Tuesday Bolts – 8.18.09

Pro Basketball News has an article on Nick Collison and looky what he talked about: “Although he plays for the

Thunder, Collison continues to make his home in Seattle. ‘My wife and I fell in love with the people and the city of Seattle,’ he said. ‘I still have great memories playing in Key Arena … ‘I’m excited about the upcoming season and we’ve got lots of room for improvement. The folks in Oklahoma have been good to us and I want to give them something to cheer about.'”

Darnell Mayberry has a Q&A with Kevin Ollie: “DM: Is there anything that stood out in their recruiting efforts? Can you give me a behind-the-scenes look at anything they did that sort of stood out? Kevin Ollie: Just how they believe in their players and believe in their vision. I think if you don’t have a vision you don’t have hope and everything is going to perish. But they have a vision and a plan of what they want to do and are going out and executing that vision. And I just really like that. It might not show to the other people, but they have a vision and they believe in themselves and have standards that they’re going to uphold. That’s what I believe in life, that you have to stand on your convictions and sometimes you have to be alone. It might not agree with everybody. But if you have your own convictions and your own dreams of where your organization wants to go and believe in your organization and you believe in what you’re doing I’m all for that. Because after my playing career I might want to go into coaching or in the front office and I could learn how they’re building their program around their convictions and their standards.”

NBA.com surveyed 35 rookies about the upcoming season and their answers aren’t all too surprising, but a few caught my eye. James Harden is exactly where you’d expect. Being recognized, but slightly under-the-radar.

You see, I think this tweet is a far bigger deal than what the weather is like in OKC: “Sometimes the bathrooms @ the park are so nasty u let your kid go in her pants while u hold her cause theres no way shes touching that thing.”

Scott Howard-Cooper rehashing the Vegas Team USA mini-camp: “Among the prospects who gathered in Vegas as one step to eventually making the next Dream Team (the roster that won gold at the Beijing Games got the summer off), Kevin Durant was the clear star. He’s bound for Turkey, bound for London, bound for another few rotations with USA Basketball. Nobody else put themselves in position for the future the way Durant did. But Love likely put himself among about 25 players who, sometime close to the start of the regular season, will be on a working list for 2010, probably along with, in no particular order, Rudy Gay, Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose and O.J. Mayo.”

Could Durant take Michael Redd’s spot on the team?: “Being a good guy, however, can’t necessarily save him from being replaced on the 2010 USA team that will play in the World Championships in Turkey. Since July’s national team auditions in Las Vegas it’s been pretty commonly accepted that Kevin Durant deserves a spot on Team USA sometime in the near future. Because he and Redd have similar roles as scorers, and because Redd is now, in some ways, considered “over the hill” in his career, Durant as a Redd replacement has been the most popular idea for getting the Oklahoma City forward on the roster.”

A nice little article in the Washingston Post about the Goodman League at Barry Farms: “Barry Farms, a neighborhood that had developed a reputation as one of the roughest in the District, is home to a burgeoning streetball scene. Rawls said the Goodman League really took off about four years ago when Wizards star Gilbert Arenas began showing up. Since, NBA players such as Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley and Jeff Green have followed his lead.”

Look what has happened. Just from Darnell Mayberry’s innocent little line about Mo Cheeks potentially being on staff to replace Scott Brooks if things go sour, now it’s a supposed “rumor” that’s circling the web: “New Oklahoma City Thunder Maurice Cheeks has been around. He’s already been a head coach with the Philadelphia 76ers and Portland Trail Blazers. And the feeling is that he could become head coach in Oklahoma City if the current head coach, Scott Brooks, somehow implodes, according to the Oklahoman. Word is that the Thunder isn’t planning to can Brooks but the front office is feeling good that it has Cheeks in his back pocket. After all, the guy has led three teams to the postseason and has an overall NBA coaching record of 284-286.” ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

Kevin Durant wished Magic Johnson a happy 50th: