Kevin Durant Longhorn Legend

[satyanash 15355]

Off night for KD, but he still finishes with 29 points to lead all scorers for GS. KD has exactly matched scores with Harden so far in the series.

 

[ztejas 44114]

11 minutes ago, satyanash said:

Off night for KD, but he still finishes with 29 points to lead all scorers for GS. KD has exactly matched scores with Harden so far in the series.

 

Something I've noticed with him the past couple of years is that even on his misses, a lot of times there are 2-3 guys paying attention to what Durant is doing inside the arc instead of looking to box out for the rebound. Golden State had 18 offensive rebounds tonight and I bet 7 of them were off Durant misses. I counted at least 4 during the plays that I was watching. He punishes you for anything you try and do to defend him, and is doing so more consistently and efficiently than ever right now. 

GS's roster really isn't that loaded anymore past their big 4 - and even then, Curry is not quite the offensive threat he has been in years past and Draymond can't hit a 3 to save his life. Durant played 44 minutes tonight in a non-OT game and played very good defense - regardless of who your teammates are that is lifting a heavy load. 

Maybe the first ring they won with Durant was a cakewalk (obligatory fuck Zaza) but this one certainly isn't. They need him more than ever and he is without a doubt their most important piece. 

[Barry_McCokiner 160]

Quote

https://www.facebook.com/undisputedonfs1/videos/408472676667733/

https://www.facebook.com/TheHerd/videos/416324422480564/

[Blotto 23974]

22 hours ago, ztejas said:

Something I've noticed with him the past couple of years is that even on his misses, a lot of times there are 2-3 guys paying attention to what Durant is doing inside the arc instead of looking to box out for the rebound. Golden State had 18 offensive rebounds tonight and I bet 7 of them were off Durant misses. I counted at least 4 during the plays that I was watching. He punishes you for anything you try and do to defend him, and is doing so more consistently and efficiently than ever right now. 

GS's roster really isn't that loaded anymore past their big 4 - and even then, Curry is not quite the offensive threat he has been in years past and Draymond can't hit a 3 to save his life. Durant played 44 minutes tonight in a non-OT game and played very good defense - regardless of who your teammates are that is lifting a heavy load. 

Maybe the first ring they won with Durant was a cakewalk (obligatory fuck Zaza) but this one certainly isn't. They need him more than ever and he is without a doubt their most important piece. 

I don't buy that. His scoring average is the 2nd highest of his career, and only 3 pts lower than his best season, a season where he didn't have Durant taking shots in the offense.

[ztejas 44114]

11 hours ago, Blotto said:

I don't buy that. His scoring average is the 2nd highest of his career, and only 3 pts lower than his best season, a season where he didn't have Durant taking shots in the offense.

In the regular season, yes. In the playoffs Durant is outscoring him by 11 ppg and their ast numbers are basically identical. The gulf in their offensive production right now is much higher than it ever was in either direction in their past two title runs. 

[Hate 20232]

Durant has also taken 51 more shots this postseason or about 6 more shots a game.  Even if Curry took those 6 more shots a game as 2 pointers only, his shooting % suggest that he would score about the same as Durant. 

[Patrick Bateman 3966]

21 minutes ago, Hate said:

Durant has also taken 51 more shots this postseason or about 6 more shots a game.  Even if Curry took those 6 more shots a game as 2 pointers only, his shooting % suggest that he would score about the same as Durant. 

If you mean 5 less points, then yes.  Give him a 3 pointer in those shots and it's still 4 points.  Curry's still shooting beautifully and has all season.  The difference is in defense and always will be.  Offensively, Curry's still a force.

 

 

[Hate 20232]

Yeah, sorry. The Tylenol 3 is still in my brain.

[ztejas 44114]

54 minutes ago, Hate said:

Durant has also taken 51 more shots this postseason or about 6 more shots a game.  Even if Curry took those 6 more shots a game as 2 pointers only, his shooting % suggest that he would score about the same as Durant. 

