Friday Bolts – 9.24.10

Rich Cho, saying things: “Blazers fans are probably 5, 10 times more rabid” than Thunder fans. Hey, I don’t disagree and Cho knows his audience. Play up a fanbases fandom and tell them how loud and wonderful they are and they like you. It’s working here, isn’t it?

A great point from commenter Justin in talking about NBA 2K11’s ratings: “Jeff Green is rated higher than LaMarcus Aldridge, Joakim Noah, Blake Griffin, David West, Carl Landry, Nene, Andrea Bargnani, and Kevin Love. This is why I think he’s going to want mega dollars. Perception…”

Berry Tramel already misses the Ford Center: “We’re not going back to the regal names of yesteryear. Madison Square Garden. The Palestra. Chicago Stadium. Too much money to be made pasting a business’ name on the side of brick. Which leads to our luck in having the Ford Center since the building opened in 2001. Ford is a classy corporate name. Energy Solutions? Time Warner Cable? A mouthful and business-come-latelys on the American commercial scene. But Ford? A small, compact word that packs a punch. A word that stands for something. American ingenuity. Venerable. Classic. Classy. Fiscally responsible. No government bailout for Ford.”

Jerome Dyson (played college basketball at UCONN) is the only “extra” training camp thus far for the Thunder.

KD on Dwight Howard’s compliment: “Preciate that dwight…but I’m not on Lebron James level yet..I’m working hard as I can tho, believe that..ima competitor but I’m bein real.”

The Thunder’s having a Blue and White scrimmage at Yukon High School next Friday. It will be pretty awesome and you should definitely be there.

Joseph Geilfuss is riding his bike Saturday and Sunday from Tulsa to Oklahoma City to raise money for Muscular Sclerosis. You can help by donating to the cause, so click that link and help out if you can. But what’s he wearing on his back? A Thunder jersey of course.

Kevin Durant is 10th in jersey sales in China.

Ric Bucher and Chris Broussard debate Greg Oden and Kevin Durant… again: “Bucher: You’re dreaming if you believe anybody saw Durant being this good. You know who else won five national collegiate POY awards? Christian Laettner. And if you’re not suggesting the Blazers would’ve had to rebuild around KD, then you’re really way off. Brandon Roy struggles as a complementary player. KD either would’ve been sharing time with Travis Outlaw, Martell Webster and Rudy Fernandez (drafted with Oden) or made them superfluous. As is, Oden is 22 and the Blazers were a 50-win team last year. I said two years ago, and will say again now, that the Thunder’s future is brighter than the Blazers’. That, in part, is because of KD. But it has just as much to do with the players they’ve put around him since they got him, players that in no way resemble the ones the Blazers have.”