Chad Ford Blog about Durant

[Admin]

Not sure if this has been posted or not but it's worth reading.

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Draft watch: Is Durant slipping?

Tuesday morning, I listened to Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio as he talked about the NBA pre-draft camp testing results.

He said, in a nutshell, that Greg Oden's excellent performance combined with Kevin Durant's poor one in the strength and athletic testing closed the debate on who should be the No. 1 pick in the June 28 NBA draft. It is now, without a doubt, Cowherd argued, Greg Oden.

Cowherd is not the only one who has gotten the testing results and used it as a big hammer in the Oden vs. Durant debate. I've even heard some suggestions that Durant may slip out of the top two now that that the testing results are known.

Here's my take: These results are a very small piece of the puzzle.

These tests have very little to do with basketball skill. They don't measure a player's shooting touch, handle or basketball IQ. Leaping ability is meaningless if the player doesn't know how to get to the basket. No one in the NBA is asked to do a bench press during the game. In fact, core strength is considered much more valuable to prospects.

Want more evidence that the numbers may be meaningless?

Here are the top-rated athletes from the last four combines: Troy Bell, Nate Robinson, Joey Graham and David Noel. Has all of that athletic ability helped any of them dominate the league?

I do think the Blazers will take Oden No. 1 and he'll be an excellent choice -- the testing results appear to support that.

But I think the results are less meaningful in the case of Durant.

As we reported in our visit to Indianapolis to see Oden work out, he is a great athlete. He has explosive leaping ability (they actually tested him with a 38-inch vertical leap there) and great agility, dexterity and lateral quickness. Those are rare attributes for a 7-foot center.

Just as impressive, Oden's testing results are a demonstration of the hard work he's put in with coach Ed Schilling. The notion that Oden is not dedicated to basketball or a hard worker loses currency in the face of these results.

So is Oden a big winner from the testing results? Sure.

In sharp contrast to Oden, Durant finished dead last (No. 78) among the players who completed every test.

How is that possible? Have our eyes really deceived us this whole season? Durant looked like a great athlete at Texas. He looked quick. Why didn't he test that way?

My theory? Unlike Oden and most of the other players who participated in the camp, Durant was not prepared for it.

His agent, Aaron Goodwin, confirmed my view.

"Between school, travel and business opportunities, he has not had an opportunity to work out," Goodwin told me via e-mail.

Durant has not been doing the strength training that so many of the other prospects have been doing for weeks. He has not hired a trainer, and now we see the results of that decision.

I spoke with trainer Tim Grover on Tuesday. Grover worked out Durant in Orlando last week along with his own clients, Julian Wright and Thaddeus Young. Grover said he suspects that Durant just wasn't prepared for the testing.

"He's a very good athlete from what I saw," Grover said. "I think those results are from either not practicing the tests or improper technique. There's no way he should have tested that low. It's not a good indicator of who he is."

Grover said that for someone like Durant, a six-week training period would have improved his results significantly.

"With a guy who hasn't really done a lot of strength training, it's pretty easy to get big results quickly," Grover said. "With guys who have done a lot of work in the weight room, the results come slower."

Much has been made about the fact that Durant couldn't bench press the 185-pound bar a single time. But Grover said that's not entirely unusual for a thin prospect with long arms, such as Durant. Grover said that about six weeks of practice would have resulted in Durant being able to lift the bar five or six times.

He's not the first player to have trouble here. Last year Memphis forward Shawne Williams couldn't lift the bar. Monta Ellis couldn't do it in 2005. Shaun Livingston couldn't do it in 2004. All of those players were young and thin, with long arms. Even a well-built player like Andre Iguodala got the bar up only four times.

Durant's lack of practice likely affected his vertical jump as well.

Many prospects use a machine called the Vertimax to improve their leaping. For example, Nick Young had a 35.5-inch vertical when he began training for the draft. A month later at the camp, he showed a 40.5-inch vertical at the test. That's a significant difference.

Grover said that typically a player can increase his vertical about 3 or 4 inches in a six-week period of training. In Durant's case, that would have improved his vertical from 33.5 to about 37 inches.

