The Kevin Durant Thread

SideshowBob · Post #1 » by **SideshowBob** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:00 pm

We've got a running thread for Harden and Lenron. The General Board even has one for Luke Walton, so I don't see why we should not have one for running discussion on Durant, especially considering how many threads regarding him jav popped up lately. Also seems more convenient for posterity's sake.

JordansBulls · Post #2 » by **JordansBulls** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:12 pm

The guy has been unreal thus far. Currently has a .3035 WS/PER 48 minutes this season and a .3000 has only been done 8x in NBA History thus far.

Stat Padder · Post #3 » by **Stat Padder** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:32 pm

Only guy in the league apart from Lebron who has 10 OAT list potential.(Who isn't top 10 already)

therealbig3 · Post #4 » by **therealbig3** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:49 pm

At this point, I'm honestly questioning why I should take peak Bird over current Durant. KD is that good imo.

EDIT: To elaborate, Durant is one of the most efficient volume scorers the game has ever seen, and he's really not a guy that can be legitimately slowed down by any type of defense or playoff atmosphere. Since 2011, has Durant had a bad playoff series?

And since 2011, look at the team offenses Durant has anchored:

2011 Thunder: +3.9
2012 Thunder: +5.2
2013 Thunder: +7.7

The really scary thing is that Harden was amazing as the 6th man last year for the Thunder, and him and Westbrook got a lot of credit for helping Durant in leading the 2012 Thunder's offense, but Harden left the team and is playing like a top 5 player over in Houston, and the Thunder offense got BETTER (by a lot...their offense so far this year is "Nash in Phoenix"-level good), and clearly looks like it's tied to Durant's improvement.

GSP · Post #5 » by **GSP** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:52 pm

I see a lot of similariites with this Kd and 09 Lebron for advanced stats. How do they compare?

Wall34 · Post #6 » by **Wall34** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:59 pm

What does KD game emulate the most? Mcgrady, Dirk, Bird, Gervin? or is a mixture of some of these names.

JustCame · Post #7 » by **JustCame** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 8:39 pm

My favorite NBA player.

ISB · Post #8 » by **ISB** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 9:09 pm

Wall34 wrote:What does KD game emulate the most? Mcgrady, Dirk, Bird, Gervin? or is a mixture of some of these names.

Dirk, but Durant is blessed with more athleticism.

therealbig3 · Post #9 » by **therealbig3** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 9:32 pm

As far as scoring goes, Durant is basically Dirk with T-Mac's athleticism and Bird's off-ball game.

Coaster80 · Post #10 » by **Coaster80** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 10:07 pm

therealbig3 wrote:
And since 2011, look at the team offenses Durant has anchored:

2011 Thunder: +3.9
2012 Thunder: +5.2
2013 Thunder: +7.7

The really scary thing is that Harden was amazing as the 6th man last year for the Thunder, and him and Westbrook got a lot of credit for helping Durant in leading the 2012 Thunder's offense, but Harden left the team and is playing like a top 5 player over in Houston, and the Thunder offense got BETTER (by a lot...their offense so far this year is "Nash in Phoenix"-level good), and clearly looks like it's tied to Durant's improvement.

This is a great point, and not to to take anything away from KD's impact leading an elite offense, but it's not like there is a massive hole left but Harden, as Kevin Martin has somewhat made up for the loss as a super efficient scoring 6th man.

therealbig3 · Post #11 » by **therealbig3** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:31 pm

Coaster80 wrote:
therealbig3 wrote:
And since 2011, look at the team offenses Durant has anchored:

2011 Thunder: +3.9
2012 Thunder: +5.2
2013 Thunder: +7.7

The really scary thing is that Harden was amazing as the 6th man last year for the Thunder, and him and Westbrook got a lot of credit for helping Durant in leading the 2012 Thunder's offense, but Harden left the team and is playing like a top 5 player over in Houston, and the Thunder offense got BETTER (by a lot...their offense so far this year is "Nash in Phoenix"-level good), and clearly looks like it's tied to Durant's improvement.

This is a great point, and not to to take anything away from KD's impact leading an elite offense, but it's not like there is a massive hole left but Harden, as Kevin Martin has somewhat made up for the loss as a super efficient scoring 6th man.

