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Northwest Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Denver
|
34 | 17 | .666 | 0 | Lost 1 |
|
Utah
|
31 | 18 | .632 | 2 | Won 8 |
|
Oklahoma City
|
29 | 21 | .580 | 4.5 | Won 5 |
|
Portland
|
30 | 23 | .566 | 5 | Lost 1 |
|
Minnesota
|
13 | 38 | .254 | 21 | Won 4 |
(updated 2.9.2010 at 12:06 AM CST)
Next Game
The Blazers discuss Durant. Read the related story here.
about 7 hours ago
daddydai
4 comments
0 recs
Loud Links: 02|08|10
by daddydai on Feb 8, 2010 6:33 PM CST
in Loud Links
5 comments
Kevin Durant's extension eligibility could be problem for Thunder - Frank Hughes - SI.com
Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, who is tied for second in the league in scoring, is eligible for a contract extension starting July 1. And while the aforementioned big three will undoubtedly secure maximum contracts with their respective suitors, Durant, in many ways, is the linchpin of the upcoming collective-bargaining battle between the league and its players.Why? In any other season, the Thunder would simply give the blossoming superstar a maximum extension -- likely for around five years and $80 million, similar to what Denver's Carmelo Anthony signed almost four years ago -- and move on to their next order of business. But with a potential lockout looming that is bound to reconfigure the cost structure of the NBA, the Thunder have to consider that waiting to extend Durant's deal until after a new CBA is in place could potentially save the organization up to $25 million over the next five years, assuming the league's desire for some sort of hard cap is implemented.
And so the organization must weigh this question: Does it wait until a more fiscally responsible time to sign Durant at the risk of alienating a third-year player who, at 21, is already in the running for MVP? "I never pictured myself with another team," Durant told SI.com during Oklahoma City's weekend visit to Golden State. "I like these guys so much. I like being around them. But I know this is a business here. A lot of different things happen. As far as being on the basketball court, these are the guys I envision myself playing with. But we'll see what happens."
Thunder's Russell Westbrook named Player of the Week | NewsOK.com
Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook has been named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played February 1 through 7. Leading Oklahoma City to a 3-0 week, Westbrook averaged 19.7 points, 9.7 assists, 8.0 rebounds and 3.3 steals. In Saturday's win at Golden State Westbrook's eight steals matched the league season high. "I'm proud of the way Russell has developed," said coach Scott Brooks. "He put in a lot of work in the summer and a lot of work during the season. He does a great job of working to get better." One of nine second-year players selected to play in Friday night's rookie-sophomore game in Dallas, Westbrook is averaging 16.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and is eighth in the league in assists (7.5).
5 comments | 0 recs
Game 48 Recap: Oklahoma City 103, New Orleans 99
by Zorgon on Feb 8, 2010 5:49 AM CST
in Game Recap
10 comments
In lieu of the typical Box Score, tonight I will be introducing the very first....Welcome to Loud City Video Recap!
It's quality is similar to any rookie's performance. There's flashes of brilliance, but in general, it's pretty bad. I had a lot of technical issues to get ironed out, and my commentary....well, it could use some work. If I were to compare my stats to a rookie's I'd probably have 5 Points, 2-10 Shooting, 1-2 Free throw shooting, 3 Rebounds, 1 Assist, and 3 Turnovers. It's definitely a project big that needs to be worked on. That being said, if you have any advice at all to give that is constructive....that is to say, not just, "This Recap Sucks, Give it up"; then please, leave a comment. It's much appreciated. The end goal is to make this much more entertaining than my usual wall of text explaining what happened, quarter by quarter.
So, without further ado, click here to see the VIDEO RECAP. I've already made the next video, so I can assure you that the audio and video quality are much better next time around. Consider this a pilot.
In any case, this was a tightly contested game all the way through. The Thunder always were threatening to pull away, but just when it looked as if the Hornets were about to start really fall behind, they pulled up their britches and weathered the storm. It culminated when they took the lead late in the fourth with the Collison three, but it was all for naught, as the Thunder played great defense and scored when they needed to, putting the game well in hand.
Below: Analysis, Awards
10 comments | 0 recs |
If none of you have ever seen the Thunder's intro video, then prepare yourself, because you're in for quite a ride. Apologies for the poor quality, this was taken from VHS.
1 day ago
Zorgon
2 comments
0 recs
Game 49 Preview Quickie: Oklahoma City at Golden State
by Zorgon on Feb 6, 2010 7:51 PM CST
in Gameday
108 comments
This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.
Time: 9:30 PM Central Standard Time Place: Oracle Arena, Oakland, California TV: Fox Sports Net Oklahoma, Comcast Sports Net Bay Area Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1) Enemy Blog(s): Golden State Of Mind Previous Meeting(s): Dec. 7th, Jan. 31st
Backstory: Not much has changed since we last saw the Warriors. They're still losing lots of games, and they still don't stand much of a chance of beating the Thunder. Last time, they actually contended with the Thunder late into the game after a third quarter collapse, but in the end, a foolish three taken by Monta Ellis and solid defense pulled through for the Thunder. Since this game is at the home of the Warriors, the Thunder might actually have a problem, but I just don't see the Warriors pulling this one out.
