ROTOWIRE.COM NFL MLB / Minors NBA NHL GOLF RACING    COMMUNITY FORUMS PODCASTS MYROTOWIRE ASK AN EXPERT GAMES

Better Without Durant?

The Elias Sports Bureau has produced numbers that make a fairly compelling case -- the Thunder is a better team with Kevin Durant on the bench.

Durant averaged over 30 ppg in February, but OKC went 3-12. In the last five games, with Durant sidelined by a bum ankle, the Thunder has gone 4-1. The biggest change is on defense... with Durant on the floor, OKC allows 104.8 points per 48 minutes. Without him, that number drops to 95.8.

Yes, the sample size is exceedingly small... and two of those wins came against two of the league's worst teams -- Memphis and Washington.

Still -- it's a trend worth watching.

There's no reason that Durant can't follow the same career path as other elite scorers that have become good-to-great defenders... Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Paul Pierce and even Michael Jordan spring immediately to mind. He certainly has the physical tools. But so did dozens... hundreds, even... of other NBA players over the years.

Comments

By: kevinccp
On: 3/9/2009 12:09:00 PM
I looked it up because I figured the case was such-the Thunder are only scoring 92.4 points a game without Durant. Durant was shooting 53 percent in Feb from the field, so while he may be a liability on D, he was shooting lights out on offense. I'd attribute the Thunder's success partly to the emergence of Nenad Krstic, who's averaging 16.4 points a game since Durant went down. There's also the theory that players typically step up their game when the star is out, which may be in play here.
 
By: Jason Thornbury
On: 3/9/2009 3:44:00 PM
I'm not buying this either. For one, there are too many variables in play to pin the point differential on one factor. For another, the level of competition probably has more to do with it.

Counting the game in which Durant was injured in the first quarter, the team has played six games without him. Memphis, which was only one point under its season average, and Washington suck. So, that doesn't mean much. In two Durant-less games, Dallas scored more than its season average once and less than its season average once. Call that a push. New Orleans outscored its average. Philly was under, but the 76ers were playing on the second night of back-to-back road games and are a mediocre team anyway. Again, not all that shocking.

The team was 2-8 in February with Durant, but five of its seven opponents are likely playoff teams. Without Durant, the best the team has faced is only borderline playoff teams in Dallas and Philly.

They might be better defensively with Durant out, but they aren't a better *team.* Their scoring is way off, and they are winning by playing good defense against some mediocre-at-best teams.
 
By: whiteapple
On: 12/2/2010 6:21:00 AM
Kevin Durant is the only reliable player on his team, he is very accurate and has serious range. I know what I'm talking about because I've downloaded almost all the games ( http://filecraft.comSE) He rebounds well for a SF and plays OK defense. He is not a complete player but is great offensively and will average even more than last year(25).
 
By: azeeh
On: 12/8/2010 2:50:00 AM
Kevin Durant is really a strong spirit in the team. I won’t say that team will be just incomplete without him but yes, he is an important part of the team. He was the player, whom the sports lovers trusted always. His smart play some times used to amaze me a lot. His skill of encouraging the co-players was really wonderful. But sometimes it happens that other players in team show their real game or improve their game when people like Durant are out from it. Mephisto
 

Leave a comment

Commenting is restricted to registered users only. Please register or login now to submit a comment.

Tell Someone

  • Digg it
  • submit to reddit reddit
  • Add to Mixx!

Recent Favorites

How BABIP Affects the Value of Strikeouts and Walks
The league-average batting-average-on-balls-in-play (BABIP) has been on a downward trajectory for the last half decade, something that has implications for the values of different at-bat outcomes. BABIP is down precipitously this season (.289), though it's hard to tell to what extent that's due to all the shifting defenses (better data on where balls are hit have enabled this), or is simply just an April cold-weather/small sample anomaly.
NHL Playoff Observations -- Monday
Just a few things that caught my eye ...
  • Alexander Semin was on the wrong side of the grocery stick most of the night. You know, that spot between the back-up goalie and the rest of the team ... the one where the dead wood goes so it doesn't get in the way of on-the-fly changes.
  • Honey badger don't care. Honey badger doesn't give a $%!&.  T.J. Oshie gave up four inches and 50 pounds to Dustin Penner, but he didn't care. Then again, honey badger didn't care when he hit Rick Nash a few years ago, either. I wonder if the NHL would let me get a Blues #74 jersey with Honey Badger on the back.
Buy Lowest
Every year, we hear advice about how it's time to "buy low" on struggling stars like Albert Pujols, Giancarlo Stanton and Robinson Cano. "Get them now for cheap before they heat up!" Except that the market for superstars - at least in competitive leagues - usually doesn't move much after one bad month. (Whether it should in these cases is another question). It's more likely that the Pujols and Stanton owners are doubling down, figuring that only a hot streak from a player of that caliber can undo the damage that's already been done.

That doesn't mean you can't take advantage of the market's early overreaction, but you'll have to aim a little lower and take on quite a bit more risk. The players listed below are those who should be available at an actual discount.

Fantasy Rookies
Now that the 2012 NFL Draft is complete and rosters look about the way they will when training camps open in late July, it’s time to start the speculation train full steam ahead to fantasy draft days. Many players taken in this class will have a fantasy impact, some immediate, some in small spurts as rookies and some not for years to come.
Cowboys Draft: First Blush Thoughts
My initial reactions to the 2012 Dallas draft crop.

RSS Feeds