OT - Kevin Durant/ROY

Nofx8881 · Post #1 » by **Nofx8881** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:15 pm

Can someone please tell me why Kevin Durant is the front runner for ROY?

He's averaging 20 points. That is the only impressive thing I can tell that he's done from looking at his stats. His team is awful. He's nearly 7 feet tall and averages 4 boards. 1 steal. 2 assists. 3 TO's. Less than 1 block. Shoots 42% from the field. 28% from 3. I'm not saying he's horrible or anything, but I've been reading that he's the front runner for ROY. I think that is a complete joke. An absolute joke. The fact that he leads his team in 3pt %, steals, blocks and scoring only goes to show how absolutely atrocious the Sonics are. They're 18-59 for god's sake. They're awful. What the hell has Durant done for them other than MAYBE sell tickets (and probably not even that since the Sonics are probably leaving Seattle).

I don't know who should be considered ROY since I don't follow any team but the Sixers, but it would seem like if Durant has a chance to win, Young should too. At least he's had some positive influence on his team. The 76ers are where they are because Young has stepped up his play big time. I'm not saying that Young deserves it, but if you're seriously going to tell me that Durant does, I'm going to tell you that Young does too, then.

Maybe Horford or one of those foreign guys who I've only heard of 2 or 3 times deserves ROY. But not Kevin Durant. No way, no how.

Thoughts?

LongLiveHinkie · Post #2 » by **LongLiveHinkie** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:23 pm

Team success matters little. When looking at ROTY, it is pretty much individual. One player can't turn around a team right away.

The Sixer Fixer · Post #3 » by **The Sixer Fixer** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:27 pm

Horford is the clear ROY imo.

Agree with your points on Durant. All these analysts seem to look at is how many point he scores. Jacking up tons of bad shots and shoot a horrible FG% doesn't seem to matter. His impact in other areas of the game is horrible for a guy his size with his talent level. Plus he plays on a god awful team and there is absolutely no pressure on his with relation to the teams success.

Horford on the other hand basically averages a double double playing out of position on a nightly basis. Almost every night he gives up a big size disavantage in post. His games actually mean something since the Hawks are in a playoff race. Plus factor in that it's usually much harder for a big to step in and have an immediate impact than it is for a SG/SF who's main role is to just shoots long distance shots. Horford had a lot more defensive responsibilty that Durant does.

Basically I see no way that Durant should win other than the fact that everyone seems to graviate to the guy who scores more points...or just the guy who came in with the most hype. Granted Durant is a lot younger than Horford, but I don't think that should matter. Give the award to the guy who has had the most effect on his teams success.

Nofx8881 · Post #4 » by **Nofx8881** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:29 pm

Westbrook36 wrote:Team success matters little. When looking at ROTY, it is pretty much individual. One player can't turn around a team right away.

Understood. But the question still remains...what has Kevin Durant done to deserve rookie of the year? His stats are not at all impressive (other than the 20 points and if you look at the team around him, it becomes that much less impressive).

So I ask again, what has Kevin Durant done to be considered the front-runner for ROY?

barkley34 · Post #5 » by **barkley34** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:30 pm

I would give it to Horford but Durant has still been impressive. Just last night he nailed a couple of huge shots and dropped like 35 pts or so.

Durant has been very good it is just that expectations were high for him so it was kind of impossible to him to live up to the hype. Also when they moved Allen he was forced into the primary offensive option role which is brutal for a rookie. Being forced into that role has hurt his stats because he is being asked to do too much.

If Durant was on the Sixers he would be having a much better season with the help of Iggy & Miller.

SendEm · Post #6 » by **SendEm** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:45 pm

Durant won rookie of the year hands down after that performance he had against Melo last night with the clutch baskets in addition to the big numbers.

LongLiveHinkie · Post #7 » by **LongLiveHinkie** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:46 pm

Nofx8881 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Understood. But the question still remains...what has Kevin Durant done to deserve rookie of the year? His stats are not at all impressive (other than the 20 points and if you look at the team around him, it becomes that much less impressive).

So I ask again, what has Kevin Durant done to be considered the front-runner for ROY?

ROTY pretty much goes to the more ppg these days. Unless it is close and another player did something else much better.

Nofx8881 · Post #8 » by **Nofx8881** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:50 pm

One game should not determine ROY. He could have scored 100 last night, that doesn't change the fact that he has been completely unimpressive for the other 99% of the season. I mean seriously. His stats are really, really unimpressive and it has nothing to do with him being such a high pick and me holding him to these impossible standards...I'm just not impressed.

That's not to say that if the Sonics wanted to trade Durant to the Sixers for Willie Green that I wouldn't do it, I think Durant can be an excellent NBA player, I just don't think he deserves ROY.

SendEm · Post #9 » by **SendEm** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:56 pm

Nofx8881 wrote:One game should not determine ROY.

He's averaging 20ppg Sir...

Nofx8881 · Post #10 » by **Nofx8881** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 10:58 pm

SendEm wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

He's averaging 20ppg Sir...

Yes. On a team that is 18-59. He is surrounded by career underachievers and unproven young guys.

And he still only averages 20 points. And that's on 42% shooting.

