First, a very happy birthday to my older brother Cody who is one of the best Thunder fans out there. Thunder up Codeman.
Chad Ford graded teams from the West’s offseasons and OKC received the highest marks: “The Thunder are the darlings of NBA analysts this summer. Virtually all of us have them ranked as the second-best team in the West and John Hollinger and I ranked them No. 3 in our latest edition of the Future Power Rankings. With the way Kevin Durant lit up the competition in the FIBA World Championship, you can make a strong argument that he, not LeBron or Kobe, is the best player in the NBA. The multiyear extension Durant quietly agreed to this summer earns the Thunder an A all by itself. The Thunder have been patient every summer and this one was no different. The team waited for opportunities, used its cap space to take on other teams’ trash and collect assets, and refused to deviate from the course. Its only significant player addition, Aldrich, was a solid choice, but he is unlikely to have a big impact in his first season. If there was a downside to the Thunder’s summer, it was the hit their front office took when Cho left OKC to take over as the GM of the Blazers. Few fans knew who Cho was, but he was a behind-the-scenes workhorse in Oklahoma City and one of the best minds in the NBA. I’m sure Sam Presti can manage without him, but losing him will sting a bit.” Read more…
Serge Ibaka was part of ESPN the Magazine’s “Body” issue recently and there were some quality photos of him in tight shorts and well, that’s it. His muscles are glistening, his pecs are ripped, his abs are tight and his entire body may or may not be made of granite. Kind of similar to what I look like with my shirt off.
I was out of pocket most of yesterday traveling, so that’s a big reason I missed a few things. Most notably, this terrific love letter to the Thunder from Etan Thomas on HoopsHype. The whole thing is just magnificent: “The fans are amazing. Like nothing, I have ever seen before. We had great fans in DC, don’t get me wrong. But the Oklahoma City fans gave the entire team a standing ovation for about 20 minutes after the playoff loss to the Lakers. I never heard anyone boo us no matter how bad we played. They were with us win lose or draw. In good times and bad times, it was really similar to a college atmosphere. I felt like I was back at Syracuse, although the Carrier Dome is one of a kind. The team fed off of that energy and it gave us a boost out there. The guys talked about it all the time and appreciated the support. I think a lot of times, the fans can make a bad situation worse by the way they react.”
Team USA was up 13 late in the third quarter Sunday when Turkey dared Russell Westbrook to shoot. The nearest defender was closer to the free throw stripe than to Westbrook, who was dribbling beyond the 3-point line. He lofted a three and it splashed through for a 16-point lead.
The camera zoomed in on Westbrook as he backpedaled to the defensive end, and he scowled as he said something to someone. I only saw it once, watching on a TV with no DVR thousands of miles away from the game in Istanbul, but I was pretty sure I could see what he said.
“You want me to f—— shoot it?”
Maybe he said something else, calling a defensive signal even. But that’s what it looked to me like he said as I watched it live. And the scowl on his face said it all in any case. It was a mixture of offense, disgust, pity and aggression — “You better try something else next time.”
The moment for me, along with Kevin Durant’s well-publicized dagger 3-pointer followed by him pounding the USA on his chest and screaming at courtside Turks, defined the edge the Thunder’s two best players undoubtedly sharpened in their gold medal run. Read more…
Bill Simmons with about 2,000 words of total Durant love (plus a little for Westbrook): “Coack K finally subs for Durant (who played every minute), followed by Durant having deliriously happy hugs with everyone on the bench. We wanted it to become his team, it became his team, and now we’re here. A fun stat for you: Kevin Durant, last three USA games: 100 points, 35-for-59 shooting (59 percent), 15 3-pointers. Everyone else on Team USA, last three games: 159 points, 57-for-146 shooting (39 percent), 14 3-pointers. And he doesn’t turn 22 until later this month. And I never thought we’d get here this soon. And I will never wager against him again. (I hope you kept mental notes, LeBron.)”
Chris Mannix of SI: “The ceiling was sky high for Durant entering the Worlds and he smashed right through it, earning the tournament MVP award to go along with his gold medal. Far and away the best player in Turkey, Durant (22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds) raised his level of play when the games mattered most: In the U.S.’ last three contests, he scored 33, 38 and 28 points. Over the last few years, U.S. players have gotten a bounce from competing on the world stage; Durant could be the next American star to follow suit. Look out, Western Conference.” Read more…
Does anything more need to be said other than, no, this is not a shot at Serge Ibaka in any way (even if that one moment could be considered a great example of this needed improvement).
Some people have made the mistake of saying that the Thunder are not/were not a good rebounding team last year and that’s just not true. For starters, the Thunder were the third best offensive rebounding (rate) team in the league last year behind Memphis and Detroit and were the sixth best rebounding (rate) team in the NBA, ahead of teams like the Blazers, Lakers and Bulls. So those two statistics show how fictitious the assertion is that the Thunder were not a good rebounding team.
