Monday Bolts – 11.9.09
Darnell Mayberry gives his thoughts on the Thunder’s stomping: ”The stat of the night? Three Thunder players with 
at least five assists. Russell Westbrook had a game-high 10. Kevin Durant and James Harden had five apiece. Ball movement was the name of the game Sunday against Orlando and the key to the Thunder’s 102-74 victory inside the Ford Center. Oklahoma City had 27 assists on 40 made baskets and 14 assists on their first 17 made field goals. This, just three games after the Thunder recorded only six assists in a nine-point loss to Portland.
The Thunder didn’t win the Fan Night vote this week, losing to the Bulls-Nuggets matchup 31 percent to 28 percent. HOWEVA, the Thunder’s on the list for next week, so go vote again for OKC’s game against the Heat.
This is a week late, but for some reason Carmelo Anthony was giving love to OKC last week: Shouts out to the whole okc. i had a wonderful time last time i was there. look forward to goin back soon. they showed me a great time.holla … Nothing but love to the whole oklahoma. real talk.”
A really interesting feature on Etan Thomas by Mike Baldwin.
Video of James Harden’s through the legs assist. And some added footage of D.J. White traveling. Evidently, the producer is a Serge Ibaka fan.
Ben from Third Quarter Collapse: ”Is it gloom-and-doom time in Orlando? Almost. There’s no shame in losing to a better team–and the Thunder are the better team, when accounting for the Magic’s missing players–but there is shame in mailing in a game like this one.”
Dwight Howard says his team quit: “We haven’t had a game like this in a long time. We’d miss shots and guys would hang their heads,” Howard said. “I don’t think we should quit in a game. Seems like, as a team, we shouldn’t quit.”
Sunday, The Sentinal gave five reason to watch the Thunder.
Dime recapping last night’s game: “Is it just us or is James Harden not as big as advertised? We weren’t the first media to compare Harden to Paul Pierce when he was in college, but Harden last night he didn’t look any bigger than Redick. The rookie has game, but maybe he won’t be the powerhouse that Pierce is where he’ll be able to just punish some defenders.”
Basketbawful: “Bonus bawful: Not only did Orlando shoot a miserable 36 percent (3-for-16 from distance) and shank 13 of their 34 free throws, they let the Thunder hit nearly 60 percent of their shots and 56 percent of their treys. Were they practicing some kind of “no hand in the face” drill or something? Note also that they lost by almost 30 despite having 19 more FTAs than the Thunder.”
Kevin Durant had NBA.com’s Dunk of the Night.
A story from Friday on Kevin Durant after his tough night against the Lakers: ”Durant doesn’t expect more from just himself. He wants more from his team, and for it, to justify the franchise’s direction. He expects the playoffs and beyond. “I really do,” Durant said. “That’s my job is to think my team is going to win. I can’t think anything else because I’m the captain. They feed off my energy. You have to think that before you go out there and do it.” Durant will not shy away from his job, his responsibility, his purpose with the Thunder. That’s why he was hurting so much Tuesday night. That’s why he didn’t duck his postgame duties. That’s why he’ll get better.”
Some more from The Daily Dime.
KD has nicknamed Thabo: ”Kevin Durant smirked and gave Thabo Sefolosha a new nickname. “I call him ‘sniper’ now,” Durant said. Sefolosha chuckled. “I don’t know if we’re there yet,” he sheepishly said. Either way, there was no skirting around Sefolosha’s sharp shooting during Sunday’s 102-74 win over the Orlando Magic.
And finally, Nick Collison leaves us with this: “Going to my daughters preschool for parent teacher conferences. JUDGEMENT DAY.”
I remember last year after one of the games Melo made a comment about how much he likes coming to play in OKC. Probably because his chance of hitting a game winner increases exponentially.
So Melo’s comment is a taunt? Hrmmm…. Kill ‘em KD.
Man, ET’s poetry stinks. He’s doing alright at this basketball thing though, so he can stick around.
I see Etan’s prose as more beat poetry, as it’s definitely not your typical rhyme.
Power Rankings JUST came out, we are number 14! Wow
Royce, nice write-up on The Dime.
There seems to be a bit of a love affair going on between KD and Melo…
The bit on Harden not producing is just a joke. Sure he’s not putting up big point totals like Evans or wowing people like Jennings, but he is playing his role perfectly. He comes of the bench behind one of the best defenders in the league (IMO) and gets involved.
When Harden is off the ball he is helping to spread the floor, teams really do respect his shot and are not cheating off of him much. When he has the ball, I hold my breath because I know he’s about to make somebody look stupid (sans Gortat) with a slick no-look pass. He’s just so natural.
