Thursday Bolts – 1.14.10

Manu Ginobili on Twitter: “I wanna play OKC again soon. Percentages r w/me. 0/18 in 2 games!”

Ginobili’s play. It’s not the best look at it, but just watch it over and over, with each time getting angrier and angrier. Look how close the ball is to hitting the baseline. DARN IT ALL.

NBA.com rookie rankings: “Harden averaged 10.0 points in the Thunder’s back-to-back wins to close out the week. More importantly, he had five steals in those two wins. Harden may not be doing anything flashy, but he’s still sixth among rookies in scoring (9.6 ppg) and in the top 10 in almost every category. “I think that’s what makes us different from other teams,” Harden told The Oklahoman. “We stick to the easy plan, and we get the job done. It’s a good thing. I guess that’s the type of players that they want here in this program. … My game is simple, getting the job done, going out there and making the easy play.”

David Thorpe’s rookie rankings are out. James Harden was seven, Eric Maynor 18, Serge Ibaka 23 and Byron Mullens 41. Thorpe said this about Maynor: “Traded from Utah on Dec. 22, Maynor looks to be a valuable part of OKC’s rotation. He has played solid minutes in every game since the trade and has been very reliable with the ball every time out. How reliable? He hasn’t committed more than one turnover in any game save one. And he didn’t commit any turnovers in four of those games. I cannot think of a better way to get in the good graces of his new coach than by playing error-free basketball.”

Another thing about the rookies: In key minutes last night late in the fourth, OKC had a lineup in with three rookies, a second-year guy and a third-year guy. That’s… crazy.

Last night on NBATV, Carmelo Anthony said Kevin Durant should absolutely be an All-Star. The world agrees with you ‘Melo.

Let it be known in my live draft diary last June, I wished for DeJuan Blair. SO DON’T BLAME ME: “So now we’re back on the clock. I’ll put my vote in for DeJuan Blair, Sam. I know you’re following along. And I know you care what I think.”

Ball Don’t Lie, behind the box score: “All Blair does is move into the open spots, and board. Any bit of penetration, anything that even just slightly distracts his man, and that’s all Blair needs. A missed shot, a contested missed shot, and Blair moves into that open space on the weak side, and he gets the board. Over and over, crimson and clover. 28 points and 21 rebounds, and it should have been more. A terrible refereeing crew fouled out the rookie on a series of awful, awful calls.”

Dime plays the What If game with Blake Griffin going to the Thunder: “What if the hometown team got its chance for the storybook beginning, with Memphis second, Washington third, and L.A. fourth? … Playing the LeBron-in-Ohio role for the Thunder at the box office, Blake doesn’t even have the pressure of saving the franchise because Kevin Durant is already there. With defenses focused on KD, Blake puts up 17 points and 10 boards a night and wins Rookie of the Year … The Grizzlies take Thabeet second, and Washington trades the No. 3 pick to Minnesota, who takes Rubio. (He still doesn’t play in the NBA in ‘09-10.) But able to land a slightly better player in the deal, the Wizards get off to a good start and Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton are too happy to have a play-gunfight … The Clippers decide to go with Jordan Hill at No. 4, and hire Mo Taylor as a special assistant in charge of teaching him the ropes of being a bust.”

Now this is a Thunder fan:

Whoa, Russell Westbrook ran a 7K yesterday? Oh yeah, I guess there can be more than one Russell Westbrook in the world.

OKC is No. 10 in BDL’s power rankings.

I was just looking at last night’s box score again, and holy crap, Russell Westbrook played 50 minutes. That’s like, a lot or something.

Feel free to nominate Daily Thunder for some Oklahoma Blog Award thing. There isn’t a sports category, but what the hey, just nominate us for everything. Especially in the Best Arts/Craft blog category. We deserve that for sure.