Tag: Kevin Durant

Stars may have aligned if NBA hadn’t hooked Horns

ORLANDO, Fla. — Kevin Durant was 16 years old the day he committed to play college basketball for Rick Barnes at Texas, full of hope and vigor and youthful naïveté.

He signed with UT a few months later, in June 2005, eager to join a cache of talent — led by imposing big man LaMarcus Aldridge — that later that season would carry the Longhorns to the Elite Eight.

What happened next would alter Durant’s vision, as well as the course of a program and, perhaps, the perception of a coach. Aldridge declared for the NBA draft in the spring of 2006, months before Durant landed in Austin, and took two other starters with him.

The first time Durant and Aldridge will play together will be in Orlando, in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game. It will come as former Longhorns.

“I was sad he left early,” Durant reflected Friday in Orlando. “We didn’t get to play together. I’m happy he’s an All-Star this year, and I’m glad I get to play with him now.”

In the big picture, life worked out for both short-term Longhorns-turned-Western Conference All-Stars.

A two-time NBA scoring champion with Oklahoma City, the 23-year-old Durant is set to appear in his third consecutive All-Star Game and make his second straight start.

Aldridge, at 26, is in the middle of his best pro season, averaging 22.3 points and 8.3 rebounds as Portland’s centerpiece, and he’s eager to make his All-Star debut.

“It’s something I’ve worked for my whole life,” Aldridge said.

Viewed through burnt orange lenses, however, Sunday’s All-Star extravaganza at the Amway Center will provide a bittersweet reminder of what might have been.

Certainly, the 2006-07 Longhorns would have at least been favorites for the Final Four, if every player eligible to stick around for Durant’s arrival had.

Barnes’ roster that season could have featured not only Durant and Aldridge, a pair of future All-Stars, but three other future NBA players in Daniel Gibson (Cleveland), D.J. Augustin (Charlotte) and Damion James (New Jersey).

There was also P.J. Tucker, the 2005-06 Big 12 Player of Year, who surrendered his final season of eligibility but did not stick in the NBA after Toronto took him in the second round. That’s not to mention C.J. Miles, who committed to UT in 2005 but was drafted by Utah straight out of high school.

Asked Friday how often he thinks about what that pipe-dream roster could have accomplished in Austin, Durant answered “all the time.”

“We would have challenged Florida, I think, in the championship game,” Durant said.

It wasn’t to be.

Gibson and Tucker also left early after the Elite Eight, following Aldridge out the door and leaving Durant to spearhead a talented but freshman-laden group the next season. UT went 25-10 in Durant’s lone season, which ended with a loss to Southern California in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Like Durant, Aldridge admits he ponders the national titles that could have been, but never for long. Even with all that assembled talent, Aldridge says, it’s difficult to predict how it all would have meshed.

“Sometimes, you can have too much talent, and a coach can’t use everybody right,” Aldridge said. “I’m glad things worked out like they did.”

In the time since Durant left to become the No. 2 overall pick, the Longhorns have advanced past the Sweet 16 just once. This year’s team is 17-11 and in danger of snapping a 13-season streak of tournament appearances.

For UT fans tuning into Sunday’s All-Star game, the showcase will provide a bittersweet look at what got away.

When Western Conference coaches added Aldridge to the roster, perhaps no opposing player was as excited as Durant.

“I think he should have been an All-Star last year,” Durant said.

Instead, Durant had to wait another year to play with Aldridge. After all this time, he’s grown used to it.

Yet when the two finally take the floor together Sunday in Orlando, fully immersed in the All-Star present, it will be difficult for either to shake the memories they never got a chance to make in Austin.

“We would have had a good team,” Durant said. “But that’s what if.”

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Too bad for early entries

Notables who could have played on the Texas Longhorns’ 2006-07 team:

• Kevin Durant, Thunder

• LaMarcus Aldridge, Trail Blazers

• Daniel Gibson, Cavaliers

• D.J. Augustin, Bobcats

• Damion James, Nets

• P.J. Tucker, 2005-06 Big 12 Player of the Year

All-Star Weekend

All-Star Game

When: 7 p.m. Sunday

Where: Amway Center, Orlando, Fla.

TV: TNT (pregame coverage starts at 6:30 p.m.)

All-Star Saturday

When: 7:30 p.m. today

What: Shooting Stars, 3-point Shootout, Skills Challenge, Slam Dunk Contest

TV: TNT

What the Spurs and OKC said after Saturday’s game

The Spurs media services folks were busy after the game, recording and transcribing after the Spurs’ 107-96 victory over Oklahoma City.