The problem with the Thunder’s rebounding is not what it wasn’t able to do last year as much as it was what it could have been last year if the defensive rebounding wasn’t just middle-to-below-average in the NBA. Well, and if anyone in the front court could grab more than six total rebounds a game.
Stats like those are why I’ve come to the conclusion that if you’re SF, who rarely finds his way onto the block on defense, is your leading rebounder and your team leader for grabbing defensive rebounds, then there’s a legitimate problem that must be improved for next season. Read more…
FanHouse talked with Scott Brooks yesterday: “Q: Did you have any hesitation at all as far as allowing these guys to participate? Any worry about the grind or injury risks? A: No reservations at all. I love the fact that these guys wanted to do it, and they wanted to do it with all their hearts. It’s a great honor to represent your country, and I never worry about players getting hurt. If they want to become great players, they’ve got to put in a lot of time on the court. And if you don’t, you don’t get better. They’re either going to play a lot of basketball in Turkey or they’re going to play a lot of basketball in Oklahoma City or wherever they’re playing in the states. These guys are gym rats. They play twice a day, and they’re not going to change their ways. And I don’t want them to. That’s how we’ve improved as a team is these guys coming back better players every year.”
Jack McCallum of SI: “Besides Durant, the other U.S. player to make a quantum leap in this tournament was Westbrook. I wrote previously that Krzyzewski called him “one of the elite athletes in the world,” which can sometimes be a veiled criticism, i.e., that he’s all talent, no fundamentals. Not the case with Westbrook, who, besides Durant, was the only one who looked comfortable attacking zones throughout the tournament. The possibility exists that, as time goes on, he and Rose will have a Chris Paul-Deron Williams kind of rivalry going on. But right now? I’d have to pick Westbrook … and I love Rose’s game, his uncertain outside touch notwithstanding. Pencil Westbrook in for the 2012 Olympic team, by the way, since Colangelo, who never sits back on personnel selection, singled the Oklahoma City Thunder guard out for praise after the game. “For a young player with his skill level, what he’s going to be in the future is unbelievable,” said Colangelo.” Read more…
After averaging 33 points in the last three games with 28 on 10-17 shooting in the gold medal game, Kevin Durant was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2010 FIBA World Championships.
Durant was beyond electric for the U.S. in the gold medal game against Turkey. He had 20 points in the first half and finished with seven 3s. He set a record for most points total at the Worlds with 205, beating the previous mark by 23.
Russell Westbrook was nearly equally important finishing with 13 points, six rebounds and three assists in the gold medal game. For the tournament, Westbrook played a role and played it extremely well. He was the energizer off the bench and gave the U.S. a much-needed punch a few times. For the tourney, he averaged 9.1 points per game, was third in assists (2.5 a game) and played pretty terrific defense.
For the Thunder duo, they contributed over half of Team USA’s total points in the last three games. They were excellent and other than the awesome (and most important) fact that they get to bring hom a gold medal to put in their house, they also built some confidence and some momentum for this Thunder season.
Now get some rest boys. Training camp in two weeks.
This week we have chosen to forgo our regular podcast schedule so we can talk to YOU about all things FIBA Championship and Thunder basketball related. That’s right, a LIVE CALL IN SHOW! We’ll be talking team USA VS Turkey, Kevin Durant, Russel Westbrook, the upcoming NBA season and so much more.
Look for a few surprise guests to join the discussion before the night is over. So if you watched the FIBA Championship match and want to chime in on what you saw, or you need to put your two cents in on the upcoming Thunder season, why don’t you give TGR a call and discuss your favorite team.
Show Time: 6pm-7pm CT
Call-In # (Toll Free): (877) 404-0798 Listen Live Here
(Good Saturday folks. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. U-S-A)
I already posted the picture of Kevin Durant with “1972″ written on his shoes. But here’s the video of him talking about that, plus what the other names and things mean to him on the shoe. I really like what he says about how the game starts with your legs and feet, so that’s where he puts the things that mean something to him.
Video games have gotten near ridiculous. When I was a youth (I like that term – a “youth”), it was basically all about good graphics. I remember what an advancement I thought the original Playstation was. Then the PS2 basically blew my mind.
And now with the PS3 and XBOX, good graphics isn’t enough. Video games want to make you feel like it’s the real deal. When it comes to sports games, playing with Kevin Durant or Russell Westbrook’s skill is fun and having players that look and play just like them is cool. But you’ve got to be able to play entirely as the Thunder. And in order to play like the Thunder, naturally you’ve got to be able to run their plays.
In this video from NBA 2K11, it showcases a number of Thunder sets. I specifically remember Oklahoma City running “Double 12″ for Thabo against the Lakers in Game 6. Durant was a decoy as he faded off a pick and Thabo was all alone under the basket.
