Thursday Bolts – 12.10.09
Forbes says the Thunder is the 20th most valuable franchise: “The Thunder’s inaugural season after moving from 
Seattle and relinquishing the SuperSonics name was not much of a success on the court. The team managed to win only 23 games, a slight improvement on the team’s 20 win showing the prior year in Seattle. Off-the-court was a different story as attendance jumped a league best 37% and ticket revenues surged 145%. While other small markets struggled to turn a profit last year, the Thunder earned $13 million. The Ford Center is in the middle of a $100 million makeover that includes a new scoreboard, new restaurants and remodeled suites. This season the team got off to a decent start led by its trio of young guns: Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and Jeff Green.”
Kevin Durant said he almost cried when Oden got hurt: “Once I heard he was having surgery, to be honest with you I almost drew a tear for him,” said Durant, who became the no-brainer No. 2 pick behind Oden in one of the most highly-debated decisions in the draft’s history … “It’s unfair to him because people don’t know how hard he works every day,” Durant said. “But they’re already ready to tear him down. That’s life I guess. But he works hard every day and he does his job every day and people don’t give him credit for that.”
This Tuesday, free agents signed in the offseason can officially be traded.
Russell Westbrook talking about things he likes and doesn’t: “Unnecessary celebrations: “I don’t like excessive celebrations no matter what sport.””
Harden is third in David Thorpe’s rookie rankings, but 10th in his “potential” rankings, and there’s a good reason: ”To be fair, Harden is this low on the list only because he’s already so polished. He has learned to play a smart and crafty game — and has done so for years — because he’s not superathletic. As I’ve said before, he plays like a veteran with a steady pace, under control almost all the time. Sure, Harden can improve his athleticism to some degree, and that would help his overall game, but given the reasons the Thunder drafted him — his passing skills, shooting and ability to mesh with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook — the pressure on him to develop into a superstar is just not there; he may never even be an All-Star. But make no mistake, he has the talent to put up big numbers on a championship team.”
Harden up to eight on NBA.com: “Like DeRozan (see above), Harden is learning where he can most easily do damage — at the free-throw line. Harden had a career-high 26 points Monday in the Thunder’s 104-88 win over the Warriors, with 13 of those coming from the line. “James is a big guard who uses his size, as you saw tonight, to get to the line,” teammate Jeff Green said. “And he also has the ability to shoot. He has a good all-around game. He’s old school. There’s nothing spectacular about it, but he gets it done.” On the season, Harden is hitting 83 percent of his free throws, second only among rookies to the Hornets’ Darren Collison.”
HoopsWorld: “Okay, so two of the three games Harden played in the last week were pretty vanilla, but his most recent game against the Golden State Warriors resulted in a season-high 26 points and 9 rebounds. He also chipped in five assists and 2 steals, making it his best overall game of the season so far. And the best part is, his Thunder won the game, keeping them squarely in the hunt for a lower playoff seed in the west.”
FanHouse Power Rankings: “Above .500, playing great on both sides of the ball, and it’s not all Durant. Jeff Green has been a huge part, providing tough finishes, rebounds, and spacing with his perimeter ability. They’d be in the playoffs if they started today. So, you know, just five more months of inspired play in arguably the toughest division in basketball.”
Jack Jensen of Dime says the Thunder WILL be in the playoffs: “Above all of its statistics and improvements this season, the biggest factor in the Thunder’s realization of its talent has been its chemistry. Presti and the Thunder have brought in quality guys who have developed friendships with one another. This in turn has helped drive their success on the court. When you watch the Thunder, the guys look very comfortable and trusting playing together—as evident in their offense as well as their body language. The same cannot be said for teams like Golden State and Washington.”
More on the Forbes article: “Of particular interest is that the Thunder, in its first season in Oklahoma City, managed to pull a substantially positive operating income of $12.7 million. The value of Clay Bennett’s franchise also rose 3 percent, to $310 million. That was the league’s fourth largest value increase. The Blazers, despite losing that $20 million, saw its franchise value jump a remarkable 10 percent to $338 million.”
