Smart Thoughts of the Week: Oct. 9 – 16

Throughout the week some of you drop some brilliant or at least somewhat thoughtful comments and so this is a try at highlighting some of them. Disclaimer: It’s not that I necessarily agree with all of them, but they were interesting and for the most part, well put. Consider everything [sic’d].

You’re telling me you wouldn’t rather have Yi Jianlian? (Keith): Can anyone name a single player drafted since 2007 they would rather have than Durant right now? Even with a wonky +/-, he’s easily better than everyone from his own draft class. Last year, the stiffest competition would be from Rose and Lopez, but Rose doesn’t defend either and Lopez’s team was only mediocre because of Harris and Carter. Perhaps Griffin could ultimately be as good, but we are a stellar rookie campaign and huge follow-up away from even thinking about the comparison.

I’ll admit I’ve gotten down on Durant for these numbers, and that in general I like numerical analysis of human trends, but even I am not going to pretend Kevin is anything but great. Look at MJ’s early career. It took him years to be more than just the best guy on the floor. It took years for his teammates to adjust to him as well. If Durant has bad +/- numbers, I have to fault his teammates at least half. Look, everyone knows what Durant can do, and everyone knows the defense will be keying in on Durant entirely. If the entire rest of the team can’t get anything done when the opponent focuses in on one guy, it can’t be all that guy’s fault.

Breaking down a game just as well but in 800 fewer words than me. (RH): I went to the game tonight and yes, I agree, the Thunder Up slogan is brutal. They used it as a chant – the same cadence we used last year for “Go Thunder Go,” and you could hear the crowd collectively cringing.

The whole game-experience was much improved tonight. For starters, they revamped their entire soundtrack, so we get to hear something besides the same 5 songs the whole night. Secondly, they didn’t give away random gift cards and t-shirts for all of the promos – they gave away TICKETS. Which was great. So props for that.

Ibaka is awesome. Royce, you might have a crush on him, but you’ll have to get past Jay Bilas first. Ibaka is exactly the type of player that Bilas falls in love with: long, athletic, gives a great effort, and has a reasonably high ceiling. They had Harden jerseys and j-shirts tonight, but I think you might have to wait some for Serge.

Last thought. I realize we were void of our best weapons at the end of the game, but neither Livingston nor Ollie looked like they knew how to run an offense. It was brutal, and wasn’t encouraging for the future of the surprisingly-important-backup-PG-role. But maybe I shouldn’t complain. At least Earl Watson wasn’t out there tonight.

Seriously. What the crap Rumble? You ain’t gonna repeat with performances like this. (Floppy Punch!): I was disappointed in our 2009 mascot of the year. He lost in a game of musical chairs to a little girl. She was like eight! You gotta block those little ones out or they’ll squirt right past you.

The great observations you can have while sitting behind the bench. (thunder tim): Iblocka has all the potential but, my goodness, his teammates need to just let him play a bit. During every timeout when he was playing, he had multiple players and coaches coming over to him, talking to him, pointing things out, encourating him, etc., etc. It seemed like he was in information over-load most of the time. I guess that’s how you learn. My bet is that he starts in Tulsa so he can learn the game and let his talent develop, because he really is unsure of what he’s doing …

Russ was GREAT down the stretch, being extremely patient, finding open guys for dunks, jumpers, etc. He really is becoming a solid point guard and “floor general” for our squad. KD is amazing in the game, but you wouldn’t guess it by how lazily he gets warmed up. Whatever works, I guess! Overall, I LOVED this game and seeing it up close and am looking forward to an exciting (but up and down, I’m sure) season.

Now that’s a podcast name. (Dane): You should call it “Thunderin’ Up with Royce.”