Wednesday Bolts – 4.1.09
HoopsWorld rookie rankings: “If Derrick Rose is the superstar point guard of this class, Westbrook is definitely right
behind him. To know that he’s already scoring so well and seeing the floor so well is one thing, but he’s actually one of the better rebounders of the group as well. If the Thunder ever get back on track and become a contender, he’ll be a big part of it.”
Tony Mejia (I always think of Tony Almeda – he even sort of looks like him) on tanking: “Winning for spite — that, I understand. May as well go to town and surpass Oklahoma City and Minnesota and fall below the seven percent range as far as their top-pick chances go. Winning for the sake of winning? Don’t see the benefit. Developing talent is one thing, especially since many of these teams in contention for worst record are among the NBA’s youngest, but as far as I’m concerned, rattling off a winning streak at this time of year is counter-productive. It means sacrificing your scratch-offs. Watching Sacramento celebrate an overtime victory over Shaquille O’Neal and his Suns, all I could wonder was whether the Kings will be as thrilled come May 19. Coupled with back-to-back Washington losses, the Kings temporarily forfeited 51 lottery combinations.”
Kevin Durant says the team would be better off with Blake Griffin: “I’m looking to do what’s best for my team, you know?” Durant said. “And if the best thing I can do to help us win is to use myself to get traded for a game-changer like Griffin, then I’m going to do it. I’m a team guy and I just want to do everything I can do to make us better.”
Words about Shaun Livingston: “I like the future he has,” Brooks said. “He’s going to help. He’s a prospect we obviously like. We want him to get better as much as he wants to get better.” General manager Sam Presti said having Livingston spend time just up the road in Tulsa helped the Thunder evaluate him, and he believes the 6-foot-7 point guard has done what he needs to do so far to make progress on his way back to the NBA. Presti expected Livingston to join Oklahoma City’s summer league team to help continue his development leading up to next season.”
Fanhouse on Livingston: “With Russell Westbrook, Thabo Sefolosha and (at least until he’s moved in the offseason) Earl Watson in front of him, there’s zero pressure on Livingston to carry a heavy load. Instead, the Thunder have a chance to take a cheap flier on a former lottery pick who’s still quite young. If he even comes close to resembling his previous form, he’ll be a solid backup, allowing the team to deal from a position of strength in the future.”
Hardwood Paroxysm: “This is essentially a no-pressure situation for Shaun. All he has to do to earn a consistent spot in the rotation is be better than Earl Watson. The team is young, and hardly faces a strict timeline. Westbrook is already manning the starting point guard gig, relieving any pressure that Livingston would have to rush into a role that he just isn’t ready for. He doesn’t have to take the lead, even if so many of his skills would typically lend themselves to just that. All Shaun has to do is be the mysterious guy that sits in the corner, the one that no one quite knows what to make of, until he gathers himself, and puts together an outburst that none of us are likely to forget. Or, y’know, just sit there.”
Ryan McNeill of Hoops Addict on OKC: “While everyone went into the season proclaiming Portland as the new face of the Western Conference it’s about time people started adding Oklahoma City into the mix. With a bright young general manager in Sam Presti coupled with a talented trio in Durant, Green and Westbrook and four first round draft picks over the next two seasons, it won’t come as a surprise if in the near future Portland and Oklahoma City are regularly meeting in Western Conference Finals to battle for a trip to the NBA Finals. In fact, if the trio of Durant, Green and Westbrook hold true to their vow of working hard this summer the teams success may come a lot quicker than most NBA fans expect.”
SI rookie rankings: “Westbrook has shot the ball poorly lately while his Thunder, after winning four of five games to open the month, have dropped seven of their past nine. But Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks isn’t ready to sound the alarms just yet. “All guys have shooting slumps,” Brooks told The Oklahoman. “He hasn’t shot the ball well but he’s done other things we like that he’s improving on. He’s making his teammates better. He’s passing the ball. He makes his free throws, rebounds and is playing good defense.”
How about this zinger at Mr. Simmons: “Q: Not only did we steal Seattle’s team, we stole their mascot, too. Get over it. — Jason, Oklahoma City, Okla. SG: (I’m making the face that Rocky made after Drago said, “If he dies, he dies.” And yes, I’m cradling the dead Sonics body right now.)”
