Did Kevin Durant lose a step coming off the injury?

[TAZORAC]

It's kinda hard to tell on offense because he's 6'11 with a great jump shot. I think I have seen a decline on the DEFENSIVE end though. Durant before the injury could guard all 5 positions...now I think he only guard 3 and 4. His lateral quickness has dropped.

Who agrees/disagrees?

[MaxPlayer]

I mean, he's older and coming off a major injury, so I think it's totally expected that he would lose a step.

Hard to tell how much is rust or him easing back in. We may not see him go 100% on D until the playoffs.

[k0kakw0rld]

He is averaging 30.8 ppg on 53.3 FG% DAMN! He plays smart that's it and I can't fault it for that. Imagine if he was giving it his all out there. He would be averaging 40 then. I think Steve Nash doesn't want him to do too much. however, yesterday he did not shy away from wanting that matchup against Kawhi. It was fun to watch.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Same thing I noticed, offense is the same but his defense declined. It might just be an effort thing though, he doesn't want to go all out yet and hurt himself.

Kawhi needs to stop trying to shoot over his 7"3 length ass and just drive in and over power him. Kawhi has way more muscles, don't try to shoot over the guy. The problem for Kawhi is that Durant is too tall and can just shoot over him anytime he wants. Durant and Kawhi are the most unguardable players in the league.

[tpols]

You didn't watch last night's game if you think his defense has regressed. He locked Kawhi up when it mattered. Air balls. His length and anticipation are great. His only weakness would be getting bowled over but even then he's able to contort his body and still alter the shot as a matador.

[tpols]

Kawhi needs to stop trying to shoot over his 7"3 length ass and just drive in and over power him. Kawhi has way more muscles, don't try to shoot over the guy.

He tried that a couple times and Durant either absorbed the contact and altered the shot, or he side stepped him and altered it from behind. Kawhi doesn't have Lebron or Giannis strength he can't just bowl him. Hell, even HARDEN locked him up. Kawhi tried bully balling harden in the poast and he couldn't move him an inch. That was in the late 4th Q.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

He tried that a couple times and Durant either absorbed the contact and altered the shot, or he side stepped him and altered it from behind. Kawhi doesn't have Lebron or Giannis strength he can't just bowl him. Hell, even HARDEN locked him up. Kawhi tried bully balling harden in the poast and he couldn't move him an inch. That was in the late 4th Q.

From what I've seen, kawhi is pound for pound the strongest player in NBA history. He just doesn't utilize it on offense as much as he should he doing. There's a reason he's the perfect defender for guys with ridiculous strength like LeBron/Giannis. Also when defending Kawhi, guys are always constantly bouncing off him.

From just the way their body is built, kawhi looks like he's 10x stronger then Durant. I could be underrating Durant's strength here though but he's all bones and Kawhi looks ripped. We will see what happens when Kawhi is going all out in a playoff series.

I don't see how nets shut down kawhi like you're making it out to be either. Kawhi had 33 points, 50% FG and 0 turnovers, that's not getting shut down.

[tpols]

From what I've seen, kawhi is pound for pound the strongest player in NBA history. He just doesn't utilize it on offense as much as he should he doing. There's a reason he's the perfect defender for guys with ridiculous strength like LeBron/Giannis. Also when defending Kawhi, guys are always constantly bouncing off him.

From just the way their body is built, kawhi looks like he's 10x stronger then Durant. I could be underrating Durant's strength here though but he's all bones and Kawhi looks ripped. We will see what happens when Kawhi is going all out in a playoff series.

I don't see how nets shut down kawhi like you're making it out to be either. Kawhi had 33 points, 50% FG and 0 turnovers, that's not getting shut down.

Kawhi got most of his points in the flow of the game. In the 4th when shit was tight, KD locked him up. And when they forced the switch for Harden and he thought he had an easy back down, he got bodied. Now that Harden doesn't have to expend all of his energy one man army'ing teams, he can actually have some reserve in the tank for defense. And Harden is one of the strongest looking guards I've ever seen. They tried the PnR switch mismatch to get Kyrie on Kawhi too and even that failed. The Nets have definitely been coaching defense, because Kyrie would slide to where ever the closest help was and force Kawhi to go that way. He never stayed perfectly in front but always jumped to one side or another depending where the closest help defender was.

Good luck with Ty Lue fixing that. You guys got another preacher "brother" coach. Your team is going to get out schemed like a mother****er in the playoffs with that guy at the helm. "Play faster". :oldlol: At least Steve Nash showed his adaptability defensively by fouling when up 3 late, when not fouling failed us early in the season in similar situation. You fellas are done when the scheming starts.

[LoneyROY7]

From what I've seen, kawhi is pound for pound the strongest player in NBA history. He just doesn't utilize it on offense as much as he should he doing. There's a reason he's the perfect defender for guys with ridiculous strength like LeBron/Giannis. Also when defending Kawhi, guys are always constantly bouncing off him.

From just the way their body is built, kawhi looks like he's 10x stronger then Durant. I could be underrating Durant's strength here though but he's all bones and Kawhi looks ripped. We will see what happens when Kawhi is going all out in a playoff series.

I don't see how nets shut down kawhi like you're making it out to be either. Kawhi had 33 points, 50% FG and 0 turnovers, that's not getting shut down.

https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf/status/1356794644747743232

The "strongest player in NBA history" getting absolutely stonewalled strength vs. strength.

Klit. :oldlol: :oldlol:

[tpols]

https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf/status/1356794644747743232

The "strongest player in NBA history" getting absolutely stonewalled strength vs. strength.

Klit. :oldlol: :oldlol:

Yup... that's the possession I remember. Kawhi thought he had a sweet lick. Tried bullying and when he got bodied, he flopped and tried to call for a foul. Bitch shit.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Kawhi got most of his points in the flow of the game. In the 4th when shit was tight, KD locked him up. And when they forced the switch for Harden and he thought he had an easy back down, he got bodied. Now that Harden doesn't have to expend all of his energy one man army'ing teams, he can actually have some reserve in the tank for defense. And Harden is one of the strongest looking guards I've ever seen. They tried the PnR switch mismatch to get Kyrie on Kawhi too and even that failed. The Nets have definitely been coaching defense, because Kyrie would slide to where ever the closest help was and force Kawhi to go that way. He never stayed perfectly in front but always jumped to one side or another depending where the closest help defender was.

Good luck with Ty Lue fixing that. You guys got another preacher "brother" coach. Your team is going to get out schemed like a mother****er in the playoffs with that guy at the helm. "Play faster". :oldlol: At least Steve Nash showed his adaptability defensively by fouling when up 3 late, when not fouling failed us early in the season in similar situation. You fellas are done when the scheming starts.


Nets were +11 in the 9 minutes Harden played without Durant and Irving. The game was a stalemate, +0, in the 32 minutes all three were on the floor together. Clippers essentially lost the game in the minutes it was just Harden. They'll be kicking themselves

Source: clippers writer Justin Russo twitter

Stop overrating Durant's impact, he didn't win that game last night. Harden won the game for them and the refs won the game for them. Durant's advanced stats are inferior to Kawhi this season, just like they have been inferior for like 6 straight years now. Kawhi is just a flat out better overall player then Durant.

As far as coaching, good luck with the midget ball. We all know D'antoni and Nash don't give a shit about defense. Ty Lue has more rings then D'antoni and D'antoni coached like 20 years longer.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

https://twitter.com/jackfrank_jjf/status/1356794644747743232

The "strongest player in NBA history" getting absolutely stonewalled strength vs. strength.

Klit. :oldlol: :oldlol:

Harden pushed Kawhi when he first guarded him and no call. They also were showing a replay of Harden putting 2 hands on Kawhi while defending him in the post? That's a damn foul! You can't put 2 hands on a guy while defending him in the post.

[LoneyROY7]

Harden pushed Kawhi when he first guarded him and no call. They also were showing a replay of Harden putting 2 hands on Kawhi while defending him in the post? That's a damn foul! You can't put 2 hands on a guy while defending him in the post.

:yaohappy:

[Axe]

Source: clippers writer Justin Russo twitter

Stop overrating Durant's impact, he didn't win that game last night. Harden won the game for them and the refs won the game for them. Durant's advanced stats are inferior to Kawhi this season, just like they have been inferior for like 6 straight years now. Kawhi is just a flat out better overall player then Durant.

As far as coaching, good luck with the midget ball. We all know D'antoni and Nash don't give a shit about defense. Ty Lue has more rings then D'antoni and D'antoni coached like 20 years longer.
A flat out better overall player who had to rely on rs load management first in order to make that possible. Yea right. :yaohappy:

[tpols]

Harden pushed Kawhi when he first guarded him and no call. They also were showing a replay of Harden putting 2 hands on Kawhi while defending him in the post? That's a damn foul! You can't put 2 hands on a guy while defending him in the post.

