imported_ankle23
Well-Known Member
funny woyce making fun of kevin durant in the first round of the playoffs, uh, yeah, on twitter - durant's response - 'who's that'....?
Draft Royce or Barnes?
- Thread starter RocknRollface
- Start date
funny woyce making fun of kevin durant in the first round of the playoffs, uh, yeah, on twitter - durant's response - 'who's that'....?
Indeed. Perhaps the difference that is the most startling is their desire to play. Royce seems okay doing whatever he is doing. Barnes wants to be on the floor, even after he gets a concussion.
tm3308
Well-Known Member
To be fair to Oden, his issue was primarily injuries, not a lack of ability. Had he stayed healthy, Oden would have been a monster in the NBA.
imported_ankle23
Well-Known Member
sportstalent
Well-Known Member
Correct and I still believe more impactful...will never know though.
RocknRollface
Well-Known Member
LOL.
It looking like Im gona be quite wrong about Barnes, but he didn't do anything noticeable for the last two years until a week ago.
Curious to know what else you've got to back up that petty little vindictive statement considering I have no frame of reference as to who you are.
thejumper5
Well-Known Member
FWIW, Barnes became the first rookie since David Robinson to average 16 points and 6 rebounds during the playoffs.
woodyk1
Well-Known Member
Just curious what impactful means. Durant had an incredible season (28 points, 8 rebs, 4.6 assists while shooting 50% from the field, 40% from 3, and 90% from the line). Oden didn't have that impact in him (I believe).
tm3308
Well-Known Member
Hey, neither did Royce White. But at least Barnes was getting noticed on the court, instead of from his couch.
JonDMiller
Publisher/Founder
I did a mock draft on air that year and took Durant first. And had on experts who took Oden and I was not swayed. So not everyone was all in on Oden.
thejumper5
Well-Known Member
I think Oden had the ceiling of being a taller, better shooting version of Dwight Howard at his pre-lockout best. I didn't see this kind of impact at the NBA level from Durant because I thought he would consistently get pushed around by strong defenders. Just goes to show how hard it can be to judge the strength of a 19 year old.
trj
Well-Known Member
I was all in on Oden I overvalued the importance of having a true center in the way the league is currently construed.......i saw Durant as a volume shooter, a scorer who would get a lot of points on a lot of shots. I had no idea that Durant would be this efficient i believe he is shooting near 50% for his career, even with westbrook on the team there just isn't a lot of wasted possessions.
Clearly, i was wrong on this.
Clearly, i was wrong on this.
JG10Hawk
Well-Known Member
On a side note, Oden is poised for a possible comeback. No way he will ever reach the ceiling he once had but he could be a very nice role player off the bench someday. You just can't teach that kind of size at the center position.
http://nba.si.com/2013/05/18/greg-oden-comeback-blazers-cavaliers-heat/
http://nba.si.com/2013/05/18/greg-oden-comeback-blazers-cavaliers-heat/
HawkeyeShane
Well-Known Member
I still believe Royce will be the better player...all he needs is a fair shake from the oppressive Rockets regime...
I wouldn't say you are wrong on that at all. Having a great defensive center is still of huge importance in the NBA today. Look at how impactful Hibbert has been for Indy, or Gasol with Memphis. Conley and Allen both made All-NBA defensive teams in large part because having Gasol behind them allows them to be much more aggressive. Dwight Howard took a Magic team giving big time minutes to Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, and Rafer Alston to the Finals. The Magic could get away with that lineup because they had Howard behind them, the Rockets go from being an average defensive team to the worst defensive team in the league when Asik sits. Having an elite defensive center can completely change a team, and if that center is offensively competent as well, I don't think you can really overvalue that.
Jo Noah, who was 1st team all defense this year, has been integral to the Bulls having the best record in the league in 2010-11 and 2011-2012. He is only average scoring-wise,but does all the little things to win games.
Durant over Oden looks obvious now, but I suspect if Oden stays healthy, Portland would have won big by now.
Durant over Oden looks obvious now, but I suspect if Oden stays healthy, Portland would have won big by now.
storminspank
Justin VanLaere
He was like 40 years old in college, fragile.
