A couple housekeeping notes: People ask me every now and then how they can just get a list of Bolts or News or Video 
sometimes. Two ways: Every post is tagged and put into a category. So you can either click the category name at the bottom and it will give you a list of every post that falls into that or you can go over to the sidebar and click the drop-down “categories” menu and select one there. I’m making a few changes to thing over the next few weeks so if things are different, that’s why.
Dime had a nice Q&A with Russell Westbrook: ”Dime: Do you have to work on getting a vertical leap like that, or has that been something you’ve always had naturally? RW: To be honest, I was never really jumping that high when I was younger. I had to work on it. I didn’t dunk for the first time until the last game of my senior year in high school. I didn’t really start dunking regularly until college. I just work on my legs and my core: Running the stairs, squats, working my hamstrings and quads. Then just sit-ups for my core.” Wow. You hear about other guys dunking for the first time in like seventh grade and Russ didn’t throw down until he was a senior. That’s wild.
Evidently, KD played in something called the Kenner League recently: “Either I read the schedule wrong or the schedule was wrong (I’m actually guessing that it was both), but I thought there was only going to be one game with Hoyas in it. Anyway, I showed up with one minute left in the first game and to my surprise Chris Wright (who has added some serious muscle) and Greg Monroe’s team (does anyone REALLY know or care what the team names are?) was in tight one with a team chock full of people I didn’t know. Even more shocking was that Kevin Durant was playing with Chris and Greg. KEVIN FREAKING DURANT … Kevin Durant is awesome. I mean, really awesome. He can do whatever he wants on a basketball court even with the skinny frame. He kept making this guy who I would swear was Mikki Moore look like even more of a fool than looking like Mikki Moore makes you look.” Keep Reading…
coach who’s role with the Thunder will be to play defense and move the ball for 16 minutes, while teaching Russell Westbrook about playing defense and reading the court as an offense. Since the Thunder are putting all their stock in the future, a mentor to Westbrook is more important than talent. Should Shaun Livingston fully return from his horrendous left leg injuries, then Livingston will slide into the backup point guard role over Ollie.”
this off-season it’s hard to find a month in which the schedule turns in the Thunder’s favor. But February looks to be the month of least resistance for Oklahoma City. The Thunder will play six games against five teams that didn’t make the playoffs last season — Golden State, New York, Minnesota (twice), Phoenix and Toronto. The remaining teams in the month — Atlanta, New Orleans, Portland, Dallas and San Antonio — are all teams the Thunder played relatively well last season which should bode well this year.”
and then I’ll surely overanalyze it to death.
Back, back, back-to-backs
One topic of constant interest when it comes to NBA scheduling is the discussion about back-to-back games. Every team has to deal with them and some more than others. It’s not fair and it won’t ever be. People (hopefully) realize this, but still, it’s interesting to look where your team stands in terms of it.
Obviously, the back-to-back game is one of the toughest parts about your schedule. Depending on what happened just 24 hours earlier, your team could be absolutely gassed with jello for legs when they step on the hardwood again against another team. It’s just part of the deal and while NBA players are in incredible shape and condition (well, except for Eddy Curry), two games in 48 hours can be exhausting both physically and mentally.
Yesterday, Henry Abbott provided a detailed list of every team’s back-to-back situation. Oklahoma City was in the very bottom half with only 18 (only San Antonio and New Orleans have fewer). The most was the Bobcats with 23.
But there’s a little catch to the back-to-back game: They aren’t all equal. Sure, you’re going to be worn out after just playing a night before. Everybody has to go through this. But often times, the team you’re playing on the second night of a back-to-back is well rested and ready to go while you’re having to electroshock your legs into working. For instance, out of Oklahoma City’s 18 back-to-backs, only six of them have the Thunder playing a team that also played the night before. So for all you language arts kids, that’s 12 times (66 percent of the time) that OKC will be playing a rested team after playing the night before. Keep Reading…