Unfortunately for him, he is the 4th or 5th option in terms of scoring, which is bad for his ROY rankings but great for his long term development. He has a lot of work to do, but he’s going to be invaluable someday.
Whoever has been doing the video breakdowns (sorry if I’m too lazy to go back and look), you need to start a Harden compilation because he is not getting the love he deserves… we need to make him a youtube sensation SOON if he is going to have a shot at ROY!!!
@Bryan
Good idea! We could start the campaign. It could go with the Thabo for first team defense campaign.
Man, Royce, you’re almost a daily contributor on the Dime, it seems. Good work.
After watching Durant play the best defensive game I’ve ever seen him play last night — let alone the two steals for breakaways, but as someone mentioned last night he was rotating better and much more active — I think that KD’s struggles last week might work out really well for him and the team, long-term. He spent all summer being told how great he was going to be and I think having some bumps in the road early may really motivate him and keep him from putting it on a little bit of cruise control at times.
If the season ended today, we’d be the #7 seed in the West. Just sayin’.
I like that you are getting opportunities to write for The Dime Royce, because you always have well written snippets. I think people are intrigued by the Thunder across the nation, and like to hear about them. However, I wonder how much longer you will be able to write those sections. Eventually the Thunder will start being in the featured articles, and Adande will be the one covering the Thunder. This won’t be until the Thunder are consistently winning though.
I guess what I’m saying is that, in some ways, I hope that I won’t be reading your articles on The Dime, because the Thunder are considered contenders, and therefore the paid columnists are writing about the Thunder, instead of (very good) bloggers.
Perfect… along with at least one All-Star campaign
Another thing, I was wondering if anyone wanted to try to predict when the Thunder would exceed their 2008-09 win total of 23…. might make for interesting fodder.
@Bryan
@Royce
I’m definitely down with the Thabo for first team defense thing, and honestly I think he’s close to a lock with the attention he’s receiving thus far against players like Kobe and Roy. As for Harden for ROY, as much as I love our players, does he really deserve it? I mean, he’s doing what he’s asked, but with even an ounce of objectivity you’d have to agree he hasn’t been nearly as impressive or valuable as others. What’s more, Thabo is all but deciding Harden’s ROY chances for him. If Thabo can consistently hit open shots from distance, his starting status may never be revoked.
I know it’s far too early to even contemplate such a prospect, but if Thabo keeps up his shooting, Harden may very well be more valuable as a trade-able asset than starter in the future.
Feb 20th . . .
@kev
By my count that puts them at 23-30 with a win over the Knicks… probably about right.
anyone else willing to make a bolder prediction?
I’m thinking win #23 comes against New Orleans at home on Feb 3rd… making them 23-25.
I just have a feeling that they will be flirting with .500 all season
sorry… new orleans on the road….
@kev
I’m going to go out on a limb and say Feb 6 against GS. That would give us 24 wins in 51 games. Not sure how likely, but it COULD happen if we keep playing well.
How ’bout Jan. 11th? It’s really bold but they’ve surprised me so far. In my prediction we hold the fort down at home against the mid level teams (and I am counting the Jazz and Eastern conference teams except for Cavs and Celts as mid level) and lose a lot of away games. It’d be nice to shoot for but I won’t throw a fit if we’re not able to accomplish such a turnaround.
Went to my 1st game of the season last night. Blowouts are usually boring, but I definitely enjoyed watching the Thunder play so well. Etan Thomas is fun to watch in person. KD had a steal and open dunk. Harden’s pass under the Polish Hammer’s Hammer was frackin’ sweet. We had a couple of nice runs in the 3rd and hit well from the perimeter. Can’t wait to go to another game, it’s gonna be an exciting season.
Whoops! I meant Jan. 31st.
@Chas
lol… I was going to say…
Jan 31st is possible. There are some pretty bad road stretches comming up with some back to backs… let’s see how they handle this first warmup road trip.
Jan 21st at Memphis for our 24th win. It would take consistent effort (though not necessarily perfect execution) and a couple breaks, but we are good enough to beat most middle of the pack teams, home or away. It would also take a legitimate home-court advantage, but I’d rather be optimistic than wait for the fall.
I think it’s obvious that our home court is a serious advantage for this your crew. I don’t think that Utah is worth anything outside of SLC and we play them home and away and I wonder about Dallas. Will they play better now that all expectations have pretty much dissipated or do they now feel disheartened? I havn’t seen them play this year but how good could they be? Can KD guard Dirk? He’s got the length and our shell defense will come in handy when he tries to post up. What about Chicago? Are we better than them even though they probably make the playoffs again in the East? I think so but I wonder if the players believe enough to beat them in their own house. Sorry for the long post. VERY EXCITE!
Someone is up to number 14 in ESPNS powerrankings.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/powerranking?season=2010&week=2
young instead of “your” in the first sentence.
