Durant "underrated"

I know a lot of people think Bill Simmons is useless, but he does rightly appreciate the skills of Kevin Durant. Hopefully, Durant will get out of that hole in Oklahoma and go to a team where his skills will be exposed.

10 months ago TheElusiveShadow 12 comments 0 recs |

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Read More: kevin durant, underrated, bill simmons

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The article Simmons did on the passing of his dog was brilliant....

I know he’s not the most popular guy on here, but this is must read for any dog lover.

by the1austin on Jan 27, 2009 3:15 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

by jc25 on Jan 27, 2009 3:49 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I hate dogs and . .

even I found that article absolutely amazing.

People’s problems with Simmons stem from their belief that he actually knows a lot about sports. Other than maybe his Boston teams and the NBA, he really doesn’t. What he is a phenomenal writer and in articles where sports is more peripheral to the story, his stuff is compelling.

by DoubleB on Jan 27, 2009 5:57 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I completely agree...

He went off on Coach Barnes during the Durant season and that ruffled some feathers. To be honest, though, I agreed with a lot of his complaints. I don’t doubt Rick Barnes now, as he has proven to be a great coach and a better recruiter, but that season was frustrating because it was so promising.

by the1austin on Jan 27, 2009 8:24 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

When it came to DJ Augustin

Simmons was completely wrong. In a later article, he admitted it.

by goingforthecorner on Jan 27, 2009 10:17 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

simmons

The dog piece was definitely a tear jerker… I like Simmons, I read all of his stuff and have for about 7 years now. He’s obviously a big sports writer and that shows through in his writing but he was no doubt more entertaining before. As his popularity has continued to grow he’s become less and less edgy. I think a lot of that is probably due to the fact that he’s writing for the worldwide leader. I bet if you put him in a different forum he would write pieces that maybe weren’t any better sports infrmation-wise but hit with harder, funnier commentary

by andmyster on Jan 27, 2009 9:50 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Simmons hate

Another reason is quite probably because when he first started gaining popularity, his Boston teams (Celtics, Red Sox, Patriots) were all relatively crappy and of-loserish status. The Patriots then started their run with a then-fluke Tom Brady year. The Sox followed suit with their 3-0 comeback against the Yanks, and the Celts rounded out the trifecta by securing Garnett, Allen and Rondo. Now, he’s not only living the good life with a Southern California home and a plushy ESPN contract, but his sports teams are all doing fantastic.

No one wants to hear when your sports team is doing better than mine (see: beergut). Thus the venomous hate begins.

I mean, if the the Fighting Illini and the Arizona and St Louis Cardinals kick off dynasties for the next decade, everyone’s gonna hate Will Leitch, too.

In fact, combine that with the proliferation of sports blogs, and you now have a million “fan” perspectives, whereas before, Simmons was the top dog. So if you don’t like what he says, you’ve got plenty of other options, something that wasn’t true when Simmons first started.

by jc25 on Jan 28, 2009 8:57 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Great find Shadow..

Much appreciated…

Excerpt.

Now look at those point totals: 28, 25, 26, 26, 28, 26, 25 … You know in Jaws when Richard Dreyfuss calls the shark an “eating machine”? Durant is a scoring machine. He was put on this earth to collect points. We have never seen anyone quite like him before: a 6’9" forward with Plastic Man arms, 30-foot range and the ability to thrive in big moments. He has more career buzzer-beaters than LeBron. Trust me, it’s true.

Know also that NBA players peak between ages 25 and 29. So what’s Durant’s realistic peak? Will he average 33 a game on percentages of 55-90-50? Will he average 36 ppg? Thirty-eight? Seriously, where does this go? Nobody’s discussing that. Nobody’s even acknowledging it. And that makes Kevin Durant totally, completely, unequivocally underrated. I can’t think of five current players who are more fun to watch. I’m jealous of the Highjacker’s fans. I am.

by the1austin on Jan 27, 2009 3:20 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Oden-Durant debate still an interesting one

Oden starting to accumulate double doubles, but Durant is lighting up the box score on a bad team.

by goingforthecorner on Jan 27, 2009 6:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

There is not another sports writer out there I find more entertaining , regardless of sports knowledge.

by junglerules on Jan 27, 2009 6:43 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

you can expect at least 1-2 durant articles from simmons every year

that guy has an admitted man-crush on durant!

otherwise, his writing has gown downhill since boston started winning championships. he’s still a great writer, but the last few years have been blah.

by fiddycent on Jan 28, 2009 8:37 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Oden is a bust

I was never really impressed with Oden. Injury prone and a weak offensive game. Defense in the NBA is so overrated. Defense is all about heart and hustle and you can find guys like that anywhere. Look at Chuck Hayes and Ben Wallace basically street free agents. Now scorers like Durant don’t come in every draft.

I’m 20 years old so I haven’t seen much college basketball in my time but Durant was the best college basketball player I have ever seen. The guy was just so much better than everybody and had a complete offensive game. Simmons was right to an extent with the way Barnes handled Durant that year. He didn’t really run many plays for him that year. From what I can recall most of Durants points came off jacking up threes and offensive put backs. I felt that Barnes should have had Durant come off screens with the curl and put him in the post. He made 15 foot jump shots look like layups. Great player Durant and Blazers will regret that decision for a while.

SHOW ME YOUR LIGHTNING BOLT!!!!!!!!!!

by PrimeTime2012 on Jan 30, 2009 2:17 PM CST reply actions 0 recs