Tuesday Bolts - 12.23.08

• A must-read - Tom Ziller wrote yesterday on Fanhouse, "You can't accuse the Thunder of giving up," which is exactly what Thunderfans have been preaching : "With an awful team to call my own, don't ask why I have spent the past week catching every Oklahoma City Thunder game I could on League Pass. Something about Kevin Durant continues to thrill, and Russell Westbrook's new cult status as Rondo-on-a-bad-team coupled with Jeff Green's eternal Pippen mimicking make the team an interesting watch ... But the fantastic thing -- the factor which kept OKC in closer proximity than most far superior Cleveland opponents -- is that the young Thunder players never quit. Durant, Westbrook and Green have a tremendous chemistry on the court. Obviously, it rarely registers in the win column and often not even in the box score. But that's a youth and talent issue ... But the shimmer of hope, a fistful of spirit remain, with every Westbrook assist and Green three and Durant dunk. In a few years, opponents will long for 2008, when OKC represented an easy mark. This team, meek as it seems, travels on the path toward respectability. Patience will be required, but almost certainly rewarded."

• Shoals of FreeDarko thinks the Thunder are totally cool even though they lose: "First off, Ziller has suggested that Thunder/Grizz is the new Bobcats/Hawks, and I'm inclined to agree. I feel like a turncoat for saying this, but as Dr. LIC noted a few weeks back, the Thunder are rad and lose a ton of games. Perfect! And they're about the most god-foresaken outpost of NBA basketball available. The game with Cleveland yesterday was bound to end as it did, but certainly felt like a battle. Westbrook's the wild card, Durant the edgy craftsman, Jeff Green has become Jeff Green. Combine those with a high pick, and Presti might not built another Spurs, but a team with serious mind control powers. Now let's see what he does with a coach, or when Ibaka comes over."
  

• Josh Lambert on Bleacher Report writes the Thunder may not, in fact, be the worst team in the NBA: "After the win against the Raptors, it seemed as though this team has figured something out. The Thunder lost tonight to the Cleveland Cavilers by 11 points, 102-91. If it were not for the freakish play of LeBron James, Oklahoma City might have earned another win."

• Well look at that; Marc Stein of ESPN agrees in his newest Power Rankings: "I'm guessing Scotty Brooks will happily endure all of these cracks about being the winningest coach in Thunder history -- at 2-13 -- if it means less talk about how his kiddies are still stuck on a dreaded 9-73 pace."

• And it keeps getting better; Chris Mannix of SI.com has OKC all the way up to No. 27: "Looking to fill their need for an inside scoring threat, the Thunder are preparing a three-year offer to Nets restricted free agent Nenad Krstic, who is poised to return to the NBA after starting the season in Russia. If the Nets decline to match the offer for their former starting center, Krstic would join with Kevin Durant, Jeff Green to give the Thunder the makings of a decent frontcourt."

• Randy Hill of Fox Sports looks at excellence vs. futility: "Riding while strapped to the top of another runaway train are the Oklahoma City Thunder, whose recent victory uprising puts them at a righteous three triumphs through 27 games. With their success window still looking as vast as a dollhouse peephole, interim coach Scott Brooks and his plucky Thunder are on a quest to avoid 70 defeats. Are they capable of discovering victory in at least 10 more scheduled dates? Just feeling the need to raise this question suggests the potential for doom. Anyway, with the Cs and Thunder as co-stars, we've been challenged to answer the following question: if these teams are riding separate trains and allowed to go speeding off in opposite directions, which team will reach 70 first?"

• OKC is gaining a bit of respect, despite still actually being 3-25: "On Sunday night in the Sooner State, the Cavaliers topped the Thunder for the second time this season, although this was definitely not the same OK City team they thumped by 35 three weeks ago ... 'With this atmosphere, I really have to pat my guys on the back,” praised Coach Mike Brown. “It’s the third game of the trip and I thought our guys stayed focused with this crowd here in Oklahoma City. They hung in there and won the game in the fourth, which is what you have to do sometimes on the road.'"