Durant is getting tougher...

dream_catcher_9 · Post #1 » by **dream_catcher_9** » Thu Sep 9, 2010 11:27 pm

I been a harsh critic of Durant and think he needs to bulk up and play with much more toughness, but after watching these FIBA World Championships so far, he is doing a better job of with the bigs down low. He still refuses to box out but I can let that pass because I actually saw him diving on the floor for a loose ball today vs Russia. I think he is starting to realize that you need to put your body in harms way if you want to succeed in crunch time. Hopefully this translates to the NBA and more specifically the Playoffs.

Balkman32 · Post #2 » by **Balkman32** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 5:57 am

Durant is MVP this season. If you have a chance to see him live. Go to the game! Amazing! Best player I have seen since Jordan!

Post #3 » by **slick_watts** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:48 pm

That's funny, when I saw Durant dive on the floor I thought of you. :lol:

At least he's not like this anymore: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OktFdO8-dU0

chillychad · Post #4 » by **chillychad** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 3:54 pm

You know if Durant put's on more bulk, he will lose his shooting abilty right? I mean he need's to put on a little more weight. Like 240 would do him. But if he put's on more muscles like Dwight he would lose his shooting.

But yeah i agree with you he's getting more and more tougher. That's good for him too.

Post #5 » by **slick_watts** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 4:43 pm

chillychad wrote:You know if Durant put's on more bulk, he will lose his shooting abilty right? I mean he need's to put on a little more weight. Like 240 would do him. But if he put's on more muscles like Dwight he would lose his shooting.

Huh...?

chillychad · Post #6 » by **chillychad** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:39 pm

slick_watts wrote:
chillychad wrote:You know if Durant put's on more bulk, he will lose his shooting abilty right? I mean he need's to put on a little more weight. Like 240 would do him. But if he put's on more muscles like Dwight he would lose his shooting.

Huh...?

Let me type slowly for you. You see if Kevin Durant puts on more muscles like Lebron or Dwight, he would lose his shooting ability. Look at Lebron James. Yes that guy is huge, he weight around 270 pounds. He puts on alot of weight and muscles. You ever watch Lebron shoot before? Yes his shooting percentage is 47.1%. His playoff shooting percentage is 44.4% and 54.1% during the '09 playoffs.

My point is that if Kevin Durant puts on alot of weight like Lebron or Dwight, he will lose his shooting ability because of the weight and muslces he puts on. If you have too much strength you will shoot horrible. That's all i'm trying to say.

TheOGJabroni · Post #7 » by **TheOGJabroni** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 4:37 am

chillychad wrote:
slick_watts wrote:
chillychad wrote:You know if Durant put's on more bulk, he will lose his shooting abilty right? I mean he need's to put on a little more weight. Like 240 would do him. But if he put's on more muscles like Dwight he would lose his shooting.

Huh...?

Let me type slowly for you. You see if Kevin Durant puts on more muscles like Lebron or Dwight, he would lose his shooting ability. Look at Lebron James. Yes that guy is huge, he weight around 270 pounds. He puts on alot of weight and muscles. You ever watch Lebron shoot before? Yes his shooting percentage is 47.1%. His playoff shooting percentage is 44.4% and 54.1% during the '09 playoffs.

My point is that if Kevin Durant puts on alot of weight like Lebron or Dwight, he will lose his shooting ability because of the weight and muslces he puts on. If you have too much strength you will shoot horrible. That's all i'm trying to say.

Huh...?

wiff · Post #8 » by **wiff** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 5:10 am

chillychad wrote:
slick_watts wrote:
chillychad wrote:You know if Durant put's on more bulk, he will lose his shooting abilty right? I mean he need's to put on a little more weight. Like 240 would do him. But if he put's on more muscles like Dwight he would lose his shooting.

Huh...?

Let me type slowly for you. You see if Kevin Durant puts on more muscles like Lebron or Dwight, he would lose his shooting ability. Look at Lebron James. Yes that guy is huge, he weight around 270 pounds. He puts on alot of weight and muscles. You ever watch Lebron shoot before? Yes his shooting percentage is 47.1%. His playoff shooting percentage is 44.4% and 54.1% during the '09 playoffs.

My point is that if Kevin Durant puts on alot of weight like Lebron or Dwight, he will lose his shooting ability because of the weight and muslces he puts on. If you have too much strength you will shoot horrible. That's all i'm trying to say.

Let me say this slowly...HUH?

Ever heard of Rashard Lewis? When he came into the league he was very much still a kid. Not a whole lot of muscle on him, but he could stroke the rock.

13 years later the guy has bulked up and put on a fair amount of muscle and he can still shoot the rock. Physically, today, he can play PF, mentally he is still a Sf.

So sorry but I'm not buying your theory.

By the way welcome to the forum.

Post #9 » by **slick_watts** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 2:58 pm

chillychad wrote:Let me type slowly for you. You see if Kevin Durant puts on more muscles like Lebron or Dwight, he would lose his shooting ability. Look at Lebron James. Yes that guy is huge, he weight around 270 pounds. He puts on alot of weight and muscles. You ever watch Lebron shoot before? Yes his shooting percentage is 47.1%. His playoff shooting percentage is 44.4% and 54.1% during the '09 playoffs.

LeBron James shot better from long mid-range (16-23 feet) last season than Kevin Durant (40% to 37%). Carmelo Anthony as well (40%). Both of those guys have more mass than KD.

