Camp Observations: Day 1
* Earl Watson, Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox and Nick Collison made up the Blue team, forming what could be the Thunder’s opening night starting unit. Coach P.J. Carlesimo, however, said don’t read anything into it as the lineups are likely to change daily and he simply wanted to get the returning guys time together on the first day.
* Russell Westbrook, Damien Wilkins, Desmond Mason, Joe Smith and Johan Petro formed the second string White team, and John Lucas, Kyle Weaver, Derrick Byars, Robert Swift and Chris Alexander made up the third-string Red team.
* P.J. ran a near three-hour practice on the first day, using most of it as a day of teaching. From what I caught in the final 20 minutes the media was allowed inside practice, he instructed on how he wants to box out and get out on the break on opponent free throw attempts and when and when not to call timeouts. It was interesting to hear him instruct his team to not call 20-second timeouts in the first 15 minutes of the first half or the first nine minutes of the fourth quarter. He said he’d rather save them in the last nine minutes of the first half and last three minutes of the game. It sounded more like football strategy than basketball, but P.J.’s been coaching longer than I’ve been alive. So what do I know? We’ll see how the strategy works this season.
* John Lucas was the last one on the practice court. He and Nick Collison, an interesting pairing, were shooting 3-pointers at the end of practice. Collison’s stoke looked good from beyond the arc.
* Jeff Green’s stroke looks effortless. For a below average shooter last year, Jeff’s easy stroke was shocking. It looks like he’s so strong that he barely has to fire it up. On this day, albeit a short glimpse of his post-practice shooting, I saw him miss more than he made.
* Kyle Weaver’s shot looks awkward. It was going in on this day, but he has more of a push release than a shooting stroke.
* Kevin Durant was hard on himself when he missed practice shots at the free throw line.
* The practice facility is gorgeous. Why it has the word “temporary” would baffle the mind of anyone who isn’t familiar with NBA practice facilities. But for as much work that went into the facility, the Thunder could stand to have another full length to have two practice courts like most teams, the weight room is not in a separate enclosed area and, while I haven’t seen it first hand, I’m betting the space limitations of the facility prevented the construction crews from building a large, plush locker room. That said, these guys should have no complaints for the next two years.
* The Uni Watch guy has weighed in on the Thunder’s threads. Not surprisingly, he didn’t care for them. Not too many people nationally care for much this organization has done.
“These things are so generic,” the Uni Watch guy wrote, ”they might as well just have “Basketball Team” printed on the front…”
-DM-
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Comments
Just hoping Swift put as much into his off time trying to improve his game as he did in the tatto artist chair.
“Not surprisingly, he didn’t care for them. Not too many people nationally care for much this organization has done.”
Yeah, but can you blame them?
You know, I don’t give a rats’ a$$ about what anyone thinks about the logo or uniforms. It seems like half the people expected them to have rhinestones and neon lights.
If you’re from Seattle and you want to badmouth Bennett and the other owners, fine. I see your point. But not a single one of the people saying, “Oh, I’m not going to support the team because the logo sucks,” or “I don’t like the font on the uniforms” shelled out the more than $400 million it took to bring a basketball team to Oklahoma City.
It’s kind of like Sam Presti said several weeks ago: what’s inside the uniform is more important that what’s on the outside.
I really like the uniforms, especially the home uni’s. They have a very classic look and the colors work well together.
No one here cares what someone from Seattle thinks, mark. It’s irrelevent. You trolling here is really pathetic at this point.
I know it must be really lonely now on the Seattle boards but no one cares what you think here.
thank you DM for more insight into the team than their clothes. i’ve heard more about the jerseys than who will or will not be making the team. i’m starting to think people care more about the uniforms than who’s in them. anyway… do you think lucas will make the team?
(Donut, I think it’s way too early to tell on Lucas, Alexander or Byars. I think Lucas and Byars have the best chance because they fill a need, a third string point and a perimeter shooter. What likely will make it tough for all three is that teams like to keep roster flexibility going into the regular season. In the Thunder’s case, that means having that last roster spot open in case injuries set in and you need to add a free agent for the season or to a 10-day contract, or a trade possibility arises and you might need to take on two players to make it work. -DM-)