But he isn't shooting those shots and thus not scoring the same. And shooting %s typically don't stay the same with an increase in volume. 11 ppg is a lot. 

It's not like Durant is ballhogging or taking high % looks away from Curry. 

[zork 629]

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Kevin-Durant-was-derided-for-taking-easy-path-13817756.php

[52-80 19379]

https://m.sfgate.com/warriors/article/Guy-Fieri-Kevin-Durant-free-agency-Warriors-2019-13798997.php

 

Literally the worst endorsement he can ever have

[Patrick Bateman 3966]

52 minutes ago, zork said:

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Kevin-Durant-was-derided-for-taking-easy-path-13817756.php

This is an outstanding and fair assessment or opinion from the outside of Kevin Durant.  Some insight:

Quote

Durant enjoys the riches of being a great basketball player, but if you took them away, he's one person that I guarantee would still be consumed by the game. He just tolerates the fame, or more accurately, he tolerates the conditions we place on fame.

In some respects, he's an anti-superstar in the same way that Tim Duncan was, but Durant is much more of a people-pleaser. He can be high-maintenance, too, but that need to please gets him in trouble the most. He wants to be approachable and accommodating, and in return, he wants to be given a break. Celebrity doesn't really work that way. So when the speculation and criticism reach an intolerable level, he turns surly. He seems angry, but it's more like he feels betrayed. He retreats within himself. And then he returns as a nice guy again.

Sometimes, we read Durant improperly because we're evaluating him through traditional basketball logic. He doesn't live by that code, however. For instance, his controversial decision in 2016 to join the 73-win Warriors was portrayed as a ring-collecting mission. He cheated the system, supposedly, because he couldn't win one on his own. He wanted the easy way out. In reality, his motivations were to find joy, to play a better style of basketball and to move to a bigger city for the life experience and for the business opportunities.

 

[Hate 20232]

He could have found joy in New York, Chicago, or many other great US cities that have the “culture” he apparently craved. He also could have dictated the terms to any of those organizations as far as what the team culture was going to be and the style of basketball they would play. He could have been the spoke of the wheel and drawn free agents to him to ring chase and be lauded for helping to create a championship culture like Tim Duncan was. Instead he chose to go to the team they that had come off of one championship and the greatest regular season in the history of the league. The same team that he and his team had down 3-1 and couldn’t finish off. Frame it anyway you want to frame it, but he took the easy way to rings and made himself so much less interesting than he could have been.

[PilotsError 2342]

There's not ONE of you motherfuckers who would have gone to the fucking Knicks over the Warriors.  Not one.

Shut the fuck up.

[aggie08 21733]

2 minutes ago, PilotsError said:

There's not ONE of you motherfuckers who would have gone to the fucking Knicks over the Warriors.  Not one.

Shut the fuck up.

I always seek out the worst possible management and coworkers when I'm looking for new career opportunities. You know, just for the fun of a challenge.

[Goo Punch 4275]

to this day nobody who criticizes his decision -or worse, actually  hates him for it- can come up with a single viable alternative for KD. then again i've found the average NBA fan to be the least-educated fans when it comes to the sport they follow, so par for the course here. everyone has an opinion on the NBA, but very few NBA fans actually know what they're talking about at all, which I've found to be dissimilar to fans of sports like baseball, soccer, hockey, and even football. 

 

Edited May 4, 2019 by Goo Punch

[aggie08 21733]

Boston was really the only other viable alternative at the time that would have met his well-coached, well-run contender in a business-friendly city while also satisfying most everyone's "not already established" vague requirement. I think they would have been able to bring in him and his good friend, Horford.

But I think people tend to overvalue Boston's free agent draw. 

[zork 629]

I love the way KD plays.  His natural gifts supplement his relentless training to give him an unmatched advantage over everyone in the league.  He can shoot as well as anyone, ever, matched with his size and arm/overall length.

