Wednesday Bolts - 1.7.09

- Have you voted for Russell Westbrook today? Do it... Do it.

- One day until the National Championship game. I'm nervous. And mad about the media storm around Dominique Franks' "comments."

- Seth from Posting and Toasting on OKC: "Credit Oklahoma City with being a really surprisingly solid city and arena. They're really loveable underdogs. There's a pre-game prayer (I'd like to see that), they have silly sound effects for each player (I guess the Knicks do to, but somehow this is sillier), and get legitimately rowdy when their team performs. Hats off to the OKC. Still, it would've given me sick pleasure to rob them of a much-deserved win."

- See, we knew everyone would start to come around. One commenter at Knickerblogger: "It was totally [messed] up how the Thunder ended up in OKC, but yeah, the fans in OKC obviously love them their basketball."

- What do YOU mean, "those guys?": '"It's taking steps back, especially losing to those guys," Al Harrington said. "No disrespect to them, but we're in a different place than those guys." "What different place? The Thunder boast three young studs the Knicks wish they had. Second-year stars Kevin Durant and Jeff Green battered the Knicks with 27 points apiece, and rookie point guard Russell Westbrook, whom the Knicks targeted in the draft, finished with 22 points and nine assists."'

- Still following the Thunder on ESPN's "worst team ever" thing? Yeah, me neither: With last night's win, the Thunder are on pace for a 12-70 record. After 35 games, the 1972-73 Sixers were 3-35. Which isn't even the worst ever after 35. The 1997-98 Nuggets, the 1993-94 Mavs and 1970-71 Cavs were all 2-33. Hey, I'm kind of digging 5-30 now.

- Ball Don't Lie Behind the Box Score: "The Thunder stormed (I just wrote that, I didn't even think about it ... I think the BtB wheels have come off) to an early lead with some sound ball movement and plenty of aggression. Good aggression, getting into lanes, making the extra pass, and finishing well. Kevin Durant had 27 points on 16 shots, with 12 rebounds, and Jeff Green scored 27 of his own. A sneaky 27, if I'm honest. Didn't know it was happening until I was told. Also, Russell Westbrook ... 22 points, nine assists, six boards, four turnovers, not bad. Again, lots of aggression. The Thunder looked great, New York came back for a spell during the fourth quarter, but Oklahoma City is playing some really good basketball of late, and it's been truly fun to watch."

- Bored? Waste some time checking out what I think are the top 10 Nike commercials ever: "Pretty much anything with Michael Jordan makes a great commercial. It could be 30 seconds of MJ just dribbling in his underwear with some awesome pulsing beat with a light piano over the top and then you slap, "Become Legendary" and the Jumpman on the end of it and you've got a flippin' sweet commercial."

Tuesday Bolts - 12.30.08

• Help has officially arrived; Krstic will join the Thunder: "The New Jersey Nets have declined to match Oklahoma City's offer sheet to former first-round pick Nenad Krstic. The decision Tuesday gives the Thunder another 7-footer as they continue to look for a reliable center. Krstic was playing in Russia when the Thunder extended an offer sheet to him last week. The Nets had a week to match it but passed."

• Bright Side of the Sun said last night's Thunder reminded them of someone: "The Suns seemed to be sleepwalking in the first quarter, this could be due to the days off or underestimating the opponent. The defense was really bad (to say the least) and it seemed that The Thunder were scoring at will. They looked like the old Suns, running, cutting to the basket and getting highlight dunks and assists that will surely be on the top ten tonight. To make things even worse, just into 9 minutes of the first quarter Nash got hurt on a beautiful pick and roll play with Amundson who finished an AND1 play. Nash signaled coach Porter to get him out of the game and never came back. It was later reported that Nash had back spasms."

• Ziller says at least you're not a Bobcats fan: "When you think of utter hopelessness in the NBA today, Oklahoma City surely comes to mind. The team's record is horrific. I mean, maybe the Detroit Lions have softened the string of utter failure to our cynical eyes. But three wins, 29 losses ... that will almost always be hilarious to the neutral party. Whether justice to the jilted, brown grass to the fellow sufferer or simple joke, the Thunder have become a complete laughingstock. You feel silly for even looking for the bright side. But you can't tell me there isn't hope there. The truly bad in the NBA can offer one concession to fans: hope for a better tomorrow. In this league, that is fulfilled by youth. Oklahoma City has loads of youth: Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook ... all kids, and all starters right now. OKC owns roughly two dozen draft picks to spend the next two Junes. Take away Joe Smith and Earl Watson, and you've basically got a college team. This is where we turn to our main subject, a bad team without much hope, by my count the Bleakest Team in the NBA: the Charlotte Bobcats."

• Another Serge Ibaka update: In December, he's averaging 13 minutes per game, 5.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg, and is shooting 57 percent from the field.

• A mock draft from Bleacher Report has Oklahoma City picking you-know-where and taking you-know-who: "Clearly the supreme talent in this class, the sophomore 6-foot-9 forward has gotten off to a ridiculous start this year for the unbeaten Sooners. His superior athleticism gives him a huge advantage crashing the boards, and his offensive game is explosive and already highly-polished. Unlike Michael Beasley before him, his work ethic and killer instinct are unquestioned and he appears willing to do anything to get the win. Unfortunately for him, it's looking like he'll have to stay in Oklahoma and play for the OKC Durants. Quite frankly, this team needs anything it can get. They wouldn't be doing too shabbily to snag Griffin, though."

Let's just go ahead and start looking forward to next June

When your team starts 1-11, there's a few things you can do.
1. Stop paying attention
2. Look for positives and convince yourself improvement is coming
3. Call for your coach's head
4. Watch each game with your arms folded and with a cynical, "I don't care" attitude.
5. Start talking about next year's draft.

And that's what we're going to do here. Why not? It's clear that Oklahoma City will have another lottery pick, but the question is where? By no means am I giving up on the season, because we all knew we'd be in the lottery. It's just, there's not a ton to say about a team that 1-11 besides, "They stink." And plus, it's always fun to look ahead and dream of one player turning your life around.

So who is going to impact the Thunder the most? Who could be our Tim Duncan - the guy to take us from the bottom of the basement to the top of the townhouse?

Blake Griffin - Oklahoma
If OKC picks No. 1, this is who they take. No questions asked. Don't even think twice. Blake Griffin is your man. First, he's obviously a hometown guy. Second, I truly don't think there is another player in the country that can match him athletically or physically. He's the best player in the nation. Period. He's big (6-10, 260 lbs) but he's quick. He's developing a nice little jumper and the dude can handle the ball. I've been saying it before Fran Fraschilla decided to say about 14 times on national television - he's Amare Stoudemire, version two. Except honestly, at this point, I think Blake is stronger and more developed than Amare at 20. Blake is impossible to guard one-on-on in the post because he'll overpower you. He can face you up and take you off the dribble. And he's an ideal guy to run pick and rolls or pick and pops with. He will immediately impact whatever roster that he winds up on. Take him OKC. Take him. (Highlights)

B.J. Mullens - Ohio State
He's clearly got ability. He's 7-1 and is extremely athletic. But one thing about him is nobody will know if he will be NBA ready when he comes out after this year. Watching video of him, I see a little Greg Oden in him, just because of his length and the way he dominates the post. But he's so much more athletic than Oden. This pick wouldn't hurt OKC. He should be a nice post player in the future, but I don't see him as an immediate impact player. Right now, the Thunder doesn't need anymore projects and I fear Mullens would be one. (Highlights)

Ricky Rubio - DKV Joventut
I would love Rubio for a couple reasons:
1. To stick it to Bill Simmons. The Sports Guy (who is probably my favorite sports writer) is hell-bent on disrespecting Oklahoma City. He was outspoken about the move and now only refers to the Thunder as the SloppySeconds, the Bennett City Hijackers or Kevin Durant's Team. But he has also declared in two columns, that he has such a crush on Rubio that he "would move to whatever city drafts him." Welcome to OKC Bill. Give me a call. I'll show you around.

