The Durantula

Since Michael Jordan left the NBA has seen it's share of scorers and shooters, none have really combined the two skill sets the way Kobe Bryant has until Kevin Durant walked in. Since his first year in Seattle with the Sonics you seen a player that had the length and body to be a deadly scorer and the drive and determination to become a better shooter. Each year since nationally shown around the world, Kevin Durants game has improved. While in college he played his heart out at Texas but only stayed a year and landed in a coincidental lucky circumstance another great player went through. In my opinion the greatest player ever Michael Jordan wasn't a number one overall draft pick, he was the third pick. It was understandable that he would be drafted after Hakeem Olajuwon, but Sam Bowie? Portland had the first choice of one of two 7 footers with the Houston Rockets having to pick the latter. Portland went with Sam Bowie and Houston went with Hall of Famer Hakeem the Dream Olajuwon. Once that was all said and done Chicago went with a 6'6 frail kid that had the heart of a 12 footer named Michael Jordan. Jordan's history needs but be repeated, all that need to be said is that he's the greatest of all time. Fast forward to the 2007 draft, Portland was in the same position with the number one pick. In basketball its next to impossible to pass up on a 7 footer, their just too important. Portland went with Greg Oden, and within 6 years he was out of basketball. The second pick of that draft was Kevin Durant by the Seattle Supersonics. While in Seattle Durant made a quick impact averaging 20.3 his rookie year and winning the rookie of the year award. Each year he's averaging jumped to 25 then 30 points per game. Once moved to Oklahoma City the team added Russell Westbrook out of UCLA in 2008 and James Harden from Arizona State in 2009, The nucleus to a good team grew. After a tough playoff run in 2011, the thunder and Kevin Durant had finally arrived as the best scorer on the best team in the league. With the beginning of the end of careers like Kobe and Duncan, the west became wide open for the thunder. Other teams have good solid talent but the Thunder has the best collection of young talent in the league just pass three Chicago Bulls. The west is in some ways very week and teams like the clippers, kings, jazz, and timberwolves haven't yet made it to great consistency. The Thunder have arrived and in doing so have become the best team in the league. Serge Ibaka serves as a good center but isn't much help offensively. The controversy with this team is who exactly is the teams best player. Russell Westbrook has turned into an All-Star caliber player indeed, but to say he's on the level of Kevin Durant is both unfair to Durant and to Westbrook himself. Westbrook is the teams point guard, but really plays as a swing man driving and setting up and shooting. As a true good point guard he or she would enable the team players that can't set their own shot up still have high high good shooting percentages. If Russell can understand that key fact of the game added with his explosiveness he can become the NBA's best point guard. They way the league is set up, star power is king but basketball is a game played on the courts not in the sky or tabloids. Conventional wisdom would say either the Lakers for having two 7 fitters and Kobe or The Heat for having Miami Thrice, but take Kobe of the Lakers to see one of the most softest players in the league and one uncontrollable underachieving center. As for the Heat, take the big 3 off then the team turns into the old stereotype of Miami with aging seniors waiting to die. Even the bulls or spurs without their stars are less than mortal, but the Thunder without Durant, Harden, and Westbrook are still a dangerous hungry young team with a 7 foot shot blocker. The Thunder know it's there for the taking also, they just have to reach out and grab it. On the stretch if games that included the Clippers, Lakers, Bulls, and Heat, the Thunder handled.them all very easily. There isn't a team that can stop them and there isn't a player more dynamic than Kevin Durant. If and when it all comes down, I'm seeing Bulls vs. OKC in the nba finals.

posted from Bloggeroid