Lets talk about Kevin Durant's 2014 playoffs

[Im Still Ballin]

Was this the greatest drop-off from regular season to post season by the season MVP in history?

Regular season:
32/7/6 on 50/39/87

Playoffs:
30/9/4 on 46/34/81

Might not look that bad? Check this out!

from a PER of 30... to 22!!!

from WSP48 of .295... to .145!!!

Thank god for advanced statistics. They remove the tricks and illusions, and illuminate the best in the NBA.

[Im Still Ballin]

No i just posted in another thread

this isnt about lebron.

[imnew09]

He couldn't take over and lead his team to the Final. He lacks the definition of alpha, thus his stats is empty

[russwest0]

better than LeBron by far. LeBron shat the bed vs the Spurs, imagine if he had to play 2 other teams just as tough as them in the same playoff run :lol :lol :lol :lol

[Im Still Ballin]

Please don't make this into a troll thread guys. Read the OP and act accordingly.

[Trollsmasher]

Was this the greatest drop-off from regular season to post season by the season MVP in history?

Regular season:
32/7/6 on 50/39/87

Playoffs:
30/9/4 on 46/34/81

Might not look that bad? Check this out!

from a PER of 30... to 22!!!

from WSP48 of .295... to .145!!!

Thank god for advanced statistics. They remove the tricks and illusions, and illuminate the best in the NBA.
yes, by every measureable advanced stat, going back to '50s

embarassing for Durant, but hardly surprising for anyone with solid knowledge of the game

[Im Still Ballin]

better than LeBron by far. LeBron shat the bed vs the Spurs, imagine if he had to play 2 other teams just as tough as them in the same playoff run :lol :lol :lol :lol
The east has better defenses. This is a fact. I know this.

Lebron's 1 series against a west team?
28/8/4 on 57/52/80

[JohnFreeman]

Westbrook carrying his ass

[Trollsmasher]

Westbrook carrying his ass
don't forget about getting saved by Jackson in the 1st round:lol

[JT123]

better than LeBron by far. LeBron shat the bed vs the Spurs, imagine if he had to play 2 other teams just as tough as them in the same playoff run :lol :lol :lol :lol
Only one shitting the bed vs the Spurs was Durcant. Lebron was a lone wolf, the only player the Spurs even had to worry about defending, yet he still lit them up! :applause:
Durant on the other hand got other worldly contributions from Westbrook and Ibaka, but couldn't do shit down the stretch of game 6 when his team needed him. Bricked a wide open 3 to tie in the Final seconds of that game. :lol
History will look back on this "MVP" season of Durant's as a huge joke.

[JT123]

don't forget about getting saved by Jackson in the 1st round:lol
Only MVP in history to need a role player to save him from losing in round 1. :oldlol: Plenty of MVP's have had role players make bail out shots, but an entire bailout game?! :biggums: Talk about Embarrassing. :lol

[Im Still Ballin]

Durant's game doesn't transcend as well in the playoffs. We know this. When things slow down and get physical, umpires allow more defensive freedom Kevin doesn't adapt as well as say a Kobe or a Lebron. Lebron used to be similar in that his shooting limited him, but now he is the ultimate player.

The question is, will Kevin evolve his game, be able to play with more physicality, take advantage of smaller opponents? Time will tell.

[L.A. Jazz]

i was shocked how bad OKC was on offense when CP3 guarded Durant. They had no clue how to attack that. but what to expect without a coach.

[JT123]

i was shocked how bad OKC was on offense when CP3 guarded Durant. They had no clue how to attack that. but what to expect without a coach.
So Durant needs a Phil Jackson level coach in order to figure out how to score on a dude that is a whole foot shorter than him? :biggums:
:roll: :roll: :roll:

[T_L_P]

As far as the numbers go, 07 Dirk must be up there?

[TheMarkMadsen]

At least he advanced in the playoffs..

[MagicMoose]

Obviously Durants stats will drop in the playoffs.... Consistently playing against good teams unable to shit on weak eastern shit every 5 days... Only natural numbers will drop holy shit how thick can you people be?

[L.A. Jazz]

So Durant needs a Phil Jackson level coach in order to figure out how to score on a dude that is a whole foot shorter than him? :biggums:
:roll: :roll: :roll:
no. Durant should be blamed too. because he didnt stand up against his incompetent coach and didnt change the play after it didnt work 3 times in a row. a 7 footer defendet by a PG shouldnt get the ball near the 3pointline. get your as near the basket. i remember Westbrook bring the ball up an the left side twice to feed Durant on the right high post. pure nonsense.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Durant struggled most of the Memphis series, played well against the Clippers, but then wasn't too good against the Spurs, certainly not dominant like I'd have hoped coming off such an exceptional season. With that said, there were reasons I didn't think OKC was a legitimate threat to win the championship this year, and I think those ended up being the biggest reasons they lost. The first was the lack of a 3rd scorer or offensive help around Durant and Westbrook in general. They had Ibaka who was productive due to his finishing and very good jumper, and he got his 15 ppg for the season, but wasn't a real go to scorer or a guy who could create his own shot much. Then they had Jackson who sort of worked as a poor man's Westbrook, but they didn't have that established 3rd guy like Harden in 2012, or even Martin last season, and as most will remember, there were some games where the production outside of Durant and Westbrook was just embarrassing. That wasn't going to get it done against a deep, balanced team like the Spurs, and frankly, it wouldn't have vs the Clippers had they been a better defensive team.