Here’s a collection of some of the post-game comments from both locker rooms.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich

(On Tony Parker…)

“He became our all-time assist leader tonight, so I’m really happy for him in that regard.  He knew he had to have a big game tonight and we knew we had to score points against these guys. He went into the game with that in mind and he was aggressive all night long and had a great game.”

(Talk about the job Kawhi did against Durant…)

“He did the best he could for a young rookie who has never really seen these guys before and really hasn’t practiced any of the defensive strategies we might use.  We just tell him “do this or do that” and that’s pretty tough, so considering that, I thought he was amazing against a future hall of fame player.  As I said before the game, you don’t stop Kevin, he’s great.  You just try to make him work and I thought Kawhi made him work.”

(On the ball movement tonight…)

“They did a good job. They attacked and they kicked it to open people.  We missed a few, but that’s going to happen with every team.  But I think by and large, we got a lot of great shots on penetration.”

(A good way to end the stand before the long trip?)

“The last game of a homestand you always kind of call it the first game of the road trip and beating a great team like Oklahoma City is a good way to do it.  They’re something else.”

Spurs guard Tony Parker:

(On passing Avery Johnson to be the Spurs franchise assist leader…)

“It’s a great honor. To be mentioned in the same category is great. When I first got here, all I heard was Avery Johnson and what he meant to this city, the community and the Spurs organization. So I feel honored and happy to be with Avery as one of the best point guards in San Antonio, as I owe a lot to Pop. He’s the one who has pounded me to be a good point guard and to share and know the balance between scoring and passing. It was funny because I racked tonight and I knew I had like seven assists, so I thought I was going to come in and pass but Pop comes in before the game and tells me that I need to shoot 25 times. You need to take 25-30 shots or if not, we’re not going to win. It’s funny because every time Pop says that I have a big night, so it’s funny. He asked me to take more than 25 shots so I was happy to accomplish both.”

(On making a bunch of those shots by scoring 42 points tonight…)

“Yeah, I was rolling tonight. It was one of those nights. My shot was feeling good and every time Pop says that, I feel better in my head. So I don’t worry and I just play my game, be aggressive and be in attack mode. So it was just a great win for us tonight.”

(On if they were still talking about Avery Johnson during his rookie year…)

“Definitely, because he’s a great example, a great leader and he won a championship. For me, it was a great example to follow. “

(On being animated tonight against Russell Westbrook…)

“You know, when you play the best team in the NBA and they have the best record, you want to be aggressive. You want to play well, you want to win and I knew that game was big for us because from then we go on the road forever. It was a big game for us as I got a little excited. After 11 years, you find stuff to get excited as tonight was a good game to be in attack mode.”

Spurs forward Tim Duncan:

(On Tony Parker’s performance tonight…)

“Unbelievable, he was great. He carried us start to finish as he started out being more of a distributor. Pop really got on him at trying to score the ball and that we needed it tonight. He stepped up and did just that. Once he got rolling, he just took over the game. It was great.”

(On the dissimilar styles of play between Tony Parker and Avery Johnson…)

“Yeah. Knowing that he’s a scoring point guard more than anything, but he’s evolved over the years and he knows how to do it all. Pop stayed on him about being a distributor and at the same time have a balance between scoring and passing the ball. You saw that tonight as he ended up with nine or 10 assists and the 42 points. Great effort by him and we needed him to do that. He’s going to be great for us.”

(On if he was happy about being the shot to get Parker over the milestone)

“Sure. I wish it would have happened ten shots before that but I’ll take it for what it was. He came to me and said that he wanted me to hit the next shot and I was like, alright but I want to hit every shot. After I hit it, I realized why as it was great.”

Spurs forward-guard  Kawhi Leonard:

(On if he knew he was starting tonight against Kevin Durant…)

“I knew I was going to start before the game happened today. With the way Kevin Durant has been playing, they wanted me to guard him and just run around and try to make it tough for him.”

(On if he made a conscious effort to make Durant work on both sides of the court tonight…)

“Basically my teammates were finding me in spots. I just had an opportunity to score the ball and just tried to go at him.”

(On the performance of Tony Parker tonight)

“Yeah, it was a great performance. He was getting to the hole real easy and was making tough shots. He was making all the shots that he got and he just kept going at it.”

(On how he compares Kevin Durant to other guys he has faced)

“He’s at the top, everyone knows that. He was the leading scorer for the last three years. He’s a taller player and has such great skill at his height and can shoot the ball real well.”