2. Because he's a darn fine player. At 17, he showed his talent in the Gold Medal Game against the United States in Beijing. He's extremely gifted with the ball, has excellent court vision and gets to the rim with ease. He looks like a combo of Steve Nash and Chris Paul, but with more size (6-4). If OKC took him, the Thunder might be labeled the Detroit Lions of the NBA having taken two straight point guards, but Russell Westbrook is more of a combo guard while Rubio is a straight point man. He runs a fast break with such fluidity and is awesome at penetrating and finding someone to dish to. One thing that concerns me is how much of a set-shot jumper he has. He gets basically no lift and he's got a slow release. Obviously, he did fine for himself against Team USA, but I don't know how well that would translate to the NBA. Also, he appears to be developing a bit of an ego and I'm not sure how thrilled he would be to play in small market OKC. All that aside, I am behind Rubio and would be buying billboards downtown begging Sam Presti to take him if Blake Griffin weren't involved. (Highlights)

Demar DeRozen - USC
Some are calling him the next Vince Carter. Is that a complement? I assume so, but I have to think he really doesn't fit into what Oklahoma City already has and what it wants to do. He dunks, he's freakishly athletic, but where does he play? Well, unless OKC wants to shuffle things around for him. Jeff Green would either have to move to the four or to the bench, Kevin Durant to his more natural small forward spot and DeRozen play the two. Otherwise there's a crowd. It's hard to ignore his pure, unbelievable ability, but unlike former Trojan guard O.J. Mayo, DeRozen probably won't be able to come into the league and play right away. He has absolute superstar potential, but sometimes those guys pan out and sometimes they don't. He's far from a sure thing and OKC really needs a sure thing right now. (Highlights)

James Harden - Arizona State
Get ready. I'm about to do it. I'm about to compare a black guy not just to a white guy, but to a Spanish guy. James Harden reminds me of Manu Ginobili, except without all the falling down. He's lefty, he's talented but he gets his points in different ways. He's not your traditional scorer. He's does little things well and scores a lot of awkward baskets. If the Thunder somehow fall to the fourth, fifth or sixth pick, this would be a pretty good one. (Highlights)

Brandon Jennings - Lottomatica Roma
For 6-1, the guy is a freak. He throws down windmills, 360s and reverse jams. He is the most "pure" point guard in the top 10. He's a lefty so of course, since when we make comparisons we have to stay within the realm of someone who is short, black and left-handed. So I'm seeing a lot of Kenny Anderson here, but with more athletic ability. Or maybe Dee Brown. Or Mayor Kevin Johnson. They all fit the dense comparison. But seriously, the guy can play but he really reminds me a little of Sebastian Telfair. A ton of hype, undersized and will have to understand that he can't come into the NBA and play like he did in high school. Passing lanes are smaller, jumpshots are harder to get off and getting to the rim is much tougher. He could definitely help the Thunder, but again, he's not a safe pick. (Highlights)

Hasheem Thabeet - UCONN
Let's see - Robert Swift, Johan Petro, Mouhamed Sene, Nick Collison... Hasheem Thabeet. Fits right in. One of these guys has to pan out, right?

But you know where most teams make the most strides? Those late first, mid-second round picks. The guys that turn into really nice role players or in some cases stars (Kevin Martin, Michael Redd, Kwame Brown, oh wait). These solid role players are what the Thunder need more than anything.

SLEEPER PICKS

Connor Atchley - Texas
This guy has solid contributor on a contending team written all over him. He's tall (6-10) and can shoot. He can defend and he has the awesome scrappy white guy stereotype.

Eric Maynor - Virginia Commonwealth
Want a perfect backup point guard or maybe the next Chauncy Billups. Maynor is your man. He's had four years in college, knows how to run and offense and knows how to lead a team. This guy has solid pro written all over him. (I guess my cliche sports phrase of the day is, "written all over him." You know, I'm just trying to take it one day at a time. I just really need to step back and refocus. I'm getting better... ok I'm done now.)

Darren Collison - UCLA
Russell Westbrook's defensive running buddy. Collison is a nice point guard that can score a little but will be more of a solid defensive guard that's got floor leadership and nice game management skills.

Josh Heytvelt - Gonzaga
See: Atchley, Connor. But with a better post game and a little more scoring ability.

Curtis Jerrells - Baylor
A little Michael Redd but with insane slasher ability. He may not be a starter, but he'll be that type of pure scorer every team want to have waiting. He could easily be the kind of guy that puts up 14 or 15 a night in 20 minutes. He's got basketball player written all over him.

If Oklahoma City lands to the top pick, the official Thunderworld endorsement goes to Blake Griffin. He's an Oklahoma guy through-and-through. He can immediately impact the team. He fills a spot that OKC desperately needs help. And he's a great human being. Take Blake.

Wednesday Bolts - 11.19.08

• Sam Amico of Pro Basketball News on Thunder - Clippers: "Now, the Thunder have some legit reasons for stumbling in their new city. For one, they're in a new city -- after having spent the previous 212 years or so in Seattle. So even home games have to feel like they're being played on the road. Besides that, they're extremely young, with guys like Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Robert Swift and rookie Russell Westbrook performing key roles. Basically, even if the Thunder aren't really an expansion team, you'd have a hard time convincing anyone. They're being rebuilt in a new town, with a new nickname, new uniforms and new set of fans. It just doesn't seem right that SuperSonics legend Lenny Wilkens is considered part of their history."

• Mike Baldwin says tonight is a must-win: "General manager Sam Presti warned fans a methodical approach to building a winner around young players would take time. But even Presti is disappointed the Thunder has trailed by 20 or more points in several games."

• ESPN fantasy dude Eric Karabell talks roto Thunder: "Jeff Green can be better than Kevin Durant: I'm talking only from a fantasy hoops sense, really. But hey, Green was the best player on his team Saturday night, hitting 10 of 15 field goals and adding a few rebounds, 3s and steals. Durant didn't have a great weekend in New York and Philly, hitting only 14 of 39 shots and committing only one fewer turnover than he had rebounds and assists combined, but I do understand that he probably wasn't 100 percent after missing a game with a sore ankle. On Monday night, Durant bounced back with a nice game, but Green still got his shots. Impressed with Green and still disappointed in Durant from his rookie season, I began to wonder whether Green might actually end up the better fantasy option this season. Why is that such a crazy statement?"

