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Friday Bolts – 3.12.10

Chris Douglas-Roberts has heard of the Skirvin and has avoided it: “Yes!! We’re NOT staying in that haunted hotel in Oklahoma City. If we were I would’ve checked into the Ho-down Inn around the corner.”

James Harden will be a question tonight: ”Rookie guard James Harden suffered a strained right hamstring when he landed awkwardly in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s win. Harden ran beyond half court after play stopped to try and stretch out the hamstring. Harden played the rest of the game but did not practice Thursday. “It just tightened up on him,” Brooks said. “We don’t know (if he’ll play tonight). We’ll see how he feels after he gets treatment. It’s day to day.”

NBA.com’s Five on the Rise: “It’s been more of the same from Westbrook, who returns to the Five on the Rise thanks to another solid week. After a rough road loss to the Nuggets, Westbrook was his usual box score-stuffing self against the Clippers (15 points, nine assists, seven steals, six rebounds) and Kings (21 points, eight rebounds, four assists). He gets some bonus points with us, too, for shaking off a poke to the eye — and the six stitches afterward — from Sacramento’s Carl Landry to power a comeback win over the Kings. More impressive than playing through the injury was how Westbrook played in Sacramento: He fearlessly drove to the hoop and had a key left-handed layup with 44.3 seconds left to seal the win. He’s already got a big supporter in coach Scott Brooks and another Oklahoma coach — the Sooners’ Bob Stoops — said he’s impressed with Westbrook, too. “6-3, long arms, ballhawking skills,” Stoops told The Oklahoman of Westbrook. “He’d have made a great cornerback.”

KD on Clipper Darrell: “I think the Staples Center is the only arena where someone has heckled me so much. That’s not to say I don’t get yelled at in other opposing arenas. People talk about my mom, my grandma, everything. I’ve been called skinny, been told I need to eat, but it’s all good. It’s nothing I get too upset over.”

Here is a most excellent picture I was sent of someone getting their Broingtons shirt signed by James Harden:

15 teams use a stat person, 15 don’t, according to this report from the Wall Street Journal: “According to interviews with every team, The Wall Street Journal found that half the league’s teams this season have at least one of these statisticians who helps make in-game, draft-day and trade-deadline decisions. Many of these teams are among the NBA’s best. The list accounts for all six division leaders, including the Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks, who have a data analyst traveling with the team. These 15 teams that have invested heavily in statistics have combined to win 59.3% of their games this season. The 15 teams without such analysts have won 40.7% of their games, and only three—the Phoenix Suns, Utah Jazz and Atlanta Hawks—are on pace to make the postseason.”

A great photo gallery of the Thunder with pictures from practice, the locker room and game shots.

Right now, OKC is eighth in home attendence. There’s a great chance the Thunder will finish top 10, which is cool.

From ESPN the Mag this week, they present the “Anti-Durants,” a list of guys that have gone the longest without scoring 25 points in a game. Kevin Ollie makes an appearance on the list with 656 consecutive games without scoring 25.

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@crick
I like it! I think my favorite image is number 9, with the guys just hanging around at a break. It just shows the team chemistry even during practices and workouts.

cool!

NBAE put up another gallery -- this one of the team workouts

NBAE Photo Gallery: Thunder workout at practice facility

Hanz & Franz voice: "ve vill pump you up!"

you left out a link for your bolts, Royce...

Venn Diagram: difference between geek, nerd, dork, and dweeb

I find that diagram fascinating (um... what does that mean?)

crick :

Snowflake :
More Thunder love
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?column...

It’s official now…
Everyone loves the OKC Thunder
(TV show soon to be created)

that guy from Scrubs... he'll grow a beard and play Harden

Snowflake :
More Thunder love
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?column...

It's official now...

Everyone loves the OKC Thunder

(TV show soon to be created)

:)

how can any sports fan have a nickname of... snowflake???

smh

;)

Tom :
Great Article! That has got to be the first and best JA Adande article about the Thunder. In the beginning he was critical of the move.

if it's his first article, then it probably is the best (and worst!), heh

@Snowflake
lol, I think we both posted the same article.

Great Article! That has got to be the first and best JA Adande article about the Thunder. In the beginning he was critical of the move.

He was pretty ferocious back in high school.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Yeah, it's a good night to get him up to speed.

Also, we've got a couple of sub .500s over the next couple of weeks, so if Harden is back on the 2 side of that 2-4, we hopefully get him before we play the Lakers. Hopefully, everyone else steps up to pick up the slack too.

@GAP

;)

If anything, tonight would be the night to play Weaver as much as you could to get him up to speed, since we're playing the Nets.

f5alcon :@crick

green needs to bring back the dreads

NO!!!!!!!!!!

Oh what the hell 2-4 weeks? ****!!!

Why did brooks use him later in the game after his injury? it was a blowout game!!

justin :
Weaver averaged 7.2 assists to 4.4 turnovers in five D-League games. Shot 41.4% from the field, 33% from 3pt range.
If he’s going to have a future with this team beyond this year he’ll have to do one of those two things better.. either distribute the ball or shoot the three.

That doesn't mean anything. Send thabo to the D-League and he will make 2 points, 8 turnovers and shoot 30%. He would have 30 Steals, 10 assist and 17 Rebounds though.

i'm kidding btw.

