Tag: Kevin Durant (Page 8 of 13)

      Has Kevin Durant figured out Ron Artest?

      April 25, 2010 /

      Through the first eleven quarters of this Lakers/Thunder series, Ron Artest held Kevin Durant to 23-of-67 shooting (34%). Over the past five quarters — the 4th quarter of Game 3 and all of Game 4 — Durant has shot 10-of-19 (53%) from the field.

      But it wasn’t Durant that was the difference in OKC’s 110-89 blowout win over the Lakers in Game 4. There were four other Thunder players in double digits: Russell Westbrook (18), Jeff Green (15), James Harden (15) and Eric Maynor (13). Harden has played especially well in Game 3 and Game 4, scoring 33 points in the two games after going 0-for-5 for nary a point in Game 1 and Game 2.

      But can this young team take this fine play on the road and steal a game in L.A.? Only six teams in the league had more road wins than the Thunder, so the answer is yes they can. The real question is whether or not they will.

      As for Artest, while he played pretty good defense for the first 11 quarters, he has been an absolute disaster on the other end of the court. He is averaging 7-3-2 and is shooting 30% from the field and just 13% from long range. This wouldn’t be so bad if he were taking just a few shots per game, but he has averaged 10 attempts from the field and almost six threes per game in the series. Even with a decent season percentage (35%), he has no business taking that many threes when he’s in this kind of a rut.

      Most pundits thought that OKC wasn’t ready to push the Lakers to six or seven games, but since that question has already been answered, now it’s time to find out if they’re ready to pull the upset. They are younger, faster and more athletic than the Lakers, but L.A. has the experience. Which will win out?

      Game 5 in L.A. is on Tuesday.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      External Sports, Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      OKC’s win important on many levels

      April 23, 2010 /

      There are a few things to take from this game:

      — Derek Fisher is having a tough time guarding Russell Westbrook. Don’t be surprised if we see more Shannon Brown in the next few games (but it was Jordan Farmar who was in the game at the end). Phil Jackson trusts Fisher, but he just can’t keep athletic guards in front of him anymore. Westbrook had 27 points last night.

      — The win gives the Thunder confidence. They know now that they can beat the Lakers in a playoff situation. Even if they don’t come back to win the series, this victory is big for this young team.

      — Through three games, Ron Artest is averaging 8-3-2 and is shooting 32% from the field (16% from 3PT). Trevor Ariza averaged 11-4-2 and 50% shooting (48% from 3PT) in last year’s playoff run. If Artest were shutting Durant down it would be one thing, but KD posted 29-19-4 last night. He only shot 33% from the field, but he went 12 of 13 from the free throw line.

      — After 17 blocks in Game 2, OKC had just three blocks in Game 3. I’m not sure what this means, but I thought I’d mention it anyway.

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA

      Aaron Brooks named Most Improved Player

      April 22, 2010 /

      Not to break my arm patting myself on the back, but it looks like my prediction a few days ago was spot on. Aaron Brooks has won the 2010 Most Improved Player award.

      The speedy, 6-foot point guard was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player on Thursday, after setting career highs in points (19.6 per game), assists (5.3) and rebounds (2.6). His scoring average went up 8.4 points from 2008-09, the highest increase of any qualifying player.

      Brooks earned 403 of a possible 615 points, including 62 first-place votes, from a panel of 123 sports writers and broadcasters. Kevin Durant of Oklahoma City and George Hill of San Antonio tied for second with 101 total points.

      This marks the 9th straight year that the award has gone to a player drafted with the 16th pick or later. Sixteen of the last 17 MIP winners were drafted #13 or later (or not at all, in the case of Darrell Armstrong). The award simply doesn’t go to former lottery picks.

      Kevin Durant finished second, but as a former #2 overall pick, his superstardom was expected. I am a little surprised that Andrew Bogut didn’t finish in the top three. I thought that the somewhat mediocre start he had to his career would have lowered the bar enough that his drastic improvement both offensively and defensively would have been noticed by the voters.

      As for George Hill, after only one TrueHoop panelist voted for him, this is what I had to say:

      What about George Hill? He only got one vote from the TrueHoop panel, but the former 26th overall pick improved his numbers from 6-2-2 last season to 12-3-3 this season, and was a big reason why the Spurs stayed in the playoff picture even though they lost Tony Parker for part of the season.

      Congratulations to Brooks. He had a very nice season.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, News

      Phil is in Durant’s kitchen

      April 21, 2010 /

      Last week, Phil Jackson said that Kevin Durant gets too many calls and the third-year superstar took umbrage. Now it’s a thing and Durant is showing irritation when he gets asked about it repeatedly.

      The easy-going Oklahoma City Thunder star became riled up when responding to yet another question about his reaction to Lakers coach Phil Jackson, who last week criticized officials for how the call the game for Durant.

      And so when Durant was asked once again whether he overreacted to Jackson, Durant, well, overreacted.

      “Do you think I overreacted?” Durant asked the reporter, who responded by saying he didn’t know.

      “Are you one of them?” Durant continued. “Nah, I didn’t overreact. Why, because I’m a third-year player I can’t say nothing back to Phil Jackson? I’m standing up for myself and what I believe in. I really don’t say nothing to too many people in this league who say stuff about me and our team and how I play and how we play. But I felt I had to say something back.

      “I’m always quiet. I’m always nice and (respectful) to other people, not just on the basketball floor but off the basketball floor, like you guys. But I felt at that time I had to take up for myself. It is what it is. It’s over with. It had nothing to do with this series.”

      Phil Jackson has taken residence in Durant’s kitchen and it doesn’t look like he’s leaving anytime soon. Had Durant simply said something like “Phil’s a great coach and he’s entitled to his opinion” and left it at that, the story would have died quickly. Instead, he got defensive and it became a bigger story that is going to follow him around for the rest of the series, maybe longer.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NBA, NBA Finals, News, Rumors & Gossip

      OKC had its shot last night

      April 21, 2010 /

      The Lakers/Thunder series isn’t technically over, but it’s well on its way. After a pair of Russell Westbrook free throws, OKC held an 88-86 lead with 2:49 to play in the fourth quarter. But three straight turnovers — a Serge Ibaka goaltend, a Kevin Durant offensive foul, and a bad pass by Durant — coupled with a 7-0 run by the Lakers (six points came from Kobe) led to a 93-88 Laker lead and L.A. never looked back.

      Kobe Bryant posted 39-5-1 (39 points and one assist…wow!), while Pau Gasol added 25-12. Ron Artest was tasked with guarding Durant, and did a pretty good job, especially down the stretch. His defense forced the first Durant turnover during the aforementioned game-changing run. KD finished with 32 points on 26 shots.

      This was the Thunder’s chance to make this a series. While they could still potentially hold serve in Games 3 and 4, and tie the series up, it’s more likely that the Lakers steal one of those games in Oklahoma City and finish the Thunder off in Game 5 in L.A.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Finals

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