He did his best while relegated to the outpost in Oklahoma and then got out as soon as he reasonably could.  That shows sanity to go along with the traits previously mentioned in short paragraph above.

Regardless of the choice he made on where to go, he has absolutely played at the highest level since that decision.  Making my fanbois status for him grow ever larger. /nohomo

He is a killer on the court.  Dagger thrower to the extreme when it matters as well as consistent defender and rebounder throughout.  

I am biased because I love players who came from UT.  KD could only have been better in my eyes if he had played more than one season for UT.  Hopefully he makes the right decision in the offseason.  Again, hopefully after another championship and MVP.

[satyanash 15355]

 

[satyanash 15355]

KD >>>>>> Curry. Let this game finally end the "debate".

This is KD's team. But please, cry more about how KD "joined a 73-win team!!?!" as if the regular-season record of a team that lost in the NBA Finals and wasn't the best that year is somehow meaningful.

Edited May 5, 2019 by satyanash

[satyanash 15355]

 

[BigOrange1 6607]

durant is quite obviously the best player in the world right now.  

[SDG 3335]

4 minutes ago, BigOrange1 said:

durant is quite obviously the best player in the world right now.  

Agreed, and it’s not debatable. 

 

The key ? Is next year.  

[victory88 5755]

It's insane that age 30, Durant is still improving as a player.  He hasn't peaked yet like Lebron did 2 years ago.  And because his skill set is so advanced and he doesn't have to rely on insane athleticism, he's going to be playing at this level for a few more years.  

[Dutchrudder 11228]

durant is quite obviously the best player in the world right now.  

Yup, but he ain't gonna get the credit while on the Warriors.

[satyanash 15355]

 

[housious 468]

The only way he makes up for his doucheness is if he signs with <my team>.

 

[victory88 5755]

31 minutes ago, Dutchrudder said:

1 hour ago, BigOrange1 said:

durant is quite obviously the best player in the world right now.  

Yup, but he ain't gonna get the credit while on the Warriors.

He finally is.  People are all talking about his dominance.

[ztejas 44114]

On 5/4/2019 at 11:17 PM, satyanash said:

 

He has a good chance of passing MJ when it's all said and done to sit with LeBron in the top 2. 

I don't think people really understand how prolific Durant's sustained greatness has been because he's been in LeBron's shadow his entire career. He's currently leading the playoffs in ppg for the FIFTH time in his career. He's 30 years old and you can already make a pretty easy argument he's a top 5 playoff scorer of all time. 

Look at this list, of players to record 3 or more 45 point games in a single playoffs:

1	Allen Iverson*	G	2000-01	5
2	Michael Jordan*	G	1989-90	5
3	LeBron James	F	2017-18	4
4	Jerry West*	G	1964-65	4
5	Elgin Baylor*	F	1960-61	3
6	Kevin Durant	F	2018-19	3
7	Michael Jordan*	G	1988-89	3
8	Michael Jordan*	G	1991-92	3

That's it. That's the entire list in NBA history. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

and he's doing so with two incredibly prolific scorers on his own team, and what's more, they actually need KD to play this way for them to win. 

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

13 minutes ago, ztejas said:

He has a good chance of passing MJ when it's all said and done to sit with LeBron in the top 2. 

Well, obviously being on this list is not just being a high scoring player but also going deep into the playoffs consistently.  So it really depends on where he plays for the remainder of his career.  If he stays with golden State the sure.  Anywhere else?  Not confident.

[ztejas 44114]

4 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

Well, obviously being on this list is not just being a high scoring player but also going deep into the playoffs consistently.  So it really depends on where he plays for the remainder of his career.  If he stays with golden State the sure.  Anywhere else?  Not confident.

Even if he leaves I'm not predicting a bunch of first round exits. If he keeps up his pace this season and they make the Finals he will only need about 70-80 more playoff games as a conservative estimate to catch Jordan. That's like 4 deep runs or 6 second round/conference Finals runs which he probably has in him. Depends on how much his scoring slows down as he ages. 

