Wednesday Bolts – 12.4.13
David Thorpe of ESPN Insider: “It’s not a complete shock that Adams is showing this potential, as he was a late lottery pick, but it has been a pleasant surprise that he is affecting games already. He is only 20 years old (and will be for the entire season), meaning his future is bright if he can stick to what he is doing now. For the Thunder to be able to draft a likely starter late in the lottery in this class is also a surprise. The best part is the fit for Adams in OKC, considering the Thunder’s personalities and stars. Adams is the genuine article; tough, strong and only looking to do his job, he’s exactly what the Thunder needed.”
Anthony Slater: “Down the stretch, Scott Brooks went with my favorite of his lineups: Russell Westbrook – Reggie Jackson – Jeremy Lamb – Kevin Durant – Serge Ibaka. What a dynamic and versatile group. All five are 25 or younger. All five have elite athleticism. All five can be disruptive on defense. And all five bring something different and useful to the table offensively. They cause so many matchup problems and can play so many styles. I wouldn’t be surprised if that becomes Brooks’ common go-to closing five by playoff time.”
Stephen A. Smith has Russell Westbrook on the brain.
Bradford Doolittle of ESPN Insider with a trade for OKC: “I love Hawes for the Thunder. He’s an average post defender and shot-blocker who wouldn’t have to concern himself too much with rim protection with Serge Ibaka playing beside him. His rebound rate is more than 5 percent better than Perkins’ this season, and his shot-block rate is more than twice as high. Plus, Hawes has legit 3-point range: He’s hit 46 percent from deep so far this season for Philly. Moreover, he addresses both of Oklahoma City’s primary issues. Hawes also has a better post game than Perkins, as in he actually has one, and has an expiring contract. This deal would also give Oklahoma City enough breathing room under the cap to add a minimum-salaried veteran later in the season.”
Tom Ziller of SB Nation on the Hack-A-Whoever: “The loophole is that some players are really, really bad at shooting free throws, so by automatically putting them on the line, you’re decreasing the opponents’ expected output. It’s a totally legal but unfortunate leverage of rules which are supposed to discourage fouls. But the league could end the practice in one fell swoop by giving teams in the bonus the option of free throws or an inbounds play on non-shooting fouls. In other words, make the bonus optional.”
Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider trying to figure why the East is so bad: “We can look at this objectively rather than looking purely at All-Star appearances. According to research presented in the 2012-13 Basketball Prospectus, international players contributed 101.6 wins over replacement player to Western Conference teams in the 2011-12 season. How about out East? Just 29 WARP. The gap widens over time. In the past decade, we’ve seen 949.4 wins contributed by international players to the West compared to just 267.1 WARP from the East. The trend continues to this day. The West has Nowitzki, and the East has Andrea Bargnani. Furthermore, if you look around the league at the teams that have embraced analytics early and dedicated vast resources into exploiting the data advantage, most of them came from the West. For example, in 2011-12, five of the mere six subscribers to SportVU data were Western Conference teams (Boston being the only Eastern team to take the plunge). The Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs have been leaders in the analytical movement while the East appears to be just catching up.”
