Monday Bolts – 3.22.10

A few weeks ago, we saw John Mayer in a Thunder jersey (customized with No. 1 and Mayer on the back). This week, we get Snoop D-O-Double-G wearing a Kevin Durant one. Pretty neat.

Amare Stoudemire has been wearing the KD II’s and playing much better in them: “I’ve been wearing them for … how long have I been wearing these, Duds? The Kevin Durants,” Stoudemire asked his next-door locker room neighbor, Jared Dudley. “You’ve been wearing them probably about, a week and a half, two weeks?” Dudley replied. “Yeah, I’ve been wearing ’em for a couple of weeks,” Stoudemire continued. “They’re not bad, they’re not bad. It’s always Nike Mafia,” Stoudemire said. “We always support each other’s shoes and gear within the Nike family.”

On Snizzle Pizzle Dizzle Manizzle wearing a KD jersey, MTV has a less than enthusiasic reaction: “The crowd, which began lining up outside the Whitley some five hours before the party kicked off, was mostly into the big acts, Snoop in particular. The rapper took the stage after midnight (and after Hilton had introduced him as “somebody you usually don’t see at South by Southwest”) and went buck wild, feeding off the energy and playing nothing but the hits … though, he probably could’ve worn something other than an Oklahoma City Thunder jersey.”

Indy Cornrows with some thoughts about yesterday’s “game”: “OKC was a frustrated bunch today and it continued to build throughout the game. Russell Westbrook picked up a technical from the bench while arguing on behalf of Kevin Durant. Then a little bit later, Nick Collison, a strong, consistent post presence off the bench for the Thunder was moved to chuck the ball after his frustrations with the refs and dealing with Roy were more than he could take.”

Darnell Mayberry: “Anyone concerned with the Thunder’s defense? If you’re not, perhaps you should be. That’s now five times in the past nine games that OKC has allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better. When the Thunder was playing its best ball, it was consistently locking up teams. Now, it’s hit or miss. And with a brutal schedule in the final 14 games, that can’t be a good trend.” Also, Mayberry mentions Westbrook was feeling sick before the game and blamed it on “bad food” or something. Either that or he was hungover after the Jay Z concert. But whatever.

KD had a solid quote after the game though: “How we came out was a disgrace to the game of basketball. That starts with me. I apologize to all the fans and all of my teammates that I came out like that.”

This blog says Serge Ibaka will eventually join the “stars” of the Thunder: “Second, Ibaka is another example of Thunder GM Sam Presti’s genius. The former San Antonio Spurs intern took a slight chance drafting a European club player –albeit, one who came from Africa- based on his remarkable physical skill. Instead of rushing him to the NBA after the draft, the organization allowed Ibaka to spend another year developing in Europe.”

Tonight is the beginning of a tough stretch: “Tonight’s game against the Spurs marks the beginning of a treacherous final 14 for the Thunder. They could be the difference between winning home-court advantage in the first round, falling to the eighth spot or, worst, out of the playoffs altogether. The Thunder is just 2-9 against the Spurs, Rockets, Lakers and Blazers.”

NBA.com has Kevin Durant’s Top 10 plays of the year. Can we include Serge Ibaka’s putback as one of those? KD did shoot it after all. Kind of like an assist.

Magic Number Watch: With yesterday’s loss and Houston’s win, the number over the Rockets stays at nine. Over Memphis though, it’s eight.