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A cold keeps Rubio from working out for the Kings; next stop OKC?

by Royce Young on June 18, 2009 at 3:43 pm 29 Comments

Ricky Rubio was set to run drills for the Kings yesterday, a workout that was highly anticipated. But it wasn’t meant to be as Rubio came down with a fever and sore throat and wasn’t able to participate.

Chad Ford reported that Rubio went back to Los Angeles to get ready for his next move. He could possibly try working out for Sacramento again, but Ford had this interesting little nugget:

Sources close to the situation continue to insist that, in the end, the most likely scenario is Rubio going to the Kings at No. 4 if he’s still on the board. If he’s gone, it sounds like Flynn has moved into second place.

However, the focus on Rubio in the coming days may shift to Oklahoma City. The Thunder continue to show strong interest in Rubio and are pushing for a meeting, physical and a review of Rubio’s contract in Spain. If Rubio feels better and is up for the visit, that’s where he’ll head next.

How awesome would that be for Rubio’s first workout to be in Oklahoma City? Everyone is so intrigued by the Spanish enigma and nobody really knows what he is. But instead of running drills for the team that posts every workout on YouTube, his first NBA workout could be with the team that not even David Stern could probably get in and see. I think Sam Presti has the Integris practice facility surrounded by the National Guard.

Granted, Ford didn’t mention a specific workout, instead just a physical, a review of Rubio’s contract and a meeting, but I’d imagine they’d have him lace ‘em up for a little bit. But don’t plan on finding out for sure. The Thunder might have Rubio swim in a tank of ketchup filled with sharks and we’d never know it.

Thursday Bolts – 6.18.09

by Royce Young on June 18, 2009 at 8:14 am 35 Comments

Ah yes, the U.S. Open begins today and that means it’s Father’s Day weekend. I’m excited. One of my thunderbolt2313absolute favorite weekends of the year. Oh, and did you realize we are exactly one week away from the 2009 Draft? I know, finalllllyyy.

Sean Deveney looks at draft rumors: “Ricky Rubio is slipping in the draft – false: Most of the smoke-screening and posturing is centered on Rubio. The Grizzlies are No. 2 but remain likely to trade the pick, and they have a range of options. They are hoping to move down and get a big man – leaving whomever winds up with No. 2 to take Rubio.”

Russell Westbrook met the President this week and also talked about his China trip: “What was it like to have dinner with the President? “It was good. We got to meet him for 20 seconds, not too long. Just get his picture. It was nice. It was nice to meet him and interact a little bit. But we didn’t really get a chance to talk to him at all. You’ve just got to run through and take a picture. You know how that goes with the President. But he spoke for a good 15 minutes or so.”

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James Harden worked out for the Thunder yesterday, but I think Presti had the thing guarded by the secret service, because there’s no info about it. Darnell Mayberry did say this: “Meanwhile, the player many think is a perfect fit for the Thunder, James Harden, is in Oklahoma City today going through an individual workout at the team’s practice facility. The Arizona State shooting guard is the second player to workout by himself in OKC. USC’s DeMar DeRozan also worked out alone. My guess is the Thunder walks away with one of those two some how or another. Something tells me it’ll be Harden.”  Keep Reading…

So you’re saying there’s a chance?

by Royce Young on June 17, 2009 at 1:58 pm 15 Comments

Vegas has released its odds for next season’s NBA Championship and Oklahoma City’s chances aren’t more like one in a million, they’re more like one in a hundred. Oh yeah!

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Now before you get too excited, the Thunder is one of eight teams with 100/1 odds (Bobcats, Warriors, Clippers, Bucks, Kings and Raptors). Only two teams had worse odds. The Timberwolves with 125/1 odds and the Grizzlies with 150/1. A lot of faith there in Chris Wallace’s drafting skills I see.

The best odds are on the Lakers at 9/4, the Cavs at 3/1, the Celtics at 9/2 and the Magic at 15/2.So in case you’re wondering, if you (wisely) put 10 bucks down on the Thunder that means you’ll get a thousand dollar return when they win the title. Yep, that’s what you call easy money.

Wednesday Bolts – 6.17.09

by Royce Young on June 17, 2009 at 8:20 am 67 Comments

Thunder play-by-play man Matt Pinto will be on The Sports Animal this Friday morning at around 8:25. I really enjoy thunderbolt2312Pinto. He’s a quality basketball mind and he’s always got something interesting to say.

Derek Fisher was asked some questions about traveling (like actual traveling, not NBA traveling) and he had something nice to say about OKC: “What’s the most surprising/unexpected place you’ve ever visited? A: Being in the NBA, you are on the road and in a different city every few days. We have traveled to Oklahoma City, and I was very surprised to find such a sense of community, kind people and was extremely touched by the Oklahoma City National Memorial honoring those who were lost in the bombing of the Federal Building.”

