Thursday Bolts – 12.17.09
Thunder players to donate the “Creamsicle” shoes they were wearing last night: ”The orange shoes worn by 
Thunder players during tonight’s nationally televised home contest with the Dallas Mavericks will be looking for good homes once they come off the players’ feet following the game. Each player will be autographing his shoes and donating them to an auction benefiting the Oklahoma City Thunder Community Foundation. That silent auction will occur in the Ford Center during the following three home games: December 18 vs. Detroit, December 26 vs. Charlotte and December 31 vs. Utah.”
Oh, and the kicks were named Worst of the Night: “For their tacky bright orange shoes, called “Creamsicles” (no, really, I did not make this up) that made them look like their Turbo button was stuck. I mean this is how NBA Jam should be played anyways, and this is probably too awesome of a description for how it actually looked… maybe more like ducks with racing stripes. And since I can’t really think of anything bad to say about the Mavs, here’s a closeup of said shoes.”
Rob Mahoney of HP gives some BRILLIANT thoughts about Russell Westbrook: “The defense is there and the effort is there, but in order for Westbrook to make it to the next level, he’ll need to turn his effort and his hustle inward. Russell’s game will take him as far as he wills it to, and though premier point guard instincts can’t exactly be taught, they can be cultivated by time in the gym, studying video, and with the playbook. That’s what it’s going to take for Westbrook to earn a spot among the elite at his position, and his on-court work ethic gives us all reason for optimism. It’s also the reason why Francis had a ceiling, but Westbrook does not. The key is to avoid spinning sideways, and though he has yet to take any substantive jumps this year, he’s a sophomore. I love instant returns as much as anyone else, but the key to Westbrook understanding and actualizing will be the patience of those within the Thunder organization itself.”
HoopsWorld predicted the Rookie/Soph rosters and bother Thunder candidates get snubbed: “Obviously there are going to be some serious snubs here. The Class of 2008 was epic good and some very, very good players are being left out here. Among them are Memphis’ O.J. Mayo, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook, Orlando’s Ryan Anderson, and Golden State’s Anthony Morrow – and that doesn’t even get into injured Portland Trail Blazers Greg Oden and Rudy Fernandez, both of whom could have been on here if healthy (more likely Oden than Fernandez). It always seems like the Sophomore squad is tougher to pick anyway, because the players are a year more experienced and usually have earned themselves larger roles on their teams.”
KD was Wednesday’s worst on the Daily Dime: “Rocking Creamsicle orange Nike sneakers, Durant matched his worst scoring game of the season, finishing with just 12 points on 4-for-18 shooting against the Mavericks.”
I love this little tidbit from Eddie Sefko: ”Jason Kidd just got called for a foul on a drive by Russell Westbrook that he clearly didn’t agree with. Kidd went over to the sideline, ostensibly to get some fresh resin on his hands. After giving them a good rub to get them nice and full of resin, he went over and gave referee Scott Wall a pat on the behind. A nice off-white hand print was left on the black slacks.”
Mark Cuban voted against the Sonics move to OKC and said he’d vote the same way. But he did have some nice words about Clay Bennett: ”Clay (Bennett) is doing a phenomenal job here. If you were going to create a template for it, this is the right way to move a team and rebuild and develop within a community. No one’s done a better job of it than Clay.”
James Harden ranks 10th on NBA.com’s rookie rankings: “Since scoring a career-high 26 on Dec. 7, Harden has come back to earth. In three games this week he averaged just 6.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists as the Thunder went 1-2. Still, Harden is eighth among rookies in both scoring and assists, while playing just over 20 minutes per game. Put Harden on a team where he’s getting serious minutes and no doubt his numbers would be more impressive at this point.”
Thorpe’s rookie rankings has Harden at five: ”Any way you slice it, Harden has had a rough December as a shooter. Other than a 6-for-13 effort against Golden State (the league’s 28th-worst defense), he has made just 10 of 34 shots. Part of the problem for Harden is the adjustment he has had to make as the third or fourth option on most actions; he needs to be both a scorer and a ball mover. (He was mostly just a scorer in college.) Because he’s already such a great and willing passer in the NBA, he’ll soon learn to trust himself as a scorer, knowing that if he took a shot it was the right decision.”
Loved the shoes last night. Very frustrating night for the team and in the stands, especially when you have drunk Mavs fans sitting directly in front of you being complete idiots. And don’t worry, one was wearing a “Roudy Loud Proud” Mavs Blazer w/ a shirt that would light up.
I won a prize from @nikebasketball last night on the first question, so that was the best part of the night for me by far. Those 3 plays from Ibaka were a very close second.
@Dooney
Me too! I got a pair of the shoes, pretty sweet deal. Plus, I trolled Traber on Twitter after the game and got him pissed off. All around, it’s hard for me to be too upset about yesterday.
Cuban kills me. He only voted no because he probally lost some ticketsales. I can’t stand that guy.
@Dylan
Whoa! You won a pair of those bad boys?!? That’s fantastic. I think I just got a shirt, but still fun to win.
He voted no because they should never have been moved.
clay bennett is a slimy piece of crap.
