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Wednesday Bolts – 10.6.10

Basketball! Basketball! Basketball! Basketball! Basketball! Basketball! Well, it is just the preseason and the game’s not on TV, but still, we’ll have a box score to examine at least!

Thunder officials said it was going to be an intense camp and boy, it sounds like it was. Darnell Mayberry: “Although Jeff Green refused to concede that camp has taken a mental toll, the players’ body language tells a different story. Green addressed the media today with much less vibrancy than he showed early in camp. And that effort was better than others who declined altogether. Thabo Sefolosha and Kevin Durant, two of the most willing players to meet with the media, both politely turned down requests through team officials. But Brooks labeled the past week a success.”

Serge Ibaka will be starting at center tonight because of the injuries to Nenad Krstic and Nick Collison. More on that later.

Dwight Howard expands on his statement that he’d take KD over LeBron:

The L.A. Times looking at who will be the Lakers toughest competition: “Bresnahan: Conventional wisdom says Dallas, but who wants to be boring and conventional? I’ll take Oklahoma City, which almost ran the Lakers out of the first round and had two of the top players on this year’s Team USA (Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook). Medina: Well now I’m boring and conventional because I’m taking Brez’s pick as well. As the Lakers saw last season, the Thunder has the youth and athleticism to give the Lakers a good test. OKC is now more experienced, including Durant and Westbrook putting work in with Team USA during the 2010 FIBA World Championships. The fact that OKC pushed the Lakers to six games in the first round last season surely gives the Thunder confidence they can further push the envelope.”

Is the NBA regular season meaningless?

Eric Maynor is returning home for tonight’s game and Chris Silva says he’s a better player: “As both teams huddled up during a timeout toward the end of a recent controlled intrasquad scrimmage, the coaches stepped aside and the point guards were left holding the dry erase board. It was their turn to call the shots. Eric Maynor took the marker and board and instructed his teammates on what they were going to do. While Maynor later said that having all eyes on him during the huddle was something he wasn’t used to, he still came through on the assignment. It was a lesson in assertiveness and accountability, the same traits that Maynor embraced as a rookie backup point guard with the Thunder and exemplified more recently at the Orlando Summer League where he took ownership of the team’s offense as the lead guard. And it’s a lesson the Thunder wants Maynor to take with him into his second season and first full one with the Thunder.”

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@Bob

@diddoff
I guess I'm hoping for Dante and Galante to broadcast a pirate-stream on the webcams. That would rule!

Cpt. C-note :@DizzyDai

Sorry, guy! Missing The Thunder is hard to do in 2010! Thank Thor for ATDHE.net and Justin.TV

No TV station is broadcasting it. Therefor there won't be a stream.

@Keith
yeah it could be an isolated incident, but justin has also had an issue where it froze

@PNT
They have Monroe and Villanueva at the PF spot, and they are looking to be a pretty bad team. Unless the Thunder are willing to take on Rip and Villanueva's contracts, their picks are far far too valuable.

@f5alcon
That's weird. I'm in my second season (OKC Champs!), having played about 25 games in the first season (not counting playoffs) and never had any issues.

An idea just hit me. Pistons just lost Jerebko with an Achilles tear. Any chance we could deal them expirings(Krstic or Collison) for future picks?

@Keith
no i havnt, just played the opening jordan game, started association mode, played one game against the bulls, then in my 2nd game had the system hang and rebooted and started my player mode

@f5alcon
No, you were right. Brewer started against the Knicks.

@PNT
Fair enough. But I'd think having college football to watch would be better than no football.

I'm right there with you on college basketball, though.

@Cpt. C-note
On atdhe all games of the night are listed. That doesn't mean they broadcast it. And you can't find a TV station for the game in bobcats schedule.
Preseason sucks ...sometimes.

@Mark!
Cheeses happen, like everyone probably wanting to play as the Heat online. I just mean obvious exploits, like lag-freezing when a team is losing, unblockable/unmissable shots, or glitched plays.

@Keith

It's a sim of a complicated sport, so I'm sure there will be cheeses. But the cheeses from 2k10 have been fixed FWIW.

As far as connectivity goes, it's night and day better than 2k10 was, especially compared to launch.