If you want to see my analysis of the matchups, click here. I'm doing a quickie on this one because we saw the Warriors last less than a week ago, and there's absolutely no reason to give the same analysis on the same matchups again.
Prediction: Oklahoma City 110, Golden State 105
How do you think the game will go? Vote in the Poll! And, again, feel free to drop any comments you might have during, before, or after the game below. I'll be by to drop my thoughts as well. Go Thunder WARRIORS!
108 comments | 0 recs |
Thunder Pseudo-Stats and Jeff Green
by manifestus on Feb 5, 2010 10:24 PM CST
in WTLC (Misc)
5 comments
It was interesting to read through jksnake99's FanPost regarding Jeff Green, particularly given how many ABPRmetrics were thrown out there. Given the discussion that ensued, I figured we could use a frontpage post to go over some of this again. The title of the post mentions Jeff Green, but most of this has nothing specifically to do with him -- it's just that all this writing happened (if not on whim then) directly as a result of reading the commentary following that Jeff Green-centric FanPost.
Anyhow, moving on. Roland Beech, he of Plus-Minus / 82games.com fame does a great job of talking about ABPR stats. Here's a few quotes from an interview SLAM conducted with him (emphasis mine):
RB: Well I am not after the one number rating, neither is Dean Oliver and a number of other people. Yes the stats folks often tend to be people using box score data only since that’s what they have at hand. Similarly there are a number of folks who are ‘true believers’ in regression based +/- type metrics. I simply feel we need to go out and collect more data on the specifics of games and that when we have this data things will be much more self evident. This is already happening. For example, a lot of people point to defense as one of the missing ingredients in the box score, but by tracking who is guarding who on plays and what transpires you can actually create very detailed defensive stats, and then even adjust them by the quality of player being guarded, etc. There’s no need once you have the data to try and deduce things, it’s right in front of you.
RB: Right I kind of intentionally present most data in really a raw, unadjusted form. Anytime you make adjustments you are using some kind of assumptions, which may or may not be true. I do think the site is ‘advanced stats’ but I’m much more of a ‘let’s collect more data’ type of analyst rather than delving into trying to infer things through regressions, etc.
RB: I am not a fan of one number, overall type player ratings since I don’t think players have constant value. Their contributions depend heavily on who they play with, the coaching schemes, the role they are asked to play, whether they are happy, healthy, etc. The Roland Rating used to just be straight on/off but then people started to think I was advocating that as a stand alone player rating, so I added in a few more simple elements, intending maybe one day to publish a more comprehensive rating system, but that hasn’t been a priority since I don’t really look at players in that way. On the other hand something like ‘clutch stats’ is a pretty straightforward look at some specific numbers and so yes, I’m happy to say that a player is a good clutch scorer or something by stats.
RB: I like to include team influence numbers in any kind of player evaluation and that can be on/off, a simple adjusted plus/minus (not regression based) and so on. Yet I don’t think you ever want to fully rely on only those kinds of things—it’s just part of the puzzle. Oddly while I have published a lot of regression based ‘adjusted +/-’ articles on 82games, I am not actually a fan of that approach. I think again, with more data on hand you can really understand a player’s strengths, weaknesses and traits very clearly without having to resort to mathematical techniques to try and extract info that you think is ‘missing.’
The important thing to note here is that it's pretty obvious that at the moment there just aren't as all-encompassing statistical measures for basketball as there are for say, baseball. PER and Adjusted Plus/Minus don't provide you with as much "useful" information as the myriad of stats like FIP, CHONE, tRA, etc. Even comparable stats just aren't as accurate/reliable, due to the greater amounts of noise present in any given basketball game. The outcome of any singular possession in basketball is manifold and dependent upon the players, positioning, and other factors at any given point in time during the course of the game. It can all be quantified and analyzed, but to extract meaningful information from that is much more of a problem. Furthermore, as Roland touches upon above, the more "advanced" the stat becomes the more assumptions start going into play.
(Read the rest after the jump)
5 comments | 0 recs |
Loud Links: 02|05|10
by daddydai on Feb 5, 2010 7:56 PM CST
in Loud Links
1 comment
NBA.com: Scoring star Ellis can't end Warriors' All-Star curse
[This one is for you Z.] Monta Ellis tried. Really, he did. As hard as anyone possibly could. But even Ellis, perhaps one of the toughest 10 players to guard one-on-one in the NBA, couldn't snap the most dubious All-Star streak in the league. Which means the Warriors just went the decade without an All-Star, putting them on an island in that regard. As the rest of the league parties on next weekend in Dallas, the Warriors are wallowing once again, struggling to elevate in the West.They're still trying to find an identity just three years removed from a shocking playoff run and are desperately on a star search to give them some much-needed credibility. For the moment, let's just focus on the star search. It's not that the Warriors went dry on very good players in the decade, and Ellis would've raised few eyebrows had he made the game. But the lack of a true star just symbolizes the plight of the Warriors. For comparison's sake, Oklahoma City has had more All-Stars this decade, and OKC just got a basketball team like, yesterday.
