Friday Bolts – 8.22.14
Fran Blinebury of NBA.com on DPOY candidates: “If you don’t think he’s a game-changer, then you weren’t paying attention last spring when the Serge Protector missed the first two games of the Western Conference finals and the Spurs were able to run a virtual lay-up line through the heart of the OKC defense. When Ibaka returned from a calf injury, all of a sudden it wasn’t so easy for Tony Parker and his friends to get to the basket and the series was quickly tied up 2-2. Ibaka protects the rim, contests jumpers and puts the bite into the Thunder. He’s continuing to blossom as an offensive force, but it’s his defense that is the glue of the Thunder. He led the league in total blocks for the fourth straight time last season and has been voted to the All-Defensive first team three years in a row. It’s finally his turn to get the big hardware.”
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider on top power forwards: “This ranking seems low for Ibaka, who has put up 9.6 or more WARP in three straight seasons, and is still at an age (24) when his numbers should be expected to improve. The disconnect is a product of RPM, where he was plus-0.4 on the offensive end — the first positive season of his career — while his defensive RPM slipped from plus-3.5 to plus-1.9. The hidden narrative is that it seems like the more Ibaka tries to do, the less he helps his team. That’s a trend worth watching.”
The Kevin Love trade appears to have been agreed to and it’s gotten interesting.
KD on meeting Steph Curry: “This yellow kid, right” Durant continued. “Lets be be real now, right. Where I come from, those are light-skinned guys, and we’re all like me. I step in the gym and all these guys are stepping up from halfcourt with the jump shot, and I’m like, ‘he’s not making this.’ Splash. When we played (Curry), he only had like 35 and he was 10-years-old. And I was like, ‘Who is this’? Ten years later, it’s like, ‘Whoa, that’s Steph Curry.’ It’s crazy how you cross paths with these guys and you’re kids and don’t know,” Durant concluded. “And then once you (know them), it’s like ‘Wow, it’s pretty cool to see him at that age.’”
Did you know neither Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant have registered to vote in Oklahoma?
The Thunder had the second-most votes behind the Spurs for ESPN Forecast’s West champs.
Adam Silver in international competition: “It is a big risk without enormous financial reward … I’ll only reiterate that ultimately it is a personal decision for these players,” Silver said. “I should point out that it is not just U.S. players we are referring to. Collectively we have close to 50 NBA players participating in this World Cup on behalf of their national teams.”
