Thursday Bolts – 12.10.15
Erik Horne: “In the midst of the Thunder’s total takeover in Memphis on Tuesday, you may have
missed the contributions of Steven Adams and Andre Roberson. The oversight was bound to happen. In the Thunder’s most convincing win of the season — a 37-point rout of the Grizzlies — the runaway stretch came with the two Thunder starters on the bench in the second quarter while OKC played small ball.”
Gregg Popovich on 3s: “I still hate it. I’ll never embrace it. I don’t think it’s basketball. I think it’s kind of like a circus sort of thing. Why don’t we have a 5-point shot? A 7-point shot? You know, where does it stop, that sort of thing. But that’s just me, that’s just old-school. To a certain degree, you better embrace it or you’re going to lose. And every time we’ve won a championship, the 3-point shot was a big part of it. Because it is so powerful and you’ve gotta be able to do it. And nobody does it better than Golden State, and you know where they’re at. So it’s important. You can’t ignore it.”
KD donates $35,000 to local school.
Chad Ford’s new mock has Philly taking Jonathan Jeanne with OKC’s pick: “This would be the third first-round pick for the 76ers. It’s doubtful they’ll have all three playing next season, especially with the possibility that Dario Saric might also come. Jeanne is all about upside. He has a 7-foot-6 wingspan, runs the floor well and features a nice faceup game. He needs to add a lot of strength, but in a couple of years he could be a real find for Philly.”
This little boy just wants to meet Russ.
Berry Tramel: “The Thunder has gone small from time to time in the past against Memphis, with some success, but this was a little different, because in the old days, the OKC strategy was placing Durant on 7-foot center Marc Gasol, who likes to work from the high post. Durant often did fine on Gasol. But Tuesday night, when the Thunder went small, Billy Donovan assigned Durant to Zach Randolph, the left-handed bull who has tormented foes, including the Thunder, for years with his power post moves. Nothing elegant, nothing quick, nothing athletic about Randolph. He just knows angles and knows how to muscle you out of the way of those angles.”
