SB Nation User Blog: hisjazziness

Game #14 Recap: Lakers 101, Thunder 85

hisjazziness — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:42:44 -0000

First of all, an editor's note: I was supposed to recap the Friday night win over the Wizards, but apparently my DVR didn't know this. I swear I recorded it and put it as the first priority; you can probably imagine what happened. So I didn't get to watch that game, and didn't think I should recap it not having watched it. The gods of basketball then proceeded to smite me, and all Thunder fans, with last night's game. What happened? Read more after the jump.

There are a number of statistics that you could look at from last nights game and glean a reasonably close picture of what went down. Here is a sampling:

The team shot 37% for the night, never a good night, but it was even worse (32%) in the first half, and this contributed to the slow start. It's probably not a good thing to be on the Lakers home court, defending their championship and with all of their depth, and start off shooting the way the Thunder did.
19 Thunder turnovers led to 25 Lakers points. There was just a general carelessness with the ball. This happens too much from Westbrook. I love watching him play, and he does some amazing things (like the block on Gasol and the career high 3 blocks in general) but there are times when he has a shoot-first mentality (something I don't like out of a point guard) and other times when he's not careful with the ball.
James Harden just couldn't throw it in the ocean last night. It might have been hometown jitters, but he did just play in the same building against the Clip a couple of weeks ago. Anyway, a 2-15 night will slow down those of us talking about his shooting ability, if only for a minute. He did a lot of other things that were positive last night, but going 0-10 from deep...well, you should probably stop shooting at some point.
It also seems like Durant tries to do too much at times. There were a couple of times in the first half when he had numbers on the break, ended up taking it himself, and ended up with an odd type of runner/leaner that didn't fall. Sometimes those fall, and that's great, but the high percentage play there is to give the ball up to a guy who can take an easier shot.
There were at least 5 celebrities in the crowd last night: Jack, Khloe Kardashian-Odom, Jay-Z (who was wearing a ridiculous outfit), and what seemed to be A-Rod and Fergie on an awkward date. It's hard to overcome that star power.

But, for all of these statistics, the one that I like best is points in the paint. If you looked at this statistic after the game (and especially after the first half), you would know all you needed to know about who was asserting themselves physically in the game. The final tally was 60-44 Lakers, but at halftime the Lakers had scored 36 of their 57 points in the paint; the Thunder had notched 14 of their 34 from inside. Andrew Bynum led the way inside for the Lakers, collecting 25 and 9 on 9-11 shooting. This game exposed the weakness of the Thunder, and it will be up to Presti and Co. to take steps to shore up the weakness of the team inside.

The Lakers turned the Thunder into a jump shooting team last night, and the Thunder responded with a 3-23 from 3 point range. Sure, you'll have nights like this, and I don't want to paint in too broad of a stroke about last night's results. The Lakers are the best team in the Western Conference, after all.

There were some positives tonight. The biggest positive was the play of Serge Ibaka. He came off the bench and really provided some kind of spark (I say "some kind" only because it couldn't have been that great to lose by 16, and I believe the closest we got when he came in in the first half was 12). He had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds (including 7 offensive), and added 5 blocks to his stellar performance. He also provided a semblance of a defensive presence that you simply don't get with Krstic in there.

With that, the game is over, the celebs head back to Hollywood happy after their beloved Lakers triumph, and the Thunder prepare for the Jazz tomorrow night.

What were your thoughts on the game? Do you agree with me that the Lakers exposed the Thunder inside tonight? Who can we get to be the Thunder's biggest celebrity follower? Let's talk about it below.

Thunder Stock Report – Who’s Up, Who’s Down, Who’s Treading Water

hisjazziness — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:04:28 -0000

Here’s my first Stock Report of Thunder players, since the season is approximately 10% completed. It is important to look at this through the proper lens; for example, I have KD as "treading water" but that’s mostly because he is performing as expected on the whole. Feel free to disagree below. More after the jump.

