Thursday Bolts – 2.12.09
T-minus two days until V-Day. No, I haven’t gotten anything yet. Maybe this? How about that for a tie-in?
J.A. Adande on KD: “To get burned into more memory banks, his team will have to win more, enough to get into the playoffs, enough to earn him consideration for the All-Star Game … unless he starts putting up numbers so large he has to be chosen. He’ll be in the rookie-sophomore game and the new H-O-R-S-E contest, something which he hasn’t had any time to practice for. He’s been working so much on shooting good shots that his trick-shot arsenal is limited.”
Bill Simmons annual awesome trade value column. Kevin Durant falls in the “It Makes Us Angry You’d Even Ask” category: “Put it this way: I had a lot to do this week. I am trying to finish a book. I had to finish this column. My wife and daughter returned from a trip late Monday night and I wanted to see them. I am flying to Phoenix on Thursday and had to take care of all the dumb stuff people have when they are about to leave for a trip. On Tuesday night, under normal circumstances, I would have rather given myself a two-foot paper cut over going to the Staples Center and spending three hours with Lakers fans. I went there anyway. Only three teams would have dragged me out of the house: The LeBrons, the Celts, and Durant’s Future Former Team. That’s the list … Jeff Green: Great teammate, tough as nails, gives a crap, does whatever you need. He’s the anti-Beasley. What frightens me is that The Team That Shall Not Be Named somehow has become my favorite non-Boston team to watch. Love the Durant-Green-Westbrook foundation, love Scotty Brooks (who knew???), love the spirit of their crowds, love their style of play (attack off every miss, which is exactly how the Bulls should play). It continues to be cruel and unfair that this couldn’t have happened in Seattle … Russell Westbrook: The rookie MVP of the Table Team for guys who bring a ton of stuff to the table, but also take a fair share of stuff off it … but still, he wins you over in the end. I like him. He is definitely not a point guard. This much we know. I’d like to be the chairman of the “Is He A Point Guard Or Not?” Committee. I have a rare talent for quickly spotting breast implants, dentures, bad toupees and shooting guards masquerading as point guards.”
Josh Q. Public on Kevin Durant: “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to Thunder fans and NBA fans alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of basketball player. The torch has been passed to Kevin Durant. Enjoy it. You are enjoying history.”
Thorpe’s Rookie Watch: “As I mentioned last month, Westbrook reminds me of a young D-Wade, whom I watched closely during his rookie season. As a rookie, Wade was over a year older and a bit stronger than Westbrook. But look where his shots came from that season: Half of Wade’s shots came from the perimeter, 40 percent from inside and 9 percent from dunks. Meanwhile, Westbrook takes 52 percent of his shots from the perimeter, 39 percent come from inside and another 7 percent come on dunks. Those are strikingly similar numbers.”
Blazer’s Edge: “Portland had a nice run to close the first half, capped by a thunderous two-handed Super Trout special with .7 (that’s seven-tenths) seconds left on the clock. Unfortunately as soon as the third period started we gave it back. Jeff Green and Kevin Durant scored like frat boys at a Junior High dance. (Yeah, it was that sick.) Russell Westbrook wasn’t hitting many shots but he had 8 offensive rebounds on the night, most of them in the third quarter. Let’s say that again. Russell Westbrook, point guard, had 8 offensive rebounds. I mean, he is a good rebounder and all, but that’s still Barry Manilow-level wrong.”
Dime says Dwayne Wade better watch his potential scoring title closely: “Going into All-Star break, Durant is currently fifth in the League in scoring at 25.6 points per game. That’s one-tenth of a point behind Dirk Nowitzki for fourth place, and within three whole points of League leader LeBron James. Yeah, it would be a big stretch for KD to catch ‘Bron or D-Wade at this stage, but Top-5 isn’t a bad place to be. It’d be like someone predicting Carmelo would lead the NBA in scoring in ‘07-08, and calling it a blatant misfire when ‘Melo finished fourth. I’d imagine those who called me out for my preseason prediction on Durant were thinking he’d fall more into the 15-20 range, not within a few buckets of LBJ, Wade and Kobe.”
Kevin Pelton’s experience from last night: “It was a night to make a statement, and everyone had their own way of doing that. My good friend and coworker made a sign for his two-year-old nephew that read “Clay Bennett ruined my childhood.” Others booed. My effort was subtler, but still impossible to miss: Journalistic objectivity be damned, I walked into the visiting locker room sporting a green shirt and a Sonics tie. I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect in terms of support for the Sonics and hating on the Thunder during the game. Despite an effort at coordination by the Save Our Sonics group, there were pockets of Seattle fans scattered here and there throughout the Rose Garden. That made it hard to tell most of the night that anything was out of the ordinary, other than some extra booing when Oklahoma City was introduced and occasional “SUPER! SONICS!” chants during timeouts and free throws.”
More on last night from Basketbawful: “I was at the Blazers game last night, and as most of you know this was the first game in Portland for the Oklahoma City Thunder. So there were about 15 people in our section as well as hundreds of others around the stadium who were wearing Sonics jerseys. The best thing was they weren’t there to cheer on Portland, but rather just to boo the Thunder. I never saw a single one of them react when Portland made a good play…only when the Thunder committed a turnover or made a dumb play.”
Russell Westbrook with NBA.com: “The 6-foot-3, 187-pound Westbrook bided his time, finally breaking into the starting lineup 17 games into his rookie year, exactly one month after his NBA debut. When Westbrook made his first start, Oklahoma City was 1-16. After Westbrook made his first start, Oklahoma City was 2-16. Now owning a record of 13-40, the Thunder are hardly world beaters, but Westbrook has given his Midwest fan base a reason for hope. He is refining his game day by day, sort of how in the early episodes of Seinfeld, the show got better by featuring more Kramer and casting Jerry a funnier dad. I caught up with Westbrook, a burgeoning Rookie of the Year candidate, before the Thunder played the Lakers on Tuesday…”
Seattle PI on last night: “The anger may have turned into apathy. The disappointment into disenchantment. Thousands of Sonics fans were not beating down the door of the Rose Garden on Wednesday seeking Thunder blood. There was not an entire section of green and gold heckling every Oklahoma City dribble or screen or free throw. It seems many Sonics fans decided to stay in Seattle, perhaps to watch the Blazers and Thunder on television, still too broken up to watch their former heroes wearing those pedestrian blue uniforms.”
The Love of Sports Top 20 players to build a team around. Kevin Durant is No. 8: “This may appear high for a kid who has won so few NBA games, but the operative word here is “kid.” Durant’s just 20 years old and is already averaging 25 points per game. It’s not his fault he plays for the least talented team in the league. At 6-foot-10 with a silky-smooth jump shot, startling wingspan and the desire to improve, this “kid” is going to wreak havoc on both ends of the floor in a few years.”