Monday Bolts – 1.25.10

This was a great answer from Scott Brooks in a Q&A: “Q How does Russell Westbrook need to be like you as a point guard? A Zero ways. If that’s the case, we wouldn’t be winning right now. I was very average. Everything I had, I left it on the court. There wasn’t one time I went home and wished I would have played harder. Not one practice, not one shootaround. I always believed once I did that, I didn’t deserve to be in the league.”

Darnell Mayberry talking about the p-word: “Among Western Conference playoff contenders, Oklahoma City has the third easiest schedule in the second half of the season based on opponent winning percentage. And 20 of the Thunder’s final 38 games are at home.”

Norman Chad of the WaPo writing about OKC: “Kevin Durant is the best player you’ll never see (unless you never see that online poker pro from Sweden who wins, like, $3 million a day). When I have grazed upon NBA-TV on occasion, I’ve stumbled on an Oklahoma City Thunder game. I don’t even know where Oklahoma City is — I assume it’s in Oklahoma; maybe Kansas — and can’t imagine anyone playing basketball in Oklahoma City. But, boy oh boy, does this Kevin Durant got game. He’s averaging 29.3 points (third in the league) and 7.3 rebounds. He is very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very smooth. I suspect he’s already among the NBA’s top 10 players — maybe even in the top five — and one day the 6-foot-9 forward could be the best in the league. By the way, since when does the NBA have a team in Oklahoma City? I thought only the NHL did stuff like that.”

The Lost Ogle asks if you approve or disapprove of Grant Long and Brian Davis: “Oh yeah, I guess I should write something about Grant Long, the color announcer for the Thunder. Like Brian Davis, he’s a bad announcer. I’ve never heard Grant provide insightful analysis. Most of his comments are “The Thunder really need to get a stop here!!!!!!!!!” or “Great rebound by Collison!!!!!!!!!!” You know, the same stuff that Brian Davis the drunk guy at Buffalo Wild Wings blurts out during the game.”

Here we go again – Phoenix is accepting trade offers for Amare: “Suns general manager Steve Kerr met with Stoudemire’s agent, Happy Walters, on Thursday, and league sources say there was little sense an agreement could be reached before the trade deadline. With Stoudemire able to opt out of the final $17.7 million season of his contract, the Suns don’t want to risk losing him for nothing in free agency this summer.”

Ziller says OKC should be interested: “Oklahoma City could very well bid for Stoudemire this summer, but gaining home-court advantage by trading for him now could prove beneficial if teams like the Knicks and Nets press for him come July. (There’s also the possibility Amar’e agrees to a cheaper extension now than he’d get this summer.) The interest in Amar’e would come from the completely single-faceted offense Oklahoma City has. Among all rotation players, two score at efficiency levels above league average: megalith Kevin Durant and back-up big man Nick Collison. That means that no matter how electric Durantula has been, the Thunder still boast only the No. 20 offense in the league.”

Ian Thompson writes that this June’s draft will be weak. Didn’t we hear that last year?: “I reached out this week to four NBA scouts for their opinions on the elite players in this year’s draft (assuming those players declare for it). They agreed on two points: That this will be a weak draft, and that three players at the top have separated themselves from the pack. Based on their analysis, I am now viewing this as a three-player draft, with a big drop-off thereafter.”

David Aldridge has KD as an All-Star: “Durant (29.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg) is a lock, unless you’re a moron or sleep-deprived (as I was late Sunday, when I forgot him initially, until my man Jeff Case caught my boneheaded omission and hipped me to it). We knew KD could score, which he’s showing again this year, but Durant also gets props for hitting the glass on the regular and significantly improving his D; Highway 35 is much tougher to navigate this season, and the Thunder is within sniffing distance of the playoffs because of it.”

(All-Star reserves are announced this Thursday.)

I like Art Garcia’s reform to All-Star voting. Mainly because anything other than what we have would be good.

Durant is THIRD in NBA.com’s MVP race: “Would you take the Durant, who at 21 already is leading his team to a winning record and has them positioned for the seventh spot in the tough Western Conference, or would you take the 25-year-old Carmelo Anthony, a proven winner and scorer? Tough call.”