Home > Bolts > Wednesday Bolts – 9.23.09

Wednesday Bolts – 9.23.09

As we said yesterday, Ryan Bowen and Michael Ruffin will be at the Thunder’s camp, but two more players are thunderbolt23coming along. Point guard Tre Kelley from South Carolina and Michael Harris, a power forward from Rice who played briefly with Houston last year.

The New York Times with a cool feature on Kevin Durant: ”Some of it is based on where he is. Oklahoma City is the league’s smallest market. And although this city may have accepted its professional basketball team — the Ford Center had 18 sellouts last season, the franchise’s first after a move from Seattle — it is still discovering the players. Most of it, though, is based on who Durant is, a person with a quiet sense of humor and a demeanor so modest that it is as if he is a star who does not quite realize he is one.”

The Orlando Sentinal has a preview/power poll out and OKC comes in No. 24: “The status of the Oklahoma City Thunder is perhaps best explained by a comment Kevin Durant posted on his Twitter account this summer. He said while in Hong Kong, when he told people he played for Oklahoma City, they’d say maybe if he worked hard, he’d someday make the pros. Durant is pretty sure he’ll show them, and the Thunder probably have the most exciting young corps of players with Durant, Russell Westbrook and draft pick James Harden. As those guys progress, so will the team.”

TSN with a Thunder preview: “Of course, the most perplexingly enjoyable aspect of getting hyped up to watch this club is that they haven’t proven they are capable of doing anything of substance in the league yet. This is that brief moment when no one knows if they’re going to continue their upwards climb to respectability or if they are going to stall at the bottom of the hill. People look at the talent reserves and drool at the possibility, and to a certain degree that allows excitement and anticipation to override common sense. However, in this age of unending statistical metrics designed to take all of the unpredictability out of professional sports, a little bit of unsupportable optimism is a desperately-needed distraction.”

That was fast. The Timberwolves waived Chucky Atkins yesterday. What team is next for the Chuckster I wonder…

Well didn’t this get old fast. SLAM has Kanye interrupt every franchise: “I’m very pleased like that second piece of pie hitting the spot, Thunder, and I’ma let you grow together as the season goes along, but the cast of “Mean Girls” are a better collection of young talent than you. No one end up like Lindsay Lohan, please.”

I’ve got the Daily Thunder fantasy league set up. If you want in email me (first come first serve). And if do you want in, I need a committment to keep your team updated and active. Otherwise, it’s no good.

Also, I’ve added a few pages at the top under TEAM. I’m pretty excited about the Schedule and Events tab (Google is unreal with all their features). That calendar will have all results, the schedule and also any and every Thunder related event you can think of.

The Utah Flash’s owner is quickly becoming the coolest guy in school. He’s putting up $100,000 to try and get MJ and Bryon Russell to square off at halftime of his home opener.

Hey you guys! Just 35 freaking days until the season starts. 35… hmm… what’s 35….

Kevin Durant 35

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The lineups above were picked with some attention to the
4 Factors, Adjusted, Player Pairs, last season's lineup results, role fulfillment, etc. It is not just picking them out of the air. Many of the hundreds of lineups used last season had flaws that could be identified in such a review that probably should have discouraged their use or at least discouraged their greater use.

If the pictures were normal pictures with faces and emotions they'd do their job probably better than without so why without? Maybe so they don't have to replaced (but that is a weak reason) or maybe it was consciously or unconsciously to be different enough that the players would ask what's up and who did it that way and come to learn it was the boss man. You can say Presti's low-profile and he is in many ways but I think he wanted the players to know these photos were picked by the boss, that he cares about that modeled behavior a lot, more than most. Visitors too. It creates a story, a mystique. Maybe not nearly as blatantly as requiring your college teammates to sign written contracts to play hard and not quit instead of just having a huddle or locker room talk but it still creates a trail, advertisement of the one doing these things. Lots of leaders do these things. It is not that big a deal but there is a bit a self-promotion to it.