But Martin's not doing anything that he hasn't done before, and he was never considered anywhere close to 2012 Harden as an offensive player.

And it's not just that the Thunder offense remained about the same after replacing Harden with Martin, which would have been very impressive on its own...the offense improved by a lot, into historic territory, without any noticeable improvement from Westbrook in terms of his production.

Dr Positivity · Post #12 » by **Dr Positivity** » Sat Jan 19, 2013 11:44 pm

I had been slightly more lukewarm on Durant than everyone else leading up to this season, but he's clearly taken it to another level and become ridiculous. We're now starting to see what will likely end up his signature move, going to the post where his height, shooting, ballhandling, feel and explosiveness to turn and attack the basket if he wants, makes him totally unguardable

SideshowBob · Post #13 » by **SideshowBob** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:25 am

Here's how OKC's "new Big 3" offense looks so far.

No Big 3 - 91.7 ORTG in 62.6 minutes

Only Durant - 128.6 ORTG in 7.5 minutes

Only Westbrook - 66.7 ORTG in 3.0 minutes

Only Martin - 104.2 ORTG in 205.4 minutes

Durant + Martin (No Westbrook) - 116.2 ORTG in 219.0 minutes

Durant + Westbrook (No Martin) - 110.7 ORTG in 708.2 minutes

Martin + Westbrook (No Durant) - 104.0 ORTG in 91.1 minutes

Durant + Martin + Westbrook - 120.3 ORTG in 643.6 minutes

Note that the "Only Durant" and "Only Westbrook" numbers are samples of a combined 10.5 minutes of playtime. I'd take nothing from those.

SideshowBob · Post #14 » by **SideshowBob** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:36 am

Bringing Collison into that last mix

Durant + Martin + Westbrook + Collison - 124.3 ORTG in 267.6 minutes

Vinsanity420 · Post #15 » by **Vinsanity420** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 2:26 am

Dr Positivity wrote:I had been slightly more lukewarm on Durant than everyone else leading up to this season, but he's clearly taken it to another level and become ridiculous. We're now starting to see what will likely end up his signature move, going to the post where his height, shooting, ballhandling, feel and explosiveness to turn and attack the basket if he wants, makes him totally unguardable

This.

I started off thinking of him as George Gervin. I thought his limited passing skill will restrict him, and he wouldn't ever be truly legendary. He slowly turned into a Black Dirk-like figure for me. Now? Man, he's insane. He puts up 25 points on to the board and I barely notice it. Doesn't dominate the ball at all, and incredible at putting points up within the flow of the offense.

Best scorer since MJ. No doubt about it.

CKRT · Post #16 » by **CKRT** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 2:42 am

I want to see Durant to take 22+/game to see how much he can get.

Coaster80 · Post #17 » by **Coaster80** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 8:22 am

therealbig3 wrote:But Martin's not doing anything that he hasn't done before, and he was never considered anywhere close to 2012 Harden as an offensive player.

KMart hasn't been looked at the same way people are talking about Harden, but IMO that has more to do with the teams he's played on and his style of play than it does with KMart not being anywhere close to Harden as an offensive player. KMart has been one of the most efficient scorers in the league now for awhile.

Carmelofan · Post #18 » by **Carmelofan** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:02 am

Kevin durant is a boss and a nice young man. Did i mention he's a fantastic scorer?

Kobe Bean · Post #19 » by **Kobe Bean** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 12:37 pm

I'm still sceptical of people calling him the best scorer since MJ

He's an off ball player mostly, so we don't know what he does when he himself has to shoulder most of the offensive responsibilities (on a contender) ala Melo, Kobe, MJ, late 00s Lebon etc

Chalky White · Post #20 » by **Chalky White** » Sun Jan 20, 2013 1:52 pm

Kobe Bean wrote:I'm still sceptical of people calling him the best scorer since MJ

He's an off ball player mostly, so we don't know what he does when he himself has to shoulder most of the offensive responsibilities (on a contender) ala Melo, Kobe, MJ, late 00s Lebon etc

There's a sizable difference between expressing elite functionality at a specific role, and being limited to said role due to a lack of versatility.

Durant is a better scorer than any iteration of either Kobe, Melo(especially) and now LeBron. The former two have little standing to argue otherwise.