Friday Bolts – 11.20.09
PROGRAMMING NOTE: I will be going out of town for a few days. Daily Thunder will still be up and running at full capacity though. Joe will take you home. BUT,
your Monday – Wednesday Bolts of next week will be missing. I hope I didn’t destroy your day. But the pregamers and postgamers will be up in a timely fashion as always. And thank you.
Jack McCallum on Bill Simmons’ book: “Some critics complain that The Sports Guy could’ve written The Book of Basketball in far fewer than 700 pages and 7,000 footnotes. But that’s like walking into a Greek restaurant and yelling, “Why the hell is there baklava on the menu! I hate baklava!” Oversized is what you get from Simmons, who can safely be called the only human being to bring the relationship between Mario Lopez and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (Saved By The Bell stars in the early 90s — I had to look it up) into a discussion about the relationship between Bill Russell and Wilt Chamberlain.”
Kevin Durant, Evan Turner fan: “Evan Turner is the real deal…i love his game! he plays point gaurd for ohio state..at 6’7!!!”
Darnell Mayberry on KD’s shoulder shimmy, something I’ve always wondered about: Kevin Durant begins his routine by mumbling three motivational words to himself, a quick reminder of his purpose as all eyes descend upon him. “Knock it down,” the Thunder forward says as he marches to the foul line. Durant takes a deep breath, relaxes his shoulders. He spins the ball, takes one dribble and bends his knees. While crouched, Durant gives the ball one last spin as he scrunches his shoulders twice over. The last bit, the shoulder shimmy, is the quirk that’s become a staple in Durant’s free-throw shooting routine and the latest in a long line of peculiar free-throw rituals by NBA players. “I don’t even think about it. I just do it,” Durant said of his unique free-throw approach. “Sometimes I don’t even remember I do it.”
Nick Collison has still been on a bum ankle, but it’s improving: “Collison is emerging as the Thunder’s top interior reserve. The past week, Collison has played some game-on-the-line, fourth-quarter minutes. He said an ankle injury that’s hampered him since training camp is 90 to 95 percent healed. “It feels pretty good but it was still a little tender in our last home game (last Sunday),” Collison said. “Hopefully it will keep improving. It depends on what happens in the game. If I jam it or something it’s sore the rest of the night.”
NBA.com looks at five players on the rise: “Why does Sefolosha – who shot 23.8 percent and had a 4.3 ppg scoring average in three games last week — land in the Five on the Rise? Because during his struggles, Sefalosha slowed down one of the NBA’s elite players (Miami’s Dwyane Wade) and pestered another (San Antonio’s Manu Ginobili). The Thunder’s go-to defensive stopper was quick to give credit to his teammates as he and Oklahoma City kept Wade to 22 points on 6-for-19 shooting in Tuesday’s win at Miami. “Everybody did a very good job playing team defense,” Sefolosha told The Oklahoman. “You have to be excited going against guys like (Wade). The team did a tremendous job closing down his drives and taking away the easy stuff.” Against the Spurs, Sefolosha helped keep Ginobili to an 0-for-8 night and also held Richard Jefferson to 1-for-4 shooting in a big win on Saturday in San Antonio. Oh yeah, and Sefolosha had what was essentially the game-winning steal on Jefferson, too.”
Fox Sports’ power ranking: “Two weeks ago, they followed a rout of Magic with a loss to Kings. Last weekend they beat Spurs in San Antonio, then lost at home to Clippers. That’s talent and immaturity in action.”
Another reminder: Daily Thunder t-shirts are coming soon. Tell your friends. We should be releasing some designs in the very near future so be ready for those. The first run is going to be slightly limited so if you’re interested, don’t hesitate.
And another thing: No Smart Thoughts of the Week this week. You guys didn’t say anything smart! Kidding of course. Just didn’t have a chance to get to it and I promise they will make a glorious return next week.
I hope one day we don’t have to REALLY regret passing on Roddy Beaubois: “Beaubois was an unknown who was supposed to be too raw to contribute. Injuries have forced him into the rotation, and he has responded by attacking the basket and playing solid defense. “Beaubois brings a different kind of athleticism and feel for the game,” Carlisle said. “He has done a lot of extra work with Jason Kidd, that has been great for the kid. And we need him.”
There goes next week being a good week for me. Thanks Royce.
I really hope they designate Mullens to Tulsa as soon as they can. Even against D-League talent, it’s more than he faced at the other OSU.
Finally some love for Thabo!
I’m not sure if Beaubois is really good, or if the media just likes saying (and typing) his name. I watched part of a Mavs game last week and the announcers said his name ever 2.3 seconds…even if he was not involved at all in the action. Its like they just really liked the way it felt to say BO-bwah, so they just looked for excuses to do so. I suggested to Mrs. Matthews that we name our unborn son Beaubois for that reason.
