Wednesday Bolts – 3.25.15

Tom Haberstroh of ESPN Insider: “But people (not you!) need to stop citing Westbrook’s field goal percentage when appraising Westbrook’s value. This is 2015 — why are we evaluating players like it’s 1955? Yeah, his field goal percentage looks bad (42.7 percent) but considering he gets to the line so much (12.9 free-throw attempts per game in his last 10 games), his overall shot efficiency — 53.7 true-shooting percentage — is on par with Tony Parker (54.3) and Zach Randolph (53.7) and Ryan Anderson (53.5). No one’s whining that they’re unhealthy scorers and Westbrook is creating offense at almost twice the level they are. Coaches would kill for that blend of shot creation and efficiency.”

Ben Golliver of SI.com: “Even if the Thunder simply finish 6-6, that will require a 9-3 close from the Pelicans (who own the tiebreaker thanks to a 3-1 head-to-head record) and/or at least an 8-3 closing from the Suns. Those hypothetical records are way more achievable than the ones mentioned above, especially if some of the West’s locked-in playoff teams rest their stars over the last week or two of the season, but it would still be asking both New Orleans and Phoenix to generate a level of momentum that neither team has displayed since the All-Star break. Long story short: The Thunder, thanks largely to Westbrook, are flying higher than their competition and they now must simply hang on, rather than run uphill, for the final three weeks. Perhaps something positive can be taken from this nightmare season after all, at least until they look ahead to see which team they will face in the first round of the playoffs.”

The Thunder front office ranked 13th.

Chad Ford of ESPN Insider on OKC’s low rank: “Speaking of Oklahoma City, I am surprised to see the Thunder out of the top 10. To me, they’re next in line after the Spurs and Warriors as a team that has terrific culture and finds great synergy between owner, GM and coach. Sam Presti remains one of the more innovative GMs in the league.”

Anthony Slater on Dion Waiters: “Entering Tuesday, Waiters was shooting 47.3 percent at the rim, far below the league average. It’s been a major problem. Listen to him tell it, though, and he’s found the solution. But the quirky Waiters has a track record of being a bit unpredictable on the court. So only time will tell. But his recent play is encouraging and, with the team’s injury situation what it is, Waiters’ improved efficiency is much needed.”

LeBron on Kevin Love taking Russ as MVP: “I don’t really get involved in that. I think the voters are going to decide who is the MVP. I think what Russ has been doing, his numbers have been pretty crazy keeping those guys afloat in the West in his play. Steph Curry can make a case, for sure, what he’s been doing — James Harden and myself, as well. So, Kevin has his own opinion of who he believes is the MVP. No one should fault him for that.”

Westbrook was ranked the No. 1 point guard by NBA personnel: “He might be an alien. I’ve never seen anyone like him before. His athleticism and antics are off the charts.”

Kevin Pelton of ESPN Insider on Westbrook the draft prospect: “I can admit I was pulling for the then-Sonics to take Bayless. Whoopsie. Bayless rated ahead of Westbrook in a proto-version of my draft projections and still does in the more advanced version I use now. Westbrook’s projection ranks just 20th overall from that draft. The funny thing is that Westbrook didn’t project to be a high-usage NBA player, and now he’s threatening the single-season record for usage. There were some good signs in terms of similarity, however. Westbrook scored as most similar to Rose, so it shouldn’t have been completely surprising that they put up similar NBA numbers before Rose’s ACL injury knocked him off course.”

Darnell Mayberry: “During this hot home stretch, the Thunder has knocked off teams like Phoenix, Washington, Golden State, New Orleans, the Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis, Dallas, Toronto, Chicago and Atlanta. The lone two losses in the past 22 home contests came on Anthony Davis’ miraculous buzzer-beating 3-pointer Feb. 6 and to the Clippers on March 11.”