Here another way to go at it, instead of retrospective critique, prospective recommendation. I took an hour or so awhile ago and put together a list of a dozen lineups I think probably should be among the most used and probably many of the best lineups will come from. Out of the hundreds of possibilities and out of the hundreds than Brooks will actually use. Here is my dozen to emphasize:

Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Green-Collison
Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Green-Krstic
Westbrook-Harden-Durant-White-Collison
Westbrook-Harden-Green-White-Collison
Westbrook-Harden-Green-Collison-Krstic
Westbrook-Harden-Sefolosha-Collison=Kristic
Westbrook-Weaver-Sefolosha-White-Collison
Westbrook-Harden-Durant-Green=White
Westbrook-Weaver-Green-White-Collison
Westbrook-Weaver-Durant-Green=Kristic
Westbrook-Weaver-Durant-Green=Krstic
Harden-Weaver-Durant-Collison-Krstic

I'll check to see how it compares to Brooks' top dozen at some point in the season on adjusted +/- performances.

should be ..."was" claiming... at end of first paragraph
and ... I "didn't" feel like mentioning... at the end of the second

But in the end it is the ideas that matter. Take what you think are reasonable and let the rest go.

Not impressed by performance in a simulation league? Fair enough that might sound hokey, but it was a decent experience doing the GM thing, what I claiming some aptitude for.

I guess I could have gone instead with mention that the Director of the ESPN Research Department invited me to apply for a joba couple years back. Didn't get it, but still something to be asked to apply... Or that a Vegas gambler gone straight asked me to help run his research shop, til his deal with a team fell thru. But at the time I guess I 'd feel like mentioning these near-misses.

Oh and Dylan when I mentioned a few things about what I've done with the topic of the NBA outside of this site I was responding to a request to do so. Answer the question, easy enough to get criticized; don't answer it and it would be the same.

Many folks think I am trying to change their opinion about the team. Not really. Just expressing mine and if you want to change yours, do as you will.

It is substance over image. When Gelabale was down, career threatening down, the organization didn't reach out to pick him up. They just briefly, quietly wished well and moved on. That "picture" spoke pretty loud to me and maybe some of the players too.

Dylan, you'll think what you want but I am not really anti-Presti as much as I am just not that impressed with everything so far and am honestly amazed in a not that good way about some things (more substantially waiving an injured Gelabale and the same time they make a splash about giving a second chance to reclamation project Livingston) and think that he has skated to a huge reputation with most others way early as a GM and think it is ok to disagree.

Probably I should have passed on commenting on the pictures. Sorry for my excess. But I did talk briefly about 6 other separate things and nobody cared to comment back on them. I let a few comments out. I'll probably go back to be quiet for awhile.

I'll try to tone down the personal nature of the challenge of Presti and will probably refrence "the plan" instead of the man.

I'll play - email is lgball at yahoo dot com

We need a Commish for League 2. Any volunteers?

Right now we've got six and can handle as much as 14 more.

robertfreshcope@yahoo.com in for a league

One of my favorite posters on despair.com says essentially, "If a pretty poster is all it takes to motivate you, you probably have a job that will soon be done by robots."

Fortunately for the Thunder, culture is more than just a few pictures. What it does say is how intentional they are about it.

I'm in for another league.

What's funny is that I generally agree with some of the stuff Crow says, such as the fact that the pictures on the wall will have little effect on the results of the team, but he has such a hard on for his anti-presti stuff, that it just totally turns everyone off.

Not to mention when he talked about his fantasy league titles or whatever. I mean come on.

So far we've got four for a new league. If that number can get to a reasonable one, we'll get another league going.

neilrhoades at yahoo

For an opening or a second league.

I'll take a spot if someone backs out!

How much is the buy-in for the Fantasy League? I'm in if it's not too much $!
chriscody7@yahoo.com

And that's it for the fantasy league folks. We have a few people with invites out that haven't accepted, so unless that falls through, we're locked up for this year. We can always start a second league if more folks want in.

