Thursday Bolts – 5.22.14

Ben Golliver of SI.com

: “If anyone should be worried, it’s the Thunder, who must use their extra off days to rediscover their mental edge, their foul-drawing ability, their outside shooting shooting touch and their play-to-play discipline on defense. Yet it was the Spurs who were raising the alarm bells, looking and sounding like Ben Stiller’s character Chas from the “The Royal Tenenbaums,” who compulsively timed his children as they practiced their fire drill responses.”

Darnell Mayberry: “Kevin Durant spent so much time talking about trust. Trusting the system. Trusting his teammates. Trusting the pass. But as soon as the Thunder got its first taste of adversity against San Antonio in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night, all those grandiose ideas of solving these Spurs and knotting up this series with simple concepts and straight-forward fundamentals flew out the window. Oklahoma City quickly became a desperate team that reverted to relying on a two-man game featuring Durant and Russell Westbrook. It disrupted the Thunder’s rhythm. It bogged down the Thunder’s offense. It spurred San Antonio to the 112-77 South Texas spanking we saw inside AT&T Center.”

Berry Tramel: “Been here before, the Thunder kept saying. Been down 0-2 to the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. Everyone wanted to hark back to the salad days of 2012, when the Thunder stormed to four straight victories to reach the NBA Finals. Heck, the Spurs kept saying it, too. But here’s where the Thunder never has been before. Beaten this badly. Undressed like this. Whipped 112-77 Wednesday night by a San Antonio squad that made the Thunder look inept offensively, two days after doing the same to the Thunder defense. This doesn’t feel anything like 2012.”

Hubie Brown: “They’ve been bold in their moves, and the moves have paid off for them, without destroying the solid structure that they have for success. And when you’re second in the league in wins, you’re doing something right here, because you have a lot of young people. You look at their bench, and their players, 13, 14 and 15, there’s a ton of potential here. So management, working with the coaching staff, working with their scouts, you give them an excellent rating. How they play, night in and night out, they play hard, they play right to their potential. Unfortunately for them right now, they’re at a major minus without Ibaka.”

2012 was a long time ago, but it did happen.

Jenni Carlson: “Russell Westbrook locked eyes with Kevin Durant and pointed to his temples. Moments earlier, Durant lost Danny Green, his defensive assignment, and the Spur swingman hit another in a growing string of threes. But Durant responded to his tag-team partner with a wave off. More temple pointing and hand waving followed. Then, as the pair neared a timeout huddle, the yelling started. It was an ugly moment in an even uglier game. It’s easy to understand frustration — the Thunder got its doors blown off, 112-77, and finds itself in a 2-0 hole in the Western Conference Finals — but the boys in blue seem to be fraying a bit mentally. It’s one thing to lose. It’s another thing to lose your cool.”

Adande’s Daily Dime on Danny Green. Click at your own risk.

Zach Harper for TrueHoop with Kevin Love trades: “I’m not going to be unrealistic and pretend Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook are in play here, but there’s no reason the Wolves can’t ask for Ibaka, while also unloading Martin’s deal (three years, $20 million left) and picking up young talent in Lamb and Jones, a first-round pick this year and an unprotected pick in 2017. Why 2017? Let’s pretend this Thunder thing doesn’t work out and Love and Durant both leave in 2016. In this scenario, the Wolves position themselves to take advantage of a team falling apart. It’s like what every team does to Minnesota every single time it trades a draft pick.”

Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com on small markets: “Basketball, “the city game,” hews close to its cities. The smaller markets have a very confined kind of fandom. On the NYT map, the exciting, successful Thunder claim an intense “super cell” following in Oklahoma. Thunder fandom stops around the state border as though cut off by biodome walls. In most neutral American territories the Lakers, Bulls and Heat will round out the top three fan choices (note: The Heat have a much larger TV reach than the Miami metropolitan area alone. Remember, Florida has roughly 20 million people). The Thunder cracks the top three only in areas in Oklahoma and areas bordering Oklahoma. This is in line with Google results that reflect a lack of broader Internet excitement over a super exciting Thunder team.”

Marc Spears of Yahoo Sports: “Two years ago, the Spurs took a 2-0 lead over the Thunder in the Western Conference finals. Oklahoma City won the next four games to advance to the NBA Finals. The difference now is the Thunder are missing Ibaka, and James Harden plays for the Houston Rockets. Oklahoma City has missed Ibaka’s shot-blocking and defensive presence. And while the Thunder have three days to make changes before Game 3 in Oklahoma City, Durant and Westbrook don’t expect to change their approach.”