"Fools Gold" ? BUT, if Insider's measuring stick is used then ultimately, we need to classify players like Malone, Stockton, Drexler (in Portland), Lebron James, Elgin Baylor, Ewing, Gervin, Wilkins, Terry Porter, Sabonis, and the like as all "fools gold". Does that mean we can't appreciate them as amazing athletes and admire their skill? Some Blazer fans are so overcompensating for taking Oden before Durant, that genuine appreciation for Durant's abilities isn't conceivable. Many "great" players don't go on to win championships. Elites do... Note the thread title. Would you argue Durant is currently a "great player" in the NBA and his upside, considering his youth and current contributions, is rather high? Durant is what, 21 years old? I'd wager Durant ends his career with more championships than Oden. Any takers?
Don't know who "Insdier" is, but I quoted the Fool's Gold, and I did so in a different context than you're referencing if you read my post. I wasn't saying anything about winning championship. I think we can all agree it takes either a superstar player and a good team or a great players on a super team. You're obviously going to get superstar players like LeBron, Ewing, Stockton, etc. that didn't have the team around them to make it all the way to a ring. I'm referencing Fool's Gold in the context of a great player (which I'll admit he is definitely a great player in the top 20 of the league) that tucks back into his shell come the playoffs and goes one-and-out. Until he can lead his team out of the first round (or at least not watch his production fall off the charts when he gets a high pressure game in front of him) then scoring even 50ppg is just Fool's Gold - it looks good on the outside but doesn't really provide any value when it matters.
I shouldn't hate Kevin Durant. I actually don't regret that we didn't take him just because I don't really like his game. He's a great shooter, and a good scorer, but he's (and this is stupid, I know) very funny-looking and he doesn't/can't (too spindly) play very good defense. And what he's best at is being an unblockable jump-shooter. So he's sort of Dirk Nowitzki-esque, and I never coveted Nowitzki. Plus, he seems to be a very decent kid. He's remaining loyal to Oklahoma City, which takes a lot of doing, given that it's a podunk hell-hole. So good for Oklahoma, and good for Durant, I say. But then people KEEP BRINGING UP the Durant vs. Oden thing. Just stop it, will you? You're making me wish he had, at the very least, a non-career threatening season-ending injury just so people like you would SHUT THE FUCK UP, at least for a while. Even if Oden spontaneously combusts tomorrow and Durant suddenly morphs into Scottie Pippen on defense, IT'S OVER AND DONE WITH. We seem to have moved past the much more obviously stupid Martell Webster over Chris Paul, so can we move on? Maybe for those who can't we can have a special separate forum called: "Supposed Blazer fans who are lovestruck with Kevin Durant" and you can all fuck off there.
"that tucks back into his shell come the playoffs" I compared Durant's and Oden's playoff stats to each other on a different thread. "....f*-off"..." We will always compare Durant and Oden but I appreciate the profanity and kind regards.
Fair enough. But then again, I haven't seen many threads and links going on and on about Oden being a top-10 player and MVP candidate and how "great" he is. Oden is a defensive player who will affect the opposing teams by lowering their points allowed 4-5 pts more than every other center other than maybe Dwight Howard. That's his value, not putting up 30ppg or dominating Yao in the playoffs. And if memory serves me correct, I remember a rookie Shaq being dominated by Hakeem (or maybe it was Robinson, can't quite remember now) and the announcers talking about how Shaq is getting his initiation into the NBA by someone 50-times better than Shaq had ever seen in his life. So I think that was similar to Oden and Yao in Greg's one playoff series. I'd love to see him match up against Duncan or Bynum. But as I said, that wasn't even the point since nobody was claiming Oden was a "great player".
At the start of last season, Portland began with 12 wins and 8 losses before Oden went down on Dec 5th. Following Oden's loss, Portland continued the trend with 5 wins and 4 losses until Joel went down. I understand what you're saying, however, I don't think the stats are accounting for the loss of Joel too. We were truly without a legit center and of course that will impact opponent scoring. Simplistic approach: Oden averaged 1.3 more blocks than Durant and Durant average 1 more steal. Rebounds are comparable. Durant is OK's leader. Last season, the Thunder rank in the top 10 in rebounding, fast-break points and steals and 11th out of 30 in points allowed. Oden is replaceable. Durant is not.
"But then again, I haven't seen many threads and links going on and on about Durant being a top-10 player and MVP candidate and how "great" he is." Now you have: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...top-10-mvp-candidates-for-next-season#page/11 http://protectthepaint.com/2010/02/24/kevin-durant-mvp-candidate/ http://www.bukisa.com/articles/232860_top-three-2010-nba-mvp-candidates http://www.nba.com/2010/news/features/02/05/racetothemvp.week14/ http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/11/27/racetomvp.week4/index.html http://www.nesn.com/2010/09/kevin-d...n-james-kobe-bryant-grab-first-mvp-award.html http://lakersblog.latimes.com/lakersblog/2010/08/kevin-durant-is-mvp-favorite-over-kobe-bryant.html http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/35243503/ns/sports-nba/ These are just a few. Literally hundreds more...
