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

picc · Post #641 » by **picc** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 4:23 am

Everybody has to lose one to get that eye of the tiger. Well, most players do.

Lebron had it in 2012 after 2011. Kobe had it in 2009 after 2008. Dirk had it in 2011 after 2006. KD's assertiveness was reminiscent of them in their 'revenge tours'.

mischievous · Post #642 » by **mischievous** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 4:28 am

picc wrote:Everybody has to lose one to get that eye of the tiger. Well, most players do.

Lebron had it in 2012 after 2011. Kobe had it in 2009 after 2008. Dirk had it in 2011 after 2006. KD's assertiveness was reminiscent of them in their 'revenge tours'.

It also helps that his opponent is just outmatched.

TheGOATRises007 · Post #643 » by **TheGOATRises007** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 4:55 am

Called him to outplay Lebron.

Feel very confident in that continuing after seeing game 1.

StepBackCrack · Post #644 » by **StepBackCrack** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 5:26 am

StepBackCrack · Post #645 » by **StepBackCrack** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 5:28 am

Eddy_JukeZ wrote:Called him to outplay Lebron.

Feel very confident in that continuing after seeing game 1.

He is PEAKING and I'm loving it so much. Just praying for him to stay healthy for the rest of the series. I don't take health for granted. Especially with his injury history.

GSP · Post #646 » by **GSP** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 6:10 am

StepBackCrack · Post #647 » by **StepBackCrack** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 6:20 am

Watch on YouTube

StepBackCrack · Post #648 » by **StepBackCrack** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 7:03 am

This is a great piece.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/presents-19505704/nba-playoffs-why-kevin-durant-sees-world-differently-now

As Durant limped off the court, his mother, Wanda, was arriving at her seat. She'd been stuck at the turnstile, head-counting the gaggle of relatives attending the game. Before she could sit, Durant's brother Tony cut in. "Mom," he said, "it's Kevin."

Wanda hurried to the visitors locker room, warding off the rising panic in her chest. It was all too familiar -- eerily reminiscent of what she'd felt two years earlier after her son's last serious injury, when Durant had broken his foot. When she found Kevin now, he was being attended to by Chelsea Lane, Warriors head of physical performance and sports medicine. Durant's business partner Rich Kleiman was there too. The initial X-rays were negative, but Durant was clearly in pain. "I'll come with you to the hospital," Wanda assured her son.

"No, Mom," Durant said. "I got this."

Kleiman accompanied Durant on the 2.7-mile drive to MedStar Washington Hospital Center, where Durant's father once worked police detail. There, the orderlies, nurses and security guards still remembered him as a gangly 13-year-old running the halls. But when they greeted him now, Durant didn't respond. "I was in a daze," he says.

Although preliminary MRI results revealed a "significant injury," Kleiman was advised not to tell Durant anything until a CT scan could confirm the diagnosis. But Durant was more than a client to Kleiman -- he talks to him eight to 10 times a day. There would be no secrets. "You have a broken tibia," he told Durant. It was an injury that would end his season.

Durant blinked back tears. Soon he was sobbing, his head in his hands. "It was such a freak injury," Durant says now. "I'm flashing back to OKC, where I had all those problems with my feet, and I'm asking, Again? Why again?"

Kleiman called Wanda. She too wept at the news. Durant reached out to Draymond Green via text. "Fractured tibia," he typed into his phone. "Done for the year." Green responded immediately: "Are you serious??"

All those months of rehab on my foot, all that angst over choosing my own path, and this is what I get? Durant's mind was racing. He remembered the isolation and uncertainty of his last injury. But then, suddenly, Durant's mood turned.

He lifted his head. He wiped his face. He straightened and told Kleiman, "C'mon. Let's get out of here."

Man. I still remember how depressed I was that day. I thought it was over for him and given his past injuries, another major injury would have be too devastating. Can't thank God enough for giving him a chance to do what he is doing in the playoffs atm. Thank you God.

Post #649 » by **PaulieWal** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 10:34 am

picc wrote:Everybody has to lose one to get that eye of the tiger. Well, most players do.

Lebron had it in 2012 after 2011. Kobe had it in 2009 after 2008. Dirk had it in 2011 after 2006. KD's assertiveness was reminiscent of them in their 'revenge tours'.

I don't really feel the same way given he's playing on the most stacked team of all time. I mean he played great but I just didn't get that same feeling watching Kobe in 09, Dirk in 11, Bron in 12 etc etc. Those guys were still leading good but flawed teams and had to "work" for it. Superteams have always existed but it's good to see those teams challenged or have some flaws. When you're playing on the best team ever or if not the best definitely up there I don't feel his "assertiveness" was really something special to watch or rather the same as the assertiveness of other guys.

Might just be me though. Shrug.

Joey Wheeler · Post #650 » by **Joey Wheeler** » Fri Jun 2, 2017 11:51 am

Durant is amazing and he'll most likely be a deserved Finals MVP.

But he's not better than Lebron, sorry, no matter what happens in these Finals.

picc · Post #651 » by **picc** » Sat Jun 3, 2017 6:28 am

mischievous wrote:It also helps that his opponent is just outmatched.

