Friday Bolts – 1.8.16

Anthony Slater on Russell Westbrook’s big night at UCLA: “Thursday was Russell Westbrook night

at UCLA’s historic Pauley Pavilion. The Thunder star sat courtside. His wife Nina, a UCLA grad, was next to him. Kevin Durant was down the row. His other teammates were scattered throughout the arena. Clay Bennett and Sam Presti were in attendance. Pictures from Westbrook’s college days were plastered throughout the concourse. Fans were given lensless glasses and a Westbrook poster upon entry. Before the game, Westbrook walked in to loud applause and an embrace from UCLA legend Bill Walton. At halftime of the primetime matchup with Arizona, Westbrook was honored for his reported $1 million donation to the school. Because of it, the soon-to-be-built practice facility will house Russell Westbrook Court.”

This from Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com on the Sixers is great: “Trading for Smith would’ve been like Burry investing in the stocks of mortgage banks in 2006. It might’ve pleased his investors in the short term because Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns were valued at the time, but it would’ve been an undercutting of what Burry believed. The difference between Burry and Hinkie, though, is Burry had ironclad agreements with his investors that enabled him to have total autonomy. All they could do was make threats, and their frustration during “the process” was generally known only to a small community. Hinkie serves at the pleasure of his bosses, men who could be mocked nationally and personally after every embarrassing loss by the 76ers.”

Russ and KD are kind of playing ridiculous right now.

Erik Horne: “The second returns for NBA All-Star voting were released on Thursday, and Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are second in votes among frontcourt and backcourt players, respectively, in the Western Conference. Only Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant — who has a league-high 1,262,118 votes — ranks ahead of Durant’s 616,096 votes among the West’s frontcourt-eligible players, while Golden State’s Stephen Curry (925,789) is the top vote-getter among Western Conference guards to Westbrook’s 479,512. Bryant has made 17 All-Star games as a guard, but is being designated as a frontcourt player as he’s played a majority of his games for the Lakers this season as a small forward.”

Russ was feeling that UCLA game-winner last night.

Darnell Mayberry ranks his top five euro-steps: “Harden is the best shooter among this list, which makes his defender press up to guard against giving up uncontested 3-pointers. But once they do, Harden typically backs up, gets a head of steam and comes barreling at them at full speed, with the defender unsure whether he’s going to pull up or attempt to get to the basket. And because he’s so adept at drawing fouls, Harden already has defenders concerned about not putting him on the foul line. The nightmare for defenders only worsens because, like Ginobili, Harden is left-handed, which is always a tougher defensive assignment. All those things make Harden the No. 1 Euro step artist on my list.”