KD writes about what he likes doing with his free time: ”By now I’m sure all of you know that I’m really into all kinds of music. But not all of you may know that I like to make music, too. Really, I’m not even sure how it came about. I basically woke up one day and decided I wanted to make beats. I was such a big fan of music and I was always curious on how they made it, the steps they went through to make it and I started researching it on YouTube and seeing how guys make beats. A lot of guys back at home, they do their music as well so I was really curious. So I bought myself a little beat machine and I tried to figure that out. I figured it out and then it became a passion of mine.”
Don’t you think that the comment that nothing about Harden’s game is spectacular is getting old? Maybe it’s not flashy, but his decision making and passing vision seem pretty spectacular to me.
This season I think the team will make more money then last year, more games are selling out, i would assume durant jersey sales are up with all the national attention and the fact that we have a chance at the playoffs, if we stay in a position to be in them all season more causal fans will pay attention
Classy statement by KD re: Oden. One thing I love about Durant is he always says the right things. He’s young, but he already knows how highly he’ll be scrutinized if he doesn’t think before he speaks. I’m sure the organization has someone in charge of this kind of thing, but Durant seems like he’s probably pretty good at it naturally.
I’m tired of hearing how James Harden isn’t that athletic. Some of his dunks look pretty athletic to me
Harden’s dunks are usually spectacular.
One note about the date matched RFAs are able to be traded: Depending on when they inked their contract, it may be after Dec. 15. HoopsWorld was talking yesterday about Nate Robinson not being available to be traded until around Christmas because he didn’t sign his contract until Sept. 24-25. And no, I’m not advocating that the Thunder look into getting him.
I love the comment next to the Timberwolves on the Fanhouse Rankings:
Kevin Love helps so much. He’s the difference between losing by 12 to most teams, and losing by 8 to most teams.
KD = Classy
Harden > People think (see also: Kirstic)
Green = X-factor
Westbrook Tiger Woods
I was feeling symbolic today
That did not post properly… RW has nothing to do with Tiger….
It was supposed to say “Bryan > Tiger Woods”
I hope the Thunder stay with their ‘quality’ cast of players. The minute they take one change on a hot-headed me type player will be the minute the team takes a downward spiral. Keep drafting team players who are good people Presti, I mean you are in the bible belt for cryin out loud.
I think one of Harden’s biggest impacts has been being in the Broingtons. Keepin these three happy will keep em here for years to come. Can you add a fourth to the Boys Club? or is it always a trio?
Really good article about how much the economy is affecting ticket sales:
http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/18850386?source=rss_blogs_NBA
Only Thunder-related quote:
Compared to full-season figures for 2008-09, the number of teams netting less than $500,000 in gate receipts per home game has grown from five to eight, with the Sixers, Kings, and Bobcats joining the Grizzlies, Timberwolves, Bucks, Pacers, and Hawks in the under-$500K club. But pricing pressure also has affected the high-revenue clubs. Compared to full-season totals from ’08-’09, the number of teams netting at least $1 million per home game has shrunk from 12 to seven, with the Suns, Thunder, Rockets, Warriors, and Suns dropping out of the $1 million club.
I think there’s an interesting correlation there between the Trailblazers value and the movement of the Sonics. Losing their only regional NBA competition has to automatically increase that franchises value doesn’t it?
I do not want anything to do with Kryto-Nate. He’s kind of funny, but he’s not a team player.
I have a feeling a lot of players on the Knicks will shed some of their unwanted labels when they start playing elsewhere. I’m not really convinced, for example, that David Lee is as incapable on defense as he’s shown. Or that Nate Robinson cannot be convinced to play a team game. The culture of that team has been broken for years, now.
Nate Robinson probably won’t get an MLE deal next season but I think he’ll way out perform the value of that kind of contract. Whatever team ends up with David Lee is going to get a good value as well IMO.
@Anonymous
I know many Sonics fans who are now Portland fans, so yes.. I would say there is a strong correlation.