Skates · Post #11 » by **Skates** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 11:03 pm

Durant and Horford are both playing out of position to be fair. I agree that Horford has had the better year, but fair or not it takes more than being a solid big man when there is another rookie averaging 20 ppg. If Horford was banging home 16 and 9 instead of 10 and 10 most nights he'd be taking home the hardware. ROY is a popularity contest like most individual awards so it's not surprising that they go with the big name and gaudy scoring average, even if the shooting % isn't all that high.

SendEm · Post #12 » by **SendEm** » Mon Apr 7, 2008 11:11 pm

Nofx8881 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

Yes. On a team that is 18-59. He is surrounded by career underachievers and unproven young guys.

And he still only averages 20 points. And that's on 42% shooting.

Since when isn't that Rookie Of The Year worthy for a 19 year old in his first NBA season starting for a team that drafted him with the #2 overall pick in the draft? Talk about unrealistic expectations...

Post #13 » by **dbodner** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 1:10 am

Team record should mean virtually nothing. By definition these players are going to the worst teams. It becomes especially worse when this team just traded away their franchise player. These 19 year old kids should not be expected to turn around a franchise over night.

Compare these two 19 year old rookies. The other one has turned into an "ok" player:
20.9 pg, 5.5 rpg, 5.9 apg, 3.5 topg, 41.7% fg%, 29% 3pt%
20 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.3 apg, 3.0 topg, 1.0 spg, 42.5% fg%, 28.5% 3pt%

Now, obviously LeBron is more of the playmaker. But I think people forget how inefficient he was as a rookie, and how much he turned the ball over. It's very hard to step into the NBA as a #1 option. Durant's stats are HURT by having nobody on the Sonics, not helped. If he had a few more players on his team to take some attention away from him, and wasn't seeing double and triple teams as he was adjusting to the NBA, he'd be a heckuva lot more efficient. He's also being grossly misused as a SG.

Yet despite all that, his post all-star numbers are:
21.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.5 apg, 47.2% fg% in 25 games

Not friggin bad. That's a very quick adjustment and a vast improvement for a rookie.

carltong23 · Post #14 » by **carltong23** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 5:55 am

I agree with dbods. Horford just doesnt have the pressure or attention that Durant has and his stats arent quite there. As for the other rookies, i think there should be a rule that says unless you're under the age of 24, you're not allowed to win the rookie of the year because in all reality, you're not a rookie. Youre just a veteran who took a long time to be at an NBA rookie level. That means you Moon, Scola, Thornton, and Navarro.

Nofx8881 · Post #15 » by **Nofx8881** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 4:07 pm

how can you say that horford doesn't have the pressure or attention that durant has when horford is the starting center on a playoff team? seattle is the ultimate no-pressure situation. the only people who follow kevin durant are the people at espn. the sonics can't even stay in the city they play in. the people there don't care. they don't want to pay for a new arena and they don't care about the sonics. the team is 18-59. if they had any pressure on them they might actually have 20 wins.

Sixers24 · Post #16 » by **Sixers24** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 4:27 pm

Because he has 4 guys on his own team that are better than him and held more accountable than him?

And since when is Atlanta this dominant playoff team? They're 5 games under .500. You want to crown em, crown em.

Sixers24 · Post #17 » by **Sixers24** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 4:29 pm

And you can just as easily flip your argument about how 20 ppg for Durant on a crappy team isn't impressive by saying it absolutely is because he's been the focal point of opposing defenses every single night of the season. Horford is asked to shoot the ball 8 times a game (mostly on putbacks and the like) and rebound.

SendEm · Post #18 » by **SendEm** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 5:22 pm

Sixers24 wrote:And you can just as easily flip your argument about how 20 ppg for Durant on a crappy team isn't impressive by saying it absolutely is because he's been the focal point of opposing defenses every single night of the season. Horford is asked to shoot the ball 8 times a game (mostly on putbacks and the like) and rebound.

Truth.

Post #19 » by **dbodner** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 7:15 pm

Nofx8881 wrote:how can you say that horford doesn't have the pressure or attention that durant has when horford is the starting center on a playoff team? seattle is the ultimate no-pressure situation. the only people who follow kevin durant are the people at espn. the sonics can't even stay in the city they play in. the people there don't care. they don't want to pay for a new arena and they don't care about the sonics. the team is 18-59. if they had any pressure on them they might actually have 20 wins.

I think you completely missed the context of pressure. We're talking about defensive pressure.

Post #20 » by **dbodner** » Tue Apr 8, 2008 7:20 pm

And you can just as easily flip your argument about how 20 ppg for Durant on a crappy team isn't impressive by saying it absolutely is because he's been the focal point of opposing defenses every single night of the season

If he's been the focal point of opposing defenses, how does it make it easy to score 20 ppg?

How does him being the focal point of opposing defenses make it easy to shoot 47% over the last 25 games?

I'm confused by the logic.

Horford is asked to shoot the ball 8 times a game (mostly on putbacks and the like) and rebound.

Exactly my point.

I love how this big thing is being made of Atlanta's winning. They have a .468 winning percentage. I know I'm getting a chubby.