Another big problem is Brooks offense. I really think this is a case where they need a better coach to take them to that next level and win a title. It was painful to watch how stagnant the offense was with such little movement. How many times did we see the shot clock running down with players standing around last year in the playoffs? It was almost a guarantee they'd have to take a bailout shot if their opponent did a good job denying Durant or Westbrook. That was pretty much their half court offense. They're great in the open court, but they're not going to win it all until they improve their half court offense. Maybe Brooks is working on it, and will fix that, I don't know, but it's obvious that was a major problem last season.

As for the question, not even close. First, I'll bring up Robinson in '95, and then some much worse are Malone in '97 and especially '99 and then Dirk in '07. Not sure if Moses in '82 should count because he had an amazing regular season from what I've read with a midseason stretch from late January into March similar to Durant's incredible stretch last season, but then fell off vs Seattle, but it was one of those best of 3 mini-series, and I'll just say I'm very happy the NBA did away with those a long time ago.

[Doranku]

The east has better defenses. This is a fact. I know this.

Lebron's 1 series against a west team?
L

fixed

[NZStreetBaller]

Its the playoffs the defense toughens up big time. plus he's in the west and faced three tough teams. memphis is a very tough team to deal with in the playoffs. spurs won the damn thing and clippers are good too.

[Im Still Ballin]

fixed
REPORTED

[riseagainst]

Durant's production dropped drastically from the regular season to the playoffs. Unfortunately my gawd Lebron has done the same in the past. 2011.

[SouBeachTalents]

Robinson, Dirk, and Malone twice would all have arguments as well

[SOD 21]

It was certainly a different, an inferior, Kevin Durant that we saw in the playoffs compared to his dominant regular-season performance.

More than anything, it underscores a major weakness in his game that when the playoffs get more physical and teams game plan against him that there are weaknesses that need to be addressed on his part. The most glaring weakness is a lack of a post game that allows the opposition to have much smaller players guard him on the perimeter to take away his dribble penetration and his inability to post up effectively.

When he fixes this problem and gets stronger, these post season struggles will disappear.

[LongLiveTheKing]

Got carried by Westbrook and the only way he advanced was because of 2 rigged series.

[imdaman99]

So Durant needs a Phil Jackson level coach in order to figure out how to score on a dude that is a whole foot shorter than him? :biggums:
:roll: :roll: :roll:
At least Chris Paul is a great defender. I can't say the same about JJ Barea though :roll:

[Roundball_Rock]

better than LeBron by far. LeBron shat the bed vs the Spurs, imagine if he had to play 2 other teams just as tough as them in the same playoff run :lol :lol :lol :lol

He faced the #1 defense in the league in the ECF along with the #6 defense before facing the Spurs' #3 defense. Only Brooklyn had a weak defense. 5 of the top 10 defenses were in the East. The difference was only 2 of the top 10 offenses were.

[J Shuttlesworth]

better than LeBron by far. LeBron shat the bed vs the Spurs, imagine if he had to play 2 other teams just as tough as them in the same playoff run :lol :lol :lol :lol
Damn, so defensive :lol

OP didn't even mention LeBron and here you are with the first reply trying to turn it into a LeBron thread

Everyone knows LeBron had a better postseason than Durant, including vs. the Spurs, and that Durant's MVP is essentially revoked

[KG215]

People act like, after CP3 giving Durant fits in the 4th quarter of that one game, he shut him down the rest of the series. Even when CP3 guarded Durant after that game he didn't have the same effect. Yes, Durant needs to get stronger and develop a more sound postgame, but I see this is going to be one of those where a player does something to Durant for one quarter of one game, and the myth continues to grow and grow to the point where the story most people tell is that CP3 shutdown Durant the whole series.

He mainly only really struggled against the Grizzlies. Then again, in that series, he was his regular season self in the game 6 elimination game and game 7 closeout game. He didn't do anything real special against the Spurs but he didn't exactly suck either.

[J Shuttlesworth]

People act like, after CP3 giving Durant fits in the 4th quarter of that one game, he shut him down the rest of the series. Even when CP3 guarded Durant after that game he didn't have the same effect. Yes, Durant needs to get stronger and develop a more sound postgame, but I see this is going to be one of those where a player does something to Durant for one quarter of one game, and the myth continues to grow and grow to the point where the story most people tell is that CP3 shutdown Durant the whole series.

He mainly only really struggled against the Grizzlies. Then again, in that series, he was his regular season self in the game 6 elimination game and game 7 closeout game. He didn't do anything real special against the Spurs but he didn't exactly suck either.
I was more worried about KD from a mental standpoint. He didn't look like he wanted it at the end of games. That could be because Westbrook tends to lead the team at the end of the games, but I still didn't see a lot of hunger from him to secure wins throughout the whole playoffs

[livinglegend]

embarassing