Presti goes his own way / against league trends

[jambalaya]

The biggest trends in league on offense:

More 3ptas
Better 3pt fg%
Fewer ftas
Fewer offensive rebounds
More passes
More assists
Fewer turnovers


Presti's team bucked these trends outright or didn't follow them as much as successful others. Presti is not modern. The contrast is everywhere. The best teams go 3-4 stars to share the load. Thunder did too but not now. Presti ends up with the highest usage by far solo star. And is desperately hoping to keep him for 5 more years. How many of these 7 contrasts continue? All of them or just most?

[Dn4sty]

I don't think you can take this year as a setting a trend in any real direction. It was a scramble and attempt to make pieces fit season.

[ThunderBolt]

Erik Horn answered this question today:

11:31 AM - 5/3/17
"Jay said:
The thunder had an exciting fun season with Westbrook at the helm. But it's clear that the team is so dependent on Westbrook that it hurt their chances in the playoffs. Is Westbrook capable of taking a step back to allow his teammates to develop further? If he's the only one ever bringing the ball up the floor, driving the basketball, and assisting teammates, that's not a recipe for success. He or Sam Presti or Billy Donovan has to understand his high usage rate hurts the team development. Do you agree?
11:37 AM - 5/3/17

Erik Horne
I agree to an extent. It's all about balance. I wrote earlier in the season about the Thunder's record being incredible when Westbrook takes 17-22 shots a game. At the same time, the reason the Thunder got to where it was this season was because Westbrook bailed them out of some bad games.I think there are some pieces in house to alleviate some of that pressure. Abrines. Oladipo. Maybe McDermott. And if you want that democratic basketball as a fan, you have to be willing to deal with the ugliness and developmental growing pains that come along with it. Just because RW takes five fewer shots a game doesn't mean it will automatically equate to Golden State Warriors-esque basketball."

That makes a lot of sense. If Presti was really sold on the youth of this roster, this year should have been more about letting our guys go through more growing pains. There were times that I think Russ tried to step back but his desire to win probably hindered growth but helped us in the short term.

It's hard to say how things will progress. I think the likelihood for change of these tendancies depends on the extent the current roster stays in tact.

[jambalaya]

These trends are pretty continuous in the current direction for 5-10 years in all cases, not just this year. I probably should have made that clearer. In some cases the trend is to all-time extreme or at least most extreme in modern times.

[hardenASG13]

He has dismantled probably the best organic core ever assembled in the NBA with his thinking (bigs who don't stretch the floor, insisting on having individual defenders who can't shoot). How more OKC fans are not furious with this is mind boggling.

[slick_watts]

These trends are pretty continuous in the current direction for 5-10 years in all cases, not just this year. I probably should have made that clearer. In some cases the trend is to all-time extreme or at least most extreme in modern times.

the focus on offensive rebounding has been weird. that's been a trend (ignoring orb, getting back on defense) for awhile.

[Andre Roberstan]

These trends are pretty continuous in the current direction for 5-10 years in all cases, not just this year. I probably should have made that clearer. In some cases the trend is to all-time extreme or at least most extreme in modern times.

the focus on offensive rebounding has been weird. that's been a trend (ignoring orb, getting back on defense) for awhile.

Hinkie talked a little bit about something that might have some bearing on this in a class that someone I know took. Basically said that in their case they stocked up on bigs because they felt that the pendulum was going to swing back--thought that buying low and stocking up on good big men was a good idea. Think Presti might have thought the same way.

So far we haven't seen it. But if I want to know what the league will look like in 2 or 3 years, I usually look at what Pop and Buford are doing. And they're getting skilled post players (Pau, Lee, Aldridge). I'm not sure why. I don't personally agree with it, though I'd much rather watch a good post player operating with spacing around him than 3s raining from everywhere and a dunker in the center spot. But they've usually stayed slightly ahead of league trends.

[slick_watts]

Hinkie talked a little bit about something that might have some bearing on this in a class that someone I know took. Basically said that in their case they stocked up on bigs because they felt that the pendulum was going to swing back--thought that buying low and stocking up on good big men was a good idea. Think Presti might have thought the same way.

So far we haven't seen it. But if I want to know what the league will look like in 2 or 3 years, I usually look at what Pop and Buford are doing. And they're getting skilled post players (Pau, Lee, Aldridge). I'm not sure why. I don't personally agree with it, though I'd much rather watch a good post player operating with spacing around him than 3s raining from everywhere and a dunker in the center spot. But they've usually stayed slightly ahead of league trends.

i enjoy the aesthetics of the current nba more. it's more cold. more precision. dumping the ball into a post player and letting them clumsily 'operate' was never that appealing to me and i always felt that teams were eschewing better options at times just to fulfill that dogma. mark jackson posting up jermaine o'neal in the playoffs repeatedly his last year as warriors coach is what comes to mind.

i don't see the pendulum swinging back unless there are rule changes.

