Wednesday Bolts – 1.16.13
KD for MIP and MVP? Justin Kubatko of ESPN Insider says maybe: “Durant’s inclusion might be a surprise, as we usually don’t think about established stars when discussing the MIP award. However, he has taken yet another step forward with his play so far this season. Durant ranks second in the league with a .652 true shooting percentage, a mark that is propped up by career highs in both field goal percentage (52.4) and free throw percentage (90.2). He is seeking to join Charles Barkley (three times), Adrian Dantley, Kevin McHale and Amar’e Stoudemire as the only players in NBA history to average 25 or more points per game with a true shooting percentage of .650 or higher. Durant has improved in other areas, as well, as he is also on pace for career bests in assist percentage, steal percentage and block percentage.”
D.J. Foster of PBT on KD and the 180: “Durant is obviously a great shooter, but he hasn’t so much as sniffed the 180 club in his career. Despite that beautiful jumper, he has never shot over 50 percent from the field, and he’s only eclipsed 40 percent 3-point shooting and 90 percent free throw shooting once, and in different seasons at that. If you were to guess which players were most likely to join the club going into this year, Stephen Curry, Steve Nash or Jose Calderon would have been much better choices given their past performances. With all that said, it’s pretty easy to forget that Durant is only 24-years-old. He’s still perfecting his shot and finding ways to free himself up for better looks, which is terrifying for the rest of the league, but great for his numbers.”
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider projecting future All-Stars: “Let’s just put it like this: If anyone other than Durant had been forecast for this slot, we’d have had to scrap our system and start over. At the 3, no one is close in the West, but Batum projects to be awfully good.”
Dan Feldman of Piston Powered in a 5-on-5 on KD: “Best player in the Western Conference — question mark. Durant is having the type of season that usually belongs to the league’s best player, but so is Chris Paul. I’m still partial to LeBron for MVP, but if there were a conference MVP as in baseball, Durant-Paul would be one of the all-time great races.”
An open letter from the guys of Sonicsgate: “Regardless of how you spin the situation, the fans are not to blame for this mess. Sonics fans are not the enemies of Kings fans, just as basketball fanatics who wanted an NBA team in Oklahoma City are not and have never been the enemy of Sonics fans or the Sonicsgate movement. We’ve never blamed the OKC fans or players for anything, and we’ve only criticized the people who had the power to solve the problem. Most Sonics fans will always root against the Thunder and their lying owners, but we also boycott Howard Schultz’s coffee stores, criticize David Stern’s handling of the situation, and pressure the local politicians who let this community asset slip through their fingers. Our team’s relocation was a perfect storm of ineptitude, corruption, deception, and greed in which virtually anyone in a position of power shared the blame.”
KD got in trouble by his grandma.
Berry Tramel on lineups: “But forget the individuals. Focus on the lineups. If we count Perry Jones as a big man, which is how the Thunder seems to play him, then Brooks used five small-ball lineups, with Durant as the second big man. It’s been clear for some time that the small lineup is OKC’s best against Miami. But the small lineup also seems to be the Thunder’s best against most any team. And that was never more apparent than against Phoenix. Brooks’ five small lineups played a combined 22:32 and outscored the Suns 56-41. That’s impressive, but here’s what’s most impressive. The Thunder’s most dominating stretches came with a small lineup void of OKC’s best big men.”
Tom Ziller of SB Nation on relocation: “So in the long view, there’s just no reason to relocate the Sacramento Kings. It serves the NBA no purpose. (There’s an argument that because a Sacramento team is a likely revenue sharing recipient and a Seattle team is a likely payer or at least a non-recipient, moving the Kings to Seattle helps all owners. But that margin is going to be absurdly small when put in the perspective of a $4 billion business.) That’s why it’s imperative that the NBA league office produce or support viable alternatives to relocation (such as starting up expansion talks), and that owners support one of those alternatives. Market cannibalization to re-affirm owners’ rights that no one has ever questioned is short-sighted and harmful to the league.”
