Wednesday Bolts – 6.11.14
Anthony Slater on Westbrook: “But that game — and a handful of others during this eye-opening playoff run — will be remembered for what he did on the defensive end. Facing the elusive Tony Parker and no longer spelled by the Thabo Sefolosha safety net, Westbrook bowed up to the challenge. He limited Parker that night and contained him the final four games of the series, with San Antonio’s leading scorer only able to average 10.7 points. But the task of trailing Parker didn’t hinder him in other defensive areas. While slowing the head of the snake, Westbrook kept delivering blows to its body. He stayed active in the passing lanes, compiling 17 steals in the final four games, and acted as a weak-side deterrent, his mere presence jarring wary ballhandlers.”
Dan Devine on Derek Fisher, the coach: “New York enters the 2014 offseason a long, long way away from earning that kind of jewelry. But every long journey begins with a single step; with Fisher now in place, perhaps a Knicks organization that has long seemed to erase every step forward with two steps back can finally start putting one foot in front of the other.”
Bill Clinton giving Derek Fisher the thumbs up: “My good friend and fellow Arkansan @derekfisher & I now have one more thing in common: New York. Congratulations, D-Fish.”
Kevin Durant did the same: “So happy for my brother @derekfisher, I can speak for the whole state of Oklahoma when I say we will miss u and we love u. Good luck coach.”
Gregg Popovich on Fisher: “He’s crazy to do it. Coaching in this league is crazy. It’s not so crazy that we stop doing it. It’s a pretty volatile environment and you can’t control as many things as you’d like to control. There’s a lot of travel that probably gets old after a while. They’re bounced around quite a bit, so it can be a tough way to earn a living and tough on a family, that sort of thing. But it depends on the organization, too. That’s why I say Derek is in a good spot with Phil there to help make everything pretty sane.”
Igor Ibaka has evidently committed to play basketball at Oklahoma State next season.
Read Tom Haberstroh’s profile on Chris Bosh. It’s good.
