Suns 102, Thunder 93
PHOENIX — A few observations from Thunder-Suns.
* Kevin Durant is long and athletic enough to get his shot over pretty much any smaller defender no matter how good he is. Raja Bell was no match for Durant tonight. Bell’s best bet was trying to prevent KD from getting the ball and playing up when he did. Against lankier defenders like Josh Smith and Tayshaun Prince, KD might have a tougher time simply rising over the defender for jumpers.
* Injury update on Durant, who was icing the side of his head in the first quarter: “I tried to step in front of Shaq and he raised his hand and his elbow hit me in the back of my head,” Durant said. “It was just a little something. It’s all right, though.”
* Jeff Green was as aggressive and athletic as I’ve seen this preseason. He attacked the rim tonight and for the first time looked comfortable looking for his own offense while playing alongside Durant. He came up with the monster block on Matt Barnes that led to a 2-on-1 break and ended with Durant tossing a pretty alley-oop pass to Westbrook.
* Injury update on Green, who left the game near the end of the first half after the big rejection: “(My thumb) just got caught up in the backboard,” Green said. “The nail got cut off and it kind of split off and had a bad cut. But it’s cool now.”
* Russell Westbrook is turning heads around the league. I sat in between several scouts tonight who were impressed with the rookie, and media members were speaking highly of him in the press room after the game as well.
* Desmond Mason’s shot looks much improved.
* John Lucas looked much more confident after surviving cut day. It was shocking to see him go right at Steve Nash.
* The defense looks great at times and terrible at other times. On one possession the Thunder will help, rotate, collapse and make things tough. On the next, opponents get to the basket without any resistance. Once they become consistent on defense and sustain those good stretches they’ll start to take off.
* This team needs a shooter.
* Carlesimo was disappointed in Durant and Green’s efforts and made sure to vaguely mention them several times in his postgame : “We made too many mental mistakes,” Carlesimo said. “We’ve got returning guys that were in the wrong place, in the wrong defense. We just can’t do that. We just made too many mental mistakes. We didn’t give ourselves a chance to win.”
* Write it down, missed free throws will be a problem this season. The Thunder made 20 of 30 or 66.7 percent.
* We still haven’t seen extended minutes from this team’s projected rotation. When we do, it’s looking like there will be plenty of exciting stretches this season.
* Chris Wilcox sounded like he will sit out Friday’s game against the Lakers. He responded in a jokingly “Uh, we’ll see. I don’t know” manner when I asked him after the game.
* Johan Petro was solid once again with 17 points and five boards. He’s talked about consistency being his biggest weakness, so I want to see how he handles the pressure of the regular season.
-DM-
Thunder vs. Suns Live Blog
Short by about 12,000
I was disappointed.
I blame it on P.J. Carlesimo.
It was the Thunder coach who threw out the number — “15,000.”
I remember thinking when he said it Saturday that there was no chance Monday’s open practice would draw that many fans. But then I had 24 hours to think it over and at some point Sunday began to think that far-fetched figure could be a possibility.
Instead, I walked into the Ford Center and saw an estimated 3,000 fans seated in the lower bowl to watch Oklahoma City’s NBA team drill, stretch and scrimmage.
It was a nice crowd that I would have been impressed with had those five digits not been floating around in my cranium the past 24 hours.
Talking with a national writer throughout the scrimmage, I shared my humble opinion with him about OKC fans. I suggested this city has tasted the big time and no longer flocks to see open practices. No longer craves anything but “the real thing.” Had the Hornets not played the better part of two seasons here, I figured, perhaps Monday’s practice would have drawn 15,000. It’s not unheard of even in long-standing NBA cities.
Michael Ravina, the Thunder’s PR whiz who left Golden State for his current position, remembered the Warriors hosting an open practice and receiving a flood of loud and proud fans. That was the season after the team’s magical run to and in the playoffs, when Golden State upset Dallas in the first round.
Maybe I’ve got it backwards. Maybe OKC will draw packed houses for practices when the team evolves into a playoff mainstay.
Maybe not.
