Thunder Media Day: “We want to work hard, compete, yada yada”

I just returned from the 89th annual Oklahoma City Thunder media day and boy, what an event. Players talked, reporters asked questions and in the end, we pretty much know everything we already knew before. Doesn’t mean there weren’t a few interesting things of note, like what players were working on this summer, expectations and of course, chair-throwing questions. Here are the things I starred. (The sound’s not great on the videos, I know. But remember, I’m an amateur.):

• I found it interesting that the players came in one-by-one to be greeted by the media. Typically, two or three come in at a time and there are different players in different areas. This time, it was one at a time. And to kick things off was Tweedy Carter, which made for some awkward moments as everyone in the room tried to figure out who that is.

• Scott Brooks was asked extensively about Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant coming off a tougher-than-usual summer. He simply said, “I think they’re fine.” He then added, “If they weren’t playing with Team USA they would’ve been getting after it twice a day somewhere. They’re coming back fresh and excited.”

• Darnell Mayberry asked a really good question to Brooks as he wondered what is tougher to follow up: Taking over a team that was 1-11 or coaching a 50-win team? Brooks: “Well, 1-11 became 1-12 so that was pretty tough.” And then of course the team lost 12 of its first 13 of Brooks. “I thought I might be the first interim-interim coach,” he said.

• When Brooks first came in he joked about not talking about two things: 1) If Russell Westbrook is a better point guard than him and 2) expectations. About the rising expectations, Brooks said, “There’s no doubt we’re a good team. You have to have expectations for yourself. You have to expect things from yourself.” He commented on how expectations rose because of a 27-win improvement last year. “I don’t see a 27-win improvement this year,” he said.

• Thabo said he worked this offseason on his body and once again mentioned the corner 3.

• I’ve never actually read what Thabo’s tattoo says, but it reads, “The Game Chose Me.” As someone tweeted me, “The game chose… poorly.” Harsh, but I appreciate any Last Crusade reference.

• Morris Peterson is definitely the statesman of this group. Well-spoken, smart and engaging. He said almost unprovoked, “I think we have a real shot at a championship.”

• Every new player to the Thunder (Royal Ivey, Daequan Cook, Peterson, Cole Aldrich) were asked about how they liked OKC. I’m kind of growing tired of this question, because it doesn’t seem like we still need the validation of players saying how nice the people are and how quiet it is. Oklahoma City is a fine city, but we’ve been over this every year now for like five. Can we just move on from that?

• Byron Mullens was asked mostly about his new teammate Cole Aldrich. He talked how he was learning from Aldrich some and how they plan on pushing each other. Mullens also said he’s comfortable extending his range to 17-18 feet from the basket.

• It took four questions for someone to ask Nenad Krstic about the chair incident. And Nenad answered it well. “What incident?” he deadpanned. He did go on to give a comment: “It was a bad, bad incident … I was just trying to protect my teammate. I’m not saying what I did was a good thing. It was a very bad thing and it won’t happen again.” Krstic was extremely apologetic and said he didn’t mean to hit that guy with the chair. He said he apologized to him in the hotel but Krstic said, “He didn’t want to accept the apology. But I’ll do it again now. I apologize for that.”

• As to why he even picked up the chair, Krstic mentioned how there were no police and that he was being backed into a corner. He said he saw “half naked” people running around, the Greeks were saying horrible things about him and his family and in the end, he put it simply, “I was scared.” He said he didn’t have the time to really think of an exit strategy and just sort of reacted. He said his teammates have teased him some but said, “That’s not for TV.”

• Krstic was also pretty outspoken about his dissatisfaction over the officiating in Turkey, basically saying the refs were influenced by the crowd. He pointed out how the Turkish player that scored the winning semifinal basket was out of bounds and also said, “In the tournament, there was only one NBA referee and he was by far the best referee.” Over the non-call that cost his country a shot at gold, he said, “I’m upset.” Presumably not upset enough to throw a chair, but upset nonetheless. (One day, we’ll move on from the chair-throwing incident. I’m sure of it.)

• Serge Ibaka spoke to the media without the aid of a translator and his English is much improved. He said he’s fine with his current role and said, “I like coming off the bench.” When asked where he fits better, the four or the five, he said, “My game is defense. And on defense, I can play both.”

• Ibaka mentioned the ESPN the Mag body issue pictures saying it was “something fun” and that he liked the squat picture the best. He also came in wearing a headband today and said it could be something he wears a lot this year.

• Nick Collison showed up with more hair than were used to seeing and when asked about it he kind of just said, “Yeah I just haven’t had a haircut in a little while. Really, it’s a non-story.”

• Kevin Durant: “I feel like the same guy I was in high school. I’ve got a car and a driver’s license, but other than that, it’s the same.” And the millions of dollars. Don’t forget the millions of dollars.

• KD said he added some weight this summer and is up to 231, but mentioned how he has a hard time keeping it on during the season. “I always finish up around 219 or so.”

• Durant once again said that he’s not on LeBron’s level, but said, “I’m working to get there for sure.”

• James Harden’s beard is looking as good as ever. It’s thicker, fuller and there may or may not be a small child lost inside of it right now.

• Harden was asked how important the starting role is to him and he said, “Not at all.” He said “it’s up to Scotty and whatever he wants to do.” For the most part, he didn’t sound as if he really cared too much about starting and was pretty clear he just wants to play a role and help the team win.

• Jeff Green said he wants to key on being more assertive, more consistent and more focused. He wasn’t concerned at all about his looming contract extension and passed over pretty much any question about it. Green spoke openly about wanting more this year and freely talked about rising expectations.

• Green said he wasn’t hurt at all by being cut by Team USA but rather took it as motivation to get better.

• Russell Westbrook definitely looked and sounded much more relaxed and confident than he has before. Since Westbrook is one of the Thunder’s more emotional players, I asked him about the changes in the technical foul rule and he wasn’t even aware there was a change.

• Cole Aldrich is going to be a big personality and eventually a fan favorite. He’s very clever, very honest and very engaging. He was probably my favorite interview of the day because even though it was, his answers really didn’t feel like lip service. He said he feels great about being in Oklahoma City and has been here for a few months and working mostly on his offensive post game.

• Just like last season, defense was preached more than anything. Every player talked about it and went on about team defense being a goal before every touching on individual things.

Other than, pretty much more of the same. But media day does mean that training camp begins tomorrow which means we’ll be watching preseason games before you know it which means the actual season is coming soon. And I can stand and listen to vanilla quotes for two hours if it means that.