Daily Thunder.com

One of the most accurate breakdowns of Russell Westbrook you’re going to read: “That’s an unusual path toward stardom, especially for a point guard. In theory, no position is more firmly rooted in established order. As floor generals, point guards typically execute their team’s offense with calm and discipline. There is an intrinsic leadership to the position that has seemingly predicated on structure. Some offenses may be less obvious (or more fluid) in their structuring than others, but it’s a point guard’s prerogative to regulate the players on the court to the specifics of a scheme. Westbrook still does that, but he does so in his own way. Nothing about Westbrook is typical. He routinely colors outside the positional lines, and redefines daily his unique vision of a point guard. His athleticism stands out even among his N.B.A. peers.”

Kevin Durant on the Kevin Calabro show doesn’t think Melo is getting dealt: “I think so, because with the dealing window, he would have been traded, I think a couple weeks ago, maybe even a month ago. So I think he’s gonna stay and you never know what’s going to happen in the summer, but just from watching what’s been happening this whole season, if he was going to get traded, he would have been traded a while back.” Read more…

Bolts

Chris Graythen/NBAE/Getty Images

Brace yourself, I’m going to talk about Jeff Green.

The Thunder has struggled this season rebounding the ball and a lot of the blame has been pointed at Green, among others. As the starting power forward on a really good team, it’s hard to excuse the fact he’s averaging just 5.7 rebounds a game. It’s hard to excuse that he’s had multiple games of playing heavy minutes without pulling in a single rebound. As a recent example, it’s hard to excuse what happened Sunday night.

Rebounding is kind of a weird stat because you can really get lucky in a game and have five rebounds just land in your lap. There are players that go get rebounds (Kevin Love, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin) and players that just rebound their area. Jeff Green is the latter. And really, other than Russell Westbrook, the entire Thunder team is too.

Consider this one: Jeff Green has 262 total rebounds. Russell Westbrook has 266. (Green has played seven less games, but still.) The bad part is, Green has just 55 offensive rebounds to Westbrook’s 85. That’s a point guard and a power forward. That’s crazy.

Among power forwards, Green ranks 25th in rebounds per game. He averages just 4.5 defensive rebounds per game (26th among power forwards), but a puny 1.2 offensive rebounds a night (37th). Green isn’t a strong rebounder by any means, but man, he really has no interest in hitting the offensive glass. Serge Ibaka, in fewer minutes per game, averages 4.5 defensive rebounds per game, but 2.5 offensive. Something is just different there.

In terms of advanced stats, it’s worse. In rebound rate, Green is at a career-low 8.9. For reference, Blake Griffin’s is 19.7.

One more: In six games in February, Green has pulled down a whopping two offensive rebounds. He’s has 19 games where he didn’t record a single one.

I think you get the point. Jeff Green’s not a great rebounder. Read more…

Commentary

Darnell Mayberry on the Warriors game: “Something really stood out in this one. Many of Golden State’s offensive rebounds and second-chance points came as a result of Thunder defenders having to help. Nothing new there. That’s been a theme all season. But I was amazed at how confused Thunder players were once they committed to helping. On several possessions, players had no idea where their man was once they went to help. It’s hard to put a body on someone or find them to recover when you don’t know where they are.”

The 66ers have been pretty successful in Tulsa says John Klein of the Tulsa World: “But the most recent ownership change and affiliation move to be linked with the Thunder has worked wonders for the on-court success of the team. The 66ers still have a tough time drawing fans for home games at the Tulsa Convention Center Arena. However, Tulsa has been very successful as a team, tied for the West Conference lead even after losses to Utah on Friday and Saturday nights. It would appear the success of the Thunder, one of the youngest and most successful teams in the NBA, is filtering down to the 66ers. Read more…

Bolts

Rocky Widner/NBAE/Getty Images

BOX SCORE

What a strange game in the Bay Area. I would have bet just about anything that a Thunder-Warriors game would end up with each team scoring well into the 100s, maybe even by midway through the fourth quarter, but that wasn’t the case Sunday night in one of the weirdest Thunder games I can recall watching this season as Oklahoma City fell at Golden State 100-94.

If you glanced only at the Thunder’s side of the stat sheet, you’d probably think Oklahoma City would have won the game. OKC shot 53 percent from the field, 44 percent from behind the arc and 86 percent from the line. The 19 turnovers were kind of ugly, but it would seem survivable with the rest of those numbers. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook had the kinds of scoring games that usually spell victory for the good guys as well, combining for 50 points on 16-35 shooting and 14-16 from the line. But Westbrook struggled in other aspects of the game, dishing out only five assists against six turnovers and finishing with zero rebounds.

