Why Are They Bringing Up The Oden vs. Durant Debate Yet Again?!

Seem that's all I've been hearing all day long on the radio.

Seriously, is this debate gonna follow them (at least Oden) for their entire careers?!

 

Our first ring will shut them up.

 

No it will not. They will just say we could have won it earlier with a perimeter player that would take shots from Roy/LMA despite the fact that his TS% is exactly the same as their while not providing the interior defense and low-post offense the other one will provide.

These people are mental midgets. Just move on.

 

Durant is this generations Iverson, only at 6'11"

Scoring titles don't matter.

 

Interesting. Can you think of another scoring-in-volumes, Durant-type of player (any era) that never won a title? What about Gervin? Does he qualify?

 

lebron, iverson, and tmac have all recently led the league in scoring but not won titles. stackhouse, vince carter, arenas, carmelo, and dirk have been among the league leaders in scoring but never won titles.

 

Well, there ya go, then.

Thanks, reinforces my already-there feelings on the subject.

 

Honestly I think the whole debate is a bit of strawman. The radio guys have been saying over and over, "I'll bet I'm going to get killed by people for saying this, but I would take Oden over Durant." They say this with the full knowledge that most of the people in this town are going to agree with them because of the homer vote and they know people will flood the phone lines to say so.

All I know is that it's nice to see Greg able to perform well enough on the court for long enough finally for the debate to even be re-opened, but frankly the only way this gets settled is for Greg to win championships, and for the Blazers to knock the Thunder out of the playoffs -- or vice versa.

 

Better yet, who was the last player to lead the league in scoring and win a ring in the same season?

Answer, Shaq, and he was a dominant big man. Iverson, Tmac, LeBron have all won scoring titles, but no rings. Kobe and Dwade have both won scoring titles and rings, but never in the same season. In fact, other than Shaq and Michael Jordan, you need to go all the way back to 1970-71 to find another player who won a scoring title and championship in the same season - and it was another dominant big man - Kareem. With the expception of Jordan, it is extremely rare for a player to win both a scoring title and a championship in the same season.

On the other hand, the history of the NBA is littered with guys who won scoring titles but no rings In addtion to those mentioned above: Bernard King, Dominique Wilkins, Alex English, Adrian Dantley, George Gervin, Pete Maravich, etc.

Even all-time great players like Oscar Robertson didn't win a title until paired with a great big man.

Go back and look at all the NBA champions over the history of the league and you will see a common denominator - dominant big men and/or great defense. Russell, Wilt, Kareem, Hakeem, Shaq, Duncan, all great big men who could, rebound and defend. With very few exceptions, teams that won championships without a great big man, had 2, or more elite defenders (as in 1st or 2nd team all-defense). This includes ALL of the Jordan championship teams (with Jordan, Pippen, Grant/Rodman), the 2004 Pistons, the Bird era Celtics, the 1989 and 1990 Bad Boy Pistons, etc. The Showtime Lakers had both a dominant big (Kareem) and great interior and perimeter defenders. The Duncan era Spurs had multiple great defenders (Duncan, DR, Bowen).

So, unless Durant becomes an elite level defender (like Jordan), he will have a very hard time winning a title unless he hooks up with a dominant big man, or multiple great defenders. Oden has the potential to be a dominant big man. At the very least, he will provide rebounding and interior defense. It will be easier to build a championship team around him than around Durant. Durant gives you elite scoring, but as shown above, unless you are a dominant big man, or Michael Jordan, elite scoring doen't win rings.

BNM

 

Yes

 

Or until Oden can play to expectations. If Oden comes out with averages of 16-18 points, 12-13 rebounds, 2 blocks a game, I believe the majority of the debate will be over. Then it will finally be laid to rest once Portland starts winning rings, while OKL is barely making the playoffs. Personally, I think Durant will be bolting from OKL the first chance he can get. I suspect someplace in the Eastern Conference. Chicago possibly?

 

You're half right. When Oden begins to put up the guady per game numbers and if the Blazers starting seriously competing for championships then the argument will be laid to rest. But as for the rest, Durant is a University of Texas guy, his team is already on the cusp of making the playoffs this year and there's almost zero chance he doesn't extend with the Thunder this summer because that's where he can make the most money ... and quite frankly the Thunder stand a decent chance to get into the playoffs this year, if for no other reason than they are already one of the better team's defensively (at least in terms of efficiency).

 

Possible. But for me, I think Durant looks more like the guy wanting the lime-light and Oden is more of that "Small Town Boy" kinda person. I think Durant would rather have more notoriety on a BIG MARKET TEAM. Also, if the Blazers actually hit their expectations, I suspect many teams trying to get a ring, would rather face him 2 less times a year and not see them in the playoffs unless it's the Finals.

I could be wrong though. I don't know Durant personally.

 

What if the Blazers just had Juwan Howard come in an cripple Durant the next time we play them? That would silence them.

 

There will ALWAYS be this discussion. It happens all the time, when there are two guys in a draft, they will forever be linked. I don't think it necessarily is a negative towards us in any way, or a positive, once Oden starts to do better. It just is what it is. They will be linked forever because they were two hyped prospects in a draft. Look at the SNF game last week, they still bring up Rivers and Eli being traded for eachother. How long ago was that? Might as well get used to it.

 

Look at how long Jordan vs Bowie has gone on.

Durant and Oden will be linked by that draft long after they both retire.

 

It only gone on that long because of the extreme blunder. When Oden finally stays healthy and contributes like all the NBA people expected, it will become a non-issue.

The reason why Bowie vs. Jordan is still talked about today is Jordan is the greatest player to ever play the game and Bowie was so hampered with injuries and was a non-factor.

 

The best thing about Bowie was none other than Buck Williams!