Daily Thunder.com

 vs.

Thunder (21-56, 7-30 road) at Denver Nuggets (52-26, 31-8 home)

TV: FS Oklahoma HD (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 8:00 CST

Offensive Rating: Thunder: 102.8 (29th), Denver: 110.4 (6th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 109.6 (20th), Denver: 106.5 (8th)
Pace:Thunder: 93.4 (8th), Denver: 92.4 (7th)

Another stop in the Thunder’s crawl to the finish line.

The effort was absolutely better against the Spurs, but as I pointed out in the Bolts today, Kevin Durant has got to assert himself sometimes. He took only two shots in the fourth quarter and one was a forced three-pointer with 50 seconds left. Jeff Green didn’t score in the fourth. Those are the two main parts of your offense and you get two points in the most important minutes. That’s a bit disturbing.

KD has to want to be The Man. He has every tool to do it. It’s just whether or not he wants to stand there and wait for his number to get called, or if he wants to take the freaking thing over. Like I said, you think Kobe is standing there running motion offense and waiting for Derek Fisher to set him up? You think LeBron is just going to wait his turn? Some of the blame falls on Russell Westbrook and the other guys running point for not making it a point to give KD the ball. But in crunch time, you’ve got to rely on your big guns. Those being primarily KD and Uncle Jeff. The Thunder plays best as a full unit, but when something ain’t working and the game’s slipping away, go with the guy who is the best at basketball. Keep Reading…

Well would you look at that – the Thunder’s started a “campaign” for Russell Westbrook. And by campaign I mean some hastily thrown together photoshop with some stats. Well consider me convinced. I did think this stat is pretty darn impressive though: Westbrook has dished out 10 or more assists on seven occasions, most of all rookies and he leads all rookie guards in double-doubles. Take THAT Rose Colored Glasses!

The SI roundtable takes a look back at Oden and Durant: “I’m still in the too-soon-to-tell camp on this one. You won’t find too many people who don’t think Durant is destined to be an MVP candidate in the next few years. He’s a polished and dynamic offensive player and, if you believe Thunder coach Scot Brooks, his defense is starting to come along. In Oden’s case, we still don’t know if he is going to be a part-time player for the rest of his career. Even if he isn’t, what I’ve seen of Oden’s offensive game makes me wonder if he will ever develop into anything more than Dikembe Mutombo. Now, I know 30 teams in the league that would take a young Dikembe Mutombo on their roster. But that’s not the question, is it?”

Ricky Rubio declares for the draft… again: “Ricky Rubio is back on our 2009 mock draft, after a four month stint where he was projected for 2010. Sources close to the situation indicate that Rubio’s family is now in favor of him entering this year, and that will almost certainly be on the early-entry list when it’s released on April 27th. His buyout still needs to be negotiated, which is easier said than done, but a final decision on whether to stay in likely won’t come until very close to the pull-out deadline, on June 19th. Unlike college players who are bound by the more restrictive NCAA rules, International players can enter the draft up to three times, which gives him plenty of wiggle room.” Keep Reading…

Timothy Varner from the super-duper fantastic Spurs blog 48 Minutes of Hell was kind enough to answer a few questions about the relationship Oklahoma City and San Antonio share.

DT: Oklahoma City has been said to be mimicking the Spurs model. I take that as get three cornerstone players, make sure you keep them and build from there. Looking at OKC from an outside perspective, do you think they’ve got three comparable cornerstones to Duncan, Parker and Ginobili?

TV: That’s a good question. Right now, the answer is obviously no. But projecting forward, the Thunder absolutely have the makings of the a future Big 3. Here’s what scares me: Sam Presti is not done. Durant is just scratching the surface of awesome he will be become. The better he becomes, the greater success his surrounding cast will enjoy. But honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if the third member of your Big 3 is yet to arrive. What if someone like Jeff Green becomes a 4th star, rather than the 3rd? Going forward, I actually like the Thunder’s chances of becoming a dynasty more than Portland’s.

DT: What do you see as the reason the Spurs have lost to the Thunder the last two? Lack of focus? Poor coaching decisions? What is it? Keep Reading…

SLAM has five reasons Scott Brooks deserves an extension: “Either way, even when the Thunder were playing like your grandpa’s ’73 Sixers, Brooks was still encouraging, still clapping, still refusing to collect moral victories like he used to collect his team’s laundry when he was a coach in the ABA. Even the locker room, when things weren’t exactly humming, didn’t permeate a team dancing with futility. The players seem to genuinely like Brooks — some even call him “Scotty” — and when you like someone, you tend to play hard for them. Brooks perhaps draws strength from his own playing career. He was a short, white, undrafted and undersized guard, a CBA refugee who ended up sticking around for ten years and winning a title (with the ’94 Rockets). It’s entirely possible Brooks sees this Thunder team going through the same modus operandi as his own life in professional basketball: Success will eventually be born out of hardship, acquired through scrap and fight, where results and respect will be concurrently earned. Bottom line: He’s an upbeat guy, and his team is eating it up – 18-24 since their 3-29 start, with wins over San Antonio (twice), Utah, Dallas and Detroit since the second week of January.”

David Friedman of Pro Basketball News says give the RoY to Derrick Rose: “The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook is averaging 17.3 ppg since the All-Star break but he is only shooting .395 from the field during that time. For the season, he is averaging 15.7 ppg (tied with Gordon for third among rookies) and 5.1 apg (second among rookies) for a team that started slowly but now has a marginally better winning percentage than last year.” That’s it. That’s all the mention Russell got in Friedman’s Rookie of the Year thing.

Brook Lopez was asked about Rookie of the Year: “Probably Derrick,” Lopez said. Give a different one. “I’d say Russell (Westbrook).” Keep going. What about Lopez? So he named Robin. ”Derrick’s changed his team so much. They’re definitely (in it) for the playoffs. Between (Kevin) Durant and Russ, Oklahoma City has obviously improved over the course of the season. He did too,” said Lopez, averaging 12.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.79 blocks, who gave his All-Rookie team as Rose, Westbrook, O.J. Mayo, Eric Gordon and Marc Gasol.”

NBA Outsider has a prediction: “Let me make it clear that I am NOT saying the Oklahoma City Thunder will be title contenders, but instead that they will be threatening to make it into the playoffs in three years. I try to be bold, not borderline brain damaged.” Oh my. How bold. Will be threatening to make the playoffs in three years? Really going out there on a limb with that one. Three years is a long time. That means you’re saying they stink in 2009-10. They’re bad in 2010-2011. But in 2011-12, look out! They might make the playoffs that year. NBA teams are the easiest to turn around. If OKC’s doesn’t contend for the playoffs until 2011-12, then something is seriously wrong. Keep Reading…