Practice Report
The Thunder held a light practice today, refining some schemes and doing some drill work before getting out of dodge. I’ll have a note in tomorrow’s paper about a free throw game that has helped turn the Thunder into one of the league’s best free throw shooting teams of late. (Not playing Chris Wilcox and Desmond Mason taking less trips to the line have also helped, as has Jeff Green’s improvement this month). But here’s the note that’ll be in the paper tomorrow…..
The Thunder is evolving into one of the best free throw shooting teams in the league, netting 83.7 percent of its foul shots this month. OKC made 77 percent of its free throws in November and just 71.9 percent in December. Toronto leads the league in free throw percentage at 82.8 percent, and the Thunder currently ranks 15th in the league at 76.2 percent.
The difference this month can be attributed in part to a free throw game the team plays at the end of practices. Games go to 21. Swishes are two points, other makes are one point and misses are zero points. Each player gets two shots.
“Sometimes you kind of take free throws for granted and you might skip a day or two,” Brooks said. “But with this game, they’re so competitive they’d rather we come in on an off day just to play that game.”
OKC is also attempting more foul shots, shooting 27.1 in January after attempting only 23 per game in December and 24.8 per game in November.
* Joe Smith participated in some of practice today but is still listed as day-to-day with left knee soreness. I doubt he’ll play tomorrow, but we’ll see.
* The Thunder shot an MLK day promo today that will be shown in the Ford Center later this month. Jeff Green and Desmond Mason are two of the players who will be on the video.
* Nick Collison said today that the key to beating Detroit on Friday is moving the ball, defending well and limiting turnovers. “They’re a very good team, they have a lot of guys that can score and they execute really well,” Collison said. “They don’t beat themselves, so you can’t turn the ball over against them or you won’t have a chance. So those are the types of things we need to focus on, just basic basketball things.”
* Remember my post back in the preseason about Nick Collison losing his dog? What went untold until now is that the person who found it was New Orleans coach Byron Scott’s daughter, who stayed in Oklahoma to attend college after the Hornets moved back to New Orleans. Interesting if nothing else.
* Back to the Pistons…expect them to come out motivated and aggressive tomorrow night. They’ve lost three straight, including a home loss to Charlotte that Allen Iverson said they should have won “easily.” And don’t think the Pistons don’t remember the Thunder taking the Dec. 26 game in Detroit down to the wire.
* In Friday’s paper will be a piece about Kevin Durant learning to be clutch. It’s a piece regular followers of this blog might have already read in more detail here. The irony is, while the Thunder is developing a closer, the Pistons come to town Friday miffed by how none of their three are rising to the occasion.
Quote of the day: “I think every time we feel like we play well it’s good for us. We’ve been saying all along that we don’t like moral victories, but it does feel good when you feel you played well. I think we felt we played pretty well in that game.” — Nick Collison on the Thunder’s 90-88 road loss to Detroit on Dec. 26.
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Thunder 114, Jazz 93
Observations, news and notes from Wednesday night’s game……
* Good win by the home team. Even without Carlos Boozer, Paul Millsap and C.J. Miles in uniform for the Jazz.
* Make that 1-20 against teams with winning records.
* Can you believe the Thunder never trailed after taking a 4-2 lead?
* Nenad Krstic is getting comfortable, confident and becoming a threat.
“(My confidence) is still growing,” Krstic said. “It’s just the beginning. I just started playing like 10 days ago so it’s really growing and growing. Every game I feel more comfortable and I think confidence is going to come too.”
* Jeff Green broke out of a four-game slump, dumping in a team-high 23 points on 8-for-13 shooting with eight rebounds. He hadn’t scored more than 15 points in the past four games and was shooting just 32.6 percent from the field over that span.
* With six tonight, Kevin Durant has now turned the ball over 24 times in the past four games.
* Scott Brooks jokingly said after the game that he needs to fire the team’s make-believe turnover coach. Ordinarily, 19 turnovers leading to 25 points will lose you a ball game.
* Going 33-for-38 from the foul line will tend to win you a lot of ball games.
* The Thunder continued its recent trend of pounding opponents on the boards, out-rebounding Utah 48-26 tonight.
* It’d be great to see more performances like this out of Russell Westbrook on a more consistent basis — 22 points, 8-for-14 from the field, seven assists, three steals and ONE TURNOVER!
* Kyle Weaver was essentially a non-factor for the first time since he began receiving meaningful playing time. It happens.
* 13 points, 11 rebounds for Nick Collison marked his fifth double-double of the season.
* Joe Smith told me Monday that his banged up left knee would definitely be ready to go by Wednesday. Guess not. Now the question is where does Smith fit when he is ready to return to the lineup?
