Andrew wrote:Seems like a good all-around team effort in that one.
Lamrock wrote:Congrats on 20K views and the undefeated start to the season. Could be looking at 70 wins.
24/11/12
Thunder suffer Arenas injury blow
Oklahoma City have today been dealt a potentially significant setback in their quest for another championship with Gilbert Arenas injuring himself yesterday.
The backup point guard, acquired during the off-season from Orlando, suffered a terrible knee injury after landing awkwardly late on against Memphis.
Scans today confirmed the Thunder's worst fears. An injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee that could see him miss the rest of the season.
An ACL injury often requires at least six months of recovery and Arena's will likely follow that timetable. It could mean that he won't play again for the Thunder.
The 30 year old only has one year left on his contract and Oklahoma City are unlikely to offer him anywhere near the $22m per year he is currently on.
Arenas is expected to undergo surgery on his knee next week at the OU Medical Center in downtown Oklahoma City. He will then begin a long rehabilitation.
Recently re-acquired point guard Eric Maynor will now get his chance to prove his worth as Derrick Rose's deputy during Arenas' extended absence.
In other news, the Thunder also announced today that they have decided to release second year player Al Cunningham from the remaining year of contract.
The 6 ft 10 power forward was selected by the Thunder with pick #38 of the 2011 NBA draft. The 23 year old Brazilian is now free to look for a new club.
He averaged 5.1 ppg and 2.4 rpg in 7 games during a decent rookie season but has fallen behind Kevin Garnett and Nenad Krstic in the rotation this year.
30/11/12
Nuggets and Jazz complete trade
Northwest division rivals Denver and Utah today agreed to a trade that will seemingly help both teams become more competitive immediately.
It's a deal that sees Paul Millsap, Chris Wilcox and Mehmet Okur become Nuggets, whilst Raymond Felton and Danilo Gallinari head to Utah.
Millsap will give Denver a stronger frontcourt presence and will allow Joakim Noah to switch to his preferred center position.
Ty Lawson and Wilson Chandler will now get the opportunity to be starters and Wilcox and Okur will add some height on their bench.
Millsap is having a particularly good year so far, averaging a healthy 27.6 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game.
Utah get an experienced replacement for recently departed Devin Harris, who himself was meant to fill the hole left by Deron Williams.
Harris left this off-season to join Philadelphia on a big money deal. Aparently the Jazz didn't feel he was worth $64 over 4 years.
Sebastian Telfair was signed in the off-season as short-term cover but has already missed some games this season through injury.
With Derrick Favors developing into a solid player, the Jazz felt it might be wise to cash in on an expiring asset in Millsap.
Felton should fill the scoring gap left by Millsap as he is averaging 27.3 points and 9.8 assists per game. Gallinari also averages 15.4 ppg.
Denver receive
Paul Millsap - 27 - PF - $10.15m - 1 year (90)
Chris Wilcox - 30 - PF - $4.91m - 1 year (71)
Mehmet Okur - 33 - C - $5.32m - 1 year (67)
Projected line-up:
Joakim Noah - Paul Millsap - Wilson Chandler - Arron Afflalo - Ty Lawson
Bench options:
Al Harrington, Julian Wright, Chris Wilcox, Mehmet Okur
Utah receive
Raymond Felton - 28 - PG - $43.25m - 3 years (88)
Danilo Gallinari - 24 - SF - $9.46m - 1 year (79)
Projected line-up:
Al Jefferson - Derrick Favors - Danilo Gallinari - Randy Foye - Raymond Felton
Bench options:
Sebastian Telfair, Jonas Jerebko, Gordon Hayward
1/12/12