The thing that stuck out to me today was this quote from KD’s quote on Oden.
“Those guys are a playoff team and are one of the top teams in the West,” Durant said. “Without him they wouldn’t be there. So I guess I’m living in his shadow. He was the No. 1 pick. I was the No. 2. And his team is doing better. I’m just trying to fight toward that with my team. So I wouldn’t say he’s in my shadow.”
That is EXACTLY what I want the face of my franchise to be saying. Numbers don’t matter, wins and the playoffs matter.
Nice article Alex, but I think by the end of the year our attendence will be at least to last years levels. With some exciting games still on the schedule and the real possibility of a playoff push Mr. Bennett’s gonna make his money.
New sophomore 20 came out today from ESPN. Can an insider let us know where Westbrook is and what Thorpe has to say about him?
He fell to number five, behind Lopez, Gasol, Thompson, and Ilyasova.
“Westbrook’s shooting woes and poor shot selection continue to hurt him. More than two-thirds of his shots come from the perimeter, where he’s shooting less than 40 percent (and just 31 percent from 3). But his energy and athleticism are still having a positive impact. More importantly, he is managing the game better and quarterbacking his team into playoff contention.”
Definitely agree that he’s shooting too many jumpers, think I posted something to this effect earlier.
He is getting good looks though. It’s not like he is scrambling up against a contested shot in a half court press, he just has to be more fluid and consistent with his shooting. Too many times have I seen Westbrook shoot with a terrible release, feet completely backwards like he is double jointed, not towards the basket after a wide open shot. It’s just weird to see. Something else I see this year, and some I saw last year was his “fight of flight” response shooting. He becomes gitty like a little school girl, doesn’t pass the ball around or draw some defense for a quick pass to an outside shooter, but just shoots the ball immediately like he wants to be the “allstar” player to save the day. It’s a trend too. He seems to be that player when he has a terrible Field Goal %, he just wants to milk the score before it’s too late. The dude is too hard on himself.
I love the Thunders! WooHoo!!
He’s getting good looks be can’t shoot. As I’ve stated before, Russ is much more efficient this season finishing at the basket. Yet his ratio of jump shots to close shots has increased dramatically. Russ should look more to get to the rim a la Tony Parker and quit shooting so many jumpers.
Exactamudo Justin! In a nut shell, those are my exact words too
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@justin
I think this offseason Russ should work primarily on his jump shot. I know alot of you think he takes too many (which I agree with) but watch the defense that is guarding him. Sometimes they are not within FIVE FEET of him due to his extreme quickness and lack of a consistant shot. I think once he gets the defense to respect his shot then he will be driving alot more being the defense is no longer sagging off of him.
@justin
The problem is players are forced to guard Parker on the outside (compared to russ) where they sag sometimes into the paint when guarding russ.
westbrook has a bad shooting motion, he flares his elbow when he shoots and it causes him to be off by a few inches
This is against my own interests and chances of getting the shirt, but the tree and leaf dude said broingtons are available at 5pm.
Take the last one before I get there and ill hunt you down!
@f5alcon
I agree he also seems to be off balance in his shot. Seems like if it is not a catch a shoot, he leans forward into the shot. We need to get him a shooting mechanics guru for the offseason.
I’m not terribly hard on Westbrook right now because I think he’s in a bit of a conundrum. Last year, he was able to go to the hole pretty much whenever he wanted. This year, I think the coaches are really trying to concentrate on teaching him to set up the plays more. Maybe I’m full of it, but I can see how it would be difficult to incorporate the two right away. If and when he dies, he’s going to be something to see.
@MartzMimic
I agree…if you ment when he DOES and not when he dies
I like the sound of “But make no mistake, he has the talent to put up big numbers on a championship team.”
