Kevin Durant: Extremely Underrated Defender?

[russwest0]

Check out the stats from last year

Synergy Defensive Statistics
LBJ - .84 ppp / 37.4% fg against / .82 iso ppp / 38% fg against
Durant - .80 ppp / 34.8% fg against / .73 iso ppp / 33.8% fg against
George - .82 ppp / 37.3% fg against / .76 iso ppp / 35.3% fg against

Defensive win shares
LBJ - 4.7
Durant - 5.3
George - 6.3

82 games - Counterpart Against
LBJ:
SF - eFG% .479 / PER 12.7
PF - eFG% .502 / PER 17.2

Durant:
SF - eFG% .448% / PER 10.5
PF - eFG% .492% / PER 13.4

George
SF - eFG% .457% / PER 17.6
PF - eFG% .434% / PER 12.0

There are more out there as well, those are just 3 of them. All advanced metrics point to him being an elite defender.

Oh, but wait, "lets see him shutdown Rose in the 4th like LeBron did in the playoffs"

The last two times they've met in the playoffs, (both years) Durant has held Kobe Bryant to 3-21 shooting in the 4th quarter.

In the Finals he held LeBron to 9-27 shooting (33%) but had to get switched off because the refs kept calling fouls on him.

Just something to think about. I think the reason he gets so underrated is because he never comments about his game unless directly asked about something and guys don't ask him about his defense. He's not gonna be like LeBron and beg for the DPOY along with having his teammates and coaches do it for him as well.

[moe94]

Must be nice being a great defender when you have Specialosha take all the real assignments.

[RoundMoundOfReb]

His off ball rotations are shit. That's why he isn't as good as LeBron. Also LeBron guards the opposing team's best player (regardless of position) in the 4th quarter of a tight game - Durant guards Mario Chalmers.

[russwest0]

Must be nice being a great defender when you have Specialosha take all the real assignments.

Which is why in the Finals Durant came out guarding LeBron and LeBron came out guarding Perkins...

[russwest0]

His off ball rotations are shit. That's why he isn't as good as LeBron. Also LeBron guards the opposing team's best player (regardless of position) in the 4th quarter of a tight game - Durant guards Mario Chalmers.

Durant had to guard Mario Chalmers because he was playing every game with 5 fouls by the end of the 4th. The refs were giving Wade and LeBron all of the superstar calls that series.

I just don't see how people continue to lie to themselves on this issue, and just act like every one of these stats is a fluke. It's not just one fluky stat, because all of them tell the same story.

[russwest0]

:D

[HoopsFanNumero1]

No. And this board was better with you banned.

[russwest0]

No. And this board was better with you banned.

Thanks for your insight and counterpoints

[plowking]

[QUOTE=RoundMoundOfReb]His off ball rotations are shit. That's why he isn't as good as LeBron. Also LeBron guards the opposing team's best player (regardless of position) in the 4th quarter of a tight game - Durant guards Mario Chalmers.[/QUOTE

Yeah, off the ball, he is terrible. Gets caught in no mans land. I've never seen a player get caught on the backdoor cut more times than Durant. I wasn't even cheering for America in the Olympics, but it actually got frustrating watching Durant give up point constantly on the same play. Even Melo figured it out and started looking out for it, while Durant continued to daze off.

[russwest0]

Yeah, off the ball, he is terrible. Gets caught in no mans land. I've never seen a player get caught on the backdoor cut more times than Durant. I wasn't even cheering for America in the Olympics, but it actually got frustrating watching Durant give up point constantly on the same play. Even Melo figured it out and started looking out for it, while Durant continued to daze off.

The numbers don't lie, he was an elite defender last year, and has maintained his elite defense in the playoffs the past 2 years according to the numbers while LeBron has gotten a little worse last year.

This year he's averaging 30/6/7. It's time we start calling him the best player in basketball just like Gregg Popovich has been for the last 2 years.

[russwest0]

Yet clowns still acting like Bron worthy of the DPOY.

wow. :facepalm

[fpliii]

Which is why in the Finals Durant came out guarding Chalmers and LeBron came out guarding Durant...

Your point being?

[russwest0]

Your point being?

I never said that and that happened for one game, I think the final game where we decided it wasnt worth it to have Durant miss crucial minutes in foul trouble...

But lol @ everyone ignoring the overwhelming amount of statistics supporting my claim and just focusing on that. KD did great on LBJ when he had the chance to guard him and it was clear he wanted to do that from the start but Dan/Joey Crawford were giving LBJ/Wade all of the superstar calls even if they weren't touched so he had no choice.

KD shut down your avatar in the 4th quarter these past 2 times they've met in the playoffs but no one talks about it like they wont shutup about Bron and D Rose

[joeysms55]

^^^ You realize that base stats ur using was the one that was indicating Boozer is also one of the best defender in the league. Durant is OVERRATED. You touch him he gets a foul

[fpliii]

I never said that and that happened for one game, I think the final game where we decided it wasnt worth it to have Durant miss crucial minutes in foul trouble...

But lol @ everyone ignoring the overwhelming amount of statistics supporting my claim and just focusing on that. KD did great on LBJ when he had the chance to guard him and it was clear he wanted to do that from the start but Dan/Joey Crawford were giving LBJ/Wade all of the superstar calls even if they weren't touched so he had no choice.

