ESPN logoTrueHoop Network
An ESPN Affiliate

Daily Thunder.com

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Team
    • Salaries
    • Roster
    • Schedule & Events
  • Commenting Guidelines

Thursday Bolts – Gus Johnson Edition

by Royce Young on March 19, 2009 at 8:02 am 38 Comments

Ah, the best day of the year. So much buildup, so much anticipation and today here we go. What will we see? Will a 16 thunderbolt2315finally beat a 1? Will there be a memorable buzzer beater? Such a wonderful time. (And it’s also a really good time to get a good, hard look at some of the top college prospects too…)

Eric Musselman ranks the players in the tournament based on pro potential.

Chad Ford looks at pro prospects by region in the tournament: “Blake Griffin: Griffin is the consensus No. 1 pick in the draft, and, short of a horrific injury in the tournament, nothing will be able to knock him off that perch. He’s as close to a sure thing as there is in the draft, and his performance in the tournament shouldn’t have a big impact on his stock one way or the other.” (One thing I’d love to point out is that you shouldn’t completely fall in love with a player just because he has a nice tourney. That’s an incredibly small sample size and while it can show you what a guy can do, it doesn’t necessarily mean that’s what he will do.)

Ric Rucher talks with Jim Traber about the Thunder’s future and Bill Simmons (audio inside). Listen to this. It’s EXCELLENT stuff.

Empty the Bench named its second round Rookie of the Year and Kyle Weaver was honorable mention: “In and out of the lineup until February (mostly out), the swingman from Washington State has, if anything, proven he’s a nice compliment off the bench behind the Thunder’s nucleus of young, rising stars. He’s recently been replaced in the starting five by trade-deadline acquisition and ETB favorite Thabo Sefolosha; he does a lot of the same things as Thabo, just without as much panache and with a much lower ceiling.”

And Weaver got a little love from David Thorpe in this week’s rookie rankings too: “Weaver filled in admirably for the Thunder when Kevin Durant went down with an ankle injury. Weaver scored 10-plus points in four straight games and looked like he had some potential as a 3-point shooter. Considering that he was drafted for his defense, those are positive signs. He has a chance to be a nice bench option for the Thunder next season.” Keep Reading…

A tale of two halves for Oklahoma City

by Royce Young on March 18, 2009 at 8:20 pm 17 Comments

BOX SCORE

The Thunder’s had two major calling cards during this recent good stretch of basketball – defense and rebounding.

And OKC did neither well tonight. At all.

Chicago outscored the Thunder in both the third and fourth quarters, outrebounded OKC by 11 and seemed to score at will in stretches as the Bulls broke a seven-game road losing streak 103-96 in front of a sold out Ford Center.

This was just one of those frustrating losses that really reminded me of the competitive but tough December OKC had. Kevin Durant was solid scoring 28 and grabbing six boards (but was 2-9 from the floor in the second half). Jeff Green was alright with 18, but only had three rebounds. Russell Westbrook had 15 points and six assists, but wasn’t that great in the second half. Nick Collison was excellent off the bench with 12 and 13, but he was really the only guy that hit the glass. A couple guys played good, nobody played great and a couple guys played bad. You add those three things together and a seven-point loss sounds about right.

After the first half, I was feeling really good about the Westbrook/Derrick Rose matchup. Westbrook had 12 points on 5-8 shooting with three assists and just one turnover. Rose had five points on 2-4 shooting with three assists and five turns. The second half, they swapped. Rose absolutely took the game over. He went a perfect 10-10 from the field in the second half (almost all sweet jumpers) and turned it over just once. Westbrook went 1-8 with three points, had three dimes and turned it over three times. Westbrook wasn’t bad by any means, but Rose was excellent. Keep Reading…

Bulls vs. Thunder: Pre-game primer

by Royce Young on March 18, 2009 at 12:47 pm 8 Comments

c-bulls vs. okc-thunder4

Chicago Bulls (31-37, 10-26 road) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (19-48, 14-20 home)

TV: FS Oklahoma HD (Cox 37, HD 722)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)
Time: 7:00 CST

Offensive Rating: Thunder: 103.4 (28th), Chicago: 107.2 (18th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder: 109.2 (18th), Chicago: 108.4 (17th)
Pace: Thunder: 93.6 (8th), Chicago: 93.2 (9th)

Tired legs anyone?

