Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Tuesday Bolts - 10.28.08

The NBA season tips off tonight! Hooray.
  • One last season preview to toss up: "Let’s get the big one out of the way early: Kevin Durant is incredible. Absolutely incredible. And despite some criticism for supposedly underwhelming, the Durantula put up a LeBron-esque rookie campaign (sans assists, of course). The most exciting thing in OKC this season may be seeing what Durant does next. At the tail end of last season, Durant flipped the switch. He scored well all season long, but the last two months (err month and a half, really) he had pretty incredible efficiency for a rookie and his points per game skyrocketed despite taking fewer attempts. His defense…well, so he has some room or improvement."
  • An opposing team's scouts sizes up the Thunder: "The move from Seattle will help them because they're in a city where they're wanted, and they'll have a nice home-court situation that they didn't have last year. The improved home court will help them, but I don't see as much improvement in their roster as a lot of people think. They don't shoot the ball well enough, especially from the three-point line. Jeff Green is a guy they're trying to push, but I don't think he's as good as they seem to think he is. They'll be fun to watch, but they're still such a young team."
  • A nice treat for opening night tomorrow - free parking: "He’s still stunned, however, by where he will find that free parking space: Bricktown. "It’s really crazy to even believe they’re doing it,” Pauley said when told the district will provide more than 1,000 spaces. "I’ve always heard that’s the one place not to bother with.”
  • A buzz in the air for opening night: "Former Oklahoma State star Desmond Mason said public appearances, season tickets selling out in five days and a packed house downtown for the nickname unveiling are signs Oklahoma City fans are stoked about the season opener Wednesday night at the Ford Center."
  • Tremendous upside potential for big guy Robert Swift: "Underneath the flop-top red hair and all those tattoos lies a talented basketball player within Robert Swift. This must be true, or why else would the Thunder be clinging to this great unknown? Swift is remarkably agile for someone who stands 7-foot-1 and weighs 270 pounds, which are the primary reasons he occupies an NBA roster."

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Draftexpress has Ricky Rubio as their top pick in 09- For some reason he is shown as a 2010 prospect on your linked site. I wish Griffin all the best, but I'm not convinced he will be a GREAT pro. I'd prefer that we BUY a proven all-star PF (Boozer), and land Westbrook a top notch back court running buddy in Rubio.

Royce Young said...

I think Blake will be a solid pro almost in the Boozer mold. I agree on Boozer though - he would be an excellent signing. I have actually been working on something about how to acquire Boozer NOW and turn the team into a contender NOW.

I like Rubio a lot too, but I would especially want him to stick it to Bill Simmons. Simmons rips the Thunder constantly, but has declared he will move to whatever sity drafts Rubio. Come on Sam, take Rubio just to spite BS.

Samuel said...

Hahahaha, good luck "buying" a proven PF free agent. Good luck even retaining Durant and Green when they become free agents. Check out Yahoo Finance and pull up a stock chart for Sandridge Energy (Tom Ward's company) or Chesapeake Energy (Aubrey's). You'll be lucky if they haven't sold the team to an out-of-town owner by the time the '09 draft rolls around.

Anonymous said...

Hey Samuel, How's Washington Mutual doing these days.....

10,000 layoffs...ouch!!!!

Samuel said...

Good one. Does WaMu have a stake in Kevin Durant's Future Former Team?

I'm not trying to say anything about the strength of OKC's economy relative to Seattle's; in fact, I hope the best for all OKC citizens EXCEPT the notorious sleazebags Bennett, Ward and McClendon. Karma is a b**** fellas.