Maybe there will come a day when OKC really thumbs its collective noses at preseason ballgames and such. When 16,410 on a Tuesday night against the Clippers will be the exception not the rule.
What do you think?
-DM-
Open Practice Plan
The Thunder took today off for some much needed rest and relaxation to a banged up bunch. The boys will get back at it Monday with an open practice at the Ford Center. I’ll have a full note on the details of the practice in Monday’s paper but here’s the plan…..
The session will start at 6 p.m. and doors open at 5:30. Free tickets for the practice will be distributed at the doors of the Ford Center. Seating is general admission. The Thunder Girls will be on hand and activities will be available throughout the concourse.
Coach P.J. Carlesimo said the team will begin stretching at 6 p.m. before going into drills and other routine practice exercises over the next 45 minutes. The Thunder will scrimmage from 7 to 8, playing either two 10-minute quarters or two 12-minute quarters. Carlesimo estimated the session will draw more than 15,000 fans.
“The purpose behind an open practice is for other people to be able to come in and see the practice,” said Carlesimo. ”In this case, for a lot of people who may not be able to get to a lot of games or any games it’s a chance for them to see the team.”
Said Kevin Durant: ”It’s fun for the fans to get to see the team up close and personal as far as a practice setting. But it’s also going to be fun for us to see the fans and interact with the fans as well.”
In other news, be sure to check out Mike Baldwin’s piece from today about Jeff Green. Baldwin also lays out how favorable the Thunder’s early schedule is, noting that 25 of the first 51 games are against non-playoff teams from last season. (That’s part of the reason I think this team can eclipse 32 wins. Getting off to a good start and building confidence will be big.) Also, in Monday’s paper I’m writing about the two words you should know that will help this team win more.
Also, updating a previous observation made in this space, Mo Sene is apparently a much better athlete than I noticed in the other day’s practice. Carlesimo essentially told the media we haven’t seen anything yet.
“Mo runs like a deer,” Carlesimo said. “He’s not even running remotely like he’s capable of. He’s extremely quick. For a big he’s off the charts quick.”
I asked P.J. about how close he is to settling on a rotation for the final two preseason games and the start of the regular season. His response: “I’m not even thinking about it…Right now it’s hard to get 10 guys healthy and playing against each other to where you can really start saying, ‘OK, we like this combination better than that combination.’ So I’m honestly not even thinking about rotations.”
Carlesimo said health likely will dictate who plays the final two preseason games and even the first three games against Milwaukee, Houston and Minnesota.
I’m off to watch the Vikings-Bears. Go Vikes!
-DM-
Practice Report
The Thunder can’t catch a break.
Nick Collison went down today with a sprained right ankle. He already was battling what team officials called left ankle soreness. Collison, who remained in the locker room while the team concluded practice and wasn’t available to the media, is listed as day-to-day.
Joe Smith rejoined the team Friday after undergoing surgery to repair his fractured nose but didn’t take part in full-contact practice. He will receive his protective facemask next week and is scheduled to wear the gear for four to six weeks.
Jeff Green looked good today while practicing on a recently sprained left ankle that kept him out of Monday and Tuesday’s games. I expect him to continue practicing and to play Oct. 23 against Phoenix.
Robert Swift practiced for the second straight day but sat out the final segment because of soreness in his healing fractured hand.
Mo Sene looked good running the floor today. Sene isn’t expected to return to game action for quite some time but it’ll be interesting to see how he looks. I’ve honestly never seen him play before but I was shocked to see a man that big run that well, especially after microfracture surgery in April.
Nothing else major to report. This team needs to get healthy so it doesn’t have to limp into the regular season. It’s also important for the squad to heal up before the final two preseason games so coach P.J. Carlesimo can trot out the real rotation and give it a chance to jell.
Here’s my story today on Russell Westbrook learning on the job. Mike Baldwin is writing about Damien Wilkins for Saturday’s paper.
