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Monday Bolts – 3.22.10

A few weeks ago, we saw John Mayer in a Thunder jersey (customized with No. 1 and Mayer on the back). This week, we get Snoop D-O-Double-G wearing a Kevin Durant one. Pretty neat.

Amare Stoudemire has been wearing the KD II’s and playing much better in them: ”I’ve been wearing them for … how long have I been wearing these, Duds? The Kevin Durants,” Stoudemire asked his next-door locker room neighbor, Jared Dudley. “You’ve been wearing them probably about, a week and a half, two weeks?” Dudley replied. “Yeah, I’ve been wearing ‘em for a couple of weeks,” Stoudemire continued. “They’re not bad, they’re not bad. It’s always Nike Mafia,” Stoudemire said. “We always support each other’s shoes and gear within the Nike family.”

On Snizzle Pizzle Dizzle Manizzle wearing a KD jersey, MTV has a less than enthusiasic reaction: “The crowd, which began lining up outside the Whitley some five hours before the party kicked off, was mostly into the big acts, Snoop in particular. The rapper took the stage after midnight (and after Hilton had introduced him as “somebody you usually don’t see at South by Southwest”) and went buck wild, feeding off the energy and playing nothing but the hits … though, he probably could’ve worn something other than an Oklahoma City Thunder jersey.”

Indy Cornrows with some thoughts about yesterday’s “game”: “OKC was a frustrated bunch today and it continued to build throughout the game. Russell Westbrook picked up a technical from the bench while arguing on behalf of Kevin Durant. Then a little bit later, Nick Collison, a strong, consistent post presence off the bench for the Thunder was moved to chuck the ball after his frustrations with the refs and dealing with Roy were more than he could take.”

Darnell Mayberry: “Anyone concerned with the Thunder’s defense? If you’re not, perhaps you should be. That’s now five times in the past nine games that OKC has allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent or better. When the Thunder was playing its best ball, it was consistently locking up teams. Now, it’s hit or miss. And with a brutal schedule in the final 14 games, that can’t be a good trend.” Also, Mayberry mentions Westbrook was feeling sick before the game and blamed it on “bad food” or something. Either that or he was hungover after the Jay Z concert. But whatever.

KD had a solid quote after the game though: “How we came out was a disgrace to the game of basketball. That starts with me. I apologize to all the fans and all of my teammates that I came out like that.”

This blog says Serge Ibaka will eventually join the “stars” of the Thunder: “Second, Ibaka is another example of Thunder GM Sam Presti’s genius. The former San Antonio Spurs intern took a slight chance drafting a European club player –albeit, one who came from Africa- based on his remarkable physical skill. Instead of rushing him to the NBA after the draft, the organization allowed Ibaka to spend another year developing in Europe.”

Tonight is the beginning of a tough stretch: ”Tonight’s game against the Spurs marks the beginning of a treacherous final 14 for the Thunder. They could be the difference between winning home-court advantage in the first round, falling to the eighth spot or, worst, out of the playoffs altogether. The Thunder is just 2-9 against the Spurs, Rockets, Lakers and Blazers.”

NBA.com has Kevin Durant’s Top 10 plays of the year. Can we include Serge Ibaka’s putback as one of those? KD did shoot it after all. Kind of like an assist.

Magic Number Watch: With yesterday’s loss and Houston’s win, the number over the Rockets stays at nine. Over Memphis though, it’s eight.

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@Durantula
I agree with you. I think we are likely to be 7th or 8th. But, then again, this team has surprised me time and again this year.

@KingGondo
Based on our schedule, I think we are more likely to be the 8 seed than the 4 seed... I would be very happy with anything 7 or better.

@Kyle
i was just using him as an example.

f5alcon :@Elegy444

haha yeah, i mean even last year id rather have wins then lottery position. Though if they draft the right player maybe we could trade, if they get aldrich, maybe they want dj white for him, white goes to play in indiana, he will be happy, we get a real center.

Aldrich = blah, not going to be good in the NBA

@Elegy444
haha yeah, i mean even last year id rather have wins then lottery position. Though if they draft the right player maybe we could trade, if they get aldrich, maybe they want dj white for him, white goes to play in indiana, he will be happy, we get a real center.

Wow, read the comments on the Pacers site. I can't believe they'd get so upset about a win.... because they're dropping down the lottery standings.

You play to win the game!

I think KD and the boys will light up the Spurs tonite. This is a big week and Serge does RULE! Russ has to step it up this week. And I would like to ask John Mayer to never wear a Thunder jersey again. Snoop is the man though and at SXSW too!

@PNT
he did play 41 mins yesterday

What are the chances the Popovich sits Duncan again tonight? Just kidding...:)

@Royce Young

You know you're an NBA superstar when Snoop Dogg is sporting your jersey at one of his biggest shows of the year.

Joe :
Like King Gondo 7-7 would be 49 wins.

Yeah, I knew that. I should've been clearer with my original statement: 50 wins or more would be gravy, but I'd take 49.

The situation I'm hoping for: #4 or #5 seed and playing Utah in the first round. Attainable, but we'll need to play extremely well over the stretch run and can't afford to have any performances like yesterday's.

@Rhett
Boom. Roasted.

Didn't you used to be the channel that showed music videos?
James Montgomery is probably a smart guy, but his Thunder comment makes him sound like a complete moron. KD played college-ball in Austin and now plays pro-ball for the Thunder. SXSW is in Austin! I guess Snoop could've had a custom KD Longhorn jersey made, or he could just buy the NBA jersey of the hottest young player (media & on the court) in the game.

"Never in the history of the game, has there been this much destruction"
- Cream Corn

@Joe
my reasoning is to get my scoring out of the 2nd team, without harden it is really struggling, could also up durants mins. We miss harden a lot.

Did anyone else catch James Harden's Brother Mazzone outfit on the bench last night?

Back to basics really is the key now. We got this far on suffocating defense. We got through an easier stretch with our offense, but we all of our guys need to make a conscious decision to be defenders, and just let to offense come.

No need to get crazy and change lineups or anything. Just dance with who brung you to 17 games over .500.

I think the idea is simply "get back to basics". Get those defensive rotations crisp; remember to work your a** off fighting over screens. Help the helper etc. Those things are where victory is at. Run your sets, be smart with the ball, rebound with a vengeance etc.

Like King Gondo 7-7 would be 49 wins.

@KingGondo
hopefully soon. Maybe brooks should move green or krstic to the bench to bolster then 2nd team, and start serge.

I know it sounds pessimistic, but 7-7 over the last 14 would actually be pretty nice. Anything over that (i.e. over 50 wins) would be gravy.

Any word on Harden's return? He needs to come back yesterday, our bench has absolutely no scoring punch without him.

this is a tough week for us, but the spurs have an even tougher week, they have us, lakers, cavs, boston. So even if we stink it up, we should still be in the 6th or 7th seed. If we can go 2-2 or 3-1 this week it will be very helpful. 4 wins the rest of the way is 89% chance of playoffs, 5 is 97%.

At least the spurs played a late OT game in atlanta last night and at their advanced age they should be tired. but we have to play strong and not like we did last game, durant needs to shoot well.

man, I hope we start playing better soon!

Serge rocks!