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Wednesday Bolts – 4.13.11

Doc Rivers on Kendrick Perkins: “Like I jokingly told Perk, he should renegotiate again,” Rivers said. “His value keeps increasing by each loss. It’s amazing.”

David Berri of Wages of Win on how much the Perk trade helped: “So yes, adding Perkins has helped some. But the increased time given to Ibaka – coupled with the removal of very unproductive players from the team — has been the big story in Oklahoma City. So next time someone goes on and on about Perkins in Oklahoma City, remember the name Ibaka (and also, where Green and Krstic are now sitting).”

TrueHoop is coming up with new awards and Perk was nominated for best teammate: “Mason’s candidate is Kendrick Perkins: “His departure left an entire locker-room in tears. Since he’s come to the Thunder, he’s emboldened their whole squad to be tougher, communicate more actively on defense and play an even more fearless brand of ball.”

Chris Palmer of ESPN.com: “The Denver Nuggets will upset the darlings of the Western Conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in seven games. Since the Melo trade, the Nuggets have had one of the top records in the league thanks to a versatile offense that shares the wealth and one of the league’s deepest benches. They’re an extremely well-coached defense with the league’s most underrated defender (Wilson Chandler), who’ll give Kevin Durant fits.”

Kevin Durant is seventh in jersey sales and the Thunder are sixth as a team.

Summer League has been canceled. What a bummer for Kyle Weaver.

Andrew Bynum went down last night for the Lakers. If he’s injured (MRI today), things change a lot in the West. If he’s hurt, then you DEFINITELY want that three-seed.

Britt Robson of SI grades the NBA: “Oklahoma City, like Chicago, has assembled a roster in which the roles are clear-cut, filled by a productive blend of youthful playmakers and passionate defenders. Ironically, the Thunder’s strength at the beginning of the season — the one-two punch of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook – has been complicated by Westbrook’s desire and ability to score more, while the interior defense that was a weakness in the first half is now rock solid with the addition of centers Kendrick Perkins and Nazr Mohammed. Put another way, Durant and Westbrook are the dazzling showpieces that can excite fans and on their own make the Thunder competitive. But Perkins and the enhanced roles for power forward Serge Ibaka and sixth man James Harden fortify the foundation and make OKC formidable in the playoffs.”

A bunch of charts and graphs telling you how much better OKC is with Perk and Nazr.

John Rohde on Oklahoma City’s bench: “In terms of enthusiasm, support and entertainment value, OKC has the best bench in the NBA. It might not even be close. No team in the league celebrates each other’s success more than Thunder players. They give standing ovations for darn near every point a teammate scores. Whether you’re in uniform or street clothes, if you’re on the Thunder bench, you’re part of the party. Every timeout, those who are playing are greeted halfway to the bench by those who are not.”

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I do not know if this was said earlier but if you read the palmer story in its entirety then you will see he is full of shit because he does not want to be wrong. I maybe bias and a homer but at least choose one side or the other when making arguments and not take both sides when asked to choose one.

Rose and Howard are the most needed on their team. Either would be good MVP choice. Rose wielded the Bulls to best record. Rose gets trophy, hands down.

@GlennPThunderUp
To me, Dwight changes the entire game, and his team especially more than anyone in the league. He'd be my MVP. Lebron is still the best individual player, but Dwight has had a bigger impact this year.

@kfmsooner
To be honest, had lebron won 5 or 6 straight MVP's, it wouldn't have surprised me in the least. I'm not a fan of him either, but one can't deny what he brings to the court.

@GlennPThunderUp
I actually think LBJ is the MVP...even though I greatly dislike him. 27/7/7 is pretty spectacular, and he was upped his individual defensive game as well. But I'm glad LBJ won't win...

Mark Rogers thinks it's the 8:30 Saturday game which would be cool.

@kfmsooner
Fair enough. But at times it seems that people are looking for reasons to not vote for rose instead of voting for him. I'm not a big fan of the MVP award process in general, as there is no clear cut definition of valuable. And, there should be no reason that Rose is about to have as many MVP's as Kobe. In the end, it doesn't matter. Rose will be the winner, and he should be. Especially since it's gonna be likely between Rose and Howard. To me and my definition of "value," Rose fits. He's more important. Dwight may be his team's sole defender (and that CANNOT be understated, he's that important), but the same is true for Rose on offense. He's the only Bull that can create his own shot, and he's solely responsible for their entire offense. Every possession when he's on the court, his decision making is the deciding factor of the possession, if that makes sense. Dwight Howard has more against him than Rose, as he cannot be relied on in crunch time, he mails it in occasionally, and he cannot control his emotions and gets stupid techs. To me, all of those decrease his alleged value.