PaulieWal wrote:I don't really feel the same way given he's playing on the most stacked team of all time. I mean he played great but I just didn't get that same feeling watching Kobe in 09, Dirk in 11, Bron in 12 etc etc. Those guys were still leading good but flawed teams and had to "work" for it. Superteams have always existed but it's good to see those teams challenged or have some flaws. When you're playing on the best team ever or if not the best definitely up there I don't feel his "assertiveness" was really something special to watch or rather the same as the assertiveness of other guys.

Might just be me though. Shrug.

I understand the mindset of these comments, but the point is being missed.

Obviously KD is on a historically great team. The Warriors did not play like a historically great team last night. They won convincingly because Durant and Curry performed offensively, and the defense on Cleveland was staunch. In large part because of Durant himself.

The fact is many posters' opinions are colored and/or biased by what we already know (KD joined a great team that was just in the finals), and ostensibly its become difficult to credit him with anything in general. But when speaking about his assertiveness and intensity, the quality of his team is irrelevant -- especially when they didn't actually play that well to begin with. You guys make it sound like he ran down the lane for a few dunks and the game was over.

No. KD was picking up Kyrie Irving full court. He was chasing Lebron all over the perimeter and into the paint. Stopping a paint attempt, then scrambling to stop Love's shot attempts. Defending everyone on the Cavs at points.

Offensively, everytime the Cavs looked like they might make a run, KD made a point to squash it. Off the dribble pullups. Three point pullups over a contest. He pulled down tough rebounds in traffic over multiple defenders. Created layups for **** Zaza Pachulia. Durant owned Cleveland on both ends of the court, and was the primary reason GS wasn't particularly challenged.

He looked hungry. Which is all I was saying. And is an attribute that you want in your players regardless of how great the names of the back of their jerseys are. The sheer effort he put into last night was so high that the notion he wasn't "working" is extremely unfair, and very inaccurate, imo.

I hope that people being pre-disposed to rejecting any semblance of credit to KD on account of the circumstances, regardless of what actually happens in the game, doesn't continue. If the team is firing on all cylinders and he's just sitting back reaping the benefits, then sure, by all means throw salt. He'll have earned it.

If he's driving the team to victory and playing extraordinarily well on both ends of the court, like he was last night, and you can't even give him credit for effort... that just seems petty.

Wall34 · Post #652 » by **Wall34** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 2:35 am

He's been really amazing on both sides of the ball.

Lost92Bricks · Post #653 » by **Lost92Bricks** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 2:45 am

His defense was extremely impressive. Forget about the offense for a minute, we all know what he brings there but his length on defense caused a ton of problems. This was one of the best games I've seen him play.

Joey Wheeler · Post #654 » by **Joey Wheeler** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 2:47 am

This guy is so much better than Curry it's not even funny, I knew that'd become apparent in the Finals and so it is. Can't believe there was ever a debate on who the best GSW player was. Arguably the best/most versatile scorer ever, unguardable and a nightmare mismatch for any team + a very good defensive player too. He's one of the best players of all-time without a doubt, he's like an upgraded Dirk Nowitzki.

That said, it sucks that he took the cowards' way out and is playing for the most stacked team of all-time, which could win it all even without him. I'd certainly be way more impressed if he managed to eventually win it with Westbrook in OKC or in another team like Washington. But I guess we are to blame in the way because of all the ring obsession; KD probably felt he'd never get the recognition he deserves if he didn't win a ring, and he's probably right...

TheGOATRises007 · Post #655 » by **TheGOATRises007** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 2:47 am

He's been sensational.

rebirthoftheM · Post #656 » by **rebirthoftheM** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 2:52 am

I think it is time for us to face the obvious: The Warriors most likely would have lost to the Cavs without Durant. His impact has been incredible, particularly on the defensive side. This is really making me reconsider my thoughts on his coward move in the off-season.

Mike Hok · Post #657 » by **Mike Hok** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 2:58 am

FMVP so far. Best player on the court. What a talent... Simply unstoppable.

Wall34 · Post #658 » by **Wall34** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 3:00 am

i think this years Cavs team is better then last years...i would have favored them if Warriors kept Barnes.

KD is a walking mismatch the only guy Cleveland can stick on him is LBJ and he can't guard him all game and have the offensive game needed for Cleveland to win.

NaturalThunder · Post #659 » by **NaturalThunder** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 3:18 am

Well, he's admittedly been great. I don't like admitting it, but it's too obvious to not give him his due. He's a Finals gamer.

In now seven career Finals games:

32.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.4 BPG, 2.9 TOV, 55.3% FG, 42.6% 3P, 85.7% FT, 65.7% TS

In this series so far, he's averaging 35.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 2.5 BPG, 1.5 TOV, 56.3% FG, 50% 3P, 90.9% FT

picc · Post #660 » by **picc** » Mon Jun 5, 2017 3:32 am

NaturalThunder wrote:Well, he's admittedly been great. I don't like admitting it, but it's too obvious to not give him his due. He's a Finals gamer.

In now seven career Finals games:

32.0 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.4 SPG, 1.4 BPG, 2.9 TOV, 55.3% FG, 42.6% 3P, 85.7% FT, 65.7% TS

In this series so far, he's averaging 35.5 PPG, 10.5 RPG, 7 APG, 1.5 SPG, 2.5 BPG, 1.5 TOV, 56.3% FG, 50% 3P, 90.9% FT

Big of you. I know it hurts to see.