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

nbafan77 · Post #761 » by **nbafan77** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:05 am

Great finals but it was to much easy for him!

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RSCD3_ · Post #762 » by **RSCD3_** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:07 am

Say what you want about other stars but how many would score

35.2 PPG on 69.4 TS%

With LeBron taking up a good amount of those possessions defended

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Wall34 · Post #763 » by **Wall34** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:08 am

My favorite player finally won a ring 8-)

FMVP!

Post #764 » by **Doctor MJ** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:12 am

fpliii wrote:Congrats KD.

Who's the guy with the most pressure on him next to win his first (setting aside pressure to repeat by GSW, CLE)? CP3? Maybe Davis? EDIT: Maybe Harden? Would name Westbrook but I think he needs support before we get to that point.

I'm sure some shock jocks in the media will mention Melo lol

I actually think it goes in a different direction shortly where players become more openly pursuing goals other than championships.

In the name of becoming part of the community they play for they can leverage enormous power.

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Mike Hok · Post #765 » by **Mike Hok** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:14 am

RSCD3_ wrote:Say what you want about other stars but how many would score

35.2 PPG on 69.4 TS%

With LeBron taking up a good amount of those possessions defended

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Lebron's man defense was just plain awful. That's not a knock on KD's performance though, he was amazing.

StepBackCrack · Post #766 » by **StepBackCrack** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 4:53 am

He might not be the best (there is no shame at all in being 2nd to LeBron anyway) but Kevin is a hell of a player. He deserves so much credit for what he did in the finals imo because I believe GSW would have struggled a lot without him vs the Cavs. He gave his soul on the court and stepped up every time. The great thing about him is that he can fit in any system/team which allows his team to play great team basketball and iso basketball when needed. I'm beyond happy for him as a fan. He deserves this so much. A player with his all-time talent and work ethic deserves such moment. Thank you God. Congrats to my fellow KD fans.

After all the bad luck with injuries, he deserves this moment.

StepBackCrack · Post #767 » by **StepBackCrack** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:03 am

Read on Twitter

therealbig3 · Post #768 » by **therealbig3** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:08 am

fpliii wrote:Congrats KD.

Who's the guy with the most pressure on him next to win his first (setting aside pressure to repeat by GSW, CLE)? CP3? Maybe Davis? EDIT: Maybe Harden? Would name Westbrook but I think he needs support before we get to that point.

I'm sure some shock jocks in the media will mention Melo lol

I think Davis, especially now that he's paired with Cousins, certainly has a lot of pressure to win now. Maybe not the title, but assuming the Pelicans improve some of the players around them this offseason...if that team isn't one of the better teams out West next year, if not a straight up contender, I think Davis will start hearing some chirping. They were supposed to be the 8th seed that challenged the Warriors this year with that move lol, and they actually ended up falling further out of the playoff hunt following the trade IIRC.

Kawhi would probably escape any criticism, just because of his personality and because nobody really criticizes the Spurs, but if we are including him in this upper echelon of superstar now, which I'm convinced that he is, then he "should" hear some criticism if the Spurs don't at least make a series with the Warriors interesting, especially if CP3 is added. CP3 if he goes to the Spurs for that matter lol.

Westbrook and Harden are actually pretty safe, unless they lose to a lower seed in the 1st round or something. Their teams aren't good enough to really contend, so as long as they play well, nobody can really criticize them too much...although Houston's performance in game 6 against the Spurs this year certainly warranted a lot of criticism.

Guys like Melo and Dwight are past their primes and out of the spotlight at this point, and nobody really expects any sort of team success out of them anymore...quite frankly, I don't think anyone in the national media really cares about them anymore, so they won't be criticized.

GSP · Post #769 » by **GSP** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:09 am

One of the greatest finals performances in the history of the league

he apparently had a +16 net rating after game 5 which greatly boosted his numbers and imagine closed the gap pretty well on Stephs lead there tho i think Steph still leads?

JordansBulls · Post #770 » by **JordansBulls** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:10 am

KD_Steph wrote:

Read on Twitter

Well deserved

colts18 · Post #771 » by **colts18** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:10 am

therealbig3 wrote:
fpliii wrote:Congrats KD.

Who's the guy with the most pressure on him next to win his first (setting aside pressure to repeat by GSW, CLE)? CP3? Maybe Davis? EDIT: Maybe Harden? Would name Westbrook but I think he needs support before we get to that point.