Still, even his actual result isn't terrible. Luol Deng had only a 31.5-inch vertical when he tested in 2004. Channing Frye and David Lee both tested lower than that in 2005. LaMarcus Aldridge had just a 34-inch vertical last year.

For Durant, the result of the lane agility drill may have been the most disturbing. Anyone can see Durant needs to add strength. And with Durant's size and reach, his jumping ability is fine. But if he truly lacks lateral quickness, he could have some unforeseen problems.

His 12.33-second performance was one of the worst of all the players. It was flat-out ugly.

Big man Spencer Hawes, whose athleticism has been questioned, beat Durant in the drill. Jared Jordan, whose lack of quickness is considered a major weakness, beat Durant by a full second.

The question of athleticism aside, the results raise the question of whether Durant has become too casual about the draft process and gotten caught up in the NBA lifestyle. With Goodwin talking about business opportunities and travel, it sounds as if Durant has let Oden sneak past him in the one area where everyone thought Durant topped Oden hands down: desire.

But Durant's approach is probably going to change very soon.

"He starts his workouts program after he finishes this last commercial shoot and will be fine when he shows for the two teams he needs to," Goodwin said, referring to Durant's upcoming visits with the Trail Blazers and SuperSonics.

Until then, the question is whether Durant's misstep is the death knell for his quest to be Portland's choice as the No. 1 pick.

[BusBoyIsBack]

Exposure begins.

Just wait a year from now when you all are really shocked when this guy isn't the great HOFer that everyone is making him out to be.

Where are the people who said this guy will have better numbers than Josh Smith next year?

You still want to make that bet?

[BHayley]

LOL how about we draft your boyfriend Brandan Wright who probably benches 135

[jezmund]

That would be terrible if Durant dropped to #3.

[BusBoyIsBack]

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LOL how about we draft your boyfriend Brandan Wright who probably benches 135

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That's probably twice as much as that weakling Kevin Durant lifts.

[oiatlhawksfan]

I really believe Durant's gonna look alot like Marvin, when he first played for the Hawks.

[jezmund]

You guys are crazy. Durant put his team on his back. I could never imagine Marvin doing that. Durant shoots off the dribble naturally. Marvin is still learning how to do it. Durant blocks shots, has a solid handle and is an aggressive player.

[oiatlhawksfan]

I'm not saying their the same players, I'm saying your gonna have to be patient with him, like we are with Marvin.

[DeacKillsaDevil]

So his combine performace should now outweigh what we saw on the court the past year?

Quote:

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Exposure begins.

Just wait a year from now when you all are really shocked when this guy isn't the great HOFer that everyone is making him out to be.

Where are the people who said this guy will have better numbers than Josh Smith next year?

You still want to make that bet?

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[kelston827]

wow.....based on what everyone else is saying, my guess would be that busboy and oiatl are ripping durant for beng soft (funny, coming from wright lovers), but i would have no idea what they're saying because i have the idiots on ignore.

Anyway, anyone who forms an opinion on Durant based on a combine over the performance he put on last season as a freshman belongs in the same class as the above mentioned.

[ncthompson11]

this just shows how a lot of people know nothing about basketball, just a lot of numbers. If these stats were never shown of durant at the combine there would be no doubters. These numbers have nothing to do with basketball. Sprinting is different than going hard with the basketball. Some guys just dont run well under a timed situation, but I assure you durant is quicker on the court than a lot of the guys who had better times.

[oiatlhawksfan]

This has nothing to do with his combine numbers, I just have a feeling he'll have to be waited on like we do with Marvin, lucky for him , he's gonna get more opportunities than marvin did early on, cause he's gonna come in and be the 2nd option with the Sonics.

[ncthompson11]

I doubt he will have to be waited on like marvin by just looking at their freshman numbers. I know marvin was playing with 3 other 1st rounders, but i dont think he had the ability to dominate his freshman year the way durant did. Durant carries a little swagger with him where he wants to be the guy with the ball at the end of the game. Durant is also a lot more versatile than marvin and can play with his back to the basket and has more range. He may not be an all star this year but he will average at least 15 points 8 rebounds and a block or 2 a game.

[jezmund]

Durant would have outshined McCants, Felton and May if given the opportunity. I can't say the same for Marvin Williams even if he had started and played 30 minutes per game.