Monday Bolts – 3.23.15

Zach Lowe of Grantland on the Thunder without KD: “Hell, five of the 11 guys seeing active playing time right now weren’t on the roster at the start of the season. A sixth, McGary, appeared in just one game before February. This wasn’t the plan, but it’s also not an environment conducive to building continuity and chemistry. This is what the Thunder are at this point: a Westbrook-led scoring machine that needs enough 115-110 wins to eke into the postseason. There’s no real drama there. If the Thunder make the playoffs, they’ll likely get curb-stomped by the Warriors and keep the first-round pick they owe Philadelphia (via Denver); that pick is top-18 protected, and if the Thunder snag the no. 8 seed, they’ll likely finish right in the 18th spot — provided the no. 5 team in the East keeps its lead over the Thunder.”

Darnell Mayberry on Sunday’s win: “But after two months of head-shaking inconsistency defensively, the past five quarters served as a reminder that the Thunder still has some tenacity left in the tank. Injury-plagued or not, the Thunder proved Sunday that when it is committed as a team it can still be consistent defensively, if not dominant. More impressive is how the Thunder assembled Sunday’s performance without injured forward Serge Ibaka, the team’s best interior defender who is sidelined after knee surgery, and starting shooting guard Andre Roberson, the perimeter pest who sprained his left ankle 90 seconds into the game and did not return.”

For ESPN.com on yesterday’s game and how the Thunder offense is coming around, even without Durant.

Perk on Harden: “No, because James needed his own team. He wouldn’t have been able to flourish and be the guy who he is under Russ and KD. So he definitely needed his own team to be able to do what he’s doing right now.”

You can watch “Song of the Congo” here.

I talked with Serge Ibaka the other night after his movie premiered about what it meant to make, dealing with adversity and other stuff.

Anthony Slater with a nice story on Anthony Morrow: “Anthony wasn’t born with NBA-level athleticism. He was never viewed as a legit pro prospect. After going undrafted in 2008, he signed an overseas deal with a Ukrainian team that came with a $10,000 signing bonus. “I thought I was rich,” he remembers. But he ended up giving that bonus back. He never went to Ukraine. Because after lighting up the summer league as an unknown, the Warriors gave him a training camp invite. The opportunity came because of Anthony’s rare ability to shoot like few others in the world. But that wasn’t a fluke or natural gift. It was a crafted skill long in the making.”

If you missed it, the Grantland article on the Thunder and the media.

Amin Elhassan of ESPN Insider: “Zooming out to a bird’s-eye view, there are questions about general manager Sam Presti’s longevity. He’s been widely regarded as one of the brightest GMs in the league, with a methodical approach rooted in “process over results.” Still, he’s caught flack for his handling of the Harden situation and for some of his decisions regarding draft selections. If the team falters and/or Durant leaves, would Presti’s tenure also be near an end? There are two ways to look at this: From the team’s perspective, it could not ask for a better steward for the organization. Presti has had his missteps (as all GMs in this league have), but overall, he’s the one who took the middling Sonics and guided them into the powerhouse Thunder. Without having a superior alternative on deck, it would be foolish to part ways because of what boils down to bad luck.”