Durant has a quick stroke, his release is a bit low, but still better than Lebron's slightly lean back stroke, because he's 6-9, this low release wouldn't be a problem. 8 out of 10 times he would drive left, his post up moves are fairly basic. Again, it's still to early to look at the look at their potentials, but if his college stuff are not that impressive, to even think that he's ready to go is ridiculous.
lebron's problem is that he's never on balance. ever. but he has a very pure stroke. its crazy to see lebron fading or drifting on shots when nobody is within 5 feet of him. you hit the nail on the head with durant. its a strange, low release that sometimes knuckles and sometimes 'sidewinds'. he doesnt get good rotation on the ball. obviously portland/seattle will have someone working with him to correct it and it shouldnt be too much of an issue. but durant isnt a pure shooter by any stretch. he's CAPABLE of knocking some 3s down, but i dont think he has consistent nba range the way, say, tracy mcgrady does.
trust me im not personally attacking you by any stretch. unfortunately, on a message board its hard to show good natured banter. but what the heck are you watching with kevin durant? hes jumper is screwy as hell. hes an athletic freak who is incredibly versatile. but his shot needs a lot of work and id be surprised if he shot > 32% from the 3pt line next year. adam morrison was a great shooter in college who was barely above 30% as a rookie. nothing wrong with disagreeing with me. no offense taken. and certainly respect your opinion. but dont see quite where youre coming from. durant is not a great shooter. he is a scorer.
Don't worry, I know you're a good guy and wouldn't take a disagreement personally. I'm normally on the same side of argument's with you. But I really disagree here. Durant has a natural effortless stroke from my view, the shot lacks arc, but so does Bryant and McGrady, and they've done ok. A front office person from the Blazers was on a local radio show today and claimed Durant hit 19 contested jumpers in a row during their workout, said it was the most impressive workout he's ever witnessed.
After saying all this, I still believe Oden is the easy top pick, but Seattle will be getting a hell of a player.
After saying all this, I still believe Oden is the easy top pick, but Seattle will be getting a hell of a player.
DURANT IS PANNING OUT --
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...articleid=1226524&srvc=sports&position=recent
ATLANTA — Kevin Durant scored 29 points, Jeff Green had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder ended the Atlanta Hawks’ three-game winning streak with a 94-91 victory Monday.
Oklahoma City improved to 15-4 against the Eastern Conference.
Durant made his first 14 free-throw attempts before his 15th bounced off the rim in the final seconds. Atlanta’s Josh Smith called timeout in mid-air after grabbing the rebound.
Durant, who began the game with a 29.1 scoring average that ranked third in the NBA, didn’t score 30 points for the first time in six games.
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...articleid=1226524&srvc=sports&position=recent
ATLANTA — Kevin Durant scored 29 points, Jeff Green had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder ended the Atlanta Hawks’ three-game winning streak with a 94-91 victory Monday.
Oklahoma City improved to 15-4 against the Eastern Conference.
Durant made his first 14 free-throw attempts before his 15th bounced off the rim in the final seconds. Atlanta’s Josh Smith called timeout in mid-air after grabbing the rebound.
Durant, who began the game with a 29.1 scoring average that ranked third in the NBA, didn’t score 30 points for the first time in six games.
Good game Kevin last night!!!
OKLAHOMA CITY — With two NBA scoring titles to his credit, it seemed inevitable that Kevin Durant would eventually hit the 50-point plateau.
He picked a historic night to do it.
Durant scored a career-best 51 points for the top performance in the NBA this season, Russell Westbrook added 40 and Serge Ibaka had his first career triple-double as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 124-118 in overtime Sunday night.
The Thunder trio became the first teammates in NBA history to put together a 50-point night, a 40-point complementary effort and a triple-double. No teammates had scored at least 40 points apiece since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did it for Chicago in 1996, and Denver's Kiki Vandeweghe and Alex English back in a 1983 triple-overtime game were the last tandem to go for 50 and 40.
"Unbelievable," Oklahoma City's James Harden said. "That's probably one of the best regular-season games that I've played in since I've been here, or the best.
"Kevin had 50, Russell had 40 and Serge had a triple-double. What else can you say?"
OKLAHOMA CITY — With two NBA scoring titles to his credit, it seemed inevitable that Kevin Durant would eventually hit the 50-point plateau.
He picked a historic night to do it.