The Bulls are coming off an exhausting 127-121 win over Boston last night in Chicago. It was a physically and mentally draining game for the Bulls who desperately needed it to hang on the eighth spot in the East. So common sports sense says, Chicago should come out flat against a “lesser” opponent. The Thunder’s already got one win over the Bulls (OKC is looking for a season saaweeep) and Chicago is mangled in the ever fascinating Eastern eighth spot playoff race. Where 10 games below .500 and still in the playoffs happens!

One matchup will have most everybody’s interest though. Brad Miller vs. Nenad Krstic Russell Westbrook vs. Derrick Rose. These two are separating themselves in the Rookie of the Year race as the two top candidates and a head-to-head win could be a nice swing vote in favor of either guy. Keep Reading…

Some etiquette for the Madness

by Royce Young on March 18, 2009 at 12:27 pm 6 Comments

So everyone had their bracket filled out three days and I know I’m late with this, but I wrote this column a couple years ago and I always make it a point to revise and re-share it with friends every year. And you guys are my friends, right? Since we’re all literally counting the seconds until the Madness tips tomorrow, how about another column to kill some time until the tournament?

It’s March, and that means madness is only minutes away. It also means that last Sunday night, everyone from Digger Phelps to my grandmother filled out an NCAA Tournament bracket. (And grandma has beat Digger three years running probably because she doesn’t think every single team is “salad” and also understands how the bracket actually works.)

Somehow, the filling out of brackets has become bigger than the tournament itself. Heck, the President took a step away from hope and change and saving the world to fill one out. The brackets have become so big, someone needs to define some Madness bracket etiquette, and I’m going to do just that.

1. Limit yourself to one bracket. There is a reason this rule is first. It’s the most important rule, and if you just follow one, please let it be this one. Even if you’re in 14 pools, fill out one bracket, and send it in 14 times. No one wants to hear some guy say, “Yeah, in one of my brackets I totally picked Bucknell over Kansas! I’m so smart!” That means you picked it wrong 13 other times, you dolt. You haven’t called anything, you aren’t smart and I hate you. By filling out 14 different brackets, you’ve just increased your odds of getting at least one lunatic upset right.

(The addendum here is that if you enter in ESPN’s bracket pool thing, you can do more than one because money is at stake and you increase your odds. Hey, we are in a recession you know. You’re just not allowed to talk about any of your extra brackets.) Keep Reading…

Wednesday Bolts – 3.18.09

by Royce Young on March 18, 2009 at 7:53 am 32 Comments

Russell Westbrook back on top of SI’s rookie rankings: “Count Nuggets coach George Karl among those who believe thunderbolt2314Westbrook has caught up to Rose and warrants serious Rookie of the Year consideration. “I like his stride, his power, his courage to learn a new position,” Karl told the Denver Post. “I think by March and April, I’m going with Westbrook.” Westbrook, who is adjusting to playing full time as a point guard, committed a season-high eight turnovers in Saturday’s loss to Phoenix. Therein lies the obvious rub with the raw playmaker: His eye-popping 226 giveaways in 67 games (3.4 average) rank second only to Dwyane Wade.”

Is Jeff Green the NBA version of Evengi Malkin? (that’s a hockey player): “It really seems like he’s doing somethinguseful in every single play, and his mark on a game is singular and unmistakable for this Thunder team. There’s a definite Swiss-army-like quality of utter utility to the guy, but somehow- even given the flashes we’ve seen of his true potential thusfar- he remains an undefined specimen. It’s like he’s a secondary (or even tertiary) figure in a mythology he’s helping to build. Green’s game is like a Funk Brothers Motown track, or an unwritten gospel… I’ve been struggling to find a proper illustrative analog from within the Association, but it turns out that the athlete who most frequently comes to mind when I consider Green isn’t actually a basketball player at all. Jeff Green really reminds me most of Evengi Malkin, the NHL center for the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

Take 15 minutes (or 20, depending on how fast you read) and digest this fanpost from Sactown Royalty. It’s got a few ties to OKC and really kind of illuminates the lunacy and hypocrisy of so many people openly talking about moving franchises while still casting stones at Oklahoma City: “Longevity can’t be the only criteria, though.  As we’ve all seen, a bedrock franchise with storied history, All-Star players, and established ties to the community can still be ripped from a city like Seattle, basically at the whim of ownership.  When discussing the egregiousness of any potential move, fan support has to be considered as well.  (Incidentally, you’ve been pretty vocal in opposition to the Sonics move to OKC–no friends at the Oklahoman, I guess?)”

