Friday Bolts – Mother’s Day Weekend Edition
Since it’s unlikely I will be posting anything on Sunday because it will be entirely spent showering my wonderful mother
with love, I’d like wish my mom and also my very awesome (yes, she is actually awesome) mother-in-law a happy Mother’s Day. You’re welcome for having me.
The Thunder will hold a pre-draft workout today at their practice facility: “Oklahoma State’s Terrell Harris, Texas’ A.J. Abrams, Marquette’s Jerel McNeal and USC’s Daniel Hackett headline this first group, which is filled with guards and has only one player listed taller than 6-foot-6. Other players include: Jack McClinton (Miami), Paul Delaney (UAB), Jermaine Taylor (UCF), Garrett Temple (LSU), Courtney Fells (N.C. State), Josh Carter (Texas A&M), Joe Ingles (Melbourne Dragons) and Aaron Jackson (Duquesne).” OSU’s Terrll Harris? Was that a courtesy invite? But out of that group I do like Jack McClinton and Jerel McNeal. Especially McClinton. That dude can shoooot.
Sam Amico has a mock draft up: And finally, someone with a brain. It looks like he assessed the needs of the team and has OKC taking James Harden and passing on Jordan Hill. Unlike Draft Express and NBADraft.net.
Ridiculous Upside on the 66ers hiring: “There’s not much that I don’t like about Nate. He helped coach the Timberwolves Summer League team the past two seasons as well. I assumed he might get on with the Wolves this season as an assistant, but head coach of the 66ers is a pretty good gig. He can coach, he has a good attitude, he’s personable. Definitely the top young coach in the D-League.”
Seattle’s legislature will not call a special session so Clay Bennett’s money is safe, no doubt: “Gov. Chris Gregoire will not call a special legislative session for lawmakers to finish their last few bits of work on the state budget, officials said Thursday. The decision comes after House and Senate leaders failed to agree on a limited agenda for a possible special session, which the governor wanted to last just one day.”
PBN says the Kings should go after Pitino: “I’m no Rick Pitino fan, but the Sacramento Kings should fly Pitino into town, offer him way too much money, and beg him to be their next head coach. The good news for Sacramento is Pitino supposedly reached out to the Kings to show interest, according to the story first reported by Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Pitino is no Larry Brown or Phil Jackson, but he would make a splash and the Kings could definitely use one. I’m not sure why he would want the Kings job, especially since he seems to have a good thing going at the collegiate level at Louisville. (As one media member half-jokingly suggested, maybe he’s afraid of new Kentucky coach John Calipari.) But if I’m the Kings, I don’t ask Pitino why — I just ask how much. As in, how much money will it take for you to be our next coach?”
Jason Fleming of HoopsWorld in a chat yesterday: “Is there any way Oklahoma City would consider trading Jeff Green? Maybe for a Blake Griffin or something, they already have a small forward and I think that’s just going to hold Jeff Green back in the league. Joel Brigham: You know, Jeff Green has done pretty well at the four in that small OKC lineup. If they get the number one pick and somehow land Griffin, maybe then you explore it, but otherwise I think you keep Green where he’s at because he just works well there. And Westbrook and Durant–the future stars of that team–absolutely love him. As for trading for Griffin, sure they’d love to do that, but whoever ends up with that top pick ain’t trading it. The Thunder are going to be fine I think, they just need a couple of seasons to marinate.”
I think we all need to re-read Fleming’s answer: “If they get the number one pick and somehow land Griffin, maybe then you explore it, but otherwise I think you keep Green where he’s at because he just works well there. And Westbrook and Durant–the future stars of that team–absolutely love him. As for trading for Griffin, sure they’d love to do that, but whoever ends up with that top pick ain’t trading it. The Thunder are going to be fine I think, they just need a couple of seasons to marinate.” I don’t trade Green if I get the top pick, I just shuffle things around. But that last sentence – deep breath, it’ll be alright without Blake.
A Q&A with Scott Brooks: “Are you taking mental notes during the playoffs? “I take notes. Like if I see a good play, a last-second play, a side out-of-bounds play, or just a pick-and-roll. Just if I see something. And the great thing about TV now is you can TiVo it or DVR it, so you can tape it and rewind it, pause it or go slow motion as the game is going on live. It’s so much nicer watching a game now because you can catch the game 40 minutes late and still watch it from the beginning.”