Good weekend Thunderers. Thank you for your support of DT. Up and at them.
Remember this Dime Magazine cover? The issue hit stands months ago, but Dime just recently posted the behind the scenes video of the shoot online. Nothing that special, but if you were curious about what it looked like when KD and Westbrook posed for the pictures in video form, well have I got something for you.
Layne Murdoch/NBAE/Getty Images
Sam Presti has a sterling reputation league-wide. He’s seen as a genius, someone that’s always thinking two steps ahead of everyone else. It’s not just because he’s built a contender from the ground up in a couple of years, it’s because he’s built a culture and a process for sustained excellence.
He had a plan when he was hired four years ago. And he hasn’t deviated. He’s calculated, cool, smart and savvy.
Which is why it’s no surprise that SB Nation’s Mike Prada slotted Presti second overall among all NBA general managers.
STYLE: Meticulous planner.
THE GOOD: There are so many ways to describe Presti’s strengths, but my favorite one is this: he knows when to take the risk. The Kendrick Perkins trade came at the right time and sent out just enough value where it barely hurts his team, but still provides enough value to make the trade fair. Presti fostered a culture where the risk was minimal, which was his greatest strength.
THE BAD: Hard to find much of anything, but he did trade Rodrigue Beaubois for B.J. Mullens, and his 2010 lottery pick (Cole Aldrich) didn’t get off the bench last year.
BOTTOM LINE: Presti’s pretty much running this league. Sure, he got lucky with drafting Kevin Durant, but he’s made the most of it.
Who’s ahead of Presti? Captain Slick Back, Pat Riley. Read more…
Noam Schiller of HP with a panda breakdown: “Moving to the defensive end, it’s clear to see that Durant excels over Melo at defending the panda. The panda easily overpowers Melo in the post, establishing prime position despite being much smaller. Meanwhile, Melo seems to be making an effort of doing what every high school coach would tell you – sitting down on defense – but doesn’t seem to understand exactly what this means. This creates a situation in which Melo is forced to grab the panda in order to stop it. Odds are, Melo was called for a foul right after this picture was taken. Can’t let a panda do that to you, Melo.”
Sam Presti was part of a group that went with Peace Players International to the Middle East. Read more…
J.A. Adande of ESPN.com on James Harden: “Does any team need the 2011-12 NBA season to happen more than the Oklahoma City Thunder? If this year gets lost it would be like the projector breaking during the hotel sequence in “Inception” — there’s still another level to go. That’s all I could think about while watching James Harden play in the Real Run earlier this week. Harden’s creamsicle-orange Nikes were the only familiar aspect of his attire; nothing about that black uniform said “Thunder.” But watching Harden’s combination of deep 3s and drives to the hoop reminded me of how much fun that Thunder playoff run was, of how close they came to reaching the NBA Finals (like the Heat they won two games against the Mavericks and were within a couple minutes of winning two more).”
KD told SI that he’s 50-50 about playing overseas: “Last weekend he traveled to the Philippines with Kobe Bryant, Chris Paul and Derrick Rose, among others, to play in a series of exhibition games. While there, players discussed the possibility of looking overseas for work during the lockout. Like many players, Durant said it’s “50-50″ that he’d play overseas, but he won’t make any decisions until at least September. “I love playing in the States,” he said. “But I want to play somewhere. If you have an opportunity to [play overseas], it’s something you have to think about.” Read more…
Joe Murphy/NBAE/Getty Images
Don’t ever tell Serge Ibaka he can’t do something. His story is borderline ridiculous. One of 18 children, Ibaka grew up in a country battling itself in a nasty war. He used basketball to escape a war torn country, now speaks five languages and after not playing organized basketball until his late teens, is one of the best defensive enforcers in the league. Heck, I’m sure someone even told him dunking with a foot behind the free throw line wasn’t happening, but he didn’t care.
But that’s just the beginning for Ibaka. As you might imagine for someone that’s as driven and persistent as him, he wants more. He wants to be an All-Star. And he thinks he can do it sooner than later. He told HoopsHype.com, “Yes, I see it happening in one or two years.”
I can see it happening too. Ibaka led the league in total blocks, was eighth in field goal percentage (54.3 percent) finished averaging 9.9 points and 7.3 rebounds and in the games he started after Jeff Green was dealt, nearly averaging a double-double. And this is with him being just 21 years old and not at all completely developed. Read more…
Ben Golliver of CBSSports.com ranks every roster and the Thunder are second: “From one to eight, there is no better roster in the entire NBA. This group is by far the most delicately, surgically constructed group. Really, there are so many riches that it’s almost embarrassing. Two young All-Stars growing up together. Zero holes in the starting lineup. All of the important role player holes (backup point guard, scorer off the bench, third big man) are filled through at least the next two seasons. Not a single bad contract on the books, assuming center Kendrick Perkins is able to stay healthy. Eventually, the Thunder will have to pay big to retain this group but that’s a problem for a different day. Right now, this roster is talented, balanced, deep, athletic and full of high-character players who are committed to winning. That’s as good as it gets. (Almost.)”
ESPN’s 5-on-5 asks who the best small forward is in today’s game and Kyle Weidie of Truth About It went against LeBron: “How many different ways can we answer LeBron? Here’s one: Kevin Durant. Despite James’ unusual distaste for post offense, I can’t, in good faith, dub him as “small.” Durant has the perimeter dazzle one would traditionally want at the 3 with more appealing budding moxie to take big shots.” Read more…
Tremendous stuff from Tim Donahue of 8 Points, 9 Seconds on what the real issues are in this labor negotiation:
In 2010-2011, negotiated salaries totaled about $2.02 billion. If my lists above are reasonable, about 37% of that sum was tied up in bad or under-performing contracts. If you assume that only half of that 37% can be considered “wasted” money (because those players of course did offer some production), it means the owners threw away about $375 million in salaries.
Yet, they still had to write a check for $26 million to reach their 57% promise to the players. What this means is that if the owners had made none of their myriad mistakes, they would have realized a savings of … wait for it …
Zero dollars.
Yep.
Had the owners been as smart and efficient as they possibly could have been when signing players it would not have provided any savings whatsoever. It merely would have resulted in a larger check being written to the players — even after the escrow payout — to fulfill the 57% of BRI that players are guaranteed under the system currently in place.
Would that check have been for $100 million? $200 million? $400 million?
I’ll just let you think about that for a second. Read more…
Chris Palmer of ESPN.com on top point guards: “In just his third season, the 22-year-old guard landed himself on the All-NBA second team and is one of two guards to average at least 21 points and seven assists. Westbrook is arguably the best athlete in the NBA. He’s a speed demon on the break and has the dangerous ability to change direction at full speed in the middle of the floor. He fuels his last two steps before he takes off on one leg with an explosive burst that seems to allow him to accelerate in the air, making an attempt to block his shot all but a guaranteed trip to the line. (His 7.7 free throw attempts per game were first among point guards and eighth overall.) That more than 60 percent of his attempts came at the rim is a testament to the fact that defenders simply can’t stay in front of him. But it also is indicative of the fact that his jump shot is far too unreliable. With an improved midrange shot, Westbrook could score the same (or more) on fewer attempts, allowing him to focus more on setting up his teammates. When Westbrook is able to find a happy medium between scorer and facilitator, he could find himself on top of this list.”
Rajon Rondo on Perk: “It wasn’t like the man passed away or something,” Rondo said. “I think we put too much emphasis on it. It’s a business. He got traded. He’s very happy where he’s at. We still talk and I’m always going to have his back. It shouldn’t have affected us the way it affected us.”
AP Photo
Maybe you don’t remember the old Canon Andre Agassi commercials. But I’m sure you remember the tagline. Image is everything.
Sure, it was just a clever way to tie in high-quality pictures with a tennis star who had quite a rebellious, care-free image, but that idea lives on. Especially with high-profile athletes. Marketing, branding, visibility, likability — all that crap is essentially what leads to more money. The more people like you, the more people trust you. So when you endorse a product, whether it be a brand or even yourself, appearance and image, are what matter.
And nobody in the NBA has a more squeaky clean image than Kevin Durant. He’s a superstar, but one that’s humble, soft-spoken, team-oriented, committed, loyal and basically 50 other words describing how good a dude he is. He caught a lot of attention when he sheepishly announced his grand five-year max extension with the Thunder while LeBron was prepping for a one-hour special, but it goes back a lot further than that. He would run the scoreboard in college at Texas during intramural games. He plays video games with neighborhood kids. He signs every autograph. He introduces himself like you wouldn’t know who he was. “Hi, I’m Kevin.” I mean, we’re talking about a global basketball superstar that has two straight scoring titles, was the second-leading vote-getter in the West last season and one of the most visible and brightest stars in the league. Read more…
The Norway tragedy hits close to home too: “The people of Oklahoma City know, more than most, that such resiliency is possible — but it is also difficult. Watkins said that the city’s memorial and museum plans to offer its assistance to the people of Norway, including children’s psychiatric counseling and other resources. One lesson that the Midwestern city’s residents have learned, the hard way, is that evil exists and it can strike at any time — at times perpetrated by seemingly the least likely people.”
Connor Hutchen of HP on Russell Westbrook: “Westbrook mentions the Thunder’s playoff series victories by saying, “We were winning”, but that quote is ultimately hollow for a simple reason: The Thunder stopped winning when they came up against the Dallas Mavericks, and his inability to consistently make the slight changes necessary to improve his play were part of the reason for that decline. Westbrook can still improve various aspects of his game (Note: He’s 22 years old), and some of that improvement will come with added experience. I hope that occasionally making minuscule changes, changes that can alter the outcome of a game, will go hand-in-hand with that experience.” Read more…
It’s Lockout 2011, so what better way to get through another hour without basketball than to listen to some Thunder talk. In this week’s episode Royce and Brad team up to grade Presti’s moves through the 2010-2011 season (including the 2010 NBA Draft). Also returning is our summer segment “What up with that?” where we look at all the NBA’s hot topics.
Episode Bullets:
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Kevin Durant and James Harden were part of the group of NBA stars that played in an exhibition Saturday against Philippine Basketball Association All-Stars. The NBA players won 131-105 as KD had 22, with 20 coming in the first half. I couldn’t find a story with how many Harden had, but I can be certain he had at least two. Two that might as well been worth 20. Because holy mother of oop.
Miss you so much, NBA.
It’s definitely the slowest NBA news period since…well the last NBA lockout. There is just very little noteworthy going on. I’ve begun to realize how much of my online time is devoted to the NBA–probably a way too unhealthy amount. But still, even in these quiet NBA news cycles, old basketball junkies like myself still click away on sites like Basketball Reference.com or Hoopdata hoping something catches my interest. Yesterday I was reading about former Sonic Detlef Schrempf’s chances on making the hall of fame (not strong); and that got me thinking about whether or not Gary Payton was yet eligible for the Hall (I think he has to wait one more year), and that led me to look at GP’s awesome career stats and how those were lining up with our new young All-Star Point guard Russell Westbrook. I’m like that. I just get going and rabbit trail hours away looking at how one player’s stats compare to another. I know, I need a new hobby.
Then I was looking at Twitter and saw that James Harden was getting ready to throw down in that game in the Philippines today. It made me think about how far he’s come in the two seasons he’s been in the league. He’s really being considered as one of the young up and comers in the league. All of the playoff exposure has sort of put him on the map as compared to other good young players at the same point in their careers who haven’t as yet sniffed the playoffs (Stephen Curry, Tyreke, DeRozan…etc). Read more…
Happy day people of the internet. Thank you for your support of DT. Quick, everyone talk about how hot it is.
It’s everyone’s favorite time where I post a solid mix because there wasn’t really anything else floating out on the YouTubes worthy of a post. But this Kevin Durant one has a twist: It’s all based around KD’s favorite quote: Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. I can just picture KD saying that to himself over and over and over again as he puts up jumper after jumper after jumper in the practice gym.
I posted on Twitter yesterday a picture of KD with some new ink. A lot of people evidently weren’t aware that Durant has some tattoos. And evidently, some people turned a little silly about it, worrying about KD maintaining his squeaky clean image. A quick word: Tattoos, unless they include swastikas or something similar, don’t really say much other than, “Hey, I like this thing so much I wanted to put it on my body forever.”
Kurt Helin of PBT on KD’s tats: “He just crams all those tattoos into the parts of his body covered by his jersey. Why? Marketing. He knows he’s the clean-cut image guy, this way he looks like he doesn’t have tats while he plays. Okay, maybe that’s too cynical, maybe he likes just getting tattoos on his torso… no, I have a hard time thinking that’s the case. Whatever. It really doesn’t matter. That a guy in the NBA has tattoos — a lot of them, even — is not a sign of some “thug” life. It’s generational, and while the 50-somethings in the luxury suites don’t get it, their favorite 20-something up-and-comers at their law offices have tats under their suits.” Read more…
