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The suffering of young Kevin
Kevin Durant may have won the 2008 NBA Rookie of the Year award. But his reputation as a coming superstar took a major beating. Then something strange happened along the way of becoming a star hyped too early. He developed from an unconscionable shooter to the next big franchise player.
The play is one that all NBA teams run over and over again. It’s nothing too wild or complicated. The small forward posts at the right edge of the lane. A pass inside is denied so the ball gets swung back to the top of the key where the shooting guard is waiting. At the same time, the small forward switches to the other side of the low post. From there, he runs around two screens, gets space from his defender, receives the pass on the wing. No dribbling, no waiting. Put it up. Good. Two points.
The other team’s next trip down the floor is just as common in the NBA world. The opposing small forward posts as quickly as possible at the edge of the lane. He gestures and points to the wing on his side. That’s where he wants the ball to go – where he can be fed into the post and take advantage of the physical mismatch on his defender. The playmaker follows his lead, but the small forward is not open. His defender moves to the offensive player’s side in perfect position to deny the entry pass. The small forward instead heads out to the three-point line.
After getting the ball outside, he fakes a shot. But his defender remains deep in his stance and only extends his long, lanky arm. The ball-handler then attempts to drive with full speed into the lane, but his defender stays with him step-for-step and blocks his way. So the offensive player turns towards the baseline and all of sudden is confronted with a second defender. With four arms waving around him, the offensive players attempts a bad pass, which is stolen and converted into a fast break layup for the opposing team.
These are two very common sequences in the NBA – none that would make a highlight reel or find their way onto youtube. And the sequence would not be worth mentioning if they didn’t involve Kevin Durant. But this is excellent chance to show that the Oklahoma City Thunder second-year small forward is no longer a one-dimensional offensive-minded youngster like last season. Actually he has become just the opposite. Still, despite current numbers of 26.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.8 blocks, Durant did not make the NBA All-Star game.
“It sounds strange to say this – Kevin is after all only 20 years old – but he is a lot more mature this year. He understands better when and where he needs to put pressure on the defense. That wasn’t the case at all as a rookie. But he couldn’t have known that,” said Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks. “He has improved in every aspect of his game: rebounding, defense, offense. For a couple weeks he had some problems with turnovers. So we sat in the film room and I showed him some of his mistakes – and he began working on them immediately.”
Things improving
“No, I don’t think that I’m an All Star. For that, your team has to win,” said Durant, who is fourth in the league this season in scoring while shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 43.6 percent from beyond the three-point stripe. “Leading your team to victories is a big part of being an All-Star. Hopefully I can reach that status before I leave this league. Right now, I’m trying with all my power to bring this team forward and reverse this trend.”
But it’s not his personal trend that Durant was talking about. That could hardly be more positive. But rather he meant the form of his team which is spending its first season in Oklahoma City after leaving Seattle. The Thunder has been less than impressive in its debut season, opening with a 3-29 record. “I would exchange my top 10 scoring average right now for a top record in the league,” said Durant. But the fans in Oklahoma City have a sense that things are beginning to look up – both for Durant and the franchise, which currently has a 17-46 record. “It feels good, sensing the whole year how I’m improving – just like I felt this summer. It’s nice being able to show the league what you learned,” said the 20-year-old, whose teammates are also learning.
The Thunder is a young group growing around the core of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook. And that trio is just now realizing what they can achieve. “We fight. We could have won the game, but in the end I just missed a big shot. But we are close,” offered Durant after a 103-99 overtime loss at the New Jersey Nets in January, which left the team at 6-33. The Thunder trailed early by seven points in overtime but the team did not give up. “In the past we would have hung our heads at the end and lost by 12 or 14 points. But this time we came back and fought.”
part II as always tomorrow – sign up for our RSS feed.