San Antonio News-Express on last night’s game: “Very much in spite of themselves, and in spite of a 96-95 loss to Oklahoma City, the Spurs clinched a playoff berth Tuesday. There is no telling who the Spurs will play in the first round, but this much is for certain: They can be glad it won’t be the Oklahoma City Thunder. Propelled by a scorching first half — and after surviving the Spurs’ parting shot — the Thunder, last place in the Northwest Division, left the AT&T Center with their second win over the Spurs in 15 days.”
48 Minutes of Hell: “From the outset, I hungrily awaited the moment Popovich would sub either Bowen or Udoka for Finley and we could finally slow Durant’s potent attack. Clearly Pop did not feel the urgency I did; Finley played for 35 minutes while Udoka played only 14 (most of which came in the fourth quarter) and Bowen received a DNP-CD. If my notes are correct, only 5 of Durant’s points came while Udoka was covering him (as did at least 4 of his 7 misses). Udoka did an excellent job being physical with Durant; by bodying him aggressively, he severely limited Durant’s off-the-ball mobility. If Pop had chosen to counter Durant with a stopper instead of a scorer from the outset, this game would have gone quite differently.”
Dime: “The Spurs apparently have their own version of the Bobcats, and it’s the Thunder. The last two matchups have gone OKC’s way, including last night when Kevin Durant dropped 31 points to knock the Spurs out of the No. 2 seed in the West behind Denver … Everything about the last sequence was so un-Spurs-like. Trailing by one with about 15 seconds left, Tim Duncan (21 pts, 12 rebs) swatted Jeff Green, but nobody called timeout to set anything up. What followed was a sloppy, chaotic possession where the Spurs almost turned it over and wound up with Mike Finley tossing up a J at the buzzer that bricked.”
Fanhouse: “For the Thunder, this was their first win in San Antonio in almost five years. They have given the Spurs fits before, even winning back at the home stable earlier in the month. But this time there was a definite feeling that this was a glimpse of the future. It hasn’t arrived yet, but there’s a vision. The Spurs, struggling with Michael Finley at 7,000 years old and Kurt Thomas trying to get up and down in transition. And the Thunder, flawed, young, jittery and at times, absolutely explosive. Kevin Durant leads the way with 31. Russell Westbrook has more assists than Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Roger Mason combined. And Michael Finley bricks the game winner to let the Thunder escape after blowing a double digit lead.”
Durant has taken over the top spot in ESPN’s Most Improved watch: “It is natural for a player to improve from his rookie to sophomore season, but Durant has exceeded expectations. Should he not be at the top of this list — even though he is a much better player this season than a year ago — just because stardom was expected?”
Bust-a-Bucket draft redux: “With Earl Watson on the roster already, the Thunder could use a dynamic scorer in the mold of Mayo. I’m sure Oklahoma City would have been plenty happy if Westbrook was still on the board, but a Mayo-Durant combination could provide phenomenal scoring power. Any way you look at it, the Thunder have a bright future.”
Clips Nation making a case for Eric Gordon: “How does he stack up against the other west rooks? His competition overall this season has tended to be O.J. Mayo of the Grizzlies and Russell Westbrook of the Thunder. And if Gordon had a rough March, well those two had it even worse. Mayo averaged 14.7 points per game during the month, which is the lowest monthly average in his NBA career. And after improving his scoring each prior month, Westbrook dropped back to 15.3 points per game in March, his lowest monthly average since becoming the starter in Oklahoma. Mayo, Gordon and Westbrook have each won an ROM award this season. But a couple of new contenders have emerged in March – a couple of bigs.”
Ball Don’t Lie power rankings: “And then there are the Thunder, who had all the reason in the world to mope through a season, given the benefit of a loud crowd who were right chuffed just to see pro ball. Instead, the Thunder worked, it got better, it listened to its coach, and it genuinely appeared to like playing with the roster it was afforded. Yay, basketball. I mean, look at the kid in that picture. That ball is going in the bucket.”