Smart Thoughts of the Week: August 28 – September 4

Throughout the week some of you drop some brilliant or at least somewhat thoughtful comments and so this is a try at highlighting some of them. Disclaimer: It’s not that I necessarily agree with all of them, but they were interesting and for the most part, well put. Everything sic’d.

I don’t know, the Oklahoma City AIDS has quite a ring to it. (Jax Raging Bile Duct): In my opinion, the subject of team nicknames, color schemes and logos should stay in where it belongs, in 7th grade. I realize a team needs these things, but the fact that anyone really cares about it is beyond me.

I remember reading several times where people were opposed to the Thunder as a name because “Thunder doesn’t scare anyone”. Why this is important is again, beyond me. Maybe we’d have won 50 games last year if we were the OKC AIDS, or the Oklahoma H1N1, or maybe even the OK City Taxes, Lawyers, Needles, Heights or First Dates. Kobe would shiver if we were the AIDS, and Chris Kaman wouldn’t take the floor if we were the First Dates.

Maybe we should have enlisted one of those heavy metal artists to design our logo. One look at it and your soul goes straight to Hell. Whew. I feel better now that I’ve got that off my chest.

Talking alternate jerseys. Because in the end, looking good is really the most important part. (Dylan): Now the question becomes, is the alternate colored yellow (too Lakers), dark blue (too Knicks), or orange (too OSU)? I doubt they go orange, as it’s a color despised by 75% of the state’s sports fans and I doubt they go dark blue, since it’s too similar to our current roads. I think a yellow alternate with some super retro looking front (the bison is a great idea) would work pretty well. And I am definitely in favor of splitting Oklahoma and City up on the road jersey. As it is, it’s too top heavy.

Passing is like lying – it can’t be taught, it’s just something you’re born with. Ask George Costanza. (Vince): I don’t think Westbrook can develop passing skills like Chris Paul or Jason Kidd. That’s a combination of abilities that come along once a decade, and I don’t think you can learn to do what they do.

I do think that an elite athlete (which Russell is) can develop enough skills to be acceptable in that area (which, given all his other attributes, is all he really needs). Bear in mind that NBA offenses now aren’t nearly as dependent on a pure PG as they were in the 80’s (when they were key in running the break) or in the 90’s (when you had to be a pretty good ball-handler and have good vision since your defender was likely grabbing on to your arm with one hand and your shorts with the other). Offenses are pretty organized nowadays (except when Carlesimo is coaching. Zing!) Russell doesn’t need to learn blind cross-court passes or behind-the-back passes across the line. He just needs to slow the game down and learn within each set options 1,2,3 and 4 when he beats his man. If he can’t do that with Brooks and Cheeks teaching him, well…

And a point on Rubio…if he’s that good, or if Westbrook doesn’t pan out by 2011, there may not be a team out there that’s in a better position to trade for him. Even with the re-ups for KD and Green, we should have cap room (not that we’d need much for him), a surplus of talent (5 picks next year, 2 in the first round) and a nice nucleus to surround him with. If you’re a Rubio fan, put the drum away and start rooting for Flynn to pan out in Minnesota. Start beating that drum again somewhere around February 2011.

I enjoy optimism. And Back to the Future references. (Mully Mulls): I think we go nuts this season (42-40)…. “Great Scott!” 42? Let me explain… Let’s not forget that this time last season they were just getting situated here. Thomas adds another big man to our rotation. Marked improvement by our core and a solidified bench (although a 3 pt specialist would be nice for some “POP” off the bench). All of these things show our stock moving. I look for our team to closer resemble the GSW team that took the 8th seed and beat the Mavs in rd one, which surprisingly enough won 42 games as well. That will be enough to get us in the playoffs where we will face the San Antonio Spurs.

We had a 2-1 record against them last season and I think we make it a competitive series as they take us in 6. This is enough of a jump to make Durant and Green stay on board and we bring in Bosh in 2010. Well, I’ve got my fuel for the flux capacitor, and Emmett Brown is hollering something about a “Lightning Strike” to me so I gotta go. Sorry to give away the next season, but I saw it in this sports almanac so I thought I’d share!

The reasoning is sound I suppose. (Steve H): Lets look at it this way- how many more points per game on average can we expect from this years squad? Russell IS going to hit at a higher percentage clip. Harden IS going to be a significant improvement on the offensive end at the two than we had last year. Jeff Green and KD can both realistically be expected to up their averages by a point or two. We averaged 97 per game last year- a five points per night bump seems realistic- even conservative- from where I’m sitting. On the defensive end we gave up 103 points a night on average last year. KD and Uncle Jeff are both reportedly coming back with additional bulk. Russell IS going to commit fewer turnovers this year. If he is half assed healthy- and Presti seems picky about taking players in questionable health- I expect Thomas to add some toughness and improved defense in the middle off the bench. So how many fewer points a night can we realistically expect to give up? Does three fewer per sound crazy to anyone? If all of that adds up, we would have a +1 points scored/allowed differential. Looks like a .500 team to me.