Technically Speaking
SAN ANTONIO — It took five preseason games, but the NBA’s newest no-nonsense rule finally landed on the Thunder’s stoop Monday night.
And it was the team’s best two players that were made examples of.
Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were both hit with “respect for the game” technical fouls in the Thunder’s 111-102 win over San Antonio inside the AT&T Center. Both calls illustrated the growing frustration many players and even more observers are experiencing with the league’s decision to crackdown on whining.
What Westbrook did to deserve a “T” was so vague you needed to be a lip-reader to realize the offense. Durant, meanwhile, didn’t say anything. He simply swung his right arm in disbelief as he distanced himself from Manu Ginobili after the Spurs guard received an extremely generous continuation call.
“You want to try your best to make sure you’re playing right,” Westbrook said after the game. “You just get in the heat of the moment so you’ve got to pay attention to it.”
For as beneficial as the new rules are in cracking down on hot-head teams like Boston and Denver, it’s disciplined teams like the Thunder that figure to suffer.
Last season, the Thunder was whistled for just 13 technical fouls. Thirteen. Kobe Bryant, by comparison, racked up 14 with the Los Angeles Lakers last year. The Thunder’s current roster has been called for 62 technical fouls over their combined careers, a figure that is as high as it is only because newcomer Mo Peterson has been hit with 31 techs in his tenure. Westbrook, who had five techs last season, ranks a distant second on the Thunder with seven for his career. Nenad Krstic has totaled six — and he hasn’t gotten one since the 2006-07 season.
But under the NBA’s new rules, the Thunder might as well be one of the league’s hot-head teams.
-DM-
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[...] Durant picked up a “respect for the game” technical last night for throwing his arms when he was unhappy with a generous continuation call. Then Russell Westbrook picked one up as well, but his wasn’t very clear as to why. It’s the first two technicals the Thunder’s been hit with this preseason. [...]
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[...] step and every dribble oozes of intent. …Recap: San Antonio vs. Oklahoma CityMiamiHerald.comTechnically SpeakingNewsOK.com (blog)Basketball Capsules: Durant leads Thunder to preseason win over SpursBrownsville [...]