Which sophs have soared this season? [ESPN]

Am I crazy to think Kevin Durant is a good candidate for this year's Most Improved Player Award?

KD's Rookie Season: 20.3 ppg (43.0% FG, 28.8% 3pt) and 4.4 rpg

KD's Sophomore Season: 25.5 ppg (47.7% FG, 42.2% 3pt) and 6.5 ppg

MIA on Thorpe's list and a big red flag: Brandan Wright and Marco Belinelli

7 months ago Atma Brother ONE 34 comments 0 recs |

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No big surprises

Except for Noah but at least he explained why he put him as high as he did.

BW and Marco haven’t played enough to make any list, so no red flag there.

There's a party in my mind.
And I wish that I was there.

by qin on Apr 13, 2009 9:29 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

for real they were both barely starting to get real time before they got injured

by 123707THIZZ on Apr 13, 2009 9:43 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

BW and Marco haven’t ~~played~~ earned enough playing time to make any list, so no big red flag there.

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 14, 2009 10:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

whatever makes you feel better

BW was getting playing time until he got his arm pulled out of his chest and Marco is still having ankel problems. Hard to EARN enough PLAYING TIME that way so ya, your blowing smoke AGAIN.

There's a party in my mind.
And I wish that I was there.

by qin on Apr 14, 2009 2:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Both guys missed half the season with injuries. When they were healthy they were getting to play. As much as you like to make fun of him, Marco was earning more playing time than Crawford for a stretch before his injury. Wright averages the same MPG as Randolph.

Thing 2

by olympicmike on Apr 14, 2009 4:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

No. They earned it.

They were starting to play, and then they got injured.

by ZaMzAm FiRe on Apr 14, 2009 8:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Durant as most improved? Not crazy at all. He’s vastly improved from the inefficient ’can’t rebound over guys 6 inches shorter than me’ hyped player he was most of last year. This year, he’s become a real legitimate offensive weapon.

by jae on Apr 13, 2009 10:25 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Going one step further

Am I crazy to think that In 3 years KD is going to be a top 5 player in this league? Then all the KD to NY rumors will surface.

by Atma Brother ONE on Apr 13, 2009 10:27 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

or even

kd to anywhere outside of oklahoma. i’d guess okc will have all sorts of trouble keeping their guys and signing new free agents. now, if they had stayed in seattle…

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Apr 13, 2009 10:46 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

i’d guess okc will have all sorts of trouble keeping their guys and signing new free agents.

Why? Didn’t they have good attendance when the hornets were there last year, and their young core of quality players should be an attraction to free agents?

Now wheres the rubbers? Whose got the rubbers?
I noticed there's so many of them
and there's really not that many of us.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Apr 13, 2009 11:04 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

it’s in oklahoma.

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Apr 13, 2009 11:07 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

oklahoma.?

So? There’s lots of good teams in crappy places. Houston? Dallas? San Antonio? Detroit? Sometimes that works to their advantage cause there’s not much competition for the fans interest. That’s probably why the bay area teams are not usually good, the revenue is not as good cause the fans have better things to do with their time?

Now wheres the rubbers? Whose got the rubbers?
I noticed there's so many of them
and there's really not that many of us.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Apr 13, 2009 11:51 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think what they meant

was that no NBA stars would prefer to live (party) in Oklahoma over more poppin’ places. The Bay is actually a great place to live and work at if you’ve been to some of these other places.

LeBron James? I'm the only Ty Crane.

by misterjennings on Apr 13, 2009 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

yep.

heart of a champion, will of the warrior.

by cap'n hack on Apr 13, 2009 1:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

As some peeps here may already know

KD is my favorite individual in the NBA. I don’t think he should get Most Improved as he’s already a good player with high stats, but I sure wouldn’t mind if he did get it. :-)

by Golden Boy on Apr 13, 2009 10:28 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

And as far as the draft goes

I’m actually hoping the Thunder get the #1 pick. We don’t need Blake Griffin. We’re loaded with bigs now.

by Golden Boy on Apr 13, 2009 10:36 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

We don’t need Blake Griffin. We’re loaded with bigs now.