Wow you really are a *****. First it was the bubble. Then it was the mask. Now? Kawhi can ram into his defender as hard as he can, but the defender can't stand his ground? That's WWE shit. What's fair is fair and your boy couldn't make it happen. I do feel bad for him though he has Paul George as his best help while Harden has Durant and Kyrie... and a 120+ IQ guy in Nash while yall have Ty Lue. Your squad is going to get stepped over Iverson style.

https://i.imgur.com/plunv3T.gif

[HBK_Kliq_2]

A flat out better overall player who had to rely on rs load management first in order to make that possible. Yea right. :yaohappy:

Durant had to join a 73 win title team you idiot and he has never won a playoff series without an MVP on his team.

[dankok8]

I don't think KD lost a step. Since Harden came over in the last 8 games KD is putting up 32.3/7.9/4.5 on 65.5 %TS. He's also averaging 2 bpg and is probably the Nets' best defender.

[HBK_Kliq_2]

Wow you really are a *****. First it was the bubble. Then it was the mask. Now? Kawhi can ram into his defender as hard as he can, but the defender can't stand his ground? That's WWE shit. What's fair is fair and your boy couldn't make it happen. I do feel bad for him though he has Paul George as his best help while Harden has Durant and Kyrie... and a 120+ IQ guy in Nash while yall have Ty Lue. Your squad is going to get stepped over Iverson style.

https://i.imgur.com/plunv3T.gif

Rules are rules and a defender can't put 2 hands on somebody who is posting up, harden did that and got away with it. Then the 3 point foul harden got on morris that should of been overturned and wasn't. Refs were assholes to the clippers last night.

The bubble made guys like Mitchell and Murray look like Jordan, what do you want me to tell you?

Kawhi is also 11-1 without the mask and the 1 loss was when his starting point guard Beverly wasn't playing.

Nets big 3 haven't even shown they can play together yet. They won the game last night because Harden was by himself for those 9 minutes and he thrives with role players in the reg season. Can Harden actually co exist with Irving? That hasn't been proven, not even close to being proven.

I'm not really worried about nets anyway. You guys are in a different conference, you guys are playing midget ball and no defense, no chemistry with the big 3 yet, Dumb'toni and Nash have never been to a finals before. Let me know if you can make it past teams like 76ers/Bucks/Celtics first.

[TAZORAC]

Durant had to join a 73 win title team you idiot and he has never won a playoff series without an MVP on his team.

Considering Westbrook played on Durant's team for most of Durants career other then the 3 with Golden State. That's a bad faith argument about him winning "without an MVP"

[SATAN]

From what I've seen, kawhi is pound for pound the strongest player in NBA history.

:oldlol:

[999Guy]

It's kinda hard to tell on offense because he's 6'11 with a great jump shot. I think I have seen a decline on the DEFENSIVE end though. Durant before the injury could guard all 5 positions...now I think he only guard 3 and 4. His lateral quickness has dropped.

Who agrees/disagrees?
Dude he has never been able to contain quick players. Him being on the first non-elite defense in like 8 years just shows his weaknesses more clearly than ever.

And he has NEVER been an elite rim protector. Not even close. He doesn’t deter anything he just gets a block now and then.

[light]

It's kinda hard to tell on offense because he's 6'11 with a great jump shot. I think I have seen a decline on the DEFENSIVE end though. Durant before the injury could guard all 5 positions...now I think he only guard 3 and 4. His lateral quickness has dropped.

Who agrees/disagrees?

He's bound to have lost something. Even if it's just a little bit here or a little bit there. No one ever comes back from an injury like that and completely returns to who they were. KD will never be who he was before.

But that's not such a bad thing, he was never a great defender anyway.

[Airupthere]

He’s not as explosive as before. Certainly lost a step but lucky for him the league is easier to play in.

[Axe]

Durant had to join a 73 win title team you idiot and he has never won a playoff series without an MVP on his team.
You dumbass. You do realize the 2012 thunder roster never had any mvps in them when they made the finals against the heat? What a goddamned pathetic jizzrag you really are. :facepalm

[light]

He’s not as explosive as before. Certainly lost a step but lucky for him the league is easier to play in.

It's not easier to play in. And he isn't lucky unless you're talking about his height. The shooting skill level of modern players is at an all-time high and Kevin Durant is an example of that but he's worked hard to become such a great shooter.

Your sentence should read, "He’s not as explosive as before. Certainly lost a step but he can make up the difference because he's such a great shooter." Or something along those lines.

His height plus his shooting - a gimpy KD can still be like a Dirk.

[Jasper]

I actually think he is playing better ... not always looking to shoot a 30' / but playing mid range game , and driving to hoop/
His board percentage might be higher than any other time in his career !!