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Paolo Banchero is aware of what a pure scorer seems like. He sees one each time he seems within the mirror. The 2022 No. 1 general choose and odds-on favourite to win Rookie of the 12 months, Banchero is averaging 21.7 factors per sport and has all of the makings of a future scoring champion. He creates off the dribble. He is robust within the paint. He scores in any respect three ranges and can nearly actually develop right into a plus 3-point shooter. He already will get to the free throw line like a seasoned vet.
However Banchero has by no means seen something like Kevin Durant.
In a current look on JJ Redick’s “Outdated Man and the Three” podcast, Banchero mirrored on a late November sport in Brooklyn during which Durant scored 45 factors (nonetheless his season excessive), calling KD’s pure and game-long bucket-getting his “Welcome to the NBA second.”
“I guarded [Durant] for many of that sport, and it was actually simply nothing you may do, ” Banchero defined. “You recognize, some guys get to the [free-throw] line a bunch, or, you recognize, play with the refs and get calls, and that is how they get 14 factors from the road or no matter. However KD was straight enterprise. Like, wasn’t saying nothing to the refs. I feel he hit like 4 or 5 free throws, however he had 45. So most of these was buckets. I feel he missed 5 pictures that sport.
“So simply experiencing that, having to protect him, he was the primary participant I feel I’ve guarded in my life the place it is like there’s nothing I might do,” Banchero continued. “You recognize, normally a man could make some pictures on me, however I can fluster him a little bit bit. I can get into him and make him miss right here and there. However that was identical to, he do not even see me proper now. Like I am making an attempt to chop him off, and he is simply on the market like, ‘No, I am nonetheless going to get to this spot. I am nonetheless going to stand up.’ It was loopy.”
So first off, Banchero’s reminiscence is spot on with the numbers. Durant had 45 factors on this sport. He made 4 free throws (4-for-4) and missed precisely 5 pictures (19-for-24). That is 41 factors on straight buckets.
That stated, Banchero was a bit onerous on himself. He did not guard Durant many of the sport, as he recollects. He did discover himself matched up on Durant a lot, and on these events the place he did not get switched off, Durant certainly seemed completely unfazed by Banchero’s presence.
I went again and watched. Durant hit 4 jumpers when Banchero was his clear contester. He beat Banchero off the dribble for a fifth bucket. There have been three different buckets the place Banchero started as Durant’s defender, however was switched off by the point the shot was taken, the final of which came visiting the outstretched arms of 7-foot-2 Bol Bol, which is an entire different stage of spectacular. Watch all these clips beneath.
The spirit of what Banchero remembers is solely correct. Durant was unstoppable on this sport, and as a lot as all of us take it without any consideration after watching him all these years, it stays unbelievable how easy he scores even with defenders blanketing him. He’s the purest scorer ever in lots of people’s books, and it is powerful to argue with that stance.
As Banchero stated, Durant’s scoring is not held up on the crutch of foul-baiting, and although he can and does get to the rim a lot, he does the vast majority of his work with jumpers, and extremely contested ones at that. His manufacturing and effectivity are astounding given the shot food regimen on which he exists.
Even when Banchero will get screened off Durant, he is nonetheless watching helplessly as Durant cooks each protection Orlando throws at him. The cumulative impression Banchero is left with is certainly one of utter helplessness. He is not the primary to really feel that means in opposition to Durant, and he actually will not be the final.
However in the long run, relying on the way you wish to categorize a few of these gray-area buckets, Banchero solely defended about 25 p.c of Durant’s 19 hoops on this evening. And in scoring 24 of his personal factors, he acquired the higher of Durant himself just a few instances.
It will not be lengthy earlier than Banchero is the one delivering “Welcome to the NBA” messages to wide-eyed rookies.
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