Royce

chris.lambert@okdhs.org for the fantasy league.

Crow :
But I’ve said enough.

You said it.

It is a reaction to the anything Presti does is so smart, so right ethos.

If the idea of the pictures is to inspire brotherhood and help (and it could, done right) then what is the logic of cutting all the faces, all the emotional connection and showing cog of Team T picking up cog of team T? Pictures with face and emotion would be looked at more and have moreimpact. Not Presti cut all the faces and all the emotion. Why? How is that better?

But I've said enough.

@Lucho
Yardbirds. I love it. I'm lifting that for sure.

@Crow

First, I'm amazed at what kind of buttons you have to push.

Second, I'm amazed at what pushes those buttons.

What has actually been accomplished on the court so far? It is all about what might happen next not what has happened so far. We'll see.

I didn't intend to say so much about the pictures but since it got to the culture, hype, mystique stuff it pushed a button.

What is more important is young players given unchecked minutes and shots and the attitude that comes from that. If it works then the real Presti method worked. If it encounters trouble from here that should be the focus.

The pictures made a NY Times article. In my opinion that is the most impact they will ever have and he wanted them to end up in something like that.

@Crow
Yea, because Presti called the NYT and asked them to do an article about KD and to specifically mention some pictures with people's heads cropped out.

Phenomenal mystique building.

Presti hasn't built a mystique. Other people have created it. You act like he's controlling the blogosphere, when in all honesty he runs things like the Patriots in football. He barely tells anyone anything of value. People build mystique around the things he has actually done.

If anyone needs a name for their fantasy team, I was torn between the rumble riders and yardbirds. Rumble riders won the coin flip, so someone should use yardbirds cus its hilarious. Maybe it should be Royce's team name.

I am not bothered by the pictures but I don't think they actually have any positive impact at all either and if Presti thinks they do, I am just saying I disagree and find it odd that he thought they would.

The pictures are as much about painting the portrait of Sam Presti as anything. Presti has fostered the Presti mystique deliberately and this is another piece of it.

Maybe too much about the pictures by me but aimed at making the point that too much was made about the pictures by the NY Times and by Presti. Did they ask Durant about the pictures? Would he say they they were inspiring and would he say "I don't really have anything to say about that" or "it is kinda weird, but whatever"? The pictures say more about Presti than actually impacting the team.

And on Durant and fame the article nearly ends on this:

" One day, the adulation that envelops Kobe Bryant and LeBron James may come to him. “That does seem kind of cool,” Durant admits. "

@Crow
You're seriously that bothered by the pictures?

Durant doesn't want the limelight.. but goes to every awards show around? Maybe it is more about exposure requested by hi shoe company than him but I think it is him too. You can be humble and like notoriety and what it brings. Some people say both things about LeBron but the first part might not be true much anymore.

If Durant, Green and Westbrook and others make 180 more they move up to... average.

Less time on questionable impact interior decorating and more time on acquisitions of 3 point shooters.

Meanwhile on an important matter like 3 pointers Presti released guys who had 60 last season. Say Harden makes 100 equal to Durant and Green this season. Say between Durant, Green and Westbrook they make 50 more than last season. If all this happens the Thunder move up from 30th on made 3 pointers to... 25th. If Durant, Green and Westbrook and others make 100 more they move up to ... 24th.

Ask the players about those pictures and they'd probably roll their eyes, laugh or say what pictures.

How many would I look at pictures without faces if I was a player? A couple times and I'd be thinking why'd they have to cut off or use photos without faces? every time and then I'd stop lookng at them.

@Royce
i want in! enick89@yahoo.com por favor

abspeers@gmail.com for the fantasy league!!!

does anyone have the poster that the faces fade out?
It is going to be my wallpaper for this season.