• Clips Nation on tonight's game: "Now this is how you rebuild. Or at least, they've got the first part down; the part where you hit rock bottom. The Thunder's top three scorers are 20 year old Kevin Durant (21 points per game), 22 year old Jeff Green (15) and 20 year old Russell Westbrook (12). Their leading rebounder is 22 year old Robert Swift. The problem is, no one else is averaging in double digits. The Thunder have a new city, some young talent, extra first round picks in each of the next two draft, and about a ton of cap space for the foreseeable future. Can they get free agents to move to Oklahoma? That remains to be seen, but it's no surprise that they're losing this season - that's all part of the plan. Step 1 is working perfectly. But Step 2 often proves to be the tricky part."

• How about a little update on OKC's project, Serge Ibaka? Well, so far in Europe, through seven games he's averaging 11 minutes, 5.7 points per game, 3.0 rpg and is shooting 63 percent from the field.

Tuesday Bolts - 11.18.08

• Ball Don't Lie, Behind the Box Score: "Robert Swift started. He started and he played 25 minutes with six points and eight rebounds and two assists with two blocks and he started. Jokes aside, good news. Albeit three years too late. Russell Westbrook needed 14 shots to score 14 points, he had more turnovers (three) than assists (two), and he may not ‘ave a clue, but he is the future. And he had five steals in 28 minutes."

• Blue Blitz's take: "Part of the reason the Thunder had such a successful first half was because they followed the gameplan that I laid out in the preview. Specifically, that means pick n' roll things to death. They got so, so many easy midrange shots and drives to the basket, it was awesome. But in the third, it's like they decided they could do it on pure energy alone. They felt the arena intensity and completely abandoned the gameplan. They started trying to create for themselves, and I even saw Petro take a turnaround jumper with two guys in his face. Hello? Heck, Jeff Green tried to lift it over 3 guys and do this layup at the free throw line."

• SI's power rankings: "Seven straight losses have killed a lot of the excitement surrounding the NBA's newest franchise. We're guessing there will be more than a few wistful OKC hoops fans when the city's one-time adopted club, New Orleans, makes its first appearance as a visitor Friday."

• Kevin Durant is "glad we made the move": "Pretty good, actually. I'm loving Oklahoma City. I was just telling that to my teammates last night at dinner. It's a great town. It's quiet, the people are nice, the fans are unbelievable, and that's what we need as a team. It goes a long way with us that the fans are there every day, whether we are winning or losing. I'm glad we made the move."

• P.J. sees good stuff in another loss: "It was a very good first step,” said coach P.J. Carlesimo. "Again, it’s still a loss. So we have to play better. "We have to build on it. We can’t settle for a much better performance over 48 minutes against a really good team and slip back the way we did last week.”

• Desmond Mason will be out at least 10 days with a sprained elbow: "Coach P.J. Carlesimo expected backup Damien Wilkins to get extra playing time in Mason's place, and said guards Russell Westbrook and Kyle Weaver could also eat up some of Mason's minutes."

• Joe's recap: "Again the practice of putting four quarters of efficient, consistent basketball eluded the Thunder Monday night against the Rockets. I think actually, the concept has been missing in every game so far this season."

Monday Bolts - 11.17.08

• David Berri of Wages of Win looks at what's ailing the Thunder and it may surprise you: "On offense, though, it’s a very different story. So far Oklahoma is only scoring 90.0 points per 100 possessions. To find a team that had this much trouble scoring one has to go back to the 2002-03 Denver Nuggets. So the problem is on offense, not defense. And to see why this team struggles so much on offense, one only has to look at the five players who lead this team in shot attempts.

• Joe the Guru of Thunder actually had that same theory before David Berri: "It seems like the Thunder are relying much more on the players creating their own offense this season, as opposed to having offensive sets where players run certain plays to generate good shooting opportunities. Durant and Green constantly have to make something out of nothing. If this is what I am seeing, this might explain why Collison, Wilcox, Mason and Watson are playing so much below last season’s levels; none of these guys excel at creating their own offense."

• Mr. Monday says hang in there Thunderfans: "Mr. Monday keeps saying that Oklahoma City will be in this for the long haul, that there wouldn’t be any grumbling about the fact the team has about as many 3-point shooters as a British cricket team. Of course, Mr. Monday thought no one would get tired of singing the Macarena in 1995, but who’s counting?"

• Seattle's next move: "The latest plan to bring pro basketball back to Seattle now that its team has been sold and moved to Oklahoma City faces enormous challenges as it heads to the 2009 legislative session. The city of Seattle proposal for financing a major remodel of KeyArena -- a prerequisite for getting a new NBA team -- would raise $75 million with a 1 percent Seattle hotel tax currently collected to pay debt on the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. The city would provide another $75 million with revenue and admissions taxes from KeyArena. A group of investors, including Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and Seattle developer Matt Griffin, is seeking to buy a new NBA team to play in Seattle and has agreed to contribute $150 million to the arena upgrade. But all of that depends on persuading state lawmakers to allow the city to keep that 1 percent hotel tax."

• This week's blogger power rankings. Guess where OKC is? "Maybe Seattle should be happy this team relocated ... The Durantula is in for a big season, Jeff Green can play and, um, yeah."

Friday Bolts - 11.14.08

Slightly new look today, as the centered version was getting a little crammed and making stories stretch out too much. So we'll see how this new layout goes. 

• Kevin Durant status is still up in the air for tonight.

• Bleacher Report has its All NBA Embarrassment team. Coach Peej is heading the list: "Carlesimo has no business coaching in the NBA. Sure, he put up some wins as the Portland Trailblazers head coach, but the Blazers were already a solid team when he was hired. He was let go by the Blazers and the Golden State Warriors picked him as their next head coach. In a little over a season as the Warriors coach, he went a combined 46-113 during that time. Now he's coaching the Seattle Sonics/Oklahoma City Thunder and is off to the same way he started as Warriors coach. So far his record as coach of the team in just over a full season is 21-68. Talk about embarrassing for a NBA team to pick him as a coach."

• Check out SI's Ian Thompson's interesting answer to this question: Is there a possibility that another franchise will relocate after what happened to the Sonics? My guess is Memphis. --- Sanjeev, Perth, Australia. My guess is the Nets, who have been trying to move to Brooklyn. If that falls through as many believe it will, then it will be no surprise if they are sold and the team is moved to another market. The other vulnerable franchises include New Orleans, Memphis and Charlotte (which appear unlikely to break its leases), as well as Sacramento and Milwaukee (which can escape). "The Nets aren't going to be moving to the Barclays Center, that's not happening,'' a rival NBA owner said of their proposed move to Brooklyn. "And they're losing money.'' (Very interesting. Crazy to think about the chain reaction effect the Sonics move to OKC could have. And even crazier to think about if Oklahoma City would have been more patient, could it have had it's pick between all those franchises? How ironic would it be for the Hornets to move to Seattle and Oklahoma City demi-god Chris Paul is a Sonic? Oh, the irony.) 

