Wednesday Bolts - 11.12.08

• Vote your favorite Thunder players to the All-Star team: Oklahoma City has three players on the ballot - Kevin Durant, Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison.

• Oklahoma City has to get a new court: "Connor Sport Court International built the current Ford Center floor with 3-point lines one foot short of the NBA’s 23-feet, 9-inch standards. The $110,000 court arrived late last month and had to be sanded and repainted days before the Thunder’s Oct. 29 opener. The new court, being constructed in Michigan at no charge to the team or Oklahoma City, will be slightly longer on both ends to better fit the Ford Center.

• An article from Bleacher Report wonders if Kevin Durant is future MVP material: "If Durant can improve on his rebounding and defense (of which he has none) then he of course has a chance to win the Maurice Podoloff trophy. Unfortunately for Durant, so does everyone else in the league. Kobe Bryant spent 10 years ripping nets and balls from defenders' grasps before capturing his first MVP hardware in 2007-2008."

• ESPN's David Thorpe has Russell Westbrook at No. 14 in his rookie rankings: "The good news about this jet of an athlete is that he makes his team better, taking good shots (good shots have a better chance of being rebounded by a teammate than a bad shot), making easy passes and playing good defense. The bad news is that he's a poor finisher around the rim and still is not a good perimeter shooter. But if he was a stock on the market, I'd be a big-time buyer. I think the game will slow down for him, especially on drives, and he'll learn to be a much better scorer."

• Thunderguru Joe has some thoughts on the poor shooting too (it's a really great read and I highly recommend checking it out): "The Thunder just love to shoot the jump shot. I thought when I began looking into the numbers that I would find the Thunder as one of the teams with the highest number of jump shots as compared to the total of all their shots. Surprisingly I was wrong. The Thunder actually shoot 63% of their total shots in what is considered “long” or outside of the paint; those shots from about 15 feet on out. 63% is smack in the middle of the NBA. Many teams actually take quite a few more than the Thunder like Toronto (78%) or the New Orleans (74%), but the Thunder are just about the average on long jump shots. The problem is that the Thunder shoot them really poorly. On those longer jump shots, the Thunder shoot them at an effective field goal rate of .346. In perspective, that means that they miss just about 65 out of every 100 that they take. That’s just dandy if it were a baseball batting average, but with a jump shot, a staple of the game, .346 puts them in some bad company."

• Pro Basketball News' power rankings: "Kevin Durant has grown into his frame and is taking smarter shots, making him an unstoppable scorer in just his second season. He's going to go on to do special things, and figures to become even more effective when the core around him strengthens, allowing him to be more selective."

• Tom Ziller from Fanhouse was impressed by KD Monday night: "Same story, second verse: Kevin Durant is back at it, taking the lion's share of all the Thunder's shot attempts. The Un-Sonics rolled into Indiana for a cross-conference affair, and Durant proceeded to yoke up 27 FGAs and nine free throws. KD came down with a somewhat efficient 37 points, a big total that just wasn't enough to pull out a win. (Surprisingly story, that.) Just as encouraging? Three blocks and eight rebounds for Durant. KD isn't going to be a perennial All-Star at the two. He'll be making his case for greatness at a forward position. So even if P.J. Carlesimo straps him to the backcourt, it's encouraging to see him branch out and maximize his physical potential."