Kevin Durant = something unique that this game has never seen.

[joyner82]

Prime T-Mac was a better scorer and playmaker than current Durant, don't get it twisted.


That being said, Durant is still getting better, and hopefully he can stay healthy for a long and lustrous career.

How was he a better scorer?

Just curious

[ShaqAttack3234]

You should also note that T-Mac's second best player was Darrel Armstrong/Gooden/Mike Miller in those years.

Durant has Jeff Green/Westbrook/Krystic/Harden/Ibaka/and a better coach.

They were all trying to stop T-Mac and couldn't stop him.

Yeah, T-Mac had to carry that team. To put into perspective how bad T-Mac's 2003 cast was. He took a cast of Gooden, Giricek, a 34 year old Darrell Armstrong and a 300+ pound Shawn Kemp to a 7th game vs a Pistons team that with the additions of Rasheed Wallace and Larry Brown won a title the following year.

For the 2003 season, he didn't even have a consistent lineup around him. He had Mike Miller for 49 games, Grant Hill at maybe 50% for 29 games, Gordan Giricek for 27 games and Drew Gooden for 19.

The players who consistently played rotation minutes around him(20+ mpg) for the season were Pat Garrity, a 34 year old Darrell Armstrong, a 300+ pound Shawn Kemp and Jacque Vaughn.

[Kblaze8855]

You do realize that KD is probably a good 4-5 years or more from actually reaching his prime don't you?

Ive heard that about every young player and half of them never get any better. People said the exact same thing about tmac back then. Plenty of guards these days peak in their early 20s. Durant isnt gonna get much better. What is he gonn put up 36 a game of 58% shooting? He should refine his game and add some skills here and there. Post game. defense. But hes not gonna be wildly different from what he is now. Kobe has not really gotten any better than he was 8 years ago. In ways I guess....but hes level wise about the same as 2003. Lebron is better than he was in 07...but hes not a whole other guy.

Durant like all these superstar young guys doesnt have very much higher to go.

[C-Webb4]

Ive heard that about every young player and half of them never get any better. People said the exact same thing about tmac back then. Plenty of guards these days peak in their early 20s. Durant isnt gonna get much better. What is he gonn put up 36 a game of 38% shooting? He should refine his game and add some skills here and there. Post game. defense. But hes not gonna be wildly different from what he is now. Kobe has not really gotten any better than he was 8 years ago. In ways I guess....but hes level wise about the same as 2003. Lebron is better than he was in 07...but hes not a whole other guy.

Durant like all these superstar young guys doesnt have very much higher to go.

Making himself better isn't just a matter of putting up higher scoring figures. I'm actually pretty surprised that a poster who is seemingly as intelligent as you have seemed to be over the years really equates skill to the amount of ppg you put up.

[Poochymama]

T-Mac was nowhere near the scorer Durant is and Durant is much taller/longer.

That has to be one of the stupidest comments I've ever seen? Not even close??? Really???

McGrady in Regular Season

32.1 ppg on 56% TS

Durant in Regular Season

30.1 ppg on 61% TS

I mean, I do see the argument for Durant being the better scorer, he was 5% more efficient, even though he averaged 2 less ppg, but saying it's not even close? That's just retarded.

And that's only the regular season. 2003 McGrady was actually a better post season scorer than 2010 Durant, where it really counts.

Post Season McGrady

30.8 ppg on 56% TS

Post Season Durant

25.0 ppg on 50% TS

So Durant was a better regular season scorer than McGrady(barely), while McGrady was a better post season scorer. How does that equate to "T-Mac was nowhere near the scorer Durant is"?

If we are comparing overall T-Mac to overall Durant(or at least what he will most likely become), then yeah, Durant will most likely end up as a much better scorer, but if we're just comparing 03 T-Mac then they are definitely in the same league.

[Kblaze8855]

As for McGrady's athleticism...

He had a total of 86 dunks during his best season in 2002-03

Durant last season ranked 3rd in the league with 131 dunks

People give me a break.

You cant be serious.....

Dunks?

You honestly...and with the intention of making a valid point...points out number of dunks in the issue of athletic ability between these two players?

Is it your goal to prove you dont watch basketball?

[The_Yearning]

That has to be one of the stupidest comments I've ever seen? Not even close??? Really???

McGrady in Regular Season

32.1 ppg on 56% TS

Durant in Regular Season

30.1 ppg on 61% TS

I mean, I do see the argument for Durant being the better scorer, he was 5% more efficient, even though he averaged 2 less ppg, but saying it's not even close? That's just retarded.

And that's only the regular season. 2003 McGrady was actually a better post season scorer than 2010 Durant, where it really counts.

Post Season McGrady

30.8 ppg on 56% TS

Post Season Durant

25.0 ppg on 50% TS

So Durant was a better regular season scorer than McGrady(barely), while McGrady was a better post season scorer. How does that equate to "T-Mac was nowhere near the scorer Durant is"?

If we are comparing overall T-Mac to overall Durant(or at least what he will most likely become), then yeah, Durant will most likely end up as a much better scorer, but if we're just comparing 03 T-Mac then they are definitely in the same league.

Lol 50% TS...what was his FG%? 38% right?

[joyner82]

Lol 50% TS...what was his FG%? 38% right?

LeBron vs the Spurs in 07 43.7 TS%
LeBron vs the Celtics in 08 48.8 TS%

[C-Webb4]

Just curious, but is it of any importance that we are comparing T-Macs 4th career playoff series appearance to KD's first? And the fact that he was playing the defending champ LA Lakers?

[hitmanyr2k]

Are most of those rookies 6'10 ballhanders? That's just a question for you.

What difference does it make? Durant isn't a rookie anymore. He's had 3 straight seasons of the same black hole non-playmaking game. Sure Durant can shoot it but what else can he do? And when that shot abandons him (like in the playoffs a few months ago) can he create for his teammates and make their job easier? The answer is a big fat NO. Durant is Carmelo Anthony all over again. Good scorer but anything beyond that he's not impressive at all.

[Kblaze8855]

Making himself better isn't just a matter of putting up higher scoring figures. I'm actually pretty surprised that a poster who is seemingly as intelligent as you have seemed to be over the years really equates skill to the amount of ppg you put up.

As I mentioned...his skills will grow(or at least change) but really...there is no lock anyone as good as these guys are at young ages gets flat out better. You just hit a level and stay roughly at it for as long as you can. He wouldnt be the first young superstar to peak in his youth.

There just isnt a lot more for him to do. People dont just...turn into really good ball handlers or passers. bigmen perhaps get better passing...guards/swingmen rarely do. If so not by much.

The areas he has a lot of room to improve arent the ones people usually do anything with.

[joyner82]

What difference does it make? Durant isn't a rookie anymore. He's had 3 straight seasons of the same black hole non-playmaking game. Sure Durant can shoot it but what else can he do? And when that shot abandons him (like in the playoffs a few months ago) can he create for his teammates and make their job easier? The answer is a big fat NO. Durant is Carmelo Anthony all over again. Good scorer but anything beyond that he's not impressive at all.

Durant shits all over Carmelo's efficiency and he had the highest On/Off in the league last year.

Durant made a 17.2 ppg differential for OKC whereas Melo was 6.8

The only other players above 12 were Kobe, Dirk, LeBron, Wade, and Howard.

He isn't some flaw in the system. The formulas weren't made to support him.

These advanced metrics that almost every NBA team uses all state Durant is otherworldly for his age and a top 3-5 player in the league at only 21.

[C-Webb4]

What difference does it make? Durant isn't a rookie anymore. He's had 3 straight seasons of the same black hole non-playmaking game. Sure Durant can shoot it but what else can he do? And when that shot abandons him (like in the playoffs a few months ago) can he create for his teammates and make their job easier? The answer is a big fat NO. Durant is Carmelo Anthony all over again. Good scorer but anything beyond that he's not impressive at all.

LOL, but ok if we're comparing his first 3 seasons to T-mac's, T-mac averaged 1.5, 2.3, and 3.3 to Durants 2.4, 2.8 and 2.8. Not really much of a difference, even though i'm not saying he's an equal passer. Just that your argument is severely flawed.

[SCdac]

I'm one of the biggest Durant fans... but come on, "something unique this game has never seen"? ... I wouldn't go that far, he's not revolutionizing his position or anything.. He's just a ball player, amongst hundreds upon hundreds of others... As far as McGrady, I'm not a huge fan but he did carry some bad teams, and the start of the decade he was blocking roughly 2 shots a game too (which is valuable from swingmen in general, imo)... One reason I'd take Durant over him though was because T-Mac struck me as very whiny, egotistical, and too injury prone even a young age. Basketball aint all about talent, sometimes it takes more.

[hitmanyr2k]

Durant shits all over Carmelo's efficiency and he had the highest On/Off in the league last year.

Durant made a 17.2 ppg differential for OKC whereas Melo was 6.8

The only other players above 12 were Kobe, Dirk, LeBron, Wade, and Howard.

Yippee....Durant can shoot the ball. Now when that shot abandons him (like in the playoffs) does he have any other skill to fall back on? The answer is nooooooooo lol. In that respect he's Carmelo all over again. No matter how hard you try to skip and dance you can't avoid that plain and simple fact