Wednesday Bolts – 5.27.15
Interesting thoughts from Berry Tramel on Jeremy Lamb: “Which brings us to J.J. Redick. The sharpshooter has been on such a high-profile stage for so long — the Dwight Howard Magic, now the Clippers — that we’ve forgotten how slow of a start Redick encountered out of Duke. Redick was the 11th overall pick in 2006, by Orlando. One spot higher than Lamb would go six years later. In Redick’s first three seasons, his playing was sporadic: 42 games, 34 games, 64 games. His minutes were sporadic: 14.8, 8.1, 17.4 per game. Redick’s scoring was minimal: 6.0, 4.1, 6.0. His 3-point shooting was strong; 38.8 percent, 39.5 percent, 37.4 percent. Redick just needed to find his footing. And he did that without leaving Orlando.”
Lil B: “I mean, the curse is very real. Dealing with the Kevin Durant curse, you see that [the Rockets] lost by 35 points [in Game 3], which is the same number as Kevin Durant’s jersey. Some people could say it’s a conspiracy, but we know what’s up. After I cursed Kevin Durant last year, he became injured, and his team didn’t even make it to the playoffs. He just hasn’t been the same factor, you know? So for the Kevin Durant curse, all he has to do is play me one-on-one, in a game of 21, and the curse will be done. That’s easy! If Kevin Durant loves basketball — I mean, I hear he’s trying to be a rapper. I’m an artist, I love rapping, so it’s nothing for me to rap with Kevin Durant, or freestyle with him. But does Kevin Durant really love basketball? Play a game of 21! He’s not that busy.”
Here’s Justin Bieber shooting KD with a nerf gun.
Andrew Gilman of Fox Sports Southwest on assistant coaches: “In Donovan’s debut season, there are going to be issues. We know that, so anything to ease the transition for Donovan when it comes to dealing with Westbrook and Durant will be a bonus. Cheeks was in OKC for four seasons as an assistant to Brooks, despite having more head coaching experience with stops in Philly and Detroit. Cheeks would be in a similar spot to Donovan that he was with Brooks. He would also have the hindsight of having worked in Oklahoma City as someone who has dealt with Westbrook â not an easy task.”
Steph Curry on Steve Kerr: “He’s just brought a flow and a chemistry and a joy-ness about the game and how we were going to win. Day in and day out, making the practice environment, the locker-room environment, the environment on the bench inspiring to all the players. That’s a huge reason why we’ve been so successful. We love coming in to work and practice, and you build up a level of fun that you expect every single game that you play.”
(That’s what Billy Donovan needs to do.)
There’s rumoring that Cameron Payne might have a lottery promise. Which smells very much like the Thunder.
