Tuesday Bolts – 11.10.15
Kevin Durant’s first post on The Players’ Tribune: “I get asked to predict the future, too. But trying
to say how our team’s going to do — that’s other people’s jobs. In an 82-game season, getting ahead of yourself is dangerous. That kind of mindset will punish you. The season is a marathon, man. My job is to play ball. My job is to support my teammates and make them better. My job is to help my team win, not tell the future.”
David Ramil of Hardwood Paroxysm on Mitch McGary: “There’s clearly a role for McGary, even if it’s not the one that was envisioned at the start of the season; equal parts playmaker and release valve for a team that has been accused of being wound too tight in recent years. But whether the Thunder realize just how much they actually need McGary is something that remains to be seen.”
Berry Tramel on Anthony Morrow’s playing time: “In summer 2014, Morrow signed with the Thunder, he found a coach in Scotty Brooks who loved him and an injury-depleted team that needed him, and Morrow produced. In 74 Thunder games, Morrow averaged 10.7 points a game. He was back to being the player he had been with Golden State and New Jersey. But even though Williams has joined Donovan’s staff, Morrow’s playing time has dwindled. Donovan says Morrow is not in the doghouse and will have a place to help the Thunder this season. You would think so. A guy who can shoot like this could help most teams. But Morrow’s defense is not strong, and the Thunder has loads of firepower. So we’ll see. Right now, Morrow seems out of the Thunder rotation.”
Durant on visiting DC last year: “It was cool to see all my family there, but if our team did that to somebody coming in our arena, I wouldn’t like it. So, I didn’t really like it. We played a really good team in the Wizards, a great team with great young talent and a good coach. I think that was disrespectful.”
Marc Stein has OKC eighth in power rankings: “Struggling to pick between the Thunder and Bulls in terms of which team can claim to be the first we jinxed this season. Though OKC’s schedule certainly wasn’t very friendly in the past week, its frailties on D (and, yes, some bogged-down O) suggest that we might have bumped them into the upper crust the rankings too quickly.”
John Schuhmann of NBA.com has OKC sixth: “The Thunder shot 3-for-19 in the clutch (0-for-12 against the Rockets and Raptors) as they lost three straight games last week. But second-unit defense is their biggest issue. Whether he’s getting paid $6 million or $16 million, Enes Kanter is still a disaster at that end of the floor. Their starting lineup has allowed 88.8 points per 100 possessions. All other lineups have allowed 106.8.”
