[valentine]

ronnymac2 wrote:
Dwyane Wade is better.

This. As great as Durant’s scoring season was last year, it wasn’t even that much better than D-Wade’s scoring season just the year prior. KD had a superior TS%, yes, 60.7 to 57.4, and the difference in Wade’s favor in ppg was small (30.2 to 30.1), but that difference grows somewhat per-36 (28.2 to 27.5) and when you consider how many of their baskets were assisted, KD’s numbers start to look less impressive. Durant was assisted on 52% of his baskets. More often than not, someone else helped create his shot for him.

Wade was assisted on a dumbfoundingly low 26% of his shots. And still scored more often than Durant in raw terms and per-minute, at a very high efficiency (even if it wasn’t quite Durant’s efficiency).

And that’s just scoring. You throw in play-making, and its obvious Wade is the superior offensive player, especially since turnover are basically a wash (3.2 for Wade per-36, 3.0 for KD).

In terms of overall efficiency, in their respective best seasons (KD last year, Wade the year before): Wade gives you 30.2 points and 7.5 assists on 57.4 TS% and 3.3 turnovers. Durant gives you 30.1 points and 2.8 assists on 60.7 TS% and 3.3 turnovers. Is Durant really the more efficient offensive player overall? Seems when you consider assists and turnover, Wade is both giving you more volume production and doing so more efficiently.

And then you add in that Wade is also the superior defensive player…

[TyroberParticipant]

 Durant was assisted more because he plays with a fantastic PG in Russell Westbrook. Wade also is the primary ball handler and doesnt have anyone to get those assist for him. Let Wade and Westbrook play together and I assure you that his assisted baskets rise. Same thing with Durant, take Westbrook away and his assisted baskets go down. Your comparing two great players with a random stat…..

[B-ball fanParticipant]

 You have a point, but I doubt that Wade will really ever have more of his buckets assisted than Durant.  He is a better slasher and ball handler than Durant.  However, that doesn’t necessarily mean he is better offensively, as Durant can be counted on to shoot better and and more often from range.  Just because a bucket is assisted doesn’t mean it isn’t valued.  Wade will never score on so many assisted buckets as Durant does since he is a worse shooter than Durant.

[kurtu17Participant]

Wow there are some durant haters on this site…im sure u guys no he is one of the top players of this league…but ppl on here really dont think he is as good as he really is…can someone tell me why?

[stanford hoops]

who says hes not as good as he really is?..i still havent seen a post saying that

[mj23mj23besteverParticipant]

anyone pay attention in the worlds when at times durant single handedly carried the us offense??? no knock on wade at all i still love his game despite the fact that the bnoat is down there in south beach now never thought id root agaisnt wade but wiht the circus in miama how as a true lover of the game can i root for him

[TC_42Participant]

 We’re comparing Wade at 27 and Durant at 21.

When Wade was 21, he averaged 16 pts, 4 rebs, 4.5 asts.

This is so dumb.  It’s like saying Durant is better at 21 than MJ was at 15.

[stanford hoops]

theres alot of dumb post then because just about everyone on here has compared some young star to a older star or a hall of famer who hasnt played in the leauge in years.

its a compliment to the younger player to be compared to a older good/great player

[Tongue-Out-Like-23Participant]

People seem to completely forget Durants defense.. It’s HORRIBLE. His passing ability is average for someone his size which means, he has almost no passing ability. He can’t play in the post and strong defenders like Artest and LeBron can easily push him around in the perimeter. He’s a good teammate, good kid, good player, but I have a handful of players over him. Players like Dwight, CP3, Wade, Kobe, LeBron.  Now he’s only 21, by the time he’s 24 he should be the #2 player in the league behind LeBron.

[boxn1Participant]

Hard to compare players who’s games are different offensively. Durant scores within the designed offense, the miami offense of years past was wade,wade,and more wade. A style doesn’t make the player better, that players  all around ability makes them better. No.1, neither plays good defense,very few in the leauge do,and the all defensive team this past season was a joke so don’t bring that up. Wade is better now because he is a more refined and finished product, durant is good,but not great but has time to catch up. This is from a person who is a fan of Durant, but im a realist.

