Monday Bolts – 11.11.13
Berry Tramel: “Make or miss, win or lose, on this innocuous Sunday night in the NBA season’s second week, belief in Lamb is a very good sign for the Thunder’s long-term success. By the way, Lamb swished the 26-footer. Soon enough, the Thunder got the game to overtime, thanks to Kevin Durant’s deadeye 3-pointer with 13.6 seconds left, and won it 106-105. Durant’s been known to have a heroic moment or two (hundred). But Lamb and Jackson, who made two tiebreaking baskets in overtime, are going to be needed, too. So put that Lamb long ball in your memory bank as this Thunder season progresses.”
Colin McGowan of Sports on Earth: “If Westbrook’s on-court demeanor is at all indicative of his mentality while rehabbing an injury, it makes sense he’s playing again, before almost anyone thought he would be. It’s not that his body healed itself through sheer force of will, but he’s back because he feels at least close to normal and wants to play badly enough not to care if he isn’t. Whatever the status of his newly repaired knee, he looks great, which is hopefully an indication that’s he’s fully healed. I haven’t heard any grumblings from Thunder management about how they wish he would have waited another month. Unless Russ is in a heap sometime next week, with Serge Ibaka crying out “Why, Sam Presti?! If only you had delayed his timetable!” this is probably a feel-good story about a physical freak getting healthy ahead of schedule.”
Hasheem Thabeet got Perk a 4-wheeler for his birthday?
Darnell Mayberry: “Just before Lamb’s 3, Brooks was barking at Reggie Jackson to push the ball up the court after he had grabbed a defensive rebound. Jackson instead went at his own pace. He then spotted Lamb streaking up the right side of the court and opened his eyes real wide as he shot him the ball. He nodded to the rim as he passed it up the court. Lamb stood all alone on the wing. After Lamb made it, Jackson looked back at Brooks and gave him a signal to calm down, like he knew what he was doing the whole way. It reminded me so much of Harden. He used to have the exact same back and forth with Brooks until it became clear that Harden did indeed have things under control.”
Derek Fisher is one of the untradeables.
A New Zealand perspective on defending the Harden trade: “But all things considered, there were more layers to this trade than just the players and assets that changed hands. I’m still not prepared to say Presti made the right move, let alone if he ‘won’ the trade. This is something which we’ll only truly be able to evaluate with the benefit of time. For now though, this trade will not cease to be a fascinating flashpoint of NBA history, which may very well have altered the championship destinies of multiple teams.”
Eddie Maisonet of SB Nation: “It’s silently a good problem for Oklahoma City to have. It’s highly unlikely that they’ll ever recover from the Harden trade, in the sense that they’ll be able to get another top-10 NBA player back into their rotation. However, at some point (maybe now?), those young guns will mature into real players. Perkins’ and Sefolosha’s time with the franchise will come to an end, and a young team will have the chance to get ever younger and better. Could change happen this season? Maybe it should. The chance for a championship is quite high this year, but the foundation isn’t changing. It’s Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka and interchangeable parts. Those parts don’t need to be elite, they just need to be sufficient.”