________________________
Line Score of the Week
Kevin Durant, Thunder: 40 minutes, 16-for-21 shooting, 11 rebounds, 45 points against the Warriors. Tough call here; Andre Miller went for 52 against the Mavericks and compiled that many points while making only a single 3-point shot. But that was clearly an aberration for Miller, who's not a 52-point guy. What Durant is doing is epic, at least for this season. He's gone 23 straight games with 25 or more points as he bears down on the scoring title. I can't tell whether Durant is the next Gervin or the next T-Mac ... maybe he's a hybrid. The guy gets points a variety of ways, which only makes him that much tougher to defend. Essentially, if his outside shot isn't working, he can still get 30 points by going to the line or the rim. The only question is whether Durant can give LeBron a run for MVP. That will depend on what Oklahoma City does, along with Durant, in the final few months. But just by raising the possibility of Durant as MVP -- and he's not even in the prime of his career -- says plenty about his quick start.
Bill Simmons would give up Boston's 2008 NBA Championship for Kevin Durant...
Bill Simmons: Super Bowl pick and new mailbag - ESPN
Q: If you could go back in time "Lost"-style and fix the 2007 lottery so the Celtics landed the second pick, would you keep what happened (No. 5 pick, KG trade, 2008 title, everything else that happened up to now), or would you switch it so that they ended up with the No. 2 pick and Durant? --Dr. Bill Simmons, BostonSG: OK, I fibbed that one. My dad asked me that on the phone this week. And we both came to the same conclusion pretty quickly: You'd have to go with Durant. Have you seen what he's doing for the Zombies lately? Thirty a night, eight boards, 50 percent shooting, nails his free throws … just eerie, Gervin-like consistency for a young team that doesn't have another reliable scorer, and if that's not enough, he's the single best teammate in the league other than LeBron.
Barring injury, he's going to win this year's scoring title (he'd be the youngest ever by two years) and could be looking at a historic 35 ppg, 10 rpg, 50/40/90 percentage season soon. I don't see how you pass that up. And if you remember, the 2007 Celts had a decent nucleus in place already (Al Jefferson, Rajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Paul Pierce, Theo Ratliff's expiring contract, the rights to Minnesota's No. 1) and easily could have turned a couple of those assets into Pau Gasol a couple of months later.
Daily Thunder was quick to respond to Simmons...
How good is Kevin Durant? Trade-a-championship-for-him good | Daily Thunder.com
You know how many times I read that? Three. Three times. It’s just so lovely. But think about that kind of high praise. First off, Simmons says Thunder basketball is must-see-TV. (Too bad ESPN and TNT don’t see it that way.) But here you have a guy that is willing to forgo a title for his team in order to possess a player we currently have on our team. If that doesn’t tell you how good KD is, well, then you should really start watching Thunder games. And if that doesn’t make you scream like a 14-year-old girl at a Jonas Brothers concert, then you have no heart.Here’s KD’s line since Dec. 22: 32.5 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 53 percent from the field, 54 percent from 3, 88 percent from the line. Add to that the 23-game streak, the fact his team is 15-8 in that span and oh yeah, that’s he’s 21 freaking years old and well, you should be changing your pants by now. It’s getting really old when people try and remind us that we’ve got something really special here in OKC, but people, WE’VE GOT SOMETHING SPECIAL.
1 comment | 0 recs |
Game 46 Preview Quickie: Oklahoma City at New Orleans
by Zorgon on Feb 3, 2010 7:18 PM CST
in Gameday
20 comments
This also counts as an open thread, so feel free to post your thoughts during the game here.
Time: 7:00 PM Central Standard Time Place: New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana TV: Fox Sports Oklahoma, Cox Sports Television Radio: WWLS The Sports Animal (98.1) Enemy Blog(s): At The Hive, Hornets 24/7 Previous Meeting(s): Jan 6th Backstory: The hornets have been a huge road block in the past, but since they're missing Chris Paul for a month, I don't think they stand much of a chance against us. Prediction: Oklahoma City 97, New Orleans 85
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Most Commented
Game 49 Preview Quickie: Oklahoma City at Golden State
by Zorgon 2 days ago
108 comments | 0 recs
Jeff Green Part of the "Big 3?"
by jksnake99 5 days ago
41 comments | 0 recs
Game 48 Preview Quickie: Oklahoma City vs. Atlanta
by Zorgon 6 days ago
26 comments | 0 recs
Game 46 Preview Quickie: Oklahoma City at New Orleans
by Zorgon 5 days ago
20 comments | 0 recs
1 Big Man and bench player away...
by jcwmonoxide 5 days ago
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