And rebounding in general was what doomed the Thunder against the Warriors. Golden State out-rebounded Oklahoma City 47-33 including a whopping 20-2 edge on the offensive glass. Twenty to two. That, plus the Warriors finishing with only seven turnovers, led to one of the strangest box score items I’ve seen in awhile. Golden State hoisted 99 field goals compared to only 49 for Oklahoma City. That’s bizarre. The edge was 56-26 at the half. How does that happen? Read more…

Recap

vs.

OKC Thunder (34-18, 16-10 road) at Golden State Warriors (23-29, 17-11 home)

TV: ESPN (Cox 29, HD 720; FSOK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 7:00 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 110.4 (5th), Warriors – 107.9 (12th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 108.4 (17th), Warriors – 111.3 (28th)
Pace: Thunder – 93.0 (12th), Warriors – 94.8 (4th)

View from the enemy: Warriors World

I’ll be up front: I don’t feel good about this one. The Thunder’s coming off a more-difficult-than-it-should’ve-been win last night in Sacramento. The Warriors are pretty good at home. And Oklahoma City has been prone to give up bunches of points. All of that combined makes me feel a bit uneasy. Read more…

Preview

The Face and The Guy prepare for the upcoming All-Star festivities by bringing on a professional NBA gambler. He helps us pick our winners for each of the main events. But for good measure we also bring in our very own 2 1/2 year old NBA analyst to give us his picks.

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Podcast

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BOX SCORE

We were all bracing for the worst as the Kings closed down Oklahoma City’s 11-point third quarter lead to just three heading into the fourth. It was the Memphis game all over again.

But the Thunder bench (plus Jeff Green) wasn’t going to let that happen. OKC’s stellar second unit started the fourth on a 12-2 run, pushing the Thunder’s lead out to a comfortable double-digit lead.

Then we were all bracing again as the Thunder let that lead slip to just two. Kevin Durant missed two free throws with the Thunder leading by two, 99-97, and gave the Kings an opportunity to win or tie with five seconds left. Tyreke Evans went for the gold launching a 3, but came up short.

While KD probably won’t sleep tonight as he replays those two free throws over in his head time and again, he was fantastic in closing this one. He scored OKC’s last 14 points, hitting signature jumpers off curls, pull-ups and the dribble. Every time the Kings tried to close in on the Thunder, Durant would knock in another jumper. He started the third quarter 0-5 and looked to be on his way to a rough finish, but he got himself going again with two solid finishes at the rim to close the third and carried that over to the big fourth. He finished with 35 on 13-22 shooting, but of course he’s not happy about the five misses at the stripe. Read more…

Recap

vs.

OKC Thunder (33-18, 15-10 road) at Sacramento Kings (12-37, 7-21 home)

TV: FSOK (Cox 37, HD 722, Tulsa Cox 27, DirectTV 679, UVerse 754)
Stream: Click here
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM, 97.1 FM Tulsa)
Time: 9:00 CT

Offensive Rating: Thunder – 110.5 (5th), Kings– 102.9 (26th)
Defensive Rating: Thunder – 108.5 (17th), Kings – 108.0 (16th)
Pace: Thunder – 92.9 (12th), Kings – 93.8 (8th)

View from the enemy: Cowbell Kingdom

A lot are looking at this little three-game stretch for the Thunder and seeing a big opportunity to pad the win column before the All-Star break. But winning at Sacramento isn’t easy. It’s a tough place to play at times and the Thunder proved earlier this week, nothing is a given. Read more…

Preview

(Morning Thunder. Thank you for your support of DT. Have a good one.)

In the end, I like Brian Davis and Grant Long. Their odd quirks and over-excitement kind of make games a little more fun. I don’t mean that because they get me excited, but there are times where you get to laugh at something they said. For instance, against Phoenix after a big dunk, Davis yelled, “Excuse me! I just had an accident… but it was the good kind of accident!” Seriously. Anyway, he’s a little look at him calling games or something.

Video

Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE/Getty Images

Thirty-seven. Thirty-six. Thirty-five. Thirty. Thirty-one. Thirty-one. Thirty-one.

Those are some of the first-quarter scores the Thunder has allowed just since the beginning of this year. There were a couple of good efforts sprinkled in there as well, like a 19-point New Orleans first quarter, but Oklahoma’s defense early in the game has been abysmal about as often as not for much of the season.