I saw enough to know that he’s a lot better than our draft pick – he’s long, quick, he’s a willing defender, and he can shoot . . .
by our draft pick, obviously I’m talking about Gatorade man (not the #3 pick) . . .
I think we just hate hearing Beaubois name because we at one point had his rights…….. But Presti knew we had to have a big ugly white dude… He did what he had to do
I’m not kidding here, I think they ought to put Mullens in in mma training to toughen him up. Have him learn how to fight in the clinch, to throw a guy into a corner and pummel him with short punches and knees and elbows. Make him mean and nasty and unafraid of contact with the other mean and nasties in the NBA. He’s just too shy of contact right now.
@kev
you mean thats not a Gatorade mascott? And here I was thinking we were getting endorsements ;P
Here is the way I look at Byron. This is the perfect situation for him to learn because our other bigs aren’t worried he’s going to steal a lot of minutes from them. How much do you really think Pryzbilla has taught Oden?
i want us to keep our original picks from now on.
rocky B. is tearing it up in dallas. while b.j. (pause) mullens is tulsa playing in d league.
presti -dont get cute with the picks plz.
How is Sefolosha on the rise? He’s ALWAYS played that kind of D and always made life difficult for Wade.
Have to say, Beaubois looks like the real deal.
There will be a gazillion backup point guards available this offseason, so not keeping Beaubois isn’t the worst thing that has ever happened.
LOL @ the quote “I hope one day we don’t have to REALLY regret passing on Roddy Beaubois”
Sadly, that day is ALREADY HERE
Its way to early to tell if mullens will be good or not, he was drafted as a project, not as a ready made contributor, PGs are a lot more common and we have 5 picks this year, we can get another value pick.
Start a list:players we could have had (traded their draft rights or were picked with our traded pick). I’ll start with Big Baby and Carl Landry.
Beaubois is going to be really, really good. Mixture of Devin Harris and Monta Ellis.
He’s on the rise because no one pays attention when you are 23-59 . . . you are correct though, he is playing the same way this year as last . . .
Roddy is better than your run of the mill backup point guard . . .
anyone with ESPN able to tell me where our guys rank on the espns Sophmore rankings?
B.J., I’m really happy for you, I’ma let you finish, but DeJuan Blair woulda been one of the best picks of all time!
@dork
Westbrook is #2 out of the Top 20.
2. Russell Westbrook, Thunder
Westbrook still has the upside we all saw last season: He’s capable of carrying a team on offense while making play after play on defense. But like all young points trying to learn the position, it’s been a roller-coaster ride. In a five-game stretch this season, he amassed a whopping 29 turnovers. Then on Tuesday he killed the Heat with 24 points on 13 shots, seven assists, a steal, a block and just two turnovers in a huge road win. That’s the Westbrook we should be seeing more of in the near future.
@J.G.
Thanks!
Beaubois right now is a score only PG with one of the lowest assist rates I’ve ever seen from a PG. Near Flip Murray and Eddie House. Then I was surprised to see Ollie there too. And Earl Watson in Indiana.
Maybe he could have played here with Harden but this is an issue that detracts some from what else he has done, though maybe Dallas doesn’t need him to pass.
Durant’s tip on Evan Turner is interesting. I didn’t look at him before when I thought he was a wing. Noticed draftexpress says best case Anthony Parker, worst case Thabo Sefolosha. Probably neither. But is he Mardy Collins or Reece Gaines or Francisco Garcia? These cases intrigue but usually frustrate.
he’s not playing as a point guard for the majority of the game – he has taken Howard’s place at shooting guard . . . he plays along Jason Kidd . . .
I would be willing to completely forget about Beaubois if it happens that Kyle Weaver figures out how to play PG and ends up as Russell’s backup someday.
That’s mostly just because I freakin’ love Kyle Weaver’s game, and I think he could really do it. Just thinking about all those point guards and combo guards parading as point guards who would be frustrated and shut down by Weaver gets me all giddy inside.
His low assist rate could partially be attributed to the fact that he’s playing of the ball a lot in Dallas, because Kidd plays the point. Although Beaubois is a PG, he’s not playing it much in Dallas. We could use him here, there’s absolutely no question. Ollie’s a great contributor in many different ways, but when Russ has his spells we could use Beaubois’ spark. Think of how well he could penetrate, and then kick out to Harden. Not a bad second-unit then.
I concur . . .
playing on a good team helps Beaubois numbers, he may not have been as good for us.
Who was number 1 in the sophomore rankings? Rose? Scratch the first question. How about the top 10? =p
@Zach
1. Marc Gasol
2. Russell Westbrook
3. Roy Hibbert
4. Jason Thompson
5. Greg Oden
6. Brook Lopez
7. Ryan Anderson
8. Anthony Randolph
9. Rudy Fernandez
10. Chris Douglas Roberts
11. O.J. Mayo
12. Eric Gordon
13. Danila Gallinari
14. George Hill
15. Ersan Ilyasova
16. Donte Greene
17. Mario Chalmers
18. J.J. Hickson
19. Derrick Rose
20. Michael Beasley
@Zach
But to get Thorpe’s complete breakdown for each player…now that will require being an insider. Haha. Think I’d feel pretty guilty about copy/pasting all of that premium info.
What’s your paypal account? I’ll send you a little tip
And WOW, and I thought Rose and Beasley were super stars. No cherry on top anymore?
BTW Darnell Mayberry from NewsOk has a good blog on the game tonight. Also matchups, welcoming back Arena’s and what he is going to do to our defense, shootaround, brooks interview, Durant quotes. Tons of stuff packed into a neat, 1 page blog.
It’s weird to me that they consider Oden a sophomore. And Rose missed a few games.
I don’t have insider any more. Part of the reason is because I continue to lose respect for Thorpe’s opinions.
@Zach
Yeah, Rose could at least say that he’s being bothered by his ankle injury, even though his poor shooting and assist numbers really could be cause for more concern but, honestly, there’s a reason he won rookie of the year and led the Bulls into one of the greatest first round playoff series in NBA history.
Beasley on the other hand…well obviously he could cite some pretty justifiable reasons as to his lack of offensive output but, at this point, he needs to step it up (surprisingly more on offense than defense, the exact reverse of last year) and step it up big time to even become something of the player he was projected to be at the #2 pick.
Hibbert is the biggest surprise to me, hands down. Jeff Green’s gotta be happy for his former Hoya buddy.
@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Ibaka, Weaver and White need to see more minutes…at whatever position. I’d love Weaver as a PG, I love Ibaka down low and I just want White to be on the floor, at the 3 or the 4 (surely Durant can spare some of his 40+ minutes to White so KD can rest and White can actually impact a game with his shooting touch and rebounding rate).
@J.G.
Agreed. I like White in limited minutes. But I LOVE Weaver at 20 minutes a game. I really, really hope he gets there someday soon.
I kinda figured Beaubois was playing mostly SG right now in Dallas despite 82 games having him all at PG (miscoded based on height) but the low assists still seemed worth noting.
For all his access to the players Thorpe doesn’t often say much beyond what an intelligent fan can see / already knows. He probably could say more but he writes short and thinks it is enough.
@Crow
I have a hunch that ESPN wants Thorpe to be that way. He never says anything controversial, rarely goes out on a limb.
I remember hearing the formula to constructing a boy band. You want one guy for each main type that girls like. Strong and silent type, romantic type, bad boy type, popular kid type, preppy dresser type, etc… That way, teeny bopper girls find the one they like most and relate to them and buy the whole band’s music.
I kinda think ESPN is that way with their guys too. Hollinger is the stat dude who is out in left field, Ford is the breaking news guy, Thorpe is the guy who never rocks the boat, Adande is the guy with the human interest stories, etc…
I just prefer people who are willing to go ahead and state a hard and fast opinion. Reading Thorpe is like listening to Jay Bilas tell us that every player to ever play basketball is long and athletic and can really help his team.
I understand trading an raw PG for a raw C since we need more help in the middle, BUT
Mullens is still a stiff.
At least Presti traded Roddy B. to my 2nd favorite team.
Yeah ESPN has roles and formulas.
But I’m not paying for that. The blogosphere does fine, often better,
08 was a deep draft class. Appreciation for it is increasing with time.
But, would you trade Big Baby for Green? I wouldn’t but I guess it could still be up for debate. We can’t just say we should’ve drafted some player, we also have to decide if we’d be willing to give up the player that was actually traded. Such as, Lopez instead of RW0.
Also, I really think that Weaver should be given a shot because he had proven last year that he was worth his 2nd round pick and I think he fits our team mold better than Ollie or Livingston (not that I’m not happy with either player). Also, I remember hearing a quote last year about Weaver relishing the opportunity to guard big time offensive players which fits this team mind set this year more than last year. FREE WEAVER!
The best coulda hads in the draft during the Presti era, at least looking right now, are Lopez, Noah, Love, Landry, M Gasol, Blair, Jennings, Speights, Gallinari, J Thompson, Hibbert, Batum and Thaddeus Young.
Maybe in the future you’d add D Jordan, Llull, Chalmers, CDR and perhaps others.
You only get a few shots and everybody misses a good deal but still…
Green, Westbrook, Harden, Ibaka, White, Mullens can be judged compared to the appropriate set of others.
Rerun things they coulda had some of the following Noah (over Green), Landry (over cash), Gasol (over Baby Davis % the trade), Speights or Jason Thompson (over Westbrook?), Jordan (over Ibaka or White), keep Harden for now, Blair (over Mullens). Good young bigs are valuable.
@Crow
Very nice rundown. The only ones that I would want to reconsider would be Landry and possibly Jordan (over White, I like Ibaka too much).