Wednesday Bolts – 11.18.09
A little announcement: In production is a series of wildly awesome Daily Thunder T-Shirts or as my wife likes to
say, “DT-Shirts.” It’s a collaboration project between mwah and Tree and Leaf Clothing, who does awesome work. I’m just kind of putting this out there to hopefully get people excited and when they drop in the near future, you feel comfortable about laying your cash money on the table for one. So far, we’ve got five or six designs and are probably doing more. It’s all very exciting.
Livingston’s surgery a success: “Thunder guard Shaun Livingston underwent a successful minor arthroscopic procedure today to resolve swelling in his left knee. During the procedure, which was performed by Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Bill Clancy, a loose anchor was removed from Livingston’s left knee. The anchor was originally placed during a previous surgery. “Shaun Livingston had successful minor arthroscopic surgery on his left knee,” said Dr. James Andrews. “His knee surfaces and previously repaired ligaments look excellent. He should be back to 100% in a few weeks.” It is estimated that Livingston will be out 3-4 weeks.”
Darnell Mayberry: “Good teams win on the road, and Tuesday’s win proves the Thunder is blossoming into a good team. This 6-5 start is no fluke. Oklahoma City has a better road record than it does at home (2-3). Granted, Miami is far from the toughest place to win in the league. Heat officials were so desperate for fans that two entire sections in the upper deck were allowed to move down to the lower bowl. But the Thunder has also gone into Detroit, San Antonio and Los Angeles and won, holding off talented Pistons, Spurs and Clippers teams in the fourth quarter with solid late-game execution and exceptional defense.”
Hot Hot Hoops: “A quick take on Oklahoma City. I think they’re going to become what everyone’s been waiting on from the Portland Trailblazers. They’re really young and growing around each other. And how symbolic that it will be Kevin Durant and the Thunder flying up the Western Conference as Greg Oden and the Trailblazers have another year of almost. Do
notsleep on Oklahoma City.”
Miami Herald: “Through nine games this season, the Heat found a way to become one of the league’s biggest surprises thanks to consistent defense, a stunning superstar and a more productive supporting cast. No one ever called the Heat physically intimidating, however. The Oklahoma City Thunder can be exactly that. With 6-11 Kevin Durant leading a long, athletic and talented group, the Thunder dismantled the Heat 100-87 on Tuesday in a relatively empty AmericanAirlines Arena.”
The Orlando Sentinal is asking who the best player is under 23. Kevin Durant of course is running away with it.
ESPN’s award watch came out yesterday. Now I know it’s early, but no Scott Brooks for Coach of the Year? This team was 1-10 at this point last year. And I didn’t expect Thabo to get any love for Defensive Player of the Year, but I really hope he starts getting more and more attention. He’s earning it.
John Hollinger’s power rankings have OKC at eight. They are purely statistical and update automatically throughout the year.
A roundtable discussion on SI.com asking if the Nets, Wolves, Knicks or Grizzlies could be one of the worst ever. Let me tell you, it’s nice to not be in that discussion.
From Elias: “Kevin Durant scored 32 points to lead the Thunder to a victory over the Heat. Durant has now scored 25 or more points in each of his last eight games. That is the longest current streak in the league and the longest such streak of Durant’s career. Over the last 20 years, only one other member of the Seattle/Oklahoma City franchise has scored 25 or more points in eight consecutive games: Ray Allen (10 straight in 2007).”