Oklahoma City Thunder coach Scott Brooks:

(Opening statement on tonight’s game…)

“They (the Spurs) beat us.  They beat us in all aspects of the game.  I thought Tony Parker had his way with us.  It’s all about stopping the basketball and we didn’t do a very good job at that.  It’s on all of us, including myself.  We have to do a better job of containing their pick and roll.  Tony Parker was good tonight.  That was as aggressive as I’ve seen him in a long time.  29 shots, he’s usually not that aggressive.  He had a great game going and we had trouble containing him.”

(When asked what positives came out of this game and on his bench’s play cutting the lead down…)

“They gave us some hope.  That’s what teams are about.  Everybody has to chip in when they get the opportunity.  They didn’t put their heads down.  They plugged away and made the game somewhat competitive.  We just didn’t have enough tonight.  Spurs are a good team.  They are really good at home.  It’s one of the toughest places to play.  They beat us in a lot of areas tonight.  The 3-point ball was the second difference maker, after Tony Parker.”

(When asked was there a moment before Tony Parker took off that let the game to get away…)

“When their rookie (Kawhi) Leonard hit those back-to-back threes. He made his threes.  He was three for three tonight.  I thought that got them (the Spurs) back into the game when we had a six- or seven-point lead.  It was Tony Parker and the threes. We had no answer for either one of them.  They are a good team.  We had a tough challenge tonight and they got away from us.”

(When asked about the play of Tony Parker tonight…)

“Like I said, that’s the best I’ve seen him move and attack.  He’s a good player.  He’s not an old guy. He’s a young good player.  He plays well.  They put him in a lot of good situations and he capitalized on them.  He was attacking and hitting his jump shot.  You hope when you play against him that his outside shot isn’t falling.  He had three things working: his mid-range, his floater, and his lay-up game were on.”

Thunder forward Kevin Durant:

(On playoff- like atmosphere…)

“That’s how it’s like here. They have the best home record in the league, so everybody is going to come out and see them play. It makes out for a playoff atmosphere. It’s a tough loss. ”

(On Tony Parker’s play…)

“Coming off pick and rolls, he was getting to the rim. He is so quick and he was beating our bigs to the lane sometimes. It’s tough for our bigs to guard someone as fast as Tony. They would foul him a few times then it makes them hesitant to play aggressively on him. I thought they did a good job but he was just making floaters, pull up jump shots and he had it going tonight.”

(What was different in the third quarter that let them gain a big lead…)

“They made threes the whole game.  That’s what won the game for them. They got into the lane and kicked out for threes, which led to Tony Parker getting into the lane so easily.”

Thunder guard Russell Westbrook:

(What made tonight so difficult…)

“They moved the ball. They got into the paint with quickness and we were just a step late. It was a tough loss but we just have to move onto the next one.”

(Talking about the play of the Thunder bench and how they created a spark in the fourth…)

“I feel like we have the best bench in the league. They did a good job of fighting back when we were trying to come back late in the game.”

(Talking about the play in the fourth quarter…)

“It’s a tough place to play at and they might have the best home record in the league because of that. In the fourth quarter, we just did not get off to the start we wanted to and it ended up hurting us.”

Griffin’s in-your-face dunk has nation buzzing

Blake Griffin has thrown down an assortment of memorable dunks during his short NBA career. 

Griffin might have outdone himself Monday night in the Clippers’ 112-100 victory over  Oklahoma City.

On the play early in the third quarter, he slammed the ball in the face of burly Oklahoma City center Kendrick Perkins in one of the more memorable dunks in recent NBA history.

Griffin threw the ball down with his right hand with such force, his left hand on Perkins’ shoulder. Even worse, he was fouled  by Perkins on the play and he then converted the free throw to complete  the three-point play.

The play left the Staples Center crowd buzzing as it was shown seven times on the video screen in the minute after the play.

“Like I said, it’s the timing of the play. It’s the timing of when I got the pass, the late rotation, all that,” Griffinof his dunk. “If all that comes together at the right time, it happens. It’s not like I caught the ball and said, ‘OK, let’s go make something happen.’ It just kind of came together like that.”

Clippers guard Chris Paul, who set up the dunk from the left wing with a nice entry pass, was charged by Griffin’s athleticism on the play.

“That’s one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen, just like the dunk (Griffin had) against the (last season),” Paul . “ You’re watching the game, and I’m playing the game. So I can get excited for a split second, but I have to keep everyone locked in and let that one go.”

But Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant wasn’t nearly as impressed.

“Man, I don’t care about that dunk,” Durant said.

Sorry, Kevin. But the rest of the nation doesn’t agree.

Here’s a look at Griffin’s slam, thanks to You Tube.com