Durant scored a career-best 51 points for the top performance in the NBA this season, Russell Westbrook added 40 and Serge Ibaka had his first career triple-double as the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Denver Nuggets 124-118 in overtime Sunday night.
The Thunder trio became the first teammates in NBA history to put together a 50-point night, a 40-point complementary effort and a triple-double. No teammates had scored at least 40 points apiece since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen did it for Chicago in 1996, and Denver's Kiki Vandeweghe and Alex English back in a 1983 triple-overtime game were the last tandem to go for 50 and 40.
"Unbelievable," Oklahoma City's James Harden said. "That's probably one of the best regular-season games that I've played in since I've been here, or the best.
"Kevin had 50, Russell had 40 and Serge had a triple-double. What else can you say?"
[h=1]Celtics meet with Greg Oden[/h]
Updated: February 3, 2013, 4:34 PM ET
<cite class="source"> By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com</cite>
The Boston Celtics met with free-agent center Greg Oden on Saturday, according to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
The meeting comes as the injury-riddled Oden intensifies his search for a team with the goal of returning to the NBA next season. Ainge confirmed the exploratory meeting.
[h=4]More on the Celtics[/h]
Keep on top of the Green throughout the season with ESPNBoston.com's Chris Forsberg. Blog
• Send Chris a question
The Celtics were not previously believed to be a strong candidate for Oden's services, but Saturday's meeting suggests otherwise.
San Antonio, New Orleans, Charlotte, Indiana and Dallas have been monitoring the rehab of Oden and are in the running for his services, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard earlier this week.
Oden is preparing for a return to the NBA next season, with Miami and Cleveland earlier reported as the front-runner to land the 7-footer. Several clubs have been in touch with Oden's representatives about possibly signing him this year, according to league sources.
Oden, the first overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2007 draft, is expected to choose a team in the next three to four weeks, according to sources. He would not play, however, until the 2013-2014 season.
Oden is shuttling between Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, where he is rehabbing at Ohio State University. Knee injuries have limited Oden to only 82 career games. The 25-year-old underwent the Orthokine procedure championed by Kobe Bryant this past fall.
While most clubs are likely to offer Oden the league's minimum salary, clubs such as Cleveland, New Orleans and Charlotte could offer a much larger payday.
Updated: February 3, 2013, 4:34 PM ET
<cite class="source"> By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com</cite>
The Boston Celtics met with free-agent center Greg Oden on Saturday, according to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge.
The meeting comes as the injury-riddled Oden intensifies his search for a team with the goal of returning to the NBA next season. Ainge confirmed the exploratory meeting.
[h=4]More on the Celtics[/h]
• Send Chris a question
The Celtics were not previously believed to be a strong candidate for Oden's services, but Saturday's meeting suggests otherwise.
San Antonio, New Orleans, Charlotte, Indiana and Dallas have been monitoring the rehab of Oden and are in the running for his services, sources told ESPN The Magazine's Chris Broussard earlier this week.
Oden is preparing for a return to the NBA next season, with Miami and Cleveland earlier reported as the front-runner to land the 7-footer. Several clubs have been in touch with Oden's representatives about possibly signing him this year, according to league sources.
Oden, the first overall pick by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 2007 draft, is expected to choose a team in the next three to four weeks, according to sources. He would not play, however, until the 2013-2014 season.
Oden is shuttling between Indianapolis and Columbus, Ohio, where he is rehabbing at Ohio State University. Knee injuries have limited Oden to only 82 career games. The 25-year-old underwent the Orthokine procedure championed by Kobe Bryant this past fall.
While most clubs are likely to offer Oden the league's minimum salary, clubs such as Cleveland, New Orleans and Charlotte could offer a much larger payday.
Wow this is even crazier than the comments saying oden would be better "without injuries". Yeah and i'd be better if i was a foot taller.
if durant is the best "tall man" ever, that would put him ahead of kareem, wilt, russell - russell's 5mvps and 11 championships still aren't good enough lol
Have seen Oden play many times in high school. He was never that good to begin with. He was a legit athletic 7 footer playing against mostly unathletic 6'4" guys. That team he was on was loaded not only with conley but 3 or 4 other mid Division 1 players.
Not saying he sucked or anything like that but it was obvious to me, he was never going to be a franchise changer type of player. And he looked like he was in his mid 40's when he was a junior in high school.
Not saying he sucked or anything like that but it was obvious to me, he was never going to be a franchise changer type of player. And he looked like he was in his mid 40's when he was a junior in high school.