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

8 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Even if he leaves I'm not predicting a bunch of first round exits

What are the teams hes rumored to be interested in?  Knicks? Brooklyn? Spurs?  😀

[Patrick Bateman 3966]

Watching Golden State is interesting.  KD is playing extremely well yet the Warriors aren't dominant.  They're very good, but not dominant and it's because the other two offensive guys have become extremely inconsistent and they're one of the thinnest teams in the playoffs.  Draymond has actually raised his game in the playoffs, played really well and has arguably been the 2nd best player this run.  Also, you can see the Warriors have no bench.  Iggy is still bringing it which at his age is incredible but Klay continues to recede.  He'll score 40 one of these games and everyone will forget that his playoff PER is 12.3 right now.  His WS/48 .058.  That's gross.  Both are lower than league average, and this guy wants a max contract? 

I get that their big bench advantage was supposed to be Cousins but Shaun Livingston (a huge contributor to their first 3 runs) looks totally done.  Jordan Bell who was considered a draft day steal and supposed to take the next step this year looks like he's stepping out of the organization.  Quinn Cook?  Alfonzo McKinnie?  Stiffs.  You could sign any other G league star and get their production.  They're actually really lucky Bogut wanted to come back but he doesn't really work or matchup in the Houston series except to match up with Capela.  I'm getting a real Miami 2014 feel from them.  Maxing out Klay or Draymond or both is going to make it even tougher.  Personally, I think we've come to the end of the Warriors run unless they can somehow get an infusion of youth thru the draft or steal someone in a trade.  Curry is still great, he simply is inconsistent in crunch time, but KD is carrying them, which is ironic as as his detractors will erroneously claim he came to the Bay area for the free ride.  Again, the Warriors win 0 more titles without KD with Barnes and Bogut/big guy signed.  If I had to bet Warriors or the field even if KD comes back next year, it's easily the field. 

 

 

[ztejas 44114]

11 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

What are the teams hes rumored to be interested in?  Knicks? Brooklyn? Spurs?  😀

Brooklyn recently came up as a rumor, but I would take this one from Vegas for the time being (for 2020 NBA champions):

TEAM	OPENED
Warriors	175
Bucks	450
Celtics	700
Rockets	1000
Sixers	1000
Clippers	1600
Knicks	1600
Lakers	2000
Raptors	2000
Nuggets	2500
Thunder	2500
Nets	3000

 

[Hate 20232]

Watching Golden State is interesting.  KD is playing extremely well yet the Warriors aren't dominant.  They're very good, but not dominant and it's because the other two offensive guys have become extremely inconsistent and they're one of the thinnest teams in the playoffs.  Draymond has actually raised his game in the playoffs, played really well and has arguably been the 2nd best player this run.  Also, you can see the Warriors have no bench.  Iggy is still bringing it which at his age is incredible but Klay continues to recede.  He'll score 40 one of these games and everyone will forget that his playoff PER is 12.3 right now.  His WS/48 .058.  That's gross.  Both are lower than league average, and this guy wants a max contract? 
I get that their big bench advantage was supposed to be Cousins but Shaun Livingston (a huge contributor to their first 3 runs) looks totally done.  Jordan Bell who was considered a draft day steal and supposed to take the next step this year looks like he's stepping out of the organization.  Quinn Cook?  Alfonzo McKinnie?  Stiffs.  You could sign any other G league star and get their production.  They're actually really lucky Bogut wanted to come back but he doesn't really work or matchup in the Houston series except to match up with Capela.  I'm getting a real Miami 2014 feel from them.  Maxing out Klay or Draymond or both is going to make it even tougher.  Personally, I think we've come to the end of the Warriors run unless they can somehow get an infusion of youth thru the draft or steal someone in a trade.  Curry is still great, he simply is inconsistent in crunch time, but KD is carrying them, which is ironic as as his detractors will erroneously claim he came to the Bay area for the free ride.  Again, the Warriors win 0 more titles without KD with Barnes and Bogut/big guy signed.  If I had to bet Warriors or the field even if KD comes back next year, it's easily the field. 
 
