Thursday Bolts – 1.29.09

Tony Mejia has Kevin Durant as a “rightfully should feel snubbed” almost All-Star.

Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus on the Rookie/Sophomore challenge: “Although Durant’s takeoff in his second season has had something to do with his move from shooting guard to small forward, he’ll have to return to guard for one night because of an imbalance in the sophomore talent. To the extent Durant’s December turnaround flew under the radar elsewhere, it’s been impossible to miss his enormous January–27.1 points and 8.6 rebounds per game with a 60.5 percent True Shooting Percentage. Yikes. The only real concern is that Scott Brooks might be running the slight Durant into the ground by playing him 39.3 minutes per night (third in the league). The obvious comparison for Durant (Carmelo Anthony) shows up second in similarity. No. 1? Kobe Bean Bryant. Double yikes.”

Lengthy piece by Johnny Ludden of Yahoo! Sports: “So, yes, Kevin Durant knows what you’re thinking. He also wants you to understand this: “Hopefully,” he says, “I’ll spend my whole career here.” Durant sees a future with the Thunder, and, as unlikely as that seemed even a month ago, he’s building a case for why everyone else should also see the skies clearing over OKC. This week, the Thunder moved out of the NBA’s basement for the first time since early November. The upgrade in accommodations, as potentially short-lived as it may be, came on the heels of a stretch in which the Thunder won six of their past nine games – four more victories than they totaled in their first 26 outings of the season.”

The Kansas City Star endorses KD as an All-Star: “Facchini also mentioned that the team decided against “gimmicky” campaigns to push for Durant. It seems that firing coach P.J. Carlesimo and trying to win basketball games ranked as more important endeavors than creating perceptions that their guy is an All-Star. Understandable. It’s just too bad that Durant’s reward for being one of the league’s top players is an invitation to the Rookie-Sophomore game.”

KD was one of Daily Dime’s best of the night: “He filled up the box score, posting 35 points, 10 rebounds, six assists and four blocks to lead Oklahoma City, which closed the game on a 14-0 run, to a 114-102 victory over the Grizzlies.”

BDL’s Behind the Box Score: “Credit the Grizzlies for coming back. That’s not fun to do, on the road, on the second night of a back-to-back, against a team you think is crummier than you.

(15 points, nine assists, five rebounds) finally had a game worth crowing about, and

had 25 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Thunder pulled away in overtime. Dominated overtime, really. Fine game for the whole lot.

finished with 35 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks, four turnovers, and six assists.

hit five three-pointers, and

(16 points, five assists in 34 minutes) looks like he’ll employ all of us soon enough. Not sure how that’s going to work, but he does have very long arms.

left the game with a hyperextended knee, MRI results pending, but it didn’t look good.”

SLAM had a problem with Earl’s late jumper too: “The line looks innocent enough… but it only took one play to reveal the rotten core of this bad apple. During the final minute, his team was up 4–a crucial possession. He pounded the ball to the court for most of the shot clock then used a Nick Collison screen to get an off-the-dribble mid-range J. CLANG (of course). Long rebound, which led to… a wide open fast break dunk for his man, Mike Conley. Hey, Earl. There’s this guy on your team… he’s about 6-9… a phenom out of the East Coast. Oh, he’s also your leading score… oh and he’s the one that’s been KILLING the Grizz all night. Kevin Durant ring any bells? No? How about your position, point guard… are you familiar with the concept of getting the ball into the hands of the most capable scorer? Leading your team on the offensive end? Trying to get your team points? Hmm… nothing there either, huh? We don’t know if Scott Brooks called that particular play, but we do know that it seemed like he took the ball out of ol’ Earl’s hands in OT. In the extra period, Brooks had Russell Westbrook running the show, who evidently has heard of one Kevin Wayne Durant. KD dominates. Thunder win.”

Pro Basketball News gives some midseason awards out and grades each team in this week’s power rankings: “The Thunder are getting exactly what they want — gradual improvement led by Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook and fans in the seats at Ford Center. The kids are finding their way in the league, and although this team is probably still two seasons away from being a viable contender, you can see consistent improvement from Game 1 to Game 41. One major curveball is that it’s Scott Brooks, not P.J. Carlesimo getting that progress made, but this has been one of the few coaching changes that has yielded significant results. Grade: C”

Hardwood Paroxysm says Kevin Durant is good: “This is a post about Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is a good basketball player, and he’s very meaningful to me. Watching Kevin Durant makes me feel happy. I like the way he stays very low to the ground when he goes to the basket. I almost typed Kevin Garnett. But this is a post about Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant should be an All-Star, but I don’t think he will be. Actually, that’s not true. I kind of have the feeling that the coaches/players will vote in Carmelo Anthony, but since he hurt his hand they’ll choose Kevin Durant instead. It’s a backdoor way of getting to the All-Star game but it’d be his first of many. Barack Obama. Kid Delicious. Kevin Durant is incredible. He’s supremely watchable/bloggable and he’s actually made the Thunder a joy to experience. And all of this while having Earl Watson play significant minutes. Damien Wilkins sucks. Kevin Durant for All-Star in 2k9. This has been a post about Kevin Durant, inspired by Hipster Runoff.”

Russell Westbrook is No. 3 in SI’s Rookie Rankings: “Westbrook opened the week with a spectacular effort against the Warriors, finishing with a game-high 30 points to go with four rebounds and seven assists, including the set-up pass on Jeff Green‘s game-winning turnaround jumper. Coach Scott Brooks believes Westbrook — who has helped the Thunder split 12 games in January after a 4-29 start — deserves even more credit for blossoming in such a high-profile role.”

And No. 3 on NBA.com’s.

And don’t look now, but OKC’s only 15.5 games out of the eighth spot in the West! OK, I know. I’m an idiot.

And Daniel Craig’s brother in Defiance was played by Liev Schreiber, who was also in The Sum of All Fears, Sphere, Ransom and the new Manchurian Candidate. I know. It was driving me nuts too.