Stock Up

James Harden – He has been as silky smooth as advertised. Scoring hasn’t come as easily as it did for him at ASU, but of course he was the top dog on that team and that isn’t the role he’s being asked to fill immediately. His passing/playmaking abilities have been better than I remember from his Sun Devil days.
Etan Thomas – He provides some toughness and rebounding off the bench that this team sorely needs. I would hope his minutes and production would increase as Krstic continues to struggle.
Thabo Sefolosha – He has been the heart and soul of the defense so far, the teams’ defensive stopper. Thabo also has contributed on the offensive end. His numbers are up all over the board from his career averages (FG%, 3PT %, rebounds, steals, points). He also is a huge boost to the team with his energy and contributions to team chemistry that can be seen from watching the games. This continues to look like a great pickup from the Bulls last year.

Stock Down

Shaun Livingston – He hasn’t been able to beat out Kevin Ollie for minutes at the backup PG spot. I don’t know how he looks in practice, and I trust the coaches to know much more than I do; I just know that he has fallen far from the promise he held as a Duke super-recruit and 4th overall pick by the Clips.
Nenad Krstic – His shooting is slightly down from previous years; as is the case with Durant, if he was making a few more shots it could have altered the outcome of a game or two (for example, the 3-8 he threw up against the Lakers; one more shot wins the game in regulation). His rebounding is below average for someone playing at the 5 position, and he’s even below his career average so far this year.

Treading Water

Russell Westbrook – The flashes of brilliance are there, and I (along with many OKC fans) expect great things from him. However, its important to remember that he is a 20-year-old 2nd year player. He will make mistakes from time to time. He turns the ball over too much and is a streaky shooter, which has him on this list. Both assists and turnovers are up from last year, signifying to me that he is trying to do a lot more but succeeding in doing some of it.
Kevin Durant – Obviously being among the league leaders in scoring is where we imagined KD being, but I’m not sure how many of us would have guessed that he’d be among the leaders while shooting so poorly (20%) from the outside. If he’d only shoot his career percent (35%), he’d be averaging almost 2 more points a game. Especially given the close calls against the Lakers and Kings (and to a lesser extent, the Blazers), this would have been huge. He’s not playing near his best, yet he’s still a better defender and rebounder while scoring at a great clip. This is obviously an encouraging sign.

What do you think? Through 10 percent of the season, who is exceeding your expectations, who is below them, and who is pretty much where you thought they would be?

Hello! La La La

hisjazziness — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 20:59:54 -0000

Greetings from Minneapolis en route to Pittsburgh. I am a new writer for the blog; I've never posted here before but I've been reading for about a year and I think I'm ready to share my thoughts on our Thunder.

A little about me: I am from Pittsburgh, been there my whole life; my real name is Josh. I'm a big Pittsburgh sports fan, which is one reason I can root for OKC; I could never root for someone like the Cavs or Sixers because I hate other sports teams from those cities. I'm also a huge Pitt Panthers fan - sorry to you OSU basketball fans for last year's NCAAs, but we needed to get you back for that Sweet 16 game in 2004.

I'm a big fan of lists, so most of my stuff here is going to be listing various things about players, teams, etc, maybe some game reviews (European soccer style, for anyone familiar with that), and really, if you have anything you want me to do, consider it done. I also hope to attend a few OKC games that are more in my area (the following are in play: IND, CLE, WAS, CHA, PHI, NYK, NJ, TOR).

Most of all, I hope to watch the Thunder blossom into a playoff team with all of you, and add a few insights and Seinfeld quotes along the way.

John Perotto's Top 10

hisjazziness — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 18:40:10 -0000

Johnny Baseball was on the pre-game show to list his top 10. Here is what he had:

Alvarez
Alderson
Tabata
Lincoln
Gorkys
Starling Marte
Tony Sanchez
B Morris
Robbie Grossman
Rudy Owens

Made the point that Clement and Ascanio don't qualify because of not having prospect status anymore.
Now that I've made you read this, does anyone know what McCutchen's AB music is? I love the song but don't know what it is.

Ed Price tweets

hisjazziness — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 16:38:43 -0000

Ed Price tweets

Ed Price just tweeted this: Source - Pirates getting Jeff Clement from Mariners. Other Seattle minor leaguers involved. Could be for a pitcher (Duke?) or a 3 team deal.

Thoughts from a Snubbed Blair Fan

hisjazziness — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 13:11:46 -0000

Dear Spurs Fans:

Hello. I am a lifelong Pitt basketball fan who is feeling very snubbed right now. I thank the Spurs for ending the free fall that accompanied Dejuan Blair's draft status last night. I am excited to see that so many Spurs fans are excited for his arrival. My take on Dejuan's game (after watching him for around 80 games the last two years).