I haven’t had much time to dedicate to this space over the past few days while trying to complete my assignments for our special section to preview the NBA season, which will come out Sunday, Oct. 26. I turned in my final copy today so I’ll be posting more regularly now than I have the last few days. We’ll have a prediction grid in the special section and one of the categories is the Thunder’s record. I’m not a pessimist but I’m also not always a glass-half-full guy. But I’ll probably have a higher prediction on this team’s win total than anyone in America. Hint, hint: if the over/under on wins is 32 I’m taking the over.
Be sure to check out Kevin Durant on ESPN on Sunday as he joined Chris Paul, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Rudy Gay in Paul’s PBA Celebrity Bowling Invitational. It airs at noon. Somebody will have to tell me how it goes. I’ll be busy watching my Vikings hopefully destroy the Bears.
-DM-
Thunder Pick Up Durant, Green Options
The Thunder has exercised the third-year options on the contracts of Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, keeping them with the franchise through the 2009-10 season.
The team had until Oct. 31 to exercise its options on last year’s No. 2 and No. 5 overall picks or both players would have entered next summer as unrestricted free agents.
The Thunder holds fourth-year team options on both players, which must be extended by Oct. 31, 2009 to keep Durant and Green with the franchise through the 2010-11 season.
If the Thunder exercises the fourth-year options on Durant and Green for 2010-11, both players could become restricted free agents in the summer of 2011. The Thunder, however, can begin negotiations for contract extensions in July 2010. The team will have until Oct. 31, 2010 to reach an agreement with both players on extensions to prevent them from becoming restricted free agents.
Durant, last year’s Rookie of the Year, averaged 20.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 80 games. Green, who joined Durant as an All-Rookie First Team selection, averaged 10.5 points, 4.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists.
-DM-
Thunder vs. Clippers live chat, 7 p.m. tonight
Thunder 110, Rockets 104
TULSA — Kevin Durant showed tonight why the NBA world says he’ll someday be great.
He simply took over down the stretch, scoring 18 of the team’s final 25 points and had 20 of his 26 in the fourth quarter.
But he was the complete package tonight, playing even more impressively on the defensive end and finishing with five rebounds, four assists, four steals, three blocks and only two turnovers in only 33 minutes.
He blocked two shots in the final minute that secured the game.
“That’s one thing that coach wanted me to do, he pulled me to the side and told me I’ve got to be big on both ends,” Durant said. “That’s what I tried to do with the help of my teammates. It was good to see everything clicking tonight for us.”
Seven-time All-Star Tracy McGrady said Monday night was a sign of growth from Durant. With the Rockets throwing much shorter defenders at him in D.J. Strawberry and Von Wafer, Durant went to the basket, used his post-up game more and got to the free throw line more often, converting 10 of 11 from the foul line.
“He didn’t settle,” McGrady said. “He took what was there…It’s his second year. He’s growing and he’s going to get better, I’m sure. He’s going to be around for a long time.”
Durant’s teammates talked about needing nights like tonight out of him.
“He helps our team out,” said Chris Wilcox. “When he gets going like that he definitely helps everyone else out on the court. They can’t double in the post and they have to play him straight up so he opens up the court.”
For the first time this preseason, coach P.J. Carlesimo was pleased with individuals. He specifically pointed to Nick Collison (21 points, four rebounds), Johan Petro (12 points, seven rebounds), Wilcox (13 points, 14 rebounds), Earl Watson (eight points, seven assists) and Desmond Mason1(16 points, three rebounds).
“We’ve not had a lot of guys to brag about after games because they can play better,” Carlesimo said. “As a team we’ve been trying but we haven’t stepped up as many times individually. Tonight, about six or seven individuals stepped up so we’ve got a lot of people to talk about.”
The other thing that’s starting to stand out about this team is its resiliency. In all four games the Thunder has trailed early and battled back late. They trailed by 13 early against Minnesota before losing by only six. They trailed by 19 to Sacramento early in the third before pulling within one with six minutes remaining only to lose by nine. Against Golden State they trailed by 20 before pulling within eight at the end of the third before losing by 22. And tonight they battled back from an 11-point deficit.
“We played hard. We’re going to come back,” Carlesimo said. “I don’t think we’ll not come back. We’re not going to go away. We have too many guys that compete to do that.”
