Wednesday Bolts – 3.9.16

Buck Harvey of the Express-News: “But the Spurs not only saw discipline in Donovan’s

teams at the University of Florida, they also saw how he achieved that. Donovan did so with intellect and people skills; with humility and control; with principles and a curious mind. Add to that his record at Florida, with two national championships, and Donovan would have been on the Spurs’ short list had Popovich retired. They were not alone in their admiration of Donovan, of course. Billy the Kid has long been seen as a coaching force. But it’s no coincidence that the one who did hire Donovan away from Florida, Sam Presti, grew up in the Spurs organization with the same outlook.”

Kevin Durant says there’s no ultimatum: “To me, it doesn’t [make sense],” Durant said of placing an ultimatum on the team. “You put too much pressure on everybody if you say something like that. Especially my teammates and the organization. They don’t deserve that. So I never said that, I never thought that. Like I said, I can’t control rumors from people who sit behind their desk every day and think of stuff to say. I’m worrying about coming out here every day and staying healthy and trying to battle against the best players in the world while rumors are getting written up about whatever, and I have no control over it. That’s their job, and my job is to play ball. So I never said that.”

Horrible news about Dion Waiters’ little brother, who was one of six people murdered in Philadelphia yesterday.

Chris Broussard of ESPN.com has KD fourth in player power rankings: “KD has been getting buckets, boards and even dimes galore, but his ball security has become shakier than a Beyonce video. He averaged nearly seven turnovers last week, and in the Thunder’s gut-wrenching loss to Golden State, he coughed the ball up four times in the decisive fourth quarter. That came a day after he gave it away three times in the fourth, which helped the Clippers rally from a 22-point deficit to upset OKC. It looks like he’s trying to do too much.”

Go ahead and rule out Durant to the Knicks?

Erik Horne: “During the Clippers’ 21-4 run to take the lead, the Thunder turned the ball over four times: Twice on lost balls by Durant, once each on Durant and Westbrook stepping out of bounds. Each of those turnovers led to points (nine). Why was the loss important? If the Thunder had won, it would have a 2-0 lead in the season series and have a shot at clinching the season series Wednesday night.”