Sam Amick of the Sac Bee sits down and interviews Ricky Rubio (on video). One interesting quote, among many: “I come here to play and to play the minutes. I didn’t come here to play in the NBA, and (be) done. No, I want to be a really good point guard here in the best league in the world, and I want to have minutes. So I have to find the team who wants me, who really wants me.”

Keep Reading…

An education in the NBA: 20 things I learned about the Thunder (and the NBA in general)

by Royce Young on June 16, 2009 at 10:06 am 56 Comments

I don’t mean to say I don’t know anything about this game, because I think I do. But then again, I thought I knew a few things about Intellectual History of the 19th Century, but my exams and final grade said different. But this NBA season just officially ended and really that concludes my first full season as a true NBA fan. And I learned lots.

I do feel like I had a decent handle on this game. No matter how you slice it, basketball is basketball. I played it, I coached it a little and I’ve watched it. But I’m not saying I didn’t learn anything this season actively following it for a full year. Because I sure did. Mid-level exceptions, salary cap, trade restrictions, restricted free agents, how the lottery actually works – those were a few of the smaller things I figured out early on.

But this is the first time I’ve ever closely followed the NBA game. In the past I watched M.J. when he played, watched the playoffs and maybe watched a good regular season game. When the Hornets stopped by for dinner in 2005, I followed. But not like I followed the Thunder. It was more looking at the box score each day on ESPN.com and either saying, “Cool they won,” or “Oh, they lost.” This season, I watched probably something like 84 out of 89 games (including preseason) and attended many. And it was all awesome.

So these aren’t revelations for fans in Boston or L.A. They know this already. But Oklahoma City fans are new. We’re like the 19-year-old freshman that decided he needed to expand his music taste from Kanye and Nickelback and finally gets into the Beatles and comes banging on your dorm room door saying, “Dude, Eleanor Rigby is a freaking awesome song. John Lennon Paul McCartney is a really good writer.” So here’s 20 revelations (or just things I learned this season) both about the Thunder and the Association in general.

1. The NBA All-Star game is simply the best of all the major sports.
We all know the Pro Bowl sucks. People care as much about the Pro Bowl as they do John and Kate Gosselin’s marital problems. Baseball’s All-Star game used to be the best until interleague play ruined it. But the NBA’s game is such a production. It’s not just a game, it’s a whole weekend. Even though the events always turn out to be lame and slightly boring, we still get jazzed up about them. Snickers Skills Challenge! Woo!!! But there’s musical performances every 10 seconds and awesome celebrity appearances. The actual game is rarely close, but it’s entertaining. The NBA is so personal as you can see the players’ faces clearly and every expression and every laugh. You can see the players are having a great freaking time, so you do to. Plus they get a little crazy and show off. Shaq handling in the open court. Behind-the-back passes on every fast break. Ridiculous oops and dunk attempts every two possessions. It’s just FANtastic (see what I did there?).

2. NBA players DO play hard.
Having watched college basketball basically my entire life, it’s easy to assume they don’t. It’s really one of the biggest complaints college ball lovers have. They don’t play hard. They’re just standing around. It’s all 1-on-1. College offenses run a lot of sets and motion because there isn’t the sheer skill. In college, there’s really no isolation plays and there’s a lot of zone played. So it’s easy to assume that college players are playing harder when in reality, there’s no difference. And then you’ve got the NBA 3-point line being further back so the spacing is better giving more opportunity for one-on-one or two-man games. I got the opportunity to sit basically courtside this year at a Thunder game. And let me tell you, those guys were playing freaking hard. People say all you need to watch in an NBA game is the fourth quarter because they don’t try for the first three. This is something I’ll never say again. Because those guys are busting their butts (for the most part) for the full 48. Now sure, the Clippers may not show up at all in the season finale, but come on, that’s the Clippers. We’re talking about the N-B-A. The Colorado Buffaloes have been doing the same thing for years, but nobody says anything. Keep Reading…

Tuesday Bolts – 6.16.09

by Royce Young on June 16, 2009 at 7:52 am 50 Comments

Bill Ingram of HoopsWorld on Hasheem Thabeet: “At HOOPSWORLD we’ve had some informed sources tell us the thunderbolt2311Thunder are interested in drafting a point guard and moving Russell Westbrook over to the two. If that’s the case, you would think the Thunder are probably interested in, say, Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn, or maybe Ricky Rubio. Then there’s been the ongoing rumor that Sam Presti really likes James Harden (and what’s not to like?), who would play the two next to Westbrook. Then again, as Mayberry aptly points out, what the Thunder truly lack more than anything else is a defensive stopper in the middle. The only real low post defensive stopper in this draft is Thabeet.”

