Thursday Bolts – 4.7.11
KD likes him some Gordon Hayward: “Kevin Durant was talking to me during the game (at Oklahoma City),” Watson explained. “He was like, ‘Man, (Hayward) should be starting.’ Kevin Durant loves him. He was talking about how good he was in the game.”
I loved Bruce Arthur of The National Post’s column on Derrick Rose and advanced stats yesterday, mainly because I view it all exactly the same: “But I don’t know how much to trust the numbers. Adjusted plus-minus makes some sense, and then you see that the mercurial Vladimir Radmanovic, along with 25 other players, rates better than Rose. PER is useful, but it fails to measure how empty Kevin Love’s numbers are compared to, say, Chris Paul’s. It makes me feel like a flat-earther to reject the advancement of statistics, and so I don’t. But I don’t think we’re close to a blanket way of figuring out the game. In some areas — in the areas of explaining how — I’m not even sure we’re close.”
David Thorpe reflects on some of the rookies he’s covered. OKC three players in his top 11: “In my mind, Rose is the LeBron of his position — quicker and more powerful than any other point guard. So what does that say about Westbrook, the most athletically gifted point guard I’ve seen play? Westbrook has become one of the better game managers in the league while imposing his will on games. One way is rebounding, as he’s the best offensive rebounder at his position. If he can learn to consistently make 3s, he has the talent to be an MVP contender alongside the top two guys on this list. Here’s a promising sign: In March, Westbrook made 48 percent of his 3-point attempts, and his team went 14-2.”
Darnell Mayberry: “I thought it was pretty ridiculous that some Thunder fans booed Blake Griffin tonight. He hasn’t done anything to deserve that. It started with his first basket, a dunk 58 seconds into the game. Some said it had something to do with how he acted in the last meeting. What does that even mean? All this talk about how Blake is becoming a “punk” is bogus. The guy gets pummeled on nearly every play. I think he has the right to ask for a call. And I don’t have a problem with staring. That’s not trying to show up anyone in my book. If you don’t like him staring at you, stop him.”
Jeff Fogle of Hoopdata: “Maybe it’s a crop circle…or maybe it’s the natural ebb and flow for Denver off a big win Sunday over the Lakers. The bottom line is that Oklahoma City does have a shot to catch Dallas for #3. Denver can help that along by losing Friday Night in Oklahoma City. Any team paying attention lately would rather play Dallas than OKC in the first round.”
Kevin Pelton of Basketball Prospectus writes that OKC was once again very healthy: “Regression to the mean in terms of injuries figured to bring the Oklahoma City Thunder–one of last year’s healthiest teams–back to earth, but Oklahoma City has been nearly as healthy as a year ago.”
John Hollinger naming his All-Defense teams: “Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka (plus-0.17) is starting to get it, but at the moment he still relies too much on his freakish athleticism and not enough on fundamentals to crack the top three … Oklahoma City’s Kendrick Perkins (minus-4.37) might be the best low-post defender in basketball, but misses the cut because his shot-blocking and rotating aren’t quite on par with some of his insanely talented colleagues at the 5.”
Jenni Carlson writes that Perk has inspired more potty mouthing from the Thunder: “Even though the Thunder’s 112-108 division-clinching victory over the Clippers on Wednesday night was fairly tame, there has been no shortage of hair-curling, eyebrow-raising words these past couple weeks. If you sit anywhere near the Oklahoma City Arena court, you know what I’m talking about. Heck, even if you just read lips fairly well, you know what I’m talking about. Listen, these guys have never been angels when it comes to their language, but this is a whole new level. It’s a sign of increased intensity and heightened hardiness. That goes straight to the altar boy.”
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN.com sees the Spurs as the Thunder’s playoff kryptonite: “Fortunately for the Thunder, Jeff Green, the guy who air-balled the potential tying three pointer in the last matchup between these two teams, is now Boston’s problem. In the event that these two teams meet in the playoffs, the Thunder will hope the three losses were an aberration. They may have a case, considering all three defeats were before Perkins and Nazr Mohammed entered the picture.”
John Schuhmann of NBA.com sees Eric Maynor as a potential playoff impact player: “I’ve got a short memory and I just watched this guy make a big impact against his team’s likely first-round opponent. I’ve also kept a close eye on the numbers that say his team has been better with him on the floor (especially defensively) than they’ve been with their All-Star starter. Eric Maynor is the guy, and though he plays only about 15 minutes a game, he usually moves the scoreboard in the right direction for the Thunder.”