• OKC has been playing from behind all season writes Mike Baldwin: "The most sobering statistic? In half of its games, the Thunder has trailed by 20, 14, 10 or 8 points after one quarter. "We can’t do what we did against Utah and what we did against Orlando,” said coach P.J. Carlesimo. "It’s encouraging we get back into games, but we can’t keep digging holes.”

• A little pre-game warm up from the Thunderguru: "Friday night the OKC Thunder go to the Big Apple to play the resurrected New York Knicks. I say resurrected because the Knicks have been a very craptastic team for quite some time; they haven’t had a winning season since Jeff VanGundy was their coach in the 2000-01 season. Now they have Mike D’Antoni calling the shots, bringing his run and gun, high power mojo from Europe via the Phoenix Suns."
  

And high school playoffs start tonight. Go Mustang Broncos!

Thursday Bolts - 11.13.08

• Bethlehem Shoals of FreeDarko and Tom Ziller talking a little Kevin Durant (very interesting stuff): "Durant, possess no such mystical qualities. Barkley, I think, compared KD to Gervin, in terms of piling up points without anyone noticing. And it's true: Unless Durant hits five threes in a row and follows it with an especially acrobatic drive (which, with his length, he rarely resorts to), his style is impressionistic. Not understated—a 6'9" jumble of arms and legs that rises up for threes like he's floating is still an extraordinary sight. But between the lack of emphasis in his game, his build, and those limbs just seem to trail off into the rafters on every play, Durant can get pretty ethereal at times."

• Joe breaks down the game: "The game was never in doubt. The Thunder were without Kevin Durant who rolled his ankle on Monday, but I don’t think it would have made any difference. This was out of control from the outset and Kevin is not our strongest defender. We needed stops and never really got them at any point. It’s true that we could have used his points, but we needed stops far worse.

• The Lost Ogle looks at trade options for Earl Watson: "Losing him would not be a big deal. It shouldn’t be hard to find a guy who can guide the team to a 1-6 record. Currently, Watson averages 7.6 points, 5.6 assists, and one steal per game. That assist figure is in the top-25 for the league, but most of those come from handing the ball off to Kevin Durant and letting him do his thing. The real measure of how Watson is doing for the team is how the team looks on offense, since he is the starting point guard. No one who has watched more than a couple of ESPN highlights would suggest the Thunder run like a well-oiled machine."

• Boy, that optimism from the Oklahoman is dropping quickly, isn't it? "Eight down, 74 to go. Lord, have mercy on our souls. Thunder coach P.J. Carlesimo insists his team is better than a year ago, but the numbers look painfully familiar. "

• And within that story, check out this odd quote from P.J. Carlesimo: "It certainly doesn’t mean anything to our (Oklahoma City) fans,” Carlesimo said. "What do they care if we’re better than last year?” (What's that supposed to mean? There are multiple ways of interpreting that one. Does he mean we're like an expansion team and this is our first year with the team so last year doesn't matter? Or is he saying that we don't care about wins and losses because we're just excited to have basketball? I don't know. You tell me.)

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."

Solving Oklahoma City's shooting woes

The season is young, but there's no hiding the fact that the Oklahoma City offense has struggled. Last night against the Pacers, the offense broke out a bit with 51 first half points (season high) and 97 points, but still shot only 38 percent from the field. The 97 points matches the highest total of the season and is only the second time in seven games the Thunder has topped 90.

Currently, the Thunder sits second to last in points per game (88.0) and dead last field goal percentage (40.4).

So what's the deal? Why isn't OKC scoring more and shooting better?

Brilliant, captain obvious answer: They aren’t good shooters.

The best teams know their strengths and weaknesses. A definite weakness for OKC is jump shooting. Other than Kevin Durant, there’s really no consistent jump shooter. Jeff Green has shot the ball from the outside a little better, but he’s not consistent. Earl Watson gets the gold star for shots that make you go, “That better effing go in. You just don’t take that only three seconds into the shot clock unless you make it. Which you didn’t.”

Compare OKC to the league's best shooting team, the Phoenix Suns. Right now, the Suns are shooting over 51 percent from the field. First, it helps to have great shooters like they do. Steve Nash may be the purest shooter in the league, period. Second, it helps to have a dominant inside game with Amar'e Stoudemire and Shaquille O'Neal (especially when the bulk of those two's shots are dunks). But most, it helps to be taking efficient shots.

(Disclaimer: Here comes a bunch of numbers.)

Through seven games, Oklahoma City is shooting an embarrassing 30.8 percent on jumpshots (118 for 383). That's not good. For a comparison, the Suns are shooting 42 percent on jumpers and the league's second best shooting team, the Utah Jazz, are at 48.5 percent. So that's one aspect - OKC really just can't hit a jumper with much regularity.

But what about the shots you’re supposed to make? The ones NBA players should be able to complete at a high rate? Well, the Suns are shooting over 72 percent on high percentage shots (layups and dunks), the Jazz 64.3 percent and the Thunder 59.9 percent. Not too bad, but not that great considering how poor OKC shoots the jay.

But here's where it gets a little revealing - Oklahoma City is averaging 28.8 high percentage shots (HP) per game, while taking 54.7 jumpshots per game. It’s starting to make sense why they only shoot 40 percent. Phoenix takes just 22.8 high percentage shots a game (remember, making 72 percent of them), but also takes 47 jumpers per game. Utah takes 31.3 HP shots per game and 46.6 jumpers. So OKC is taking about seven or eight more low percentage shots a game than the two best shooting teams in the league. (A few more stats just because I spent the time calculating them: 32.2 percent of the Suns’ shots are HP, 40.1 percent for the Jazz and 34.5 percent for OKC.)

Phoenix converts such a high rate of their HP shots, meaning their high percent tries are typically better looks or they just plain have another dimension other than taking the jumper, whereas OKC does not. Both the Suns and the Jazz have post players that can cause defenses to sink into the lane a bit. Both have post players that can draw double-teams and open up wide-open kickouts. Right now, the Thunder has none of that. I don't have the stat, but I would guess that guard Russell Westbrook has provided a substantial portion of the layup or dunk attempts.

Enter Robert Swift. As solid as he's played in super limited minutes in two games, he gives us hope. Current starting center Johan Petro prefers to play outside of the lane and shoot 16 footers. Nick Collison shoots a lot of jumpers and gets most his points in the lane from put-backs. Swift is a true seven-foot post player with great hands and a solid inside game. If he can get healthy and get in solid game-shape, he could be something that helps this offense. OKC can dump to the post, kick out and shoot. Or Swift could potentially score from there.

The Thunder's offense has been simple thus far: Set an on-the-ball screen, roll off; if the shot isn't there, repeat. Or pass to Kevin Durant and hope he nails an 18-footer over and outstretched defender. There's not a lot of ball movement. There's rarely more than four passes. There's not much slashing and penetrating. There's not much motion or rotation. All symptoms of a poor scoring team.

