Tuesday Bolts – 1.27.15
Anthony Slater on Steven Adams: “But in the Thunder’s 92-84 win, Adams held his own against the Wolves bruising center. Pekovic missed all four of his shots and was held scoreless in the first quarter, finishing with a modest eight points and seven rebounds – below his season and career averages – on a rough 3-of-12 shooting. Adams played him brilliantly, stonewalling Pekovic in the paint and blocking two of his short hook shots en route to a four-block night for the emerging second-year defender.”
Eric Freeman of Ball Don’t Lie on Scott Brooks’ practice tactics: “Of course, the soundness of an idea does not mean that it will all work in practice. If Brooks has been trying this drill out for some time, then the results have not been seen on the court. The Thunder offense is infamous for looking like players are deciding to shoot before they have found quality shots, not so much finding open looks against the defense as trading off possessions to assure that everyone hits a quota for attempts. The players may understand each other’s positions, but they don’t seem to have an effective system for using that knowledge to achieve a desired goal. In other words, the problem here is a common one — the difficulty of implementing a sound idea that it becomes more than just an idea. Unfortunately for Brooks, an NBA coach needs to do both.”
Darnell Mayberry: “Kevin Durant was out of the lineup, Russell Westbrook was out of sync and the Oklahoma City Thunder was out of sorts. But the Minnesota Timberwolves were in town, so much of it hardly mattered. Against the worst team the league has to offer, the Thunder, even on a shockingly off night, cruised to a 92-84 victory on Monday inside Chesapeake Energy Arena. It was an expected result and a game OKC sorely needed. The win snapped the Thunder’s two-game losing and moved it back above .500 at 23-22. It was the 21st loss in 23 games for the Wolves, who fell to a league-worst 7-37.”
Zach Lowe of Grantland has Russell Westbrook as an All-Star: “The fretting came in divvying up the last three spots among four deserving players: Duncan, Cousins, Westbrook, and Mike Conley. Westbrook and Cousins have been spectacularly productive, but they’ve each missed about one-third of the season — right around my arbitrary (and undefined) border for eliminating players. Conley has missed just two games, and he’s been steadier overall. He’s just not an every-night, holy-shit-he’s-coming-at-us, game-changing force on the level of Cousins and Westbrook. Teams don’t adjust entire portions of their defense for Conley.”
KD has signed another endorsement deal.
Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider has KD as an All-Star: “Picking Durant ultimately comes down to my opinion that the All-Star Game should feature the best players in the league, not the players who have the best first half. The timing of Durant’s injuries doesn’t make him any less of an All-Star than he would be if they happened in March and April. When healthy, Durant has been as effective as anyone in the NBA. He’s an All-Star.”
Stein has OKC 15th: “The Thunder are just the fourth team in history to sink as far as nine games below .500 and rebound to a winning record within the first 41 games of a season. Even better for OKC: All three previous teams to do so (2004-05 Bulls, 1980-81 Blazers and 1977-78 SuperSonics) managed to make the playoffs.”
