The Thunder’s reigning Rookie of the Year is now a small forward, finally playing the position many NBA minds think best fits his gangly 6-foot-10 frame and versatile skill set.
In his first move as Thunder interim coach, Scott Brooks shifted Durant from shooting guard to small forward, bringing an end to a 92-game experiment designed to protect the rail thin Durant against bigger, stronger opponents.
But Durant says he’s ready to take on the move full time.
"I definitely am,” Durant said. "That’s my natural position. I’ve been playing that mostly my whole life. The last game I felt a lot more comfortable at (small forward), guarding (small forwards) and just helping my team out in different areas. So I’m excited.”
I am not sure why it mattered that much. They could have easily had him defend SF's all the time. On offense unless you're a center or a point guard it doesn't matter where you play as long as you're effective.
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I think it can be a mental issue moreso than a positional problem since the 2 and 3 are pretty much interchangeable. If you know you are listed as a forward and your coach is telling you that he wants you to play inside more, you might just do that. Coming in as a rookie it is pretty clear that he was not well coached, otherwise it would have not mattered like you said, although he would have been a small forward anyway.
What it will come down is also who he will be on the floor with, what the spacing will ideally look like and how his role is going to change with a new coach.
durant is not a guard. he's a small forward. get him on the floor with two guards who can do a lot of the ball handling and chase the opposing guards around and let durant focus on what he does best.
This year, Durant is 1-12 as a guard. 1-12 as a forward. Haha.
the thunder are 1-12 with durant as a guard and 1-12 with durant as a forward.
of course with durant starting at guard, 3 of those 12 losses were single digits. with him starting at forward, 8 of the 12 losses have been by single digits. so at least they are being more competitive.
oh and durant individually has been much better playing his real position.
So 1-12 at guard, 2-12 at forward. When the team is this bad, stats are practically meaningless. I don't see the importance of Durant playing SF. When you step on the court, you just pick a guy to guard and play. You don't say "I'm the SF", or "I'm the 2".
I really don't think his play style has changed either. Not that I've been watching the games or anything, but I don't think anyone does.
So 1-12 at guard, 2-12 at forward. When the team is this bad, stats are practically meaningless. I don't see the importance of Durant playing SF. When you step on the court, you just pick a guy to guard and play. You don't say "I'm the SF", or "I'm the 2".
I really don't think his play style has changed either. Not that I've been watching the games or anything, but I don't think anyone does.
stats are meaningless as far as wins are concerned, but they aren't meaningless as far as how well a player is playing is concerned. clearly durant(and the team) have been better when he has been playing small forward. a big problem to me is that when durant is playing as a guard, they rely on him too much to handle the ball when that isn't his strength. he is great at scoring, but not creating for others.
Okay, so he apparently plays better when he gets to play closer to the basket on defense, and when he plays off the ball on offense. That's interesting, because his game reminds me of Jamal Crawford. KD can do more because of his length, but his crossover-jumper is very quick and fluid, just like Crawford's. He showed some potential as a passer last year, but he's made more mistakes than plays. I hoped he could be trained to be a better decision maker, making him more of a threat at either wing spot.
Now there's questions about Bennett's next draft. If he gets Griffin, will he go Green/Griffin, and have a 6'8, 6'10 frontcourt? Either way, they will be an improvement over this 3-24 team.
Durant becomes forward
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