Wednesday Bolts – 2.9.11

Kelly Dwyer of BDL on the 3-point contest: “With that said, I say it’s Durant’s contest to lose. Because of his range and athleticism, he’s the perfect candidate for an exhibition like this. There are other shooters who I’d want spotting up behind the 3-point arc, wide open, with the game on the line, but for a competition where you have to fire off 25 shots in a limited amount of time, from sideline to sideline? My money’s on Durant.”

Henry Abbott of TrueHoop on the contest: “Know who shoots the most 3s in the NBA this year? Jason Richardson, who has made 40 percent of his 305 3-pointers. Somewhere he’s tossing his tear-streaked stat sheet into a mud puddle and screaming “Kevin Durant?” Durant shot far less, and didn’t hit at nearly the same rate.

Shoals and Eric Freeman of FanHouse draft the league’s best scorers and KD is No. 1: “EF: Name one way he can’t score. The man can do it all. BS: He really can. He can touch the sky. I think what impresses me most about Durant is that not only can he score without you realizing it — he can score without the defender catching wind of what’s happened, either. Look at how often Durant gets the ball late in the shot clock, or way up at the top of the key, and then in an instant, he’s engineered a move, or launched off a shot, that’s just what the doctored ordered. It’s like what Mogwai said: something, the best is just the best.

Ethan Jaynes of Stacheketball giving it up to KD’s mom: “Somehow, even though Kevin Durant grew up during all of that, he has small town values. Was he born in French Lick Indiana? No, he was born in Washington DC. Kevin Durant was born in DC and had every excuse to be like every other super star, so why is he different? He was a basketball prodigy that was told from a very young age that he was more than the game, and he had every reason to believe it. With everyone pumping him up, and with Kevin being an impressionable young man, how did he come through it all to be different? Wanda Pratt.”

Reggie Miller, sticking up for small markets.

Who would you rather have as a teammate, LeBron or KD? 58 percent picked LeBron.

Ben Golliver on KD in the 3-point contest: “I, for one, am glad that Kevin Durant made the three-point contest even if he is the only one of the contestants to shoot below league-average from deep.  Given his competitive desire, overall talent level and ability to rise to the occasion, Durant not only makes a great candidate, he serves as an excellent foil for the field. He gets to take on a Larry Bird role here, the intimidating all-NBA gunner who the specialists can try to take down. I love it. What better script is there for a three-point contest?”

Here’s the thing about KD’s low percentage, which everyone seems to be harping on. It’s the kind of  3-pointers he takes. They’re way different  than James Jones or Daniel Gibson’s looks. KD  doesn’t have the luxury of just  hovering around the perimeter waiting  for a kickout. Almost every 3 KD  takes is contested or he’s curling off a screen. He’s not a spot-up shooter, but he is in fact, a very good shooter.

This Melo to LA talk is complete bull, but if it’s real, does it open the door for a Jeff Green for Nene trade?

Darnell Mayberry on last night’s game: “A few people asked me after the game (and some during when the outcome looked in doubt) whether this could be classified as a bad loss. I say yes. But only on the surface. The Grizzlies were shorthanded. They were on the second night of a back-to-back. And, quite frankly, they’re mediocre. The Thunder, meanwhile, had its full complement of players, had not laced them up since Saturday and is a top four team in the West. For all those reasons, this was a bad loss. But the Grizzlies played terrific basketball in the second half and earned this win. It’s not like the Thunder lost to a team going through the motions.”