Kevin Durant Wants You to Know He's a Team Player
FanHouse —
... Durant made news on his Twitter page last Sunday by responding to an Oct. 9 ESPN True Hoop blog that, due to his poor plus-minus rating, Durant "has been killing his team.'' ...
Upcoming Chat and Other Denver Nuggets Links
Roundball Mining Company - Denver Nuggets Blog —
... There has been some interesting discussion on TrueHoop regarding how incredible Kevin Durant is, yet how terrible his plus/minus numbers are. The post points out how he was number 20 in the league in PER in 2008-09 and has scored the fifth most points of any player at his age. He is clearly an incredible talent, so how come he has such a terrible plus/minus and his teammates post better plus/minus ratings when they play without him? ...
Kevin Durant Wants You to Know He's a Team Player
FanHouse —
... Durant made news on his Twitter page last Sunday by responding to an Oct. 9 ESPN True Hoop blog that, due to his poor plus-minus rating, Durant "has been killing his team.'' ...
Game Notes: Boston vs. Toronto
Hoops Addict —
... Earlier this month TrueHoop sparked a mild controversy when they claimed Kevin Durant was “killing his team.” ...
Through the Looking Glass, and What Roland Found There (Part I)
The Two Man Game —
... As you’re probably well aware, the latest stats-centered controversy in the NBA concerned Kevin Durant’s woeful adjusted plus/minus rating. Henry Abbott talked to Wayne Winston a bit about it, and Wayne went as far as to say that he wouldn’t take Durant on his team for free. What is your take on the developments surrounding Durant’s counter-intuitive numbers? ...
Gunnin’ For That No. 8 Spot: Los Angeles Clippers
Outside The NBA —
... Aside from the Griffin/Gordon thing and a general fear of over-coaching, there’s one more thing I’m worried about in Clipperland: the small forward position. Al Thornton started there and played 37.4 minutes a game last season, but there’s no way in hell this should happen again. You know the ridiculously overblown Kevin Durant/Wayne Winston thing? Here’s all you need to know: KD is a mind-blowingly good scorer, but, at 21 years of age, he is pretty bad at almost everything else. This manifests in a negative score in a stat called adjusted +/-, meaning his team and individual ...
Sam Presti's Survival Strategy In A Post-Apocalpytic Dystopian Nightmare
ShamSports.com: NBA News That Doesn't Really Matter —
... max contract. (That is, unless they trade his plus/minus-killing arse away before then. Although that might be hard to do, since apparently he's difficult to give way for free.) ...
Top 25 Under 25 Update - Lopez, Evans, Ellis, Westbrook & More
Basketball Fiend —
... Evans, frustrating the rookie at every turn. I’m impressed. Now that he has a jumper and doesn’t turn the ball over as often, Westbrook looks unstoppable. Kevin Durant - Durant murders the Kings on a regular basis, so his 25-point, 11-rebound performance Tuesday came as no surprise. I was less than enthusiastic about K.D.’s three-point shooting (he hit just 1 of 5), but he looked strong on the baseline. That’s an improvement. So is Durant’s +17 efficiency rating. Eat your heart out, Henry Abbott . Jeff Green - This one’s for ...
Competition Discussion: Rest of the League
Bullets Forever —
... Biggest team strength: Offensive rebounding (fourth-best in the league)
Biggest team weakness: Shooting (worst in the league)
In: James Harden, Etan Thomas, Serge Ibaka, Kevin Ollie, Byron Mullens Out: Desmond Mason, Earl Watson, Malik Rose, Chucky Atkins, Damien Wilkins
Key on-court question: Is there anything to the theory that Kevin Durant is actually hurting his team? What are the implications of his awful adjusted ...
Thabo's Thunder
Flagrant Five —
... doesn't take too kindly to Durant's defense, and the sooner that skill approaches Sefolosha's the sooner he'll put any talk that he's overrated to rest. But for now he needs Thabo like the Thunder need Thabo. He's at once a foil to and mirror image of Durant, and though he's under-appreciated this signing only makes it more likely that the Thunder are capable of something special, eventually. I can sense it. ...
Preview & Chat: The Oklahoma City Thunder
Forum Blue And Gold —
... Still, Kevin Durant is the star. He was the focus of a little Internet and statistics stir when the ex-Dallas stat guy Wayne Winston said he wouldn’t want Durant on his team. I think that statement borders on the idiotic. I’m personally not a huge fan of the adjusted plus minus stat that Winston lives by, which is a debate for another day, but I think raw +/- numbers have some value. And the fact is that Durant’s +/- was bad and his team did do worse when he was on the court. I think the reason is defense — it is the area where he needs to step up. Scoring matters, but the best ...
The Sports Guy's phone call to Daryl Morey (the secret recording)
The Dream Shake —
... Kevin Durant and the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday.
Simmons: [having a fan-gasm] Ohhh, you can't stop Durant and the Zombies. No way. He's going to lead the league in scoring this year. And he's only 21! There is no ceiling for him.
Morey: Surprisingly, Bill, the recent numbers tell me all we gotta do is dare Durant to shoot from beyond 23 feet... and his +/- ratio suggests he might actually be hurting the Thunder. This is why I am crunching numbers today. ...
Clippers vs. Oklahoma City - Game Preview
Clips Nation —
... Litmus Test for Advanced Stats. During the pre-season, Henry Abbott of TrueHoop caused a mini-stir by posting about the fact that Kevin Durant's plus/minus numbers were actually among the worst on his team, despite his phenomenal scoring and PER. We've discussed some of the issues with plus/minus - it's a flawed metric at best. Nonetheless, there's something there. Certainly Durant's defense during his first two seasons was poor to non-existent, and he'll need to improve there. It's also possible that his Thunder do more standing ...
The Kids are Alright: Oklahoma City Thunder
Empty the Bench —
... and the Clippers’ Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon never suited up against the Thunder in losses. OKC’s one other win was opening night against the Kings, who then downed the Thunder two weeks later without the services of Kevin Martin (31 ppg). That being said, they are a far cry from the 3-29 record they started with last year and they did manage to take the Pau Gasol-less Lakers to OT.
Durant has taken some recent media heat for only being a highlight reel player, not a winner, prompting others to chime in about his questionable rebounding, passing, and ...