I feel horrible about taking some kind of strange satisfaction in this: “New Orleans is 9-3 since his return. However, he has not played of late with the spark that led to his having three double-doubles in his first seven games back — when he averaged 9.9 points and 10.1 rebounds — and during the Hornets’ current two-game losing streak, Chandler has averaged four points and eight rebounds. “My ankle is banged up, but I’m going to continue to try and play through it, ” Chandler said. “But it’s definitely affecting me, because a lot of the stuff I get comes from energy and hustle, and I don’t feel like I’m able to do that.” Chandler and Hornets Coach Byron Scott said Chandler’s sprained left ankle, which forced him to miss 14 consecutive games in January and February, has not fully healed. And with the Hornets’ bench continuing to play ineffectively, Scott does not appear to have many options. However, he said if Chandler’s ankle continues to affect his mobility and performance, he would consider playing him fewer minutes, opting to use reserve Sean Marks.” Keep Reading…

D.J. White cleared to play

by Royce Young on March 17, 2009 at 3:11 pm 10 Comments

Darnell Mayberry reports:

Forward D.J. White has been cleared by team doctors to participate in full-contact practices and play in games. With 15 games remaining on the season, however, it’s unclear if White will make his debut this year or if Thunder officials will hold him out of games until 2009-10.

White, the 29th overall pick in last year’s draft, has yet to play this season after undergoing surgery to repair a benign growth in his jaw. White underwent the first of two surgeries this season on Oct. 13 to remove the growth in his jaw. Doctors performed a second surgery on Jan. 4 to take a bone graft from the right side of his hip and mend the bone in his jaw. He had a routine check up Monday and received news that he has recovered enough to resume all basketball activities.

White still has visible swelling on the left side of his jaw but has been an active member of light practices and shoot-around sessions, doing everything but full-contact drills. Whenever White takes the court, he is expected to add depth to the Thunder’s frontcourt with interior toughness, a knack for rebounding and a polished offensive game that includes a consistent jump hook from the left block and shooting range out to 17 feet.

“He’s very athletic and he’s very active, especially on the boards,” said rookie Russell Westbrook, who teamed with White during the Orlando Summer League last July. “He can score and bring people out to the elbow. He’s going to be a good asset for us, especially rebounding and blocking shots.”

Great news not just for the Thunder, but even more for D.J. It’s got to be rough to be shelved for virtually your whole rookie season while you watch teammates grind it out and you’re sitting on the bench in a suit every night. Especially with something as random as a growth on your jaw. And this hopefully means he’s over this little issue.

He can do a lot for OKC off the bench. He makes the Thunder a lot deeper and can add a very good physical presence in the post, rebound and block shots. People kind of forgot about him, but he was the Big 10 player of the year last year and a second team All-American. Dude can play.

UPDATE: White has been assigned to the Tulsa 66ers and is expected to rejoin the team and make his debut with OKC before the end of the year.

Tuesday Bolts – Don’t Pinch Me Edition

by Royce Young on March 17, 2009 at 8:22 am 12 Comments

Chris Tomasson of Pro Basketball News reflects on the big trade that wasn’t: “The Thunder will get a chance to use its thunderbolt2313ample salary-cap room this summer to try to bring in a player similar to Chander. But for now, each time Chandler yanks down another rebound for the Hornets, they’re just trying to forget in Oklahoma City. Thunder coach Scott Brooks sounds as if he would like a procedure done similar to the one in the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, in which unhappy relationships are wiped from one’s mind.”

