Tuesday Bolts – 5.3.11
Ronald Tillery of the Commercial Appeal writes that Memphis has other options other than Z-Bo: “The Griz spent the second half of the regular season proving they are hardly a one-hit wonder. And their Plan B when the opponent crowds Randolph has been increasingly effective in the playoffs. Just ask the San Antonio Spurs, who sent two and three players at Randolph only to get stung by the Grizzlies’ other weapons in the first round. Memphis is confident it can also punish Oklahoma City for double-teaming because Randolph is a willing passer and his supporting cast is conditioned to attack.”
Berry Tramel on if Game 2 is must-win: “But how about teams that go up 2-0 by winning twice on the road? That gives a team a 2-0 lead with three home games left, if needed. Seems like that would be an even more sure shot for the team in front. Not so. In NBA history, 14 teams have won on the road the first two games of a seven-game series. Eleven have gone on to win the series. That’s a 78.6 percent rate.”
KD on Osama bin Laden: “I’m not big on rejoicing because we killed the enemy,” Durant said. “Jesus wouldn’t do that. …It’s big for our country. It’s someone they were looking for a long time. But I’m not into rejoicing over a killed enemy.”
Chris Mannix of SI: “But as much as Oklahoma City tries to downplay the outcome of this season — “learning experience” is a phrase tossed around often by Thunder personnel — this team is built to win. Kevin Durant is an elite scorer, James Harden was one of the best sixth men in the league in the second half of the season and the addition of Kendrick Perkins has given Oklahoma City a formidable front line. The Thunder are young, sure. But in a wide-open Western Conference, there is little reason to think that they can’t make a deep run. How deep could depend on Westbrook. He’s the wildest of wild cards, a player capable of lifting the Thunder out of a cold shooting stretch or burying them with sloppy play. Another game like Game 1 and the Thunder could find themselves in a nearly insurmountable 2-0 hole. But if Westbrook can manage the game better and use his superior skills to create more opportunities for his teammates, Oklahoma City can get right back in this series.”
Jenni Carlson: “Who knows why he is pressing so hard? Maybe he feels the stress of being an emerging star in this league. Maybe he wants to prove himself worthy of his All-Star nod. Maybe he hopes to lock up a max contract in this summer’s negotiations. Maybe he’s trying to be the man on this team. Only Westbrook knows the answer, but everyone sees the result. He is trying to score. He is trying to attack. He is trying to do too much. Westbrook needs to make an adjustment. If he would just relax and let the game come to him in Game 2 and every other playoff game from here on out, he’d be fine. Actually, he’d be better than fine. He’d be great. So would the Thunder.”
Just a note: Three out of the four teams lost Game 1 on their home floor in the second round. Not everyone is panicking in L.A. and Chicago.
Sam Amick of SI.com: “Oklahoma City needs Perkins to re-establish himself inside if it intends to bounce back against a Memphis team that isn’t playing like an eighth seed. “I take full accountability of this game,” Perkins told reporters after the Thunder’s first home loss of the postseason. “I feel like I let us down.” Perkins is one of the few difference-makers in this league whose worth can’t be gauged by a box score. There is, after all, no mainstream statistic for successful screens, altered shots, perfectly executed defensive rotations or tone-setting stares. As a result, opposing coaches and players routinely downplay his impact as some form of basketball mythology.”
Russell Westbrook and the Patience Index.
Greg Bishop for the New York Times Off the Dribble blog: “Lo argues that if more fans had been more vocal, the Sonics would not have left. His reasoning: the team would never have traded Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, its two best players. Attendance would not have dipped. The league would not have allowed Bennett to move the franchise. A local buyer would have been found. I’m not so sure. But I agreed with Lo when he said the thought of the Thunder’s winning an N.B.A. title made him nauseous. “I’d be so mad,” he said. So would an entire region. Because in this series, whether the Thunder wins, or the Grizzlies win, basketball fans in the Pacific Northwest will lose.”
Sam Smith of Bulls.com writing something dumb: “But in those first four games, Westbrook’s so called “usage” was 35.7 percent to 27.8 percent for Durant, perhaps the most effortless shooter in the game with constant mismatches. Yes, there it was again Sunday with Westbrook taking more shots than Durant and then lobbying him balls in a an apparent funk when he wasn’t. I’m not close to that team, but it seems to define Pat Riley’s famous Disease of Me. Westbrook is an All Star now, a member of the World Championship team. He plays like a guy who wants to be “the man,’ the guy with his own team. He’s looking like a latter day Stephon Marbury, and not just because of Sunday’s loss. Westbrook plays often like a pouty Kobe was with Shaq, though the Lakers did win.”
