Friday Bolts – Hyperizers Edition

A couple housekeeping notes: People ask me every now and then how they can just get a list of Bolts or News or Video

sometimes. Two ways: Every post is tagged and put into a category. So you can either click the category name at the bottom and it will give you a list of every post that falls into that or you can go over to the sidebar and click the drop-down “categories” menu and select one there. I’m making a few changes to thing over the next few weeks so if things are different, that’s why.

Dime had a nice Q&A with Russell Westbrook: “Dime: Do you have to work on getting a vertical leap like that, or has that been something you’ve always had naturally? RW: To be honest, I was never really jumping that high when I was younger. I had to work on it. I didn’t dunk for the first time until the last game of my senior year in high school. I didn’t really start dunking regularly until college. I just work on my legs and my core: Running the stairs, squats, working my hamstrings and quads. Then just sit-ups for my core.” Wow. You hear about other guys dunking for the first time in like seventh grade and Russ didn’t throw down until he was a senior. That’s wild.

Evidently, KD played in something called the Kenner League recently: “Either I read the schedule wrong or the schedule was wrong (I’m actually guessing that it was both), but I thought there was only going to be one game with Hoyas in it. Anyway, I showed up with one minute left in the first game and to my surprise Chris Wright (who has added some serious muscle) and Greg Monroe’s team (does anyone REALLY know or care what the team names are?) was in tight one with a team chock full of people I didn’t know. Even more shocking was that Kevin Durant was playing with Chris and Greg. KEVIN FREAKING DURANT … Kevin Durant is awesome. I mean, really awesome. He can do whatever he wants on a basketball court even with the skinny frame. He kept making this guy who I would swear was Mikki Moore look like even more of a fool than looking like Mikki Moore makes you look.”

Scott Howard-Cooper grades the offseason for every team: “Oklahoma City: B- … The Thunder were one of the few teams with serious cap space, but they stayed away from the kind of splashy move that nearly landed Tyson Chandler during the regular season. Instead, general manager Sam Presti took the sound route with his biggest transaction, drafting James Harden third to fill a need at shooting guard. Many talent evaluators believe Blake Griffin is the only player entering his rookie season as more of a lock to have a long, successful career than Harden. Kevin Ollie replaces Earl Watson as the veteran backup to point guard Russell Westbrook.”

Kevin Durant’s new Nike commercial is out and it’s pretty cool. Introducing your new hero, Velvet Hoop:

Oh, and just in case you missed it, Rashard Lewis was suspended 10 games for using PEDs. Uh, last person on earth to have suspected?

More video! Kevin Durant highlights from this year’s Goodman League:

Here’s a MASSIVE team preview from Eric Wong, editor of Roto Evil: “Preseason Battle to Watch: Thabo Sefolosha vs. James Harden – Since he performed very well for the Thunder last season, Thabo will probably get the 1st crack at starting at shooting guard on opening night. After all, he’s long, athletic, a fierce defender, and he doesn’t need to have the ball in his hands to contribute. In other words, he’s a great complementary player to Durant, Westbrook, and Green. In this scenario, the rookie Harden would come off the bench, where his scoring abilities would be better suited for Oklahoma City’s 2nd unit.”