The Kevin Durant Thread (2016 - 17 Pt. 1)

[StepBackCrack]

How much of a problem with iso scoring did you guys have when Kyrie and Lebron were using it to win the last championship?

Was it cancerous then too? Because it seems like a hell of a lot of championships are won by players just busting their man's ass one on one.

IKR? The fear that Durant is killing the GSW system is so uncalled for imo. GSW's dominant style of play is still heavily based on ball movement and Durant have done a great job in moving the ball this season (for those who watched him play this season). Durant's ISO brilliance just makes their offense much more versatile. It's hell of an offensive option to have especially after seeing what Irving and LBJ did to GSW in the finals.

[StepBackCrack]

[StepBackCrack]

I can see where he is coming from. These reports do nothing at the end of the day.

[JordansBulls]

He is not worried because he knows he will play the Bulls in the finals this year.

[StepBackCrack]

He is not worried because he knows he will play the Bulls in the finals this year.

Wade for FMVP.

[Quotatious]

He is not worried because he knows he will play the Bulls in the finals this year.

Wade for FMVP.

RS MVP, too, as JB said Wade was playing like the 2009 version.

Been playing well again like 2009 version.

From the Wade thread (December 11th this year).

[JordansBulls]

He is not worried because he knows he will play the Bulls in the finals this year.

Wade for FMVP.

RS MVP, too, as JB said Wade was playing like the 2009 version.

Been playing well again like 2009 version.

From the Wade thread (December 11th this year).

Agreed, but he has been slipping lately, btw thought you were a bulls fan?

[Quotatious]

Agreed, but he has been slipping lately, btw thought you were a bulls fan?

I was a MJ and Bulls fan during the second 3-peat era, but I could never stick to one franchise when the key players get traded/retire, and it basically becomes a totally different team. I could never really root for a business (which is what NBA franchises essentially are). Now i'm really just NBA fan, with no connection to any particular team, just enjoying the game as a whole and having my favorite players. Generally watching as much of the top teams as possible, and some of the young teams with good potential for the future like Wolves.

Honestly, I would like to finally see LeBron vs Wade in a playoff series, but let's be real - if the Cavs stay healthy, the chances of Bulls making it a competitive series are extremely slim.

[JordansBulls]

Agreed, but he has been slipping lately, btw thought you were a bulls fan?

I was a MJ and Bulls fan during the second 3-peat era, but I could never stick to one franchise when the key players get traded/retire, and it basically becomes a totally different team. I could never really root for a business (which is what NBA franchises essentially are). Now i'm really just NBA fan, with no connection to any particular team, just enjoying the game as a whole and having my favorite players.

Honestly, I would like to finally see LeBron vs Wade in a playoff series, but let's be real - if the Cavs stay healthy, the chances of Bulls making it a competitive series are extremely slim.

How so? Jimmy shuts down Lebron in series.

[TheGOATRises007]

Agreed, but he has been slipping lately, btw thought you were a bulls fan?

I was a MJ and Bulls fan during the second 3-peat era, but I could never stick to one franchise when the key players get traded/retire, and it basically becomes a totally different team. I could never really root for a business (which is what NBA franchises essentially are). Now i'm really just NBA fan, with no connection to any particular team, just enjoying the game as a whole and having my favorite players. Generally watching as much of the top teams as possible, and some of the young teams with good potential for the future like Wolves.

Honestly, I would like to finally see LeBron vs Wade in a playoff series, but let's be real - if the Cavs stay healthy, the chances of Bulls making it a competitive series are extremely slim.

Did your fandom return when Rose was the MVP? Not hating btw, just curious.

[Quotatious]

Did your fandom return when Rose was the MVP? Not hating btw, just curious.

Rose during his MVP season was one of my favorite players because the way he played was so entertaining to watch, and seemed like a good dude with the right attitude, so it was easy to root for him, but I wasn't a Bulls fan. In fact, as I mentioned a few times on this board, after Jordan retired, Paul Pierce became my favorite player (I really liked his game even during his last year at Kansas, and I wanted to follow one player for the entirety of his career, so I became a Celtics fan and stayed one for almost 15 years, basically to the end of Pierce's career in Boston, needless to say, I was glad to see he stayed there so long and became a franchise player - considering the Celtics were rivals of the Bulls as one of the best teams in the East in 2011, it naturally eliminates the Bulls as a team to root for, for me).

