If you’re ranking honors for professional athletes, things like the Hall of Fame, MVP trophies and championships are obviously at the top of the list. But right there is Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the Year” award.
Durant has turned the Thunder into America’s team, an organic alternative for the masses weary of the Heat. Before every game Durant gives a high-five to the same young fan in the lower bowl at the Ford Center. (“My friend Tyler,” he said.) He shouts the same word at the end of every huddle. (“Family,” he said. “Always family.”) He begs anybody who has not visited the NBA’s loudest arena to come on over. (“You really have to experience a Thunder game,” he said.) When it is time to cut loose and skip town, as he did for his 22nd birthday party in Washington, D.C., he and his teammates do not fly charter. “Southwest,” Durant said. “They gave me an exit row.”
He refuses to judge his fellow superstars or their hedge-fund sensibilities. In fact, he supports them, and he should. They have made him appear quaint by comparison, like the best player at the biggest Y, who loves his team and his gym and wants to know when the next game tips. After the summer of self-promotion, he is the much-needed reminder that ballplayers can still be ballplayers. He is not Businessman of the Year, the title for which so many seemed to be vying, but he is Sportsman of the Year.
A quick note: We are stopping production on the Air Congo shirt. We received word from ASM Sports which is Serge Ibaka’s representation that we were using an “unauthorized image” of Ibaka. While we totally disagree and in fact know that our shirt is entirely okay, we’re not printing any more because as much as we’d like to, we don’t have to money or resources to really battle for something like this. We’re kind of small time. It’s a shame that ASM doesn’t really get what they’re doing here by stopping a fan produced shirt, but it’s what we’ve got to do. Anyway, just for your information.
I’m sure you saw it over the weekend, but Darnell Mayberry had a great story about KD meeting Mr. President: “Soon after the supposed snub, Durant told his agents, brothers Aaron and Eric Goodwin, he would have liked to have met and played ball with the president. The agents turned their client’s wish into reality by using a connection to Obama’s special assistant and personal aide Reggie Love to secure a date. Love is a former Duke basketball player. The day happened to be one day after Durant’s grandmother’s 63rd birthday. And Barbara Davis received an unexpected and unforgettable birthday gift. She accompanied Durant and Durant’s mother, Wanda Pratt, to the Commander in Chief’s home court.” Read more…
The game was over at halftime. The Celtics led 58-37 and really, Oklahoma City couldn’t have looked worse. Playing a team like the Celtics, there really wasn’t a ton of hope that the Thunder could overcome their first half issues and get back in a game against a quality club like Boston.
Yet, they kind of did.
Russell Westbrook sparked a 9-0 run in the third quarter, basically by himself. He attacked, played with fire on the defensive end and did everything he could to get his guys going. The Thunder cut the deficit to 13. Westbrook then tried to do way too much, hoisting two bad shots and turning it over once. Boston went on a 7-0 run to respond and Scott Brooks called a timeout. Westbrook re-harnessed the energy and OKC closed the quarter on a 13-2 run, cutting the lead to nine heading to the fourth quarter. And with a James Harden 3 to start things off, the Thunder had the game to six with a whole quarter to play. Read more…
Every time it’s Celtics-Thunder I can’t help but think of this. I can’t be the only one. Anyway, on to the important game information.
Riding high off a surprising, improbable, yet excellent win over the Blazers Thursday in which Kevin Durant played 52 minutes, Jeff Green 46 and Russell Westbrook 44, these last two days off have been huge for the Thunder. Not only can the coaching staff hopefully get started sorting out a few of the large issues facing the team, but there’s a chance to get well and get rested. Read more…
In this episode the guys from TGR recap this past week’s Thunder games by giving out the first ever “Thunder Wonder” awards. If you disagree with the recipients of these awards, make your voice heard by commenting.
We also talk to Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman from Portland after the big win on TNT. He gives his insights on the overtime game and helps get us ready for when come to town.
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On Wednesday, an earthquake struck the central Serbian town of Kraljevo. It is a town of 60,000 people and the hometown of Nenad Krstic. There was severe damage in the community, including the specific area where Nenad grew up.
To support Nenad and his hometown, the Thunder will be matching funds raised at tomorrow night’s game for the earthquake relief effort of the International Red Cross. The Thunder will be asking fans to contribute and have a special raffle to raise funds.
Krstic is donating the jersey he wears in tomorrow night’s game. Following the game, he will sign it and personally present it to the raffle winner. The raffle will take place at the Thunder Community Foundation’s auction area outside Section 111 beginning when doors open at 4:30 pm through the end of the third quarter.
So here’s an opportunity to step and lend support if you feel compelled. Throw a chair Nenad’s way and give his home country a hand.
(Good day Thunder people. Thank you for your support of Daily Thunder. Enjoy the day.)
So we all know about Mathias Murphy and his stalking Kevin Durant schtick. It’s a viral marketing thing from Nike, but still, it’s kind of fun and clever. Maybe Mathias’s influence is what’s messing with KD’s game right now, so he might need to back off, but here they are playing around in KD’s driveway.
It’s no secret. Kevin Durant has not been playing like Kevin Durant through five games. He’s still averaging 26.4 points per game, but it’s on 37.4 percent shooting, including 28.6 percent from 3. (That 0-10 game really threw things off.)
Durant has been a bit of a slow starter the past few years and typically, he hits a stretch around the middle of December where he absolutely becomes unguardable. Last season, he averaged around 25 ppg on mediocre averages before launching into that ridiculous scoring fest where he put up 25 points or more in 29 straight games. He had a stretch where he averaged 32 ppg on 50-50-90 shooting for over a month. So don’t fret. KD’s just a slow cooker.
