Kevin Durant... Bird-esque shooter??

[crownsy]

so, we've moved from dirk to durant, huh? 

how many titles have those two won?

again, much like brick, what the hell does this have to do with anything anyone was discussing?

and so sorry durant didn't take the angry pickles to the finals in his first year, clearly that means a discusssion on how well he jump shoots is foolish and should be mocked.

get off the soap box people, were discussing a kids jumpshooting ability for god's sake, not his place as an all time great.

But i forgot, unless your going to make a completly negitive post, your not allowed to compare any player to another one who has had any success. my bad, didn't mean to break blog protocal. here, ill fix it.


/new post

that durant kid sucks, how many titles has he won compared to jordan!!!?!@>!?@!@ what a scrub!!!!11!


all better!

[SShorefan 4.0]

so, we've moved from dirk to durant, huh? 

how many titles have those two won?

How many did MJ have his first two years?  (Dirk's window is closed)

[POBstuntin]

Really the defense was a lot better back then?  Where do you people come up with these facts, just because you were allowed to hand check does not make the overall defense better.  Bird played in an era where points all across the league were at an all time high.  I swear people just harken back to the old days like they will  never be matched, the level of basketball now is as good or better than its ever been.  Durant at 20 is doing things we've never seen a 20 year old.  This is without any weight on his frame.  How can we say that a 20 year old isn't gonna put on weight, think about what you weighed when you were 20, the metabolism slows down and when that happens he'll be able to put on muscle. 

On league pass I make a point to watch a every thunder game I can because this kid is great.  Larry Bird, LeBron, Jordan, whoever it was would never lead the team he is on to the promise land.  In a couple of years the Thunder will be awesome if they keep getting better. 

Emerson Grad Presti has put together a squad, with cap space and draft picks to boot.  Durant is the real deal, if you don't think so you either don't watch the games or you are a hater.  His passing is getting better and he's rebounding the ball at a high rate since Brooks took over. 

I highly advise anyone that thinks the defense was better in the Bird era to watch some of those games, no one closes out in the first 3 quarters of a game and their are more fast break leak outs for easy buckets in a week then in a month in the current NBA.  If Durant was on the celtics right now, the guys on this blog would already be thinking about not just 18 or even 19 but 20,21,22....

[Roy Hobbs]

I think it's fair to say that Durant has the chance to be the best outside shooter ever among players 6'9" and over.  Larry was a career 37.6% three point shooter, and had a career high of 42.7%.  That makes him excellent, but not the best.

The game was a lot different then.  In '86 and '87, Larry led the league in three pointers made, with 82 and 90, respectively.  Those two seasons, *combined*, wouldn't put Larry in the top-80 all-time in most prolific seasons. 

Players today grow up shooting the three, and offenses are designed to accentuate it.  I think it's natural that today's players are going to be more familiar with it, and it's no surprise that today's three point shooters are sinking more shots, often at a higher percentage.

Of course, Durant is not the overall player that Larry was.  However, I think it's fair to say that Durant, as a pure shooter, is in Bird's class.

[celty86]

Kevin Durant is going to be the next dominant player in the NBA. Someone always comes along to follow the next guy.  In 4 or 5 years, Kobe will be 34 or 35 and out of the "best player discussion" with LeBron.  James will be 29 - 30 and in his prime. Durant will be 24 - 25. He is already a better shooter than James.  He will be an unstoppable offensive force in another 4 - 5 years, similar to MJ.  Durant is the guy that Ainge will try to move heaven and earth to get his hands on in 4 years.     

[LarBrd33]

Kevin Durant is going to be the next dominant player in the NBA. Someone always comes along to follow the next guy.  In 4 or 5 years, Kobe will be 34 or 35 and out of the "best player discussion" with LeBron.  James will be 29 - 30 and in his prime. Durant will be 24 - 25. He is already a better shooter than James.  He will be an unstoppable offensive force in another 4 - 5 years, similar to MJ.  Durant is the guy that Ainge will try to move heaven and earth to get his hands on in 4 years.     

I've only had a passing interest in the Sonics while I've lived in Seattle, but after watching this kid recently... I'd probably be buying a season ticket package to watch him if the team was still out here.  Kinda annoying when you think about it.  Apparently they could have forced the Sonics to stay here until 2010.  I wonder how many other oblivious Seattle sports fans would have jumped onto the Durant train when they realized how otherworldly this kid was going to be.  And supposedly if the city had forced them to finish their Key Arena lease, the owners likely would have had to sell the team (according to some articles I've read)... depressing

Again... not at all suggesting Durant is or will be on Bird's level.  But I think his shooting is Bird-esque already... and considering he's 20 years old... wow...   People were saying Bill Simmons was crazy when he suggested that Durant could peak at averaging 40 points.   I wouldn't really rule it out... (Kobe averaged 35.4 at age 27... and I'm thinking Durant might already be superior shooter)  ... It's going to be fun watching this kid evolve. 