@MartzMimic
i hope he doesnt “die”
@ dork
I agree with the shooting mechanics thing, i think there are other players that could benefit from it also. Maybe just go through a whole skills camp, Durant dribbles too high, green brings the ball down when rebounding and doesnt keep it high. collison and krstic are the most fundamentally sound players on the team
It’s obvious that Westy is a good stand still shooter b/c his good FT % is not an aberration and I bet that in practice he is able to knock those open off the dribble shots with more frequency but he is too fast in game time. I hope that next year (preferably by the end of the year :p) he is able to put this together because like dork said, they will have to defend him closer and he will get more chances closer to the rim. This all depends on RW0 realizing that he is still a work in progress and him not settling on jumpers just because he doesn’t want to drive the lane (this is different from him being forced to shoot an outside jumper because they are playing off of him 5 feet). I’m pretty confident that he will put it all together because that team works so damn hard.
All-star returns are in
so far:
Forwards: Carmelo Anthony (Den) 588,958; Dirk Nowitzki (Dal) 366,300; Pau Gasol (LAL) 280,758; Tim Duncan (SA) 271,321; Kevin Durant (OKC) 177,205; Trevor Ariza (Hou) 168,167; Shawn Marion (Dal) 161,653; Luis Scola (Hou) 134,321; Ron Artest (LAL) 99,209; Lamar Odom (LAL) 85,817; LaMarcus Aldridge (Por) 70,588.
Read more: http://www.insidehoops.com/all-star-voting-results.shtml#ixzz0ZJcnSoxj
Does anybody else feel like Harden is being perpetually underrated?
I think he’s more athletic than people give him credit for. Plus, the dude has just got it. You can just tell: Harden is a baller. He has the right feel for the game.
I get very, very excited every time he comes onto the floor. The way he moves (with and without the ball)..all of the little things that he does do right. How about against GSW when he had to wrestle on the floor for the ball, and he stood up, waited patiently for the defense to adjust, and coolly knocked down a 19-footer? I loved it.
Will he ever be a superstar? No. But he’s going to be a very solid player for a very long time.
And while I’m expressing the depths of my Harden-fanboy-crush, we should probably all just watch this some more. Because it’s one of my favorite moments so far this season:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dj2zP2W0Ha4
@MartzMimic
Sorry man, but i’m still wondering if that word “doint” was meant to disrespect me if not, let me know what you meant by it.
@Danny
Harden is defintely underrated at the moment, but it could be the lack of TV time. Once the Thunder gets more media, I believe even when fans are able to look back at us drafting him, they’ll say to themselves that he probably was the second best pick in the draft after Griffen.
I think it might mean “doing it” and I was just joking with the urban dictionary thing. Pretty sure that Martz was just making light of how you were using tweet language in that prior post.
Sometimes when I watch Harden I feel like people think he’s not athletic because he’s so smooth. It’s like there’s no wasted movement, and people are equating non-frantic with non-athletic.
@Osano-Whoa
I think that’s really well said. He does everything so efficiently that it’s nearly boring. Harden’s game already resembles a seasoned-veteren, and he doesn’t at all display the unbridled (and often ill-advised) athleticism that people expect from younger guys (see Russel Westbrook).
Here’s a question: would you trade Harden (straight up) for any other player in this rookie class? I’m an OU student, and I would still be reluctant about sending Harden away for Griffin. I would be so sad without him now!
I would trade James Harden straight up for Blake Griffin (bigger need on the team), and I’d have to really consider Tyreke Evans. I don’t think James Harden is as talented as Evans but he probably fits better next to Russell Westbrook in the long run.
@justin
Yes. It would be helpful to beef-up our front court. But add Griffin to this team and remove Harden, and I still see people complaining that this team is “one talented guard away…”
Did anyone besides me see the show about the ‘Shot Doctor’ working with Derrick Rose. The focus was on rose and how he needed to improve his shooting. Guess who else was there…Westbrook. Working on his shot. Just throwing that out there for those who thinks he needs to work on it. Not disagreeing, just a comment.
@Chas
Thanks for clearing that up, I was really thinking that urban dictionary thing was what was meant. Lol
@Osano-Whoa
Great way to put it in prospective.
To me, Harden is the most exciting finisher on the team. I like his dunks.