The ROY Race Minus Blake Griffin
James Harden (pictured above in the bow tie) rejected the notion that he’s got a better shot at Rookie of the Year now that L.A. Clippers rookie and No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin could miss up to six weeks with a knee injury. The Thunder’s No. 3 overall pick out of Arizona State said the 2009 draft class still is too deep, too talented to get overly confident just because Griffin will miss a chunk of the season.
“Obviously Blake’s a tremendous player,” Harden said. “I hope he recovers very well. But we have a great class. Jonny Flynn over there (in Minnesota), Tyreke Evans, who we’re playing against (tonight) has a chance, Brandon Jennings, Stephen Curry. It goes down the line. These are some great players who are put in positions to play and help their teammates win games. So it’s up for a hunt.”
But how will Griffin’s near two-month absence impact the Rookie of the Year race?
Of this year’s 30 first-round picks, 21 are set to make their debuts tonight. Four of them will be in the Ford Center for tonight’s season opener against Sacramento. Top five picks Harden and Evans will get a heavy dose of minutes. Sacramento forward Omri Casspi, the No. 23 overall pick, will make history when he checks into the game for the first time and becomes the first Israeli to play in the NBA. And Byron Mullens, the No. 24 pick will be on the Thunder’s bench as well.
Griffin isn’t out of contention for the award. But he’ll have to make up ground in a hurry when he returns. That could be rather difficult considering Griffin is on a Clippers team with a talented frontcourt and he’ll be experiencing his rookie growing pains more than a month later than everyone else in contention.
So with Griffin out of the picture for now, what largely was considered a two-man race might be about to blossom into free-for-all between seven main competitors. Here they are, listed in order of most likely to win it.
Playing The Odds With OKC
The online gambling Web site Bodog.com has released a variety of odds for the 2009-10 NBA season. I’m not a betting man, but there is some very interesting material about the probability of how the Thunder and some of its players will do this season.
Kevin Durant
Over/Under: 27.5 PPG
Over/Under: 6.9 RPG
(I’m taking the under on points and a push on rebounds.)
Russell Westbrook
Over/Under: 16.3 PPG
Over/Under: 6.0 APG
(Give me the under on points, barely, and the over on assists.)
Jeff Green
Over/Under: 17.4 PPG
Over/Under: 6.8 PPG
(Again, I’m going under on points and I’ll take the over on rebounds.)
James Harden
Over/Under: 12.0 PPG.
(Sounds close to me. I’ll go 12.4)
Thoughts On The 2009-10 Thunder Schedule
The NBA released its league-wide schedule today, and the Thunder will open the season at home against Sacramento on Oct. 28. Oklahoma City will travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons on Oct. 30 before returning to the Ford Center to face Portland on Nov. 1 and the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers on Nov. 3.
Other highlights of the schedule include: Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic at the Ford Center on Sunday, Nov. 8, No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers at the Ford Center on Sunday, Nov. 15, the Boston Celtics coming to town Friday, Dec. 4, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers visiting OKC on Sunday, Dec. 13, Chris Paul and the New Orleans Hornets coming Jan. 6 and March 10 and the Lakers returning Friday, March 26.
Also, the Thunder will have 10 Sunday home games, nine Friday night home games and three Saturday night home games. Oklahoma City will host Utah on New Year’s Eve and Milwaukee the day after Thanksgiving.
But the most interesting bit of news in Oklahoma City’s schedule is that the Thunder will again have just one nationally televised game, a Dec. 16 home game against Dallas. For all the buzz the Thunder has built around the league for how it’s the best up-and-coming team, the television networks sure don’t seem to be impressed. The Dec. 16 game will be televised by ESPN. It’s understandable how ABC wouldn’t pick up a 23-win team for its Sunday slate but for TNT to not pick up a single game is pretty amazing. Even more incredible is the Thunder is scheduled to have only two games aired on NBATV. I guess respect really is earned, not given.
Anyway, let’s break down this here schedule shall we?
Thunder Enjoys Off Day, Griffin Enjoys Dazzling Debut
LAS VEGAS — The Thunder was not one of the 12 teams in action Monday in the NBA Summer League. Oklahoma City got a much needed day off after playing five games in seven days dating back to last Monday’s opening day of the Orlando Pro Summer league.
The Thunder did go through a practice at a local high school in preparation for Tuesday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers at 7:30 p.m. Central Time. As for the game, Oklahoma City is simply looking for continued development out of the roster, individually and collectively, and for players to continue focusing on playing as a team.
It should be an interesting match up from the standpoint that the Lakers have a vagabond bunch with the two most familiar names being Adam Morrison and former OSU forward David Monds. Former Arizona standout Mustafa Shakur once was a big name, and some of you might remember Michigan State product Alan Anderson from his successful college days with the Spartans. But the Lakers roster is awfully sketchy after that, so the fact that L.A. has only one NBA player on its summer league roster should bode well for the Thunder executing its game plan. We’ll see.
Meanwhile, former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin torched that Lakers squad in his debut Monday night. A buzz began building in Cox Pavilion for Griffin’s debut about 30 minutes prior to the Los Angeles Clippers tip-off. Before the final horn even sounded on Phoenix and Dallas’ game, media and league personnel began making their way across the hall to the Thomas & Mack Center to get a good seat. And Griffin didn’t disappoint, scoring 27 points with 12 rebounds in 30 minutes.