Brandon Jennings was like, “Rubio’s no good!” now he’s all like, “Just playin’!”: “One more thing, I went overboard about the Rubio thing, I was wrong for saying he’s all hype that’s not fair. I was wrong, I guess I just wanna compete against the best. But off the court the kid is a great guy. I will never disrespect him, I just like too go against the best … well yea saying he’s all HYPE yea that was wrong. But far as wanting too be the best PG no. Im mad im not gon be the #1 pick.”

Speaking of Twitter, Nick Collison mildly amuses me again: “Golfing at det scremphs charity tourney. Thru 7 holes I’ve used 7 balls. My golf names..vanilla slice,andrew slice clay, condoleezza slice … I can’t believe the restaraunt Sbarro is filing for sbankruptcy. Its getting sbad, really sbad.” I actually laughed out loud at the last one. Keep Reading…

Monday Bolts – Congratulations Lakers Edition

by Royce Young on June 15, 2009 at 8:26 am 84 Comments

And finally, after all of that, we crown a new NBA champion. Congratulations are in order for Laker fans everywhere, thunderbolt2310even if basically all of the NBA and sporting world hates you. And now with that out of the way, only 10 days until the draft…

HoopsWorld looks at the studs and duds from the last four NBA drafts: “Without a doubt Durant has made a bigger impact on the NBA than Greg Oden, but he’s also a better player than 90% of the league after just two seasons. With a team built to run and Durant as the focal point, the Thunder will be a team to be reckoned with in the not-too-distant future – and Durant only continues to improve. Durant raised his scoring by five points as a sophomore, his shooting percentage 40 points, and added two more rebounds a game. What’s he got up his sleeve for Year 3? The All-Star Game should be on his resume very soon.”

The Baseline reports that the Charlotte Observer reports that Steph Curry could go as high as No. 3 in the draft. Hey, who’s picking third again?: “Davidson guard Stephen Curry could be as high as the third pick in this month’s NBA draft and is unlikely to fall below the seventh pick, the Charlotte Observer is reporting. The only players clearly ahead of Curry at this point are Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin and Connecticut’s Hasheem Thabeet, a source tells the newspaper. Many have speculated that Curry could go to the Knicks, but the Knicks have the No. 8 pick in the draft.  The source also said that four point guards — Curry, Spain’s Ricky Rubio, Syracuse’s Jonny Flynn and Memphis’ Tyreke Evans — could all go in the top eight.”

Something I was thinking about - The Lakers claim 15 titles. Five of those titles came while they were the Minneapolis Lakers. So if that counts, then I’m ready and fully willing to take that 1979 NBA title and count it. I didn’t feel right about it before, but seeing as one of the greatest sports franchises ever is doing it, I guess it is alright.

OKC still has assistant coach spots to fill: “Still down one assistant coach because of Paul Westhead’s departure following the firing of P.J. Carlesimo and subsequent promotion of Scott Brooks and hiring of Ron Adams, the Thunder could have one more assistant’s position to fill. The team is expected to move on without one of its four remaining assistants and has already begun interviewing candidates. The new additions could be announced in the near future. According to one league source, the positions could be filled before the June 25 draft, and at least one of the hires is likely to be an offensive-minded coach.” Keep Reading…

Saturday Bolts – Weekend Edition

by Royce Young on June 13, 2009 at 9:23 am 40 Comments

A couple of good stories came out late yesterday that I didn’t want anybody to miss…thunderbolt2

Stephen Curry had an interesting Q&A with The Baseline: “The Washington one is set, and after that it’s still open. We’re in talks with a lot of teams trying to get the right schedule going for the last week and a half. Beyond Tuesday in Washington, I don’t have anything set yet. CL: Last time we talked, you mentioned the Thunder … SC: Oklahoma City, Portland and … I think that was it. CL: There was another one, the Bucks. SC: Oh, Milwaukee. We’re still talking to all those teams. I don’t really know what’s going to happen beyond Tuesday.” So Curry is going to work out with OKC and the fact he’s to work out with Portland means they may be trying to move into the lottery to get him.

Darnell Mayberry on the history of UCONN big men: “The list is long but not so illustrious. It contains familiar names like Emeka Okafor and Charlie Villanueva but also includes forgettable faces such as Travis Knight and Jake Voskuhl.It’s the fraternity of big men from the University of Connecticut. Some have gone on to great success in the NBA. Most have not. Hasheem Thabeet is next in line, for better or for worse.” Keep Reading…

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