Wednesday Bolts – 10.14.09
I said yesterday’s podcast was going to be a two-part thing with another interview coming with director Jason Reid, 
BUT it appears I suck at computing. Somehow, the interview isn’t there or didn’t record or something. So, apologies to everyone, especially Jason since I evidently wasted his time. It was a nice conversation though.
John Wooden is one of my favorite people ever, so I enjoyed this story very much: ”Wooden, of course, is almost synonymous with UCLA. But here’s the amazing thing. At the time he was offered the UCLA job, he was also in the running to become head coach in Minnesota, which was closer to home for him. There were some complications with the Minnesota position, though, which he wanted to get straightened out first. They said they’d call by 6 p.m. with the details of his final offer. UCLA was due to call at 7. Minnesota didn’t call, so when UCLA called, Wooden said yes to his second choice. As he hung up the phone, it rang, and it was Minnesota. A blizzard had knocked out all the phone lines, so they had been unable to get through, but now they were offering everything he had asked for.”
Just very cool of Alvin Gentry: “Griffin said one of his goals as a rookie is “to be one of the most conditioned guys on this team.” He wants to be ready when his name is called. Speaking of….Griffin was inserted in the starting line-up tonight. Gentry explained that he likes to do that when young guys play their hometown, plus he knew his parents were in attendance.”
Speaking of, it appears that Michael Ruffin will see his first real playing time tonight in Tulsa? Coincidence? I hope not. (You see, he’s a Tulsa grad…)
48 Minutes of Hell’s resident stat doctor weighs in on the KD debate: “Durant will undoubtedly improve on both ends of the court in the years ahead. According to an analysis of APM trajectory over time, we could expect an overall APM improvement of a whopping +3.3 points/100 possessions over the next 6 years: and given Durant’s undeniable scoring talent, it is not at all unlikely that his improvement will be much greater . . . i.e., he could be contributing like a bona fide All Star within a few years. (Carmelo had a similar trajectory: major APM liability his first couple of seasons, yet All-Star caliber APM last year.) There’s no guarantee, of course, but it would be unwise to think such a scenario unlikely.”
And the world’s stat expert Kevin Pelton had something to say too: “The way Durant’s absence influenced how Green and Westbrook were used on offense helps illustrate my biggest quibble with Winston’s comment denigrating Durant. It ignores the fact that adjusted plus-minus captures a player’s value only in the context of a certain role with a certain team. On the Mavericks or any other team, Durant might thrive in a different role. This is a weakness of any statistical rating system, not something germane solely to adjusted plus-minus, but that’s why analysts must be careful to supplement the bottom-line numbers with skill-based statistics and observation.”
The first Daily Thunder fantasy draft went off without a hitch last night. We had a nice turnout as I think 16 of the 20 teams were represented and we got it done in just under two hours. And I think it’s obvious that I have the best team. Sleepers for the win!
Shawn Kemp evidently shops at Wal-Mart. (via Basketbawful)
Just so you know, I’ll be taking part in ESPN.com’s team chats. Oklahoma City’s is next Friday. So come one, come all to talk some Thunder ball with the big boys.
And here’s the Southwest Division previews put together by Jeff from CelticsBlog:
Dallas Mavericks
Mavs Moneyball | The Two Man Game | NBA Mate
Houston Rockets
The Dream Shake | Ballerblogger
Memphis Grizzlies
3 Shades of Blue
New Orleans Hornets
At The Hive | Hornets Hype
San Antonio Spurs
Pounding The Rock | Project Spurs
The comments on the Kemp picture have me rolling.
Also, Royce, I smell conspiracy! Not good with computers eh? But you own your own blog! I’m going on record saying that Reid dissed Dave Mathews and you deleted it on purpose.
Seriously though, I’m disappointed. I was looking forward to part 2. I’m sure it’s because you’re using a Mac. Everyone knows that all computer problems that ever existed start with a Mac.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
I honestly wish I knew what happpened. I opened it today to compress to an mp3 and it just said “file not found.” I have no idea what that means or how that could happened. I listened to it play back when I recorded it. Very strange. My face is red.
Maybe you can put a call in to one of your computer buddies (everyone has at least one) and get it all figured out.
Royce did he say anything interesting that stuck out to you? I’m betting most would have been a little bit of a rehash for anyone who both watched the movie and listened to your first podcast; but anything specific?
If the file was accidentally deleted, it may still be on your computer! Please have one of your buddies try this program:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
(it’s not really easy to use but does an AMAZING job)
You should try that ASAP because the longer you use your computer, the less likely it will be possible to recover the podcast.
@Alexfromgermany
I’ll try that. Thanks.
Yeah. It will try to recover all kinds of multimedia files (so hopefully it won’t find anything emberessing
and i guess the podcast was saved as a wave file or something so look for that
@Brad
It was mostly a lot of the same that Adam covered, but Jason talked a little more about how the same situation could have come about even with a different ownership group. He was very appreciative to OKC and how we’ve accepted the team. He held absolutely no animosity towards Oklahoma.
I will definitely try.
I think what MAY have happened was that I recorded it in the same file but on a different track than the Adam Brown interview and then just copy and pasted it to a new one. It played when I copied it, but it just may not have stuck or something… who knows.