Also, the Suns average 71 shots per game. Oklahoma City averages 83. And that's the fast, free-wheeling Suns we're talking about. But the fact is, Phoenix is much more selective and takes higher percentage shots. The Hornets take 76 per game, Utah 78 and the Lakers 81. One guess as to why OKC is taking so many more shots is the fact that its played from behind in all but two games and has been trying to catch up, therefore hoisting shots earlier in the shot clock. The Thunder takes 44 percent of their shots 10 seconds or less into the shot clock. That sounds like there’s a lot of “settling for a jumper.” (Likewise, the Suns are taking 31 percent 10 seconds or less in and the Jazz 34 percent.)

I really have no idea what we learned here today other than obviously, teams shoot better when dunking or laying it in. So when you shoot just 30.8 percent when pulling up outside the lane, maybe that should tell you to take more high percentage shots. Don't settle for a 22 foot jumper six seconds into the shot clock. Utilize the post and see if it opens up more open looks. The offense isn't this bad, it's just not running like it's supposed to. Good thing there's 75 more games to figure it out.

Atlanta Hawks vs. Thunder: Pre-game primer

vs.

Atlanta Hawks (4-0) vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (1-4) Sunday, November 9
Ford Center
Oklahoma City, OK
6:00 p.m. CST

TV: KSBI - Thunder TV (Cox 9)
Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1 FM, 640 AM)

Game thread
NBA.com preview

The Hawks 4-0 start isn't as surprising as who they beat in those first four wins. Road victories in Orlando and New Orleans and a good win over Toronto show this Hawks team could be a good one. Statistically, they're similar to the Jazz - good defensively (86 ppg allowed) and slightly above average offensively (97.8 ppg).

The Thunder played much better offensively in Utah - well, much better in the second half - possibly giving a bit of encouragement to OKC fans heading to the Thunderdome tonight that the ball may go through the hoop a little more.

Atlanta relies heavily on guard play with Mike Bibby and Joe Johnson (averaging 25.3 ppg), and will rely on it more than usual as the Hawks will be without gifted power forward Josh Smith. Smith sprained his ankle Friday against Toronto. Forward Marvin Williams and forward/center Al Horford will be picking up the slack for the injured Smith.

In order to win... the Thunder needs to sustain for four quarters. Sustain rebounding, intensity, defense, but most importantly, shooting. It's quite a quandary how a team can come out of the blocks so hot like it did against Boston and Utah, but then cool off so quickly. Those two games were like taking a lava-hot Hot Pocket and dropping it into liquid nitrogen. Why it happens, no one knows.

One thing to watch tonight is Kevin Durant. Not for the obvious reason, but because 1) He hasn't shot the ball that well at home and 2) If he's scoring, to see how he handles it. He was shooting and scoring well in Utah but he wasn't shooting that much and wasn't playing a ton either. If he can get going, it will be interesting to see how he handles the rest of the game.

Prediction: One thing Oklahoma City gained in Utah Friday night besides a loss was momentum. The team played incredibly well down the stretch and hopefully proved to itself that it can score and can play well. Jeff Green looked as good as ever and was 3-3 from downtown. As mentioned, Durant was scoring well. Russell Westbrook didn't have much of an impact but that was because Earl Watson was playing better. Confidence and momentum are a great thing and if OKC can bring those home with them to the Ford Center tonight, the outcome could be favorable. Perimeter defense is key because of how much Bibby and Johnson prefer the outside shot and equally key is limiting second chances on missed long balls. Tonight, Green and Durant carry over the stellar performances and combine for a bevy of points leading the Thunder to their second win. Thunder 97, Hawks 95.

Thunder storms back but comes up short in Utah

BOX SCORE

The Thunder walked into the half down 29 points to the Utah Jazz and if I weren't writing a recap of the game, I would've turned it off.

I'm glad I didn't.

Because if I had flipped over and started watching Mythbusters, I'd have missed a real character-building, possible turn-the-page kind of game for the Thunder. These guys absolutely played their butts off in the second half in 104-97 loss to the Jazz.

The Thunder outscored the Jazz 68-46 in the second half and clawed their way back into it. And honestly, if the rake across Kevin Durant's arms would've gone OKC's way with the Thunder (1-4) down 12 in the fourth, the game might have ended up much closer. Well, closer in the sense that Utah (5-0) might not have gone on that 9-0 spurt to essentially lock the game away.

But holy crap, had they not played like a middle school jayvee team in the first half, things could have been different. Not only did Oklahoma City go 8-38 in the first half (21 percent) but it looked like the team had quit in the second quarter. Jeff Green looked like he was busting his butt in the frame but honestly, the rest of the group that played the last five of the second looked like they were thinking about their flight tomorrow morning. Every stinking loose ball in the second the Jazz picked up. They couldn't hit a shot. They threw the ball away constantly. There was no reason for anyone to think this team was going to ratchet it up and plays like that in the second half after the first. But boy did they ever.

Two guys got them going after the break. Earl Watson and Desmond Mason. OKC came out of halftime on a 14-3 run. And then followed that one with another 7-2 spurt. As Coach Peej goes to sleep tonight he's going to be wondering, "Why didn't we play like that in the first half?" I have an answer maybe - Utah was getting bored and let up a little. But they sure shouldn't have because this Thunder group didn't lay down and wound up giving the Jazz everything they wanted.

And they just kept plugging. Dez went crazy. He was knocking down jumpers, blocking shots, looking great. Down eight with 5:50 left, it was time to go back to Durant and the starters. This was his time. But like a punch in the nose, the Jazz knocked the lead right back to 15. It happened so fast it was hard to understand. "So wait, Kirilenko had a dunk... then Boozer had one... then I thought we scored? And then Ashton Kutcher hit that three... Wait, how are we down 15 again?" Quite simply, the Jazz realized they were about to crap one away and the Thunder ran out of gas. It's tough to pull off that kind of comeback. But the good thing is they still didn't quit. Green knocked down back-to-back treys and easily played his best game of the year scoring 22 on 6-13 shooting.

Just like Wednesday against the Celtics, the Thunder started hot scoring the first eight with Durant hitting two quick jumpers. Things were looking good. I was nodding my head in approval as I thought the group was going to validate my prediction of a good offensive night. But after only 29 points in one of the worst offensive halves I've ever seen, I was clicking around trying to figure out how to delete this blog. Utah went on a 22-0 run and OKC missed 10 straight shots. Russell Westbrook finally ended the pain by getting to the stripe. But luckily the guys bailed me out with a second half explosion of 68 points.

As for Durant, he scored 24 on 9-15 shooting in just 34 minutes. And before we get upset about his minutes, we have to realize that the group on the floor was bringing the team back led by Dez so KD just had to sit and wait. As for Westbrook, tonight wasn't his best night (6 points in 17 minutes on 1-8 shooting). These type of things happen to rookies. Plus, Watson was playing his best game of the season so it was tough for Russell to get on the floor.

Here's some application to take out of this: This offense is just so inept when they aren't knocking down jump shots or running the floor. If the jumper isn't falling, they aren't scoring. That was the difference in the halves. In the first, OKC shot 21 percent. The second, almost 60 percent. The Thunder ran the floor, upped the energy and started hitting shots. Right now, that's the key for this offense - shot making.There's just no other option. Westbrook brings the run to the rack, but other than that, there's really no Plan B. It would definitely help to have a post-scorer. And as seen tonight, the goal for next year: Get Carlos Boozer. He's like, good.