[Andre Roberstan]

Hinkie talked a little bit about something that might have some bearing on this in a class that someone I know took. Basically said that in their case they stocked up on bigs because they felt that the pendulum was going to swing back--thought that buying low and stocking up on good big men was a good idea. Think Presti might have thought the same way.

So far we haven't seen it. But if I want to know what the league will look like in 2 or 3 years, I usually look at what Pop and Buford are doing. And they're getting skilled post players (Pau, Lee, Aldridge). I'm not sure why. I don't personally agree with it, though I'd much rather watch a good post player operating with spacing around him than 3s raining from everywhere and a dunker in the center spot. But they've usually stayed slightly ahead of league trends.

i enjoy the aesthetics of the current nba more. it's more cold. more precision. dumping the ball into a post player and letting them clumsily 'operate' was never that appealing to me and i always felt that teams were eschewing better options at times just to fulfill that dogma. mark jackson posting up jermaine o'neal in the playoffs repeatedly his last year as warriors coach is what comes to mind.

i don't see the pendulum swinging back unless there are rule changes.

Oh, I agree. I'm not a fan of the "pound the air out of the ball for two dribbles, poke at a guy with your butt for 6 seconds and shoot a hook" school of thought either. But I think there's definitely still a place for guys who are adept in the post and can pass out of it. We're seeing the smarter teams move to post possessions that start either in transition or with a pick and roll, which generally gets a guy deep position where he can take a higher-percentage looks. And passing out of it is still really useful.

One trend I'm keeping an eye on is as bigs start becoming shooters, some wings and guards are starting to use the post. Most guards and wings aren't used to guarding there.

It would be nice if some of the illegal defense rules that changed because of Shaq took a step back towards previous years. I think we're getting really close to a tipping point where offense just beats defense by virtue of it being impossible to guard a floor that's been stretched as far as it is.

[bbms]

He has dismantled probably the best organic core ever assembled in the NBA with his thinking (bigs who don't stretch the floor, insisting on having individual defenders who can't shoot). How more OKC fans are not furious with this is mind boggling.

This is hindsight.

Presti set a core the moment he chose to tie money on Perkins/Ibaka (who was given an extension before Harden), and, while I remember there was quite a debate wheter Presti should prioritize Harden or Ibaka (I casted my vote on Harden here, for the record), there was still a lot of merit for going Ibaka and Perkins rather than Harden, because: a) Harden's trade value was so much higher (fact was: Kevin Martin's rental plus three first round picks and pick #32 in 2013, that's great value for a sixth man); (b) he was commanding more money than Ibaka (than Curry demanded from GSw, and that matters); (c) Harden's ball dominant nature and poor defense was not that easy to stack Westbrook and Durant on starting lineups, specially with a iso heavy, uncreative coach in Brooks; d) specially given in that time (2010 through 2013) the West still had behemoths frontcourts like the Spurs (Duncan, Splitter, Diaw), Grizzlies (Gasol, Randolph), Clippers (Jordan, Griffin), Lakers (Gasol, Bynum, Howard), Mavs (Dirk, Chandler), Denver (Nene, Martin), and back them it was tough to imagine to beat the West without a competitive, defensive PF/C rotation.

Then 2012 came, Thunder got beaten badly by a team without a traditional PF/C rotation,Presti's coach (who unbelieveably is still a fan favorite) had weapons to counter that but wouldn't use b/c "they got WINZ" with Perkins and Ibaka together, the league started to see the merits on small ball and sub packages being played more often against big formations and as consequence, started to play on the strenght of the NBA's talent pool, and THAT was the moment that Presti started to get behind the curve, when we were ready to move on from Perkins and he kept stacking bigs/combo guards, added so little on the wings (Lamb, Roberson, Abrines and Huestis were the only wings acquired: one flop, one good player, two draft 'n stash types, 3 out of the 4 true additions the Thunder made to the Wings in the 2012-2014 span didn't have any impact on the team). Then he started to trade away draft picks on busts out of desperation (to keep stacking combo guards/bigs, Waiters, Kanter), and came back to tie big money on the C position, on a horrible move of matching Portland's offer sheet on Kanter, another mistake out of desperation.

It was the decisions the Thunder made after the Harden trade that put this team to irrelevance, not the Harden trade itself. Actually While I was against prioritizing bigs over Harden, the Thunder actually improved from 2012 to 2013, but the injury bug started to bite...

Anyway, I doubt this would be even a topic of discussion if Jeremy Lamb panned out as the third scorer/off the ball scorer he was projected to be the moment he was drafted, or Westbrook and Durant didn't have serious injuries. Or if Presti drafted Curry in 2009, and resigned him to the price GSW did, instead of drafting Harden, who demanded big money playing a lesser role.

[jambalaya]

Most post players including the Spurs mentioned end up with a contested 5-15 footer. Post shots only worthwhile if you end with layup, dunk or foul.

