Thursday Bolts – 10.23.14
Start the regular season earlier? “If the exhibition season was shortened, the benefits could be vast. What if we started NBA training camps at the same time, late September, but shortened them by a week? From four weeks to three weeks. Then you start the NBA regular season a week earlier. This season, for instance, Oct. 21 instead of Oct. 28. But don’t end the regular season a week earlier. Keep the regular season ending at the same time. Then you’ve built an extra week into the season. Do you know what just one extra week would do for the compactness of the schedule? It would be a major relief to the time demands.
Jenni Carlson: “Thunder fans have plenty to worry about these days. Kevin Durant’s foot. Russell Westbrook’s temper. The team’s shoddy defense and shabby shooting as the regular season looms. So, there probably wasn’t room on the blue-and-orange radar for this worry — draft lottery reform. But luckily for the Thunder and a bunch of other teams whose best chance of winning is by building through the draft, a spate of draft reforms was voted down Wednesday morning by the NBA’s Board of Governors. The owners’ group said no thanks to changes proposed to keep teams from tanking and trying to get the No. 1 overall pick.”‘
Kevin Durant getting down to this sick beat.
New Steven Adams/Reggie Jackson thing.
The GMs like the Spurs. Again: “The San Antonio Spurs are an overwhelming choice to repeat as NBA champion while LeBron James is the favorite to win the MVP award, according to NBA.com’s 2014-15 survey of league general managers. The general managers gave their answers to 56 questions and were not permitted to vote for their own players or team. In the survey, the Spurs were chosen to repeat as NBA champion with 46.2 percent of the votes, finishing far ahead of the second-place Cleveland Cavaliers (15.4). The Miami Heat were picked in 2013 by NBA GMs to win the title (75.9 percent). James was the runaway winner in the MVP category, chosen by 67.9 percent of respondents to win the award for the fifth time in his return to Cleveland. The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant, who is out for an indefinite period with a Jones fracture in his right foot, finished second (21.4 percent). Durant won the award last season.”
Breakdown of the GM Survey: “The annual NBA GM survey came out Wednesday, and as usual, it’s got quite a few things that are interesting in it. Enough chatter! Let’s get to the highlights! I’ve skipped over obvious ones. In case you were wondering, LeBron James is the most athletic player in the NBA, Joakim Noah’s the best defender, etc. Which team will win the 2015 NBA Finals? 1. San Antonio — 46.2% 2. Cleveland — 15.4% 3. Chicago — 11.5% L.A. Clippers — 11.5% Oklahoma City — 11.5% 6. Golden State — 3.8% Last year: Miami — 75.9% The GMS are more confident in the Spurs than Vegas has been, which is good to see. They should be that much of a favorite, not only as defending champs, but with the Durant injury and how they’ve lost no one from that team. Chicago getting only 11 percent is a respect vote, but it’s also surprising they didn’t garner more. But then, they, OKC, and the Clippers are largely on the same tier. How about the Warriors sneaking on there?”