Utah was the first team to go over 100 on OKC (which shows the defensive improvement) and this was the first time the Thunder has gone over 90 (which shows a step forward on the offensive end). Strange to see so many good things out of a game where the team was down 31 at one point, but there are lots of positives to come out of this one. Let's not forget, this Jazz team is a favorite to win it all this year.

The Thunder gets tomorrow off and then returns to the Ford Center to take on unbeaten Atlanta. Let's all hope for four quarters of solid ball Sunday.

Friday Bolts - 11.7.08

• Jeff Green is learning on the fly: "But unlike the good old days in Washington, D.C., where Green excelled from the start and led Georgetown to a 67-27 record over his three seasons, Rivers witnessed Green’s baptism by fire continue Wednesday night in the Thunder’s 96-83 loss to his Celtics club."

• No one goes to Salt Lake and wins, writes Mike Baldwin: "The Thunder plays tonight at Utah, which was 37-4 at home last season. "Every time you play there it’s a tough game,” said Thunder forward Chris Wilcox. "We have to run hard in the first half. You need to get off to a good start and try to destroy the crowd early.”

• Not exactly Thunder news (though it could be one day, fingers crossed) but SI.com says Blake Griffin is the top prospect from college: "He's undersized for a 4 but unbelievably powerful," the scout said. "He can jump out of the gym, he has great hands. Really, really strong and explosive. He's going to have to improve his perimeter game a little because his size will make it tougher for him to get to the rim; he can get there with ease in the Big 12, but he can't do it in our league on a nightly basis. He can become a pick-and-pop guy, and I think he will because he has a really good work ethic. He wants to be good, so I think the skills he needs to develop will come his way. He would have been in the lottery last year had he decided to come out as a freshman.''

• Thunderguru previews tonight's game: "Tonight the Oklahoma City Thunder travel to the high desert to play the unbeaten Utah Jazz in a game that has all of the usual suspects minus one: Deron Williams. The Jazz’s impressive Olympian point guard is still out rehabbing his gimpy wheel. Against the solid Jazz we will take any advantage we can get, however this team hasn’t had much trouble dispelling with their opponents so far despite the loss of one of the games best young point guards."

• The Salt Lake News Tribune previews tonight's matchup: "Utah coach Jerry Sloan stands on the precipice of history as the Jazz welcome the rebuilding Oklahoma City Thunder to EnergySolutions Arena on Friday. When Mehmet Okur recorded 22 points and nine rebounds to lead Utah to a 103-96 triumph over Portland on Wednesday, Sloan recorded his 999th win with the franchise. He is now just one victory shy of becoming the first coach in NBA history to win 1,000 games with one team."

• And this is just not acceptable. The Thunderstruck being played during player introductions isn't even the AC/DC one? (I couldn't tell up in Loud City.) It's by the minor-leaguer Nickelback, Hinder? Geez: "If you’ve attended any of the first three home games, you probably realized the pregame introduction of the song "Thunderstruck” isn’t AC/DC’s version of the hit song. Thunder officials hired the Oklahoma City-based rock band Hinder to record a new version."

So I thought this Durant guy was supposed to be good?

We are four games into the season and the Thunder is 1-3. Not too far off from what everyone thought they would be. Most would say bravo for winning a game this early. But when eyeballing the team, most are a little surprised by the production of the proclaimed team star, Kevin Durant.

Checking other blogs and fantasy sites, one thing is on people's lips when it comes to the Thunder (well, besides all the usual spew about Seattle and the name): What's the deal with Durant? Is this the beginning of a sophomore slump?

They say he's not scoring enough. He's not shooting a high enough percentage. Where's the stat stuffer we expected? Should we panic?

Answer in short: No. He is still playing relatively well (18.3 ppg, 41.4 percent from the field) but isn't popping eyes like some thought.

Keep in mind a couple things here:

1) He is only 20 years old. When Kobe Bryant was 20, he averaged 19.9 for the season. Durant already has a 20.3 average in the books. Seriously, think about it for a minute. He is only 20 years old. We are expecting quite a bit from a guy that voted for his first president and can't buy a brew. For 20, the guy is quite a stud. Heck, overall in the general sense 20 or not, he's a stud.

2) He is it. Right now, there's really not much of a Plan B for the Thunder. Jeff Green played much better last night, but he's not that second scorer yet. When Durant is on the floor, teams are locking on him. There's really no post man to dump down to that can kick out. No guy that can isolate on one side of the court and play the two-man with him. He's already got a team on his super-skinny shoulders and he needs time to progress.

3) He's only playing 34 minutes a game. Likewise, when Kobe was 20 he played almost 38 minutes a game. Why is Durant not getting 5-10 more minutes on the floor? Think about it: Five minutes is almost half a quarter. That much time Durant could easily add two more buckets and be averaging 22 ppg and no one would be saying a word right now. Maybe Coach Peej is trying to ease him into the superstar mold of 40 minutes a night (he played 34 last season) so that he doesn't wear out. Maybe there's a method to this. Who knows. I just know I get a little frustrated watching the offense completely shut down and Damien Wilkins dribble the ball of his foot while KD sits on the bench with a towel over his head. But maybe that's just me.

4) He's forcing it, but not forcing it enough. Let me explain. When Professor Chaos/Big Train/Kid Delicious is on the hardwood, you can almost read his mind: "Get me the ball. I need to score. Get me the ball. I need to score." Which in turn, when he gets it, he sometimes rushes it. He takes two dribbles and shoots with 16 on the shot clock. He needs to have the mind set of scoring, but if the shot isn't there, kick out, move around and try again. There's nothing wrong with shooting with four on the clock. I want KD taking most the shots. He's the best player. But he needs to force it in the right way, if that makes sense. Take it to the rack. Wiggle loose and get a clean look at the hoop. Last year, the complaint about him was poor shot decisions. He took too many threes. This year, he's only tried four. He hasn't made one yet, but still, only one per game.

5) He has to create his own shot way too much. There's no offensive rhythm. I'm not calling for a change yet, but it just seems there's too much jump shooting going on and not enough ball movement. Durant is getting little to no support when he's on the floor. When the ball is in his hands, everyone in the arena is thinking, "Shoot it. Shoot it. SHOOT IT!" Durant isn't getting any "flow" shots. What I mean is, he's not getting the chance to float around the perimeter and get a dish from a driving guard where defense collapses, leaving KD standing wide open to knock down a 15 footer. Most of Durant's shots are ones he creates for himself. He either is dribbling at the top of the key and Nick Collison sets an on-the-ball screen to which Durant steps over and shoots over his defender; or he curls off a screen and gets no air, but he still pulls the trigger because what else is he going to do? Kick it to Earl Watson with the shot clock running out?

Look, I'm an unabashed Russell Westbrook fan. When he's in the game, he's all I watch. I don't know why. There's just something about him. I feel like he can do something special all the time. But one thing is for sure - he adds another dimension to the offense that Earl Watson doesn't. Westbrook can penetrate and get to the rim. Watson prefers to stand and distribute. Westbrook likes to get up the floor. Watson is always the guy giving the slow-down motion with his off hand as he walks it up the court.