Eastern Conference # Team Wins Losses GB % Streak Division Conference Last 10 1 Indiana* 11 3 N/A .786 1L 2-0 9-0 7-3 2 Miami* 14 4 N/A .778 1W 3-1 9-2 8-2 3 New Jersey* 12 5 0.5 .706 1L 2-1 6-4 7-3 4 Boston 10 6 2.0 .625 1W 1-2 7-3 6-4 5 Detroit 10 6 2.0 .625 3W 1-1 4-5 7-3 6 New York 10 7 2.5 .588 2W 1-3 4-7 6-4 7 Cleveland 8 8 4.0 .500 3L 1-1 4-5 5-5 8 Atlanta 8 10 5.0 .444 1L 2-0 2-7 4-6 9 Orlando 8 10 5.0 .444 1L 2-2 5-7 2-8 10 Philadelphia 7 9 5.0 .438 3L 3-0 5-5 5-5 11 Toronto 7 9 5.0 .438 1W 1-2 5-5 5-5 12 Chicago 6 9 5.5 .400 2W 1-0 4-4 4-6 13 Charlotte 6 10 6.0 .375 1W 0-3 4-6 4-6 14 Milwaukee 6 11 6.5 .353 1W 0-3 3-7 5-5 15 Washington 6 12 7.0 .333 1W 1-2 3-7 5-5
Western Conference # Team Wins Losses GB % Streak Division Conference Last 10 1 Oklahoma City* 15 0 N/A 1.000 15W 3-0 10-0 10-0 2 LA Lakers* 10 8 6.5 .556 2L 2-2 6-5 3-7 3 Utah 9 8 7.0 .529 3L 1-2 6-4 5-5 4 New Orleans 9 7 6.5 .563 2W 2-0 5-4 6-4 5 Memphis* 8 7 7.0 .533 2W 2-0 5-4 6-4 6 LA Clippers 10 8 6.5 .556 1W 3-2 7-4 7-3 7 Portland 9 8 7.0 .529 2W 2-1 4-6 5-5 8 Houston 8 8 7.5 .500 3W 2-1 5-5 6-4 9 Golden State 7 10 9.0 .412 3L 0-3 5-5 5-5 10 Phoenix 7 9 8.5 .438 1L 2-1 4-5 4-6 11 Denver 7 10 9.0 .412 1L 0-2 6-4 5-5 12 Sacramento 6 9 9.0 .400 1L 2-1 2-7 5-5 13 San Antonio 6 13 11.0 .316 1L 0-3 3-8 3-7 14 Minnesota 4 11 11.0 .267 1L 1-2 3-6 1-9 15 Dallas 3 12 12.0 .200 2L 0-2 2-6 2-8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scoring Leaders Rank Player Team Statistic 1 Deron Williams New Jersey 35.4 2 Chris Bosh Miami 34.2 3 Amare Stoudemire New York 32.2 4 Danny Granger Indiana 30.8 5 Von Wafer Boston 29.1 6 Carmelo Anthony New York 28.7 7 Kevin Durant Oklahoma City 28.5 8 Carl Landry Charlotte 28.3 9 Mo Williams LA Clippers 27.8 10 Andre Iguodala Milwaukee 27.3 10 Raymond Felton Utah 27.3
Rebound Leaders Rank Player Team Statistic 1 Kevin Love LA Clippers 16.2 2 Carlos Boozer Chicago 15.6 3 Amare Stoudemire New York 14.6 4 Chris Bosh Miami 14.3 5 Pau Gasol LA Lakers 14.3 6 Al Horford San Antonio 14.1 7 Tyson Chandler Chicago 13.6 8 Joakim Noah Denver 13.5 9 Spencer Hawes Cleveland 13.0 10 Tyrus Thomas Philadelhpia 12.9
Assist Leaders Rank Player Team Statistic 1 Michael Conley New York 12.4 2 Mario Chalmers Miami 12.2 3 Russell Westbrook Milwaukee 11.4 4 DJ Augustin Charlotte 11.3 5 Derrick Rose Oklahoma City 11.0 6 Darren Collison Indiana 10.8 7 Beno Udrih Chicago 10.4 7 Rajon Rondo Boston 10.4 9 Deron Williams New Jersey 10.3 9 Jameer Nelson Memphis 10.3
Steal Leaders Rank Player Team Statistic 1 Kevin Durant Oklahoma City 3.5 2 Dwyane Wade Miami 2.4 2 James Harden Oklahoma City 2.4 4 Trevor Ariza New Orleans 2.3 4 Chris Paul Cleveland 2.3 6 Jeff Green New Jersey 2.2 7 Jose Barea Dallas 2.1 7 Brandon Bass Memphis 2.1 7 Von Wafer Boston 2.1 7 Brandon Roy Portland 2.1 7 John Wall Washington 2.1
Block Leaders Rank Player Team Statistic 1 Amare Stoudemire New York 3.5 2 Darko Milicic Philadelphia 3.3 3 Al Horford San Antonio 2.9 3 Serge Ibaka LA Clippers 2.9 3 Nene Minnesota 2.9 3 Blake Griffin Oklahoma City 2.9 7 LeBron James Miami 2.8 7 Josh Smith San Antonio 2.8 7 Ronny Turiaf New York 2.8 7 Tyson Chandler Chicago 2.8 7 Carlos Boozer Chicago 2.8 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Players of the Month Conference Player Team Points Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Eastern Chris Bosh Miami 34.2 ppg 14.3 rpg 0.9 apg 2.6 bpg 0.8 spg Western Michael Beasley San Antonio 19.2 ppg 17.3 rpg 5.9 apg 2.4 bpg 4.9 spg Rookies of the Month Eastern Jeremy Armstrong Orlando 4.8 ppg 0.4 rpg 2.6 apg 0.0 bpg 0.5 spg Western Jan Richards Houston 20.1 ppg 3.6 rpg 3.3 apg 0.9 bpg 1.3 spg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MVP Candidates Player Team Scoring Rebounds Assists Blocks Steals Chris Bosh Miami 34.2 ppg 14.3 rpg 0.9 apg 2.6 bpg 0.8 spg Amare Stoudemire New York 32.2 ppg 14.6 rpg 5.5 apg 3.5 bpg 1.3 spg Deron Williams New Jersey 35.4 ppg 2.5 rpg 10.3 apg 0.6 bpg 1.5 spg LeBron James Miami 25.1 ppg 7.7 rpg 3.5 apg 2.8 bpg 1.8 spg Derrick Rose Oklahoma City 22.3 ppg 1.4 rpg 11.0 apg 0.7 bpg 2.0 spg ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transactions Date Team Receives Team Receives 07/11/12 Oklahoma City signed free agents Kevin Garnett and Tracy McGrady on 1 year contracts. 