@Chas
I’m really curious about Chicago too. Rose got the better of Russell when they matched up… actually, that’s not entirely true, they traded halves at the Ford Center, but Rose had a really big second half that gave the Bulls the game and (IMO) to Russell out of the ROY conversation.
I think those games will come down to that matchup again….
Thomas’s poetry is more of the spoken word/slam variety. Where the focus is on the message and theatrics. Not my favorite type of poetry, but it is much better than Desmond Mason’s art.
There is really no way Harden gets any real consideration for ROY unless he begins to start or at least get big minutes. He’s only getting about 15 per. And with Thabo’s defense and his newfound shooting, that may not happen for awhile.
Home court is an advantage for nearly all teams . . . I’d like to flip it around – they need the same energy away from the Ford center – of course that’s easier said than done . . .
I am loving all the predictions . . . do we have a shot at .500? Sure, IF we bring intensity on the road . . . the offense looks MUCH better with virtually the same personnel . . .
I hope so . . .
@Joe
I’m not really saying that Harden deserves ROY.
What I’m saying is that since he won’t be beating out Thabo for a starting job anytime soon, he will need a little help from us to make sure that he is at least in the conversation and gets the recognition he deserves.
Plus, I really want a nice Harden highlight reel for my own consumption.
Why does he need recognition? He gets props from us for being productive off the bench that should be enough. Yes, he’d be getting better numbers if Thabo was elsewhere, but that’s just the luck of the draw – you can’t penalize starters like Jennings, Curry, and Flynn for that . . .
@kev
I guess it really doesn’t matter, but I just don’t want to get to the end of the season and here comments like “Harden was a disappointment” or “didn’t live up to the hype” just because nobody got see what he did with the few minutes he got off the bench… esp if that assist/TO ratio holds.
@B-RY
The people calling him a disappointment or unable to live up to the hype are going to be in one of two categories. First, people whose journalism lives off controversy and who are just starting stuff to start stuff. The second are those with sincerely pessimistic starting views of the team who expected the Thunder to need Harden far more than they do.
Kobe Bryant started his career on the bench, averaging 15 mpg. The next year he saw his minutes increase to 26, but only 1 game started out of 79 played. I don’t think Harden is Kobe, but it’s not a knock on a guy to start slowly on a team that already has a good starter at the same position.
@Keith
Well said.
@kev
That was clumsy wording on my part. I meant, they are significantly more confident at home as oppose to away from home. And yes, all teams have an advantage at home but some teams, such as Utah, are exponentially better at home which is different than just having an advantage. I think OKC is like Utah right now because they are young and the Ford Center is a great atmosphere to play. Saying this, we did go into Mo-town and solidly beat the Pistons so I hope that we can build on this and take care of the away games we play against the East.
@Chas
I don’t think you should really get into the East/West split when talking about who we can beat. Sure, the West has an easier dichotomy of Haves and Have Nots, but the East is filled with a lot more teams just like us: teams that aren’t contenders, but who can beat anybody on a great night. I see a lot more teams even with us that I hope we beat, but to simply say we can take games against Eastern Conference teams not named Magic or Celtics is a precipitous belief.
Best thing I’ve read about KD in a long time:
Asked if he had any encouraging words for No. 35, Bryant smiled widely. His eyes said more than his answer.
“Hell no. He don’t need no [bleeping] advice from me,” he said before heading to the showers. “That [double bleep] is good enough already.”
@Nix
I agree. That was very awesome.
@Keith
Well, I may have been overly simplistic there. But, I do think that we have the ability to beat most of the teams in the East at home and be very competitive in their court. Big nights happen but there’s no way to predict that.
I don’t think Harden is a disappointment at all. Thabo is just playing better . . .
@kev
Couldn’t agree more. You can’t fault a guy for being in a much better position than Tyreke Evans and Brandon Jennings and it’s a sign of improvement that the Thunder are in a position to bring along their #3 overall pick slowly instead of throwing him to the wolves.
Thabo is making it IMPOSSIBLE to bench him, and if he keeps it up, the Thunder will be a better team for it, which is exactly what Harden wants and has said many a time.
Which is precisely why he was a perfect fit and a great pick; he gets it.
@J.G.
You make an interesting point. Given the lack of a serious big man in the draft, Harden was really a nice pick. I don’t think that we could have taken any other player in the top five that would have accepted this role so easily. Evans? yeah right. Rubio? I don’t freaking think so. Jennings? give me a break. Curry? not a chance.
I know you are not supposed to go after the ultimate sixth man with a top five pick, but without a big man, and with all the talent everywhere else, what else could they do? Draft a backup point guard? Another forward? Why?
Is that Kobe quote real? Jesus christ, that’s awesome.