Ok, so maybe I do want change. I'm all Obama'd up right now and maybe a-change needs to be a-coming. Why is Westbrook only getting 21 minutes compared to Earl's 28? Like I said, I'm not saying the starting lineup needs to be changed up right now, because the worst thing we can do is get impatient and start panicking over a team no one thinks will be any good anyway. We are only four games in with 78 more to go. A lot can happen. Maybe KD goes puts up 44 for Obama and Earl has 14 assists tomorrow night. But right now, when you look at the production, it's clear Westbrook is ready for more time. Watson: 6.3 ppg, 5.3 apg, 25.7 percent from the field - Westbrook: 11.5 ppg, 2.5 apg, 38 percent. And when you look at those numbers in average per 48 minutes, it gets worse. Russell Westbrook is leading the team in most categories! He averages 26.3 points per 48 while Watson is at the bottom of the team averaging 8.0. To me, that is extremely telling.

So what I'm getting at, is maybe one thing to aid Durant is more Westbrook. I understand Russell is a rookie and there's a grooming process and there will definitely be growing pains, but he needs more time. It will help Durant and most likely, help the Thunder. Don't panic about KD. The guy is a star on the cusp and the thing is, he can get his shot anytime he wants it. He will score. Before the season is over, people will fawning over his ability and dreaming of what he may do next year. Right now, he just needs some help. Jeff Green's progression is a start. Russell Westbrook's is the big step.

Thursday Bolts - 11.6.08

• Game reaction from Thunderguru: "Finally P.J. must’ve seen what I was seeing, lackluster effort, squishy defense and no offense so he yanked all 5 that were on the floor and put in a lineup of Wilcox, Smith, Mason, Westbrook and Wilkins. That particular lineup didn’t impress me at all, and it went -7. By the end of the third period we were down fifteen points (70-55), we were being out rebounded, and our shooting had fallen to .34% for the game. It was some ugly, uninspiring basketball."

• Ball Don't Lie Behind the Box Score: "A pretty miserable offensive game for the Thunder, this tends to happen against Boston, as Oklahoma City managed to only hang somewhat close due to a strong bench effort and a strong outside (6-13 from long range) touch. Boston could have let this one get ugly, but they picked up their offense after a slow start. 25 assists to 12 turnovers for the C's, which warms Doc Rivers' cold heart. Rivers only went with nine players in this game, throwing Paul Pierce out there for almost 40 minutes and Ray Allen on the court for nearly 39. Not sure how I feel about that. Russell Westbrook shot just 4-13 and had only one assist in 19 minutes, but this is a rookie that needs to start. If you're going with the youth movement, Earl Watson does not need to be playing 23 minutes."

• Red's Army says the Thunder remind him of someone else: "Do the OKC Thunder remind you of another team? How about the 2005 Celtics? They are loaded with young players. And as we all know, unless some veterans are added, it’s going to take 3-4 years before this team is significant."

• CelticsBlog says "half-hearted wins count too": "The opponent tonight was one of the worst teams in the league and the Celtics mostly played down to the competition. It was a sloppy, half hearted effort, which turned out to be enough. The Thunder (that still seems odd) came out strong and pumped up in the first quarter. Once the Celtics wiped the sleep out of their eyes, they easily took over the 2nd quarter."

• John Rhode likes the Celtic mold and thinks the Thunder could mimic it: "The Celtics finished 66-16 last season en route to their first world title since 1986. Their 42-game improvement was the greatest one-year turnaround in NBA history. If Boston could do it, why couldn’t the Thunder? The Thunder has plenty of wiggle room to lure talent, with a projected $32.5 million in salary cap space and two first-round selections in the 2009 draft. How about using that to acquire two future hall of famers, and place one on each side of Kevin Durant?"

• Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald: "The election-spiced fervor from Tuesday night was replaced by a college-like crowd, boisterously happy to simply have a new professional basketball team."

• Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated with more woe is me for Seattle: "Think your city's suffering? Imagine if your favorite team bolted town after 41 seasons, not for some cosmopolitan burg but a dusty outpost where oil derricks qualify as urban skyline. Now imagine turning to your city's other teams for solace only to find each to be avert-your-eyes abysmal. Welcome to Seattle, home of the Sportspocalypse."

Defending champs show the young Thunder a thing or two

BOX SCORE

As actual thunder rolled outside the Ford Center tonight, the Thunder did little of the same in a 96-83 loss to the defending champion Boston Celtics.

Oklahoma City (1-3) got off to the hot start that was needed, scoring the first six points of the contest and held a nice 29-21 lead after one frame.

But it all started to change in the second quarter.

Poor shooting and poor defense began to doom OKC. In the second, the Thunder shot something like 3-21 in the quarter and scored only 15 points. The terrible offense carried over to the third as OKC scored only 11 in that quarter and overall the team shot only 36 percent from the field.

As color man Grant Long said, the Thunder played well as evidenced by the Celtics (4-1) still having Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen in at the end of the game, even after playing the night before. So that means the team played relatively well. But as the clock ran out, all I could think was, "Dang. That was a missed opportunity." I can forgive a poor shooting quarter. It happens. In the second, the looks were there. They just didn't drop.

But the third was a pull-you-hair-out, scream-into-a-pillow, take-a-shot-of-whiskey kind if quarter. Every possession, I thought, "Ok, here we go." And every possession the Thunder would come out empty handed. The Celtics scored only 19 in the frame and turned the ball over a number of times. So many chances to be right in it heading into the fourth. But instead, OKC trailed by 15. And as the offense went unbelievably stagnant, I just stared at the Thunder bench waiting for Russell Westbrook to get up. Waiting. Waiting. Earl Watson's offense was stale and there was a ton of standing around. OKC wasn't scoring but neither was Boston. The door was open. Inject some life into the game with your spark plug and maybe you can make up some ground. Waiting. But Coach Peej never pulled the trigger. He left the same lineup on the floor and watched them helplessly struggle through six solid minutes of totally offensive inept basketball. It was frustrating.

Then the fourth starts. Westbrook comes in but now the entire second five is on the floor. And the situation totally flip-flopped. The Celtics were turning it over, missing shots, committing dumb mistakes and the Thunder couldn't score still. Wasn't this the time your superstar, Kevin Durant, should be in the game trying to take it over? Not Desmond Mason and Damien Wilkins (no disrespect to either, because Dez played pretty well, but come on). Finally with about four minutes left, Westbrook starts putting good attacks together and ends up with 13 on the night, including 3-5 from downtown (yes, that's one more three than the entire team had made all all year). But it was way too little, too late.

The Thunder hung around and was down 10 to 13 for most of the fourth. And the thing was, the Celtics kept missing shots and never could pull away. A bucket here or there and the Thunder cuts it to single digits. But then there were the possessions where OKC could not secure a life-or-death rebound. Boston got two, three and once four chances at the bucket. To which you give any team four cracks in one possesion and I don't care if they're Hickory High, they'll likely put one through.

