GarageGabs

If you haven’t had a chance to watch Texas Freshman Kevin Durant play, you need to set your Tivo for Thursday night, 5 pm, ESPN Classic. That’s when they will replay last nights 3 Overtime thriller between Texas and Oklahoma State. If you haven’t seen the highlights yet, #14 Oklahoma State needed 37 points and a late desperation 3 pointer from Mario Boggan to subdue the #23 Longhorns 105-103.

Video Highlights Per ESPN

AP Recap Per Yahoo

The game was full of fantastic plays, but you’ve got to check out Kevin Durant. The kid is a Magic Johnson/Kevin Garnette hybrid on the court. He does it all; he drains 3’s, finishes with authority, dishes, rebounds, plays defense…and he’s just a FRESHMAN!! Long story short, the 6-9 Durant is the best freshman in the land this year….not Greg Oden.

The two make for an interesting comparison as they are both freshman, and both play on young teams….hence, they get plenty of opportunities to be “the man”.

Here’s a comparison of their statistics: I’ll remove some of my own personal bias by adding that Oden has been limited this year due to injury:

Kevin Durant 6-9 G-F Freshman Texas

PPG- 24.5

APG- 1.8

RPG- 11.1

BPG- 1.9

SPG- 1.6

.491 FG%, .850 FT%, .374 3PT.% (34-91) 11 double-doubles including last 6 games

Gren Oden 7-0 C Freshman Ohio State

PPG- 14.9

APG- 1.0
RPG- 9.8
BPG- 3.9
SPG- .4

.611 FG%, .591 FT%, 4 double/doubles: Missed 7 games due to injury

The Jury? I guess it depends on what you need. If you need a 7 footer to fill the paint,(what team doesn’t?) block shots, snag boards, give you 15-20 per night, but be somewhat of a liability from the charity stripe, then Oden is your man. However, if you want a versatile 6-9 presence with the ability to take over and dominate any perspective of the game, then your guy is Durant. Either way, there is no denying that both of these guys are mega-studs. I think teams could game-plan Oden out of a game…..so to speak. They could limit his offense. In Durant’s case, I think his plethora of offensive game makes him unstoppable on a college level.