[kurtu17Participant]

i forgot who was the one who said durant was overated by the league…and there were some ppl that agreed…saying all durant can do is score lebron can pass and all this….they dont need durant to pass the ball if he tried they would loose there games…his job is to score the ball…dude is only 21 the rest of his game will catch up..and its not like ppl tourch this guy..so dont say his defense is horrible…lebron plays great defense from the weakside and ppl are acting like he is a shut down defensive player…please dont go by what nba.com says when they put him on all defensive team…i rather have artest or battie on defense then lebron anyday of the week…some ppl on this site get caught up too much on the numbers…in all honesty i rather have my franchise player who i know wont quite on me like lebron did against Orlando….like he quite against the Cavs..atleast i know durant is goin to go out blazing…

[Im Your FatherParticipant]

@Kurtu17

Yes Durant was SO much better in last years playoffs. Lebron’s  Durant’s 25, 8 and 2 on 35% shooting were so much better than Lebron’s 27, 9 and 7 with 45 percent shooting against the Celtics. 

I also love how you confused the Celtics with Orlando. Oddly enough, Lebron had one of the best playoff series of all time against Orlando in 09. 

[kurtu17Participant]

im your father…yeah my bad for the mistake i mean the celtics..i was lookin at the orlando pre season game…and i never said durant never struggled….of course a 21 year old will struggle in his first series against a defender like artest…atleast he went all out…atleast he didnt loose confidense in his team like lebron has..which are very important qualities to have as a franchise player…

[Im Your FatherParticipant]

 I guess you can make that argument. But you could also argue that Durant hasn’t shown the ability to take over a playoff series like Lebron has. 

[billykParticipant]

Its hard to be a GOOD individual defensive player in the NBA because players are so talented offensively… In the NBA individual offense almost always beats individual defense… To call Kevin Durant a "horrible" doesnt make sense since he puts in the effort, but when you average 30 ppg its hard to be a lockdown defender…  IMO Durant needs to do some damage in the playoffs before you can compare him to a NBA champion that averaged 35 ppg 8 reb and 4 asst in the 06 Finals…

[SteroidParticipant]

I agree. This comparison is not sound in the fact that Wade has much more experience than Durant. If Durant stays healthy, he can only get better, and he is only 21! Wade is probably not going to better compared to Durant’s ceiling right now, and you are already comparing Durant to him. That says a lot what you actually think about both of them, if you take time to think about it.

[shannon92Participant]

Durant is 22… just quitely

[TC_42Participant]

Yeah I know he’s 22.  And Wade is 28.

But the stats comparison were from last season when they were 21 and 27.

[MkadozaParticipant]

 How is this comparison not sound? Do people bring up Kobe’s experience as not fair when judging him relative to Lebron? The fact of the matter is, Wade has dominated as the primary scorer and ball handler, shown excellent defense, is one of the best isolation players in the league, and has won a championship by dominating the series. Durant has shown one of these things, so can we not be so quick to anoint him. He’s arguably a top 5 player, but I honestly believe he’s being elavated over certain players partially because they’ve been involved in offseason chatter. Wade, Lebron, Carmelo and Paul have all been part of their own team building efforts and I think the backlash is really skewing the view of a lot of people. That and Durant’s performance and leadership during the summer. The fact is he’s about as good as Carmelo, but his intangibles and off the court appeal is through the roof.

[MkadozaParticipant]

 Again, we’re talking about now, and the upcoming season, so why are you guys mention Durant in couple of years? He’s not playing in 2010-11. And Wade is better now.

[boxn1Participant]

People judge by stats,and those stats mean nothing because the guy with the best stats(Lebron) on the team with the the best overall stats(61 wins) lost a hell of a lot earlier than we all expected unless you are a boston fan. So put the numbers to the side and judge on what your eyes tell you.Kobe,Lebron,Wade,Gasol,Duncun,D.Will,CP3 are just part of my list of the best all around players, being able to do everything at a good level,and are great at a few things that seperate them from everyone else.

[Author]

Posts