Friday Bolts – 12.18.15
Anthony Slater: “In recent weeks, the Thunder defense has cranked up to a consistently stingy
level. OKC had given up 99 points or fewer in seven straight games entering Wednesday, tying a Thunder era record, while the offense has remained steady and the wins have piled up. But those breakdowns from earlier this season reappeared on Thursday night. And it wasn’t just on the Dellavedova lob.”
Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com: “That’s the sales pitch to Durant that has been years in the making: The team is young, it’s spending money, it’s in a position to keep spending money because of past discipline, it won’t have to gut itself to make salary-cap space to sign him and it has gone out and hired a coach in Billy Donovan who Presti believes is one of the best minds in the game (in another of his multi-stage decisions). It’s a pitch the Cavs, for all their efforts, could not make to James.”
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider on Hack-A: “In October and November alone, I identified 105 hacks — more than in the entire 2012-13 regular season. While I ultimately found 164 intentional fouls during the 2014-15 regular season, the vast majority of those came after DeAndre Jordan was hacked 13 times by the San Antonio Spurs on the first day after the All-Star break. The league didn’t hit triple-digit intentional fouls last season until March 27.”
Remarkable piece on Thabo Sefolosha.
Chad Ford’s top prospects: “Hield has been on the NBA radar for a while, but scouts always have been concerned about his inconsistency. As a senior he’s putting it all together, shooting 50 percent from 3, getting to the line six times a game (shooting 90 percent from the stripe) and scoring a career-high 22.7 PPG. He’s undersized for his position, but scouts love his moxie.”
LeBron trucked Jason Day’s wife last night.
Zito Madu of SB Nation: “Sadly, their on-court synergy is at its best when their chances of winning it all are at their worst. Regardless of how well they work together, the shadow of the Warriors and the Spurs looms above them. Even with their six-game winning streak, the Thunder are still miles from both teams. They are 7.5 games behind the Warriors in the standings, and the gulf between those teams seems much larger than that.”
LeBron on KD: “He’s a 7-footer with 6-foot ballhandling skills and a jump shot. And athleticism. It’s never been done in our league. Never had a guy that’s 7 foot, can jump like that, can shoot like that, handle the ball like that. So it sets him apart.”
SVP’s One Big Thing last night.
Neil Paine of 538 tries to understand usage: “For most players, this distinction is largely irrelevant; among qualified players1 this season, the correlation between BBR usage and Oliver’s more full-bodied formula is 0.98. But for certain types of players, it can matter: It’s the difference, for instance, between claiming that DeMarcus Cousins carries the league’s biggest offensive burden (as he does under BBR’s formula) and giving the distinction to Russell Westbrook (No. 1, according to Oliver and Hollinger). One measures pure scoring affinity; the others factor in ballhandling responsibility while still strictly accounting for the player(s) who served as the conduit for every possession’s end.”