20/11/12 Dallas Jason Richardson, Johan Petro Orlando Rodrigue Beaubois, Brendan Haywood 24/11/12 Oklahoma City released Al Cunningham. 30/11/12 Denver Paul Millsap, Chris Wilcox, Mehmet Okur Utah Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Injuries Team Player Injury Date Duration Atlanta David West Bone spur in his ankle 28/11/12 1 month Boston Samuel Dalembert Sore Thumb 25/11/12 Day-to-day Chicago JR Smith Sore Rib 29/11/12 Day-to-day Chicago Tyson Chandler Sprained Toe 01/12/12 Day-to-day Cleveland Thabo Sefolosha Broken bone in his foot 15/11/12 1 week Dallas Dirk Nowitzki Sore Knee 29/11/12 1 week Denver Al Harrington Torn Achilles tendon 11/11/12 2 weeks Detroit Charlie Villanueva Sore Achilles tendon 27/11/12 Day-to-day LA Clippers Mo Williams Sprained Wrist 20/11/12 Day-to-day LA Clippers Ernie Moller Broken bone in his foot 18/11/12 1 week LA Clippers Aleksandar Pavlovic Sprained Wrist 30/11/12 Day-to-day LA Lakers Brandon Jennings Bruised Thigh 30/11/12 Day-to-day LA Lakers Terrence Williams Broken Wrist 19/11/12 1 month Minnesota Ron Artest Torn Achilles tendon 04/11/12 2-3 months San Antonio George Hill Bone spur in his ankle 26/11/12 1 month Toronto Chase Powell Sore Knee 30/11/12 1 week Toronto James Johnson Broken bone in his foot 28/11/12 2-3 months Utah Derrick Favors Broken Nose 27/11/12 1 week Washington Andray Blatche Strained calf muscle 28/11/12 1 week
Andrew wrote:Good to see Rose among the MVP candidates and some of your players ranking among the league leaders. This might be the year that Miami falls off a bit, seems the Pacers could be kings in the East this season.
2/12/12
Thunder rookies learning from some of the best in the business
Oklahoma City rookies Crawford Mayer and Rolf Young may have been late second round picks, but they are grabbing attention with solid displays.
With Gilbert Arenas' injury and veterans like Garnett, McGrady and Krstic restricted to limited minutes each night, the pair are getting more playing time.
-----
Young is completing his basketball apprenticeship under superstar Kevin Durant. Facing off against him in training every day is making him a better player.
"To be able to play against him in training is amazing", said Young. "He's really good with me too. If I do something wrong he helps me get it right the next time."
The 22 year old swingman has come a long way since playing pick-up games against his friends in a local park in his native Norway during his childhood.
He moved to America in 2007 with his family. He got accepted into Louisiana State in 2009 and spent 2 years there before nominating for the NBA draft.
On draft night Young anxiously sat amongst the potential draftees, not knowing whether his dream of being selected would come true or not.
Forty-three names were read out by Commissioner Stern before the three-peat champion Oklahoma City had it's first pick of the draft.
To the surprise of many they chose a little known forward from Norway. The look on Young's face when the camera panned to him was priceless.
"I was shocked. To be drafted at all would have been amazing, but being picked by the three-time reigning champions was incredible."
