Tuesday Bolts – 2.3.09
UPDATE: Finally, video of the halftime performance nearly gone horribly wrong. Watch and be horrified.
NBA.com Power Rankings: “The Thunder had shown some defensive improvement (104.9 rating over a 10-game
stretch) until they lost Desmond Mason for the season with a hyperextended right knee. Then they gave up a combined 232 points in Utah and Sacramento.”
And No. 25 in SI’s rankings: “Kevin Durant was rightfully left off the All-Star team, as a club as bad as OKC probably doesn’t deserve to be represented. But is there any doubt this will be the final time for a while that this happens? Durant is averaging 26.1 points since coach Scott Brooks took over and moved him to small forward in November. “Kevin Durant is a potential Hall of Fame player,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “He has the passion. He’s basically unstoppable.”
Update on Serge Ibaka: The Sergeant had one of his best games of the season two nights ago, scoring 16 on 7-9 shooting and grabbing 15 boards against DKV Joventut. He’s getting more and more minutes (almost 19 a game over the last six, up from about 11 in his first 13). Follow Serge here. (Are you might need this.)
The TrueHoop network got together to come up with some ideas for All-Star reform: “I’d like to see the freshmen play the NBDL All Stars. It’s become apparent that the NBDL is a viable source of NBA level talent. I think this would be a competitive game, since each has something valuable to play for. The D-Leaguers will be fighting to show that they belong in the league, and they may have an extra chip on their shoulder playing millionaire rookies.”
SLAM’s top shooting guard prospects – a position OKC definitely needs help at: “Up until the past month or so, Duke’s Gerald Henderson has only shown frustratingly small doses of his talent and potential. He seems to have turned a corner, however, posting 13-straight double-digit scoring games and four games of 20 or more points in January alone. Henderson is NBA athleticism personified.”
A fantasy report from ESPN.com: Before long, Kevin Durant (33 points, five rebounds, two 3-pointers and a block) and Jeff Green (28 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals) are going to be the best forward tandem in the league. Part of that is due to the fact that, at some point, Durant and I could be one of the best forward duos in the league, that’s how unimaginable his upside is. But Green is looking more and more like a Scottie Pippen for Durant, with his No. 55 ranking on the Player Rater for the season. He’s so unflashy and composed, it’s easy to overlook his 16.6 points, 6.6 boards, 2.0 assists, 1.4 3s, 1.0 steals and 0.5 blocks with decent percentages from the floor and the stripe. Aside from his maturity and basketball IQ, the improvement in his long-range shot from last season to this season is an indication that Green is a hard worker who’ll continue to improve in other aspects of the game. … Russell Westbrook went off for 34 points (including hitting 20 of 22 free throws!), six rebounds and eight assists, and it’s starting to look like there’s a chance he’ll be better than Derrick Rose, and even — gulp — potentially the best player in the 2008 draft. It’s rare that a point guard with virtually no ceiling comes along, and Westbrook fits that bill.”
A column on Scott Brooks from those who know him best – his alma mater, UC Irvine: “Check this Anteater Nation, one of UC Irvine’s very own is making a name for himself in the National Basketball Association. I know what you are thinking. UCI’s basketball team has never made the NCAA Tournament; it hasn’t even won its own conference tournament. How does it have a player making a name for himself in the NBA? The truth is, we don’t. We have a coach. Former Anteater Scott Brooks (’87) is currently the interim coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Brooks won the job after P.J. Carlesimo was fired after the team went 1-12 to begin the season in their new hometown. Brooks hasn’t completely changed the team since he took over, but he has done enough to possibly remove the “interim” from his coaching label.”
The Thunder youth movement is catching eyes: “No Virginia, the Oklahoma City Thunder are not very good this year. But listen to my main man Leo Tolstoy. Leo Tolstoy says, “The two most powerful warriors are patience and time.” Put those two warriors alongside the Thunder’s three young warriors and you got yourself something. You got yourself something special.”
TalkHoops.net’s power rankings: “For all our love of the Thunder and their “resurgence,” they played .500 for a month with a pretty easy schedule and are still 11-37. Let’s hold off on the Kevin Durant love until they at least get to 15 wins.”
Checking in on the 66ers, they dropped to 6-19: “Derrick Dial, Gary Forbes and Jeremy Kelly each had 16 points to lead the 66ers while Ryan Humphery added 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Dial came off the bench to connect on back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the third quarter to pull Tulsa within 68-62 and force an Austin timeout with 2:33 to play in the period. Austin, however, answered by scoring seven of the game’s next nine points to regain momentum.”
