Monday Bolts – 12.31.12
Paul Flannery of SB Nation on KD and LeBron: “Kevin Durant, on the other hand is a freakish scorer and a ferocious competitor. Uniquely proportioned in his own right, Durant is en route to his first 40-50-90 season. Larry Bird did it three times in his late 20s and early 30s, while Steve Nash did it four times in his mid 30s. Durant is still just 24 years old and it’s worth remembering that while they arrived at the same time, Bird was three years older than Magic in their rookie seasons.”
Rob Mahoney of SI.com naming disappointing players: “Fair or not, Perkins is a disappointment by way of coach Scott Brooks, who insists on relying on Perk’s intangibles at the sake of his team’s actual performance. Brooks has grown more flexible and creative over the years, but Perkins is the vestige of his former coaching traditionalism that he can’t seem to shed. What’s worse: Opponents are getting better and better at exploiting Perkins’ presence on the floor, but OKC has stood by its chemistry and redundant big man. Perkins is good to have around for defending specific interior threats, but he’s a specialist who holds back the Thunder as a second big man. If he’s tabbed to play with four perimeter players, so be it. But Perkins lacks the ability to force opponents to defend him, limiting the explosive potential of some of the Thunder’s most-used lineups.”
Interesting nugget from Darnell Mayberry: “Cole Aldrich checked in and was whistled for three fouls in three minutes. Of course, within those three fouls he had his obligatory offensive foul on an illegal screen. He finished with three fouls and four turnovers in eight minutes. I know I’m late, but I think I’m ready to admit Sam Presti made a mistake.”
Scott Brooks says James Harden is an All-Star.
Darnell Mayberry on Westbrook’s shooting woes: “Another issue has been Westbrook’s reliance on the medium-range shot. His pull-up jumper has been a deadly weapon that has developed rapidly, but Westbrook has had far too many moments when he’s settled for his go-to shot too quickly. The transition pull-up on an unfavorable fast break stands out most. Those types of shots account for more than 27 percent of Westbrook’s attempts, but he’s knocking down just 35 percent from the mid-range area. Players like Parker, Paul and Cavs guard Kyrie Irving are all shooting better than 45 percent from that spot. It’s also impossible to ignore Westbrook’s 3-point shooting. He’s connecting on a career-high 34.2 percent from downtown, but that clip still is below average accuracy. Yet Westbrook is launching a staggering 4.1 3-pointers per game, an enormous amount for a player who coming into this season was a career 29 percent 3-point shooter. The overly simplistic, easier-said-than-done solution to Westbrook’s shooting struggles is two-fold: finish better and take better shots.”
Serge Ibaka named in a rap song by Fabolous (lyrics NSFW).
From ESPN Stats and Info: “James Harden was 2-for-6 (33.3 percent) on isolation plays Saturday and is 3-for-12 (25.0 percent) on that play type against the Thunder this season. Overall, Harden is playing more in isolation with the Rockets than he did with the Thunder, and is not having the same success on that play type.”
Stephen Jackson talked about his tweet about Serg Abaka.
From SI.com media critic Richard Deitsch: “As part of a small fraternity of sports writers-turned-front office executives, John Hollinger said he feels a great sense of responsibility to make sure that he succeeds so others can follow in his path. He is in his second week as the vice president of basketball operations for the Memphis Grizzlies after eight years as an NBA writer at ESPN.com. At his former employer, Hollinger was at the forefront of using analytics as part of his NBA commentary. His new job entails contributing to personnel decisions, salary cap management, scouting, as well as building “a first-rate analytics infrastructure that can support all those decisions.” Hollinger’s hire follows the Oklahoma City Thunder bringing in former Grantland NBA blogger Sebastian Pruiti as a video analyst.”
