Kevin Durant

[dossier]

This is a guy I don't much about. Sadly, I havn't been able to watch college games to see what he's about. All I know is he has immense potential and can shoot very well.

What I would like to know is, what player category does he fall under? how high is his potential? and I would also like to to know who you guys think he will be best compared to when he reaches his prime?

[tyronebiggums35]

Re: Kevin Durant

This is a guy I don't much about. Sadly, I havn't been able to watch college games to see what he's about. All I know is he has immense potential and can shoot very well.

What I would like to know is, what player category does he fall under? how high is his potential? and I would also like to to know who you guys think he will be best compared to when he reaches his prime?

I believe he is a big sf(t mac)/small pf (ex: kg). He has the potential to be one of the top 10 players in the NBA. I believe he will be compared with KG

[dossier]

Re: Kevin Durant

That's weird cause I was under the impression he never had his back to the basket

[ex carrabba fan]

Kevin Durant

Durant to me is a tough one. I know everyone is on his jock, but I never really saw the HOF potential. Could be completely wrong obviously, but I'm just saying I don't see it.

He's got range [not yet known if he has NBA range, but he had college range], handles, and is really long. I don't know, I think he's going to be fine in the league, I just don't see him dominating.

[dossier]

Re: Kevin Durant

To give me an idea, who do you compare him to?

[Gibbz]

Re: Kevin Durant

To give me an idea, who do you compare him to?

McGrady, except he plays inside more.

[dossier]

Re: Kevin Durant

No chance of him being a Top 50 player?

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: Kevin Durant

That's been the question since the first game he played at Texas. He's definitely got that T-Mac style to his game.. but T-Mac was once one of the best athletes in the entire league. Durant is no slouch, but he's not going to jump over you and dunk the ball. They have similar styles when it comes to handling the ball and overall I think he plays a lot like T-Mac. In terms of choosing to shoot the ball from the outside.

I also see a little bit of these players:
Antwan Jamison- The player that is a real tweener. Kind of just floats. It's hard to explain, but I see a lot of Jamison in Durant.
Joe Johnson- I think Durant has better handles and can get to the rim and finish better than Johnson. But they sort of have similar styles as well.

I really don't see K.G. at all to all the people who always say K.G. Durant was bred in the Kobe/T-Mac mold. When K.G. came out I'm pretty sure he was somewhat of a post player although I could be mistaken. Don't get me wrong, Durant can play down there and probably over time will be strong enough to be effective, but I have a feeling he's going to play exactly like Carmelo/T-Mac do.

[demencia_total]

Re: Kevin Durant

I think the problem with comparing Kevin Durant is that there isn't anyone quite like him. He's about 6'9-10, he plays on the perimeter, but has a back to the basket game in the post that puts to shame a lot of big men, and he can handle like a Kobe/Tmac type. He plays defense (although he stills need to work on some fundamentals, but what rookie doesn't?) and offensively he has unlimited potential with his arsenal of moves. And when I say unlimited potential, what I mean is, he could easily average 30 points a game and shoot a high percentage, although it might take him a few years to reach that level.

He is a great athlete, even though he isn't as high flying as say Kobe Bryant, but he can still get up and dunk over people. I don't really get why people keep saying that they don't see his potential, because if you watched him at Texas on a regular basis, all of this was apparent in almost every game he played. He doesn't take a night off, and for playing with a coach who seemed reluctant to call plays to get him the ball constantly, he would still score quite a lot, and easily.

Could he end up being a bust? I seriously doubt it, because he's that type of guy who has that fire in him, that even if he didn't realize his full potential, he would just keep working relentlessly towards it. When you hear him talk, you see a mild mannered and sometimes shy kid. When you see him play, he's a beast. He needs to bulk up a bit though, since he's pretty skinny like when Garnett came into the league. That's the only negative I see in him. I am convinced he will be one of those "one of a kind" players that will set a standard and he'll be a superstar for years to come.

[Flyboy]

Re: Kevin Durant

To give me an idea, who do you compare him to?

Dirk except with more of an inside game and athleticism.

[ex carrabba fan]

Re: Kevin Durant

Not that this really matters, but just for the sake of discussion, I've NEVER seen him go up and dunk over someone or made a play above the rim where I've said 'WOW'. Someone youtube one or something on here.

When T-Mac first came into the league, he would routinely play above the rim. My point was that Durant plays really similar to Mac, but without the jaw dropping athleticism. Durant however is an exceptional athlete for his size.

[bigeastbumrush]

Re: Kevin Durant

I don't know how the regular season will play out, but Durant was getting bodied pretty easily in the summer leagues.

He'll benefit from more calls and mor and-1 opportunities during the regular season. But he seemed to stick to the jumpshot when he got pushed around.

They need to make him play inside-out first. He's so tall that with his back to the basket and some hangtime, he can shoot right over people.

But if they have him playing the perimeter early in games, I can see him struggling.

Jeff Green will have a great year.

[edubbs]

Re: Kevin Durant

To give me an idea, who do you compare him to?

Rashard Lewis except with better handles, and a better competitive streak.......

[thelwig14]

Re: Kevin Durant

Closest thing to Dirk there has ever been. But mainly, he is a combination of Dirk and McGrady. The comparison to KG is laughable. Durant is nothing like KG except that they are tall, skinny, and black.

[Sedihawk2K5]

Re: Kevin Durant

Not that this really matters, but just for the sake of discussion, I've NEVER seen him go up and dunk over someone or made a play above the rim where I've said 'WOW'. Someone youtube one or something on here.

When T-Mac first came into the league, he would routinely play above the rim. My point was that Durant plays really similar to Mac, but without the jaw dropping athleticism. Durant however is an exceptional athlete for his size.

I would say that, if you want to learn about Durant, this is required viewing:

http://videos.utexasclan.com/view.php?id=1071

Give the highlight a chance to play, there are some amazing things he does further into the clip. He throws down a dunk at 3:59 vs. LSU that is quite impressive!

He's a hard one to peg, because we haven't seen a kid his size do the things he can do. Remember, this was a true FROSH doing these things. You don't win the Naismith and be the consensus POY in the NCAA if you aren't the real thing. You should hear what Bobby Knight had to say about him after he lit up Tech for 37 and 23 boards.