Are there any clips of him in college on youtube or anywhere? I searched but only pulled up a few random high school highlights which weren't that great.
yeah i only found this one where they are playing Oak Hill and he has some nice moves in it. http://youtube.com/watch?v=e_-I04_yvlc&mode=related&search=
I've seen most of the UT games so far this season and this kid is the real deal. It's only preseason so I doubt you'll see any videos on youtube yet, but we play LSU on Saturday so be sure to check him out. From what I've seen, the guy may have one of the most diverse games I've seen in a college player (let alone a freshman). His outside jumper is silky-smooth and he can hit from anywhere on the court. He can drive the ball and finish or just pull up for a mid-range jumper. He is a good rebounder and can block shots. The only downside I've seen from Durant so far is his 2nd half play. He always comes out strong and gets a lot of points early on, but he doesn't seem to play nearly as well in the 2nd half.
freakin hell. i wish tmacs contract was expiring this year and so we could trade him to a sucky team who needs cap space in return for their pick. this guy is the 6 11 tmac
he is very skilled, and the amazing thing is he can still get better. will get stronger also, and he might get taller. his skill level is impressive already. the drop steps, the spin moves, catching on the run, has good range. just a good baller. I think the garnett is the best comparison, not good enough handling to be odom or mcgrady.
He's damn good, but he's a stick. Watching the game today, he made some questionable decisions late in regulation, but made a clutch shot to force OT. He could use another year to work on the body and the mental game... the skills are there.
I agree but I doubt the scouts would. Big guys will always have more value because guys like Oden only come about every once in a while. Durant is amazing though.
I CONCUR. ever since day 1, i've always felt that durant was better than oden. make no mistake, oden will be a great player in the nba but durant is so much more skilled and has unlimited upside.
Man, color me impressed. He seems to do it all. Very unselfish as well. Not quite an A+ athlete imo, but he is very above average in every facet. Not quite as ripped as Garnett at the same age either, but hey, I definitely think he's got a great future. Describe Oden to me. Great frame, rebounder, athlete, but what does he do on offense?
My God. I just got back from the Mizzou game, and Kevin Durant is the real deal. He dropped 34 on 10-14 shooting, with 13 rebs, 3 assists and a steal. If yall haven't got a chance to watch him yet do it now, since he probably won't be back next year. He's got a little TMac and a little KG in him. Nice soft touch around the rim, and good range on his jumper. His wingspan is huge which causes havoc on defense.
Oden's never had to play offense though. He's so much bigger and stronger than everyone he's ever played that he just catches and dunks on people or he'll rebound and throw it down. He's playing with that cast still so I'll hold judgement on his offense until he gets it off. He'll still be a great player, it sounds like he has his head on straight and will work hard to improve his game.
So, I'm just wondering what Oden projects to be? a 24/12 guy. I've never seen him play, so I was just curious. As for KD, Forget Tmac or Garnett or Melo, he does remind me of Dirk Nowitzki, but a better defender. Agree? Got this from orangebloods, btw.
Durant's scary good. One thing that I enjoy doing every now and then is completely ignoring stats while watching a game, at least for a while. I tend to be a bit of a stat freak, so I force myself to forget about that aspect sometimes, just to see if I perceive things differently. When I'm actually paying attention, though I tend to know pretty much exactly how many points, rebounds, etc. that a player has. With Durant, if you're not keeping a box score, you're going to underestimate his #'s. It seems just about every game, I'm thinking Durant has been decent, but kind of quiet, when midway through the second half, Durant will hit a bucket and the announcer will say something like, "That makes 20 and 10 for Durant, what a great game!" He's that kind of player. Doesn't demand the ball. Doesn't need the O to run through him. Doesn't snarl and throw elbows when he gets a rebound. He's just efficient. And when you do want him to take over, he can do it. Sensational player. I have no idea how good Oden is, but Durant would certainly be a more worthy #1 overall pick that several recent selections.
i know you are just curious about oden but i don't see him becoming a 24/12 guy in the nba when he averages 14/9 in college. don't get me wrong, i think oden will be a very good defensive player in the nba. but i haven't seen any semblance of an nba offensive game out of him. i see oden as the next dikembe mutombo. which is not a bad thing. but people go over board and call him the next shaq, wilt, or bill russell and i simply don't see it from him yet. with that said, durant is by far the best nba prospect out there in the college game. for an 18 year-old kid, he's phenomenal. hell for a 25 year-old nba vet he's great. he makes an impact in every single facet of the game which is why i (and others as well) compare him to tmac and garnett, as opposed to dirk. i know he's rail thin but all he needs is another 10-15 pounds of muscle and he'll be fine. KG runs 6'11, 225 and has had quite a productive career. tmac is 6'8, 210. so i don't think he really needs too much more weight to be a great nba player. all he needs to do is keep learning the game of basketball and develop a couple of go-to post moves to utilize mismatches he creates in the post at 6'9-6'10.