A few notes…..
* P.J. said he plans on playing John Lucas Tuesday against the Clippers.
* Jeff Green is a maybe with his sprained ankle. He said it’s a minor sprain and that it’s not that bad, saying he expects to be fully recovered by the middle of the week. But when I asked him if he expects to play Tuesday he said, “Nah. I don’t want to rush back too soon. It’s just preseason. If it was the regular season, probably. But I want to make sure it’s healed up 100 percent before I step out on the court.”
* D.J. White underwent successful surgery today to repair a benign growth in his jaw. He is expected to miss four to six months.
* In other injury news, because it was a very scary night for the Thunder, Durant is fine after rolling his left ankle in the fourth quarter…Damien Wilkins had a stinger to his left eye when he ran into Brent Barry but he was fine after the game…Barry almost took out Russell Westbrook with an inadvertent elbow as he was going up for a shot but Westbrook is fine as well….And Chris Wilcox was kneed in the back of his leg midway through the game but aside from a little soreness and discomfort said he’s OK.
* After a solid preseason debut, Russell Westbrook’s struggles continued tonight. He missed 7 of 8 shots and finished with five points, three rebounds and three assists. He only had two turnovers tonight, a preseason low, but Aaron Brooks handed him his lunch. Brooks scored 20 points on 9 of 14 shooting in only 24 minutes. Brooks joined Sacramento’s Bobby Brown and Golden State’s DeMarcus Nelson as guards who have torched the Thunder in the past three games. The education continues for the rookie.
“It’s his rookie year. Things are going a little bit fast for him,” said Brooks. “He’s got to make adjustments. It’s some good point guards in this league. But I think he’ll be fine…Rookies are going to take their lumps. That’s just how it is. It’s only a few rookies that come in and are just superstars. He’s going to take some lumps and it’s going to be a growing year for him, but he’s a great player. He’s going to be just fine.”
* The Thunder also made its free throws tonight, connecting on 29 of 33 (87.9 percent). The team shot a season high 48.2 percent from the field and committed a preseason low 11 turnovers.
“We just got to come with the mindset tomorrow night that we got to come in and play hard no matter what,” Durant said. “We have to get something out of these games. We can’t have setbacks like we had in Golden State. We just got to come to play, and everybody came to play tonight.”
Thunder Rockets Pre-Game Notes
TULSA — Jeff Green will not play tonight after spraining his left ankle Saturday against Golden State. The starting lineups look like this
Thunder Pos. Rockets
Earl Watson PG Rafer Alston
Kevin Durant SG Von Wafer
Desmond Mason SF Ron Artest
Chuck Hayes PF Chris Wilcox
Johan Petro C Yao Ming
Coach P.J. Carlesimo said Mason insisted on playing tonight. He sustained a left knee contusion on Friday against Sacramento and sat out Saturday at Golden State.
Joe Smith is out as I previously reported. He still hasn’t gotten his fractured nose popped back into place. He’s scheduled to see the doctor tomorrow and he’ll soon be fitted for the protective mask he’ll be wearing for the next few weeks.
The Rockets have brought their game operations staff with them to Tulsa, so the PA announcer is the Rockets’ man. He’ll have the task of trying to energize a crowd that is predominately in favor of the Thunder. He introduced the Rockets as “Your Houston Rockets.” If this type of thing continues all night it could be a long night for that poor guy.
BOK Center officials said ticket sales about two hours before tipoff were at about 10,000. The arena holds about 19,000 so the crowd should be decent. I expect more tomorrow night inside the Ford Center.
Keep an eye on the matchup between Russell Westbrook and Aaron Brooks. Westbrook has the height advantage, but Brooks is a speed demon who can put pressure on anybody.
Another matchup to watch will whoever the Rockets throw at Kevin Durant. It looks like it’ll start off being Von Wafer. Durant obviously holds the advantage in that one. But the Rockets can throw waves of defenders at him in Ron Artest and Shane Battier. Let’s see how Kevin responds.
-DM-
