Wednesday Bolts – 2.17.10
Simmons’ Trade Value column came out yesterday, which is a highlight of my year. Yes, I have a fairly boring life. But he has Russell Westbrook 30 and Kevin Durant third this year: “Let’s leave out the historical possibilities this time around. (You know, like the fact that he’s already at 5,000 career points, that no forward has ever averaged 30 points a game three times and he might do it 10 or 12, that he might have a 37 PPG or a 55-45-95 shooting percentage season lurking in him, etc.) Just look at this particular season. How is Durant not our No. 2 choice for MVP?”
I wrote Monday about my All-Star experience and how shellshocked I was seeing David Stern. Mike Seely of Seattle Weekly thinks I’m wrong/stupid: “But to Oklahoma City fans, Stern is a godsend. That we get. What doesn’t, however, pass the giggle test are awestruck press confessionals like the following, courtesy of Daily Thunder blogger Royce Young, who bumped into Stern over NBA All-Star weekend in Dallas.” The comments aren’t especially kind either.
Eddie Sefko of the DMN: “The Mavericks pulled out most of their starters with 93 seconds left in Tuesday’s game, trailing by 10 points. You may think coach Rick Carlisle threw in the towel too quickly. But considering the Mavericks could barely score 10 points in a quarter, it was a little unrealistic to expect them to score 10 in a minute and a half.”
A really nice sitdown interview with Clay Bennett.
Darnell Mayberry: “Don’t know if it has anything to do with coming off his first All-Star selection, but Durant is starting to bark at the refs a bit. He was all over the crew in the first quarter tonight. I say good for him. It’s about time he gets more star calls.”
Matt Moore of HP looks at the Western Conference using pretty charts and graphs.
The NBA is going to start experimenting with 3-D soon: “Instead, the front of the screen is used as the beginning point for the action, and everything appears to go deeper into the television, with the depth of the experience being accented like never before. If they had players or the ball flying out at you it would detract from the actual game itself; the way they have seemed to decide to do things makes the technology the ultimate enhancement. The exact availability of when 3-D broadcasting can be expected to come directly into the home isn’t yet known. But with networks like ESPN already committing to it by ramping up the number of events they film with this new technology, it’s likely to be here sooner than you might think.”
Kurt Helin of Pro Basketball Talk noticed the tension in the air last night: “There was excitement at the end of the game, and thankfully it wasn’t about pizzas or tacos — Durant’s shot at the rim with 20 seconds left gave him 25 points for the 26th straight game. That guy is special.”
Simmons on KD’s 25th point: “Durant with a clutch garbage-time bucket to keep the 25+ streak alive! That was exciting and you can’t tell me differently.”
I enjoy looking at the standings. They are pretty right now.
The NBA’s newest awesome commercial: Where Clutch Happens.
