Simmons Needs To Give Up This Durant Thing

Bill Simmons and Chad Ford did an interactive mock draft yesterday, in which they alternated selections, with Simmons taking the odd picks and Ford taking the evens. Therefore, Simmons had the top pick and predictably he made himself look like an idiot. Bill has been slobbering all over Kevin Durant's knob for roughly six months now and finding every way to discredit Greg Oden's game. All this campaign has done is prove he knows absolutely nothing about basketball. Simmons claims that there are too many questions about Oden and Durant is a sure thing, a stone cold lock. He sees Oden as the next Ewing. Never mind the fact that Ewing only had a passing interest in defense and wasn't nearly as athletic as Oden. For a guy who loves Tim Duncan so much, he rips on Oden's laid back demeanor far too much. Name the last time you saw Duncan snarl on the court? Don't worry, I'll wait. He says Oden doesn't have the "killer instinct" that Durant has, but Ford points out that Oden has only lost 17 games in his career. That's insane. Obviously the guy knows how to win and frankly no quality is more important in a player. Ford is totally right when he adds that the wins will be far sexier than the "sizzle" that Durant will bring. Anyway, here's my favorite line from Bill in the piece: "So if Portland takes Oden, it will happen because of conventional NBA logic (you always take the franchise center), because their fans are pushing for him (obviously, nobody watches college basketball in Portland)..." -Well, either that or they all watch college basketball and saw Oden's team IN THE FREAKING TITLE GAME! Oh and refresh my memory of what happened in that title game ... oh right, he dominated - 25 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.