Darius Bazley "I'm 100 Percent Ready to go"
Darius Bazley is eager to get back on the court. The Thunder forward says he is "100 percent ready to go" and recovered from his right knee bone bruise that kept him out of Oklahoma City's last 11 games before the NBA shutdown.
The last time Bazley played competitively was February 9th when he logged 3:13 in the Thunder's 112-111 loss to the Boston Celtics. During the break, Bazley has been working out and adding muscle to his 6-8 208 pound frame.
Looking at Bazley in Monday's media session, he seems bigger though the shoulders and chest. However, any change made to his physique went unnoticed by Bazley himself.
"I probably don't see it as much as coach Donovan has just because he didn't see me in like three months."..."If I'm working out and I'm lifting every day, and I see myself, I may not see the gains."
Bazley can tell a bit of a difference on the court when it comes to "holding his ground" against players on defense he also sees the advancements he's making in the weight room with there different weights he's using.
Bazley was playing 17 minutes a game and scoring 4.5 points per outing before the injury. Billy Donovan is not thinking about what the Thunder's rotations are going to look like when August comes around, but if Bazely is going to be a factor, there must be a dramatic improvement on offense.
During his time off, Bazley focused on making that part of his game more effective. "During the whole pandemic, I was just working on the mechanics of my shooting just getting up a lot of reps just trying to stay in shape."
If the dedication to shooting is even close to his comment to lifting, Bazley could be the most improved player on the Thunder coming out of the break.
Westbrook Test Positive for COVID-19
Former Thunder guard Russell Westbrook has tested positive for COVID-19. He will join the Rockets in Orlando when he is cleared to resume basketball activity.
Westbrook tweeted.
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With more than 20 years of experience hosting local and national radio shows, Erik Gee is a fixture of Oklahoma sports media. He has covered the Oklahoma City Thunder for the past six seasons. He is also the co-host of the Pat Jones show on 97.1 The Sports Animal in Tulsa.
