So according to you, he plays 11 amazing games, has a bad game, and that just wipes out the 11 amazing games he's had huh? I get it man, you're still upset about CP3 being traded, but it's done and over with and its done and over with because when it mattered the most CP3 came up short as he's had a history of doing. It's time to move on and not just come out of the cupboard every time Russ has a bad game. You don't do it for ANY other player on the team but Russ.
3 of his last 4 games he's back to doing his same stupid s**t. He was doing so well, but as usual he can't help but revert to his normal self. I don't mind a player slumping, it happens. It's not a slump for him, it's a choice. He chooses to be bad. Soooo many bad jump shots.
When you are paying 40 million dollars and 4 picks for a player that you can only HOPE has a solid game on any given night, you know you’re screwed. I will never get over the trade.
It's not even 20 bad games. I think a HOF career wipes out a start on a new team, a new role and injured fingers. But nah, I know everyone else is allowed excuses, with Westbrook if he has a bad game he has to go. We easily would have also blown the 6ers out if Gordon played better too, but no one is talking about that because "Oh, he has to adjust again...oh, he's coming off an injury..." Like Russ wasn't coming off an injury and playing on a new team either.
Gordon isn't making 40m a year. Being on a new team isn't an excuse for taking dumb shots. If he is confused on what to do, he can defer to Harden, its that simple. No reason for him to be taking any shots outside the paint.
Russ was 9 for 22 I think tonight... he would've been 12 for 22 if he made his dunks... 60 percent. I agree.. he should keep driving to the paint and make the layups and dunks.. high percentage shots and let Gordon take the majority of the 3's.. if Capela can keep playing like this and Russ sticks to the paint the Rox might actually might make some noise in the playoffs
Yeah, and there is a reason Russ makes more than Gordon, this board always overvalues role players while picking at the few faults a star player like Russ has. All players have faults, even Harden with his lazy stretches of ball that can sometimes kill us. You realize the Rockets and Harden did not get Westbrook for him to just defer to him like CP3 and stand behind the 3 point line, right? They got him to mix his own style to the team and also take over games when Harden isn't, which he's done the few times Harden has been off this year it's been Westbrook leading the team. That's his role, that's the role of every 2nd star on a team, a role that CP3 failed to do because he blended in with the rest of the team and became a more talented role playing guard. It is going to take time for them to gel and it has taken time and as the year rolls on Russ has been playing better with the team and the team has been playing better.
that's my biggest problem with russ. whatever you think of russ, we all know he would rather lose being himself than ever try to adjust to improve himself or his game. he's either too stupid or too proud (i say too proud) to figure out how to refine his game. he's never going to stop trying to throw down dunks as hard as possible when he's easily missed the most uncontested dunks i've ever seen from any player (much less stars), he's not going to stop taking the left block, spin right fadeaway that hits the side of the backboard twice as often as it goes in, he's not going to stop driving insanely out of control on nearly every fastbreak, some of which lead to layups and a lot of which lead to bricked layups and turnovers. he's not going to stop taking 18 foot jumpers right in ben simmons's face. he's not going to get back on defense even if a playoff series is on the line. he's not going to stop taking revenge shots in mano-a-mano competitions he gets in. he's not going to stop getting techs. yes, on a perfect day, russ raises our ceiling from last year. and on days where he literally only shoots layups while driving right and otherwise passes to open teammates (which he is good at getting open with his drives), he is good. but he goes games, not quarters, playing against all of those things. and his last 2 playoffs leave very little hope that we won't get bad westbrook in the playoffs. but since james harden didn't want paul around any more and paul's contract was too horrible to trade for anybody else, this is what we've got so lets hope we get recent 10 games stretch russ and not "everything but these 10 games in the last 2+ seasons" russ.