Lakers will play the ABC game on Sunday. I hope we don't get stuck with the noon on sunday slot.

@james1
I think the time slots are the same for Saturday and Sunday...The late game Saturday is 8:30 CST

@james1
The Lakers and whoever they play will undoubtedly get the late afternoon ABC spot. Since we're playing Denver or Portland, I'd definitely put us in one of the late slots, with Dallas most likely getting the other.

JJJ :Saturday:Bulls-Pacers 1 ET on ESPNHeat-Sixers 3:30 ET ABCMagic-Hawks 7 ET ESPN
Sunday:Celtics-Knicks 7 ET TNT

So I'm assuming the western conference games will be late Saturday, late Sunday and during the day Sunday?

Partial Playoff schedule:

Saturday, 12 CST: Chi/Ind, ESPN
Saturday, 2:30 CST: Mia/Phi ABC
Saturday, 6 CST: Orl/Atl ESPN
Sunday, 6 CST: Bos/NYK TNT

So, either the late Saturday game or we play on Sunday...

Saturday:
Bulls-Pacers 1 ET on ESPN
Heat-Sixers 3:30 ET ABC
Magic-Hawks 7 ET ESPN

Sunday:
Celtics-Knicks 7 ET TNT

"Durant's Thunder.. How far can they go?

Chad Ford (1:11 PM)

All the way. They're young. But they're playing with a little swagger right now. They have tons of talent. They're well coached. They have a superstar who isn't afraid to have the ball at crunch time. Love 'em."

@justin
Right now, I can see that. But by the end of his career I think his cumulative statistics and accomplishments will be too much to keep him in the 8-9-10 region of the rankings.

My main college association with Rose's college career is Calipari, hence the flub.

@GlennPThunderUp
"They don’t tell the entire story, like how revered you are by your teammates, how you buy in to your coaches strategy, and how you hold yourself and others accountable."

Not sure I agree with this. If you want to vote for Rose, OK, no problem. But there are about 100 players that fit the above description. Durant, Dirk, Nash, Gasol, LMA, Manu, Parker, Duncan, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Iggy...Voting for an MVP (MVP!) b.c his teammates like him, he listens to his coach and motivates teammates? Pretty weak criteria, IMO.

BTW, Perk fits those 3 criteria...

Yea Memphis sounds like Kentucky

I would not rank Kobe ahead of Magic, and probably not Duncan either.

PNT :Bill Russell has more rings than he has fingers.

This is true. Don't ask where he wears that 11th ring. lol

Bill Russell has more rings than he has fingers.

Now Kobe, there's a bad guy and if anyone says different I just have 2 words. Eagle, Colorado.

I guess I'm just in the stirring up trouble mode today. :)

@kfmsooner
Kobe is not and will never be the greatest of all time, but it's getting harder and harder to keep him out of the top 5. Personally here's how I'd rank them:

1. Michael Jordan
2. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
3. Bill Russell
4. Wilt Chamberlain
5. Kobe Bryant
6. Magic Johnson
7. Larry Bird
8. Shaquille O'Neal
9. Tim Duncan
10.Hakeem Olajuwon

@everyone
Yeah, meant Memphis, obviously.

bosco :Also in that article chris palmer goes on to state that if the lakers win the championship the discussion for greatest player of all time begins with kobe bryant. yikes.

I read that too. If you want to say Kobe is in the mix, fine. But the conversation does not start with him. The conversation starts with Jordan, Magic, Wilt, Kareem, Russell...

bosco :Also in that article chris palmer goes on to state that if the lakers win the championship the discussion for greatest player of all time begins with kobe bryant. yikes.

Wait...doesn't Robert Horry have 7 rings? Wouldn't that make him greater than Kobe or MJ?

I personally see no problem with Rose winning MVP. In fact, if I had a vote, he's who I'd vote for. To me, numbers don't account for everything. They don't tell the entire story, like how revered you are by your teammates, how you buy in to your coaches strategy, and how you hold yourself and others accountable. Dwight would not be a bad choice, but you cannot afford for your "MVP" to be suspended for stupid techinical fouls, especially for something a ridiculous as taking too long to shoot a free throw. Dwight may very well be the best center in the league, but wouldn't hold a candle to Shaq's numbers when he was young and winning MVP's and championships. Kevin Durant is my favorite player in the league, and coming in I was almost certain that he would take home his first of many MVP's. Had he been the favorite, none of you guys would have a problem with it, even if he was as "inefficient" as Rose is now. I'm sure it's been posted here before, but here's a quote from my favorite ESPN writer Bill Simmons:

