Thursday Bolts – 12.17.09
Thunder players to donate the “Creamsicle” shoes they were wearing last night: “The orange shoes worn by
Thunder players during tonight’s nationally televised home contest with the Dallas Mavericks will be looking for good homes once they come off the players’ feet following the game. Each player will be autographing his shoes and donating them to an auction benefiting the Oklahoma City Thunder Community Foundation. That silent auction will occur in the Ford Center during the following three home games: December 18 vs. Detroit, December 26 vs. Charlotte and December 31 vs. Utah.”
Oh, and the kicks were named Worst of the Night: “For their tacky bright orange shoes, called “Creamsicles” (no, really, I did not make this up) that made them look like their Turbo button was stuck. I mean this is how NBA Jam should be played anyways, and this is probably too awesome of a description for how it actually looked… maybe more like ducks with racing stripes. And since I can’t really think of anything bad to say about the Mavs, here’s a closeup of said shoes.”
Rob Mahoney of HP gives some BRILLIANT thoughts about Russell Westbrook: “The defense is there and the effort is there, but in order for Westbrook to make it to the next level, he’ll need to turn his effort and his hustle inward. Russell’s game will take him as far as he wills it to, and though premier point guard instincts can’t exactly be taught, they can be cultivated by time in the gym, studying video, and with the playbook. That’s what it’s going to take for Westbrook to earn a spot among the elite at his position, and his on-court work ethic gives us all reason for optimism. It’s also the reason why Francis had a ceiling, but Westbrook does not. The key is to avoid spinning sideways, and though he has yet to take any substantive jumps this year, he’s a sophomore. I love instant returns as much as anyone else, but the key to Westbrook understanding and actualizing will be the patience of those within the Thunder organization itself.”
HoopsWorld predicted the Rookie/Soph rosters and bother Thunder candidates get snubbed: “Obviously there are going to be some serious snubs here. The Class of 2008 was epic good and some very, very good players are being left out here. Among them are Memphis’ O.J. Mayo, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Orlando’s Ryan Anderson, and Golden State’s Anthony Morrow – and that doesn’t even get into injured Portland Trail Blazers Greg Oden and Rudy Fernandez, both of whom could have been on here if healthy (more likely Oden than Fernandez). It always seems like the Sophomore squad is tougher to pick anyway, because the players are a year more experienced and usually have earned themselves larger roles on their teams.”
KD was Wednesday’s worst on the Daily Dime: “Rocking Creamsicle orange Nike sneakers, Durant matched his worst scoring game of the season, finishing with just 12 points on 4-for-18 shooting against the Mavericks.”
I love this little tidbit from Eddie Sefko: “Jason Kidd just got called for a foul on a drive by Russell Westbrook that he clearly didn’t agree with. Kidd went over to the sideline, ostensibly to get some fresh resin on his hands. After giving them a good rub to get them nice and full of resin, he went over and gave referee Scott Wall a pat on the behind. A nice off-white hand print was left on the black slacks.”
Mark Cuban voted against the Sonics move to OKC and said he’d vote the same way. But he did have some nice words about Clay Bennett: “Clay (Bennett) is doing a phenomenal job here. If you were going to create a template for it, this is the right way to move a team and rebuild and develop within a community. No one’s done a better job of it than Clay.”
James Harden ranks 10th on NBA.com’s rookie rankings: “Since scoring a career-high 26 on Dec. 7, Harden has come back to earth. In three games this week he averaged just 6.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists as the Thunder went 1-2. Still, Harden is eighth among rookies in both scoring and assists, while playing just over 20 minutes per game. Put Harden on a team where he’s getting serious minutes and no doubt his numbers would be more impressive at this point.”
Thorpe’s rookie rankings has Harden at five: “Any way you slice it, Harden has had a rough December as a shooter. Other than a 6-for-13 effort against Golden State (the league’s 28th-worst defense), he has made just 10 of 34 shots. Part of the problem for Harden is the adjustment he has had to make as the third or fourth option on most actions; he needs to be both a scorer and a ball mover. (He was mostly just a scorer in college.) Because he’s already such a great and willing passer in the NBA, he’ll soon learn to trust himself as a scorer, knowing that if he took a shot it was the right decision.”