I don’t give a **** about CP3. He is gone,I care about the Rockets and Westbrook is a detriment to the team I love. NO! It took 11 “great” games(for him) to “even” out(bring him to replacement level) the first 20 or so games where he was really bad. His season long numbers are still bad. There is absolutely zero way to spin this. (It is possible to have great games and yet your overall production be very poor) Huge volume, horribly low efficiency. High turnovers even with lowered usage and possession time. Bottom 5% b-ball IQ. Heres a list of players making the max on the Rockets. Harden and Westbrook. Why would I bemoan the inadequacies of Rivers or McLemore who are rightfully on minimum deals? They aren’t below average shooters shooting it more than they have any business shooting. They aren’t trying to do more than they are rightfully capable of while taking up half our cap space. No one is trying to sell me that they are the reason Harden has continued to ascend to greatness, Big money comes with big expectations. He is failing so far. The denial of this is LOF level.
Yeah, because the Rockets were so hot last year. Couldn't even get past a hurt Warriors team when it mattered the most.
His season long numbers are likely going to put him in the all-star game and not by fan voting. How is he a detriment to the team you love when the Rockets are one game out of 2nd place? A few games out of first? Beating the clippers twice, beating the nuggets, wiping the floor with the 6ers, a few possessions away from beating the Bucks? How is he a detriment to teams when he's had more playoff success than CP3 without Harden? You put too much stock on efficiency, Russ is not a stupid player, he's a player filled with confidence that goes mach 10 at all times. I think JVG said it best tonight about raw numbers vs what you can actually see on the court. Russ been playing well for the past few weeks now, months now really, and now you come out when he's had a bad game and saying he's failing. No he isn't. His role isn't to be better than Harden, his role is to complement Harden and take off the load from Harden so Harden isn't the only guy carrying the team. Russ can do that, has done it, and that's really all the team needs. Someone that not only CAN carry the team for stretches or games but isn't afraid to do so.
Highest scoring duos (single month) in the last 50 years: Kobe/ shaq: Feb 2003: 65.1 Beard/Westbrook: Dec 2019: 64.4 Gervin/Silas: Jan 1980: 62.0 Maravich/Hudson: Feb 1973: 62.0 Beard/Westbrook: Nov 2019: 61.4
This is insanity. His numbers are bad, He won’t sniff the all star game without the genius fans who have Curry and TaKo on the leaderboards. “Complimentary” players don’t make 40 million and take 20+ shots per game. Go here https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-nba-player-ratings/ and look at The Rockets team. Westbrook is last on the team. With the highest contract. Don’t trust that site? How about NBA.com? Check out the net rating leaders on the Rockets. He is a detriment because the results have said exactly that. Him being on the floor has resulted in teams doing better against us, more often than not, than when he is off the floor. Ever consider we could easily be the 1st seed with even half decent CONSISTENT play from Westbrook, our highest paid player?
I mean...we were in prime position then and couldn't take advantage of it. It is what it is, it didn't work out. Not only did we brag to the Warriors all year long "Oooh, if we had CP3 you guys would be toast!" Not only did WE have CP3 (which ended up not mattering) they didn't have Durant and knowing this still beat us on our home floor! So yeah, we were in a great position to make the finals and it still didn't work out. People call me delusional, what makes anyone think it would work out against any of these other teams? CP3 also has a long history of getting hurt in the playoffs, I'm not sure why we should continue to waste full seasons on a guy that simply can't finish off years, that's just the truth. In the end I don't think it was mentally the greatest of fits. Harden has a lot of gravity about him and I think a guy like Westbrook who might seem him struggling and go into his "F this, I'm attacking" mode will be better for the team MENTALLY. We'll see how it works out but what we do know is that CP3 had a tendency to get hurt in the post season. That's always been the thing with him. Thing is, people call Harden a choker but he's not. He always has 3-4 amazing playoff games...he's always needed another star player to show up and just have one or two great games...Russ has proven he's capable of that in the playoffs, I guess we'll see how it works out.
I don’t even have to check the numbers to feel confident that the biggest disparity in scoring volume and scoring efficiency between the duos on the list is Harden and Westbrook. There are two reasons and two reasons only Harden and Westbrook have cracked this list. 1. Harden is quite possibly the greatest scorer ever. 2. Westbrook shoots the ball A LOT.
