Daily Thunder.com

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Oklahoma City’s record versus the Hornets in 2010-11: 3-1
Average score: 96.3 – 91.3
Kevin Durant’s average and shooting percentage: 29.0 ppg, 45.5 percent
Games against them in 2011-12: Four

How they match up: Maybe one of the most entertaining head-to-head matchups in the league is Chris Paul versus Russell Westbrook. Both are extremely feisty, emotional point guards and they don’t hold back one bit in going after each other. The Hornets rely so much on CP3 that in games where Westbrook played as well or better than Paul, Oklahoma City handled the Hornets. Because looking at the Hornets roster, there’s not a ton of help. The Thunder didn’t play them after the Perk trade but if anything, this current Thunder roster matches up much better with the Hornets than the old one.

David West may or may not be back in New Orleans but substituting Serge Ibaka for 40 minutes on West instead of Jeff Green is a major help. Read more…

Commentary

ESPN the Magazine compiled some famous athletes accounts of their memory of Sept. 11, 2001. Here’s the part from Kevin Durant:

Then: Seventh-grader, Drew Freeman Middle School (Md.)
Now: F, Oklahoma City Thunder
One of my friends heard a loud boom while he was walking to school. We never heard noises like that where we lived in Maryland, so I was kind of nervous. Our school dismissed us early. Only later, when I got home and saw the news, did I realize that the boom was the Pentagon being hit. Everyone was really scared because we didn’t know what else would happen, and as a kid, you really feel that intensity.

All the accounts are pretty incredible. Everyone has that moment etched in our brains forever. Ask me what I was doing when Lady Gaga’s debut album dropped and I have no flipping clue. But days like Sept. 11 are part of who we are. We remember.

Just three days until the 10th anniversary. Amazing it’s already been that long. But when you flash back to those memories, those thoughts of where you were and what you were doing, it still feels like it happened yesterday.

Commentary

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A look at the other 14 Western Conference teams to see who is, and isn’t, a major threat to the Thunder in the team’s quest to try and reach the NBA Finals. And yes, this is a rip-off of Mark Medina’s series for the LA Times. I am shameless. (Important note: This is of course before free agency so a lot of this could change.)

Oklahoma City’s record versus the Timberwolves in 2010-11: 4-0
Average score: 114.3-107.5
Kevin Durant’s average and shooting percentage: 32.0 ppg, 45.9 percent
Games against them in 2011-12: Four

How they match up: The Thunder only played the Wolves once after the Kendrick Perkins trade and that was late in the season with OKC winning 111-103. The Wolves are really athletic with Anthony Randolph, Michael Beasley, Wes Johnson and now Derrick Williams on the wings. Then there’s Kevin Love down low who had one 30-20 game and another 20-20 against the Thunder (pre-Perk, though). Read more…

Commentary

Hopefully you saw the first run at this. If not, you didn’t miss much except for some pretty lame jokes.

But I had a friend tell me I messed up the idea. He said, “No, no. You’ve got to Google their name and add ‘is’ at the end of it. That’ll tell you what you really need to know.” So here’s take two at letting Google explain the Thunder. (I didn’t like these results near as much anyway. People are mean and weird.)

Read more…

Commentary

Russell Westbrook was on the Dan Patrick Show this morning (and you could tell it was the morning) talking about a variety of things, but naturally he was asked about his point guardness. Or point guardability. Whatever you want to call it, Patrick asked Westbrook, “If I was going to introduce you before a game, what position would I say?”

“You’d say at point guard,” Westbrook said. “That’s my natural position. I’ve been playing that all my life. And that’s position I’ve been playing.”

He says he’s been playing it all his life, but I think most would sort of disagree. He played more of a hybrid guard at UCLA next to and behind Darren Collison. I think the general consensus has been that Westbrook’s first real venture into exclusive point guardtivity was his rookie season in the NBA. But I’m not going to quibble with semantics, because he’s a point guard to me and a damn good one at that.

As for if he heard and read all the criticism directed at him: “Not that much at all man. I went out every night and tried to play my game and do what i can do to help my team win or get us to the next round. That’s what my job was.”

Asked as to what inspired all that chatter, Westbrook answered, “You know I really don’t know. That comes along with playing in this league. The good thing about it is was my teammate and my family have my back and we’re winning. That’s all that matters.” Read more…

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The second post in what still might be a small series. We’ll see how far this lockout crap goes. If you missed the first look-back, read up on the game that signaled a young team was finally turning the corner.

