Said that for a while now. Something about him just pisses me off. He will be in OKC next year but after that I'm not so sure
he was 21 trying to guard lebron. I think thats why he gave up on defense altogether ever since. but its too late for that now. you cant remake what they had back then. that time has passed. ill never forgive presti. i think thats who was responsible. okc needs to go all in on paul george and dump durant. i think hes what they need now.
I'm talking offensively. He was offensive. And as you alluded to, he's a defensive liability the likes we have rarely seen in the NBA. Put Harden on this team and they are likely swept as GS puts up 120-140 points per game. This was the OKC team destined to win it all. They finally bought in to hustle, rebounding and relentless defense. Then something happened starting the 2nd half of game 6 and very specifically the last 5 minutes of the game. They simply choked it away, no other way to put it. You're up 7 with 5 minutes to go, you've played your asses off and given the defending champs and the best regular season team in NBA history (see 73 wins) all they could handle and then some. This was your series to win. Up until that 5 minute mark of that 4th quarter, you really deserved to be playing in the NBA finals. But the moment was simply too big in the end. And it has all to do with the somewhat fragile superstars on this team. I agree it's time to move on from Durant. It's hard to see this team winning an NBA championship with him. Not the way he played down the stretch of game 6.
And if you traverse this thread backwards you will find I said this long ago, in fact I think you may have agreed with me then. He is a prolific scorer but he isn't a killer. Westbrook is out of control at times but I will take him and his aggression 100 out of 100 times bad shots and all. We need someone that can calm him the fuck down when it's needed and Durant for all his accolades is just too passive. Alas KD is big blue for at least 1 more year.
Yep if Durant would be gonzo this year Paul George would be am option. Maybe they pull of the miracle next year as his parting gift. I'm taking the cavs in 6 just because they are 2:1 overall and +480 to win in 6. I'll take a flyer on both.
Kevin Durant said something I found very interesting after Game 7. He said "they made the shots in Games 6 and 7 that they missed in Games 3 and 4." He was talking about Golden State. The Warriors have completely gained my respect. I was pulling for them, for the sake of history. And now, having won last year's title and followed it up with 73 wins, and then coming back from a 3-1 deficit in the Western Conference Finals to win.... I thinks those are remarkable accomplishments.
I'm not sure who to pull for in these Finals. I like both stories - Lebron winning a title Cleveland, the re-match after not having a healthy team last year... and the defending champion trying to repeat and make history. I like Golden State. They're fun. They're small and quick. They take 37 foot shots and make them at a 45% clip. The mathematics tells me it'll be hard for Cleveland, or anyone else to beat Golden State. 10 possession each. Golden State scores on 4 of them. That's 3 x 3's and a 2 pointer. That's 11 points on 10 possessions. This is what killed OKC. OKC had to score on 6 of 10 possessions to stay ahead. And as soon as Golden State starting hitting a ridiculous high volume/ % of 3's, they couldn't. OKC couldn't maintain that level of efficiency. Almost no team can, I would say. Cleveland shoots the 3 MUCH better than OKC does, so maybe they'll make enough of them to offset the difference. I also wonder if the Game 7 battle vs the well-rested Cavaliers will come in to play. I think it could. Stay tuned. It should be a really good series.
