OKC Thunder Blog – Page 69 – NBA Blog

Nenad Krstic named Euroleague MVP for November

For the first time in its eight-year history, the Euroleague Basketball’s award for the best player each month will go to the same team twice in a row as Nenad Krstic of CSKA Moscow has been chosen bwin MVP for November. CSKA is one of just two Turkish Airlines Euroleague teams undefeated through six games, and Krstic has had everything to do with preserving that perfection in November.

The 28-year-old center, playing his first season for CSKA, got more and more efficient as the month progressed. CSKA followed a pair of road victories, over KK Zagreb and Panathinaikos Athens, with a pair of home wins against Unicaja and Zalgiris Kaunas. Krstic had a key role in all four games, but was biggest when it counted most. In the middle of the month, he posted his first double-double of the season against previously undefeated Panathinaikos. To end it, he had his career-high performance index rating against Zalgiris days after CSKA faced the sudden loss of its leader and the bwin October MVP, forward Andrei Kirilenko, to a broken nose and concussion.

In the precise game when teammates could have been brought down by uncertainty, Krstic stepped up to make CSKA the first team to qualify for the Top 16. His extraordinarily solid, month-long effort was more than enough for Krstic to be chosen the bwin MVP for November…

By the time November was over, Krstic ranked fourth among all Euroleague players during the regular season in average index rating (21.7 per game), 13th in scoring (15.2 ppg.), 10th in rebounds (6.7 rpg.) and second in offensive rebounds (4 orpg.) On a per-minute basis, he ranks behind only Kirilenko in performance index rating, a remarkable coincidence of two ultra-efficient big men on the same team. And CSKA fans will get to celebrate their good fortune when Nenad Krstic receives his bwin MVP award for November at an upcoming home game.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

Kendrick Perkins still hurt that the Celtics traded him

“Hurt, surprised, I think it really still hasn’t hit me yet — not really,” he said later. “I think everything happened so fast, last year coming back from my ACL injury and getting traded to Oklahoma City where I had to be a leader.

“It still hurts that I got traded, but then the city of Oklahoma has been great to me. They’ve embraced me with open arms, and I have no complaints about the city of Oklahoma and the whole organization.” …

“I never knew I missed it as much as I did until I got in there,” Perkins said. “I missed the whole city of Boston, the whole of New England, and it just felt good playing basketball here. It’s always overwhelming. You try to catch yourself from dropping a tear, but like I always say, the city has been good to me since I came into the NBA at a young age at 18. I’ll never take it for granted, and I definitely appreciate all of the support when I come back to New England. I hated to leave. God does everything for a reason, but my heart is still in Boston and New England. It was just fun to be back.”

— Reported by Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald

Kevin Durant in talks with a basketball team in Germany

The agent for Kevin Durant confirmed an overseas media report Thursday that the Oklahoma City Thunder star is in talks with BBC Bayreuth about playing in Germany during the ongoing NBA lockout.

Agent Aaron Goodwin told ESPN.com on Thursday night that talks between the teams are “ongoing” but said the deal is not in the final stages as described by SPOX.com.

The SPOX report quoted Bayreuth general manager Bayreuth GM Uli Eichbaum as saying: “We’re in the final stages of a deal and I’m an optimist. It’s not looking bad.”

Over the weekend, Durant told Yahoo! Sports that he was also weighing offers from Maccabi Tel-Aviv in Israel and Valencia in Spain.

“I’m right on the fence with playing overseas and I’m about to jump over,” Durant said.

— Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

LeBron, Durant set up flag football game

According to a Thursday afternoon post on James’ Twitter feed, the Miami Heat forward will be teaming up with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant to host a flag football game on Nov. 30.

“Its all set people!” James wrote. “Nov.30th Team @Kingjames vs Team @KDTrey5 in Flag football. Its going down. Can’t wait.”

It’s not known where the game will be held, and it’s also unclear exactly who else will be participating, but you can bet it’ll be a star-studded cast.

The players’ announcement that a game will be played is hardly a surprise, however, as both have been testing out their football chops while the labor crisis gets resolved.

— Reported by Sam Gardner of Fox Sports Florida

Kevin Durant OKC charity exhibition basketball game a success

Two-time scoring champion Kevin Durant can still fill up a stat sheet, Chris Paul can still orchestrate a team and LeBron James is still a highlight waiting to happen.

What they haven’t been able to do is find a deal with the NBA that they find acceptable enough to play real games again.

The All-Stars all took part in a charity exhibition game Sunday night in Oklahoma City, with hometown hero Durant recording a triple-double with 42 points, 26 rebounds and 11 assists to lead his team to a 176-171 victory in overtime.

Durant and a star-studded White team including James and Westbrook overcame a fourth-quarter deficit to beat a Blue team that featured Anthony and Paul.

James had three buckets—a pair of layups and a left-handed jam—in a 20-2 fourth-quarter run that put the White team ahead for the first time since the opening period. Durant finished it off with a 3-pointer from the right wing to make it 152-143.

Harden answered with back-to-back 3-pointers before Beasley’s fast-break dunk during a string of eight straight Blue points, and Harden hit another 3 from the top of the key for a 159-158 lead with 54.3 seconds left.

Durant answered with a 3 from the left wing with 30.4 seconds left, and Anthony’s layup with 13.1 seconds remaining sent it to overtime tied at 161.

Durant missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, and the game went to overtime. James put the White team ahead to stay with back-to-back jumpers early in the extra period.

