Thunder hire two assistant coaches
Maurice Cheeks and Rex Kalamian have been hired as an assistant coaches by the Thunder. It was previously reported that Dale Osbourne, a former assistant with the Utah Flash, has taken a job with Oklahoma City. But it appears Osbourne will join the Tulsa 66ers, the D-League affiliate of the Thunder, in some capacity.
Cheeks most recently was the head coach of the 76ers (2005-2008) and has been the head man with Portland as well. He was also a 15-year veteran in the NBA playing point guard and was actually teammates with Scott Brooks at one point. I must say that I’m thrilled with Cheeks coming on staff. He’s a great person and a great basketball mind. Not to mention he was named NBA All-Defense five times and was a four-time All-Star. The Thunder’s got some players that can certainly benefit from Cheeks’ defensive wisdom.
Kalamian was an assistant with Brooks in Denver and was most recently an assistant in Sacramento. He’s spent time in Minnesota, Los Angeles (Clippers) and also two seasons in Philly before Cheeks was the head coach there. I must say I don’t know much about him. He “specializes” in player development, which is right up the Thunder’s alley.
their brains Saturday at the 18th annual Hoops for Peace Anti-Violence Youth Summit in Seat Pleasant. The event, held at the Seat Pleasant Activity Center, was a partnership between the Community Kinship Coalition Inc., a nonprofit centered on community outreach, and NBA player Kevin Durant, who frequented the center as a teenager. Today Durant plays for the Oklahoma City Thunder.”
one of the best basketball minds in the country and we have total confidence in him that he’s putting the pieces together and developing the team,” said Dan Mahoney, Vice President of Community Relations and Corporate Communications, who also spoke to the Edmond Rotary Club Wednesday afternoon.”
team. Kevin Durant is going to have one of those seasons that will be shake-your-head good. I consider him a superstar already, but he gained a type of confidence last season that is essential for him to truly put himself at a level above the rest of the league. He’ll also have more help with the drafting of James Harden, a jack-of-all-trades type player and an improved Russell Westbrook to guide the offense. Jeff Green has also worked to become a better player each year he’s been in the league, and next season will be no different. Ultimately, what really showed me the Thunder could sleep on some people this year is the confidence they played with at the end of last season. Though they only won 23 games, they lost almost 10 games by less than 6 points which is an obvious sign of a young, inexperienced team. I’d expect closer to 35 wins by the Thunder in ‘09/10.”
Oklahoma City and other stuff
The Scores Report looking at teams with cap space in 2010
sometimes. Two ways: Every post is tagged and put into a category. So you can either click the category name at the bottom and it will give you a list of every post that falls into that or you can go over to the sidebar and click the drop-down “categories” menu and select one there. I’m making a few changes to thing over the next few weeks so if things are different, that’s why.
coach who’s role with the Thunder will be to play defense and move the ball for 16 minutes, while teaching Russell Westbrook about playing defense and reading the court as an offense. Since the Thunder are putting all their stock in the future, a mentor to Westbrook is more important than talent. Should Shaun Livingston fully return from his horrendous left leg injuries, then Livingston will slide into the backup point guard role over Ollie.”
