Thursday Bolts – 5.1.14
Berry Tramel: “Trouble is, Durant’s aggression and positive attitude come and go. His shoulders have dipped repeatedly during rough stretches of this streetfight. His effort is spotty. His confidence is shaken. That’s not appropriate for a 25-year-old superstar. A 21-year-old star? Sure. When Durant made just 35 percent of his shots in that six-game Laker series in 2010, we knew it was growing pains. Knew that Durant was being hounded by Ron Artest, the Tony Allen of yesteryear, a guy who sold out to defense and could stage Les’ Miserables for even the sharpest of shooters.”
Jared Dubin for Grantland: “I don’t particularly like advocating for people to lose their jobs, but I do greatly enjoy floating ridiculous hypothetical scenarios, so allow me to float this one: Stan Van Gundy should be the Thunder’s Phil Jackson, by which I mean he should be their next coach and win a bunch of titles with KD and Russ, just like Phil did with Michael and Scottie. (I’ve only been floating this specific idea for about two years.)”
The front page of The Oklahoman crossed the line today.
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider: “The Thunder average the fewest number of passes of any playoff team once we adjust for overtimes. According to SportVU tracking, they’ve registered just 228.9 passes per 48 minutes, which is more than 50 passes below average and about 13 passes fewer than the next-lowest team, the Warriors at 242.2 passes. Is this a season-long trend? During the regular season, the Thunder averaged 263.9 passes per game with Westbrook in uniform. So Tuesday’s performance — in an overtime period no less — checked in below normal. The Thunder averaged 10 more passes (273.9) in their 36 non-Westbrook outings in the regular season. This, by itself, isn’t necessarily an indictment on Brooks, but it’s worth noting that Tuesday’s iso-fest with Westbrook running the show wasn’t just a one-game blip.”
A Wikipedia page turned sports article on Russell Westbrook’s brother.
