Wednesday Bolts – 3.3.10

Help out a Thunder fan serving in Iraq. He has a ticket dilemma and is looking for help. He shares his season tickets with 2 other people (about 14 games each) and one of his friends can’t commit to next year. They are looking to find someone NEW to share the package. They have 2 lower level seats in Sec 110 that are $51 each seat per game. The season costs approximately $4284 for 42 home games but split 3 ways, it’s $1428 for 2 seats for 14 games. They are considering an upgrade to under the basket, but they won’t know about that until May. So if you’re interested in getting in on this, send me an email so I can hook you up with him.

Shaun Powell of NBA.com looks at if the Thunder are too young to win: “They can win 50 games, make the playoffs, enjoy first-round home-court advantage and suit up the NBA’s leading scorer and MVP and still have zero chance at winning a championship. Such is life for the Oklahoma City Thunder, who must settle for a nice little run, a few playoff crumbs and a pat on the head for a job well done, all because the basketball gods have already declared them too weak, as in years, to carry the trophy.”

Kelly Dwyer, Behind the Box Score: “Due to the slow night, I was able to see a goodly amount of this game, and Kevin Durant was as good as that 39 and 10-line would suggest. This goes along with a whole heap of shots that I was surprised to see rim out or fall short on. He was a few bounces and spins away from 45. The guy is an absolute offensive wunderkind, and it’s nice to see him do work alongside someone who deserves time alongside, like Russell Westbrook. RW worried us in the preseason and throughout the fall with iffy shot selection, but he remains the finest offensive rebounder the guard position knows these days (four on Tuesday, out of five total caroms), and he continually got to the basket in the win. 30 points and 13 assists for the second-year guard. A fabulous showing.”

Dime power rankings have OKC ninth: “Apparently Kevin Durant would be able score 30 against the Secret Service if President Obama were standing under the basket.”

The Pistons aren’t happy about KD’s Hyperizers: “I’m not going to name the brand of shoe it was, but it has been banned from our locker room and the guys aren’t allowed to wear it,” Kander said. “These shoes had taken most of the support out of the sides and it was a lighter shoe. Most basketball shoes weigh between 1.4 and 1.7 pounds. These shoes were weighing 0.8 pounds, which was way too light as far as side support. Since we’ve banned the shoe, knock on wood, we haven’t had any ankle sprains. Hopefully, the good Lord willing, we won’t have any more and we can finish the season healthy and see what these guys can really do.”

From Elias: “Kevin Durant scored 39 points and pulled down 10 rebounds while Russell Westbrook had 30 points and 13 assists in Oklahoma City’s win against Sacramento. It’s the first game in NBA history in which teammates — each age 21 or younger — each had a 30/10 game.”

Zach Harper of Cowbell Kingdom: “Kevin Durant. Wow. He’s good at his job. Really good. He’s so good. I feel like. I can’t type. In complete sentences. But I’ll give. It a try. Kevin Durant is just the quietest killer in the land. He’s a volume scorer that efficiently gets it done. He’s a high-powered machine that runs quieter than most hybrid cars. You blink and he has 10. You look away for a minute, check the box score and see he has 16. A minute goes by and you swear he’s only scored once but he has 22 points. He ended up with 39 points in this game and that’s after missing a few semi-clutch shots in a row. He could have easily pushed 45 against the Kings and it would have only felt like 20. He’s a ninja assassin in the night who swiftly kills his assignment without ever being noticed. He is IMPRESSIVE.”

Darnell Mayberry: “Russell Westbrook destroyed Beno Udrih. He blew by him, shot over him, passed around him and locked him up defensively. The Kings were forced to put Tyreke Evans on Westbrook in the second half, then Francisco Garcia. It was another stellar performance for the Thunder’s second-year point guard. That’s now eight double-doubles in his past 11 games.”

NBA.com’s Race to the MVP has KD second: “Into each MVP candidate’s life, some rain must fall: Durant’s streak of 25-point games ended at 29 when he shot 3-of-12 over the final three quarters at San Antonio on Wednesday, had a potentially pivotal attempt down the stretch blocked by Manu Ginobili and settled for 21 in the Thunder’s loss. The Race does not penalize for blips, though, not this deep into the season.”

ESPN’s Award Watch has Russell Westbrook in the Most Improved Discussion, KD second for MVP and Scott Brooks first for Coach of the Year. Life is good.

Durant and friends went to WWE Raw Monday at the Ford Center and he shares some thoughts: “And no lie, I was thinking about going onstage if the Undertaker came out. He showed up on the big screen, and you know when the Undertaker comes out everything goes black for a while. I was right by the ring so I was going to jump over the rail and jump in the ring and by the time they put the lights on I was going to be up there right beside the Undertaker. I was just going to do it spur of the moment! I was going to have fun with it. But he didn’t come out, so it never happened.”