@f5alcon
Have you gotten on Live yet? I'm considering purchasing the retail copy, but I honestly can't remember the last time online play wasn't a humongous letdown. If the online is as glitchy and easy to cheat as it's been, I probably won't bother.

@PNT
I really only enjoy the college games when my alma mater is playing. NFL and NBA I can watch most anyone on a given night.

@Ryan
I never played organized on ice, but I've always loved the rollerblading leagues here in Michigan. It just amazes me that so many people don't like hockey (though I think the vast majority are those who never watched it to begin with). Hockey players are just so athletic and skilled. Think it's hard keeping the handle on a 12 inch diameter ball? Try controlling a 3 inch pick on the end of a 5 foot stick while everyone is trying to pancake you into the boards. Every game there are dozens of plays that just make you go, "Wow, I didn't even think that was possible."

@ATH
yahoo had brewer on the box score as the starter, but they could be wrong

@Mark!
XBL for me

Lefty :@PNT Never gonna be a work stoppage in College Football! They don’t pay them in the first place, so there’s nothing to argue about!

Personally, I don't really care much for college football, only the NFL. Same goes for college hoops.

@justin@f5alcon

You guys on PSN or XBL?

@f5alcon
I think Wesley Johnson started over Brewer.

The color commentator for the LA-Minn game (don't remember who it was) kept talking about a "logjam" at the 2, but Johnson, Brewer and Webster all have the size to play SF, and Beasley is obviously comfortable at PF. I like their versatility.

Lots of shooting on that team, especially considering Love and Tolliver have range.

@Keith
Ahh Hockey :) I love it. I miss playing in high school. Lets just keep it away from basketball though. We don't want this happening again: http://www.tremendousupsidepotential.com/img/manute-bol-one-day-hockey-contract.jpg

@DizzyDai
Sorry, guy! Missing The Thunder is hard to do in 2010! Thank Thor for ATDHE.net and Justin.TV ;)

anybody roadtripping to KC?

looks like minny started beasley at SF, darko at center and love at PF and ridnour and brewer in the backcourt

@Cpt. C-note

You just ruined my night. I have plans tonight and figured missing the game would be acceptable (since it would only be a radio broadcast). Thanks. :)

Here's a link to the stream later. Most likely a Bobcats station, I assume. Go THUNDER!! GO SERGE STARTING!!!

http://www.atdhe.net/20409/watch-oklahoma-city-thunder-vs-charlotte-bobcats

@justin
yeah, and they really need to go to 2 year development cycles for sports games, and just push roster and feature updates through downloadable content.

@ATH
i didnt even notice that, I think KD has too much meat on his face in the game though and too much hair.

Just as in 2k10, the Thunder are wearing white shoes and socks on the road in 2k11. It makes them unplayable for me. I shouldn't have to wait for a uniform patch to start an association. Any other Thunder fans bothered by this? Or probably I'm weird...

@PNT
Never gonna be a work stoppage in College Football! They don't pay them in the first place, so there's nothing to argue about!

Brooks still looks like Clay Bennet's love child.

John Wall to McGee. Perfect.

I played 2K11 several hours last night. No issues. I only noticed one minor glitch during the association draft process. Some text was overlapping on one prospect's scouting report.

How bad would next Fall/Winter suck with no basketball and no football? I shudder just thinking about the possibility.

DeMarcus Cousins looked awfully good last night. :(

Terrence Williams looks like he's carrying over from the end of last year too.

I can't stand soccer or hockey. I used to love hockey, then gradually started to dislike it. Not sure why. Soccer is basically cross-country with a ball. I really, really tried to watch some of the World Cup and just couldn't do it. I love football and I love basketball. The only baseball I watch is maybe a game or two during the playoffs/world series and any game my brother-in-law pitches in. My in-laws are HUGE baseball fans. They will watch a game on TV w/another game on split screen with both of them muted, watch a game on the internet, but be listening to a different game over internet radio. Usually a minor league team. True, passionate fans.

I hope the billionaires and millionaires can get together to avoid a football stoppage, but I don't see that happening. Hopefully it doesn't ruin the game like it did hockey and baseball. Same thing for basketball. The labor strife in the NBA and NFL are real threats.

f5alcon :@justinmy nba 2k11 froze last night during a game, and i got an E68 error on restart but after that it was fine.

