Monday Bolts – 12.13.10

Marc Stein in his Weekend Dime getting a scout take: “Their team’s pretty well-defined around Durant and [Westbrook]. That team’s been built around those two guys and not a lot of other guys who need the ball. If Westbrook was playing with a Ray Allen-type, it would be a problem because he’s not going to distribute the ball very well. If they added another scorer in there, he’d probably get frozen out. But Westbrook is such a great talent. How do you reel him in? He’s similar to LeBron in some ways. In the open floor, when he puts his head down, he’s as explosive a player as there is in this league. If you’re the other team you have to hope he’s not having a good shooting night.”

John Hollinger examining MVP candidates: “And then there’s Kevin Durant. After finishing third in PER a year ago at the tender age of 21, many expected him to ascend to the top of the MVP throne. Instead, he’s not even the top candidate on his own team right now; while he is leading the league in scoring, he is only 19th in PER. In fact, Durant’s league-leading scoring total is another convincing data point for the relative lack of superstardom this season. His 27.3 points per game would be the lowest league-leading total since Allen Iverson’s 26.3 in 1998-99; if you’re looking at non-lockout years, it’s the least since George Gervin’s 27.2 in 1977-78.”

I love this note from Darnell Mayberry: “Here’s a story of karma. Two seasons ago, when the Thunder played at Cleveland around Thanksgiving, the Cavs absolutely destroyed the Thunder. The game was never close. The Thunder trailed by as many as 42 and lost by 35. During a timeout, the Cavs’ in-game entertainment arranged for four or five fans to come onto the court and say what they were thankful for. In what had to be staged, a young boy, probably no older than 9 or 10, took his turn and said, “I’m thankful I don’t have to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder every night.” The crowd erupted and even the Cavs’ bench was in stitches. I’ll never forget the arrogance the Cavs franchise had then. Even Cavs media members had a jolly old time cracking on the Thunder. Don’t worry, Cleveland, we’ve got just the thing for Cavs fans.”

When in NOLA, KD compared the situation to Seattle some.

John Krolik on the game: “Good lord, Russell Westbrook. His court vision is insane, he can make home-run passes as well as anybody else can, he’s fallen out of love with that tweener pull-up jumper, he’s a better finisher, and he seems to be a more confident outside shooter, even if the numbers don’t bear that out. He took complete control of this game from the opening tip in every way — passing, shooting, making steals and pushing the break, getting offensive rebounds. He’s a legit MVP candidate. When the “LeBron vs. Durant” stuff was happening this off-season, who would’ve thought that KD would be more of a #2 guy on the Thunder than LeBron is on the Heat?”

I like Skeets’ breakdown of Harden’s dunk.

Dime’s power rankings: “Challenging week ahead for Thabo Sefolosha, who gets Kevin Martin, Tyreke Evans and Jason Richardson on the schedule. Three pure scorers, three different styles. Good thing Thabo doesn’t have to worry about playing offense.”

NBA.com’s rankings: “Jeff Green. Serge Ibaka. Russell Westbrook. And now James Harden. Don’t get caught under the basket against this team. And is it time for Kevin Durant to catch fire? He shot 10-for-17 in an easy win over the Cavs on Sunday and will face some sketchy defenses in the next couple of weeks.”