As Expected - Durant wins ROY - Burnt Orange Nation

As Expected - Durant wins ROY

by patienthornsfan on Apr 30, 2008 8:59 AM CDT

Seattle SuperSonics guard Kevin Durant will be named NBA Rookie of the Year, the Seattle Times reported, citing two anonymous league sources. Durant, who led all first-year players in scoring, assists and free-throw percentage, beat out Atlanta Hawks forward Al Horford to become the first Rookie of the Year in Seattle franchise history, the newspaper reported. The NBA is expected to officially announce the award on Thursday. Durant averaged 20.3 points per game in 2007-08 -- the highest scoring average for a rookie since LeBron James averaged 20.9 points per game in 2003-04. Only three of the past 10 rookies of the year -- Durant, James and Elton Brand -- have averaged at least 20 points in their first season.

KD is ROY

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Suck it Oden

Im still pissed Portland didnt take Durant. And then trade for TJ, and Royal. Then draft DJ.

by BoddickerIsClutch on Apr 30, 2008 9:06 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Portland is going to be crazy next year

If they somehow win the lottery again and add Oden + Rose to that team?

by goingforthecorner on Apr 30, 2008 9:43 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Durant is the man

I hope he gets Rose or Beasley to join him in OKC

Horizontalism is its own reward.

by bendj on Apr 30, 2008 11:06 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Man, did he deserve it... With the Hawks in the East

Great News for KD. In the last few years we have had an NFL Rookie of the Year and now an NBA rookie of the year. That is a great accomplishment for any program. I wonder if any other school has ever done that in consecutive years?

by the1austin on Apr 30, 2008 11:26 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

I don't think so

I’m not sure the athletic department can brag about that, though, since Durant only spent one year in Austin.

by Beergut on Apr 30, 2008 12:27 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

re:Durant

I don’t think just b/c he spent one year on campus takes away from the fact that he was dominant that one year…so dominant, that’s he worthy of his jersey being retired…I have a feeling someone is still pissed that Durant took away from the “best” year in aggie basketball where Acie Law finished behind Durant in the POY award

by vy til i die on Apr 30, 2008 12:42 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Re:

I suppose, similarly, Augustin was overshadowed by the dominance that was Michael Beasley…

by jc25 on Apr 30, 2008 1:40 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

well, my original thought was

I don’t think anyone has ever done that back-to-back. Wow, if I was texas’ athletic department, I’d market the hell out of that fact for recruiting. Then I remembered that Durant was only there for one year. Staying four years before you go pro ala VY means you ca say you had a part in his development as an athlete and a person. Staying only one year means you were basically just a weigh station on his way to his final destination, the pros.

You can argue that his AAU coach had more of an influence on his development as a player and as a person than texas did, simply b/c of time spent with him.

I think it would be kind of awkward if a recruit said, “Tell me all about Durant’s time here”, and you can only say, “Well, we only had ghim for one year….”

JMO.

by Beergut on May 1, 2008 12:19 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

You're absolutely right

His year at UT had exactly zero impact on his development.

by BigTexBD on May 2, 2008 3:02 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

re: Acie Law

You coudn’t be further form the truth on the Law vs. Durant POTY issue, but believe what you want to believe.

by Beergut on May 1, 2008 12:21 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

How many year are required

for the AD to start bragging about it?

by Wells on Apr 30, 2008 1:37 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Four

Plus you have to wear your class ring until you die. And then have it buried with you. In a maroon coffin. Which is guarded 24/7 by collies.

Then you’re a real ~~Aggie~~ athlete.

--PB--

by PB @ BON on Apr 30, 2008 1:41 PM CDT up reply reply 4 recs

+1

just excellent!

did you see my new avatar?

by horndude on Apr 30, 2008 8:45 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Avatar

Awesome.

by Wells on Apr 30, 2008 10:56 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Peter why is your post shaded in green?

I want to have my posts shaded in blue.

by goingforthecorner on Apr 30, 2008 9:41 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Say something really witty

and then have people recommend your comment. Then you too can have green. Sorry no blue for you.

by Wells on Apr 30, 2008 10:57 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

What Wells said

I didn’t even know this about the new system myself, but you can now click on the ‘actions’ link and recommend a comment you especially like. And when 3 people recommend a comment, it goes green.

Sweet.

--PB--

by PB @ BON on Apr 30, 2008 11:08 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

So is the "Flag" button the opposite?

By that I mean, are we supposed to “Flag” posts that we don’t agree with, think are poorly written, or are written by Aggies?

