If you're comparing Adam Morrison's length and athleticism to Kevin Durant's length and athleticism, I'm going to assume you haven't seen Kevin Durant play very much. They're not even in the same universe.
The "above" aren't "facts". I'll echo The Cat; if you put Morrison and Durant's length or athleticism in the same country code, you probably haven't seen Durant play. Morrison averaged 5.5 rebounds, 1.1 steals, and .3 blocks in his senior. Durant averaged over 11 rebounds, 1.9 steals, and 1.9 blocks. It's not even close.
...You're probably going to look pretty bad when Durant actually enters the league. As for T-mac, even I pattern my game on his style; I'm a 5'8 point-forward BALLA. Too bad everytime I try passing from a double team, there is no double team. And I usually turn it over anyways...:/ If I had the height though, I could see myself trying to clone Mac, he just looks so smooth out there.
I don't know.... I have Oden pegged as the next Patrick Ewing (he's arguably having as good a year production wise as any of Ewing's four years) and it'd take a lot from Durant to make that look bad. As for Durant's supposed lack of the killer first step, plenty of swingmen have succeeded without. Iguodala is a guy who comes to mind; great overall athletic ability, but doesn't have an especially fast first step. He just needs to compensate with excellent body control and tighten up his ballhandling.
You guys act like being compared to Rashard Lewis is a bad thing. Durant is more like Lewis than T-Mac in that he can't handle the ball and isn't the playmaker that T-Mac is.
Not a horrible comparison, I'd say Kevin Durant is a rich rich man's Rashard Lewis. Durant's offensive game is much more diverse than Lewis's and Durant actually rebounds the ball and should be a great defender as time progresses. Durant has the T-Mac pterodactyl arms that will make things much easier on the defensive side as well as allow him to just shoot over people. Rashard's not a bad player at all but Durant just seems built to be so much better. He's already shown fundamental instincts like rebounding and weak side blocking that Lewis doesn't have.
No they didn't. Tracy McGrady's scouting report when he entered the draft included exceptional ball handling as a strength.
rashard lewis' game with the garnett length/freak factor is how i think of durant. does the lewis comparison also come up a lot b/c the way he shoots his 3's looks the same or is that just me? he seems to have lewis' 3 and release, a post up game like rashard, certainly doesn't have tmac's vision/creating ability/handles now nor the first step of the elite penetrating perimeter guys like kobe/tmac/wade/lebron (but who does?), has garnett's length and has shown a good knack for racking up the steals and blocks and should, after bulking up a little, be a pretty versatile defender capable of bugging sg's a little and holding pf/c down on occasion. where all that leaves him in the overall scheme of things i don't know. he's dominated college w/o a dominant first step or any muscle. he can get even with guys (which leaves you vulnerable to the second level of defense) but not by them (which puts the second level at your mercy). in the nba, the longer 3 makes the paint more open, the charge/block isn't automatically a charge like most college refs seem to think, and the handcheck rule should help for when he gets even with guys and they handcheck like they do in college. he won't be able to rebound with just his length as much and defenders will be more physical with him until he gets strong. either way, as long as he works hard, there's no reason he shouldn't be damn good. maybe oden will be better, maybe he won't, but you can't go wrong taking durant 1st or 2nd.
Rashard has no real floor game, Durant does. Rashard doesn't block shots, Durant does. Rashard has zero rebounding instincts, Durant has very good rebounding instincts. Rashard doesn't defend hard or block shots, Durant tries hard on defense AND he blocks shots. Durant seems more mobile and nimble while Rashard seems almost stiff in comparison. Durant is a far more versatile player. I think it's a poor comparison. A Tracy/KG hybrid player best describes Durant. He will never be the perimeter player Tracy is, but he's better than KG. I don't think he will have the post up game of KG has or rebound as well.
ok let me put it this way...saying is like lewis is like saying yao is like big z or rik smits or that VY = reggie mcneal. yes I am a UT fan but I am a sports fan too. watching durant is like watching a genius grow up. the guy is so young and so freaking good at EVERYTHING. yes his ballhandling needs more work and he needs to gain 15 to 20 lbs of muscle but outside of that he has no holes in his game. also, don't short change durant's vision and passing...he can be a great passer as well. I don't know if he'll get that first step to drive on anyone, but he can develop the step to shoot over anyone. the guy can come in and be one of the top shooters in the NBA. further he is an insane worker and he is a great leader. durant is going to be amazing to watch in the NBA.
