Thursday Bolts – 12.31.09
I may be a little in and out today as I’ll be captaining the ship at TrueHoop today, filling in for Henry and Kevin. So if 
you see anything awesome or just want to tell me how I screwed it up, shoot me an email.
Chad Ford rates Kevin Durant as one of the best picks of the decade: “Kevin Durant became the first freshman to win NCAA Player of the Year honors — but still couldn’t get taken No. 1 thanks to Ohio State big man Greg Oden. Thunder GM Sam Presti is forever grateful that Durant fell. He is one of the best scorers the game has ever seen. He can kill you from anywhere on the floor. Although he still needs to work on his defense and continue to get stronger, Durant is already one of the best small forwards in the game. I think all of us can imagine him averaging 30 points per game in his prime and leading the Thunder to an NBA title down the road.”
John Krolik and Kevin Arnovitz asked some key questions for 2010: “I think Oklahoma City wins a playoff series when their backcourt clicks into place, and that’s close to happening. I love Westbrook’s game and think he has a ton of potential, but he just needs to be more disciplined. He pushes the ball, plays great defense, and does all these little things, but then he’ll throw up a bad jumper, brick a full-speed reverse layup, or make a silly pass, and his true shooting percentage and turnover rates are way off of where they need to be because of that. It’ll be interesting to see if the answer there is Harden maturing to the point where he can play 30-35 minutes a game and cover some of Westbrook’s weaknesses with his shooting, playmaking and ability to create off the drive. (Combo guards!) But I think that young frontcourt is the envy of a lot of teams in the league, Sam Presti keeps getting valuable pieces without giving up much, and I’d call the future very bright there.”
Scott Brooks thinks Russell Westbrook can do a better job on the glass: “When asked about Russell Westbrook’s potential to blossom into a nightly triple-double threat, Brooks said the rebounding category currently is the most difficult stat for his point guard to accumulate. Westbrook is third among point guards in rebounding with a 4.9 average, his 1.6 offensive boards ranking first among players at the position. “Offensively, he’s a pretty good rebounder,” Brooks said. “But he needs to focus more on getting defensive rebounds. I think he can get five of those a game.”
James Harden is at No. 8 in NBA.com’s rookie rankings: “Harden has made the most of increased playing time. In the Thunder’s last eight games, Harden has averaged 11.6 points and scored in double-digits in five straight at one point. But with so many options in OKC, Harden continues to fly under the radar, thanks to his team-first attitude. “You can never have enough unselfish playmakers,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks told the East Valley Tribune. “The thing I like about him is he’s unselfish but he can do a lot of things scoring-wise. Some guys are unselfish because they can’t be selfish. They can’t score. They can’t make plays. James can, but he puts his teammates first.”
David Thorpe’s rankings are out too: “Harden has earned more minutes this month, but not because he is shooting any better. In fact, his shooting numbers are down from 41 percent to 38 percent on field goals overall and from 40 percent to 28 percent on 3s. However, he has improved as a defender and is finding ways to contribute in other areas. Combined with Thabo Sefolosha, the Thunder are getting solid production at the shooting guard position.”
Ibaka and Eric Maynor also made the list for December’s best rookies: “Ibaka is learning how to position himself and finish inside, improving his field goal percentage from 40 percent in November to almost 60 percent now … Maynor looked like a promising backup to Deron Williams in Utah. After being traded to OKC, he’ll look to be the same thing to Russell Westbrook.”
Awesome article on the impact of Hurrican Katrina on the NBA: “But it is impossible to have a conversation about the NBA in the 2000s without discussing the impact of how nature’s unforgiving assault forever changed the professional basketball landscape. Changed it in ways the smartest, most forward-thinking minds in the league could not have seen, changed it in towns thousands of miles apart, changed it so much that events shaping the league are still unfolding more than four years later. New Orleans had a team, lost a team, got a team back, then got a special All-Star weekend that stands as one of the genuinely impactful moments for the NBA. Seattle lost a team. Oklahoma City, which knew pain and the healing process all too well, got a team, then got a good a team that in December 2009 has rewarded its fans for their laudable early support. All because of Katrina.”
A little site news: Yesterday evening, Daily Thunder went over a million hits (and I think only 500,000 were my mom refreshing constantly). And that’s in well under a year of official operation. I can’t say how much I appreciate everyone who reads and comments. Seriously, thanks.
Congrats on the success of the site! Much deserved, one of the best team-centric blogs on the internet.
Tina Turner already sung it for you…Simply the best! Better than all the rest! Congrats!
oooooooh, you should’ve done a millionth hit contest!!! is there a way to find out who it was and give them a free t-shirt?
Congrats on the milestone Royce.
I am not liking how much ESPN requries you to buy insider access to read all their rankings. I realize this is the trend online information is heading to, but am trying to resist it as long as possible. At least I know Daily Thunder is free! (except for the T-Shirts I bought…)
woot woot congrats on the success of the site royce!
Westbrook shouldnt be trying to get 5 rebs per game, needs to get back on defense.
Also, everyone check our Royce’s first entry on TrueHoop this morning: http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/post/_/id/11902/the-evolution-of-an-oklahoma-basketball-fan
cool yeah already people attacking royce though.
If there was, I honestly would. But I’ll just say the millionth hit was me, so I’ll reward myself.
@f5alcon
on a traditional team maybe but like has been stated this is a team rebounding concept..
intereresting observation is how many different opinions there are when a basketball team isn’t ran excatly like the traditional team method..
