Tuesday Bolts – 9.15.15

Eric Freeman of BDL: “It could very well be a question without an answer. One of the great wonders and pleasures of Westbrook’s season was that it appeared to explode the typical basketball hierarchy — it was hard to locate the individual within the team structure because he essentially superseded it. There is no guarantee that the everywhere-at-once Westbrook we saw last March can exist with a fully healthy squad, because a player may only be able to do all those things when no other star-level teammates are there to define the rest of the system. Projecting this new Westbrook may now not be a matter of finding out how a dominant player can adjust to equally or more talented teammates. Rather, the key may be to understand that he only expanded the possibilities of his game because the Thunder had no other choice but to let him explore his own limits.”

Zach Lowe of Grantland on LaMarcus Aldridge in San Antonio: “Aldridge is 30, and as he gets older, he’ll lose a bit of the speed that makes him an anti-small-ball weapon. Smart teams can already hurt Aldridge after switches by cycling him back into a pick-and-roll or nailing him with screens away from the ball. But everyone struggles with that stuff, and Aldridge becomes more alert once you burn him. Aldridge isn’t an All-Defense-level guy, but he’s fine.”

Russell Westbrook’s new clothing line is um.

Jason Concepcion of Grantland on NBA Live: “The score is 63-60, Thunder over the Warriors, 10 seconds left in the game, and Russell Westbrook looks totally unconcerned. In fact, he’s signing autographs. Which is fine because the game is paused. Westbrook, wearing a gray True Religion short-sleeve hoodie and matching pants, is at New York City’s Terminal 23, Jordan Brand’s cavernous white-walled indoor basketball run/event space located within a dirty-water hot dog’s throwing distance of Madison Square Garden. This particular event is EA Sports’s invite-only preview party for the latest version of its NBA Live series, NBA Live 16, which features Westbrook as its cover athlete.”

Talking more about the Thunder logo.

Redditors work on new Thunder logos.

Mark Woods for ESPN.com on Eurobasket: “Revenge would be sweet for an unbeaten Greek side that battered Belgium in the second half of their Round of 16 matchup. And despite Pau Gasol’s 30-point flurry to see off Poland Saturday, Spain still looks vulnerable if its backcourt cannot contribute additional offense in its bid to reach the final four. Even more so if Rudy Fernandez (back) is confined to the bench.”