Friday Bolts – KD Brings the Twitter Edition

Follow the Thunder on Twitter. When it reaches 1,500 followers, they’re giving away things from players’ lockers.

Dibs on Robert Swift’s

jersey!

Speaking of, evidently Kevin Durant has officially stepped into Twitteronia. I assume it’s real since he’s being “followed” by the official Thunder twitter. His first tweet? “Eating breakfast.” Man, this should be awesome. UPDATE! I asked KD if he was going to be like Shaq and have people chasing him all over Penn Square Mall and he said, “haha. No, no. I won’t be like Shaq.” Correspondence with Kevin Durant! I’m a real journalist!!! WOOO!!!!

Let me say that last night’s Chicago-Boston game was one of the best I’ve ever watched. It was one of those games where you could just feel the awesomeness of it. You had Ray Allen going for 51. The scuffle in the first half. Rajon Rondo with 19 assists and ZERO turnovers. John Salmons and Derrick Rose combining for 53. Allen’s dagger three in overtime and then another coldblooded jumper in the third overtime. Joakim Noah’s unreal fast break dunk and-1. Everything about it was awesome. Derrick Rose’s block on Rondo. It was one of those games where you knew it was going on ESPN Classic tomorrow morning at the end of regulation. Didn’t matter what happened in OT. But the fact that they played three more unbelievable periods cemented it as one of the best ever. It was the NBA’s answer to Syracuse-UCONN. But with better players and more on the line. What. A. Game.

P.J. Carlesimo has some praise for Scott Brooks: “I thought Scotty (Brooks) and the staff did an excellent job. I thought the team continued to get better and better as the year went on, which is something that you always hope for. It happened last year, too, in Seattle. … The difference in Kevin Durant, and the individual improvement in some of the players is so dramatic. It’s primarily Kevin and how hard he worked, but it’s also Brian Keefe, the assistant who spent a lot of time working with him, and Scotty came along. I think Jeff Green has continued to improve. Russell Westbrook had an excellent rookie year. Some of the moves the team made have been really good. Most of the moves last year were salary cap moves, or moves to position themselves for the draft or free agency. Getting (Nenad) Krstic and (Thabo) Sefolosha are moves that will help the team on the floor right now and in the future.”

Gordon Monson says Carlos Boozer will “jack up” team chemistry. The more I read about the big guy, the more I don’t think he’d be a nice fit in OKC: “The late Larry Miller said he did not want his club to cross that threshold, but he also once said he would be willing to go there — if it meant a championship was imminent. Having Boozer in the lineup doesn’t guarantee that kind of result. In fact, it could hinder it, considering the way Boozer’s teammates respond to him. Look at the way they played once he returned from his knee injury this past season. They got worse, not better. There is no proof for it, but there is a suspicion that Boozer jacks up the Jazz’s team chemistry and that his presence hurts their cohesiveness. No argument here. “

HoopsWorld’s top 7 point guard prospects: “What goes overlooked when evaluating Curry as a point guard prospect is what he had surrounding him at Davidson. Offensively Curry had very little help outside of Andrew Lovedale, who may be able to make some money playing basketball once he’s graduated but certainly not in the NBA. If Curry played at a high major program like Memphis, Duke, or North Carolina he would have had much higher assists numbers and his ability to play the point wouldn’t be anywhere near as big of a question mark. He’s a very sound defender and his best quality is his ability to thrive under pressure.”

I hope by the end of next year Kevin Durant is right in the middle of this list – the top NBA jersey sales for last year. Kobe Bryant tops the list with LeBron second. Kind of surprisingly, Nate Robinson is seven and Pau Gasol nine. Who really wants a Pau Gasol jersey?

Ridiculous Upside’s mock draft version 1.1: “Thunder – Jordan Hill: Hill is big, strong, athletic and willing to pound the glass and defend the post – you will have a man crush on him soon. He averaged 18 points and 11 rebounds per game this past season at Arizona – double-double’s in college aren’t easy to come by. The Thunder need young bigs and Hill would be a nice addition to the team, improving their low post game. My favorite part? He says himself he has “Ridiculous” Upside. NBA: Al Horford”

Your complete early entrants list: A lot of these haven’t signed agents so they could drop out, but the early entrant period has passed, so these are the guys that are in. I will never understand why some of these bench players that I’ve never heard of enter early. But they do. Good luck Junior Salters and  Ater Majok!