not really much of an issue to me especially when that's the first time running that out there. And despite the to's, the team looked solid with him running pg position.for someone that's supposedly taking the ball handling duties away, wb isn't doing any better with his to's. and they may both lead the league again in it. As opposed to someone who can run fast and then turn it over, put up a horrible shot, or make a bad decision. I mean for everything you can knock cp3 for there's a number of things we can say about wb.
We are talking 11 games though, so perhaps that isn't a big enough sample size to really get a fair judgement. If you read the OKC forums they were basically adamant that the Thunder refused to put shooters around Russ. They largely blamed the Coach and the GM for some terrible Thunder playoff basketball the last couple years. (Hell man, they had to incorporate CARMELO for one of those years) Sure, Westbrook is going to go down guns blazing and his efficiency is going to be dreadful when the chips are down, but I'd rather have that then what CP3 did last year. And this year for Westbrook, the chips WILL NOT be down, imo. The GM, the Coach and the Star will align...
11 games is actually a pretty solid sample size though for someone in the league for what 11 years and going to be 31. you already have an idea of what you're getting here from him as a player. the real hope here is at particular times, he can make opposing teams pay for certain coverage's and decisions that favor towards harden.
And as dreadful as Westbrook was in last year's playoffs, when he was on the floor OKC outscored POR by 1.9 ppg (Which was the best on the team)
Regardless, he led the Thunder in playoff boxscore+- each of the last 5 seasons. When he was on the floor, even last year, they were beating the other team.
you can disagree. well just have to agree on that. The standard at this point is what this team can do in the playoffs. harden alone gets the rockets in playoffs with a few decent players. the wb of the last couple of years in the playoffs when defenses key on glaring weakness isn't helping this team reach its goal. again im just hoping he can do things at opportune times bc other than that I'm not expecting a significantly different wb just bc he put on a houston jersey. nobody should really, not at 31 and being in the league for over 10 years
The real hope for me is that he can continue to be a winning player. His entire playoff career shows a player that (when on the floor) his team is winning. (Even last year)
I'm certainly not expecting a different Westbrook, but I'd like to see some Morey/D'Antoni effect here where he eliminates some inefficient mid-range, and just shoots threes instead. It's the TS% that I really would like to see rise.
that's the thing. the morey/mda effect can have more impact on the role player types. certain guys like wb being told to do this and that may not be received well. not the same player obviously but, the rockets obviously haven't told gerald green he takes horrible shots lol bc putting a lid on him likely messes up his mentality and the way he plays the game.
He shot better than James from behind the arc last night. I say quit ragging on him people. He's on our team now. Support our team and quit hoping for the worst.
MDA turned Harden, a pure scoring shooting guard into one of the best PGs in the league and definitely changed his game. Strong evidence that the “MDA effect” isn’t just for role players. He has the ability to put people in positions to win regardless of if they are superstars or role players. I’m most excited about the fact that we now have two guys who are offenses unto themselves. Westbrook may not run a unit better than Paul (I.e. make others better), but he will be able to carry a team way better than old CP. Between the Durant and PG era we saw time and again OKC would be a plus team with just WB on the floor running things and they’d fall apart when he hit the bench. Some argued that it’s because OKC designed the whole offense around him and the team didn’t know what to do without him dominating the ball. But now here in Houston we have two one man offenses. When Harden sits, Russ can push the pace and punish second units. When Russ sits, instead of the team collapsing without him, they will only get better as James Harden checks back in. I’m much less excited about them playing together as I am having a guy who can help us keep big leads (even if we just stay neutral) while James rests. To me, THAT is the point of Russell Westbrook.
actually mchale started it when he put the ball in his hands and let him be a "pg". MDA obviously enhanced it to mvp level, along with morey's philosophies of efficiency. harden has always been an efficient player. wb has not. I didn't say the mda/morey effect was just pure for role players but its mostly geared towards them bc it aims to eliminate what they don't do well. that's why its there in the first place. When you get an actual star, the boundaries and limitations don't really apply to them
Cool but that still doesn't explain how Westbrook is a good fit on this team. Trading Paul for Russ is more like cutting your losses than turning a profit.
He gets it from the defensive end. All he needs is his teammates to box out for him. This is why Morey should have got DMo back from China. This is actually a very cleverly disguised China thread.
Usually superstars figure it out. He has a multitude of talents and we have a multitude of needs. Don't worry about fit. Go get the most talent you can.
I saw an explosive element to our offense that didn’t exist before . Westbrook can get to the bucket anytime he wants to .
We actually run fast breaks now. When we can’t shoot a jump shot, he is unguardable going to the rim. He averaged 28+ a game. He averaged a triple double. Former mvp. Friends and former teammates with Harden. Who else would you like?