[Quote=Bill Simmons]And that's where you would be wrong. The reason basketball isn't baseball -- and advanced metrics should be used to accentuate opinions we're already leaning towards having, instead of forming and shaping those same opinions -- is because basketball players directly affect their teammates and opponents at all times. If Howard is Orlando's best player, and he's holding something back every night how can you say that doesn't affect the Magic? He's their best guy! Your best guy leads! Your best guy sets the tone for everyone else! When Howard cruises through quarters, picks up dumb fouls, earns even dumber technicals and disappears in crunch-time (he doesn't even rank in the top 125 for crunch-time field goal attempts this season), you don't think that has anything to do with Orlando's uneven season? Doesn't it bother you that Serge Ibaka plays harder than Howard every night? Doesn't it bother you that Celtics fans watch Orlando and think, "That team is soft ... I hope we can play them in the playoffs?" Doesn't it bother you that Howard still defers to Jameer Nelson down the stretch?

Look, I'm a basketball fan -- I want Dwight Howard to get there. I want to watch as many great players as possible. But he's not there yet. I have NBA season tickets and didn't care if I saw Dwight Howard in person this season. That's your MVP? Please.

[/quote]
I agree with all points he made.

@andrew
...and this, plus crap like the BCS, is why college sports are a joke.

(covers head for expected bombing by Sooner and Cowboy fans)

You can count me in as someone who cares less about cheating in college as it relates to the NBA. I think it would be more challenging to find a star bball recruit who at some point DIDN'T do something that would be deemed wrong by the NCAA than one who did.

gr8ball83 :@PNTyup, you would think aldrich being recalled would mean that would be the plan, but there’s no telling…

$5 says Brooks finds a way to keep both in suits, while starting Green and Krstic. Just for old times' sakes, of course.

@sammy Didn't rose go to university of memphis?

Sammy :@Ozarkhick

Rose had the highest gpa of all his Kentucky teammates…

Now, how did he do vs his teammates at Memphis?

Just messin' with ya. :)

Mullens sucks and Aldrich isnt ready

gr8ball83 :@PNT

yup, you would think aldrich being recalled would mean that would be the plan, but there’s no telling…

Aldrich has been recalled? When? I must have missed it.

@Ozarkhick
Rose had the highest gpa of all his Kentucky teammates...

I doubt KD had to cheat since he made good grades at UT until it was clear he was going pro.

On the other hand, OJ Mayo allegedly got a 29 on the ACT (>90th percentile) so either he's living proof that b-ball iq and real iq don't correlate, or he just had a really bad cheater. You should be smart enough to at least get at 24 or something.

@PNT
yup, you would think aldrich being recalled would mean that would be the plan, but there's no telling...

gr8ball83 :@doof

I want to see the Mullens-Aldrich front court pairing tonight.

I will be looking before tipoff to see if Byron is wearing warmups or a suit. That should tell us what Brooks' plan is for tonight.

@doof
I want to see the Mullens-Aldrich front court pairing tonight.

GAP :
Go Thunder!

Your attempt to change the subject, huh? :)

Also in that article chris palmer goes on to state that if the lakers win the championship the discussion for greatest player of all time begins with kobe bryant. yikes.

@Keith
That is a great point, my guess is Calipari has someone on speed dial to take SATs for his recruits...

CenOK :@gr8ball83
Not to get into social issues, but you also probably didn’t attend school in the ghetto of Chicago with an entire lack of positive male influences or any sort of motivation and support to do well in school.

This kind of thinking is a problem. It's making excuses for something that is blatently wrong.

I'm not saying Rose is a horrible person. But frankly, cheating in general is a pretty crappy thing to do.

In sports, in academics, in politics, in finance... (see: mortgage crisis) -- there's plenty of different ways to cheat, and you can always point out where the cheater could've been put on the right course 'if only he/she had a role model / boss / family who cared'.

Not to say that his circumstances weren't difficult, but wrong is wrong, regardless.

And he's good enough that he would've gone pro anyway without going to Memphis.

I don't even blame Rose much for the SAT thing. I mean, he was recruited by Calipari, the worst cheater in college. Calipari probably never even told him he had to take the SAT, and had a kid in the classroom before Rose even committed. Not to say it's right of Rose to benefit from that, but when you have the weaseliest person in all of college sports handling your recruitment, it's probably not all Rose's fault.

gr8ball83 :@CenOK

so obviously you didn’t read the comment I made where I said it doesn’t make him a bad person by itself, it was just a bad thing to do?

+1
I would rephrase my point to this as well. He may not be a "bad guy". He may not be a good guy. None of us truly know him. It was just extremely stupid thing to do.

Hasn't RW already 'broken out'? He had a phenomenal series last year and followed it up with a fantastic season this year. He's probably going to be 2nd or 3rd team All-NBA. Dude's an established star at this point.