@Royce
by Throwing a Thunder watch party?!?!
looks like maynor is looking for a girl on twitter, shouldnt be too hard for him to find a women, maybe she can feed him put some muscle on him,lol.
Congrats to Royce and Joe. It’s appropriate that the millionth hit came with a post talking about the Thunder’s special season. I see the growth of DT as a microcosim (sp?) of the team.
should aim for the dallas game or the cleveland game
Less than a year of operation? Man, it feels much longer. In a good way.
Thats what she said.
sorry couldnt resist.
“sorry couldnt resist.”
…thats what.. he… said?
@dork
hahaha
Congrats on the million hits and helping out with True Hoop. Good stuff.
man 5 o’clock can’t get here fast enough going to the game! WOot Woot!!
you will have fun at the game, probably will be a sellout
1 million hits, congrats! Thanks to Royce and everyone that posts for giving me a reason to check this site daily. Been on here since last winter and it’s awesome that so many people are now involved with this blog. Peeps knowledge of the salary cap, etc. on here is helpful in keeping up. Kudos to Joe, Clark and the other guest writers as well.
Haven’t posted in awhile so…
Love the Eric Maynor pickup. The fact he’s a rookie playing as well as he is just makes it even better. As an accountant, I dig shrewd businessmen and Presti just continues to impress me.
Ibaka!!!
We’re 1 game behind Utah for the 8th seed, have a 4 game win streak and have the opportunity to close 2009 w/ a 5 game streak and tied for the 8th seed. Beyond my expectations? Yes. Does this scenario surprise me? No. Having Kevin Durant gives us a legit shot at contending in the near future and I find that very exciting.
Royce’s Seinfeld article sums up why I’m so excited to be a Thunder fan (Norman native) from the beginning of the franchise’s existence. Lived in Dallas (the ’06 Finals meltdown still stings) during the OKC Hornets years so I’m grateful that OKC has the Thunder and several young studs to build around. Grew up on Billy Tubbs b-ball @ OU and todays college game is just boring compared to those days. Though I do watch the tourney every March.
Happy New Years. Ring in ’10 proper.
(I’ll be at the Flaming Lips w/ my fingers crossed that they play their version of Dark Side of the Moon.)
Rhett Jones
It is a great site,Royce.
I think another million hit will come more quickly
and I am in 2010 now,happy new year
yay, happy 2010!
thanks for the web site, seriously.
Royce, this site has become an integral part of my day. Keep it up
It’s interesting seeing the basketball commentary here because many of the OKC fans who aren’t Sonics transplants have such a different point of view – as another poster stated Sonics fans got spoiled by success in the 90′s and all the mediocre seasons in the 00′s took their toll. The fanbase here has a strange, unbridled optimism that is uncommon. I could see Sam Presti trading Kevin Durant for a bag of potato chips and the posters here would find the positive angle.
That isn’t a criticism, it makes it fun posting here. The basketball discussion isn’t as ‘heady’ as the Sonics days but somehow it’s more entertaining and worthwhile. Definitely a unique community you’ve got yourself here, Royce..
What the hell? He thinks that our pleasure in watching Durant and Co. is partly derived from stealing the Sonics???
ESPN conversations are where all the drivel resides. I recommend keeping away from it all.
@justin
For now we are optimistic, at some point it could change, im a knicks fan after watching isiah thomas ruin the franchise, my optimism changed.
@Chas
yeah thats kinda ridiculous, on a day to day basis i forgot we came from seattle, it just doesnt cross my mind, though sonicsgate did make me feel bad.
Congrats on a million and keep up the kick ass bloging Royce!
Here you go guys. Here’s how awesome we are: http://www.truthaboutit.net/2009/12/what-went-wrong-when-oklahoma-city-came-to-washington-dc.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TruthAboutIt+%28Truth+About+It+-+Washington+Wizards+Blog%29&utm_content=ESPN
ok so i was at mcdonalds and somebody yelled boomer when the game started. The thunder need something likle that to yell out randomly.
@f5alcon
I had a post a while back that summarized the states love of two part chants and the Thunder needed one…example of Boomer-Sooner (just felt bad typing that) and Orange-Power…
Yup we need one for at the games.. I don’t think that any NBA team has something like that.. would be espically cool if you could get the camera-noncamera sides of the ford center to get on onen part of the chant.
@Lefty
That is actually a pretty cool little read. Kev!! you need to do this sometime with a few defensive plays.
Man, how fast a year can go! I’m proud to be apart of the DT community and having been around for this long, I can say that this is always the first site that I come to read online everyday. You know Royce, you’re like a drug and I need my fix everyday.
I might not post everyday, but rest assured i’m reading and really enjoy the diverse discussions that we display on the site. Everyone has an opinion and they’re always (well almost) conveyed in a mature and informed way.
Happy New Year DT
Gregory A. Poe
I admit, I am the same way. Fire up the computer, hit browser and the email comes up, next thing is always Daily Thunder.
It’s amazing how when this thing started it was like 35 comments on a really good article. Now just a game thread or a random article might get 350 comments and 800-1000 views.
I’ll add to the congratulations Royce and Joe. This site is just amazing. I was a closet Thunder fan before and this site really let my fandom blossom. I absolutely love the discussion here, talking about sports is one of my favorite things to do. And talking about the Thunder is even better. I’ve been here for awhile now and I like that the community is growing without degenerating. I don’t get to post everyday now (man, I was pissed when I saw the discussion I missed yesterday) but I read every day, both the articles and the comments. Love love love this site.
@dork
Bring…Thunder?