Tuesday Bolts – 8.2.11
KD played at Rucker Park last night and completely ripped it apart, scoring 66 points. He tweeted after the game, “No lie, jus had one of the best times of my life at Rucker park..wow! I love NY…Harlem waddup.”
Jeff Green is thinking big next year: “That’s up to Doc (Rivers). I know they wanted me to be more aggressive, so that’s what I’ve been doing, is just working on my all-around game. Getting a little Paul Pierce in me. You know, taking a little characteristics from different players. Kobe, being one. Paul. Being with them for a couple of months now. Just a number of guys. LeBron. I’m just working on my game, trying to get better.”
Matt Moore of CBSSports.com on KD’s Rucker night: “Kind of interesting that Durant was nailing those pull-up threes from deep, since it was that kind of shot exactly that he shouldn’t have taken at the end of the Mavericks’ series instead of working for a higher possession shot. Guess you can’t blame the guy for trusting his range. It was one of the highest scoring performances in the history of the legendary court. Durant should never return, either. Best way for him to make that night stick in people’s minds is to never repeat it. Come in, drop 66, strut, leave in your car, never be seen there again. Legendary.”
From ESPN New York: “I’ve always wanted to play at Rucker Park all my life,” Durant told one of the league’s emcee’s after his DC Power team beat the Sean Bell All-Stars, which featured Chicago Bulls guard John Lucas III. Rucker Park, located across the street from where the Polo Grounds used to stand, is famed for pickup games and leagues that have counted Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Julius Erving, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant among its participants. Durant fell two points short of the EBC scoring record of 68, set by Steve Burtt Jr. in 2007. Joe (The Destroyer) Hammond is recognized as holding the park record with 74 points in a game.”
What if China isn’t an option?
Zach Lowe of SI ranked Nick Collison 98 in his top 100 players: “There’s also this: Collison is one of those rare well-rounded big men who does everything pretty well. He can defend every sort of play, from post-ups to pick-and-rolls, and on offense he scores off cuts, sets brutal screens, crashes the offensive glass and can stick an open 18-footer. He does all of this without screwing up, taking bad shots or turning the ball over. Re-watch a successful Thunder possession, and chances are pretty good you’ll see Collison doing some clever, unglamorous thing to grease the wheels.”
We’re doing the same thing at CBSSports.com and Kendrick Perkins checked in 91st: “Perkins returned from injury, was traded, helped the Thunder make the WCF, and still wasn’t the difference maker to put them over the top. Instead of trying to shut down Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, he wound up facing Dirk Nowitzki who worked him over in space, and Tyson Chandler, who uses his body and length to combat Perkins at his own game. He seemed to recover from his significant injury marginally well, but still didn’t look nearly 100 percent, which is to be expected. So at 26, which Perkins are we going to get? Pre-injury? Post-injury? Now outside of Boston’s plodding system, is he too much of an offensive liability? That’s what will determine if Perkins winds up earning his extension and proving the trade that brought him to OKC was Presti’s final masterpiece on the way to a championship.”
Labor talks didn’t go great yesterday. Ken Berger of CBSSports.com: “The NBA labor talks took on a poisonous tone Monday, with each side lobbing rhetoric about the other not being willing to negotiate. The coup de grace came shortly before 6 p.m., from commissioner David Stern. Standing in a midtown hotel lobby after a nearly three-hour farce of a bargaining session – the first between the two sides since owners imposed a lockout on July 1 – Stern fielded one last question in a terse and decidedly glum media session. After saying, “I don’t feel optimistic about the players’ willingness to engage in a serious way,” Stern was asked if he believes the players are bargaining in good faith, or not.”