Tuesday Bolts – 2013 Edition
Happy such and such to you and yours. Hope it’s awesome and whatnot.
Former Thunderer Lazar Hayward says he met a spirit: “I’ve actually touched into another piece of my life with some spiritual stuff,” Hayward said. “I’ve been going to see some mediums. I’ve seen two. They’ve both said the same thing. I’ve actually been able to see a spirit when I’ve been in one of the meetings. I can’t talk to them yet but I have seen them. … [Mediums] are people who can see and talk to spirits. I actually had a friend go there. They were able to speak to their brother who has been dead for about six years now. That’s exactly what a medium is.”
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com listed the Thunder as his second best moment of 2012: “The Thunder’s arrival in the NBA Finals. It was at once the culmination of a project that turned around a team that started in Oklahoma City by losing 16 of its first 17 games only four years earlier and the beginning of a constant in June. Of all the goofy getups Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant wore during the playoffs, the Western Conference championship caps were the best look.”
Darnell Mayberry: “P.J. Tucker did a phenomenal job guarding Durant, probably the best anyone has done all season. Coming into the year, I never thought Tucker would be the one to earn that distinction. But that’s what happen. Tucker was so good that when Durant checked back in for the second quarter with 7:52 remaining in the period, Suns coach Alvin Gentry immediately brought Tucker back as a counter.”
From Elias: “Kevin Durant scored 30 points for the Thunder on Monday night in their win over Phoenix, giving him 2,567 points in 2012. Over the 15-year span from 1997 through 2011, only one NBA player scored that many points in one year: Kobe Bryant in 2006 (2,688).”
Kevin Zimmerman of Valley of the Suns: “Until the clock struck 5:00 in the fourth quarter on Monday, the fans in Chesapeake Energy Arena and the Oklahoma City Thunder team itself appeared bored with the Phoenix Suns. When the clock hit 0:00, the Thunder had pulled out a 114-96 home win after finally turning on the jets late and making what was far from one of the worst performances by the Suns on the year look lackluster at best.”
Marc Stein of ESPN.com in his power rankings: “The NBA’s most efficient offense, with the calendar about to be flipped to 2013, can be found in OKC: 110.1 points per 100 possessions. With Serge Ibaka likewise playing the best ball of his life, perhaps it’s time to acknowledge that OKC didn’t quite throw the season away when it dealt James Harden.”
I really liked this from Drew Magary of Deadspin on sports: “There are few things I hate more than when people tell you that sports are a diversion, that they’re some kind of magical getaway from the troubles of the real world. That’s nonsense. There’s just as much tension and agony and heartbreak in rooting for a sports team. The pain is real. The frustration can be just as great, if not greater. The beauty of sports isn’t that they’re somehow separate from the lives we lead; it’s that they are so thoroughly woven into it. If you think a football game is important, then it is. If that’s what you’re passionate about, there’s nothing silly or misplaced about it. Being passionate is the whole f—- point. It’s not what you care about; it’s that you care at all. You give it the meaning and the meaning makes it real. There will be more games and the Vikings will inevitably win some of them and lose some of them, but Sunday they won THAT game, and sometimes one game is every game.”
I listed the Harden trade as a top unforgettable moment of 2012.
Joe Kaiser of ESPN Insider on KD’s passing: “Last season, Durant was credited with an assist on 11.6 percent of his possessions — the best assist ratio of his career and only the second time in five seasons that he hit double figures. So far this seasons, he’s assisting on 14.1 percent of his possessions and averaging a career-high 4.2 assists per 40 minutes. Part of this could be due to the tremendous efficiency of first-year Thunder shooting guard Kevin Martin, who has a knack for finishing his teammates’ assists. But any way you look at it, Durant’s value on the court and in fantasy basketball leagues has never been higher.”