You’re such an idiot :>) I don’t need my paycheck, cause I’ve still got 100 bucks left over?

Now wheres the rubbers? Whose got the rubbers?
I noticed there's so many of them
and there's really not that many of us.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Apr 13, 2009 11:07 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

LOL he does have a point

But, nonetheless you take the consensus #1 if you win the lotto and that would be Griffin (He would be 3rd rated in last years draft for me) or Rubio if he declares.

Brandon Jennings or Ty Lawson. A Warrior in 09.
With the 6th Pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, the SF Giants pick Donovan Tate.
Andre Smith in Silver & Black in 2009.

by ejdacanay on Apr 13, 2009 11:13 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

You’re such an idiot :>) I don’t need my paycheck, cause I’ve still got 100 bucks left over?

Wow. One of the many people to start the season cheering for the Warriors, then jump on that Laker bandwagon has called me an idiot.

by Golden Boy on Apr 13, 2009 11:16 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

One of the many people to start the season cheering for the Warriors, then jump on that Laker bandwagon has called me an idiot.

Haha, we do what we have to do.

Now wheres the rubbers? Whose got the rubbers?
I noticed there's so many of them
and there's really not that many of us.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Apr 13, 2009 11:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I hope thats not the truth

You can’t be a Warriors/Laker fan. Impossible!

by Gurthy on Apr 13, 2009 12:07 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Impossible!

it’s called multi tasking( not for the slow of mind).

Now wheres the rubbers? Whose got the rubbers?
I noticed there's so many of them
and there's really not that many of us.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Apr 13, 2009 12:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Unfortunately, there are people like that

It’s a shame. They just have to do whatever the trend is.

by Golden Boy on Apr 13, 2009 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It’s a shame. They just have to do whatever the trend is.

You mean like cheering for whoever the “next big thing” is…. cough Kevin Durant cough

Thing 2

by olympicmike on Apr 13, 2009 12:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Specialolympicsmike

I’ve been cheering for Durant since his days in Texas. And that cough thing is played out. I think I’ve seen middle schoolers do that.

by Golden Boy on Apr 13, 2009 2:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wow...

You’d have a hard time finding a more courageous athlete than a Special Olympian so I’ll take that as a compliment.

Sorry that my joke was “played out”, but let me tell you if there is a more tired routine than yours around here I haven’t seen it.

BTW

I’ve been cheering for Durant since his days in Texas.

You mean the one season he played at Texas during which he was already considered a top-two pick? I really don’t care who you root for, just don’t think that liking Durant for three years makes you special or original. Pretty much the entire basketball world was watching Durant closely in college and now pretty much every NBA fan is watching his progress in the league closely. I’m glad you enjoy watching him, but for someone who likes to poke fun at trend followers you you seem to be enjoying a seat on one of the biggest band-wagons in the NBA.

I just found it ironic.

You know, I liked reading your posts a lot more before you got so stinkin’ defensive about everything.

Thing 2

by olympicmike on Apr 13, 2009 2:28 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Man I don't care what you say

And yes I do mean his one awesome season in college that caught my eye. And yes if you say I’m original of me being a Durant fan, then I too will take that as a compliment. Thank you.

by Golden Boy on Apr 13, 2009 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Er

if you say I’m original of me being a Durant fan, then I too will take that as a compliment.

Problem is, he said it wasn’t original.

Not that there’s anything wrong with liking Durant — I like him too. But it’s far from original. It’s really no more (or less) original, interesting, or morally good than being a Lakers fan, much as you’d like it to be.

What you should take as a compliment is that OM used to like reading your posts more before you started including in each of them a little whiny, defensive call-out to everyone on this board who ever disagreed with you. That was far more generous than you deserve — and certainly far more than I’d allow. But then, OM always has been a cooler, classier version of me. (His sig-line should really be “Thing 1 … with class.”)

