Thursday Bolts – 11.18.10

Greg Oden, is having another surgery. Just awful. I wrote about the inevitable comparison to KD today on CBS.

Darnell Mayberry on last night’s game: “Without question, this was the Thunder’s most complete game. Regardless of the Rockets’ injury situation, this was an impressive performance by the home team. Impressive because we’ve seen so many losses in games just like these. But rather than toy with a short-handed squad, as we’ve seen the Thunder do so many times in the past, OKC took it to Houston. The energy and hustle was the difference. There were no bad quarters in this one, no prolonged and unmatched Rockets runs and no stretches of sheer sloppiness by the Thunder. It’s as good of a sign as we’ve seen early this year that this team is growing up.”

PBT: “Oklahoma City’s most complete game start-to-finish in weeks — combined with a struggling opponent — made this one the easy win the Thunder have needed after some tough ones lately.”

Cole Aldrich got a little hazing in the form of foam in his car last night.

Nice stuff from PBT on the Thunder: “It’s a step in getting this team back to the potential we all expected of them, what we hoped of them. But maybe we should reign in those expectations, too. This week they play Boston then Milwaukee on the back-to-back. Things are not getting easier for these Thunder as they try to improve. And improvement might look a lot like standing still sometimes.”

A really interesting look from Free Darko about players and what they come from.

Power rankings from SI: “Considering that their defense is allowing nearly eight more points per 100 possessions than it was last year, and that Kevin Durant leads the NBA in missed shots, it is remarkable, and encouraging, that the Thunder are 6-4. Durant and Russell Westbrook remain crowd-pleasers — Westbrook is averaging a league-high 7.3 shots per game at the rim — but the synergistic charm of last year’s team is less apparent, especially on defense, where opponents continue to torch the Thunder from three-point range.”

Rankings from FanHouse: “The win over the Jazz in their last outing could be something to build on for a Thunder team that has struggled to find itself early this season. Serge Ibaka started in place of the injured Jeff Green, and had a career night with 22 points and 11 rebounds. If he’s capable of that against a front line like Utah’s, that could be huge for the team as the season rolls on.”

Dime picks the top 10 NBA backcourts: “Westbrook’s offense (23.3 ppg, 8.1 apg, 2.0 spg) complements Thabo’s defense. Or vice versa. They’d rank higher is Thabo didn’t seem afraid to shoot the ball half the time.”

An interesting thought: Greg Oden is likely going to be on the open market come next summer. The Thunder tried out one former knee injured lottery pick in Shaun Livington. Could they give Oden a shot too? KD and Oden… together? Something to think  about at least.

Daily Thunder picked up its 100,000th comment last night. Thanks to everyone who chimes in and to Jeff Green for giving us something to talk about. Congrats to MartzMimic for the prestigious honor!