Monday Bolts – 8.15.16
Anthony Morrow on KD: “The thing is — with me personally — we talked all offseason, and it
wasn’t really about basketball. Nothing was really basketball. It was just whatever’s going on with our families and stuff like that. So, for him to make that decision, I didn’t feel betrayed or anything like that. I think we were more shocked at where he went and all that. I think that was more of a shocking factor right there. But other than that, it is what it is. I didn’t feel like he owed me anything, but at the same time it is what it is. It’s business; it’s basketball. That’s that man’s career. That’s that man’s life, and he made his own decision as a man. Like it or love it, hate it or love it, he made his decision.”
NY Mag on hot hand: “Once the young researchers completed their analysis, out popped a hot hand — well, a warm one, at least. All else being equal, they found that an NBA player who hits four shots in a row is about 2 percent more likely to hit his next one than one who has hit just two of his last four shots. This translates to about one percentage point. So if a player normally shoots 45 percent from the field, the SportVU data suggests that, after four makes, even controlling for shot difficulty, he will be a 46-percent shooter on his next shot.”
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider on Team USA: “Though the U.S. heads to the knockout stages of the tournament as the No. 1 seed with a 5-0 record in Group A, the path figures to be challenging, starting with Wednesday’s quarterfinals. The most likely opponent from Group B is Croatia, which beat Spain earlier in the Olympics. After that, the U.S. faces possible rematches with France (semifinals) and Australia or Serbia in the finals, where Spain also looms as a potential opponent. Based on the past three games, the U.S. is likely to play more close games in Rio. And the next time may be too late for a wake-up call.”
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider on top internationals: “This is a huge season for Kanter, who in an ideal scenario would emerge as the Thunder’s starting power forward. With Kevin Durant and Ibaka gone, OKC needs Kanter’s firepower. It doesn’t need him to be a sieve on defense (he was 70th among 71 centers in defensive RPM last year) or a black hole when he catches the ball down low.”
Erik Horne: “Next year, Bryan Nix, 30, plans on being on the other side of the world doing missionary work in Nepal. But Nix, a Thunder season ticket holder since 2009, isn’t missing Thunder-Warriors for anything. For the last three years, when Nix has gone to Lesotho, Africa, for missionary work, he’s avoided social media then watched Thunder game replays on NBA League Pass in the early morning hours. He’s managed to make it back for the playoffs every year. This year, when the Thunder and Warriors clash in OKC, he’ll be stateside raising money for his missionary work. Nix says he’ll definitely be there for Durant’s return.”
