Wednesday Bolts – 1.21.09
- One of the faces of the Mt. Rushmore of blogging, Dan Shanoff approves of the TrueHoop Network: “Things I would like to see: ESPN aggressively integrate the blogger content into their daily NBA coverage — not just top stories, but into features, analysis, game recaps and more. The bloggers take advantage of the affiliation with ESPN — which team media relations departments can’t help but respect — to expand their coverage innovatively. This has been hanging out there as an opportunity for every major sports-media site out there — for years (even with SB Nation corralling some of the best into their network). Kudos to Henry and ESPN for making this happen. They would be smart to do something similar in the other sports, too; THIS is what a “blog network” should be.”
- Charles Barkley signs with the Thunder (h/t Doug): “Coach Scott Brooks, upon the recommendation of one of his players, Chucky Atkins has decided to sign TNT sports personality and commentator Charles Barkley to a one-year contract. Barkley who currently tips the scales at 495 pounds says that it will take him roughly about 48 hours to get himself back into basketball playing shape.”
- Bleacher Report talks midseason hoops and discusses who they think is the worst team in the league: “The Thunder. A total of eight wins speaks for itself … The Oklahoma City Thunder are the worst team in the league. They will be a good team in the future, but as of right now, they are pretty bad. They have their nights where the upset their opponents, but in the end, they only really have Durant and Green for now.” Two things there guys: 1) OKC’s eight wins ties them with one other team so they’re not the worst just based on that alone and 2) Other than Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, the Thunder’s got potential Rookie of the Year Russell Westbrook and new signee Nenad Krstic. Just a heads up for when next time you want to talk about a team you clearly haven’t been following.
- SI’s Bryan Armen Graham has Russell Westbrook No. 4 in his rookie rankings this week: “So much for Oklahoma City’s challenging the record futility of the 1972-73 Sixers, who went an NBA-worst 9-73. With Westbrook providing a spark, the Thunder have split their last eight games to improve to 8-33. The highlight of Westbrook’s week was a 22-point, seven-assist, three-steal performance in a win against Deron Williams and the Jazz. That marked the Thunder’s first victory against a team currently with a winning record.”
- Mike Baldwin has a Q&A with Mr. Bennett: “I’m hearing a lot of good things about how people feel about the experience. We’re getting better as a team. We’re getting better in the arena. It’s a lot of fun. We’ve gone from early on, some not-so-good comments, to no comments, to hearing a lot of nice comments. But we’ve still got a long way to go.”
- Sporting News power poll has OKC at No. 26. Movin’ on up: “Scott Brooks is a good coach and the team needs stability — removing the interim tag would be a good idea”
- And if you were wondering who did my very fine header, it was a good friend of mine that was kind enough to lend a hand. She’s an amazing artist that has an awesome website (www.val-o-rie.com) that you should definitely check out while looking for ways to waste time at work. I freaking love her drawings.
