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Ok, I admit it. I’m not sold on Kevin Durant as the “second coming.” He’s a talented scorer and the clear cut #2 pick in the draft, but I’m just not sure if he’s a guy who will guarantee a franchise a string of NBA Finals appearances. Here’s why.

Take a look at some of the Kevin Durant highlight compilations on Youtube. In them he showcases unlimited range, a remarkable array of pull-up and fadeaway jumpers, and the ability to get off a balanced shot from almost any position. With those moves there is no doubt that he can score 30 points a game in the NBA.

Still, there are many things you don’t see, and it’s not because they weren’t included in those specific videos. Durant doesn’t attack the basket from the low post and he rarely beats his defender off the dribble for an easy dunk or layup. Without those skills Durant will not draw double teams in the NBA—it’s just not worth double teaming a guy who doesn’t come within 10 feet of the basket. If Durant doesn’t learn to attack the rim he can still be a great scorer and an all-star, but he won’t be a guy who raises the play of his teammates to the next level.

While Durant is still only 18, his poor workouts have cast doubt on whether he will ever develop those penetration skills—and no, it’s not his widely publicized, but insignificant bench press numbers that are problematic, but rather his speed and agility. Overall Durant finished 78^th out of 80 players. He finished behind Oden in the sprinting drill and behind both Oden and Spencer Hawes in the agility drill (although he did barely beat Hawes in the sprint.) People less agile than Spencer Hawes do not develop Tracy McGrady-like penetration skills, and they do not attack the basket in an Amare Stoudemire-like frenzy.

So where does that leave Durant? Well, for just a minute think about the Durant “scouting report” I’ve laid out. It’s an almost perfect description of the offensive game of another highly touted college player. Somebody who was picked in the top 10 last year. Somebody who enjoys playing Halo with J.J. Redick (Sonic fans—you may now want to avert your eyes.)

That’s right—Kevin Durant’s offensive game is extremely similar to that of Adam Morrison. If Durant were white (and didn’t rebound or defend) the Morrison comparisons would be the most hackneyed pre-draft story of the year. Just take a look at some of the Morrison stuff on Youtube. It features his deadly 12-18 ft jumper, the pump fake and pull-up over two defenders, and the 24 foot three pointer. It could easily have been Durant underneath that Gonzaga jersey.

That’s why I’m not sold on the Texas star. Durant as an NBA player could still be a little Ray Allen (with more size, rebounding, and blocks), a little Tracy McGrady (without the penetration skills), a little Carmelo Anthony (with more range and less posting up), and a little Kevin Garnett (with less defense, rebounding and blocks). He will be an all-star, he could win a scoring title, and he might win an NBA Championship. However, unlike LeBron James, Tim Duncan, or Dwyane Wade, I’m not sure he will make his teammates better just by stepping on the court. Like Morrison, Durant is a shooter, but 70% of the players in the NBA know how to shoot. It’s creating opportunities for teammates and playing tenacious defense that make a player unique, and there’s no guarantee that Durant will ever be able to do that.

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Maxime Talbot wants to be like Lennox Lewis. No, the Penguins winger doesn’t want to take his fisticuff skills into the ring—he wants to win the World Series of Poker. Talbot has won a spot in next month’s main event, and if he wins (Vegas odds–12,000:1) he could walk away with nearly $10 million. Penguins fans need not worry, Talbot says that even if he wins he’ll keep playing the sport he loves. The real question for Talbot is if you’re a man who likes to party, what do you do when you win $10 million? (Answer: Whatever it is, don’t invite Pacman Jones)

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For your Tuesday afternoon viewing pleasure…

–David Beckham and Reggie Bush will soon be swapping sports.

–This baby girl will definitely hate boxing when she grows up.

–Willy Taveras is too fast for his own good.

–One of the worst draft picks of all time could soon help the Orlando Magic (and no, it’s not J.J. Redick).

–In news that have been earth shattering during the 2002 Big 12 football season, former Iowa quarterback Brad Banks was traded by his CFL team for former Texas Tech quarterback Kliff Kingsbury.

–Proving once again that anything is possible, last weekend there was a blind baseball tournament in Long Island. The question is how people heckled the umpires about their sub-par eyesight without being insensitive to the players.

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The NBA Draft is just around the corner, which means it’s time for the annual profile of Chrysa Chin, the Draft’s hat lady. Chin, who is the NBA’s Diretor of Player Programs, has the honor of being the first NBA employee to shake the hands of new draft picks. She then hands them their new hat, and they’re off to pose with David Stern.

Chin’s duties actually start long before the draft when she begins teaching prospective draft picks about things such as finances and the media. In order to prepare the players for their big moment Chin also holds a hat orientation.

”We ask them to keep the hat above their brow, show their faces and their pretty smiles,” Chin said. ”This is their day… And I make sure they’re walking in the right direction because this is an exciting moment.”

Throughout her years as “hat lady” Chin has had some memorable experiences, most notably in 2000 when Mateen Cleaves was so excited about being drafted by his hometown Pistons that he squeezed her in jubilation and forgot to let go. Chin doesn’t say what the worst part of the job is, but I assume it’s somberly handing a Hawks hat to whoever Atlanta just drafted.

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FC Barcelona’s $32 million treasure is safely across the Spanish border. Yesterday, in front of 30,000 screaming fans, the team introduced new acquisition Thierry Henry. The enormous crowd was larger than the one that greeted Ronaldinho when the team introduced him four years ago.

Henry comes to Barcelona with one goal stuck in his mind—win the Champions League Title that eluded him while he played for Arsenal. The talented cast he will get to play with (Ronaldinho, Messi, Eto’o, Deco etc.) should certainly make that possible, and the future could hold many more gentle Ronaldinho-Henry embraces like the one above.

By the way, the $32 million transfer price is a steal for Barcelona because this season the European leagues are seeing inflated transfer rates (sort of like when Denny Neagle was given $51 million). Right now Tottenham is closing in on acquiring a guy named Darren Bent for the same $32 million price that landed Barcelona its new star. I think I would rather have Henry.

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Things have gone from bad to worse for the Orioles, but at least the losses aren’t affecting the clubhouse camaraderie. Oh wait…scratch that. According to the San Diego Tribune Freddie Bynum and 1st base coach Juan Samuel had an altercation last week in San Diego.

“Before the Orioles faced the Padres on Wednesday, third-base coach Juan Samuel and outfielder Freddie Bynum bickered during batting practice, and when their dispute reached the clubhouse, Samuel slammed into Bynum, launching the player into his dressing stall. Orioles outfielder Jay Payton, a former Padre, restored order.”

It’s probably not a good sign when a 6″1 player lets his 46 year-old 5″11 bench coach slam him into a locker—that might possibly be indicative of a lack of fight in the team.

Meanwhile, those involved have been quick to downplay the fight. According to Samuel “it was nothing”, and Bynum says he’s “never had a problem with Juan.” That’s probably the best way to look at the incident—and the entire 2007 Orioles season in general. Just pretend it never happened.

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The Memphis Redbirds know how to travel. Thanks to a pair of souped-up buses the Cardinals Triple A affiliate is the most comfortable team in the the minor leagues. The two sleeper coaches, which the team uses for middle distance road trips, each have beds for 28 people and each bunk bed includes a TV and DVD player. On long trips players can play video games or watch movies, and coaches can analyze film of upcoming opponents.

Many of the Redbirds are now starting to prefer bus rides to flying because unlike flights, bus rides don’t require them to wake up before dawn. One of the bus enthusiasts is manager Rick Maloney.

“It’s so much preferable to getting up at 4 in the morning, it’s unbelievable,” he said. “You can relax, watch TV, read a book, sleep. It makes for a lot easier travel.”

Perhaps the travel is a little too easy. The Redbirds are currently 11 games out of first place.

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If Danny Almonte has taught us anything it’s that there’s a dark side to little league baseball. That dark side has once again reared it’s ugly head, this time in Anchorage, Alaska.

On four occasions over the last six weeks somebody has broken into the snack shack at the city’s little league baseball fields and stolen hundreds of dollars worth of food. Since then there have undoubtedly been some ugly scenes where a losing team had to return home without Fudgesicles or Mike and Ikes.

The police have no suspects and they are currently asking people for help in identifying the person responsible. I just hope Pacman Jones isn’t involved because he’s going to have a hard time explaining this one to Roger Goodell.

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Marty McSorley, the man who is most famous for treating Donald Brashear’s head like a whack-a-mole, has vanished. McSorley had been working as TV color analyst for the Sharks, but he suddenly disappeared from the broadcast team during the Sharks’ second round playoff series against the Red Wings. At the time the only explanation from the team was that McSorley left for personal business reasons.

This week the Sharks announced that McSorley will not be back next season. The team hasn’t given an explanation and McSorley has not returned any of the messages reporters have left on his cellphone.  It’s all seems a little bit bizarre, but there is one plausible explanation. McSorley is Keyser Soze.

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Of all the reasons to start a fight in a baseball clubhouse, the volume of the stereo is probably not one of the better ones. Still, that didn’t stop Tigers minor leaguer Roman Colon from instigating a five man clubhouse tussle after somebody turned down the volume of his music.

It started when Colon yelled at teammate Virgil Vazquez, the man who turned down the music. Infielder Kevin Hopper then stepped in and asked Colon to relax. In order to prevent a fight between Colon and Hopper, pitcher Jordan Tata got involved. Tata and Colon began shoving each other, at which point reliever Jason Karnuth stepped in to break it up. In the ensuing scuffle, Karnuth was punched in the face by Colon. The punch broke numerous bones and Karnuth needed to have plastic surgery.

So what did the Tigers do to prevent something like this from happening again? They decreed that all minor leaguers must wear headphones if they want to listen to music in the clubhouse. That should prevent future fights, but it will make it extremely difficult for the team to have pre-game clubhouse dance parties.

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