Can we finally put the Kevin Durant love to rest?

[TheMLBKing]

Kobe.


LeBron.
KD

Everyone else.

lol....idiot

[SparJMU]

Not saying he's not a really good player. Not saying nobody should like him. But there's a lot of nonsense talk about KD being better than Lebron, how nice and soft spoken this kid is, etc.

All I'm saying is this should finally pump the brakes. Sure he's one of the best players in the league but his flaws have been exploited in this series. He lacks much physicality in his game and refuses to post up and use his ridiculous height advantage. On top of that he sure seems to do a lot of whining and complaining.

Yea yea yea I know Westbrook is hurt. I didn't realize the rest of the Thunder team is a bunch of dogs - I mean they did win a shit-ton of games and last I checked Martin and Ibaka were supposed to be pretty darn good players. I thought Westbrook was holding this team back anyway

Oh and didn't Lebron take a bunch of stiffs to the Finals back in 07 and get past a team that is very similar to this Grizzlies team in the Detroit Pistons? Fukk I come off as a Lebron lover here but unfortunately someone has to do it.

Very good points throughout this post. The bottom line is that Lebron James is absolutely better than Kevin Durant right now. Durant is an amazing player. Probably the best scorer in the league. He led the league is scoring in the playoffs this year. He outscored Lebron in the Finals last year. He led the Olympic team in points, etc.

But he is only 24 years old. Jordan was 28 when he won his first title. Lebron was 27 when he won his first. It takes times to develop. Maybe one day Lebron will be a greater player than Jordan. He is improving constantly, but he still have to stay at this level for another 5-6 years. Maybe one day Durant will be better than both of them. He will need to improve in a lot of different ways, but he obviously has the skill set. The point is we don't know yet, and its silly to debate it at this point. Right now Jordan is clearly better than Lebron, who is clearly better than Durant, but all of that can change in a matter of a few years.

[LT Profits]

Memphis won't beat SA in a 7 game series. So now what?

You are right, Memphis will beat SA in a 6 game series.

[jsmithj88]

People are severely underestimating the grizzlies. This is the only team besides maybe indy who can force the heat to a game 6 or 7. Mem has awesome defence.

yup. wrong matchup for a jumpshooting team
look how the pacers are slapping the knicks around
pacers and grizz are serious threats to the heat

[Speedy88]

I love how Durant got little criticism for his bad play in games 4 and 5 where he played like absolute shit. Everyone just pulls out the "Westbrook card" and says Durant had to carry too much of the load. Yet when Melo has a bad game, everyone rips him.

Durant should now understand how Carmelo feels. Media hates Carmelo and loves Durant.

[Ali 7]

No doubt Kevin Durant is a great player when he's on his game but yesterday he looked so out of sorts, Almost like he couldn't handle it you could say.

Then again everyone has off games, Generally when you regard someone as one of the best in the game you expect off nights are rare and when it comes to the biggest shot of the game they'd do better than what Durant did, His final shot (if we're honest) looked like a rookie that couldn't handle the pressure. If he had made it and led his team to An OT Victory all would be forgotten how he played the rest of the game obviously.

[jsmithj88]

No doubt Kevin Durant is a great player when he's on his game but yesterday he looked so out of sorts, Almost like he couldn't handle it you could say.

Then again everyone has off games, Generally when you regard someone as one of the best in the game you expect off nights are rare and when it comes to the biggest shot of the game they'd do better than what Durant did, His final shot (if we're honest) looked like a rookie that couldn't handle the pressure. If he had made it and led his team to An OT Victory all would be forgotten how he played the rest of the game obviously.

He failed big time in the biggest game of their year.

[Ghenghis Kahn]

Yep Heat will win but memphis has a guy in Tony Allen to slow Lebron along with a strong frontline to give him trouble at the rim.

tony allen 6'4" 213lbs

lebron james 6'8" 250lbs

to big too strong

[Ghenghis Kahn]

I love how Durant got little criticism for his bad play in games 4 and 5 where he played like absolute shit. Everyone just pulls out the "Westbrook card" and says Durant had to carry too much of the load. Yet when Melo has a bad game, everyone rips him.

Durant should now understand how Carmelo feels. Media hates Carmelo and loves Durant.

melo isn't in the same category as lebron and kd.

even paul george is better than carmelo.

[k4cowboys4k]

melo isn't in the same category as lebron and kd.

even paul george is better than carmelo.

