Friday Bolts – 12.3.10

Cole Aldrich in his latest blog for Dime: Also, you may have heard that I’ve been playing in the D-League for the Tulsa 66ers. GM [Sam] Presti came to me one day and told me he thought it would be a great opportunity to get back on the court and get some serious minutes again … Even though I’m away from the team, I still talk to a lot of guys on the team. I talked to Kevin [Durant] for 20-30 minutes the other day, as well as Royal, Mo Pete and Byron [Mullens]. As I’ve said before, everybody’s really friendly, but Kevin always looks out for me. It’s tough missing the games. I watched the game last night on TV in Tulsa. You gotta watch the games to see what the team’s doing defensively and offensively. I’ve been cheering hard for the guys and want us to win every game. It’s hard not being there, so I’ve been working my butt off here.”

John Rohde of The Oklahoman: “Last season, Thunder starters missed a total of six games, all by   center Nenad Krstic. So far this season, starters have missed 10 games.   The Thunder is a combined 8-2 without its usual starting lineup of  Kevin  Durant, Russell Westbrook, Jeff Green, Thabo Sefolosha and  Krstic, and  5-4 with the starting lineup intact.”

The NBA’s top 50 players, according to Sporting News. That was voted on before the season. Westbrook is at 30. Where do you think he’d be now?

KD answered questions on Twitter: “What Is The Most Points You Ever Scored In High School ?(33)” How crazy is that? Just 33 points for KD in high school?

A former Sonic fan can’t help but root for the Thunder.

Chris Silva: “As the Thunder heads into tonight’s matchup against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre, a place the Raptors have won four of its last five games, let’s take a look at just how successful the Thunder has been away from home this season. The Thunder, which left town on Tuesday with five of its next six games on the road, is 7-2 away from home this season and winners of six of its last seven in opposing arenas. Oklahoma City is 5-0 on the road against Eastern Conference teams and 5-1 away from home when it plays without a member of the starting lineup.”

A clip of The Association is out featuring the Celtics. The Thunder was the first choice but of course, OKC respectfully declined. Darn, because that would’ve been fun.

Aldrich had eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in 29 minutes last night for the 66ers.

Geez, not much out there about the Thunder today. It’s almost as if there was a game last night that captured all the attention of everyone.