* Most impressive part of the win to me was the Thunder entered the fourth quarter ahead by 15 and not only didn’t relinquish it but extended its lead to the final margin of 21. Can’t say we’ve seen that too many times this season.
* The Thunder would need to go 2-40 the rest of the season to finish with nine wins. Can we stop talking about the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers now?
* OKC has now held its opponent to less than 44 percent shooting in four of the past six games.
Quote of the night: “They’ve got three great players. They’re going to be terrific players…You can’t expect them to win a championship within a year or so…They’re going to need some time. If they can keep that team together, it’s going to be a fine team.” — Utah coach Jerry Sloan.
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Thunder-Jazz live blog, 7 p.m.
Kevin Durant Learning To Be Clutch
How do you learn to become clutch?
By going through what Kevin Durant has over the past two weeks. By walking off the court as Durant has done in three of the past six games with your head hung following the hard luck and heartbreak that comes with last-second letdowns.
Durant has failed to come through for the Thunder in the final seconds three out of four times already this month and is suddenly experiencing the hardships all the greats have faced before earning their closer labels.
Durant showed against Denver on Jan. 2 that he’s ready to take and make the big shot. He nailed an off-balance 3-pointer from the top of the key with 2.7 seconds remaining to give the Thunder a 120-119 lead against the Nuggets. But Carmelo Anthony matched Durant’s heroics by sinking the game-winning 3-pointer with 0.1 left on the clock.
That wasted magic seems a distant memory going into tonight’s game against the Utah Jazz. Durant’s big-game status has come in question because of his failed attempts to tie or win the ball game in the final seconds of each of the past three outings.
He missed a potential game-tying 20-footer with 9.3 seconds remaining against Houston on Jan. 9. The Rockets won by two.
One night later, he missed a potential game-winning 22-footer with 1.9 seconds remaining in regulation against Chicago. The Thunder prevailed 109-98 in overtime.
And on Monday against New Jersey, Durant missed a 20-footer from the top of the key with 36.5 seconds left in regulation. The Nets won 103-99 in overtime.
“But Kevin has made big shots in the past and he’s going to continue making them,” said Thunder coach Scott Brooks. ”I don’t really look at him as a guy that can’t make shots in the clutch because I know that’s who he is. He’s a clutch shooter.”
According to the Web site 82games.com, Durant enters tonight’s game as the league’s 22nd best scorer in “clutch” time. Clutch stats are defined by games in the fourth quarter or overtime with less than five minutes left and neither team ahead by more than five points. Durant averages 31.3 points per 48 minutes of clutch time, ahead of players like Andre Iguodala, Chris Bosh, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, Kevin Garnett, Caron Butler and Michael Redd.
But 70 percent of Durant’s clutch time points are assisted, meaning he’s rarely creating for himself or others. Worse, his 5.2 clutch time turnovers per 48 minutes are the 10th highest in the league. Those mistakes have been on display in the last three games, with Durant totaling 18 turnovers, four coming in the fourth quarter or overtime.
“I believe that players go through tough stretches, whether it’s a young player or a veteran player,” Brooks said. “What you have to do is you have to understand what you’re going through and try to find solutions to correct your problems.
“When you become really good, you need to get a good shot. (Michael) Jordan was obviously good early on. But when he became special, he could make that shot and he could find open teammates. With Kevin, he’s going to draw a lot of attention. If he’s open he has to shoot it. But now if he has guys open he has to make that extra pass. I think the great players make the right play.”
Durant is averaging just 1.7 assists per 48 clutch time minutes, the same amount as Jazz big man Paul Millsap, Denver’s Nene Hilario and Orlando’s Dwight Howard. Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade, by comparison, is averaging 9.6 and Atlanta’s Joe Johnson is at 9.1.
“He has the opportunities and he’s going to continue to get them,” Brooks said when asked if the team will keep going to Durant or put the ball in the hands of Jeff Green or Russell Westbrook with the game on the line.
Publicly, Durant has taken his late-game lumps in stride.
“I know it’s not the last opportunity I have,” Durant said recently. “The next time it comes around I’ve just got to be ready and hopefully I make them.”
But when the doors are closed at the team’s practice facility, teammates see Durant agonizing over his failures.
“He’s a guy that really takes things to heart as it pertains to basketball,” said Desmond Mason. “If he has a bad game or he turns the ball over he gets upset because of that. But sometimes that lingers on. For him, it’s good that he gets upset at that young age because that means he cares about the game and he cares about doing well. And I think that’s very important. But also, he has to let it go so it doesn’t affect other parts of his game or it doesn’t affect the next game.
