Wednesday Bolts – 11.25.09 Substitute Edition
THANKS JG!
What is it they say about the company you keep? The Elias Sports Bureau has a pretty eye-opening statistic. “Kevin Durant scored 28 points on Tuesday, giving him 407 in 15 games this season. Only three other players in league history had as many as 400 points over the first 15 games of a season at age 21 or younger: LeBron James (twice), Shaquille O’Neal and Michael Jordan.”
Darnell with a nice recap of the game: “And while Durant certainly did his part, with easily identifiable playmaking consisting of pinpoint passes and big-time buckets, Sefolosha made his mark where he routinely does — on the less glamorous defensive end. The Thunder notched its fifth road win and first in Utah since 2007 because of one key defensive switch Brooks made to start the second half. The Thunder’s coach put Sefolosha on Jazz point guard Deron Williams, who had single-handedly kept the game from turning into a blowout late in the first half.”
In case you missed it, there’s a familiar face at #2 on Maurice Brooks‘ Defensive Player of the Year Race: “2. Thabo Sefolosha, Thunder: He is building a reputation as one of the top one-on-one defenders in the NBA. Go check the tapes to see how he slowed down Brandon Roy, Kevin Martin, Kobe and D-Wade. ”
Kevin Ollie will have an MRI today: “Kevin Ollie, who missed Tuesday’s game at Utah with a sore right knee, will undergo an MRI exam today. Ollie said his knee has been troublesome for about three weeks, but the pain became unbearable in the first quarter of Sunday’s road loss against the Los Angeles Lakers when he attempted to challenge a shot by guard Jordan Farmar.”
Chris Silva has seen this before: “There were times when four, even all five Thunder players touched the ball on a single possession. Seeing the Thunder move the ball tonight made me think back to a passing drill during practice in which it has to make 100 consecutive passes through an offensive set before a shot goes up. The passing looked fluid against the Jazz.”
Silva also noted just how multi-dimensional the Thunder’s offense was last night in Utah: “Minus a five-minute scoreless stretch in the fourth, the Thunder scored every which way. It scored in transition (20 points), off turnovers (25), from behind the arc (8-for-18) and at the free-throw line (22-for-25). Kevin Durant had 13 points in the first quarter, Kyle Weaver scored five of his seven points in the third and James Harden and Jeff Green each scored 10 in the second quarter. “
An interesting question from Darnell “One of the things that Sam and I talk about every day, we have a team that has to earn minutes,” Brooks said. Translation: the days of PT liberally being handed out ended with Russell Westbrook last season. No longer is the Thunder in the phase of speeding players’ development by awarding extended minutes without merit. Ibaka and Harden are clear cases. Neither figure to unseat Thomas/Collison or Sefolosha so long as those veterans are more consistent and better defensively, no matter how lofty the rookies’ ceilings. But that doesn’t mean the position battles won’t intensify as the season marches on.”