@Royce
That’s good, I watched the movie for the first time last night and as I’ve had a morning to process it there a few things that stuck out:
1) I went to 10 or so Sonic games every year from 02-06. I lived in Vancouver and after many evenings of studying/work my fiance and I would drive down for a game. With that in mind, I really feel as though the movie exaggerates on the animosity between Seattle and Shultz before he sold the team. With the exception of the Gary Payton incident people became disinterested in the new millennium Sonic’s, not because of Shultz sideline antics, but because it was clear in the publics’ eyes that the window of opportunity for a championship with the Glove had closed. The team had gotten older and it wasn’t going to work. Shultz’ group didn’t disengage the public from the team, he kept long time sonics legends involved with the team on a NUMBER of levels. It just felt as though the film makers stacked the deck in favor of painting Shultz as one of the ultimate bad guys before he became the badguy (sold the team to outside ownership).
2) It hit me all at once this morning how HUGE of an impact the 99′ lockout had on the Northwest. Ultimately you can look to that contract disagreement and how the financial situation of the NBA changed to how the league lost teams in two HUGE markets: Seattle and Vancouver. Leaves me wondering, if the league and the players association can’t get a deal done soon, which markets will be affected by a lock out in the same way.
3) Maybe I’m stupid, but did the ending of the movie tell the general audience that Seattle shouldn’t get a team back because it’s wrong to do that to another city? Was that really the message they wanted to send?
I don’t think that was the message Jason was trying to send. He wants another team. He was just trying to illustrate that in order for it to happen, another city has to go through what he did.
Another thing we expanded on a little more was the “conspiracy” to turn away fans from the team during 2008. I don’t buy it really so we talked about that angle of the movie.
@Royce
The ‘conspiracy’ thing is pretty bonkers, but people believed that in Vancouver as well. Bottom line was the team wasn’t working and needed to be blown up in order to properly manage the contracts to build a winner in a market that’s not Orlando, LA, or New York.
Who got KD in the draft last night??? I can’t check my team do to the firewall at my work!
Shawnee does a cornfield maze for the Thunder. No ESPN video.
Someone does a cornfield for LeBron. ESPN video.
Is that right?
I love the piece comparing Durant’s numbers to Melo. It gives me a warm feeling since that’s the guy I’ve been touting as the best career comparison for him right now. Both guys do very similar things: they love jumpers, they get to the line, they rebound pretty well, they don’t pass much/well, and they are rather turnover prone. That said, Durant has all the tools at 20 to be better than every SF not named Lebron. Good times.
By the way, I’m considering picking up NBA 2k10 in order to get my Thunder fix. Anyone have it and know of any important points or problems? And for that matter, what (besides, KD, Westbrook, and Harden) could I trade to get Griffin?
Go Thunder!
Nix, your best players are Calderon, Gay, Gasol, B Davis, and Manu…You also have James Harden
@Alex
Ouch…Calderon was nice for me last year…other than that I plan to be injured for a larger part of the year…
Gasol is the man, but unfortunately, BD is going to screw up Gasol’s great FG% unless he doesn’t shoot as much this year…
@Alex
Yea had Gasol last year too. I sadly have no idea how to strategize for Fantasy Basketball.
Here’s my squad. Feel free to announce my stupidity to the world. Just know, I hate my team too.
Deron Williams
Eric Gordon
Wilson Chandler
Anthony Randolph
Brook Lopez
Jonny Flynn
Michael Beasley
Courtney Lee
JaVale McGee
George Hill
Rasual Butler
Etan Thomas
Ryan Anderson
I’m relying mostly on upside and potential. Not good signs.
My strategy is to have as many head cases as possible on my team…So far, I’ve Z-Bo, Al Harrington, Nate Robinson, and Rondo…Maybe I should trade for Boom-Dizzle…
@Royce
You might have a really good team if you pay strict attention to the matchups. Gordon could give you points and perhaps FG%, but you’ll probably be better off with him on the bench. He doesn’t contribute much in the assist or rebound game, and you can always find scorers. Flynn, though, could rack up assists, and Lee may see a much larger role in NJ (where he’ll give more non-scoring stats than Gordon). Chandler just… eh. If Beasley is moved to starting SF, put him in immediately. Miami want’s him to be the number 2, and he can certainly score and rebound well.
At some point you’ll probably want to look into trading for a rebounding/blocking big man. Lopez is ok, but still a guess as to what he’ll give. Randolph may be the guy who makes a deal happen. For all his talent, he’s still on the Warriors and Nelly still doesn’t seem to like him. I have a feeling he’s going to have a very inconsistent season, winning you weeks sometimes and losing them the next. If you find someone in your league high on his potential, you might be able to get a more consistent performer in your deficient areas.
@Keith
I should hire you to be my Sam Presti.
@Royce
If this were a keeper league, I’d say you did really well. As far as this year goes… you might be in for a long season.
All I know is I got
Kd
Tony Parker
Oden
R Jefferson
Can’t remeber the rest right off hand.
@GAP
I think you’re the favorite.
It’ll be just my luck, my whole starting 5 will have injuries or something.
@GAP
You shut your mouth GAP!
Hahahahahaha!!!!!
@GAP
You didn’t have to choose between KD and Oden. Maybe Oden will be better now since he doesn’t have to redeem himself.
@Royce
I’m not in the same league, but I have similar starting 5. D-Will, Randolph, and Lopez are on my team. The big difference is I also have B-Roy and Horford starting plus Westbrook and Blake Griffin coming off the bench.
@GAP
The rest don’t matter. You got KD!