As far as Rose in his MVP season - it's funny how it works - Duncan is one of my favorite players of all-time but I was never anything close to a Spurs fan (Bill Simmons once mentioned the same thing in one of his podcasts, i.e. loving Duncan but not liking the Spurs, I guess I'm the same). Similar with Rose - I was a big fan of his game before the ACL tear, but felt indifferent about the Bulls as a team.

[StepBackCrack]

Read on Twitter

[KD35Brah]

Top 7 in rim protection(filter: 30mpg and 4.5 DFGA)

[StepBackCrack]

Read on Twitter

[KD35Brah]

"Kevin Durant is a better rim protector than most centers"
http://www.sbnation.com/2017/1/3/14112906/kevin-durant-warriors-defense-highlights-rim-protector

[StepBackCrack]

Up there with the worst games KD ever played. I can't remember the last time I cringed that much smh. The loss is on him. He ruined Steph's great night. I was pretty upset about it. Don't want to see that again. Whenever Steph plays THAT good, the team has to win.

He must learn from last night.

[GSP]

Holy **** he almost ended Cousins career

Read on Twitter

[GSP]

Tremendous defensive performance maybe his best of the season. Rim protection, weakside and help D all elite specially on Cousins

[StepBackCrack]

Good to see him bounce back immediately after a bad night.

[StepBackCrack]

Q: Is that situation with Kevin (where Green wanted him to run pick-and-roll when Durant instead took the isolation approach) another growth experience, in that regard? It seemed like he was completely straight when it came to you guys having that kind of communication.

A: “Absolutely. That’s what makes him special. That’s what makes him an incredible star. He’s a megastar. You know, most people would look at how you’re saying something and not what you’re saying. He looks at what you’re saying, and not how you’re saying it. Obviously he knows me very well. We have a great friendship, and so he knows what type of person I am. He knows how passionate I am about everything, and everything I say.

“I think everybody tried to blow it out of proportion, which was funny. And yet, I saw something that said, ‘Draymond and Kevin gets into an argument,’ or something. I don’t know if you can really get into an argument where one person is talking and the other guy is saying, ‘What would you rather me have done here?’ And I’m like., ‘You go into the pick and roll – blasé, blasé, blasé,’ and he’s like, ‘(Ok), I got you. Alright, cool. Let’s go.’”

Q: Do you second guess the way you’re getting your message across in that moment at all?

A: “No, not at all, because that’s the heat of the moment right there. That’s what being teammates is about. And if you have to second guess talking to a teammate, it’ll never work anyway. I didn’t for one second think, ‘Oh no, I have to tone it (down).’ Not at all. Number One, we’re super close – super close.”

Q: How close are we talking?

A: “It’s hard to really say how close. But (close) like building a relationship far beyond basketball, like hanging with each other in the summer close. It’s beyond that. It’s a special thing. It’s a special relationship. Like I said, if we have to question (the way they talk to each other)…

“(The communication) is vice versa (too). He comes up to me all the time, ‘(Draymond), you on (expletive),’ and I’m like, ‘Ok, I got you. I got you.’ If you’ve got to second-guess talking to a teammate, what you have will never work.”

Q: Did you guys have to discuss that situation at all afterward?

A: “No. We discuss what we want to do in those situations. But we didn’t discuss who’s talking to who, or how you’re talking. Number One, it’s not like I’m sitting there saying, ‘What the (expletive) you doing, mother(expletive)?’ No, I wasn’t saying that. And Number Two…we need to worry about getting better, and that was a moment where we’re teaching each other and get better. We grow from it. “

Q: He spent a long time playing a certain way (in Oklahoma City). Any part of you feel like you guys need to get some of those habits out?

A: “At the end of the day, you do something for so long that’s what you’re accustomed to. You have to grow out of it, out of anything. In saying that, part of the reason we wanted him is that there are times when we need that. So like when we talked about it, and said, ‘What do we want to do (offensively) there?’ At the end of the day, we need that (iso approach) sometimes. And you never want to forget that, so that’s important.”

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/warriors/2017/01/09/draymond-green-kevin-durant-warriors-grizzlies/96363540/