Friday Bolts – 10.14.16
Erik Horne: “On Thursday, about five members of the Crutcher family were guests of the Thunder. The team reached out the family after the death of Terence Crutcher Sr. on Sept. 16. Crutcher Sr. was unarmed when he was fatally shot by police officer Betty Shelby in north Tulsa. Shelby was charged with first-degree manslaughter. An autopsy report showed that Crutcher had PCP in his bloodstream. The response to his death was national and crossed over into sports, with Thunder athletes like Anthony Morrow, Enes Kanter and Russell Westbrook, among others, taking to social media.”
Brett Dawson: “Domantas Sabonis’ hand was in the air almost as soon as the shot was. Thunder teammate Kyle Singler had let fly with a 3-pointer from the right corner, and Sabonis was celebrating by the time the shot reached the top of its arc. It’s been that sort of week for Singler, and Thursday was that kind of start for the Thunder. Despite a 110-94 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at the BOK Center, Oklahoma City continued a strong run of preseason 3-point shooting.”
Making runways and walking lizards. What can’t this man do?
Royce’s piece on the Thunder honoring the Crutcher family: “The family of Terence Crutcher sat courtside Thursday as the Oklahoma City Thunder took the court for a preseason game wearing “TC” patches on their warm-ups. Their opponents, the Memphis Grizzlies, also wore “TC” pins on their warm-up shirts in honor of Crutcher, who was fatally shot by a police officer Sept. 16 in Tulsa. According to a Thunder team official, with Thursday’s game being held in Tulsa, players approached management with the idea of raising awareness and came up with the idea of a patch. The Crutcher family were guests of the organization.”
Russell Westbrook getting you ready for the NBA season.
Fred Katz: “Training camp invitee Semaj Christon assumed the backup point guard role with Ronnie Price (concussion) and Cameron Payne (foot) sidelined. Fellow training camper Kaleb Tarczewski also entered the rotation. Christon played an adequate 28 minutes, going up against the Grizzlies starters at times and holding his own. He sped up the pace for most of the game, and got to the rim against a team with strong interior defenders. Tarczewski actually showed off, especially during the third quarter, when he slammed a two-handed dunk in traffic and swatted a Zach Randolph hook shot into the stands. He finished the game with an impressive 10 rebounds in 20 minutes.”
