Things Kevin Durant needs to do to improves as a player in the off season – NBA Feature
By this time of the year, players are usually busy working out in the training camps to prepare themselves for the NBA season games but thanks to the never ending lockout for making sure that every NBA activity remains at a halt.
However work stoppage can prove propitious for some NBA players. It has provided ancillary time for players to ameliorate their game. Kevin Durant is one such player that can benefit from this additional time enormously.
The 23 year old small forward from Oklahoma City Thunder skyrocketed to fame in his first season. Durant was selected by Seattle Supersonics and with his excellent play in his debut season, became the youngest player in history
of NBA to be awarded Rookie of the year award.
He is a scoring machine and a nightmare for every team’s defense as he penetrates the strongest of defense with arrogance. His jumper shots are stellar and his tall stature allows him score in the post.
Durant despite being outstanding so far is no way near heyday which is horrifying if you are not Oklahoma fan. However there are few things that still have room for improvement, which Durant can work on.
Gain some weight:
It is just not fitting for a guy who is almost 7 feet tall to weigh around 230 pounds. Though he is a lot more robust than he was when he made his debut but still needs to put on some weight.
A brawny Kevin will be a double threat than what he is at the moment. And no I absolutely don’t mean he should develop into a Hercules, just 20-30 extra pounds and he would be impossible to stop.
His skinny structure gives him an edge in speed but also makes him vulnerable to injuries and we know how fatal injuries can be to a player’s career. Plus a sturdy player can psychologically dominate opponents defenders too.
Augment his ball handling:
Being a perimeter player, Durant needs to keep a firm grip on the ball but because of his colossal height he is on a disadvantage as he holds the ball much higher than other perimeter guys making him vulnerable to turnover.
In his four seasons so far, he averages three turnovers per game and last season’s average was worst among the four. For a player of Kevin’s potential, this is bit of a bummer. His opponents exploit this weakness of his to maximum.
Whenever the ball comes into his big hands, a turnover is always expected.
His dribbling skills are ok but he needs to improve his control on ball when he holds it on the outside.
Study his opponents:
However, Kevin is young and a super star in the making. So he should go through his match videos in this off time and observe closely how he is defended. This will help him in spotting his weakness which he can rectify later.
His defense and his ball handling which I mentioned above, is not one of his strongest points, although he has improved considerably over the time, but still there is a long way to go. He needs to watch videos of the NBA greats
and his contemporaries and learn their game play. He doesn’t necessarily need to adopt their style as every player has his own way, but watch them to learn new strategies and find out their weaknesses.
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