When I was filling in the pre-game post on Dec. 31, 2008 and got to the team record part for the Thunder, it was almost painful to write. I can’t be sure, but I bet I cringed when it did it. Which is probably why for some reason instead of just typing in the numbers with a dash between, I made to add a little umph to it. “THREE AND FREAKING 29,” I wrote.

Three wins, 29 losses for our new team. Three games where the Thunder had more points than their opponent, 29 games in which they didn’t. This was the team we were all so excited about. This is the team that was supposed to change our city. And yet, 3-and-freaking-29.

At this point, it was almost past desperation. I had crossed over from that unbridled optimism that came along with the Thunder’s new car smell. I had definitely begun to leave behind trying to conjure up positives from each and every deflating beating Oklahoma City took every night. It was all starting to feel kind of pointless. I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel somewhere, but the Thunder had me wearing sunglasses. That light was more of an idea, not something I could actually see. Read more…

Commentary

If there was ever a place to be for a Thunder fan Tuesday night, it was in Baltimore for the Melo-Goodman game that featured Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, LeBron James, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.

It pretty much came down to this: KD’s team lost 149-141, but Durant, with LeBron checking him, dropped 59 points, pretty much holding his team in the game by himself.

Michael Lee of the Washington Post was there and his Twitter feed is darn near orgasmic. A sampling: Read more…

Commentary, News

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Actual competitive basketball being played in an actual arena with actual NBA players! No, this isn’t another Drew League versus Goodman League showdown — it’s better. It’s Eurobasket 2011 and if you’re completely starved for some quality hoops, then welcome your all-you-can-eat buffet of basketball.

You’re probably sick of people trying to convince you how quality the European game has become, and while no, it’s not the NBA, it is about as good of basketball as you’re going to get. And with the labor negotiations going about as well as Charles Barkley in a marathon, this might be one of your last chances to get competitive basketball.

The EuroBasket tournament features 24 countries all with the opportunity to put away an automatic bid to the 2012 Olympics in London. The top two finishers get an automatic bid while four bids to the Pre-Olympic qualifying tournament (for third through sixth) are at stake as well. But it’s not only about the Olympic bids. It’s about taking home a title for your country against the top competition in Europe. It’s a big deal.

It starts up Aug. 31 and runs through Sept. 18. It’s going to be a frantic few weeks of hoops with big names like Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Luol Deng and Tony Parker. Other than it just providing a solid little basketball fix for us junkies, it also has a pretty decent Thunder connection in it. Read more…

Commentary

It’s Oklahoma City’s turn in ESPN.com’s series analyzing each team in the 5-on-5 format. Covered in it was if KD will be basketball’s best player at some point, if the Thunder have the 4 and 5 spots settled, if they’re the Western favorites, if Harden should start and naturally, if the Thunder should look at trading you-know-who.

Correct answers if you’re scoring at home: No you don’t trade Westbrook, LeBron’s still the best, yes the 4 and 5 are settled (as much as they can be for now), no the Thunder aren’t quite the Western favorites yet and finally yes, you start Harden. Would you look at that — I got all five right!

Have a look and make sure everyone points out at once that yes, in fact you CAN win a title with Perk as your center because, you know, it’s already been done.

Commentary

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How about some Friday trivia with absolutely no reward for the winner? Sounds awesome right? I’m totally ripping this off from TrueHoop brother Raptors Republic and while the Thunder doesn’t have nearly as many surprising answers as the Raptors, there are a few interesting notes to take out of this. Like do you know who actually led the Thunder in Offensive Rating last season? Wait, don’t answer that yet. That’s one of the questions.

So check out these 15 questions and then see if you got them right with the answers below. And if you got them all correct, just keep it to yourself because no one’s going to believe you anyway. Read more…

Commentary, Other

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Rex Tillerson. Jeffrey Immelt. Alan Mulally. W. James McNerny. James Skinner.

Mark Cuban. Jerry Buss. Jerry Jones. Robert Kraft. Hal Steinbrenner.

I’m guessing that, unless you’re a total business geek, you at most know only one or two of the names in the first group. But you probably know all of the names in the second group, and even non-sports fans (who at least are minimally aware of current events and have a pulse) know three or four of them.

Nonetheless, those 10 men have something in common. They’re all filthy rich. The big difference that separates the famous rich guys from the non-famous rich guys is that the famous ones own sports teams. The non-famous ones are chairmen and/or CEOs of some of the world’s biggest companies (in order, Exxon Mobil, GE, Ford, Boeing, McDonalds), each of which is worth more than every NBA franchise put together. Read more…

Commentary

That’s not the movie, but I’m pretty sure it should be.