Agreed that Melo isn't anywhere near their ballpark, but Paul George is grossly overrated

[Speedy88]

melo isn't in the same category as lebron and kd.

even paul george is better than carmelo.

That's not the point I was really trying to make. I'm not trying to say Melo is better than Durant or ****-versa. All I'm saying is that the media bashes Melo when he has a bad night, yet they make up some excuse for Durant when he has an off game.

What Durant has gone through since the Westbrook injury is what Melo has been through for an entire season. Durant has been able to dominate the NBA the last couple years because NBA defenses can't key in on him because they have to respect Westbrook (and Harden when he was on the team). If we do want to compare Melo to Durant, I'd say Melo is the better overall scorer when he faces defenses that key in on him. Melo has the body to handle the physicality and double teams, can't really say the same for Durant.

Exactly what has Kevin Durant done that makes him so great? Sure he made the finals, but that was mainly because that team was stacked him 3 superstars and one of the best defenders in the league. Put Melo on a team with Westbrook and Harden and I'm sure they make the finals too. A lot of people don't realize this, but player's greatness is usually a product of their team. Just look at Bron pre-Miami and Bron post-Miami.

[k4cowboys4k]

That's not the point I was really trying to make. I'm not trying to say Melo is better than Durant or ****-versa. All I'm saying is that the media bashes Melo when he has a bad night, yet they make up some excuse for Durant when he has an off game.

What Durant has gone through since the Westbrook injury is what Melo has been through for an entire season. Durant has been able to dominate the NBA the last couple years because NBA defenses can't key in on him because they have to respect Westbrook (and Harden when he was on the team). If we do want to compare Melo to Durant, I'd say Melo is the better overall scorer when he faces defenses that key in on him. Melo has the body to handle the physicality and double teams, can't really say the same for Durant.

Exactly what has Kevin Durant done that makes him so great? Sure he made the finals, but that was mainly because that team was stacked him 3 superstars and one of the best defenders in the league. Put Melo on a team with Westbrook and Harden and I'm sure they make the finals too. A lot of people don't realize this, but player's greatness is usually a product of their team. Just look at Bron pre-Miami and Bron post-Miami.

Melo is garbage. He is a volume scorer. He narrowly edged Durant for the scoring title this year yet shot over 6% worse. Melo played in 14 less games yet took 66 more shots!

[Speedy88]

Melo is garbage. He is a volume scorer. He narrowly edged Durant for the scoring title this year yet shot over 6% worse. Melo played in 14 less games yet took 66 more shots!

Melo has to shoot more because he doesn't have a Westbrook, Ibaka, or Kevin Martin on his team. He has JR Smith, that's about it. If Kevin Durant didn't have Westbrook for the entire season, his shooting numbers would look a lot more like Carmelo's. Durant's "greatness" is a product of his team. And Melo's "hatred" is a product of his garbage team.

Just want to say I'm not a Knicks fan nor am I much of a Carmelo fan. Just got the avy because I think he is the best scorer the NBA has seen in a while. I respect that.

Guarantee you that Melo puts up a better performance than Durant did last night. Melo facing the same exact situation as Durant last night. Both are on a team that depends heavily on their superstars. Both facing elimination at home.

[BigDofBA]

Not saying he's not a really good player. Not saying nobody should like him. But there's a lot of nonsense talk about KD being better than Lebron, how nice and soft spoken this kid is, etc.

All I'm saying is this should finally pump the brakes. Sure he's one of the best players in the league but his flaws have been exploited in this series. He lacks much physicality in his game and refuses to post up and use his ridiculous height advantage. On top of that he sure seems to do a lot of whining and complaining.

Yea yea yea I know Westbrook is hurt. I didn't realize the rest of the Thunder team is a bunch of dogs - I mean they did win a shit-ton of games and last I checked Martin and Ibaka were supposed to be pretty darn good players. I thought Westbrook was holding this team back anyway

Oh and didn't Lebron take a bunch of stiffs to the Finals back in 07 and get past a team that is very similar to this Grizzlies team in the Detroit Pistons? Fukk I come off as a Lebron lover here but unfortunately someone has to do it.

I've never said KD was better than Lebron.

I don't have any issues with your opinion either. It seems fair.

Will see if KD an improve in the next few years and get over the hump.

[BigDofBA]

Melo has to shoot more because he doesn't have a Westbrook, Ibaka, or Kevin Martin on his team. He has JR Smith, that's about it. If Kevin Durant didn't have Westbrook for the entire season, his shooting numbers would look a lot more like Carmelo's. Durant's "greatness" is a product of his team. And Melo's "hatred" is a product of his garbage team.

