[RUDEBOY_Participant]

This is an article that appeared in the Seattle Time in 2007..

*Did the NBA Slap ”Buyer Beware” stickers on Kevin Durant and other draft prospects when they distributed results from last weeks draftcamp to teams on monday?

The Seattle Times gained a complete copy from the confidential report ,and the Texas forward was 1 of several lottery projected players that had less then impressive workouts…Durant who will likely be chosen 2nd by the Sonics,was the only player who could not bench press 185 lbs at once.. His overall performance ranked 78th out of 80 prospects…And his lackluster performance has widen the gap between him and Ohio State 7 foot center Greg Oden, who had an impressive workout..Durant measured 6’9 without shoes and 6’10 with shoes..He weighed 212 lbs and had a wingspan of 7 ‘4,2nd most among the prospects…Durant fell short to the 7 footer in almost every statistical category ..Oden had a vertical jump of 34 inches to Durant’s 33..Ran faster in the agility drill 11.67 seconds to Durant’s 12.33..

Other combine notes**

Washington center Spencer Hawes had a body fat of 13..Finished 72nd overall.. Measured 6’10 without shoes and benched pressed 285 lbs nine times..

Eastern Washington guard Rodney Stuckey improved his draft stock with a strong performance..Stuckey ranked 10 overall..And had the 2nd fastest sprint at 3.11 seconds..

Oregon guard Aaron Brooks is arguably the fittest player at the camp.2.7 body fat percentage..Finished 2nd overall in the agility drills with 10.57..And Ranked 14th overall amongst all prospects….

[WolfRobParticipant]

 I have a hard time beliving Hawes hit 285 9 times …. 

 

 

 

185?

[HaleParticipant]

Hence the reason the combine shouldn’t be used as a replacement for scouting.

[TyroberParticipant]

 6’10" small forward who can shoot lights out and has a 7’4" wingspan does not equal 78th of 80. Yeah he was weak and couldn’t benchpress, but that really matters right now doesn’t it? No idea who ranked those players, but it was obvious he was not a fan of Durant and looks like an idiot now.

[nhlkdog411Participant]

 Those rankings are purely based on the physical testing done at the combine dude…Durant doesn’t/didn’t have great strength or run-jump athleticism, at least not in that type of setting, so he didn’t grade out well their. The combine is physical tests, nothing more and that’s all those rankings were based on..they were COMBINE rankings. They strictly don’t take into account the fact that he is the only guy that size other than Dirk we’ve seen shoot like Larry, that he would develop a wonderful post up game, that it doesn’t matter than he can’t jump because he can touch the rim without jumping etc etc. 

[mhawk19Participant]

If anything those results just made it easier for teams to throw out the power forward idea and realize this guy was a small forward only…that worked out pretty well

[mosdefParticipant]

that is why scouts should actually watch the games Durant played cuz dude was hitting 3s from halfcourt. WHo cares what he benches. Can he ball

[TallmanNYCParticipant]

 Well he did go second in the draft, so obviously the GMs got over the bench press problem.

By the way, recent article about one of the advisors to Portland has him saying that he advised them to take Durrant. Durrant projected much better than Oden. But they went with Oden because he played center and Oden was hurt during much of his college season. So they figured that made his stats worse than they should have been. Though of course injuries continued to plague him during his career. 

Interestingly, the stat guy was one of the guys who ran with the MIT blackjack squad that counted cards and busted up Vegas for a good solid run.

[NYK2010Participant]

Hawes hitting 185 lol

[TheLastWordParticipant]

Durant grew an inch and defenitely increased his vertical through P3 or similar programs. On 18 and 19 year olds take the combine numbers with a grain of salt.

[uknationParticipant]

Was durant measured again? I ask because him growing a inch would only be speculation other wise

[sheltwon3Participant]

It definitely looks like he grew a inch or so.

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

Brooks at 2.7% body fat is scarey, men aren’t supposed to be able to survive off anything less than 2.5

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

Boozer had a bad showing at the combine..And got out played by Marcus Haislip from Tennessee who went in the 1st round…..How many people even remember him?

[Neville15Participant]

Its funny how so many people go on about how this athletic testing doesn’t mean all that much and what matters is whether they can play but then they go and evaluate a prospect and 90% of the time the first thing they knock is their lack of strength… It is nearly impossible to count how many people say that a guy needs to add size yet here with Kevin Durant we have a guy who is top 5 in the NBA will no size whatsoever…

[rileymcshea3Participant]

 ^^^Good example and the only guys that was a actually a big strong guy that dominated the league was Shaq and LeBron

When you look at the greatest players of all time like MJ,Bird,Magic,Kareem,Wilt its not like they were super ripped or the strongest guys in the NBA but they know how to ball and thats what it comes down too.

[boywonder32Participant]

I hope people don’t really think Aaron Brooks has or had 2.7% BF that’s impossible for a basketball player or anyone else, and IF IF he was 2.7 BF he’d be freakin shredded the FUCIK UP!

Most players I guarantee use the calipars or whatever it’s called for the BF percentages, most NBA players are really around 7-10% BF at least the jacked ones are

[Neville15Participant]

 I personally think one of the greatest examples is Charles Barkley. He is generously listed at 6’6, I can’t imagine his body fat % was all that impressive and he wasn’t the most athletic guy either yet he was still quite a dominant player. I also accept that this era is somewhat different but a guy like Chuck Hayes can still carve out a niche for himself on a roster as a big man being 6’6. I guess I’m getting a little off track but my main point is that we value these numbers too much at times. A guy who is a 6-9 ‘ideal height’ power forward should not be accepted as being automatically superior to a guy who is smaller. Look at Kenneth Faried… While he isn’t the biggest guy he proved what he could do at college level yet STILL people knocked him for his height. 

 

I guess what it comes down to is that these numbers yes, are valuable but at the same time we can’t look past the facts and these facts are what the player does on the floor in games

[kaanyrvhokParticipant]

Measurements and shooting drills are more important than athletic drills and Durant was like an African Larry Bird. Give me a guy who has basketball cordination, a great shot and a lanky wingspan over a guy that sprints fast, benches a lot of reps, has a 35+ vertical, and moves well in a drill that will never be replicated on the court.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

@Neville15, Barkley was a fairly decent athletic guy for someone that was built like the rapper Rick Ross,the Pillsbury Doughboy or Leroy Jenkins momma…..He use to beat some point guard up the floor…And often opposing players werent able to stop him when he rebounded the ball and took it coast to coast…He wasnt explosive high flying athlete like a Lebron or a Blake Griffin…But Barkley had some hops for a 300 lbs guy..

[pohani komaracParticipant]

6’10" small forward who can shoot lights out and has a 7’4" wingspan does not equal 78th of 80. Yeah he was weak and couldn’t benchpress, but that really matters right now doesn’t it? No idea who ranked those players, but it was obvious he was not a fan of Durant and looks like an idiot now.

 

those who rank players by this stupid tests are idiots

those test are easy to mesure and because of it they become some relevet factors in basketball conversations do to lack of knowledge and understanding of game. all this mesurmentas are blown out of proportions this days. any of this things can be seen on court without problems and combind with other basketball factors. it’s good they still didn’t start to mesure d….

[Neville15Participant]

 @Rudeboy I wasn’t so much questioning Barkley’s athleticism more the emphasis that people put on all this testing even measurements of height and what not. If somebody told you that there was a hot PF prospect who was 6’6 most people on these forums would deem him to be nothing even if he was putting up big numbers in high school or college. And like you said, some 6’6 300lb guys can play! Haha

[kaanyrvhokParticipant]

Barkley breaks the mold. If a great shooter/scorer like Durant has shaky drills you can live with that. His frame and skills are more telling than NFL style drills. With a guy like Barkley you need him to validate his unique build by proving he is an explosive athlete since he wasn’t a lights out shooter. It’s the same with Kevin Love. He wasn’t known for his athleticism until he stormed the combine then it got people thinking that this guy is a fluid athlete with a greater upside.
 

[JoeWolf1]

 True, Durant’s combine wasn’t great, but not many players can boast dropping 25.8 ppg 11.1 rpg 1.3 apg on 47%,40%, and 81% shooting as a humble, hard working 18 year old with 0 character concerns.

It’s only part of the equation.  If you look at the early and mid 1990’s where draft stock was more influenced on big conference college production, the bust rate isn’t any higher or lower than it is now where potential is more of a factor.

Also doesn’t hurt that Durant releases his shot close to 11′ in the air. 

Durant had the look of a kid 2 years younger than him.  Since he’s matured physically, he’s become a better athlete.  He’ll never be a strong powerfull player, but the NBA has made him faster, quicker and a better leaper.

The combine is what it is, on paper, many of you thought I looked like a better prospect than Jarred Jack, and I averaged 7 ppg for my high school team, Jack averages double figures in the NBA, lol.

 

[Malik-UniversalParticipant]

 always thought the combine didnt mean much

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