How lucky is Durant if Jae misses Friday's game

[mr. dee]

He's not making much difference, especially if he's the Crowder that showed up in the last year's playoffs. I just hope he's completely healthy if he comes back.

[#1P4P]

Defending KD well is not about using length to defend his jump shot. It's about anticipation and effort to deny him the ball and tiring him before he even gets it (preferably being 30 feet away from the basket when he does). In an article, he admits that Tony Allen is the toughest defender he's gone against because he employed these tactics.

Smart can pull it off for stretches, but he'd need help over the course of a game because KD would wear him down over the course of a game.

[MJohnnyboy]

I don't think Jae's covered Durant once since he's been here. In 2015, Durant was hurt all year. In our 1st meeting last season with the Thunder, Durant sat out with an injury then in the second meeting Jae sat out with an injury. We have yet to see what Jae can do against KD. We still might not see it if Jae's deemed out against the Dubs. Talk about bad timing.

[Csfan1984]

Yeah? Ive been waiting for a real response to JR Smith still. Crowder ain't that tough or that good of a defender.

[RIPRED]

It was just mentioned again on the game coverage that Crowder was upset last summer that Durant picked GSW after the Celtics shared some information with him about how the C's defend Curry and crew.

Don't get me wrong, I love Crowder, but Durant will eat him alive if they match up against each other tonight. I hope they aren't going to rush him back just to play against KD, because he really struggled last year in the playoffs when he was playing hurt.

[BitterJim]

Yeah? Ive been waiting for a real response to JR Smith still. Crowder ain't that tough or that good of a defender.

Refusing to take a cheap shot on JR doesn't mean he's soft, it means he's not a dirty player.  Rondo didn't try to dislocate Wade's elbow at any point, but that doesn't make him soft. Kobe didn't cheap shot Wade as payback after Wade broke his nose in the All Star game a few years back, but even the biggest Kobe hater wouldn't try to call him soft.  I didn't see Steven Adams kicking Draymond Green in the groin for payback, but, again, you'd be hard pressed to call him soft

You're confusing being dirty with being tough.  Taking cheap shots on players is totally unnecessary, and it doesn't make you tough, it makes you a cheap shot artist. Good/tough players won't stoop to that level just for payback (I'd actually argue that just brushing it off and not looking to return the favor shows a lot more toughness than getting payback)

Edit: As for him not being that good at defense, he was the 3rd runner up for the NBA All Defensive team, just behind Gobert and Klay and just ahead of Lebron (despite missing time with an injury and still being hobbled by it after returning).  Even if you don't like Jae, saying that he's not that good at defense is objectively wrong

[Csfan1984]

Yeah? Ive been waiting for a real response to JR Smith still. Crowder ain't that tough or that good of a defender.

Refusing to take a cheap shot on JR doesn't mean he's soft, it means he's not a dirty player.  Rondo didn't try to dislocate Wade's elbow at any point, but that doesn't make him soft. Kobe didn't cheap shot Wade as payback after Wade broke his nose in the All Star game a few years back, but even the biggest Kobe hater wouldn't try to call him soft.  I didn't see Steven Adams kicking Draymond Green in the groin for payback, but, again, you'd be hard pressed to call him soft

You're confusing being dirty with being tough.  Taking cheap shots on players is totally unnecessary, and it doesn't make you tough, it makes you a cheap shot artist. Good/tough players won't stoop to that level just for payback (I'd actually argue that just brushing it off and not looking to return the favor shows a lot more toughness than getting payback)

Edit: As for him not being that good at defense, he was the 3rd runner up for the NBA All Defensive team, just behind Gobert and Klay and just ahead of Lebron (despite missing time with an injury and still being hobbled by it after returning).  Even if you don't like Jae, saying that he's not that good at defense is objectively wrong

Still a fact he didn't respond nor can he stop KD.

[iadera]

We're probably gonna miss Jae next game as well. He missed the entire 4th in Minnie, complained to his ankle again.