Just want to say I'm not a Knicks fan nor am I much of a Carmelo fan. Just got the avy because I think he is the best scorer the NBA has seen in a while. I respect that.

Guarantee you that Melo puts up a better performance than Durant did last night. Melo facing the same exact situation as Durant last night. Both are on a team that depends heavily on their superstars. Both facing elimination at home.

Durant has already come up clutch more than Melo has in his entire career so quit with the Melo would have played better stuff.

Last night was one of the worst games of Duran'ts career. It's not the norm for him.

[k4cowboys4k]

Melo has to shoot more because he doesn't have a Westbrook, Ibaka, or Kevin Martin on his team. He has JR Smith, that's about it. If Kevin Durant didn't have Westbrook for the entire season, his shooting numbers would look a lot more like Carmelo's. Durant's "greatness" is a product of his team. And Melo's "hatred" is a product of his garbage team.

Just want to say I'm not a Knicks fan nor am I much of a Carmelo fan. Just got the avy because I think he is the best scorer the NBA has seen in a while. I respect that.

Guarantee you that Melo puts up a better performance than Durant did last night. Melo facing the same exact situation as Durant last night. Both are on a team that depends heavily on their superstars. Both facing elimination at home.

They are not in the same situation. The team Melo will play with is the same he has been with all year. Durant suddenly lost a big part of his offense with Westbrook and that would be tough for any star to deal with.

[PAULYPOKER]

Bean Pole City!

[lakerboy]

Speedy melo had good teams in denver and he won a couple of playoff series. Durant has been to the final. Same old nba script. Durant wins in a few years

[Speedy88]

I'm well aware that Melo is a loser. He's never won anything. Just saying Melo and Durant are more similar than most people think.

Take Westbrook and Harden away and Durant looked a lot like "Melo."

[redeye413]

I'm well aware that Melo is a loser. He's never won anything. Just saying Melo and Durant are more similar than most people think.

Take Westbrook and Harden away and Durant looked a lot like "Melo."

Melo dont pass! Stop the argument you lose!

[Speedy88]

Melo dont pass! Stop the argument you lose!

I'm not trying to argue that Melo is better than Durant. Read what I wrote. All I'm saying is that Durant's early success in the NBA is a product of his great team.

I know that Carmelo Anthony hasn't won anything in his career and probably never will. I know that he doesn't pass. I watch basketball, you don't have to tell me that.

Like OP stated, lets put the KD love to rest. Guy completely choked on his own court in an elimination game. It's okay though, it wasn't his fault. We can find 100 other things to blame his poor performance on.

[t-wizzle]

BigD I never singled you out but it seems you think I did. KD will win when he develops a post game and when the Thunder get a decent big man.

Didn't someone just win last year when he finally developed a post game?

In fact Durant is already well ahead of Lebron in his offensive skillset when it comes to shooting whether it be mid-range or from 3. Durant is far and away better than Lebron will ever be as a shooter. James made up for his lack of shooting with great passing and defense. Once LBJ developed a post game last year he was unstoppable - and now he is actually a decent long-range shooter.

[BigDofBA]

BigD I never singled you out but it seems you think I did. KD will win when he develops a post game and when the Thunder get a decent big man.

Didn't someone just win last year when he finally developed a post game?

In fact Durant is already well ahead of Lebron in his offensive skillset when it comes to shooting whether it be mid-range or from 3. Durant is far and away better than Lebron will ever be as a shooter. James made up for his lack of shooting with great passing and defense. Once LBJ developed a post game last year he was unstoppable - and now he is actually a decent long-range shooter.

I agreed with pretty much everything you said. I thought it was a fair assessment.

[InTheDrink]

BigD I never singled you out but it seems you think I did. KD will win when he develops a post game and when the Thunder get a decent big man.

Didn't someone just win last year when he finally developed a post game?

In fact Durant is already well ahead of Lebron in his offensive skillset when it comes to shooting whether it be mid-range or from 3. Durant is far and away better than Lebron will ever be as a shooter. James made up for his lack of shooting with great passing and defense. Once LBJ developed a post game last year he was unstoppable - and now he is actually a decent long-range shooter.

so how far off is this post from "the Kevin Durant love" that this thread is about?

what did we accomplish here?

