Wednesday Bolts – 1.27.10
The Bulls are staying at the Skirvin. MWUAHAHAHA: “Especially some of these [scared] guys. Some of these veterans are [scared],” Hunter said. “Like Luol [Deng], I’m glad you told me. I’m going to tell him, ‘You know the hotel’s going to be haunted.’ He’ll be scared to death.” If the Bulls’ winning streak disappears on Wednesday night when they face the Oklahoma City Thunder, now you’ll know. Kevin Durant is scary … but not as scary as a ghost.”
Ziller looks at parity in the NBA and wonders if it’s lost: “But the NBA? Parity has been a struggle for decades, and nothing the league has done works. Despite the creation of the luxury tax system, the past decade hasn’t seen noticeable improvement in league parity. In fact, using the Noll-Scully metric, NBA parity has been as bad over the last two seasons than at any point in the last two decades.”
CBS Sportsline ranks OKC ninth: “Team grade: A. Hard to believe these used to be the SuperSonics. … Aced the midterm: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Next generation of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups. … Flunked the first half: Nenad Krstic. Just needs to rebound, can’t even do that.”
Dime power rankings: “Some say Kevin Durant was fouled on his last-second drive against the Cavs that LeBron blocked to seal Cleveland’s win. Others say it was just another sign that KD needs to get stronger, as he shouldn’t have been fading away from the rim in the first place.”
NBA.com has OKC 11th: “After four straight thrillers, OKC is 4-7 in games determined by three points or less, and any one of several key possessions is keeping them out of playoff position. They’re just 12-9 at the Ford Center, but start a four-game homestand Wednesday.”
Chad Ford looks at how John Wall would fit with every lottery team: “If the Thunder manage to put Wall with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook, Seattle fans may never recover. While some may say that Westbrook and Wall are too similar, I think they could coexist. Westbrook is more a scoring guard than a pure point guard, and Wall can be spectacular just running the show.”
Durant fifth for MVP in ESPN’s Award Watch and Scott Brooks is second for Coach of the Year: “Clearly his team has surpassed expectations, but in order for Oklahoma City to take the next step, it needs to start winning the close games. The Thunder’s past four losses have been by two points or fewer.”
Chris Broussard writes that the CBA negotiations might get ugly. Honestly, I don’t even want to think about it. It scares me to death. We just got a team, we clearly love it and we’re totally into it right now. If the is some kind of labor dispute and we lose games… shiver.
Vince Thomas of NBA.com makes All-Star picks: “And here’s a prediction: At the start of the 2010-2011 season, following, hopefully, some lessons learned in his first-ever playoff series, KD will take his place with Bron, Kobe, CP, D-Wade and Melo as one of the ‘elite of the elite.'”