Tuesday Bolts – 12.6.16
Foul shooting has started to become an issue: “The Thunder took 26 foul shots Sunday night against the Pelicans. The Thunder made
13. That’s not good. Not good in the NBA. Not good in college. Not good in high school. Frankly not all that good for junior high. A team of 12-year-olds that made 13 of 26 foul shots in a game probably would spend a decent amount of time next practice at the foul line. Yet there was the Thunder, playing with matches, threatening to lose a game it had well in hand, all because it failed to make a decent amount of foul shots. And it’s a troubling trend, both this season and long-term for OKC.”
I thought we were doing pretty well from deep. I guess not: “The Thunder took 28 shots from three, making only six. The worst part isn’t that OKC missed 22 shots from three. Rather, it’s that it gave the Pelicans the upper hand in the first quarter, especially since New Orleans scored off of each of the 15 missed threes. Despite the horrid three point shooting from the Thunder, it is not the worst on record. That honor belongs to the Denver Nuggets, who in 2012, shot 0-of-22 from three against Portland. It’s no secret that the NBA is becoming a long-bomb league. It was just over a week ago that the Houston Rockets set an NBA record attempting 50 three’s against the Sacramento Kings. That said, the Thunder are guilty of falling in love with the three ball at times as well.”
Royce’s article from last night.
Alex Abrines likes American muscle: “Years ago, while living in my hometown of Barcelona, I went to see the movie “Transformers” with my friends. I was really excited because I have always been into sci-fi. (I have collections of “Star Wars” and “Lord of the Rings” stuff.) In the movie, there is a character called Bumblebee, a yellow Camaro with black stripes that transforms into an Autobot. While I was sitting in the theater watching this movie, the Camaro instantly became my dream car. Living in Barcelona, I could not find one. I was told that there were only three Camaros in all of Spain, and none in my home city. And since there were so few, they were very expensive. Anyway, my father saw how much horsepower this car had, and he said, “Hold on! First you get a normal car. Then later you can get a Camaro.”
We have a contender for dunk of the year!
A scout’s guide for stopping Russell Westbrook (ba-dum tssss): “More realistic, teams are trying to devise game plans that limit Westbrook. USA TODAY Sports talked to several NBA scouts and player personnel staffers about their plans. Those front-office staffers scout future opponents and write a report detailing the strengths and weaknesses of that team and its players. It’s a crucial job. Those reports end up with head coach and assistant coaches who put together a game plan. Here’s the emerging book on Westbrook: Make him shoot jump shots. Get back in transition. Clog the paint. Keep the ball out of his hands as much as possible. Keep him off the free throw line. Allow him to make mistakes. Westbrook probably chuckles at those scouting reports.”