If I were you I’d wash your mouth out and apologize to him. You’re welcome to flame me, though… ;-)

Thing 1

by Sleepy Freud on Apr 13, 2009 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Durant

Should definitely be a serious MIP candidate. He was a below average NBA player last year, despite the ROY: inefficient shooter, horrible rebounder and defender, did nothing to improve his crappy team when he was on the floor (-8.8 plus/minus). This year, he’s improved across the board — thanks perhaps in part to not having an idiot for a coach who thinks of him as a guard. The jump in rebounding, where he was ace in college, is particularly encouraging. No way a guy as long and athletic as he is should only be pulling 4 boards per 36, regardless of their nominal position.

Still, despite the leap, his team remains terrible, and the plusminus numbers remain worrisome (-7.5). I think he’s young and talented enough that he’ll improve, but he’s a l-o-n-g way from Top 5 NBA player; and his chances of approaching LeBron-hood seem slim to say the least.

Meanwhile, some other candidates…

Paul Millsap
Jeff “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Green
Devin “Le Floppeur” Harris
Danny “Good thing we picked Diogu” Granger

Much as he annoys me, I’d probably have to vote Harris: he’s gone from (annoyingly) quick and athletic tweener guard to legit Top 5 NBA PG. Would that Monta could make the same leap…

Thing 1

by Sleepy Freud on Apr 13, 2009 11:38 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Agree...

I think he should get consideration for MIP but I don’t think he will. It seems like that award usually goes to a guy who’s PPG and minutes took a big leap. Thinking back some of the guys did actually make a big leap in their overall effectiveness and some guys were just put in a different role where they could play more and take more shots.

IIRC Diaw did make a big jump in a lot of categories when he went from Atl to the Suns, even if you look at it on a per minute basis. On the other hand Hedo, while he did improve, seems like most of his growth came from becoming more involved in the offense and more aggressive.

I think that maybe the common thread for most MIP guys is not so much the specific changes in stats but more a change in the way a guy is thought of. Whether it’s from “good for a second round pick” to possible All-Star (Arenas, Monta), or barely hanging on in the league to good solid player (Bobby Simmons, Diaw), or solid role player to All-Star (Hedo), there was a shift in “status”.

If I had to guess I’d say Harris will probably take it, maybe Millsap. Those guys are talked about and thought of differently than they were last year. I think that most non-hardcore NBA fans don’t think of KD much differently than they do last year. He is still an up-and-coming star.

Thing 2

by olympicmike on Apr 13, 2009 12:43 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

What about Rajon Rondo?

among all guards in the league:

5th in assists rate this year, up from 18th last year
6th in assists/TO this year, up from 29th last year
2nd in FG%, up from 9th last year
10th in steals/foul, up from 19th last year
6th in rebound rate this year, up from 13th last year

He won’t win it because his scoring average only went up 2 points per game, but he’s shown improvements in all other aspects of his game.

I wouldn’t give it to Kevin Durant. For all the vast improvements his stats indicate, he’s still the star player of a 22-58 team, only two wins better than last season. And, as Sleepy already mentioned, the Thunder have been statistically a much better team with Durant off the floor in the last two years.

"We Deserve"

by YaHeard on Apr 13, 2009 6:55 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Rondo won't win anything until he shows that he can shoot a wide open elbow jumper

"No no Nene!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zB5DxNl4EB0

by Dubs fan in Boston on Apr 14, 2009 8:05 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Except, you know, a ring

I’ll take a PG who shoots 50% from the field and averages 9.1 assists and 5.7 rebounds per 36 — elbow jumper or no. In fact, I might take him over any PG in the league not named CP3. Imagine how good the Warriors would be with Rondo setting up Monta, Buki, Morrow, AR, AB and co?

Thing 1

by Sleepy Freud on Apr 14, 2009 3:50 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

his chances of approaching LeBron-hood seem slim to say the least.

Hell, you could say that about anyone, I can’t think of any other player ever with Lebron’s size and skills?
Yeah, I have to agree that Devin is probably the mip considering how grossly unlikeable he was and how merely unlikeable he is now.

Now wheres the rubbers? Whose got the rubbers?
I noticed there's so many of them
and there's really not that many of us.

by Skeptic con Urquell on Apr 13, 2009 12:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs