Monday Bolts – 4.11.16
Anthony Slater: “The final shot in Sleep Train Arena was a 70-foot desperation fling from
Russell Westbrook, falling feet from the basket, innocently, as a sold out crowd erupted for the final time in the aging barn north of downtown. It was a night of celebration in Sacramento – from all the former players who returned, to the baby blue throwbacks, to the halftime celebration to the final buzzer and beyond, as the 32-48 Kings sent their arena out with a win, then half of those in attendance stayed for an on-court party postgame, which included Mike Bibby and other cutting down the nets. But amidst the feel-good finale for Sacramento was the latest concerning late-game showing for the Thunder. OKC lost 114-112. The game was tied at 101 with three minutes left.”
Joey Crawford: “I overreacted running out to block Durant’s free throw in the 2014 playoffs. Rod Thorn, our boss at the time, told me so. We rely on our training. I was trained that if that scoreboard is wrong is to correct it. I probably should have waited for Kevin to shoot his free throw. But what if he misses and the coach is yelling ‘take a foul’ because of what he’s looking at the scoreboard. Is it (running out) logical? Thorn, who is a logical guy, said he would have preferred you waited for the free throw.”
Kevin Durant’s on Kobe in a tribute video: “Asshole.”
From ESPN.com, 70 reasons to love the Warriors: “Green was a second-round pick with ho-hum potential. Once deemed too unskilled to be a wing and not big enough to be a big, three-and-a-half years later, he’s a consensus top-five player in the NBA, ahead of Kevin Durant, James Harden and others by the most respected measures. One other thing: He’s the most important player on the best team in basketball.”
Peter Keating of ESPN on injury prevention: “With the playoffs about to begin, Talukder and Vincent say the active players carrying the highest injury risk include Russell Westbrook of the Thunder, Marvin Williams of the Hornets and Paul Millsap of the Hawks. The end of the regular season is when you give these guys time off — and when trainers should make sure they aren’t overlooking minor injuries.”
Jeremias Engelmann of ESPN.com: “Westbrook may seem out of control at times, as indicated by his 4.2 turnovers per game, but he’s making the Thunder offense significantly better, regardless. The Thunder score 8.6 points per 100 possessions more with Russ on the court. If Westbrook maintains his seemingly boundless athleticism, and especially if he can harness it further, he will be a strong candidate for future MVP crowns. As it stands now, he is a hair below the league’s best.”
