Tuesday Bolts – 5.5.15
R.J. Walsh of NumberFire: “The Oklahoma City Thunder just missed out on the playoffs last season due to injuries to Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and others. Another big reason was due to the team’s Defensive Rating of 105.5, which ranked 16th in the league. Brooks’ Thunder teams ranked outside the top 10 in Defensive Rating in three of his six seasons at the helm. The team’s best defensive year was during the 2012-13 season, when the Thunder finished the year 4th in the league in Defensive Rating, better than 86.67% of other NBA teams. Donovan, on the other hand, has been an exceptional defensive coach the last few seasons. The Gators ranked second out of nearly 350 teams in the nation in Defensive Rating three years ago and 10th two years ago. Even in a down year for the program last season, Florida registered the 40th best Defensive Rating in the nation, higher than 88.6% of other teams.”
Anthony Slater on Billy Donovan’s farewell press conference: “On Monday afternoon, hours after the press conference, he flew back to Oklahoma City for good. He’s expected to be around the Thunder facility all week, expressing an interest in spending time with a rehabbing Kevin Durant to get to know his superstar. In the coming days, Donovan is also expected to gather with general manager Sam Presti and the rest of OKC’s front office and start poring over assistant coaching candidates. But before handling the duties of his next job, Donovan had one final morning at his last. And it was an emotional one.”
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports on Tom Thibodeau: “Yes, the Bulls have a real good shot now. And the best chance that they’ll ever have to win a title here would be with Thibodeau – as terrific of a coach as Iowa State’s Fred Hoiberg, management’s choice to ultimately be the replacement. The Orlando Magic are waiting to watch what happens at season’s end, league sources said, waiting to see how the team and coach dissolve the remaining two years on his contract and separate.”
Don’t worry: Billy Donovan isn’t changing his mind this time around.
Here’s Steph Curry’s speech if you want to watch it.
Gregg Popovich on Hack-Shaq is great: “There will be a lot of discussion about the fouling, as there should be. But principle-wise, I fee’ really strongly that it’s a tactic that can be used. If someone can’t shoot free throws, that’s their problem. As I’ve said before, if we’re not allowed to do something to take advantage of a team’s weakness, a trade should be made before each game. ‘We won’t foul your guy, but you promise not to block any of our shots.’ Or, ‘We won’t foul your guy, and you allow us to shoot all uncontested shots.’ So we’d have to make a trade. On an intellectual or principle basis, I think you’re on high ground. Now, visual-wise, it’s awful. It couldn’t be worse. I tend to side on the principle side where it’s basketball, and if we have a guy who can’t shoot and it’s an important part of the game, I should probably get him off the court. We’ll see how it comes out. I’m sure the way it looks will be discussed very seriously by the league.”