Overall, there are positives to take out of it. Your superstar (Durant) scores only 17 and you "only" lose by 13. That's sort of encouraging. That means the Thunder played solid defense. Also encouraging is that I nailed Boston's scoring total for the evening. Discouraging is that I missed OKC's total by eight.

The game got sloppy in the second half. At halftime time, both teams had four turnovers. The Celtics finished with 12 (for you math wizards, that means they had eight in the second half) and OKC with 15 (11 in the second).

Some people are hell-bent on saying the team "sucks" and claiming it won't be good at all for the whole season. But I'm not really feeling that way anymore. I truly think they are close. They are just a good six minutes away from being competitive with anyone. If they can take those awful stretches of six terrible minutes of bad rebounding and embarrassing offense and either cut them in half or eliminate them completely, they can actually be good.

The commitment to defense is obvious, but I fear that because of it, the offensive side has suffered. Durant really hasn't had a chance to take over a game. It just doesn't seem like he's able to get totally immersed in the game and sink into a solid offensive rhythm. Once that happens and he starts finding that game we know he has, and consistently puts up 20-25 a night, this team will be right in these games - even against the NBA elite. Stay the course fans. It's going to come. Plus, they were playing maybe the best team in the entire league. So that kind of makes it tough to, you know, win.

The Thunder gets a day off before traveling to Salt Lake City to play Deron Williams (he is supposed to play Friday) and the Jazz.

Tuesday Bolts - America! Edition

First off, a big happy birthday to my little brother who turns 17 today. Oh, and go vote today.

• FreeDarko watched the Thunder's first win and saw a flash of brilliance: "I'm hopped up on some ill green tea right now so I'm having a hard time gathering my thoughts, but let me keep it on the topic of guard dominance would like to point everybody's attention to Russell Westbrook, who I had the pleasure of watching last night. If Westbrook isn't starting over Earl Watson by December, I'm putting a bounty out on PJ Carlessimo who has been killing this team with his starting lineups since last year (PUT KD AT PF, and make Jeff Green sixth man!!!). I'm not sure I'm sold on Westbrook being as good as Derrick Rose, and it's too early to put him on that CP3/Deron Williams level, but the kid is just sick at getting to the rim... (Just want to point out, that I said in early October that Westbrook would overtake Watson in the starting lineup as well. *pounds chest*)

• If the season ended today, the Thunder would be in the playoffs, Thunder8thSeed from OKC Thunder Fans points out.

• The Thunder moves up three spots in Marc Stein's power poll: Progress? As a Seattle rook, Kevin Durant had to wait nine games for win No. 1. As an Okie, KD's wait was only three games. P.J. Carlesimo spoke for everyone involved when he admitted, "Any win feels good, honestly."

• Russell Westbrook is winning over the good folks of Fanhouse too: "Russell Westbrook is quickly becoming one of my favorite NBA Rookies. Sunday night he helped the Oklahoma City Thunder collect their first ever victory as an NBA franchise. Westbrook made his mark on the contest by pressuring the ball on defense and pushing the ball on offense. Westbrook finished the contest with 14 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 25 minutes of play and led an OKC second half comeback."

• Mike Baldwin thinks the best way to beat the Celtics is to run, run and run some more: "We’d always like to run,” said coach P.J. Carlesimo. "We just want to run intelligently. We don’t necessarily want to come down and put up a jump shot the first three seconds of a clock.v"That’s not an easy line to walk. If you’re running and pushing it, and guys are open, they’re saying, ‘If you want to run, you want to shoot.’ But you can shoot yourself in and out of games. Do we want to run? Absolutely. But we need to make good decisions.”

• Joe has more, excellent statistical evaluation for us: "Three games are in the books now and each of the three have had a distinct flavor of their own. For the most part we’ve played the best defense this team has played in quite a few years, but our offense has been stagnant. Just one heartbeat above rigormortis. The team has it’s second day off in a row today before the Champion Celtics hit town for the second game of a back to back. We play again on Friday before we really get busy playing 5 games next week."

John Lucas Three waived by Thunder

Not really a big shocker, but John Lucas, Part: III was waived Monday. Which begs the question: Why?

With one roster spot open, why waive Lucas now? Was he just insurance in case Russell Westbrook struggled mightily to open to the season and the Thunder needed someone to back up Earl Watson and since Russell is evidently totally awesome, he was cut? Or is GM Sam Presti working on something and needs that extra roster spot?

User StarksFan311 from OKCThunderFans.com made mention of cutting Lucas about two weeks ago to sign recently available guard Salim Stoudamire. It's definitely a good thought because Stoudamire is an excellent shooter and currently, OKC is just 2-13 from downtown on the season. Two for thirteen! That's awful. But Salim Stoudamire is not the answer there. Like I've said before, maybe Kyle Weaver progresses into a nice deep threat. Or maybe the Thunder deals/signs a proven three-man. Whatever the case, something needs to be done in the future to help in this area.

My gut says Lucas was just insurance and wasn't going to see the court at all this season unless Westbrook struggled, so Presti went ahead and cut him to make room for any potential future needs.

With the loss of Lucas, OKC loses one part of its genius marketing plan to assemble a team full of former state college stars. Hopefully the Thunder signs Longar Longar as his replacement.

Monday Bolts - First Win Edition

• Joe from Thunderguru breaks down the win: "This was one of those ugly, back and forth, nobody can really deliver the finishing blow types of games that Thunder GM Sam Presti must have envisioned we would gut out on occasion when he put together the pieces on this team. I bet he dropped his ice cream cone in his lap when the final buzzer sounded (is he old enough to drink)?"

• Kelly Dwyer goes behind the box score of OKC's win: "Oklahoma City's offense stunk on Sunday night, as its level of efficiency was right around its 2007-08 league-low mark of a hundred points per as many possessions. What the Thunder did kick a little tail on was the defensive end, both in getting stops and demanding crucial turnovers from the Timberwolves."

• Berry Tramel on the collective sigh of relief cast after the win: "But after a dudsville opener against Milwaukee, a home loss to Minnesota would have made everyone — players, fans, Thundershirt vendors — wonder exactly who this team could beat."

• Mr. Monday of the Oklahoman on the win: "As you would expect, the crowd was pretty pumped. Either that or they were just glad to be somewhere not watching election coverage. Mr. Monday was tempted to run out to halfcourt and give some Electoral College projections, but nixed the idea when future Secretary of Agriculture Brad Henry walked by. Don’t want to ruin the surprise for the guv."

• Game reaction from Canis Hoopus, a T-Wolves blog: "If you were watching this game at home, there was one fairly obvious theme throughout: OKC's 2nd unit was murdering the Wolves' 2nd string. Have you ever seen a box score where a team's entire 1st unit had negative +/- while the 2nd string went nuts? It happened last night in OKC. The 2nd string troubles were noticeable from the get-go, yet if you look at PopcornMachine's GameFlows, you see the Wolves doing very little to adjust their match-ups against OKC's effective backups. Not until late in the 3rd do you see any movement beyond not leaving Craig Smith in the game with the starters during the 2nd quarter."

EDIT: And I meant to point it out but forgot, no sign of Never Been to Spain following the victory. Instead, Kool and the Gang's Celebration was played. Exactly what I didn't want. Boo.