<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The workout and press conferences have wrapped up, and I'll have the audio from that shortly, but I wanted to give a few updates about what I saw here today in Tualatin: -- First off, the crowd was a bit smaller today. Still a good turnout, but not as many members of the media, and certainly fewer players in attendance. -- The portion of the workout that the media was allowed to watch was much more extensive today than it was on Wednesday during Oden's workout. -- Now to the good stuff. If you're unaware, Kevin Durant is a really, really good basketball player. He showed a great all-around game in baseline-to-baseline drills. One of the first things you notice about Durant is that he covers ground really, really quickly. Seriously, it's quite ridiculous how few strides it take for KD to get from one side of the court to the other. -- Durant has such a sweet, classic shooting style. Crazy high and quick elevation on the jumper. Good arc, follow through and rotation on every shot he took. Superb accuracy as well. Kevin Pritchard noted that "he shoots 30-footers like he shoots 10-footers." And he's right. -- Durant's a big dude. He's not exactly thick, but he's a lot taller than you might expect. His body reminds me of LaMarcus Aldridge, and that's a good thing in my opinion. -- Back to the elevation. It's a thing of beauty to see Durant come baseline and finish with the jam. Many of the people watching noted how fluid his motion on the court is, and no where is that more apparent than when he's going for the jam. It's preternatural. -- Aside from Durant's offense, his defense, or at least what we saw of it, was fairly impressive. They ran a drill were Durant would run from the baseline to the free throw line, then jump out to the baseline to contest a shot. Durant's ability to close space was evident again in this drill, as he made it to the spot almost every time before the shot was taken. Bottom line: This was a great workout. Pritchard said numerous times that Durant is "made for these kinds of workouts," and that's pretty obvious, even after watching only 20 minutes, that he's right. You can tell that Pritchard and McMillan were really excited about the way he performed. Durant's game is more geared toward these one-on-none performances than Oden's, and the decision makers here are aware of that, but you figure it's hard not to watch a great performance and think about that player in a Blazers uniform. Kevin Pritchard mentioned that today's workout has made a difference in what his decision is going to be, but he wouldn't say how. Let the speculation begin. </div> That was a review of his workout today and highlighted the last paragraph because it sounds like KP may just take Durant. He was already a Durant guy before this just might have really made him want Durant? Will see I guess. http://blog.oregonlive.com/blazers/
<div class="quote_poster">rafy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I know this isn't going to be a popular opinion, but I really hope he does take Durant.</div> I wouldn't mind Durant myself, however, I have expressed wanting Oden more. I won't be upset like a lot of other Portland fans will. I have only expressed one fear with Durant that I don't fear with Oden, will Durant bolt out of Portland after his contract his up? What do you think rafy? I know Paul Allen will pay him all the money in the world, but to me Durant seems like a bigger market person and he might just go that route. Hopefully I will feel a little more comfortable about him and him wanting to stay in Portland after his video conference is posted either on Blazers home page or on oregon live.
I've heard nothing but good about Durant's character. The kid obviously wants to win, so the way I see it as long as we put the pieces around him, he's going to resign.
<div class="quote_poster">rafy Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">I've heard nothing but good about Durant's character. The kid obviously wants to win, so the way I see it as long as we put the pieces around him, he's going to resign.</div> Yeah, we have Roy (and Randolph to an extent), plus his good buddy Aldridge so we have the pieces to win as long as Durant does his job and scores maybe 25 points a game or so? I still drool over Durant/Roy spreading the floor with all they can do, shooting 3's/outside J's. We would really be an exciting team, but the D wouldn't be there as much as it would with Oden, Durant isn't that great of a defender. Even though I would not mind Durant, I still prefer Oden, bigs win Championships, D wins championships. Oden doesn't even have to score and he will still have a big presence (although he better score a lot more then Pryz). It really is a win-win for us and both will become great. Just I think one will be winning MVP's and stuff, while the other wins rings. Edit: Oh yeah and also about Durant possibly bolting, well I read something pretty satisfying of what he said after his workout. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Durant, a 6-foot-9 forward out of Texas, was The Associated Press player of the year this past season as a freshman. "I feel good here," he said. "Like I belong here."</div> I though that was pretty important and really brought my comfort level up a lot. Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2007/ne...tory?id=2913373