The Thunder are having a training camp session at MWC High School early next month and are allowing Tinker employees to attend. I put in my request for tickets as soon as I got the email, so I'll make sure to let you guys know how well they did.

Only 35 days! I can't wait!

Players look at those photos and they'll notice players picking each other up and they'll notice the organization cut out their faces. Which is going to have more impact? I'd say the latter, over time. And do this and then let the rookie and 2nd year players play huge minutes and shoot freely? How is that consistent? Team first in the pictures but me first basically running free on the court? At least that is the impression it makes on me.

I know several people who know that we have a team called the Thunder, but have no idea who the players are, don't go to the games, don't watch sports on TV, etc...

But my mother, who does attend every home game, knows every last Thunder player, as well as the half of the Hornet's roster that is still there. She still can't remember who LeBron plays for, nor does she understand why Steve Nash is a big deal. She thinks Ron Artest's shorts are too tight and asks me every season what team Earl Boykins plays for so she can be sure and catch that game. Like most mothers, she loves anything that it little and cute, and Earl fits that description perfectly in her mind. Put my mother in LA or NY or Boston or any big basketball market and you'd get the same opinion.

If the goal is to get soccer moms and my grandparents to identify KD in public, it'll take another season of his face on the front page of the newspaper, since the sports section is skipped.

ill play in the fantasy league, f5alcon@gmail.com

This part is great: “In the team’s practice facility, cropped pictures of the Thunder in action depict teammates helping each other up. The jersey insignia is noticeable, but not the faces of individual players. The message is clear: the team comes first. Indeed, Presti seems happy that any recognition Durant has received is through his performance on the court and not through a slick marketing campaign.”

I think this is overblown and focusing on details that aren't as important as bigger things. And the not promoting Durant individually thing seems more likely to bite them in the end than be judged a good thing in the end.

Harris can be a monster on the offensive glass. Outta Texas. I like his getting a look. A Landry type, after the real one was given away for cash.

Kelley is out of D.C. 3 years older than Durant. Don't know if they know each other or care. Is a small scorer, not much of a passer. Played in Greece decent minutes last season.

Thunder core of now (not the future), or at least the way I look at it, is 2 guards (Westbrook, Harden), 2 forwards (Durant, Green) 2 centers (Krstic, Collison). As a bench they are two deep at PG (Livingston, Ollie), wing (Sefolosha, Weaver), PF (White, Ibaka) and Center (Thomas, Mullens). That is balanced, enough to protect against injury or fouls. And allow matching up or going big or small first. I think Presti must believe in the important of "practice" a lot. If they take a 15th guy it will be further evidence. I think he wants to give Brooks tools to be a master substituter. Whether he will be and whether such a deep chart is as good as getting better 8-10th guys or better 5-7th guys time will tell.

@Royce
No kidding... They'd probably recognize OU's backup tight end, though.

But in a way, it's awesome that the organization is cultivating that kind of culture. Create a marketing campaign around one player, and it creates all kinds of potential problems. If KD gets hurt, attendance goes way down. If he (knock on wood) gets traded or leaves via free agency, the organization is crippled for years to come. At this point, they might as well call the Cavaliers the Cleveland LeBrons.

The Thunder realize this, and have done an admirable job of creating identification with the organization, and not with the team's superstar--because let's face it, we're not always going to have a player of KD's talent and charisma. As awesome as KD is and has the potential to be, we need people to be fans of the Thunder, not just of him. Wonder how many Cavs fans will be left in Cleveland if/when LeBron leaves?

Invites sent. We've got six spots left.

I would also greatly appreciate your email as well... Or you could put down MLM.2003@yahoo.com as an owner, if that would be easier.

I am a Broncos fan and am enjoying what little success we'll have this season, but 35 days is ENTIRELY too long to have to wait to watch the Furocious Four in action!

Hey Royce, I don't think I have your e mail address, so I can join the Thunder Fantasy League so if you don't mind.....