Aside from those two, how about Al Horford (48% long mid range), Marcus Camby (47%), Dirk and Garnett (46%), David West and Udonis Haslem (45%), Carl Landry and Carlos Boozer (44%). On and on. KD is actually not that great a mid range shooter, it's one thing he has to work on considering the volume of attempts he takes from that distance.

chillychad wrote:My point is that if Kevin Durant puts on alot of weight like Lebron or Dwight, he will lose his shooting ability because of the weight and muslces he puts on. If you have too much strength you will shoot horrible. That's all i'm trying to say.

This is just false. A great example is Kevin Garnett, who came into the league as a SF, gained some weight and eventually made the switch to PF. His jump shot was not affected whatsoever.

KD doesn't have the frame to put on 30 pounds of muscle very easily, but he'll gain some mass as he goes. It's unlikely that he'll put on so much weight that it compromises his quickness or agility, much less his jump shot (which he has to improve anyway).

jc23 · Post #10 » by **jc23** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 5:36 pm

Man you guys really hit the lotto with this kid, congrats! He is scary good.

-bulls fan/fort sill graduate

MoMM · Post #11 » by **MoMM** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 5:50 pm

KD had 38 points today in the semifinals against Lithuania.

Westbrook finished with 12 points losing in this category just to Durant.

BIG EDDIE · Post #12 » by **BIG EDDIE** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 6:27 pm

Wow, first we saw Durant dominaing the Lithuanian team and Westbrook playing very strong as well and now we get to watch Nenad Krstic playing for Serbia in the other semifinal game against Turkey.
What a night for Thunder fans

Would be nice if all three players would meet in the finals tomorrow. However, Turkey is very VERY strong, especially playing in front of their crazy crowd.

Dunstown magic · Post #13 » by **Dunstown magic** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 2:26 am

Hey guys was just looking through a few some other boards and came across this thread. I'm not trying to start any arguments or anything but it is true that shooters that are naturally thin such as Durant will more than likely lose shooting touch if they put on too much muscle. I'm a magic fan so i'll use to examples from the magic. The first would be Dwight who came into the league alot thinner than he is right now and in his first year shot 67% from the line then he began to put on huge amounts of muscle and i think the best hes shot since is 59%. Another example of this JJ Redick one of the main reasons JJ struggled in the league for his first few years was he was doing a lot of muscle building exercises and he lost his touch somewhere along the way and in turn his confidence. However as the JJ case shows with even more hard work good shooters will get their shot back which im sure Durant would do because he is a great player. Anyway just wanted to add my bit

.

mixtapelive · Post #14 » by **mixtapelive** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 6:04 am

Durant has a great chance of getting himself the MVP next season..

In my eyes he's easily a top 4 player in the NBA and after this year he could be top 2..

His potential is out of the roof, the NBA is will be all his in a few years

Gotta_B_KD35 · Post #15 » by **Gotta_B_KD35** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:18 pm

It's great to have a star player that understands that he still has a lot to work for and willing to work on them. He's been great at FIBA. I hope him and westbrook bring back the leadership they gained from that team to Thunder.

Joel Embust · Post #16 » by **Joel Embust** » Fri Sep 24, 2010 3:49 pm

I wish KD would've bulked up a little bit, but I guess he didn't really have the time to go into "improve body shape" mode with the whole FIBA pre-tournament and actual tournament taking all of his offseason time.

Canomad · Post #17 » by **Canomad** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 3:05 pm

Eleqtrique wrote:I wish KD would've bulked up a little bit, but I guess he didn't really have the time to go into "improve body shape" mode with the whole FIBA pre-tournament and actual tournament taking all of his offseason time.

i saw kd on the cover of a basketball magaize like a week ago. i went home and googled imaged his highschool pics because he look NOTICEABLY bigger. he was the dude has to have put on 20 pounds since entering the leauge. i know he still skinny but with his long frame hes not gonna look to muscular. but he has bulked up thats for sure.

BIG EDDIE · Post #18 » by **BIG EDDIE** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 5:28 pm

I noticed during the world cup games this summer that Durant has definitely gained some mass/muscles compared to even last year.

Just take a look at the following two pics:

This one is from the 2008-2009 season I believe:
http://solecollector.com/shoes/wp-conte ... tbrook.jpg

And this is from this summer:
http://media.timesleader.com/images/300 ... TETLAU.jpg

You can see the difference in his face and also on his arms.

He will be even better this season than last season. Maybe his scoring average wont improve, but his shooting percentage, escecially from the 3pt range I expect to improve.
Also his assists will go up to like 3.5 per game.

I expect numbers like this from him this year:

29.7 pts, 7.9reb, 3.5ast, 49%FG, 41%3pt, 90%FT

wiff · Post #19 » by **wiff** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 8:30 pm

I've been really impressed with how hard Durant has been working to improve his physique. Growing up I was and still am a thin guy who is mostly all arms and legs. It's not easy to gain weight when you have Durants build. The kid is just a machine. His work ethic has been impecable.

I see KD in his prime looking a fair amount like KG did during his prime.

teamusa4gold · Post #20 » by **teamusa4gold** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:25 pm

ya durant has definitely put on some weight since college

I really see him averaging close to 10 rpg during his prime. KG went from 9.5 to 13.5 during his prime. I see no reason Durant can't increase his total by another 2-3 rpg given his development has been somewhat similar to KG's in terms of body type/adjustment.