Obviously, the thing that everyone talks about is his ability to rebound. Rebounding seems to be about a lot of things: reach, jump, desire, positioning, etc. His reach has been covered ad nauseum; it's long. He isn't a great, explosive athlete, although he can finish with authority. His desire is top notch when it comes to getting loose balls. But what is really impressive is his positioning. He has described watching shots in the air and seeing the trajectory so that he can try and predict what the ball is going to do. He has an uncanny ability to do this. Also, his hands are as big as the basketball itself, and they are very soft as well. His rebounding rates were no accident; he's the best college rebounder of the decade. Also much has been written about rebounding translating well into the pros. WIth all of these factors, the Spurs have gotten a player who is truly excellent at one thing.
Something less talked about is his ability in the low post. This will undoubtedly be tougher for him as an undersized 4 in the league, but he still has the ability here, and he consistently took it to guys who were much bigger than him in college. With his penchant for grabbing offensive rebounds, plus 3-4 legitimate post moves, he can start to score a bit immediately in the league.
He needs to work on his face-up game. There isn't much to add to this; he's not a good shooter from 15 feet. He needs to work on this. He knows this. He has the desire to improve, and him being slighted will only improve his drive.
His defense isn't great. I think this can be attributed to a lot of things. He was the biggest body (not tallest of course) on the court in almost every game he played at Pitt, and he got some fouls called on him for this. Plus, he has a penchant for stupid fouls, especially on the stupid hedging we would have him do out on the perimeter. He was always a foul concern, which I think impacted how he played interior defense. He has the intelligence and the heart to play good defense, but its a work in progress.
Another thing that is overlooked, and a way in which he could contribute immediately, is his interior passing skills. He's got great vision on the low block. He's very unselfish and is willing to make the extra pass for the easy bucket. This might be my favorite aspect of his game.
His attitude is top notch. He's confident and easygoing. He's always got a big smile on his face. And yet, he's still an intense competitor who often feels like he has a chip on his shoulder. It's a delicate balance that he's able to pull off rather well.
Edited: I can't believe I forgot another aspect of his game. He's extremely agile. While on the defensive end he's not great in the post, he is really active in passing lanes. Look at his number of steals in his 2 years of college ball. Outstanding for someone his size, who plays his position. It did lead to a few of his dumb fouls, but the upside on defense is there, I believe it.

In short, I know Spurs fans are excited to have him. I just wanted to stoke those fires a bit. Plus, you've got a guy who will be happy to visit sick kids in the hospital, sign autographs until the day ends, and appear in local car commercials until you get sick of him. And this guy somehow falls to the 37th pick. I almost went into a rant here about how awful the NBA is. I mean, c'mon, I live in Pittsburgh. We don't have a team. The only enjoyment I get here is seeing guys from my alma mater succeed in the League, which hasn't happened in my lifetime. Our best NBA player is Mark Blount. But I'll stop my rant.

Dejuan, I hope you love San Antonio, I hope their fans love you back, and I hope DirecTV takes my credit card to buy the NBA League Pass. And Spurs fans, I hope that you'll allow me to join your bandwagon.

The first shoe drops...

hisjazziness — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 20:28:43 -0000

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09163/976968-100.stm

Sanchez has signed, right around slot ($2.5mm). The first part of Neal's diabolical plan is in place. It was a controversial pick of course, but it will be nice to see Sanchez get a full summer in, and I wish him all the best success and hope he's receiving and batting 8th for the NL Central champions in 2012.

Let's go Bucs!

The Indian Pirates

hisjazziness — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 12:22:03 -0000

Does anyone know what happened with Patel and Singh, the two pitchers we signed from India? When will they (if ever) play in the Pirates minor league system?

Apparently fanposts have to be 75 words long, so I'm just writing stuff here to be filler. Please don't read this. Please don't. The rain in Spain falls mainly on the plain. I never meant to cause you any trouble, never meant to cause you any pain, I only wanted to see you laughing, only wanted to see you laughing in the Purple Rain. Purple Rain, Purple Rain.