The one big negative about the proliferation of online console gaming is that it allows developers to use retail customers as testers. With the ability to release patches they can save money on in house testing...

@Keith
Well, to be fair, they don't miss 60% of the time, they're just not safely on base 60% of the time. The great hitters make contact all the time, imo, which is what makes someone like Adam Dunn (wh strikes out so much) not a great hitter. I much prefer the Ichiro style of contact and getting on base over home runs.

Plus, I mean, Ichiro's just awesome.

I don't know anyone can love basketball and not at least appreciate soccer.

@justin
see, i think it's cool that you are still into the college and minor league stuff.. yeah, it seems like a bunch of people were like me and tuned out once the strike happened.. that was kinda last straw for me..

@Arbiter ouch! heeeck no, not a chance! haha.. some people think soccer is boring cause there isn't much scoring, but there is so much action and so many beautiful, athletic plays..

@justin
re: sabermetrics. I resisted the charge that sabermetrics ruined baseball for a long time, and, I dunno, maybe it's the performance of the M's this year, but I've started to accept that there's a bit of truth to it. Once you get close enough to the numbers, it starts to feel like you're just throwing weighted dice over and over and hoping to get lucky.

This post is one of my favorites.

"RT @mopete24: Man I just ate soooo good. My teamate @EMaynor3 mom just cooked for the whole team. Appreciate the bro...."

The whole team in Fayetteville being fed by Maynor's family. The chemistry on this team is wonderful.

@justin
my nba 2k11 froze last night during a game, and i got an E68 error on restart but after that it was fine.

I'm going to the game tonight. I can't wait to see the guys play.

TempBoy Brandon :Baseball is so boring, period.

(LOL). Guess there's not much use, then, in trying to interest you in cricket, where a match last 5 days . . . 8 hours each day . . . with breaks for luncheon and tea.

@TempBoy Brandon

Lots of people became disinterested in baseball after the strike. I'm a huge baseball fan but since the late 90's I've been more interested in amateur / college / minor league than MLB ball. I also think sabermetrics ruined it a little bit for me. I like to get into the advanced stats and stuff with sports I follow and I'm just unable to keep up with what's out there for baseball for some reason.

WHERE THE HELL IS THE PREGAME PRIMER

Baseball is so boring, period. It takes forever between every single pitch, and when a pitch finally happens, nothing really happens. You'll watch a three hour game and see 5-10 total hits and 3-5 total points. And all the players just stand there and they are usually not very athletic, like someone else mentioned. I love what baseball used to stand for back in the day. I like baseball movies, and I like the nostalgic feeling baseball brings. But baseball itself? Boring. Yeah, and the 162 games a year make each game pretty meaningless. Not to mention all the steroids and drug use and money strikes. I liked baseball for a little while in the 90's with Frank Thomas, Ken Griffey Jr, Nolan Ryan, Robin Ventura, Juan Gonzalez, and on, and then I just completely tuned it out once the strike happened.

For me, all I watch is football and basketball. And I love playing soccer.

That said it's nice having a decent backup PG. He's good for what he is.

I don't get the 'Eric Maynor is special' sentiment. He could end up being a decent PG, maybe even a starter. But he's a four year college player without elite athleticism or a decent jump shot. His best skill is his ability to avoid mistakes, but even then his rookie TOV% was about the same as Russell Westbrook's and we all know how most felt about Russ his rookie season. Maynor avoids mistakes mostly because he avoids doing much at all.

He could be an excellent backup and foil to Westbrook but I don't see starting PG in him until he can shoot a bit better or learn some of Andre Miller's tricks.

Howard chose Carmelo as his starting PF? huh?

@ATH
I just don't find baseball games exciting. A great hitter misses over 60% of the time. Half the best players look like they would lose a foot race to Charles Barkley. I just don't see baseball as being all that athletic.

Unlike the rest of America, it seems, I love hockey. Hockey players are the best mix of skill, versatility, and toughness of any sport. I'm not a fan of Bettman and his apparent bias for specific teams, but hockey in general is great to watch.

basketball/baseball have suffered in popularity b/c the amount or regular season games makes them less meaningful and the vast majority of the games are on weeknights when people are very busy.

The NFL has 16 games. Each game matters a ton. And the games are on the weekends.

I think steroids disenchanted me more than anything else. Sosa, as a Cubs fan.

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