Paul was the playmaker early on, dishing out 13 assists in the first quarter — more than one per minute. He zoomed past Durant for a layup, set up a pair of dunks by Beasley and just kept orchestrating the Blue offense. His last assist of the quarter came on a bounce pass that skipped high into the air for a James Harden alley-oop dunk, and then he finished off the period with a 3-pointer from the top of the key as the buzzer sounded.

— Reported by Jeff Latzke of the Associated Press

In a game featuring Durant, LeBron, Melo, Westbrook and Paul, would you believe me if I told you that Michael Beasley was the game’s top scorer? Be-Easy, as Rawls called him throughout the night, dropped a game-high 56 points and did it on an absurdly-efficient 25-for-35 from the field. But here’s something to keep in mind: Beasley did almost all of that during the first three quarters, when the game was an up-and-down, no-defense affair. When the game got serious in the final 11 minutes (including overtime), Beasley, who was on the floor, didn’t score, much less shoot.

The preferred shot of choice in this game? The 3. Of the 278 field goal attempts, 82 came from behind the 3-point arc (the Blue team finished 14-for-41 from 3, while the White was 13-for-41). The best shooter was Carmelo, who went 5-for-9 from deep. The biggest chuckers, though? Durant (7-for-17 from 3) and Harden (6-for-17) who went a combined 13-34 from deep.

Chris Paul had 25 assists for the game. While that number alone might impress you, consider this: He had 13 — yes, 13 — in the first eight minutes of the game. And they weren’t just easy alley-oops or drop-offs to Melo for a dunk. CP3 busted out an array of maneuvers and no-look passes to pile up his assists.

— Reported by Royce young of ESPN TrueHoop

KEVIN DURANT CHARITY GAME VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

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Thunder guard Thabo Sefolosha signs in Turkey

Turkish champion Fenerbahce Ulker strengthened itself on the wings with the signing of Thabo Sefolosha, who is among the game’s premier defensive players. Sefolosha (1.99 meters, 27 years old) arrives from Oklahoma City of the NBA, where he averaged 5.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.2 steals over 79 games as a starter last season. He has played a total of five seasons in the NBA between Chicago and Oklahoma City and appeared in 367 regular season games. Sefolosha began his professional career with Tege Riviera Basket in his native Switzerland before joining Elan Chalon in France. He spent two seasons there between 2003 and 2005 and took part in the Eurocup both seasons.

— Reported by Euroleague.net

InsideHoops.com editor says: I assume he has an out-clause to return to the NBA when the lockout ends.

Kevin Durant to host charity basketball game in OKC with LeBron James, Blake Griffin

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is making good on his promise to put on a charity exhibition game featuring his fellow NBA superstars. Details of the event are expected to be announced at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

According to numerous sources with knowledge of the event, the game will pit two star-studded squads against each other, with one side being Durant’s team and the other being former Oklahoma star Blake Griffin’s team. Miami Heat star LeBron James is one of several players who have been confirmed for the event. New Orleans guard Chris Paul and Heat guard Dwyane Wade also are expected to show.

The game is tentatively scheduled to be played Thursday, Oct. 27, inside the Cox Convention Center, which holds just shy of 14,000 for basketball. Other potential stars that could make an appearance include L.A. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant and New York forward Carmelo Anthony, as well as Thunder guards Russell Westbrook and James Harden…

“Playing against NBA players around this time is really going to help,” Durant told The Oklahoman last month. “So it’s just a matter of me just going out there and hooping and enjoying it. I just do it for the love of the game, really.”

— Reported by Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman

Kevin Durant undecided on going overseas

Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman reports:

Durant had previously stated his intentions to make a decision by Oct. 1. The erratic nature of negotiations for a ratified collective bargaining agreement, however, has thrown off Durant’s timeline.

“I’ve thought about it before and I really was close to making a decision about doing that,” Durant said of possibly signing overseas. “But I kind of stopped a little bit once I heard things were kind of moving a little better with the lockout. But one day it’s good and one day it’s bad. You never know.”

With the start of the season approaching and no imminent deal anywhere in sight, the NBA announced Friday it has postponed training camps indefinitely and cancelled 43 preseason games league-wide. The Thunder lost two of its seven scheduled preseason games.

“I was shocked. The lockout is starting to be for real now,” Durant said. “Now that they’ve canceled some preseason games and postponed training camps, people are starting to really think (a lost season) can really happen.”

NBA postpones training camps, cancels October 9-15 preseason games

The NBA announced today that player training camps for the 2011-12 season have been postponed indefinitely because a new collective bargaining agreement has not been reached with the National Basketball Players Association. Training camps were scheduled to open on October 3.

In addition, the league canceled all preseason games scheduled from October 9 through October 15.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

Read NBA fan reaction or share your views in this basketball forum topic.

Kevin Durant begins filming movie called Switch

Darnell Mayberry of the Oklahoman reports:

Although no official announcement of the film’s title and plot has been made, it appears both have trickled out through various websites.

According to imdb.com, the movie is titled “Switch.” Its director is John Whitesell. It was co-written by Eric Champnella and Jeff Farley. Whitesell has directed such films as “Malibu’s Most Wanted,” “Big Momma’s House 2” and “See Spot Run.” Champnella is credited for writing “Mr. 3000” and the screenplay for “Eddie,” the 1996 basketball-themed film starring Whoopi Goldberg.

The three-man lineup looks to be a dream team of sorts for what is shaping up to be a family-friendly film. Details of the film’s plot appear on caballerocasting.com, which is seeking background actors for the movie.

“In a magical twist, Kevin Durant switches all of his basketball-playing skills with an enthusiastic young fan who becomes the star of his high school team … and leaving Durant and the Thunder helpless,” the website explains. “With the playoffs approaching, they need to discover what it is that brought them together before the early end to the Thunder’s season.”