When most players say that they are exploring their options during this lockout, they mean they’re looking at playing overseas. Kevin Durant ‘s doing that too — reportedly — but he’s also evidently exploring another option: the silver screen.

According to the Oklahoman, Durant is set to “star in a major Warner Bros. film” that will either be filmed in Oklahoma City or Baton Rouge. The film is said to have a “basketball subplot” doesn’t have a name yet but is supposed to go into production in mid-September. You know, right around when training camp would be starting.

I’m sure this movie isn’t actually a lockout contingency plan for Durant but there’s no doubt that a work stoppage would assist in helping him get his part done. I bet it would be tough to squeeze in shooting between back-to-backs against the Bucks and Grizzlies.

But this is just another stamp on Durant’s move to go from small market basketball superstar into a globally branded megastar. He’s already taken big steps toward that as his appearances in China have been massive, he was second in All-Star votes in the West behind Kobe and he’s got massive ad deals with giants like Nike, EA Sports and Gatorade. A movie doesn’t necessarily mean he’s going to jump past LeBron or Kobe, but it’s an obvious sign that you’re not limited just because you’re in a small market. Read more…

Commentary, News

Saturday’s Goodman vs. Drew League game pretty much came down to the Thunder. It was Kevin Durant against James Harden with Durant’s Goodman League trailing by a point as the final seconds ticked off.

Durant attacked his bearded Thunder buddy with one of his favorite moves — light jog up the court, subtle hesitation dribble with a quick change of pace going hard with his strong hand. KD uses it a lot and it’s really effective. Problem against Harden was though, he’s seen it a ton. And he was entirely ready for it.

Harden slid right over on Durant and attempted to take a charge. KD said block. Harden said charge. But the important third party was Marques Johnson, the referee on that side. He said block and so KD went to the line and sunk two free throw to ice it for the Goodman. Read more…

Commentary, Video

The Goodman League topped the Drew League 135-134 in the highly anticipated pro-am showdown in Washington D.C. Saturday night. It came down to a controversial block/charge call that sent Kevin Durant to the free throw line where he calmly sank both to put the Goodman up one. Brandon Jennings missed a jumper with a few seconds left and Durant blocked James Harden’s follow-up to seal the win.

Harden wasn’t psyched about it after the game tweeting, “LoL did we get cheated??” KD responded, “NOOOO dont be like that…we gonna come to LA and get no calls so i dont matter.” Harden said, “hahha me and u both know that was a charge!” And then KD said, “U was moving and u flopped…it was all fun man don’t be on that…” And then they made a joke about it being just like training camp and the Broingtons were all best friends again. Or something.

All in all, a pretty fun night of pickup hoops during a time where any basketball at all is like manna from heaven.

And as you might expect, there were a bunch of quality plays. I mean, how could there not be in a game that featured Durant, Harden, Jennings, John Wall, Tyreke Evans, JaVale McGee, DeMar DeRozan and a couple streetball legends? But it mostly KD. Oh sweet goodness, KD.

Commentary, Video

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I had this in today’s Bolts, but I feel like both sides of the story need to be heard. We already know what police are saying and we know about Kendrick Perkins’ initial denial. But more information and details are surfacing.

Really for Perk, his weekend arrest really didn’t carry much of any punishment. It was just a misdemeanor charge, he got out on $150 bail and with a little community service, I’m sure he’ll be able to move past whatever happened at a bar in his hometown of Beaumont, TX.

But Perk sees the punishment of public perception and embarrassment as too much to ignore. Which is why he’s going on the offensive.

Again, Tuesday he denied claims made by police after his arrest for public intoxication. Through a lawyer’s statement, Perkins claims he was actually injured during whatever happened and even considered a police brutality complaint. And now, there’s more. Via the Oklahoman, a publicist for Perkins says he was only having water at the bar and there are witnesses to verify it.

“Although these may be misdemeanors, it’s a big deal to Kendrick,” said Denise White, his publicist. “He’s not happy about how things happened that evening and feels like the police were out of hand … He was not drinking alcohol, nor was he intoxicated. Not one drop of alcohol Friday night. We’re not sure why they said Kendrick was intoxicated. There are witnesses inside the club that will attest to Kendrick only drinking water that evening.”

How can we be sure about this? We can’t, because evidently police did not administer a breathalyzer or take a blood test. And if you’ve ever heard Perk talk, it might be kind of difficult to tell if he’s been drinking or not. That slow Texas drawl makes it sound like he’s slurring everything. I mean, doesn’t it seem a bit strange that he was arrested for public intoxication and they didn’t actually prove he was intoxicated? Does to me. Read more…

Commentary, News