“With the type of player that he is, he’s going to be taking a lot of those shots over the course of his career. So he really can’t get discouraged. He just needs to continue to play and continue to take the shots because this team, this franchise is going to ask him to do that. That’s what makes great players.”
Durant says he believes his customary post-practice shooting will help him in the future when the game is on the line. But, as Brooks said, “it’s hard to simulate a late-game situation unless you’ve got 19,000 people yelling at you.”
“It’s one of those things where you get confident in taking them,” said Mason. ”You’re going to miss some, but if you can deal with the heat you’re going to make some and you’re going to get the glory.”
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C.J. Miles on What Could Have Been
Utah guard C.J. Miles nearly became a member of the Thunder this summer when the team signed the restricted free agent to a $14.8 million offer sheet that the Jazz ultimately matched a week later.
The Salt Lake Tribune picked Miles’ brain about his near change of address, and Miles says he could have stomached the team’s league-worst 6-33 record.
“I think as long as we were getting better and making progress, I think it would be a big gain knowing how young we were and where we’d be in the next year and the year after that,” Miles said.
The decision to keep Miles, while risky because Utah might struggle to re-sign forwards Carlos Boozer and Paul Millsap next summer, has paid dividends this season. Miles is averaging 9.7 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 22.9 minutes. He had started every game before missing the past two with a sprained ankle, which might keep him out Wednesday against the Thunder.
If Miles plays, though, keep an eye on him. When the Thunder played in Salt Lake City back on Nov. 7, Miles showed a nice all-around game, mixing perimeter shooting with a nice ability to slash to the basket while defending at the other end with his length and athleticism. He finished with seven points, three rebounds and two assists in only 16 minutes, but his impact on the game, seen mostly in his head-to-head matchup with Kevin Durant, was much bigger.
Miles doesn’t turn 22 until March 18 and would have grown nicely alongside fellow young guns Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook.
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Linkage
A Q&A with guard Russell Westbrook.
In case you didn’t believe me, more proof it’s not easy to trade Earl Watson.
But could talks be revived from an earlier three-team trade involving Watson and Sacramento?
Nenad Krstic says playing in Russia was just weird.
Coach Scott Brooks never met a challenge he didn’t like.
Kevin Durant talkin’ Thunder.
How much fun would it be to see Dwight Howard and LeBron James coaching the rook-sophs game at All-Star Weekend?
Wednesday is the last day Thunder fans can vote Russell Westbrook into the Slam Dunk Contest.
Bet against the Thunder at your own risk.
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Nets 103, Thunder 99
Observations, news and notes from Monday night’s game……..
* As I wrote about for Tuesday’s paper, the Thunder is close to turning the corner. Finishing a stretch of five games in seven nights at 2-3 is a good start. The defense, which has held opponents to 44.2 percent shooting over the past five outings and has allowed 100 points or more only twice, has been the biggest difference.
* Brook Lopez is not that good. Career-high 31 points? Career-high tying 13 rebounds? “Early, we were losing him in pick and rolls,” said Nick Collison, who drew the surprisingly tough assignment of guarding Lopez. “He was slipping to the basket and getting a lot of layups, even knocking down jump shots. He looked like a Hall of Famer tonight. He played great. He’s a big guy, he can shoot it, he makes his free throws. He’s going to be a load.”
* Chris Wilcox was three minutes, 42 seconds away from recording his third straight DNP-Coach’s Decision on Monday night but got that much playing time because Lopez was giving Collison the business and forced him into three early fouls. Thunder coach Scott Brooks continues to say Wilcox isn’t playing simply because you can’t play everyone. It doesn’t take much critical thinking to figure out that the Wilcox is not in the team’s plans going forward. For all you fans asking who’s most likely to be dealt before the Feb. 19 trading deadline, take one peak over at which players are riding the pine and there’s your answer. How else can you explain not playing a guy who can be a much-needed bundle of energy off the bench and scored two points and pulled down four boards in less than four minutes? Granted, Wilcox’s defense isn’t great and his rebounding is inconsistent at best. But when he gets it going he’s a tough cover.
* I’ve heard of a sophomore jinx, but is there a such thing as a sophomore wall? Kevin Durant might be about to find out. His minutes have been absurdly high. He played 48 tonight and is now averaging 40.6 in 21 games in December and January. That figure would be slightly higher had it not been for his 22 minutes in last week’s 42-point loss to Minnesota. Durant continues to say he’s young and can handle it. We’ll see.
