Durant = ???

Durant's PER has nothing to do with his freakish ability to be efficient on offense, or his 8 rpg and 3 assists out of the SF slot.

 

It's pretty irresponsible to use "popularity voting" for some meaningful measure. Remember that Vince Carter was voted as the starter for the 2003 all-star game, even after he had only played 10 games by the time the voting was through because he was injured much of the season. Yao was voted as an all-star starter a couple times while being injured much of the season. Rudy received the 7th most votes for rookie of the year in 2009. SHows just because you can sell jerseys or get the media to throw your name in the hat for a stat-driven popularity vote doesn't equate to being "great".

 

You do realize that the MVP vote is decided by beat NBA writers, national NBA writers, and other media types who follow the game, right? And that the All-Star starters are decided mainly by fans spamming NBA voting sites?

I mean, you know this, right?

 

I'm not bowing down to Durant. I just think he's an absolutely phenomenal player, and when I consider his age, it blows my mind LeBron-style.

That said, since you've been such a good sport, I'll remove my signature. I know that you won't yield on NBA opinions, but I'm certain that you did know about Breaks of the Game.

 

ABA Dr. J? Sure. NBA Dr. J? Durant is already at Doc's peak statistically.

 

Mmmkay, but LeBron had arguably the best 21 year-old season since Magic Johnson. Durant wasn't far behind him, and his team won more games.

Dr. J? I just don't see that comparison. I voted other.

 

Didn't see your post. I voted other.

 

The arguments are kind of silly. He's damn good, whether that's top 10 player all-time good or "just" MVP candidate good remains to be seen, but we'd all be giddy as a pack of school girls at a Justin Beiber concert if he was a Blazer.

 

False.

He's selfish, he only scores, and Oden has the potential to be a better player, so it's all good.

 

Popularity votes are popularity votes whether it be by a fan who barely understands the fundamentals of the game, just what the read in the boxscores, or by a writer or media member who has a laminated lanyard and also barely understands the fundamentals of the game, just what they're told to write about in order to make sales (which amounts to the same thing, that a guy scoring 30 ppg must be one of the best players in the league, right?).

But I get your point. It's at least somewhat of a better source. Sort of like the BCS for college football. Obviously better than the AP or coaches poll in actually using statistics to base standings instead of people watching Sportscenter and barely having a clue, but then the BCS is so influenced by said polls it begins to lose some of its own credibility.

 

I don't rate PER as much as others as the be all end all. That said, your comment was stupid.

Burn I misspoke/misswrote. Meant to say "with all confidence"

I'm sure that won't stop you from wringing the life out of it though.

 

I would love to have Durant on the Blazers. I love excellent wings.

I think the Blazers will be a better team with a healthy Oden, but I actually enjoy watching a great wing more than a great big man. Plus, Durant has certainty while Oden does not.

 

"will" implies certainty ... if you had said "could" I'd agree with you.

 

You're confusing where I see the uncertainty. I think Oden's uncertainty comes in terms of health. If healthy (which is how I qualified the "will" assertion) I see certainty to Oden's greater ability to impact games, because of how he has played when healthy. So there's no contradiction.

 

Oden, when healthy, averages 6 fouls/per 36. He's effective in his limited minutes, but playing just under half of a game and sending opponents to the FT line isn't ideal play from him, IMO. If you are arguing that Greg Oden's 21 games/24 minutes last season were more effective on the Blazers than Durant's 82 games of production, we disagree.

 

Obviously, Durant is Batum without the defense.