Tuesday Bolts – 10.13.09

Ziller looks at the stastistical war waging with Kevin Durant: “Some basketball statisticians think Kevin Durant has

been overrated through two seasons of work, a tunnel-visioned volume scorer. Others believe him to be The Second Second Coming, a future pantheon invitee getting his sea legs. Where’s the truth? We’ll find out more this season, I’d bet … but not without a war.”

Alvin Gentry on the Thunder: “Everybody here has to be patient,” Gentry said. “The fans have to be patient. The ownership has to be patient and management has to be patient. They have a good guy running the team. They have great assistants I think you’ll see help develop these players. When you look at their roster, they have a really, really bright future.”

FanHouse player to watch, Jeff Green: “Jeff Green is the other-other Thunder. If Russell Westbrook is The Edge to Kevin Durant’s Bono, Jeff Green is one of the other U2 members that you don’t actually know because they aren’t The Edge or Bono. But if you haven’t been paying attention to Green because you’ve been too busy calling your friends to tell them Kevin Durant is breaking your mindskull, take a second look at the power forward for the Thunder. Because if Oklahoma City is going to take the next step this season, it won’t be on the back of Westbrook, but the man they call Predator.”

A Thunder preview on FanHouse: “The goal of the Oklahoma City Thunder should be apparent: Rise from the dregs of the Western Conference and into the middle-of-the-pack. That’s a realistic endeavor, and it will be the responsibility of coach Scott Brooks to get the Thunder there.”

Brilliant. (h/t Dooney)

The Scores Report previews the Northwest Division: “The Thunder added the smooth and steady James Harden in the draft, and he should immediately start at shooting guard. Athletically, he’s better than people give him credit for, and he should thrive alongside Durant and Westbrook. This team is still a year or three away from the postseason, but they are headed in the right direction and have a ton of cap space over the next couple of years to add an impact player.”

Valley of the Suns recaps last night.

Bump. Set. SPIKE!

Don’t hate me Cowboys, but I found this recruiting diary of Harrison Barnes to be rather interesting: “But the next morning we had a lot of meetings. We met with academic advisors, the President of the university, the people in the business school, we toured the campus and then we toured the business school and some of the academic facilities. Needless to say, it was a very busy morning. After that we had lunch with the coaching staff and from there we got a little time to go to the hotel and relax before we went to watch the team practice. It was good to see the guys in action and see Coach Capel interact with them on the floor. From there we had a meeting with Coach Capel and talked a little bit. Then Doron and I went out with the players.”

Video recap of last night’s game.

Have fun last night? Well we get to do it for a full season starting in 15 days. Yee-haw.