Friday Bolts – 2.5.10

Empty the Bench looking at how teams are choosing defense over offense: “The 6-6 Switzerland product has started every OKC game next to Durant, Westbrook, and Green, averaging a lowly 6 points per. His perimeter D on twos and threes is the reason why he’s in the starting lineup. Sefolosha is athletic and intuitive, always in the right position and at the proper angle to make someone think twice about driving or pulling up for a jumper. His wingspan is immense, so he gets his hands all over the ball, registering 1.3 steals (top-25 in the NBA) and 0.7 blocks from the off-guard position. Not surprisingly, the Thunder’s Defensive Rating rocketed from 20th in the league a year ago to 6th currently.”

The AP with a nice story on KD: “One by one, Kevin Durant has been taking the NBA’s biggest names and scoring his way right on past them. First Kobe. Then LeBron. Next up, Carmelo. With a tear that began just before Christmas, Durant has climbed into a virtual tie with Denver’s Carmelo Anthony for first place in the NBA scoring race. He’s had at least 25 points in each of his last 23 games – a feat none of the other superstars has ever accomplished and no one else has ever done at his age.”

An OU student is becoming an NBA halftime sensation: “At age 7, J.P. Wilson, business sophomore, performed his first magic show at a children’s birthday party. Thirteen years later, he presents his seven-minute, magic-filled act to sold out NBA crowds across the country. “He is the hottest halftime act around the league,” said Dan Mahoney, vice president of corporate communications for the Oklahoma City Thunder. “He has a great work ethic. He is a student as well and it’s incredible that he balances it all. It must be magic.”

Should I link this? Probably not. I find Youtube videos of people talking about things strange as it is, but this one is really weird because it’s a guy talking for 20 seconds about KD’s block with one shoe. I felt like I needed to share.

I was sent this site last night. Someone has made a Kevin Durant fanblog and it’s called The Durantulas.

SLAM takes a look at center prospects for this draft.

There is a campaign started to get Monta Ellis in the HORSE competition to face off against KD: So it is with great honor that, without any authorization whatsoever, that I join forces with our friends at Ball Don’t Lie and The Baseline to launch a “Put Monta Ellis in H.O.R.S.E.” campaign. Modest as it may sound, it would be great for fans, great for Ellis’s visibility, and situate him where he deserves to be in the solar system of the league. That’s right, where the likes of Kevin Durant, O.J. Mayo, and Joe Johnson (take the mean of those three), sit proudly but restlessly.

A new app has been made for iPhones called FanPulse that’s pretty spiffy. Basically you pick your favorite teams and it’ll give you schedules and scores for those teams, as well as a Twitter looking feed that picks up the RSS feeds of things that cover your said favorite team. Why do I tell you this? Because Daily Thunder is one of the feeds for the Thunder.

The Blowtorch brings the thunder: “However, I DO NOT agree with them replacing their best player’s arms with thunder sticks just so ‘the people’ can better identify with him. I know you’re not used to having a basketball team, but one of the first things they teach you at the town meeting the city holds when it’s announced that you will be getting a new basketball team is to never replace your star player’s arms with any sort of cheering apparatus. That’s like Fandom 101, which is offered at any community college. Take a class, guys.”

Five on the Rise, Russell Westbrook: “Westbrook gets the nod this week for his near triple-double en route to a schooling of Hornets rookie guard Darren Collison. Westbrook, who played with Collison at UCLA, helped limit New Orleans’ new starter to a 4-for-12 shooting night and five turnovers. Westbrook, for his part, had 26 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds while impressing us, also, with just two turnovers. It marked the second straight game in which Westbrook flirted with a triple-double (he had 12 points, nine assists and nine rebounds in a win over the Hawks) and controlled the pace in both games. “I’m just trying to stay consistent,” Westbrook told The Oklahoman. “Whether we win or lose, I think if I stay consistent it’s a better outcome most of the time.”