-----
Crawford Mayer grew up as the only child of a single mother in Portsmouth, Virginia and went to the local Woodrow Wilson High School.
He was accepted into George Mason University in 2010 on an athletic scholarship and was a solid player for the Patriots in his 2 seasons there.
As the deadline for declaring for the 2012 NBA draft approached, Mayer was determined to realise his dream and he put his name forward.
With the second round of picks coming to an end he was starting to accept the reality that he wasn't going to be playing in the NBA.
Then Stern said, "With the 60th pick of the 2012 NBA draft, the Oklahoma City Thunder select...Crawford Mayer from George Mason University."
Mayer was thrilled, "Within moments I went from thinking I wasn't going to get picked up, to being on the same team as Kevin Durant."
-----
When the pair showed up for the first day of pre-season training camp in Oklahoma City, they tried their best not to be star-struck by their team mates.
"We showed up and there was Kevin Durant. There was Blake Griffin. All of the guys we'd seen on TV were now right in front of us", Young recalls.
"It was surreal at first", added Mayer. "Kevin [Durant] was particularly welcoming towards us. He's such a humble guy despite being such a star."
"Of course as soon as we started doing some drills he became focussed and really serious. Seeing him work up close is such a privilege."
-----
General manager Sam Presti indicated that the Thunder may look to trading some of it's bench assets for high drafts pick in the future.
"Despite all of the success that we've had lately, we must not lose sight of the fact that we're still one of a smaller markets in the league."
"We can't really afford to have multiple guys on the bench earning big sums of money. Having rookies filling up some spots is a must."
"We're lucky to have three high profile guys on our team. Kevin [Durant], Derrick [Rose] and Blake [Griffin] are big sellers in our store."
"Currently we are spending $104m on player salaries. That isn't a good number even for teams playing in Los Angeles or New York."
"It's unfortunate for Gilbert that he got injured, but it may have forced our hand in terms of what we do with him at the end of the season."
"Taking his $22m off our salary bill will be a great start but we'll still have over $80m in salaries, which we may have to look at reducing."Crawford Mayer
21 - USA - C - 208cm - 128kg - George Mason #60 (2012)
GP - 6 | 10.0 ppg - 1.2 rpg - 0.2 apg - 0.2 bpg - 0.2 spg | FG% - 51.1 | mpg - 6.2
Rolf Young
22 - Norway - SF - 210cm - 100kg - LSU - #44 (2012)
GP - 10 | 6.5 ppg - 0.6 rpg - 0.2 apg - 0.8 bpg - 0.8 spg | FG% - 43.4 | mpg - 5.3
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Thunder hoping current rookies prove to be better than recent failures
Rocco Roe - Al Cunningham - Ian Griffiths
The Thunder's draft record in recent seasons hasn't been very successful. But they have finished top seed 3 times and had pick 60 in the last 3 drafts.
They also traded away their 1st round pick in the last 3 seasons. Not terrible decisions considering Mayo, Bargnani and Lopez helped them win championships.
In 2010 they picked Rocco Roe out of UCLA with their only pick of the draft. He only played a handful of games before being released at the end of the season.
The next year they had picks 38 and 60. They selected power forward Al Cunningham with pick 38 and point guard Ian Griffiths with the last pick of the draft.
Cunningham scarcely played and was recently released by the Thunder. Griffiths was traded to the 76ers without having played a game for the Thunder.
Interestingly though both Roe and Cunningham were awarded championship rings in the Adam Morrison tradition of being at the right place at the right time.Player facts
Rocco Roe
21 - USA - SF - 213cm - 108kg - UCLA - pick 60 (2010)
Played one season with the Thunder. (1.5 PPG - 0.2 RPG - 0.1 APG - 0.0 BPG - 0.1 SPG)
Released at the end of his rookie season. Did win a championship ring despite not playing a game in the playoffs.
Al Cunningham
21 - Brazil - PF - 208cm - 117kg - Oregon - pick 38 (2011)
Played 8 games (one season) with the Thunder. (5.1 PPG - 2.4 RPG - 0.7 APG - 0.7 BPG - 0.4 SPG)
Released 24th November 2012. Did win a championship ring despite not playing a game in the playoffs.
Ian Griffiths
19 - Uruguay - PG - 182cm - 87kg - LSU - pick 60 (2011)
Didn't play a single game for the Thunder.
Traded to Philadelphia on 23rd January 2012 as part of three-way deal involving Marvin Williams and Thaddeus Young.
Return to NBA Live Stories Hall of Fame
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests