How The Houston Rockets Need To Use Kevin Durant | Film Breakdown & Scouting Report

How The Houston Rockets Need To Use Kevin Durant | Film Breakdown & Scouting Report

And I understand the balance between having to get up a lot of threes, but I believe you can’t tell you Luca or Austin Reeves, don’t play your game and take those shots in the mid-range or just just be you. Certain guys though, for sure. You know what I’m saying? Who need to rely on the system or the team who need who can’t create on their own, who can’t create those shots on their own. They need to shoot more threes. Mhm. So, I remember we was in a game against Cleveland and George’s knee and he like to talk a lot of I love Georgia, but he he talked a lot of and he telling me like I hit a couple mid-ranges in a row. We down like 15 like you need to shoot more three. I said, “No, these dudes around me need to shoot more threes. I need to play my game.” You know what I’m saying? Because if I get into this paint and cuz y’all going to collapse on this mid-range and I kick out to one of them, I’m expecting them to shoot the three, not dribble into a mid-range. Like, that don’t make no sense. Kevin Wayne Durant, I’ve been following your career for a long time, brother, since 2006. Anybody’s been watching my content, you know that I was raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. In a 2006 high school basketball class, the number one player in the country was Greg Oden. He was from here, Indianapolis, Indiana, and Lawrence North High School with his point guard, Mike Connley, who was the number one point guard in that class. And KD, you were the number two player in that class, which we’ve heard you talk about a lot in so many different situations. And the first time I saw you was in that McDonald’s All-American game. And the first thing that I noticed was how well you shot the mid-range. I remember specifically you pulling up at the nail and how long your arms were and how fluid you were. And that was the foundation for your game. And you have used that foundation and all the gifts that Jesus has given you to become one of the greatest players this game has ever seen. 15time all-star, 12 time AllNBA, one of the greatest players in USA basketball history, twotime NBA champion, twotime finals MVP, one regular season MVP, and the list goes on and on and on and on. And you’re very active on social, which I love. A lot of people hate it. I enjoy it because we get to hear your thoughts. You’re very authentic. You’re very real. And this clip right here, we can see what type of player that you are. You have said that you want this to be your last team and God has decided to send you to Houston, Texas. And MA Adoka, your team is a threepoint heavy team. From 24 feet last year, 38.2% of Houston Rocket shots came from that area. 33% of Kevin Durant shots. But I want y’all to pay attention from the 8 to 16 ft range. That’s what we consider the real mid-range. Last year, 13.9% of Houston’s total shots came from that area, while 37.7% of KD’s total shots came from the mid-range. Kevin has said that he wants to operate inside the mid-range, MA. He wants to be in a heliocentric offense where the guys around him can hit open threes and he’s able to navigate that mid-range area and do whatever it is that he wants to do. So, I broke it down a tape. I broke down a tape of the Houston Rockets last year and I broke down a tape of Kevin Durant you playing last year with the Phoenix Suns and I give a lot of game in this video on how you can seamlessly integrate a guy that is a mid-range master, one of the most prolific scorers we’ve ever seen into a team that is very reliant on the three-point shot with the current personnel that you have. But MA, that’s up to you. You ain’t got no excuses no more. We know what happened to you up in Boston and now you down here in Houston, Texas. They’ve given you the tools. They’ve given you one of the best players we’ve ever seen. Are you going to be able to integrate him seamlessly inside of your offense and give him the opportunities he needs to help lead y’all to your first championship since 1995? Watch this entire video. I think it’s going to help y’all a lot. And not just MA and not just KD. For those of y’all that enjoy the content and you came by, you want to see what I got to talk about. I want you to watch this entire video. But before you do that, I need you to click like. I need you to click share. I need you to click subscribe. I need you to write in the comments who you would like me to break down next. And most importantly, I need you to watch this video all the way to the end. My ducks, my swans, welcome to the pond. Kevin Durant is one of the most prolific scorers we’ve ever seen in the history of the NBA and majority of his scoring comes from the mid-range. Houston, you do a phenomenal job with this right now running actions. His pistol action right here, getting Jabari Smith a easy nail jump shot and you’ve done this with Shin Goon as well. We’re going to talk about that a little bit later. As you can see KD, no matter what action you put him in, he is looking to get to the elbow, to the nail, or to the other elbow. Phoenix did a good job of giving him these shots, but I don’t like the fact that they had him coming downhill. Why not just start him off in those positions where you know that’s where he wants to get those shots and we’re going to get into that right now with the lead. Right here we got Kevin Durant getting the ball screen and he posts up in the pinch post. All four defenders are looking at him. We got Nerkish in the dunker spot with Bo and Booker on the weak side as shooters. Soon as KD catches this ball, look at what he does. He looks to his left driving lane. He looks to his right driving lane. See, they’re both clear. Goes back left and pulls up for a shot that nobody in the NBA can block. Posting up Kevin Durant in the middle of the floor is a cheat code. He’s very patient, making sure his cutters clear through so he can get a drive in the lane. And once he gets his bucket, he can finish over practically anybody as we see him do it right here over Zubach. As a coach, you got to make sure you put him in this position. On this clip right here, Kevin Durant posts up at the top of the key again. Tus Jones cuts through. Nerkish sets a weak side screen for him where he can even pull up for a three or come off for a dribble handoff. Look at Jimmy Butler. Kevin Durant’s head is turned and he’s going to go over there and get that steal. KD senses it as peripheral pulls up the opposite side. Turning these mid-range postups into Dirk fadeaways is something that Houston you’re already doing as you see with Shenon right here. But now you have a guy that’s practically unstoppable with this. So, if I was you, I would post up Kevin Durant as much as you possibly can. One leg step back. Here we got KD posted up on the right block. And all young players, I want you to pay attention to this. You see how his chin is at his shoulder? He’s doing that so he can survey the floor. He sees his open shooters and he sees the best shot blocker in the NBA, Wimby, in a 29 situation. As soon as Wimby comes over and commits, look at Grayson Allen. He’s one of the best shooters in the NBA, but he’s not shot ready for a wide openen three. Why is he not shot ready? Because he’s seen this movie before and he knows what’s about to happen. As KD gets to that one leg, he leaned back. Houston, you’re already doing this with Shenon. Post him up on the right block. He has a great job of finding open shooters from that area. Now you have a guy that’s one of the most deadliest scorers in the history of the NBA is going to be doing the exact same thing. I love this sideline out of bounds play right here. Devin Booker comes up and sets a back screen. KD shuffle cuts off this screen as LeBron is gripping him with two hands. Look at KD as soon as he catches this on the switch. It’s all one motion catch into a corner fade. That’s an unstoppable and unblockable shot. KD has exceptionally high basketball IQ. So, I think there will be a slight adjustments that’s going to need to be made. He’s used to posting up and immediately looking to score. He’s going to have an opportunity to playmate with y’all cuz y’all already doing this with Shenon. He catches the ball in the pinch post. Once he does this, you’re gonna see Amen Thompson come over and set this ghost screen and slip as Fred Van Fleet gets over to that left side wing. Once Amen Thompson cuts, James Harden tags and now Shenon has two options. He can throw to the corner or he can get out to Fred Van Fleet. He fakes, shifts to defense, get out to Fred Van Fleet. Bang. Rockets bench on Wednesday. Three goes down for Fred Van Vleet. Another option y’all gonna be able to have with Katie is once he catches it in these areas at the top of the key, he’s going to be able to score at the basket if you want to get an easy shot. But you have Shenon for that. He can get these deep post and these deep seals and you ain’t got to worry about KD having to bang his body in there. A KD Shingun high low is going to be unstoppable. Here’s a variation of that high low that Phoenix didn’t really execute on, but I feel like Houston y’all have the opportunity to. I think KD’s the most dangerous when he sets screens. He sets his screen for Bradley Bill. He slips to the nail and because there’s a shooter deep, D’Angelo Russell can’t take that pass away. As soon as KD catches the ball, you see Plumbley comes from the dunker spot and that could be a high low lob at the rim. But because KD is such an efficient score and he’s in a scoring mentality with the Phoenix Suns, he does the easy money sniper bucket this season as Durant. Here’s another example how KD will enhance Houston’s already efficient offense. Jabari Smith sets a great screen for Jaylen Green, which allows him to put Donovan Klingan in a two-on-one situation. Replace Jabari Smith with Kevin Durant, and you’ll see that Jaylen Green makes the right read. Jabari Smith gets the wideopen look. He just can’t hit that. With KD, that’s automatic. Having one of the best scores ever as your screener is a cheat code. Here we got Kevin Durant screening the Fives defender as Deon Booker is going to come off of this dribble handoff. Once Devin Booker comes off of his dribble handoff, KD resscreens the Fives defender who is now in drop coverage. This forces Luca Donic, the worst defender on the floor, to have to step up. KD’s going to pop out where he has a wideopen three. And everybody else in the NBA, that shot’s going up. But KD knows Lucas closing out. He ain’t going to be able to keep up with him. And this is Kevin Durant. The game is just too easy. Watch what he does. Dallas looking for payback. Durant right downhill. KD doesn’t pass up these threes because he can’t hit them. It’s just a matter if he wants to or not. And MA, it’s up to you to let him know what kind of offensive pressure that you want to provide. Are we getting to the rim? We shooting threes. We shooting mid-range. Let him know cuz he has the buffet of all the offensive skills, especially coming off of screens. Here he is setting a screen for Taius Jones. Heismith goes under. Katie gets the ball. And I love this 14 formation. He makes sure everybody cuts through. He can drive to the left. He can drive to the right. But what does he decide to do? He takes the worst shot in basketball. A contested long two. But because it’s KD is automatic. Boom. I believe we are entering into the era now where the mid-range is where all the offense is about to initiate or at least a lot of offense is going to initiate. And when you have a superstar that can score in that area, you have to utilize that because it’s just so dangerous cuz you can score at so many different levels. Here’s KD setting another screen. He’s going to pop immediately to the nail. Once he gets to nail, he can take a contested two. You know, he can kick it to his shooters over here with Devin Booker and Royce O’Neal who are wide open on that backside. But you look at the time and score, he wants to put pressure on the rim. That’s exactly what he does. Draws a foul on James Harden and gets an one. Foul on Harden. A chance at a three-point play. It was easy for me to come off a pin down. It’s hard for me to have to dribble through three or four guys and pull up over two dudes with a fade away. Like I want, like you said, we want to be efficient playing off your team, man. That’s the easiest way to be efficient. I was getting more back door cuts, more transition layups on top of the ISOs, on top of the catch and shoot three threes. So, my game was way more well-rounded in scoring and it was easier and I, you know, I’m way more efficient that way. But I always knew how to play with my teammates, play off my teammates, and the art of scoring is getting the easy points. I always knew that, especially in transition. I feel the most underutilized action in basketball right now is a pin down that leads into a curl. It’s easy, it’s simple, and it is very, very efficient, especially when you got Kevin Durant. Grayson All going to set a pin down for KD. I would love for Grayson to pop out to the right wing afterwards because he’s a great three-point shooter. You got another pretty decent three-point shooter, Royce O’Neal. In the left corner, you got Plumbley on the backside on that right corner giving you that four out one end spacing that every coach wants, but instead of a post up, you get a wideopen jumper. And one of the primary reasons I feel like the pin down is so underutilized and it needs to be used a lot more is because of the counters that come off of it. Here we are in a Horns formation. Tus Jones gives Plumbley the pinch post entry. He’s going to come set a pin down for KD. KD fakes it and gets a wideopen dunk. Pin downs with Kevin Durant are nearly unstoppable to guard because when the pin down is set, you have the top lock, but because he’s seven foot, you can throw it right over the top and he gets a wideopen dunk at the rim. You’re already running these for Jabari Smith. Let’s crank it up a notch with KD. One of the worst thing I saw the Suns do with Kevin Durant last year was have him score in these ISO situations. He said he doesn’t want to work this hard. No great scorer does. Who wants to dribble four, five, six, seven times when I can just post up and shoot over whoever I want? Let’s get away from this. Go. And I understand why coaches want players to ISO like this. You can do it off of ball screens. You get into this 14 formation like we talked about before, but the thing about Kevin Durant, he is way more effective on a 14 formation off of a post up and a catch as opposed to dribbling like this. I mean, in this situation, the entire defense is looking at him. He has to go right into the teeth of the defense. Probably should have passed this off to Bradley Bill, but because he was forced to score so much in Phoenix, he takes a contested jump shot. Contested 18 footer. The idea that a scoreer of this caliber has to be able to catch the ball from the three-point line extended and get into an ISO situation to get a clean shot is just ridiculous. I would have loved for him to just rip here and go to the short corner on the left hand side, but he doesn’t do that. He drives right to the teeth of the defense, brings the defender with him, and now it’s three guys over there. The right play probably would have been to throw it out top, but since he’s so close to the basket, that’s a shot he can hit. He pulls up for it. But because he had to work so hard, he bricked it from the first half. No matter where the offense initially begins, KD is trying to score from the same areas of the floor. So why not just have him start in those areas of the floor? This man’s approaching 40 years old. He does need to dribble five, six times to get these shots as KD on the drive down the lane. Too strong with that one. And this usually happens because they’re making him the ball handler on the pick and roll. He doesn’t need to do that. Even in the Spain action, one of my favorite actions in all of basketball. We do not need Kevin Durant bringing the ball up the court and being a primary ball handler, especially with all the guards that y’all got in Houston. And here we are, the big switch is on him. Anybody that’s used to be the primary ball handler, they would go to the right and lay it up because Steph Castle’s not going to help off with Deon Booker. But where does KD go? His favorite spots on the floor, but he had to work too hard. Gets into Johnson with a pull up. Here he is getting this dribble handoff right into a ball screen. Anybody that’s used this action who’s a primary ball handler, they’re going to sprint coming downhill off his screener’s back and pull up for that nail jump shot. He resets and then comes off. And this allows the defense to come up a level. Takes away the wing three. The corner three probably is open, but now you’re turning him into a decision maker. He’s a natural scorer. He doesn’t shoot this with confidence. And it bricks to the 18T spot. Kevin, you’re an exceptionally smart basketball player, but we don’t need you making decisions. We need you scoring the ball. We don’t need him initiating the offense all the way at half court and getting a screen at the logo. We need him at the pinch post or at the nail getting that entry pass because when he does this all the defense is staring at him and looking at him and he’s exerting way too much energy. Let’s make the game easy for one of the greatest scorers of all time. I’m out the pond y’all. Stay true. Sunday got a call and hit a wall. I didn’t really

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How the Houston Rockets Should Use Kevin Durant | Film Breakdown

Kevin Durant is officially a Houston Rocket — but how will Ime Udoka’s 3-point heavy offense adapt to one of the greatest midrange scorers in NBA history? In this video, I break down Kevin Durant’s film and explain exactly how the Rockets can maximize his game in the 2024-25 season.

Under Udoka, Houston has been built around rim pressure and 3-point volume:
• 41% of shots come from less than 8 feet (57.6% FG)
• 38.2% from 24+ feet (35.5% FG)

But KD’s shot diet is completely different:
• Just 20.2% of shots inside 8 feet (65.4% FG)
• A massive 37.7% from 8-16 feet (54.2% FG) — his bread-and-butter midrange
• Only 33% from deep (43% FG)

Durant has made it clear — including on LeBron James’ Mind the Game podcast — that he thrives in a heliocentric midrange offense where he draws help, then kicks to shooters. The Rockets have spacing threats, athletic slashers, and a coach who values ball movement. The key will be blending KD’s elite midrange playmaking with Houston’s rim-and-three philosophy.

In this breakdown, you’ll see:
• How KD’s midrange gravity can open up Houston’s offense
• The best ways for Ime Udoka to integrate Durant into the Rockets’ existing system
• Why KD could be the piece that takes Houston from a young, exciting team to a legitimate contender

#KevinDurant #HoustonRockets #NBA #ImeUdoka #nbabreakdown

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