Friday Bolts – 3.20.15
Allen Iverson is a fan of Russ: “The fight. The fight in the guy. I’m the biggest Westbrook fan, I think, there is. You know what I mean? Because he reminds me so much of myself as far as his heart and laying it on the line night in and night out. Just a guy that’s going to bring it every single night.”
Marc Stein of ESPN.com has Westbrook as his second trimester MVP: “The matter at hand, however, is specifically what happened in the season’s middle third. Which, as well you know, is when Angry Russ happened. Here are Westbrook’s averages sans Durant since Feb. 1: 32.3 points, 10.2 assists and 9.3 rebounds per game. I repeat: I don’t know if he can ultimately hoist the Maurice Podoloff Trophy, even with such gaudy numbers, when his team is still scrapping so hard just to snag the West’s No. 8 seed and just lost Serge Ibaka. Yet he certainly deserves this mythical trophy while we all await the answer … and wait to see what he has in store without Durant or Ibaka flanking him.”
Interesting thing about Thunder players’ NCAA tourney experience. Not surprisingly, Nick Collison rules the world.
If you missed it, KD was held out of practice yesterday.
Stein on the schedule: “Imagine how the teams feel at the tail end of the wild West playoff chase. Oklahoma City and New Orleans have played just seven and six games this season, respectively, against a team on the second night of a back-to-back while coming off a night of rest. Several fewer, in other words, than the Mavericks. It would be even worse for the Thunder and Pelicans, though, if the Mavs weren’t so wasteful with those scheduling gifts. Dallas has won just 10 of those 18 games against tired teams. The league average for playoff teams in those situations is .702 ball; Washington, for example, has won 13 of its 17 games with an extra night of rest.”
Darnell Mayberry: “Durant had increased his activity in recent weeks and returned to practice last Saturday, participating in portions of the session as well as playing 3-on-3, according to Brooks. He had been seen on several occasions before games and after practices doing light shooting and slightly more rigorous individual workouts with assistant coaches. But before Thursday, the Thunder had had only one practice since last Saturday and only three other occasions for Durant to go through workouts before the game. Durant’s lack of court time over the past five days makes news of his soreness even more disconcerting.”