While True, Oden can bring us a championship just any replacement will not. We are a defensive minded team, and G.O. is here to anchor that defense. Defense wins championships, and a healthy G.O. gives us the greatest chance at getting one. No Point in comparing him to KD really.
Typo on my part, sorry. I meant to say I haven't been seeing posts and threads saying ODEN was a top-10 player. So my point being this. I said Durant is Fool's Gold until he actually proves he doesn't fold under the pressure of a big NBA playoff game, since that is all he's done when a game mattered (as compared to guys like LeBron and Malone who stepped up their games in the playoffs to lead bad teams deep). You then compared Durant's playoff performances to Oden, to which I'm saying that nobody is comparing Oden to LeBron and Malone and other top-10 players that should be stepping up their games in the playoffs and not curling into the fetal position and dropping their production 5ppg and 12.5% in FG%. Point being let's not all jump on the bandwagon for guys like Durant, Tyreke, Brook Lopez, John Wall, whatever until these guys actually win a playoff series like the true stars who rise in the playoffs. BTW - Oden's role isn't to go up and rise up to 20/20/5 during the playoffs. His role either way is to be that Rodman/Ben Wallace type of role player who dominates the defense and holds back the scoring in the paint and helps the guys like a Billups, Durant, Roy, Melo, etc. to rise up in the playoffs and make a difference while the opposing teams can't score or rebound when someone is dominating the paint. Just saying, apples-and-oranges there. Sure maybe Oden is more replaceable for getting regular season wins, but Durant is way more replaceable for actually winning a playoff series.
Got it. Respect your position, but we are comparing the top 2 draft picks which was a huge debate at the time. Some have said the decision was clearly to pick Oden, but that isn't true. There were red-flags, consultants saying Durant and articles stating 1 out of every 3 GM's would have picked Durant.
HE clearly fit our needs, A strong defense Anchor and cleanup man. We have Roy for O. Clearly G.O. was the pick for us, not for all.
Sensible people don't do it several times a week with no new information. "Hey guys...I still think Durant is awesome and Oden is a bust. Same as last week!!111!one! Next week, I'll compare them again and see if I still agree with myself from this week!" I personally think it's too early to decide which player was the superior pick, but I'm open to those who think Durant was. Durant has been amazing. What I find silly is the constant barrage of threads, between seasons, essentially aping the same line over and over. Why don't we wait for some new information to come in, like next season, and then re-visit it?
Sensible people don't do it several times a week with no new information. Well said. People still claim UFOs several times a week, it doesn't make their argument any stronger than the emperical data that destroys their argument every time. But we get it, go to Art Bell if you want to keep going on and on about consiracies about UFOs, Bigfoot sightings, or red flags on Oden or how anyone would have picked Durant over him based on data that doesn't exist. Don't turn an argument about Durant being a great player into a beating the same worthless "dead horse" argument.
Skipping all posts to respond FUCK YOU FUCK DURANT FUCK COMPARISONS FUCK BULLSHIT FUCK THE THUNDER FUCK THE PRESS FUCK THE "FANS" FUCK YOUR MOTHER FUCK ME!
Now you're just being silly. It's a Blazer board. It's off-season. We're all concerned about when Oden will return. An article comes out about Durant's Greatness. Let's talk about it. If you're not interested, feel free to skip over the post or continue with the profanities. But, guess what...it will get discussed and it will get posted. Get over it. Deal with it. Stop whining like a little girl about it and man up.
The problem is not that people don't want to discuss it, it's that it has been beaten to death. Over the past few weeks we have been inundated with Durant threads and have grown tired. This is a Blazer board and not a Thunder board. Some of the following threads were started pro-Oden, others pro-Durant, but they all have one thing in common, they are about the comparison between these to players. they are also all from the past few weeks. There are more threads that turned into Oden/Durant threads that I didn't feel like looking for so I just grabbed the overt ones . http://sportstwo.com/threads/170257-Cool-article-about-Blazers-oden-durant http://sportstwo.com/threads/169993-Matt-Moor-at-NBA-Fanhouse-Kevin-Durant-s-Star-Continues-to-Shine-Light-on-Blazers http://sportstwo.com/threads/169798-What-does-Greg-Oden-have-to-do... http://sportstwo.com/threads/169804-If-we-had-drafted-Durant-instead-of-Oden.... http://sportstwo.com/threads/169839-Should-we-have...... http://sportstwo.com/threads/169441-I-think-Pritchard-got-fired-because-he-passed-on-Durant. http://sportstwo.com/threads/169461-If-we-had-drafted-Durant http://sportstwo.com/threads/169028-Greg-Oden-May-Not-Be-Kevin-Durant........... http://sportstwo.com/forums/123-Portland-Trail-Blazers/page7?order=desc
I'd like to see this empirical data on UFOs that 'destroys' the argument every time. Not that I believe (or disbelieve) this, but just to satisfy my curiosity.