* While I’m on Durant, it’s worth noting here as I did for Tuesday’s editions of The Oklahoman that he told me before the game that he doesn’t have a relationship with rap mogul and Nets part owner Jay-Z. Oklahoma City can breathe easy and not worry about a bond like the one Jay-Z shares with LeBron James possibly becoming an issue in future free agency. “I want to stay in Oklahoma as long as possible. I do, that’s the honest truth,” Durant told me before the game. ”I love it there.”
* Now if Durant can work on limiting his turnovers. His 18 over the past three games is almost unbelievable. “I’m trying to thread the needle some, and I’ve got to be stronger with the ball,” Durant said. “I try to make it up in other areas like defense and rebounding.”
* Joe Smith didn’t play because of what the team is calling left knee soreness. This is the opposite knee that kept him out of two games in late December. He says he’ll be ready for Wednesday’s game against Utah. “This morning I woke up pretty sore,” Smith said. “My thing was to come out here and get loose and give it a shot, but once I woke up from my nap it didn’t feel any better. So I just decided to rest it tonight.”
* I’m told Robert Swift did not play because of a stomach illness.
* Kyle Weaver is still recovering from a left ankle sprain. He tweaked it a little more tonight when going up for a dunk in the second half.
* Turnovers, the Thunder’s on-again-off-again problem, are starting to become an issue for this team again.
* A positive sign is that OKC is starting to nail some free throws.
Up next, Utah at home on Wednesday.
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Thunder-Nets live blog — 6:30 p.m.
Earl Watson to Charlotte?
A report in Sunday’s editions of the Boston Globe cited a league source who said the Thunder is involved in a three-team trade that would send Earl Watson to the Charlotte Bobcats. The report did not indicate which player or players Oklahoma City would get in the deal, which would also send Bobcats guard Raymond Felton to Dallas and Mavs center DeSagana Diop to Charlotte.
General manager Sam Presti couldn’t be reached for comment on the report. The Thunder, however, likely could be interested in Bobcats shooting guard Matt Carroll, a sixth year veteran sharpshooter who carries a career 40.3 percent shooting clip from 3-point range.
In addition to possibly providing the Thunder with a much-needed perimeter shooter, Carroll, 28, has a cost-efficient salary that would not jeopardize the team’s surplus of cap space over the next two summers. Carroll is due $12.9 million over the next three seasons and has a $3.5 million player option for the 2012-13 season. Rather than annual raises, Carroll’s contract is front loaded, with about $400,000 coming off his annual salary throughout the life of the deal.
Because of Carroll’s salary, he would become another low-risk, high-reward addition for the Thunder after Nenad Krstic signed a relatively cheap deal on Dec. 30 and Presti traded Johan Petro and a 2009 second-round pick for Chucky Atkins and a 2009 first-round draft pick last week. Carroll had gotten lost in the shuffle this season after the Bobcats added guard Jason Richardson last year and rookie D.J. Augustin this year.
Carroll is averaging just 14.1 minutes, 4.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 0.7 assists, the lowest figures since his rookie season. But in 26.1 minutes per game two seasons ago, Carroll averaged 12.1 points 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 41.6 percent from behind the 3-point line. He shot 43.6 percent from 3 last season and averaged nine points in 25.2 minutes per game.
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Thunder 109, Bulls 98
Observations, news and notes from Saturday’s game…..
* 15-4 in the overtime period is about as dominant as a team can be. That was one of the few times OKC stepped on a team when it smelled blood.
* How Jeff Green, Russell Westbrook and Earl Watson went a combined 11-for-47 is a mystery.
* How OKC won despite their poor shooting night can be explained in OKC’s rebounding advantage (59-37), second-chance points advantage (28-12) and free throw advantage (28-for-34 to 13-for-18).
* Overshadowed in this game was the Thunder’s exceptional ball movement and complete lack thereof down the stretch. The Thunder entered the fourth with 21 assists on 32 made baskets. Over the final 17 minutes, including overtime, OKC had only four assists on eight made baskets. Normally, four on eight isn’t bad. But they only had eight made baskets because they stopped moving the ball and started playing one-one-one ball. The shots got tougher, were taken late in the shot clock and the Bulls made them pay at the other end.
* Scott Brooks made a wise decision to go small tonight, sitting Robert Swift to better match up with the Bulls.
* Unfortunatly, that switchero prevented us from seeing what could have been a special head-to-head bout between Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook.
* Nenad Krstic had two blocked shots for the third time in as many games. Who says his defense is below average?
* Earl Watson’s playmaking was big for the Thunder early.
* Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro used the phrases “more physical” and “Outworked us” about 20 times in his postgame press conference.
* Del Negro’s message trickled down to his players: “I don’t think we took them for granted. They just outworked us and outplayed us tonight,” said Drew Gooden.
* The Bulls entered the game 12-5 at home and never led by more than five.
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