Friday Bolts – 11.6.09
Shaun Livingston could see time tonight: “Point guard Shaun Livingston could soon make his season debut,
Brooks said Thursday. “I like what he’s done the last two practices,” Brooks said. “I can’t predict the future, but I’m confident if I put him in he’s going to be ready. I believe in what he brings to our team. But he has to be ready to play when his number is called and it definitely will happen.”
The Tulsa 66ers took Latavious Williams with their first round pick, making him the first high schooler ever to enter the D-League instead of going overseas or to college. Also, Tulsa took Mustafa Shakur, a former point guard from Arizona. For a full rundown, click here. (Cowboys JamesOn Curry and Marcus Dove were also picked, as well as former Sooners Lawrence Mckenzie and Deangelo Alexander.)
The Thunder set some TV records: “Fox Sports Oklahoma’s Lakers-Thunder telecast on Tuesday earned a 3.9 rating, the network’s best Thunder rating and three times last season’s average. Last season’s high was a 2.8 for a Celtics game on Nov. 5. KSBI-52’s record is a 4.3 for last season’s opener against Milwaukee.”
The Thunder’s Holiday Assist program starts Saturday: “The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today it will begin its second annual Holiday Assist community initiative this Saturday, Nov. 7 when players and Thunder staff will be giving out 400 ready-to-cook Thanksgiving dinners at the Salvation Army Oklahoma City Metropolitan Area Command. The two-month long Holiday Assist is again being presented by Cox. This year’s program spans from this Saturday through the Thunder’s New Year’s Eve game in the Ford Center on Dec. 31, and will include a variety of community outreach events involving Thunder players, coaches and staff, as well as the Thunder Girls and Rumble the Bison. During this season, the Thunder will provide Thanksgiving meals to hundreds of Oklahomans, collect food and toys at home games, take families on a holiday shopping spree and make the holidays brighter for area families. More than 3,000 people were impacted during last year’s Holiday Assist.”
Not Thunder related but somewhat state and area related: “Dallas police say they expect the number of prostitutes in the region to sharply rise for this February’s NBA All-Star game and again for the 2011 Super Bowl XLV, both of which will be held at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington. At the National Prostitute Diversion Conference today, Sgt. Louis Felini said between 50,000 and 100,000 prostitutes could be in the metroplex for the Super Bowl. Felini noted that there is no way to truly predict the number of women who will come to the area for the purpose of prostitution.”
James Harden: “I love all of my bros..I’m happy I got drafted here!!”
For any of you concerned DT readers out there wondering where your weekly podcast is, know that last week the guest I had lined up had to re-schedule and this week, well, I haven’t had a chance. Maybe one tomorrow, maybe Saturday. I’ll get it lined out and more consistent, I promise.
Great stuff here from Darnell Mayberry on KD: “It wasn’t until Thursday morning that Durant recuperated from the repulsive feeling of what he later realized was the toughest loss of his young career. “I had the game in my hands twice — and I didn’t come through,” said a more talkative Durant on Thursday, after also being tightlipped to reporters following the game. “But people told me that great players have a short memory. So that’s what I have to learn how to do.”
