NBA's golden boy: Kevin Durant

[ojandpizza]

I'm going to say something in this thread that nobody here is going to like.

Kevin Durant is good, very good, scary good. Worthy MVP candidate and one of the best players in the league. Not only is he a great player but he seems like a great and humble guy who is always working to become better. I love the guys game, and his attitude on and off the court.

That aside, I'm getting very sick and tired of the constant praise he gets that others do not receive. Just because he's young and good, and plays for OKC shouldn't make him completely immune to some criticism.

Look at Melo and Kobe. They are often labeled as "selfish" or they "shoot too much". People here go as far as saying Melo will never win a ring, or he's too selfish to ever be a contender. Kobe always gets harped on for being a selfish or even bad teammate.

What makes Kobe and Melo "bad" or in some cases even "terrible" team players by lots of knowledgable posters here on OS while Kevin Durant had never been considered a bad or selfish team player? Hear me out before you all go crazy.

Over the past few seasons he has shot the ball just as much as either of them. (Or very close to it). His assist numbers have been just as low. And his defense has been in my opinion around the same level as Melo's, while Kobe has been a better defender.

****I'm not referring to this season.. So don't jump all over me for his production this year. His defense has definitely improved and he's starting to find his teammates in position to score much better than he has in the past..****

But still even now with his assist numbers at 4.3, which is excellent for Durant, they would be low in comparison with what the horribly selfish Kobe usually averages. Even Anthony has a higher career average and his years in the past for the most part were higher than Durant's in the past.

I just don't understand why when Durant leads the league in scoring people says he's great, he's the MVP, he is better than LeBron, etc.. But when Kobe or Melo lead the league in scoring they are shooting too much, too selfish, etc.

Aside from all of that I'm glad to see Durant improving as a guy who can make plays without scoring and as a guy who can actually play some defense without solely relying on his length. For a second he was starting to look more like a George Gervin type guy than he was a Michael Jordan type of guy. It's good to see the improvement in other areas from him.

[noah1212]

heres the difference. hes young, he doesnt have a complete game yet, thats why everyone likes him, people get mad at guys like melo because they had the natural ability to do it all, and didnt.

lebron is what happens when a player decides to do it all. But everyone hates him, which almost makes KD even more loved. How perfect, a player to dethrone the king when he is the most hated basketball icon in the history of the sport, and he is even at the same position, but he is a "family" guy.

of course people love him lol....

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by noah1212

heres the difference. hes young, he doesnt have a complete game yet, thats why everyone likes him, people get mad at guys like melo because they had the natural ability to do it all, and didnt. lebron is what happens when a player decides to do it all. But everyone hates him, which almost makes KD even more loved. How perfect, a player to dethrone the king when he is the most hated basketball icon in the history of the sport, and he is even at the same position, but he is a "family" guy. of course people love him lol....

See that's exactly what I'm talking about! You saying Melo had the chance to do it all and didn't.

Up until this season Durant numbers and play style have been Anthony-esque.. There is no arguing that fact. Yet people have went as far as labeling him the best player in the league while people like you basically consider Melo a failure. Makes no sense and is completely unfair to guys like Melo and Kobe and ridiculous that KD seems to be immune to criticism.

[BringTheHeat]

I love it because I completely agree. I get so sick of hearing about Kevin Durant and the Thunder in general. Now I will state that I am biased against everything about the Thunder because I do live here in West OKC and hear about them every single day.

Here's my evaluation on Durant

Pros: Terrific scorer, top 3 in the league; Good rebounder; Clutch; Can shoot the 3 extremely well; Has a cool head/doesn't get out of the game; good handles for his size

Cons: Too small; Not a good defender; Not a great passer/lacks court vision; No post game, at his size he should have one; Not aggressive enough, as much as I hate Westbrook, part of the blame goes to KD for not stepping and being the leader and the voice on the team, he doesn't demand the ball like Kobe or Melo or even LeBron

Durant is a fan favorite due to a number of reasons, OKC is a winning team, he's a "quiet" guy, he's a great scorer and fans love scoring, he's young.

Now, onto the LeBron thing, I agree 100%. LeBron has won alot of people over since winning the ring, but there's still many who hate him and want to see him fail, and Durant is the perfect person to cheer for. He's not viewed as the selfish narcissist that LeBron is.

And I'm kind of indifferent on Durant being selfish, he is selfish to an extent, but with his scoring efficiency I think he needs to be MORE selfish. He should be taking around 21 shots per game if you ask me. But I completely see where you're coming from with all the hate for Kobe and Melo. Kobe gets it worse than anyone.

So basically, I agree with everything you said but take it with a grain of salt because I live here and hate the Thunder.

[ojandpizza]

It's not that I'm saying there is anything wrong with the way Durant plays. He shoots when he has the ball. Most scorers do. The same type of play you see from Melo, Kobe, Wade, and others.

It's just like he's the exception to the rule when it comes to the criticism.

Even Monta Ellis was getting the selfish label last season. People were saying he would make the Bucks worse. Yet Bucks fans, or those who watched many of their games would be able to tell you that they improved when Ellis arrived. And I don't have the stats in front of me but I'm pretty sure he led all SGs in assists. But still at the seasons end he was getting the selfish labels.

[ojandpizza]

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[BringTheHeat]

Quote: Originally Posted by ojandpizza

It's not that I'm saying there is anything wrong with the way Durant plays. He shoots when he has the ball. Most scorers do. The same type of play you see from Melo, Kobe, Wade, and others. It's just like he's the exception to the rule when it comes to the criticism. Even Monta Ellis was getting the selfish label last season. People were saying he would make the Bucks worse. Yet Bucks fans, or those who watched many of their games would be able to tell you that they improved when Ellis arrived. And I don't have the stats in front of me but I'm pretty sure he led all SGs in assists. But still at the seasons end he was getting the selfish labels.

Do you think he needs to demand it more? There's no way Westbrook should be taking more shots than KD on a regular basis IMO.

I agree that he's a great player, I just don't like the fact that he can do no wrong in the eyes of most people. Especially when these same people are all over Melo and Kobe about being selfish.

[ojandpizza]

Quote: Originally Posted by BringTheHeat

Do you think he needs to demand it more? There's no way Westbrook should be taking more shots than KD on a regular basis IMO. I agree that he's a great player, I just don't like the fact that he can do no wrong in the eyes of most people. Especially when these same people are all over Melo and Kobe about being selfish.

It's tough to say. I like the way he's playing this season better than he has in the past. His slightly lower shot attempts have given a nice boost to his assist numbers. But with his efficiency scoring I could see where somebody would want him to shoot more.

One of my good friends is a die hard OKC guy and he's actually the one who pointed it out to me. But at times last season Durant was beginning to have many Kobe-like stretches of games. Where he would just shoot and shoot and shoot. I personally favor his style now. As long as he is in the 17-20ish ball park I think he's fine.

Maybe Russ should average a couple shots less per game instead of Durant a couple more? I'm actually fine with Russ putting up the shots as long as he is still giving them those 9 assists per game.

He has the ball in his hand a lot of the time and many of his shots come from the quick transition shots. Part of why, if not the main reason his percentages aren't great.

But I think coach Brooks wants him doing that, they like to score quick and their size and athleticism increases their chances to snag offensive rebounds if Russ misses those shots. Especially since he's often taking them before the defense has a chance to get set.