Thursday Bolts – 9.25.14
The Lost Ogle on the new D-League name: “Seriously, is anyone else troubled by this? The Thunder are the North Korea of NBA organizations when it comes to how they control their brand, messaging and treat the outside world, and now their D-league team name and logo looks like it was thought up by a prisoner in a North Korean labor camp. Before you know it, they’re going to start referring to Thunder fans as comrades and flog and shame at halftime all the dissidents who are caught sitting down before the Thunder score their first points of the game.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on the name: “Ugh. It’s like the Thunder logo, only worse. And there are colors that aren’t blue in it! This is insanity! Furthermore, why not just call them the Lightning? Or the Storms? Or the Hail? Or the Debris? OK, maybe not that one. But still. OKC needs to hire a marketing firm very badly.”
KD thinks highly of John Wall.
Sporting News on Under Armour and Nike: “Nike has allowed UA to overpay and take away other properties in the past, most notably the University of Maryland, so this was not just a reflexive decision. But Nike has the ability to extract value from an athlete in ways UA just doesn’t, largely because of scale and creative capabilities. In fact I would go so far as to guess that UA would probably have lost money on Durant if they had won him on the terms offered, and Nike will continue making money on him (while Durant himself is even more handsomely paid than he was before). UA just took away Notre Dame from Adidas by overpaying. It remains to be seen whether they end up actually making money on ND or whether they are really just relying on the halo effect to burnish the brand.”
John Schuhmann of NBA.com: “I’m curious to see who will replace Thabo Sefolosha in the Thunder’s starting lineup. Barring injury, Scott Brooks has used the same lineup for three years, and Sefolosha’s departure gives him a chance to shake things up, even if we have to wait another year before Kendrick Perkins is eventually replaced by Steven Adams. Brooks could go with Reggie Jackson for extra speed and playmaking, Anthony Morrow for shooting, Andre Roberson for defense, or Jeremy Lamb as a long-term investment that could pay off on both ends of the floor. OKC is a title contender that has historically gotten off to bad first-quarter starts. That could continue with Perkins still around, but there’s a chance to bring some more early energy with a new starter in the backcourt.”
