Switch Durant and Oden right now.. Portland is challenging for #1 overall seed and OKC is lucky to win 10 games. Look at Durants numbers - he is CLEARLY not the reason OKC is losing games.
I'm NOT looking at this season's success to judge the value of Greg. I will be looking at a 15 year window! Our record THIS season would probably be better with Durant on our squad, but would we get better over the next decade? I say no.
Not buying any of these ideas. With Durant in the line-up the Blazers lose time for their best perimeter defender (Batum), there are less shots to go around for Roy/Aldridge - not helping with their development and the team reverts to being a weak rebouding team when Pryzbilla goes out of the game - as they were last year. I would argue that they would likely have a good chance fighting with PHX for the 8th spot, nothing more. On the other hand - OKC gains a respectful interior presence, Green can move to his natural position, Westbrook who is as close to D-Wade as any rookie we have seen since, well, D-Wade - gets all the plays running for him. I am guessing OKC is flirting with 35 wins. Do you want Zach Randolph or LaMarcus Aldridge? If you like Zach Randolph - you also go with Durant. Luckily, KP liked Aldridge - and he went with Oden.
OKC is 5-3 without Durant this season and won two of those games on the road. They have won 7 road games all year. A small sample, I realize, but they may actually be a better team WITHOUT Durant at this point.
If you are going by stats sure. But I don't think KD would have those numbers along side of Roy and LMA. With just LMA he would, but BROY controls the ball too much. Durant would still be good in a Blazer uniform (no argument there) but his game and numbers would be different. I think Durant is awesome. But his numbers are so inflated with the style of ball they play it is misleading. I don't think the choice is easy, as it also wasn't at the time, but Oden and Batum add defense, and defense wins championships, as long as you have the offense to go along with it. Roy, LMA and a scoring PG will be sufficient on the offensive end to do that. The fact that KD might go for 35 tonight will not change my opinion.
Wrong. One does not have to "hate" Oden to think that Durant is the superior player. Only Homer Blazer fans feel the need to knock Kevin Durant in some feeble attempt to puff up Greggy Oden.
Who is knocking Durant? He's a stat monster who happens to play on a bad team, yet the team has performed better without him this season. He's a hell of a talent. Is anybody denying that point?
12 of your last 25 posts have been some level of Oden-bashing. I would bet that a significant chunk of your other 46 posts have been, too. How would YOU define "hate"? Ed O.
That's what Shaq did. He always missed regular season games during the Laker dynasty (except for '99-00' when he played in 79 games) 3 straight seasons of 67 games from '01-'04. But, he was healthy for the post season every time. I'd take that from GO, no question.
Yup. As a fan, I have to admit I'd be frustrated. I mean, you pay good money for tickets and you want to see your franchise center suit up. You want to see your team beat the Lakers every time, whether it's some crappy February night or game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. But I'd get over it pretty quickly if he led us to a championship.
So did Harvey Grant on the Bullets. Averaged 20+ points. How did he do on a winning team? Durant is a talented, good player but Oden is an impact player. HUGE/BIG difference. Batum can check Durant 1 on 1. Oden is double teamed now. They are on different planets. Go listen to your ESPN update and believe the Hype. Oden would be the #1 pick 90% at the time.
Durant wouldn't fit with Roy and LMA? You mean the way Worthy didn't fit with Magic, Scott, and Kareem? There are reasons to prefer Oden, but this isn't one of them. Durant wouldn't be taking shots from Roy - he would be taking them from guys like Outlaw, Rudy, and Webster. With Durant, you can also turn the PG into a playmaker, instead of a designated shooter like Blake.
Even if I had the knowledge of everything that has happened over the past 2 seasons I would still take Oden. I can see that he's going to be a great center. It just takes a little time. Oden will lead us to a championship.
