Comments on: Thursday Bolts – 4.9.09

By: okcnba

okcnba — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:34:35 +0000

@MartzMimic I am surprised the WNBA has now been mentioned. Isn't this there last season?

By: Nix

Nix — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:26:15 +0000

@Royce
agreed…

but enough of this…

By: Royce

Royce — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:23:24 +0000

@MartzMimic I saw that. That's pretty surprising. The most dominant (stastically) player in women's college basketball history dropping to seventh. But she looked like she regressed through her career. I don't think she was as good as a senior as she was as a freshman.

By: MartzMimic

MartzMimic — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:02:55 +0000

OK, we’ve talked about Blake for obvious reasons. I think even Sam Bradford’s name has made it into this column once or twice. Is anyone else surprised that Courtney Paris fell to 7th in the WNBA draft?

By: Nix

Nix — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:44:55 +0000

actually character wise you’d be surprised…

I hate playing the ‘I saw him in highschool card’…but…I did…

and he really is outstanding…Griffin was mugged a million times this season and he got up and walked away each time…He was literally body slammed by a guy and he walked off.

Now of course Duncan is on a very high level compared to others…but Griffin is a solid guy…plus…I wouldn’t want him to be as boring as Duncan…

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:31:38 +0000

@Bernard
Comparing any rookie to one of the best of all time (Tim Duncan) may be a little far, but I don’t Boozer does him justice. Boozer isn’t very athletic, can’t defend, has no outside shot, and benefits from playing on a team without another true big (Millsap is his backup and Okur is a jump-shooter). Boozer is one of those guys that’s really good, but not elite like he thinks he is. I think Griffin could be elite.

They also have more similar games. Griffin and TD are lethal inside 12 feet, but can keep defenses honest further out if necessary. Both are terrific rebounders that use both their physical skills and smarts to get in position. Both have great hands and utilize a lot of small motions to get just the tiny sliver of an opening that they want.

By: Bernard

Bernard — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 19:04:36 +0000

comparing Griffin to Tim Duncan is way too far.
I think he is going to be a carlos boozer, in terms of playing style, not personal character.

By: Keith

Keith — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:57:12 +0000

@Nix
Obviously you work on getting a solid starting 5 before you worry about role players. Durant plays close to 40 a night. Everyone starting won’t be playing that much, but put it in perspective that backups play only about 25% the amount of the time that the starters play, and it’s not contest. Even more important is in the playoffs, when the bench gets shortened and starter minutes go up.

I think Griffin would be a perfect 5 for this team. He’s unselfish, can bang and score in the low post, and will not have to worry about fouls, thus allowing him to play a lot harder on the defensive end. I’d love to still pick up a primarily defensive center as a backup, but Griffin could be our Tim Duncan (who is a center, despite what he calls himself).

By: Nix

Nix — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:53:52 +0000

anyone else see the NBA home page on ESPN? Video interview of KD, Jeff and RW…Exposure friends

By: Nix

Nix — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:25:43 +0000

Wouldn’t this be a lovely problem to offically have?

Realistically the trade value for Thabo has gone up big time…

(Most likely) The trade value for Weaver, Livingston, Kristic and White are up as well…in some cases that value is up real big.

I’m certainly not saying to trade them…but it is definitely an option if we’re looking to get a true defensive 5 (in the whole Griffin at 4 scheme).

The question is do you sure up your starting 5 first or do you keep the role players you’ve accumulated?