ClutchFans Game Thread: Rockets @ Sonics 10/20/2007 (PRESEASON)

Or maybe Scola's faster than people think....

 

Don't forget in some instances Tmac or Bonzi can slide in there as well, against certain teams.

I do hope Mike Harris makes the team though, he is my new man crush.

DD

 

Who would you pick among those 4 to be our 3rd string pf?

 

nice analysis
but it also speaks volume about Tmac's hard work (as well as kobe and kg too), to go from a scrawny (albeit very athletic) 19 year old kid to what he is now. As long Kevin Durant puts on some weight he'll have great potential. But I'm a little concerned as too how much he can put on because they say he doesnt have much room for bulk less he wants to risk losing some of his speed.

 

No, at this moment, he's already better than Tracy or KG as rookies. Playing time has nothing to do with it. KD is also a freaky looking string bean like Tracy and KG were as rookies. I'm not trying to judge how his career will compare to them because that is impossible. Just saying that he is ahead of both of them at this point. KG had an awkwardness about him early on that made me question how good he would be. KD is already way ahead of him in that regard and hasn't even played a regular season game. KD is also completely sold out to basketball and will likely develop himself into a superstar. As good as Tracy or KG? To be determined. Give it several years.

 

durant is a HARD-worker. i think he eats and breathes basketball like kobe. that's how i think of durant's work ethic.

but i just don't think he has the natural talent the tmac and kobe have. first of all, those guys had RIDICULOUS handles when they came in. tmac's draft scouting report had him as great handles and passer. so tmac had that down.

durant to me does not have that. so i don't see him as being a guy who can control the offense being a facilitator like tmac or lebron can do.

second of all, like i said earlier, his quickness/first step is not that great. if you don't have that at 19, when will you ever have it? tmac at 19 can take 2 dribbles at the 3pt line and he's at the basket.

i think durant will be a "great" 24-25 ppg scorer in this league at his peak. he won't be able to rebound in the NBA like in the NCAA b/c of his slight frame but he's tall enough to do get 7 boards a game.

but durant can prove me wrong. but like u said, i still don't think he'll ever get bigger than he is right now physically. kg got a lil bigger but not that big, same w/ tmac. i think durant can get about 10-15 more lbs of muscle and he'll be great. he could be a perennial all-star.

but i'll reserve judgement on whether he'll be a superstar or not after a few years.

 

Waiting for the video..

 

I think Battier if it's just foul trouble or if you just need someone to fill in 5 minutes or so at the spot. If somebody gets injured... then maybe you see Harris or Landry.

 

i don't think so. tmac and KG if they played college, their first yr would have been RIDICULOUS. tmac had better handles, athleticism, quickness, defense, and court vision than durant at that age. tmac didn't have the range of durant at that time but he could have scored 30 if he wanted to in college.

kg was a better rebounder/defender/shot blocker than durant was at that age. obviously not better at scoring.

melo had a great 1-yr college career and went on to have 21, 6, 47% fg in his first yr? do u think he's going to have a better career than tmac or kg?

and i think durant will never be as good as melo b/c durant does not possess the physical skills melo has to bang both inside and go outside. both are very 1-dimensional.

if you say durant is better than tmac/kg at that age, u would also have to say he's better htan kobe? b/c kobe's first yr was the same as tmac's statistically.

when u get more minutes, u produce more if you extrapolate it.

if this was 10 yrs ago, durant would most likely get 5-6 minutes max a game, IF THAT.

u gotta understand the doubts people had on high school kids at that time.

there is ZERO doubt now.

 

Yeah I want to see someone like Kevin Durant become successful because he's a nice kid. And although I dont see the explosiveness in him, I still think he has a chance to become a good to great player, depending on how hard he works and how he choose to play. He can't play like he used to in college because the game is so much tougher and faster at this level. But you dont have to be the greatest athletic freak in the world to excel, you just need to have the intangibles, the knowledge, and a little bit of talent(which he has a LOT of btw). If he can learn to fully utilize his stroke and his good athleticism and godly length, he can become an athletic version of Dirk, which was what he was projected to be like.

 

To summarize things, let me say this: Melo was better as a rookie than both KG or Tracy. That doesn't mean he will be a better player than either one, though it's possible. Same thing applies to KD. I don't remember KG's or Tracy's stats as rookies, but neither one had the polish of KD. KG was especially raw. But the key for greatness in the NBA isn't how you start, it's how much you improve over the years. That is where KD has to prove himself.

 

He displayed it in the preseason last year. Shane needs to score as well in the regular season even with all the rest of the additions this season.

 

sure, but again, with opportunities to play (and the doubts GMs and coaches had back then, they don't play young 18-yrs old REGARDLESS), their stats would have been pretty good too.

tmac and kobe only avg 7 points during their first yr in 14-15 mins of play.

i don't think durant's game is polished at all. he is shooting 35% during preseason and he's primarily perimeter-oriented since has zero post game right now and no handles to create any shots off the dribble. he basically catches and shoots or drives through a screen for his shot. and he's shown so far he's not quick enough to consistently penetrate.

so in that sense, like i said, durant would NOT have gotten many more minutes than tmac or kg or kobe if this was 10 yrs ago.

the only guy that i would give minutes to 10 yrs ago coming out of high school or a sub-20 yr old would have been lebron or melo. they both had the NBA-ready bodies.

 

OMG i just looked at how many points we scored in each half and we scored 38 in the 3rd!!!1

 

Did it bother anybody that Durant seemed to able to draw "superstar fouls" even though he's still rookie? Or is it just me?

 

...umm...one word: PRE-SEASON!

 

again, the hype for young players nowadays are generated b/c of kobe/tmac/kg. all the lebrons/durants/melos have those guys to thank for that.

that's why u see these young guys going into the L and getting all-star attention already.

 

To me Butler looks like he has no game. I can't see how he can be on a professional team. At least by his play to-night he just isn't good enough to keep.
Both Battier, Mcgrady, Snyder, Landry, Novac and Brooks looked much better to- night.
If I had my choice, it would be based on the good of the team and not on Les Alexander's pocket. Of course I have no say in the matter
but IMHO the following would be departing , one way or another:-
Butler, Lucas, Sura, Reed and Novac
IMHO The sooner the better!

 

This is dead on. This kid's game and physique have a long way to go. Other than the range on his jumper he doesn't have anything that KG, Tmac and Kobe didn't have.

Let's hope that he is a mentally strong kid (I think he is) because he is going to go through a trial by fire this season. If he shoots 40% from the field it will be a miracle IMO.

 

Funny you say this because I thought the same. The foul he got on Yao was a joke. I remember seeing that and saying to myself that this kid hasn't even played a real NBA game yet and he already gets calls that only superstar veterans get.