[MoneyLineDawg]

KD and Melo both amazing scorers....KD a little better all around player and more potential

Media/Casual fans hate Melo, loves KD......is what it is

The reality is they are pretty similar but I give the edge to Durant now and definitely in the future

[Speedy88]

KD and Melo both amazing scorers....KD a little better all around player and more potential

Media/Casual fans hate Melo, loves KD......is what it is

The reality is they are pretty similar but I give the edge to Durant now and definitely in the future

Took the words right out of my mouth. Well said.

[jsmithj88]

That's not the point I was really trying to make. I'm not trying to say Melo is better than Durant or ****-versa. All I'm saying is that the media bashes Melo when he has a bad night, yet they make up some excuse for Durant when he has an off game.

What Durant has gone through since the Westbrook injury is what Melo has been through for an entire season. Durant has been able to dominate the NBA the last couple years because NBA defenses can't key in on him because they have to respect Westbrook (and Harden when he was on the team). If we do want to compare Melo to Durant, I'd say Melo is the better overall scorer when he faces defenses that key in on him. Melo has the body to handle the physicality and double teams, can't really say the same for Durant.

Exactly what has Kevin Durant done that makes him so great? Sure he made the finals, but that was mainly because that team was stacked him 3 superstars and one of the best defenders in the league. Put Melo on a team with Westbrook and Harden and I'm sure they make the finals too. A lot of people don't realize this, but player's greatness is usually a product of their team. Just look at Bron pre-Miami and Bron post-Miami.

melo has made the playoffs 10 times in his career
5/10 times he has shot UNDER 40% , im actually pretty surprised, and hes under 40% this year
he is a career 41.4% for the playoffs
eliminated in the first round 8/10 times
not exactly impressive ............

[Speedy88]

melo has made the playoffs 10 times in his career
5/10 times he has shot UNDER 40% , im actually pretty surprised, and hes under 40% this year
he is a career 41.4% for the playoffs
eliminated in the first round 8/10 times
not exactly impressive ............

Go back and read my post. I'm not arguing that Melo is great. I'm just saying that Durant is a lot more like Melo when you take away his superstar teammates.

[jsmithj88]

Go back and read my post. I'm not arguing that Melo is great. I'm just saying that Durant is a lot more like Melo when you take away his superstar teammates.

i know what u are saying, but those stats say it is not true
durant was still shooting a high percent even after westbrook went down
these last 2 games are what really dipped his average
he prolly got burnt out from trying to score and distribute
melo only does one thing, and thats try and score, and its evident in his career numbers

[t-wizzle]

durant went what last night? 5 for 21?

[InTheDrink]

Go back and read my post. I'm not arguing that Melo is great. I'm just saying that Durant is a lot more like Melo when you take away his superstar teammates.

so youre equating melo playing 80 games (reg season and playoffs) with his current healthy teammates vs durants 10 games (all playoffs) with his

okc probably wouldn't make any adjustments given more time

good times

[The Kraken]

Speedy we've established that almost every great player in SPORTS history has played with other super star teammates. It's called synergism.

KD is the probably the second best player in the league, with or without Westbrook. Westbrook makes him better and vice versa, as it should be.

It wasn't so much KD that struggled against Memphis, it was the entire team.

However, KD did have a bad game 5. No doubt.

[InTheDrink]

uhhhhhhhh huh huh...huh huh...huh huh....he said jism

[BigDofBA]

So in this thread we say to put the Kevin Durant love to rest and then we all agree he is one of the best players in the league....ok.

KD played like shit in game 5. With that said, everyone has a bad game. KD is only 24 and has already hit more clutch shots in his lifetime than Melo every will. KD has also led his team to the Finals.

Michael Jordan went 3 of 18 in a playoff game against the Knicks. Does that mean we need to quit with the Michael Jordan love? Of course, comparing KD to Jordan is ridiculous, I'm just making a point that everyone has bad games. KD hasn't had many 5 of 21 shooting games in his life. Shit happens.

If it happened to Jordan it can happen to anyone. With that said, most posters on this site were probably barely born when that game was played so they have no clue.

I totally agree that KD has a lot of areas to improved on but he is a top 3 player in the world is he not? Who is better?

Lebron is #1 and I'll even accept the argument for Kobe at #2. After that, please don't say Melo.

[The Kraken]

Tony Parker 3-16 8pts
Manu Ginobili 1-6 ?pts

Everyone has bad games.

On a side note, OKC and GS have awesome fans. Love to hear fans cheering for their team even after losing a series.