Thursday Bolts – 1.24.13

Enjoyed this from Chris Ryan of Grantland about KD: “Even on the road, he yawps loud enough to let everyone in the building know this is his mother-you-know-what’ing house. This idea that Kevin Durant is going to stop a basketball game to make sure a stray ladybug makes it across the court without getting stepped on? That’s over. It’s hard to imagine that, in a game featuring Matt Barnes, Ryan Hollins, Blake Griffin, and Kendrick Perkins, that Kevin Durant would be the biggest loud-mouthing, irritating bad-ass in the building, but it’s true.”

SI.com’s midseason awards where KD gets MVP love, Ibaka DPOY love, Martin Sixth Man love, KD Most Improved love and Scott Brooks COY love. Rob Mahoney on KD and Most Improved: “Hear me out. Improvement in the NBA is often assumed to be a linear progression, but it’s really almost logarithmic. Once the production starts to pile up, it gets harder and harder for good players to become great, and great players to become legendary. But Durant has managed to climb that slope with an incredible ease, and is shockingly close to LeBron at the NBA’s summit. Harden’s departure has been a complete nonissue for Oklahoma City, in part because Durant has become so much more comfortable as a ball-handler. His court awareness has dramatically improved, and he’s begun to make the kinds of next-level passes reserved only for elite playmakers. His individual and team defense are both better than ever, and his chemistry with his teammates on that end has also improved. All of this on top of a famed 50-40-90 season and a 29.15 PER. Even if we expected Durant to be this good eventually, no one could have reasonably expected him to make these kinds of improvements in a single bound.”

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com names KD his midseason MVP: “Durant and LeBron James are virtually indistinguishable at both ends of the floor when you look at their Synergy numbers. Surprisingly, Durant has a higher combined average of blocks, steals and charges drawn (3.06) than James (2.63). This will go down to the wire, and the fact that Durant has led OKC to the league’s best record at the halfway point gives him the slightest of edges.”

There’s a rumor OKC could be interested in signing Pete Mickeal, a 34-year-old big man.

Nick Collison to ESPN.com on getting hit in the head: “I got hit right across the bridge of my nose. This was in Oklahoma City a few years ago. Jamaal Magloire went up for a shot. I fouled him and his arm motion follow-through hit me right here [pointing to nose]. It’s kind of like I saw stars. I’ve had that feeling before, but then it eventually comes back together and you’re fine. So I was waiting for it to come back, but it never really did. I stayed in the game. I don’t know why — but I just stayed in the game. We went down and back a couple of trips, but I felt like I was going to the wrong end. I saw my teammates going, so I knew that’s where we were going, but it felt like the wrong basket. I even caught the ball and passed it — it was maybe like two or three possessions. Then when there was a timeout, I came to the bench I felt like the bench was on the other side. Rationally I saw all the people going there but I felt like the bench was on the other side. It was a really weird feeling.”

KD’s most likely comparable career value is that of Patrick Ewing or Dominique Wilkins?

David Thorpe for ESPN Insider on KD: “Then factor in his quickness, which earns him better shots because they are closer to the basket. He has amazing timing on his side — he’s quick but rarely hurried — and an array of dribble and finishing moves that give him numerous primary and counter options that do not give defenders any kind of foothold to slow him down. This season, he has blossomed as an athlete, making athletic finishes where before he might have used more of a finesse move. Combine all of that with brilliant free throw shooting, a great 3-point shot and an excellent mind that knows where and when he wants to catch the ball, and we have the best scorer since Jordan. That he is more aware than ever of his passing options only furthers the argument that he is closing in on LeBron for the “King of the Game” throne.”

Ethan Sherwood Strauss for ESPN.com: “Mark Jackson espouses only belief, at least publicly. It seemed comical last season, but nobody’s laughing at his bold proclamations this season. When Jackson, after the game, says that the Warriors are a “no limit” basketball team, it’s fair to wonder whether he means it literally — as in championship-literally. Because, the Warriors-as-good is a surprising enough reality to make reality feel a bit unsettled and slippery. Basic competence seemed so impossible for this franchise that going beyond competence makes a title feel not all that far from feasible. We’re in uncharted territory here. Even the “We Believe” team had a well-defined ceiling.”