starved communities and audiences that often cannot afford to see him in an NBA uniform. An amazing fact: Durant’s cult of personality has expanded wildly without a single publication producing a revealing in depth profile on him. I’m not sure we really know anything new about what makes Kevin Durant tick. That’s OK. In a time when the threat of a losing a whole season hangs over the NBA and its fans, simply showing up and playing in earnest has made Kevin Durant the world’s coolest basketball player.”
John Townsend for TrueHoop on KD: “Durant’s transcendence of popular expectation is as fantastical as it is curious. It’s as much a universal acknowledgment of his basketball acumen and ability as it is a product of our hyperbolic imagination spurred on by his true charm (as the antithesis of the modern self-absorbed superstar). Durant is no longer just the face of a franchise, but rather the celebrated star of a growing global empire. He has been elevated as basketball’s champion for the foreseeable future — with or without the NBA.”
Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com on Russell Westbrook saying he’d be a good safety: “Westbrook is correct: he would be an excellent safety. He probably has a room full of broken X-Box controllers from abusing his “hit stick” on Madden and he likely would rank No. 1 on a list of “NBA players least afraid of concussions” power rankings list. Safety and point guard are two very different jobs and require two very different approaches to the world, at least in theory. Sure, safeties often serve as leaders of the defense, but point guards orchestrate rather than detonate. They specialize in maintaining calm rather than making waves. The mentalities required to succeed at these positions would seem to be mutually exclusive. Point guards are quarterbacks, at least conventionally. Jason Kidd has a lot more in common with Peyton Manning than he does with Roy Williams, right?”
Drew vs. Goodman, part two appears to be off.
In the first clip here, check out KD using Dirk’s step-back on LeBron.
Mark Cuban is no fan of the Big 12 falling apart.
Darnell Mayberry on KD bulking up: “Though the Thunder’s front office and coaching staff would like for Durant to get bigger, they know it will happen over time. In the meantime, they’ve witnessed him getting stronger, which has helped Durant play through contact better and stave off injuries. But before his body can change, Durant must first change his diet.”
Serge Ibaka had 15 points and nine rebounds for Spain Sunday.
Nate Robinson is looking at Europe, say his agent Aaron Goodwin.
