Wednesday Bolts – 10.12.11
Via HoopsHype, Thabo has signed to play with Turkish club Fenerbahce.
Cool story from a fan getting behind the scenes at the Goodman-Drew rematch: “More players shuffled in, John Wall signed my ticket, Baron Davis signed Adam’s shirt but still no Durant. Finally he emerged from the locker room and began shooting around and showing love to all his boys playing in the game. This might be my opportunity. I walked to the corner of the court (where baseline and sideline meet) and walked straight to mid-court (right in front of the scorer’s table on the other side of the court) and waited til he was done talking to Mike Beasley….”Kevin…” I politely yelled. He heard me, turned towards me…hesitated for a second and then walked right to me. I handed him the sharpie and the jersey off my back. Without hesitating a second longer he signed right on the 3 underneath the D U R A N T.”
Ken Berger of CBSSports.com with a seriously tremendous column: “Having fallen once already for the banana in the tailpipe, here’s what I fear happens next: At some point in the next two weeks, a compromise on system issues appears to be “within reach.” This would not be out of the realm of possibility, as sources involved in the negotiations told CBSSports.com that a compromise had been more than feasible Monday night on the various system rules, but neither side was willing to make the deal that was there to be made. At that point, we’re supposed to believe that the framework of a new CBA is all but in place, right? The money part had been solved weeks ago, and now they’ve solved the system part. Go down to the temp agency, hire all the I-dotters and T-crossers you can find, get the deal written up, and get the players to training camp. Right?”
10 great games we’re missing. The Thunder’s on there three times.
Darnell Mayberry on Chesapeake Arena’s improvements: “The cylinder that greets patrons as they walk through the doors of the northeast entrance is one of several video boards and high-end television sets that have been added. At the northwest entrance, another video board, this one in the shape of a shield, hangs on the wall. Adjacent to it is an enormous projection screen that sits above the escalator leading to the club level. Throughout the 100 level, 20 wedge-shaped televisions have been added along the concourse. Like every other new television and video board, they’re capable of playing live footage from games or concerts as well as advertising.”
Zach Lowe of SI on who’s being forgotten: “That leaves one group unaccounted for: players on rookie deals. These guys fall squarely in between the two opposing ways the league appears to be handling superstars and non-star veterans. On the one hand, if the league’s goal is to reduce the length of a team’s commitment to a player, thus putting more guys on the market, why not go further and cut the length of a rookie contract? Under the old agreement, first-round picks were guaranteed money in each of their first two seasons, and their teams had control over the next two — the third and fourth seasons — via team options at set amounts.”
J.A. Adande on who’s to blame: “It’s the owners’ fault. They were willing to use a lockout instead of good-faith bargaining to get what they wanted, and here we are. The players aren’t asking for a dollar more, they only want to give back less than what the owners are demanding.”