Henry Abbott commenting on the same story: “Is it better to be high or low-risk? It’s one of the great debates of the ages, and there are no easy answers. I have tremendous respect for both positions, and realize you have to have both in your arsenal, ready to deply with a nuanced sense of what’s called for, whether we’re talking about investing or anything else. Which brings us to Carlan Yates, M.D. He’s reportedly the doctor who cried foul on Tyson Chandler’s toe, and advised the honchos of the Thunder who then canceled the trade that would have moved the young big man from New Orleans to Oklahoma City. Yates also knows that toe well, having operated on it years before. The Thunder made a very conservative call: Paying big dollars to an injured player is one of the surest ways to ruin your NBA franchise. Assuring yourself of avoiding that scenario is admirable. This brand of conservatism allows that you’ll miss some opportunities, but in the long run you’ll look smart by avoiding catastrophe. But on the other hand — sooner or later, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, and Russell Westbrook will be in need of a top shelf big man, and there are precious few ways to get them. At some point, the team’s investment in that young squad will be so great that it would be insane not to unlock the teams’ full potential with a quality big man. And quality big men are so precious that they almost always come with caveats, worries, and excessive contracts. In other words, it’s a risky business, but it’s a risk champions take.

“Behind the Box Score, where the Thunder are quite fun: “This game was very entertaining. The Spurs kept turning it over, the Thunder kept taking advantage. The crowd rose to the occasion, the Spurs could string together a long enough run to keep the Thunder at bay, and the upset didn’t really seem like an upset by the fourth quarter. Tony Parker (28 points, seven assists, five turnovers) seemed unstoppable at times, Oklahoma City’s backcourt wasn’t exactly the most efficient, but Russell Westbrook and Thabo Sefolosha might be the most exciting pair of starting guards in the NBA, and Nenad (the Rebounding Machine) Krstic has been quite the pickup for da Thundah. Also, Tim Duncan is clearly not healthy, Ime Udoka has never been the defensive stopper mainstream media pegged him as (he’s good, but nowhere near Bruce Bowen; and Bruce Bowen hasn’t been Bruce Bowen-like all season), while Kevin Durant was a few spin-outs away from 40 points. He had to settle for 25 in the win. Oklahoma City is so fun to watch. Even when just putting up 78 points.” Keep Reading…

Thunder 78-Spurs 76

by Joe on March 16, 2009 at 9:15 pm 16 Comments

Box score

What are the odds of the Thunder beating one of the best teams in basketball, when they only shot 36% from the field, were out-rebounded, were down by 17 points at one point, and turned the ball over 6 times in the first quarter. Would you say a win was likely?

That’s what happened and if you didn’t see it you missed a very good and entertaining game. The Thunder came out against the Spurs and were flat offensively (even by tonight’s standards). Nobody not named Durant could hit a bucket. Meanwhile the Spurs were their usual efficient self mostly getting every shot to drop.  They shot 13/23 in the opening quarter (56%), had 10 rebounds and 9 assists and only one turn. The Thunder were 6/18 (33%) with 8 boards and 6 turns. They were taking everything from outside and not getting into the paint.

In the second quarter the Thunder’s shooting didn’t improve much, but the defense began to take hold. They forced the Spurs into 9 turns in the quarter, and held them to 33% shooting.  The Thunder began to get into the paint in the second and it paid off-getting to the line 13 times to cut the lead down to 4 by halftime. We also hang onto the ball better, only committing 3 turns. I began to think that maybe we might have a chance, but we still needed to shoot more efficiently.

In the third it was more of the same: defensive intensity by both teams, which produced poor shooting by both teams.  The difference between the two teams seemed to be that we were getting to the line and they weren’t, and we crashed the boards hard in the third snagging 12 to the Spurs 9.  The Spurs lead was down to two at 63-61 at the end of three. Keep Reading…

  • « Previous
  • 1
  • …
  • 467
  • 468
  • 469
  • 470
  • 471
  • …
  • 510
  • Next »
Back to Top

Headlines

  • KD named All-NBA first team, Westbrook second team
  • Perk donates $25,000 to help build shelters in schools
  • Report: Mo Cheeks to interview with the Pistons
  • Thunder land the 12th pick in the 2013 draft
  • Thunder donate $1 million to aid with disaster relief
  • Kevin Durant donates $1 million to disaster relief
  • Serge Ibaka named first team All-Defense
Daily Thunder
  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Contact

Copyright © 2008-2012 DailyThunder.com
Designed by iThemes Creative & Hosted by Site5