Kevin Durant to Boston in 4 years? ... I'd freak

[orrzor]

Kevin Durant is going to be the next dominant player in the NBA. Someone always comes along to follow the next guy.  In 4 or 5 years, Kobe will be 34 or 35 and out of the "best player discussion" with LeBron.  James will be 29 - 30 and in his prime. Durant will be 24 - 25. He is already a better shooter than James.  He will be an unstoppable offensive force in another 4 - 5 years, similar to MJ.  Durant is the guy that Ainge will try to move heaven and earth to get his hands on in 4 years.     

I've only had a passing interest in the Sonics while I've lived in Seattle, but after watching this kid recently... I'd probably be buying a season ticket package to watch him if the team was still out here.  Kinda annoying when you think about it.  Apparently they could have forced the Sonics to stay here until 2010.  I wonder how many other oblivious Seattle sports fans would have jumped onto the Durant train when they realized how otherworldly this kid was going to be.  And supposedly if the city had forced them to finish their Key Arena lease, the owners likely would have had to sell the team (according to some articles I've read)... depressing

Again... not at all suggesting Durant is or will be on Bird's level.  But I think his shooting is Bird-esque already... and considering he's 20 years old... wow...   People were saying Bill Simmons was crazy when he suggested that Durant could peak at averaging 40 points.   I wouldn't really rule it out... (Kobe averaged 35.4 at age 27... and I'm thinking Durant might already be superior shooter)  ... It's going to be fun watching this kid evolve. 

Kevin Durant to Boston in 4 years? ... I'd freak

I really think the Durant sweepstakes in 2011 or 2012 is where it is at. I'm hoping most teams blow their cash over-paying for stars in 2010 leaving Danny the opportunity to free Durant from the Thunder.

[RebusRankin]

Hopefully they get him on TV more soon.

[Chief]

If we're talking just shooting, than he's close. But not in any other facet of the game. And that is what made Bird special. He was a great rebounder, a great passer, had a great work ethic, had a great basketball IQ, a great leader, and was a great shooter. Am I missing anything?

[EJPLAYA]

But, having watched two thunder games in the last month specificly just to see this kid, he is easily the best pure "shooter" ive seen come in the league in the last 5, mabey 10 years.

but if the larry comparision is to sacrted to even be mentioned without someone trying to make a maryter post about how its sacrilige to compare the two's shooting touch (which no one was doing in the first place) then how about we compare him to another great pure shooter to come into the league in ray allen?
[/quote]



JJ Redick is the best pure shooter to come out of college in the last 5-10 years by a long stretch. He just isn't quick enough to get it off against NBA players like he was in college. I think Dickie V said he thought he was the best shooter to come out in about 20 years recently... I would like to have Durant on my team long before JJ though. He is just a scorer. Got to love those.

[zerophase]

Well, people have to keep in mind that since the Thunder aren't good, no one is really preparing to play them all that much. Therefore, there haven't been any specific defensive schemes put into use against Durant. Once a team defense tries to really shut him down, then I want to see how he shoots.

[Casperian]

I know it´s pointless, and I´m more than happy with the way things turned out, but if we would´ve won the Lottery in 2007, and Danny picked Durant, that would be an incredible lineup:

Perkins
Jefferson
Durant
Mayo/Gordon/Bayless
Rondo

We probably would´ve traded the Captain in that case, and have another high Draft Pick in 2008.

[slam]

Durant is one of my two favorite non Celtics to watch in the NBA (Al Jefferson).  With the right circumstances, I could see him having broken a lot of scoring records when he retires.

I think the key for him is actually to not gain too much weight.

[LarBrd33]

Durant is one of my two favorite non Celtics to watch in the NBA (Al Jefferson).  With the right circumstances, I could see him having broken a lot of scoring records when he retires.

I think the key for him is actually to not gain too much weight.

That was the commentary that the Suns broadcast team had last night.  They said that Durant might never get "bigger", but he will definitely get "stronger".   Good point... he will probably always have a skinny frame, but will get tougher.

Didn't Reggie Miller refuse to lift weights, because he thought it would hurt his stroke or something?  hah

[Carhole]

potententially, Durant is a huge talent offensively. I have not seen many ,if any, players that can shoot the way he can from anywhere on the court.

now a question/comment...there is a lot of revisionist history here about defense played in the 80's. The defense that is played now is far more difficult to score against.

I lived it all the first time around and love the chance we get to watch it again on ESPNclassic to say that defense was tougher in the 80's is craziness. In 86 for example the league average was 110 pts per game and the league average field goal percentage was 49%. Lets be realistic, that game was much more free flowing and offensive minded shooting stats are inflated against numbers we see now for a number of reasons. They may have been allowed to "hand check" then but the physicality of the game now is equal if not greater and the rules now lend themselves to much better more complicated team defensive schemes.

Just as an added note about "shooting"
league ave for fts 1986 - .756 vs 2008 - .755
leave ave for 3pt% 1986 - .301 vs 2008 - .360