@Jared
he was the oklahoman of the year, so i respectfully disagree. viva la bennett
i think the shoes are dope. dylan how’d you win a pair?
@Jared
Don’t start up with that. Please.
I am from Nebraska, and started rooting for the Sonics because of KD. I really didnt care that they moved other than it made half their games have earlier start times. I recently watched Sonicsgate though, and will have to agree that Clay Bennett is not the most scrupulous person. I am not sure how winning Oklahoman of the year changes that? of course people in oklahoma are going to like him because he brought pro basketball to them.
@heatcheck13
nike basketball was tweeting thunder-related questions during the game. I tried to get a few questions right earlier on, but I was always a step late. I really just got lucky and looked at the right time. The question was “who did the thunder get their first win against?” I actually just beat Royce on the answer by like 3 seconds, I think.
Anyway, I thought I just won a shirt or something, but it was apparently a grand prize. I didn’t know until @nikebasketball sent me a DM asking for my shoe size. I need to find a day when KD is doing autographs, so I can head to OKC. Pretty rad.
@Jared and @andrew
SonicsGate was pretty good. Evan?, I believe was his name was head of the OKC group, Bennett came in, Evans left. Bennett worked through the system that is called gov’t and got the team moved. Seattle had it’s chance, but it’s mayor or govnr? took a settlement. Lots of villains can be seen in this. It’s over and done, so lets leave it that way.
@ Royce
Sorry, had to throw that in.
Did you even read the article?
I think the shoes are average, but I wouldn’t mind a signed pair if you know what I mean?
If rookie rankings is who put up the more gaudy numbers…I have no problem with Harden being in the convo.
Does Harden have a nickname…or theme when he scores like Green and Ibaka? he needs one
I wondered what Cuban would have to say. I saw him in the stands in his usually spot behind the Mavs bench. Bet he threatened Dirk within an inch of his contract if they lost to us!
Also, he probably only said those nice things about Bennett because he knows Clay could kick his ass!! My owner can beat up your owner!! LOL
I didn’t know if I heard correctly but I thought I heard the wookie noise/growl/moan after Ibaka scored. If they did, that is awesome. Anyone else hear this at the game?
If you live in Norman, the Thunder Girls will be signing calendars at First American Bank on the east side (12th Street by Wal-Mart) from 9-11, Saturday morning. Just thought I’d let everyone know.
@girlballer
lol the owners cage match! go! go!
All I am going to say about the Sonics thing is both sides are to blame. If you are really that sore about it start watching another team or stop watching the NBA.
My Cuban dislike of Cuban started well before KD was even in the league… He just rubs me the wrong way, always has.
Nothing bad to say about Mark Cuban, like him or not as a person he completely revitalized basketball in Dallas and he takes care of his players, fans, etc.
I was living in Fort Worth when he bought the team. Nobody paid attention to the Mavs at the time and it swung the other way real quick.
My early new years resolution is to not say another bad word about Russell for the remainder of the season. I intend to cling to the idea that he has all of the physical tools to become a quality PG, and by all accounts the type of work ethic that should allow him to learn what he needs to learn. In the short term, we might be sacrificing some W’s while he sorts all of this out, but its not like we were competing with the Lakers this year anyway. If at the first quarter pole of next season Russell still has a lousy assist/turnover ratio and is shooting a crap fg%, I’m going to have “I Hate Westbrook” tatooed in giant letters down both my arms.
Ok, maybe not with the tatoos, but a slanderous billboard is within the realm of possibility.
ROFL!
@Steve– thanks for changing your mind. I was about to give you the kindergarten speech about how “hate” is a VERY HURTFUL word, and we don’t need to use it! Besides, how silly would you feel when you ran into him @GameStop?
@girlballer
This gamestop visit would have been a classic moment! Still yet I don’t expect Westbrook to show the progression that Durant did in his first three years. I’m giving Westbrook till the 1st quarter mark of year four to truley judge. Why you ask? I’m giving him a one year credit since he has to transition and learn (still learning) a position he never played… and its a tough position at that.
My problem with the Hardwood Paroxysm article on Russ is the underlying assumption that the effort and defense are there for RW. I think that the national belief about Russ (thanks to his UCLA days) is that he’s a good defender, but watching the games that simply isn’t true. And it obviously isn’t for a lack of physical gifts, its because of effort. So Mahoney’s conclusions drawn from the basic premise that Russ’s effort is there don’t work for me.
@nick
He might have been talking about effort in practice and getting better. /shrug
@dork
Yeah, but he seems to be referring to in-game effort (because he talks about how that effort leads to him being out of control).
@nick
get off my back man it was only an idea! AHHHH!!!!
….yea having one of those days at work keke.
@dork
Hahaha, ok ok.
@dirkdajerk
at Asu we used to call him Big Game James, hopefully he can earn that nickname soon enough in the pros
@dirkdajerk
at Asu we used to call him Big Game James, hopefully he can earn that nickname soon enough in the pros
@heatcheck13
I REALLY hope he lives up to that name in the NBA…that would be awesome. and as to my earlier post. I meant if Rook Rankings are about gaudy numbers, I don’t mind Harden NOT being in the convo.