Thursday Bolts – 5.5.16
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider on “make or miss league” talk: “Consider the Oklahoma City
Thunder’s playoff run. After the Thunder lost Game 2 to the Dallas Mavericks in the first round, scoring just 84 points in the process, there was widespread concern about Oklahoma City’s uncreative offense and reliance on stars Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. According to qSP, the Thunder’s shots in Game 2 could have been expected to yield 51.5 percent effective shooting, similar to the team’s 52.4 percent average in the regular season. Instead, Oklahoma City posted an eFG of just 37.9 percent, in large part because Durant shot 7-of-33 from the field. In Game 3, the Thunder bounced back with an eFG of 67.3 percent, the highest of any team in the playoffs. Yet Oklahoma City’s qSP was actually slightly worse in Game 3, at 50.2 percent. The gap between the best shooting performance in the postseason and one of the worst apparently was nothing more than shot making.”
Chris Webber on his call to end Game 2: “I am very happy with it. I played the game. I know the player steps on the line every time so that didn’t matter. It was an offensive foul. I’m the biggest Westbrook and Durant fan in the world. If you actually look at my Twitter feed, before that play, they said I was an OKC homer. To be a homer for OKC and a San Antonio fan, I think I’m doing a pretty good job. I don’t mind. It was a terrible missed call. The NBA said they missed it. Now that it was, so what. Keep playing. I’m glad, though, that it caused this type of controversy. I’m glad that people see this is the best series in basketball right now and want to watch these great players. If I take a little heat for being excited since I played the game and I love being around the greatest players in the world and I know how blessed I am to have a job to be able to watch basketball for a living, I’ll take that.”
TMZ asked the lovely Wanda where KD should sign.
Jenni Carlson: “That final sequence on Monday night lends credence to that. Adams knew exactly where he needed to be, turning as soon as Danny Green secured the steal and sprinting from beyond the arc to where Patty Mills was under the basket. That prevented Mills from even getting up a shot. Adams then rolled to the other side of the lane after Mills passed to Manu Ginóbili, and when Ginobili dribbled toward the lane, Adams stepped up to help. Everyone was in scramble mode, but Adams never lost his head.”
Dion Waiters says the Thunder are fine with LaMarcus Aldridge trying to beat them by himself.
Erik Horne: “Why was Waiters even in that position? Donovan said he didn’t want to bring someone cold off the bench to inbound, that he felt comfortable with Waiters. Again, that word: Comfortable. In the biggest situations, Waiters was in the game because Donovan trusted him. There was an elbow that merited an offensive foul. There was also a massive shot and defensive stops that put the Thunder in position to win. On the biggest stage Waiters was referring to, for better or worse, Donovan gave him a starring role.”