Though the one interesting thing I’ve notice is how Durant is being used a little different. For instance, the past two games against the Clippers and the Blazers, Durant took just eight total free throws combined. Consider that last season, he attempted over 10 a game and led the league. KD is a fantastic scorer, but he does it so efficiently because he gets to the line and makes his free throws.
But currently, he’s settling. And therefore, he’s not seeing any of those easy looks. Read more…
John Hollinger on OKC’s win: “Ibaka would play the rest of the game, barring a couple of last-second situational substitutions, and his low-post defense helped solidify the rest of the Oklahoma City defense and pave the way for their rally. In fact, the question now is how long the Thunder can get away without starting him. While Brooks said before the game he would be very careful to make any lineup changes with his group, the case for Ibaka is becoming overwhelming. He doesn’t space the floor as well as Krstic and fumbles a lot of passes, but his athleticism and defensive energy more than offset those deficits.”
Don’t look now, but through five games the Thunder has a better record this season than last.
Just don’t ask me how.
Oklahoma City battled a stagnant offense and mostly porous defense for much of its game Thursday in Portland but managed a disjointed 107-106 win over the Trail Blazers. Kevin Durant kinda-sorta broke out of his season-opening slump to finish with 28 points on 11-24 shooting and played all but 32 seconds of the game.
The Thunder resembled the largely unwatchable team we saw in a blowout losses to the Jazz at home and Clippers on the road this week for most of the second and third quarters. Oklahoma City squandered a seven point first-quarter lead and needed a 6-0 run to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, surviving its own mistakes and taking advantage of Portland’s to keep the game close through the rest of regulation and force overtime. Read more…
I’m cringing. I’m worried. I’m afraid we’re about to get embarrassed under the brightest NBA lights there are.
But I also have an underlying good feeling. I have faith in this team. I know they’ve got a bunch of fight in them. They’ve got pride and despite what we saw the last two nights, we know they are still good at basketball. Winning on the road, especially in the Rose Garden against a super fired up Blazer crowd won’t be easy and probably won’t happen, but something tells me this team will play much, much better tonight. Read more…
A good friend of mine pointed this out to me: “After feeling as if the Thunder rarely passed the ball, I started counting their passes last night. In 20 straight possessions, the Thunder only made more than 1 pass once. Every other possession was zero or 1 pass. Over the 20, they made 17 passes total. It seemed to continue as I dozed off watching them play some of the most selfish ball I’ve ever seen.” That’s good stuff. Well bad stuff, but good information.
An article by Andrew Gillman for the Oklahoma Gazette on Serge Ibaka: “You might not know it, but now you can say you’ve heard it: Serge Ibaka is the present-day future form of the NBA, with a look that girls fantasize about and guys only can imagine when they stand in front of their mirror. Alone. Admit it: If you’re a girl, don’t lie. If you’re a guy, you’ve done it. The Thunder’sSerge Ibaka right, dubbed “Chewblocka” by fans, works the boards. This is the body Ibaka: A 6-foot-10 frame with a there’s-no-way-you-can-be-serious physique that graces magazine covers, causes man crushes with fans and generates more Internet gossip than an eighth-grade lunchroom.” Read more…
The Thunder had two days off to get things straightened out after the poor showing at home against Utah on Halloween. They had two days to get some shots up, figure out what was going on defensively and hopefully iron out the issues offensively. They had two days to think about how poorly they played against the Jazz and use that motivation to come out fired up and ready to wallop the Clippers.
Except that didn’t happen. In fact, the opposite, pretty much unthinkable thing happened.
The Clippers whooped the Thunder 107-92.
I’ve been scratching my head for about 15 minutes trying to figure out what the problem is. I’m not an over-reactionary person and I don’t live and die with each game. In my mind, it’s way too early to really be genuinely upset about anything. I mean, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. A three-game winning streak and everyone will shut up.
But something’s up. Something not good. Read more…
Hey, it’s Blake Griffin! Fun! But he’s going to kill Jeff Green! Not fun.
The best thing though for an ailing offense is probably to go an play the Clippers. Not that the Clips aren’t good (they aren’t) or that they won’t play hard (they might not), but traditionally, they aren’t a top notch defensive unit. And for Kevin Durant, this is exactly the medicine he needs: a game at Staples versus the Clips. Historically against the Clippers, Durant is averaging 31.6 points per game at Staples, including a 46-point outburst. Read more…
Andrew Sharp of SBN rates basketball commercials and KD’s stalker thing gets a low score: “Do we really need stalker footage of Kevin Durant doing everyday activities like taking out the trash, helping movers and talking to his neighbors? “He’s just like us!” the videos say. Except he makes millions of dollars, he’s 6’10 and he lives out the wildest dreams from my childhood on a nightly basis. KD’s awesome, but if Nike is seriously going to try and market him as some basketball Everyman, it’ll be hard to hold back the resentment. Especially if the campaigns are as crappy and transparent as this one.”
Kevin Durant talking about improving defense: “The last game we went against a team that does a lot of cutting and we’ve got to be attached to our man,” he said. “If they get a back cut, the lower man has to help out and try to contest a shot. It’s all about helping out and making the second effort. I’m glad this is the third game. It’s only the third game of the season. We’ve got a lot more left and hopefully we’ll pick it up. A matter of fact, I know we’ll pick it up.” Read more…