Or is the Flag action more for “Dhab’s back and needs to be banned again” types of posts?

So take that.

by Kahuna on May 1, 2008 12:55 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

there has to be a block A&M on the coffin

not a beveled one

or it doesn't count

by Beergut on May 10, 2008 3:25 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

at least two

kids spend more time in a jucos than Durant spent at texas

by Beergut on May 1, 2008 12:22 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

LOL

And I’m sure you’d be saying the same thing if Durant went to A&M and won ROY.

by goingforthecorner on Apr 30, 2008 9:42 PM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

And

Also, an obvious congrats to Durant for picking up the honor.

by jc25 on Apr 30, 2008 1:41 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

KD is the man

KD + Green + Rose + big = finals in 3 years.

Hope Presti is up to the task.

by WacArnolds on Apr 30, 2008 5:29 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Congrats to KD

but no rookie made a bigger impact to their team than Luis Scola.

by goingforthecorner on Apr 30, 2008 9:44 PM CDT reply reply 0 recs

I had no idea who Luis Scola was

but I somehow figured he played for the Rockets.

by Wells on May 1, 2008 10:24 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Horford

Al Horford also had great year at Atlanta and could be said to have made the difference in getting his team into the playoffs. And I agree that Scola was big for Houston. I imagine the Spurs are having some serious regrets about having paid Houston to take him off their hands. As to Durant, all he did was jack up enough shots - at a bad percentage - to get into the list of scoring leaders. But he has a very long way to go on his inside game and defense. I attribute this selection mainly to the hype from last year. Still love the guy, but I was hoping for more.

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on May 1, 2008 10:16 AM CDT reply reply 0 recs

Shooting

Previous ROYs and shooting percentages:
Durant – 0.430
Roy – 0.456
Paul – 0.430
Okafor – 0.447
James – 0.417
Stoudemire – 0.472
Gasol – 0.518
Miller – 0.436
Brand – 0.482
Francis – 0.445

If you take out the big men, who should be hitting higher percentage shots (Durant played at the 2 all year), I really don’t think his percentage was bad. He started rough, but in his last three months he shot 0.463. I’m not going to look at other players in their last three months of rookie-dom, but I don’t think his shooting percentage is really very much out of line.

That said Horford had a hell of a year, and while the hype machine may have had something to do with it, I dont think Durant winning it is not justified. How many rookies, irregardless of circumstance, have averaged over 20 a game?

by BoddickerIsClutch on May 1, 2008 10:45 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Still a decline

At UT he shot .473 and an outstanding .404 from the 3 point line. His .430 is a significant decline and his 3 point average was among the worst in the league. I was also hoping for more than 4 rebounds and less than 3 turnovers per game. Unlike in college, his play was one dimensional. I was very happy that he picked up his game in March, unlike many rookies who begin to sag due to the long season. Maybe they can get some better players around him next year so he can do more than shoot jumpers.

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on May 2, 2008 10:33 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs

Wait...

Your saying his production went down from college to the pros, and you are disappointed in this? Are you kidding? Level of competition maybe? Perhaps quality of team?

Compare a double team from the two best defenders on your average NBA team to a double team from the two best defenders on your average NCAA team.

I dont have too much time today, so I just looked up two of the better “guard” position ROY’s as far as shooting percentage for comparisons. First number is college, second is their first year in the pros, third is net change. Also, Durant was at least a full year younger than Roy and two less than Francis I think.

Durant: 0.473 to 0.430 net -0.043
Roy: 0.508 to 0.456 net -0.052
Francis: 0.523 to 0.445 net -0.078

I’m fine with the argument that he couldn’t score as well from the farther out 3 point mark, but to say his stats declined from college to the pros? You must be joking. How did his college numbers decline from his High School ones? Was he a disappointment in college too?

by BoddickerIsClutch on May 2, 2008 12:11 PM CDT up reply reply 1 recs

Durant

In the words of Stuart Scott: “check it, dude’s only 19!” Or something like that. There’s a post somewhere comparing Durant’s numbers to LeBron, Melo, etc., and they’re firmly in line. Yeah, he needs to work on a lot of things, but the things he has going for him RIGHT NOW is pretty damn fantastic.

Scola/Horford v. Durant is the whole more valuable v. more outstanding argument. So if you had a “Most Valuable Rookie” for this year, maybe Scola takes the cake. No way any coach or GM takes Scola over Durant for his team, though. Also, if the Sonics don’t have Durant, they may have very well been 0-82. That sounds pretty valuable to me right there.

by jc25 on May 1, 2008 10:47 AM CDT up reply reply 0 recs