Friday Bolts – 5.15.15

Berry Tramel: “Let me get this straight. The most precious commodity in American sport is an elite-talent basketball player. Championship hopes are determined not so much by culture or coach but by who’s on the roster. And yet we’re to believe that said superstars weren’t consulted, or at least informed, by something so germane to their careers as who will coach them? Do you suddenly believe that the Thunder is run by a bunch of doofuses? You think Sam Presti and Clay Bennett slapped their heads the morning they fired Brooks, saying, “We should have called Russ and Kevin”?”

Anthony Slater on Enes Kanter: “As much as Kanter exploited overmatched defenders in the pick-and-roll on one end, he was exploited just as much by that scheme on the other. The issue first surfaced in an overtime loss in Phoenix soon after his arrival, when Eric Bledsoe continually burst by him for a number of easy layups. The Suns successfully exposed him so many times it forced then-coach Scott Brooks to pull him from the game. And that’s the conundrum. The benefit of what he provides on offense can sometimes be erased by what happens on defense.”

Billy Donovan was on The Sports Animal yesterday.

Donovan on talking with Westbrook: “I’ve had a chance to meet with all the players. The one player I haven’t had a chance to meet with is Steven Adams, because Steven has been over in New Zealand but we did get a chance to talk by phone. I had a chance to spend time with Russell face-to-face and the one thing I would say about all these guys here is, and Sam told me this before, is what great guys they are. They are all incredible people.”

One big takeaway from Billy Donovan so far: I’m going to get pretty tired of transcribing “very, very” and “really, really.”

Kevin Durant is America’s fourth-favorite player.

Want to know why Russ is representing the Thunder at the lottery? Not coincidentally, he and Barneys are launching their spring collection.

Sam Vecenie of CBSSports.com with combine takeaways: “Pat Connaughton might be the best pure athlete at the combine. Seriously. It shouldn’t be a total surprise to those who have watched the Notre Dame product play (I mean, did you see this block against Butler?) but his performance today was exemplary by any measure. His 44-inch vertical leap led the way among players tested today (35 of the 63), and is tied for the highest recorded since 2001 when Kenny Gregory put up a 45.5-inch leap. Connaughton also performed well in the lane agility drill (tied for fourth among the 35 tested) and the sprint (tied for seventh). It’s also worth noting that he made a decent impression on scouts in the 5-on-5 session, with the crowd universally noting how hard he plays. His defensive communication was also pretty strong in calling out screens, and his offensive game looked okay as he knocked down a pair of first-half 3s.”