SL: Thunder vs. Bobcats game notes
July 6th, 2010
What a game! The Bobcats beat the Thunder at the buzzer on a Jeremy Pargo runner, 86-85. HEARTBREAK IN ORLANDO. Some notes and observations:
- James Harden looked much, much better today. He was finishing at the rim and playing much more aggressively. His jumper has been a little off, but again, that’s not really the concern. Harden is a scorer/slasher first and foremost, so him finishing at the tin is the main goal for this summer. We know he can hit a 3, even though he went 1-5 today from deep. It’s about taking contact and scoring for him. The five turnovers are a bit alarming though.
- The offense did not run without Eric Maynor on the floor. In summer league, a point guard is the most important person on the roster. And Maynor is a pretty good one. The Thunder tried Kyle Weaver, Mustafa Shakur and even Harden a little there. Nothing really worked without Maynor. Maynor’s line: 18 points on 5 of 9 shooting, five assists, four rebounds and three turnovers.
- Byron Mullens looked good a second consecutive day. I realize he went 2-10 from the floor but David Thorpe put it well: “Sometimes you have to see beyond the missed shots and recognize that he earned good shots with good effort.” The fact Mullens took 10 shots is actually encouraging. He struggled with aggressiveness last summer and in the D-League last year. He really committed himself to being a factor and despite the poor shooting, he still netted 12 points (8-12 from the line). However, my biggest qualm with Mullens has always been that there’s no way a 7’1 guy should be getting only three rebounds in 28 minutes, including ZERO defensive rebounds. That’s an issue.
- After pretty much writing him off yesterday, Kyle Weaver responded with a nice game today. He went 2-5 from 3 and scored 14 points. And yet, it still didn’t really feel like he was THAT involved.
- With Serge Ibaka out, Latavious Williams saw more minutes today. And you wouldn’t really know it. The youngster played 13 minutes and scored two points, grabbed a rebound and racked up six fouls. Impressive.
- D.J. White can play. Offense, that is. He scored 14 on 5-10 shooting, but his defense continues to look suspect. One play comes to mind. Early fourth quarter, White flashes out top on Jeremy Pargo on a switch. The ball goes into the post and White chases it like a madman. One pass back to Pargo and he’s wide open for a 15-foot jumper. White plays hard, but he’s just not sound defensively.
- More on Mullens: I said his hands were better yesterday. They were. Yesterday. He fumbled a number of passes today. He did however run the floor well. His finish off an Eric Maynor pass on a fast break was wonderful. To see a seven-footer run the floor like that was great. However, Mullens continues to get caught watching on the defensive end. It’s not a lack of effort, but I think he sort of forgets where he’s supposed to be.
- OKC is shooting a ridiculous number of free throws. Yesterday, 43. Today 40. Good thing too, because the Thunder’s not shooting great from the field.
- Props to Mark Fein today. It was just a summer league game, but he announced the thing like it was at least a regular season game. And it didn’t feel forced at all. I’m still bummed there’s no Dante and Galante, but Fein did good work today.
OKC plays at 2 PM CDT against Philly tomorrow.
KD signed 5yrs extensions with thunder, from his twitter.
@dailythunder: KD has signed a five-year extension with OKC. 2 minutes ago via web
Can any of you cap-n-trade (see what I did there?)experts tell me if there is any way Miami could help the Hornets unload Paul and Okafor?
A starting line up of
Okafor
Bosh
??
Wade
Paul
If they cough up Beasley and Chalmers, does that leave them any money to pick up some other rotation players?
I’d say the more important comparison is:
The Lakers > The Heat
Kobe + Gasol + Phil Jackson + Artest + Bynum > Wade + Bosh + Beasley + Chalmers + filler
HAHAH YES DURANTTTTTTTTTT
@Bryan
But what if LBJ lands there too? Kind of makes me think they’d be playing 3 v. 5 the entire season. Being one of the other 2 starters would be bitter sweet. You’d be an “Oh yeah..” mention but at the same time, the be one of the starters with that trio, pretty amazing.
I’m not a huge Kobe fan, but I have a hard time dismissing him and saying that Wade is easily the better player.
I know Kobe is no longer in peak form, but he still finds a way to make it happen. I know part of that is due to his supporting cast, but there is no doubt he is still one of the best in the game, especially when it comes to closing out a game.
How can you say this? They’ve never even played together yet and Kobe/Gasol have 2 rings together!! (or is it 3?) Either way, Kobe/Gasol is proven. Wade/Bosh is promising. I’ll take proven over promising any day of the week.
@Bryan
Wade is just far more efficient, better on defense at this point. Kobe’s productivity has dropped and that should continue…
I hope that the Thunder wave a contract or two, like Weaver’s, so that we can have a familiar face to follow in Miami lol
@j-mo
Just my opinion. Wade won a title with non-prime Shaq as a young’un. Is Chris Bosh that much worse than 2006 Shaq?
I understand, I just think it’s hard to quantify Kobe’s presence on the court. I don’t know that there are many players with his ability to make coaching decisions and adjustments on the court, on the fly.
Until he starts losing in the playoffs or missing them altogether, I think it’s hard to say anyone is really better.
….with real certainty
@justin
I don’t know if it is fair to compare bosh (or anyone really) to shaq. He was one of a kind if you ask me.
Shaq was on his decline by that point. Obviously, Chris Bosh is nothing like Shaq, I just meant as overall impact.
Wade’s wasted a few years of his career with no help. I’m happy he’ll finally have some.
BTW…. Thank You Kevin Durant! You just made me a pretty happy fan!!!!
@justin
I agree, it will be fun to watch Wade with a little help.
@justin
agreed! I didn’t mean to imply that i didn’t think they would be great together. I like Wade, he seems like a guy who deserves success.
But keep in mind, the Heat still have to contend with the Thunder. If LBJ lands in Miami, they’ll certainly be the favorite to win it all, but there are still some very good teams left to contend with them. I believe from the Western Conference, the Thunder will be one of them next year.
@justin
Wade shot / scored a bit better with Shaq. He also shot a bit less than he does now. I don’t think playing with Bosh will improve his FG% as much or that his shots necessarily go down either.