@Jax Raging Bile Duct
Great minds think alike. :-)

Via Twitter: DarnellMayberry

Guard James Harden is out 2-4 weeks with a right hamstring strain. #OKCTHUNDER

I think Weaver will get more burn than we thought because of this. He won't be running the point like he did in Tulsa, so those turnovers shouldn't be as high. He is the 2nd best defender on the team, so if he comes in for Thabo then we don't really lose that change of pace.

Although, it's asking a lot of a guy to have all of his rust shaken. But, I like what I see in Weaver, and give him a game or two to adjust as well as he can, and I think he'll do just fine.

In fact, Weaver pulled off one of my favorite Thunder plays of ALL TIME against Kobe Bryant... Bryant posted up and was trying to back Weaver down. Weaver side-stepped and Bryant went tumbling to the floor looking like a complete idiot..... LOVED it!!

I think we're taking the nets way to easy, i don't think it will be a blowout game, we will clearly win though. Oh and without Harden will Thabo will go for 35 pts!

@justin
The team did say he was rusty, dang man, let him get his feet wet again. I mean he hasn't played for months before his stint in the D league.

@justin
Not too shabby... does he have to enter the draft?

If he stays on this team I don't think he will ever do much but practice and ride the pine until someone gets hurt. The best thing for Weaver would be a trade or a move in free agency... but who knows if either of those things are feasible for him.

The good thing for the Thunder is that they have a guy who can come in and play some solid defense should someone go down. He may not add a great deal on the offensive end, but he doesn't hurt the team IMO.

Just for comparison, Mustafa Shakur is shooting 50% overall and 40% from 3PT range in 38 D-League games.

Weaver averaged 7.2 assists to 4.4 turnovers in five D-League games. Shot 41.4% from the field, 33% from 3pt range.

If he's going to have a future with this team beyond this year he'll have to do one of those two things better.. either distribute the ball or shoot the three.

@justin
he could use some of that killer instinct

Jeff Green was called the Predator because of his hair I think..

@crick
green needs to bring back the dreads

Hope to Weaver get some burn tonight... I really like his game and have been disappointed that things have not gone well for him this year.

He has a lot of potential in my opinion.

you've GOT TO WATCH this:

The Story of Jeff Green

if for no other reason than to see video of a young Jeff Green playing on the court with long, flowing dreadlocks

(yes, I said long, flowing dreadlocks!!!)

@crick
Yeah, you're right. That does sound better. Maybe desperate more reflected my attitude than the general populace...

so, do we have any stats guys? how many? what do they do for us? (do they help with in-game adjustments?)

sas :
... "how desperate Oklahoma was for a professional sports team" ...

hmm... I don't like the word "desperate" there

Let me suggest a replacement word -- "eager"

there, that sounds better

love Weaver's defensive game - hope he gets in tonight, he was one the few people (with Thabo) that showed up defensively last year - he deserves to get some run . . .

GAP :Kyle Weaver has been recalled!

Maybe Harden does sit because of the recall of Weaver leads me to think that.

@justin
Very true.

Do we think this is a big-score KD night or a 25-30 and bench KD night?

The attendance number should go up more, hopefully sell out the rest of the games, as we get closer to playoffs, college basketball being almost done and baseball not having started yet.

Harden shouldnt be needed tonight, maybe weaver gets the mins, or just westbrook and duraant and extra mins for thabo. With Yi injured the nets are even less of a threat then normal. Lopez and harris being the only good players on the team, should be similar to the hornets mix except with much less quality in every other position. The nets are 0-13 in the western conference on the road. We hopefully build a nice 15-20 point lead and maintain the whole game, durant gets a ton of points a triple double for russ and then the starters sit the 4th to rest up for the jazz.

@justin

Ibaka could be as good as garnett, build a lot alike, both good defenders. I hope he turns out that good, then we will have so many championships.

Kyle Weaver has been recalled! :-)

that's it, it's over...

New Jersey beats Thunder in a blowout!

that comment by a Nets player about Skirvin... smh

does that mean they DIDN'T STAY at the Skirvin last night? dangit! how the heck are we going to win tonight without the ghosts on our side?

:(

I'm concerned about James Harden's beard...

I mean, it didn't 'tighten up' did it? That would be bad. A beard should remain soft and flexible.

;)

I think it's interesting Serge wants to play like Kevin Garnett or Chris Bosh.

If there is any game for one of our players to miss with injury it's certainly this one. Talk about good timing.

I think that being in the top 10 in attendence has a great deal to do with (1) how desperate Oklahoma was for a professional sports team (2) how loyal Oklahomans are willing to be and (3) how well we've been playing so far this season. There are probably a couple of other pluses in there (proximity to other venues like Dallas, etc.), but I think it slams the door on any thoughts that the franchise should have stayed in Seattle. Not that there are too many on here who think otherwise.

Should we start an Anti-Durant watch on the Thunder? Maybe that's a stat we can start listing for the other team (though how we could find it consistently is a mystery to me...).

I'm a little worried about being without Harden tonight, but I don't think it should affect the outcome of the game, especially if we play like we have the past couple (especially against the Hornets). Even if he can play, though, Brooks might decide to rest him if the game is in hand from the start.

And of course, a big AMEN to everything said about Russ. Now if we can just get him to come up big consistently and against the top tier teams, too...

I think the phrase 'anti-Durants' should be restricted to those who can guard KD so effectively that he can't get his 25 points in a game.

a MUCH shorter list!

go read the online chat that Serge-meister had with fans yesterday:

Live Chat with Serge Ibaka

a few interesting tidbits. Likes OKC. Thinks Westbrook is the funniest player offcourt. Does not want to bulk up to Dwight Howard size.