KD shut down your avatar in the 4th quarter these past 2 times they've met in the playoffs but no one talks about it like they wont shutup about Bron and D Rose

Keep dreaming buddy. :cheers:

[MP.Trey]

In the Finals he held LeBron to 9-27 shooting (33%)but had to get switched off because the refs kept calling fouls on him.

lol ISH

The only place where getting fouls called on you forcing you to switch off your original assignment is considered good defense. Keep blaming those refs. Stay classy. :cheers:

[Jameerthefear]

Durant plays good 1 on 1 defense from what I remember. He did pretty well on Lebron, but just couldn't stay out of foul trouble while he was guarding him. Not fouling is also part of good defense though, so that is no excuse.

[Trollsmasher]

No wonder when he always gets switched on the worst player of the opposition.

Watch the games

[Real Men Wear Green]

He gives an honest effort and can guard most 3s but I don't recall him shutting down opponents with any kind of regularity so how is he all that underrated?

[pauk]

There is no stat that can measure defense unfortunately.... defensive IQ & intangibles orchestrating/leading vocally & by example, help/rotations/interior/perimeter defense, versatility, shutting down somebody especially when it matters.... that is something you can see by watching the games... not by seeing how much a guy gambles goes for blocks/headfakes or steals in passing lanes (and actually most often leaves his man wideopen by failing, while its good on the stats its not smart defense and you cant see that if you dont watch the games)...

...and no i dont think KD is "extremely" underrated on that end... he is rated at where he is rated, its not like he is considered a bad defender...

[tmacattack33]

Check out the stats from last year

Synergy Defensive Statistics
LBJ - .84 ppp / 37.4% fg against / .82 iso ppp / 38% fg against
Durant - .80 ppp / 34.8% fg against / .73 iso ppp / 33.8% fg against
George - .82 ppp / 37.3% fg against / .76 iso ppp / 35.3% fg against

Defensive win shares
LBJ - 4.7
Durant - 5.3
George - 6.3

82 games - Counterpart Against
LBJ:
SF - eFG% .479 / PER 12.7
PF - eFG% .502 / PER 17.2

Durant:
SF - eFG% .448% / PER 10.5
PF - eFG% .492% / PER 13.4

George
SF - eFG% .457% / PER 17.6
PF - eFG% .434% / PER 12.0

There are more out there as well, those are just 3 of them. All advanced metrics point to him being an elite defender.

Oh, but wait, "lets see him shutdown Rose in the 4th like LeBron did in the playoffs"

The last two times they've met in the playoffs, (both years) Durant has held Kobe Bryant to 3-21 shooting in the 4th quarter.

In the Finals he held LeBron to 9-27 shooting (33%) but had to get switched off because the refs kept calling fouls on him.

Just something to think about. I think the reason he gets so underrated is because he never comments about his game unless directly asked about something and guys don't ask him about his defense. He's not gonna be like LeBron and beg for the DPOY along with having his teammates and coaches do it for him as well.

:biggums:

This is one of the wierdest and hilarioust things i've read on here in a while.

Lebron was straight up burning Durant one on one after Game 1. Sefalosha then guarded Lebron in the second halfs from then on out. Because he was elite defender and Durant wasn't.

[russwest0]

:biggums:

This is one of the wierdest and hilarioust things i've read on here in a while.

Lebron was straight up burning Durant one on one after Game 1. Sefalosha then guarded Lebron in the second halfs from then on out. Because he was elite defender and Durant wasn't.

How is that hilarious, I have the raw data of how each play went as proof.

He wasn't burning KD, he was just getting him in foul trouble even though many of the calls were questionable. KD did a much better defensively on LeBron than LeBron did on KD who averaged 30 PPG on over 50%.

The difference was LeBron wasn't getting into foul trouble.

And as far as the Kobe thing goes everyone watching those series acknowledged it but it never made big news like the LBJ/Rose thing which is just used to fit this agenda that LeBron is an elite defender. People are acting like he shut down Tony Parker last year...

[La Frescobaldi]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koSHheuLgQw
getting torched, over and over.

It got so bad even the announcers talk about the Heat going to pure isolation plays - and the footage clearly shows they were laying the wood to Durant. Your thread is a good example why these kinds of statistics are invalid. Defensive ratings are kinda good for comparing teams, but not at all for individual players.

This is like the 3rd thread about this in a couple weeks. Do guys on ISH really not watch defensive plays?

Watch Steve Blake in this clip. Sure, guys score on him, it's the NBA. But he's in that player's grill all the time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xglow0Ipv7Y

Or even older than the mountains Derek Fisher:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pJJBe98npo

Tony Allen plays freaking defense: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbOwqN4ajl8
Rubio's defense highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm5fAn63f6E

Really, there ain't even any defensive highlights of Durant.
Watch this. Durant's defense is so non-existent he's hurting his team: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rm5fAn63f6E

I hate to keep banging on Durant's defense but the fact is anybody that watches him can see he's not very good at defense. He's clumsy, he plays a lot of matador, doesn't do rotations, stands around and watches a lot, and many of the fouls he gets are literally stupid reaching-in fouls that would get a high school player 50 pushups and a couple of laps if he did it in a game.