Thursday Bolts – 8.27.15
Berry Tramel: “But Collison remains with the team. In fact, Collison is high on the NBA longevity list. Hoopsrumors.com has compiled a list of the longest-tenured players on each of the 30 franchises, and Collison ranks fifth. The four players ahead of him are iconic Hall of Famers — the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, the Spurs’ Tim Duncan, the Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki and the Heat’s Wade, who is ahead of Collison only because Wade was drafted 35 minutes or so before Collison.”
Brett Oswalt of NumberFire: “Last year, everyone was talking about Anthony Davis and his eleventh-best Player Efficiency Rating (30.9) of all time. But Westbrook’s also shows up on the all-time list at number 33. And when we sort by seasons in which a player has achieved a PER of at least 29 by the age of 26, Westbrook’s season is just the 15th of its kind. As a matter of fact, Westbrook boasted the highest Usage Rate of any of those players in such a season, some of the most efficient campaigns in league history.”
Joe Porter of Radio New Zealand: “But what about enhancing the sport of basketball here? Surely Adams’s decision not to play for the Tall Blacks suggests he doesn’t care about the game in little ol’ NZ? No, that couldn’t be more unfounded or more short sighed. Adams is here holding three New Zealand Basketball Academy camps (separate to governing body Basketball New Zealand), run by Kenny McFadden alongside the Oklahoma City Thunder, Adams’s NBA team. He rubbed shoulders with hundreds of star struck children across the country at the three New Zealand Basketball Academy camps inside a week, relentlessly signing jerseys, giving game tips and just being available for the kids to talk to. It’s these kinds of camps that will effect the flow of talent into Basketball New Zealand’s systems and provides young stars with the chance to obtain scholarships to college ball in the USA. Adams himself even spends his own coin to aid in the process. He puts up more than $120,000 a year from his own personal coffers into the academy in scholarships and support. High Performance Sport New Zealand gives Basketball New Zealand $200,000 per year to fund its entire high performance programme.”
Summer Forecast on first-time All-Stars.
Jeremy Lambert of Thunderous Intentions on Monty Williams: “There’s also the Kevin Durant factor. Williams and Durant have a previously established relationship that is going to be key this year. Donovan is going to have to work hard to earn the trust of his star, but when things may seem shaky, he knows that he can lean on his top assistant to help bridge the gap between the two. This is important to keep in mind when it comes to Russell Westbrook as well. Westbrook has a built-in relationship with Mo Cheeks, which will help make Donovan’s transition to the pros a little easier.”
Ira Winderman of the Sun-Sentinel on Michael Beasley: “I highly doubt there is much to the Durant angle, or else Durant would have had the Thunder sign Michael a long time ago. I believe it’s more of a case of the Heat wanting to keep that 15th roster spot fluid and available for a developmental player, perhaps one to be school in the D-League. Michael is someone the Heat always could cycle back to if needed.”