I'm sure some shock jocks in the media will mention Melo lol

Kawhi would probably escape any criticism, just because of his personality and because nobody really criticizes the Spurs, but if we are including him in this upper echelon of superstar now, which I'm convinced that he is, then he "should" hear some criticism if the Spurs don't at least make a series with the Warriors interesting, especially if CP3 is added. CP3 if he goes to the Spurs for that matter lol.

Kawhi already won a title and finals MVP

therealbig3 · Post #772 » by **therealbig3** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:14 am

colts18 wrote:
therealbig3 wrote:
fpliii wrote:Congrats KD.

Who's the guy with the most pressure on him next to win his first (setting aside pressure to repeat by GSW, CLE)? CP3? Maybe Davis? EDIT: Maybe Harden? Would name Westbrook but I think he needs support before we get to that point.

I'm sure some shock jocks in the media will mention Melo lol

Kawhi would probably escape any criticism, just because of his personality and because nobody really criticizes the Spurs, but if we are including him in this upper echelon of superstar now, which I'm convinced that he is, then he "should" hear some criticism if the Spurs don't at least make a series with the Warriors interesting, especially if CP3 is added. CP3 if he goes to the Spurs for that matter lol.

Kawhi already won a title and finals MVP

Ah, true that. Forgot that the question was only asking about first-timers.

therealbig3 · Post #773 » by **therealbig3** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:15 am

GSP wrote:One of the greatest finals performances in the history of the league

he apparently had a +16 net rating after game 5 which greatly boosted his numbers and imagine closed the gap pretty well on Stephs lead there tho i think Steph still leads?

I think he was actually +18.

I think KD was a +33 for the series, and Steph was a +30, if my math is right.

TheGOATRises007 · Post #774 » by **TheGOATRises007** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:19 am

Where does his finals performance rank in terms of all-time?

And which Lebron's finals performance do you take over it?

For the 1st Q: I've gotta think it's top 10.

And for the 2nd: I'd have only Lebron's last 2 finals performances as better. Maybe 2012 too.

StepBackCrack · Post #775 » by **StepBackCrack** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:21 am

They couldn't stop each other of course but KD did a better job guarding LBJ than the other way around. His length bothered him and Love a lot. Great series from him defensively (especially in the 1st 2 games where he was the most dominant).

GSP · Post #776 » by **GSP** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:37 am

KD_Steph wrote:They couldn't stop each other of course but KD did a better job guarding LBJ than the other way around. His length bothered him and Love a lot. Great series from him defensively (especially in the 1st 2 games where he was the most dominant).

First part is definitely true but id stop short of calling it a great defensive series. He was phenonmenal the first 2 games defensively, 1st half of game 3 he was bad but was really good in the 2nd half. Game 4 was such a crazy offensive clinic by Cleveland its hard to say anyone on the Warriors was particularly good defensively. Game 5 he had his ups and downs id say he was decent to solid. Overall a good defensive series IMO

StepBackCrack · Post #777 » by **StepBackCrack** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:41 am

GSP wrote:
KD_Steph wrote:They couldn't stop each other of course but KD did a better job guarding LBJ than the other way around. His length bothered him and Love a lot. Great series from him defensively (especially in the 1st 2 games where he was the most dominant).

First part is definitely true but id stop short of calling it a great defensive series. He was phenonmenal the first 2 games defensively, 1st half of game 3 he was bad but was really good in the 2nd half. Game 4 was such a crazy offensive clinic by Cleveland its hard to say anyone on the Warriors was particularly good defensively. Game 5 he had his ups and downs id say he was decent to solid. Overall a good defensive series IMO

Oh true. Great in the first 2 games and decent to good in the other 3. I agree.
I would say Klay's D was the most impressive and consistent throughout the series among both teams. He was amazing.

GSP · Post #778 » by **GSP** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 5:55 am

Read on Twitter

"impact" wise that game 5 was his best performance (tho overall game 2 was one of the Goat performances ive seen)

Warriors were +18 with him. Even early with the Mccaw/West/Klay/Kd/Iggy lineup they missed alot of open jumpers Kd got them

cpower · Post #779 » by **cpower** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 6:12 am

35.2 PPG on 69.4 TS%.. thats mind blowing numbers. I mean this guy is insanely good at scoring. Historical level good.

Onus · Post #780 » by **Onus** » Tue Jun 13, 2017 6:14 am

Kd was amazing I'm so happy for him