 

We don’t know that at all. They were coming off the greatest regular season in league history and should have won the second of back to back titles that year. What if they continue to build around Curry, Klay, and Green and used the Durant money to rebuild their bench?? We’ll never know, but to say they don’t win another title is silly.

[Patrick Bateman 3966]

5 minutes ago, Hate said:

 

We don’t know that at all. They were coming off the greatest regular season in league history and should have won the second of back to back titles that year. What if they continue to build around Curry, Klay, and Green and used the Durant money to rebuild their bench?? We’ll never know, but to say they don’t win another title is silly.

 

We can't know anything for sure, but based on what management said and the fact they offered Barnes a huge deal earlier in the season, they pretty much made their intent known.  The reporting is clear, their intent was to resign Barnes if they struck out on KD.  

[Johnny Sack 8397]

On ‎4‎/‎28‎/‎2019 at 10:13 PM, Hate said:

But he never won a title on his own and never will.

Who cares?  He's been the best player on a Golden State team that has won two.

[Goo Punch 4275]

all of the best teams were stacked. the 80's Celtics had, what, five for six HOFers on the team? The Showtime Lakers were stacked; Jordan's Bulls had two of the best 10 or so players in the league, an all time great coach, and role players like Steve Kerr, Horace Grant, and Dennis Rodman. The Lakers has Kobe and Shaq; the Heat had D Wade and Shaq; the Spurs don't fit the prototype to a T, but then again they're only the New England Patriots of basketball- best coach, best front office, best drafts, best trades, best FA signings, best all around team. Hell- the 76ers has some teams in the 80's that didn't win it all that featured Dr.J, Moses Malone, Chuck, Mo Cheeks, Bobby Jones, etc. Bottom line- teams that play for it all are stacked. It's always been that way. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by Goo Punch

[Huckleberry 34407]

1 hour ago, Johnny Sack said:

Who cares?  He's been the best player on a Golden State team that has won two.

Posters who are still butthurt that he didn't sign with their team, that's who. In this particular case, that's San Antonio.

[Pam Cummings 9823]

Durant is insane but you'd be a fool to not credit the fact that he plays alongside 2 all time great shooters that nobody wants to double off of...

Edited May 6, 2019 by Pam Cummings

[ztejas 44114]

35 minutes ago, Pam Cummings said:

Durant is insane but you'd be a fool to not credit the fact that he plays alongside 2 all time great shooters that nobody wants to double off of...

Every team remaining has multiple elite 3 point shooters save MAYBE Philly. And it's not like Klay and Curry are tearing it up right now. Durant has outscored the two of them combined through 3 games in this series. 

i.e. I don't care who he's playing with you'd be a fool not to credit him for scoring at a record-breaking pace through 9 games on off the charts efficiency. 

Edited May 6, 2019 by ztejas

[Pam Cummings 9823]

24 minutes ago, ztejas said:

Every team remaining has multiple elite 3 point shooters save MAYBE Philly. And it's not like Klay and Curry are tearing it up right now. Durant has outscored the two of them combined through 3 games in this series. 

i.e. I don't care who he's playing with you'd be a fool not to credit him for scoring at a record-breaking pace through 9 games on off the charts efficiency. 

He is the best scorer of all time. But i really think what teams are doing is bottling up everything Curry and Thompson try to do and make Kevin Durant beat them with his scoring/make Draymond beat them with his playmaking. Which they can and will do.

 

Basically what I'm saying is that Curry and Thompson, despite what the stats say about them performing poorly, command a lot of attention with what they do off the ball.

[C-Man 27685]

1 hour ago, Huckleberry said:

Posters who are still butthurt that he didn't sign with their team, that's who. In this particular case, that's San Antonio.

No we're more pissed-off at Kawhi, who was drafted and developed in-house, for bailing the way he did.