Thankfully, the coaches and players are at least aware of it. It’s troubling that they’re not really doing much about it, at least right now, but I continue to think that because the Thunder at least chides itself for its bad defense out of the gate and often follows it with stellar fourth-quarter defending, there will come a time, hopefully in April, when it starts playing 48 minutes of defense.

But it got me to thinking: There can’t be much out there that’s worse than OKC’s defensive effort in the first quarter, but what is? Here are a few things, in no particular order. Read more…

Commentary

Rick Reilly wrote a column on KD. It was a little weird, but I appreciate the effort: “NBA PR flacks keep telling me that Oklahoma City Thunder superstar Kevin Durant is “just like any 22-year-old kid.” They say he does not have a torrid affair going with his wallet or his mirror or his league-stomping 29 points per game. “Perfectly normal,” they insist. So I called their bluff. I met Durant in Chicago, and I brought along a perfectly normal 23-year-old kid — my son, Jake. We all three met in a hotel lobby and plopped down on a couch. “Let’s compare lives! Want to?” I said.”

John Hollinger with a thought on the Jeff Green situation: “I suspect he’ll get an offer from another team that Oklahoma City won’t want to match, and that they’ll insert Ibaka as a starter in his place. But much of this depends on the new CBA — if they can keep Green at a reasonable figure they will.” Read more…

Bolts

AP Photo

It’s the sports fan’s mirage. The oasis in the desert. You’re upper level, looking down on the action just wondering, “What would this game look like from down there?”

If you do make the decision to move down, prepare yourself for an evening filled with anxiety. For some reason it’s mildly terrifying sitting in seats that are not your own. Every single person that comes walking toward your section looks like they’re The One. You can’t really enjoy the game because you’re constantly scanning for the seat’s rightful owners. In reality, it’s no big deal. It’s not like you’re in their shower. You’re just sitting in a seat at a game. But it feels like you’re doing something horrible.

And when it finally happens and someone comes up and does the whole pull-their-ticket-out-and-look-confused thing, you have to play it off like you didn’t know. Oh, look at this. This is section 103. I thought it was 303!

We’ve all moved down at some point in our lives. Or at least thought about it. That’s me. Any game I show up to and am sitting upper level, I always say, “Oh, we’ll just move down.” And I never do. Except one time. But it didn’t go so well. Here’s what happened. Read more…

Commentary

Chad Ford of ESPN.com in a chat yesterday on Jeff Green’s trade value: “He’s got a lot of value. A number of teams are interested. The Thunder are going to need a big man though … that’s what they’re hunting for. There aren’t a lot of them available right now.”

John Hollinger with one of the smartest things written about the Thunder this year: “Thus, the Thunder remain a work in progress. But if we look at their timeline rather than ours, they’re still on schedule. Oklahoma City still has a ton of cap space to take into a new collective bargaining agreement. It still has more good young players than any team in the league, including two rising superstars in Durant and Westbrook, and is in as strong a position as anyone to make a blockbuster trade should the need arise. In the big picture, perhaps it says all you need to know that we’re all disappointed because the Thunder are “only” on course for 52 wins. They are still firmly on the track they established when Durant arrived four years ago. We’re the ones who went off the rails.” Read more…

Bolts

Kevin Durant did an interview with Complex Magazine and in it, was asked about his comments on Chris Bosh. You know, where he called him a “fake tough guy.” Here’s what Durant had to say:

You know, I let it get to me a little bit. I’m not the type of person that lets stuff like that get to me. Maybe I shouldn’t have said it, but it is what it is. It’s over, I gotta live with it, it’s something I can’t change. So I stand behind it. Don’t get it confused, I respect him as a player and everything like that, but I’m just standing up for myself and my team.

I think that’s absolutely the right approach. As someone standing there when he said it, it was very obvious at the time that KD was frustrated with the loss. He was a bit more emotional than usual. We’re talking about a guy that HATES to lose, and his team just dropped a really big game on national TV at home. He was bummed.

And that Chris Bosh incident was fresh on his mind. I think KD is acknowledging that maybe he let his emotions get the best of him with his comments, but he’s not pulling a LeBron and backing off. He’s not saying he didn’t know what “fake tough guy” meant. He’s standing behind what he said while also understanding he may have been a bit rash in saying it.

I think that shows off KD’s maturation a lot. Remember, the dude’s only 22 years old. He’s still totally a kid. But the best part about him, is that he really never acts that way.

Commentary

Have you been wondering lately what former Thunder great Robert Swift was up to? I know I do often. Well here’s your answer. He plays in Japan for the Tokyo Apache and shaved off his hair. I just thought you might like to know.

Via @pistolsguy

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