(Of course this made me wonder if you can call the Thunder’s end of quarter plays as well. Which I’m guessing is called, “Dribble for 15 seconds, nobody move and let’s get a really bad shot or even possibly, a turnover. Dribble 15 Bad Shot, here we go!”)
My dad used to always gripe about me playing video games because it meant I wasn’t outside throwing a ball against a wall or I wasn’t learning something. Well, with the way games are now, they’re pretty darn educational. That is, if you want to learn a basketball set or two.
The Thunder were the inspiration for the original Z-Graph and it returns: “It was April, and it was 2009. The Thunder weren’t winning much yet, but Sam Presti’s architecture was starting to reveal itself. This was a team with whom traditional positions simply didn’t register; at times, it was as if they ignored position altogether and just played the game. We and a few others had for some time sensed that basketball was headed in this direction. Oklahoma City, despite its poor record, was poised to force a change in thinking, scrambling positions to make more, not less, sense of the players Presti had assembled.”
It was a subtle message from Kevin Durant. Nothing flashy. Nothing in your face. Just simple and low-key, but with a very strong point. With KD, would you expect any different?
Against Russia, Durant simply wrote “1972″ on the tops of both his sneakers. It wasn’t anything flashy, but it was certainly classy. If you don’t know, yesterday was the 38-year anniversary of the infamous 1972 gold medal game featuring the then USSR against the United States. And guess who Team USA faced yesterday in the quarterfinals of the World Championships. It wasn’t actually the USSR, but it pretty much was. (If you don’t know what happened in that game, read this and then watch this. It’ll explain everything.)
Not only does it remind me of how proud I am to be an American, but it should remind followers from all nations in this tournament that being part of a team can be a pretty special thing. Whether you’re a member of Team USA at one point, CCCP, the Russian team, or a squad that didn’t even exist in the 1988 Olympics (which took place the month Kevin Durant was born), it hardly matters. You’re a teammate for life, and I appreciated Durant’s little message to his teammates.
The U.S. slipped past a scrappy Russian squad 89-79 today behind a ho-hum 33 from Kevin Durant and 12 from Russell Westbrook. As pointed out to me via Twitter, the Thunder duo notched over half of Team USA’s total output. That’s pretty cool.
KD was absolutely fantastic, hitting 11-19 from the floor and basically carrying the U.S. to a win. Without Durant’s scoring ability, Team USA would have been in a lot of trouble. Westbrook keyed a third quarter run that basically put the game away. He was all over the place, flying in passing lanes, attacking the rim with no regard for his own well-being and dunking the ball on fast breaks. His energy fired up Team USA and was a major part in the win.
But one thing Fran Fraschilla pointed out during the game that I thought was a smart point: In international play thus far, we’ve seen KD play much more as a one-on-one player than we have during his time in the NBA. With Scott Brooks, Durant runs a lot off of high screens and pin-downs. He scores a lot in transition and a lot off cuts.
In fact, according to Synergy Sports, Durant had 634 isolation plays last season and scored on 45 percent of them. Twenty-five percent of Durant’s overall touches come on isolation. He had 204 plays on pick-and-roll plays, 253 on spot-ups, 404 coming off screens and 365 in transition. So yes, most of his plays came in isolation. But compare that to say, LeBron, Kobe, Dwyane Wade and Carmelo Anthony who are the other elite scorers Durant is compared with. Read more…
NBA.com has its offseason report card for the Thunder: “Thunder went from being a team with potential to a contender in the span of a year. They pushed the defending champion Lakers to six games in the first round despite being the eighth seed. They’re aiming higher this season. Durant gets the majority of the headlines, and deservedly so after being the youngest player ever to win a scoring title. He relishes the role as a leader, always putting the team above his individual success. But Durant is hardly alone in the elite department. Westbrook, a teammate at the FIBA World Championships, is a budding All-Star. The Thunder went into the offseason armed with cap space and Draft picks, but general manager Sam Presti stuck with the organization’s deliberate plan of sustained growth. Instead of foolishly fishing for those big catches in free agency, OKC locked up its own with Durant staying halfway through the next decade. Smart.”
KD told Chris Tomasson of FanHouse he’s not the tourney MVP or even deserving of the All-Worlds team: “As for players Durant believes could unseat him for the all-tournament team, he mentioned New Zealand’s Kirk Penney, averaging 24.7 points, China’s Yi Jianlian, at 20.2, and Iran’s Hamed Haddadi, at 20.0. Those three weren’t even on teams that made the final eight. But Durant eventually did concede that “you got to put somebody on that team from America” if Team USA wins gold. But in typical Durant fashion he mentioned several Americans he believed would be just as worthy as him.” Read more…
First, a very happy birthday to my older brother Cody who is one of the best Thunder fans out there. Thunder up Codeman.