[Sweetnsourpoke 171]

Kind of a pointless post but I noticed something kind of interesting to me.

I recently got back from a 6-week trip to India, Thailand and Japan. As an NBA fan, I paid particular attention to the black-market NBA jersey shops and NBA fanwear.

I noticed lots of people from China, Thailand, Europe, Australia, etc. wearing NBA stuff. But I only noticed the following jerseys in large numbers...

Jordan, James, Curry, Irving, Harden, Westbrook with some Greek freak, Kobe and Embiid. In the entire 6 weeks, I did not notice one product for Kevin Durant.

How in the world is Durant - arguably the best player in the world right now - playing second fiddle to these other players? When I was working in Thailand in 2014, Durant Thunder jerseys were pretty common in Asia. It's like the guy has taken a big step back despite the rings. What's going on here? 

[Hate 20232]

People realized he took the easy way to rings and saw through his tough guy bullshit persona and lost respect for him....that is a lot of people other than Longhorn fans who will cheer for former Longhorns no matter what, which is fine.

 

[Vic Mackey 47846]

Kind of a pointless post but I noticed something kind of interesting to me.
I recently got back from a 6-week trip to India, Thailand and Japan. As an NBA fan, I paid particular attention to the black-market NBA jersey shops and NBA fanwear.
I noticed lots of people from China, Thailand, Europe, Australia, etc. wearing NBA stuff. But I only noticed the following jerseys in large numbers...
Jordan, James, Curry, Irving, Harden, Westbrook with some Greek freak, Kobe and Embiid. In the entire 6 weeks, I did not notice one product for Kevin Durant.
How in the world is Durant - arguably the best player in the world right now - playing second fiddle to these other players? When I was working in Thailand in 2014, Durant Thunder jerseys were pretty common in Asia. It's like the guy has taken a big step back despite the rings. What's going on here? 

Everyone knows those rings hold no real value to anyone. Hell even Durant knows they are cheap. Hence why he may go elsewhere to try and repair his image. As long as he's at Golden St, he can win 10 rings in a row and 10 Finals MVP and no one will care. He will always be seen as the guy who needed to go to GSW to join the big bully he could never beat. Even if he does make them drastically better, that isn't what public perception is for many. Durant knows that. That's why his attitude and persona are different now. It's like he's mad at the world and this decision to to GSW is why.

He was likable while at OKC. Like LeBron was at Cleveland his first time with them. Both of them became the villain when they switched teams, warranted or not.

Joining a 73 win team that beat you in the WCF and had a 3-1 lead in the Finals is chicken shit to many. He will never repair his image at GSW.

[Huckleberry 34407]

lulz

[Patrick Bateman 3966]

32 minutes ago, Sweetnsourpoke said:

Kind of a pointless post but I noticed something kind of interesting to me.

I recently got back from a 6-week trip to India, Thailand and Japan. As an NBA fan, I paid particular attention to the black-market NBA jersey shops and NBA fanwear.

I noticed lots of people from China, Thailand, Europe, Australia, etc. wearing NBA stuff. But I only noticed the following jerseys in large numbers...

Jordan, James, Curry, Irving, Harden, Westbrook with some Greek freak, Kobe and Embiid. In the entire 6 weeks, I did not notice one product for Kevin Durant.

How in the world is Durant - arguably the best player in the world right now - playing second fiddle to these other players? When I was working in Thailand in 2014, Durant Thunder jerseys were pretty common in Asia. It's like the guy has taken a big step back despite the rings. What's going on here? 

He's still #8 worldwide last year.  He was #3 in 2017.  I don't think he has much to worry about.

https://www.nba.com/article/2019/04/25/top-merchandise-jersey-sales-2018-19-season-official-release

https://www.nba.com/article/2018/04/17/stephen-curry-golden-state-warriors-lead-most-popular-merchandise-list-2017-18

[Sweetnsourpoke 171]

Yeah, I noticed he was #8 prior to posting......which is still surprising considering his greatness.