[bbms]

Fun thing is to track Presti's draft record from 2010 to now, to see where he tied most of his draft capital:

2010 - C Cole Aldrich
2010 - G Eric Bledsoe (traded for a future pick never conveyed, essentially wasted draft capital)
2011 - G Reggie Jackson
2012 - G/F Jeremy Lamb
2012 - F Perry Jones
2013 - C Steven Adams
2013 - G/F Andre Roberson
2013 - G/F Álex Abrines (I want to consider him a first round pick)
2014 - PF/C Mitch McGary
2014 - G/F Josh Huestis
2015 - G Cameron Payne
2016 - PF/C Domantas Sabonis
2016 - G Dion Waiters (my personal favorite)

13 first round picks since 2010:
4 spent on ball dominant combo guards (Eric Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Cameron Payne, Dion Waiters)*
4 spent on wings (jeremy lamb, Andre Roberson, Alex Abrines and Josh Huestis)
5 spent on bigs (Cole Aldrich, Perry Jones, Steven Adams, Mitch McGary, Domantas Sabonis).

Only two of them were able to contribute as of now (Roberson, Adams).

Still has a chance: Abrines, Huestis, Sabonis.

I think, like OP says, this team overspent on ball dominant combo guards (in detriment to the more passing/ball movement style of offense that is dominating NBA) and overspent on bigs. Underspent on wings, half his draft capital invested on wings were draft 'n stash. The analysis of Presti's draft history provides insight to his ideal roster/draft strategy (Ideally he probably wants to play mostly big and off the pick and roll with two wings wide off catch and shoot). This also match his spending model: he almost always had a PF and a C locked up in big contracts and one wing and one combo guard locked into max.

Yes, the league went zig, Presti went zag.

[Pillendreher]

Fun thing is to track Presti's draft record from 2010 to now, to see where he tied most of his draft capital:

2010 - C Cole Aldrich
2010 - G Eric Bledsoe (traded for a future pick never conveyed, essentially wasted draft capital)
2011 - G Reggie Jackson
2012 - G/F Jeremy Lamb
2012 - F Perry Jones
2013 - C Steven Adams
2013 - G/F Andre Roberson
2013 - G/F Álex Abrines (I want to consider him a first round pick)
2014 - PF/C Mitch McGary
2014 - G/F Josh Huestis
2015 - G Cameron Payne
2016 - PF/C Domantas Sabonis
2016 - G Dion Waiters (my personal favorite)

13 first round picks since 2010:
4 spent on ball dominant combo guards (Eric Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Cameron Payne, Dion Waiters)*
4 spent on wings (jeremy lamb, Andre Roberson, Alex Abrines and Josh Huestis)
5 spent on bigs (Cole Aldrich, Perry Jones, Steven Adams, Mitch McGary, Domantas Sabonis).

Only two of them were able to contribute as of now (Roberson, Adams).

Still has a chance: Abrines, Huestis, Sabonis.

I think, like OP says, this team overspent on ball dominant combo guards (in detriment to the more passing/ball movement style of offense that is dominating NBA) and overspent on bigs. Underspent on wings, half his draft capital invested on wings were draft 'n stash. The analysis of Presti's draft history provides insight to his ideal roster/draft strategy (Ideally he probably wants to play mostly big and off the pick and roll with two wings wide off catch and shoot). This also match his spending model: he almost always had a PF and a C locked up in big contracts and one wing and one combo guard locked into max.

Yes, the league went zig, Presti went zag.

If Sabonis flops, Presti hasn't hit on a single draft pick snice 2013 while picking in the lottery twice.

[getrichordie]

Erik Horn answered this question today:

11:31 AM - 5/3/17
"Jay said:
The thunder had an exciting fun season with Westbrook at the helm. But it's clear that the team is so dependent on Westbrook that it hurt their chances in the playoffs. Is Westbrook capable of taking a step back to allow his teammates to develop further? If he's the only one ever bringing the ball up the floor, driving the basketball, and assisting teammates, that's not a recipe for success. He or Sam Presti or Billy Donovan has to understand his high usage rate hurts the team development. Do you agree?
11:37 AM - 5/3/17

Erik Horne
I agree to an extent. It's all about balance. I wrote earlier in the season about the Thunder's record being incredible when Westbrook takes 17-22 shots a game. At the same time, the reason the Thunder got to where it was this season was because Westbrook bailed them out of some bad games.I think there are some pieces in house to alleviate some of that pressure. Abrines. Oladipo. Maybe McDermott. And if you want that democratic basketball as a fan, you have to be willing to deal with the ugliness and developmental growing pains that come along with it. Just because RW takes five fewer shots a game doesn't mean it will automatically equate to Golden State Warriors-esque basketball."

That makes a lot of sense. If Presti was really sold on the youth of this roster, this year should have been more about letting our guys go through more growing pains. There were times that I think Russ tried to step back but his desire to win probably hindered growth but helped us in the short term.

It's hard to say how things will progress. I think the likelihood for change of these tendancies depends on the extent the current roster stays in tact.

Here's the thing. You have to understand that Oklahoma City is a small market basketball team. This is our first year without Durant. Let's keep that in mind when discussing how OKC plays basketball.

This team was constructed with the mindset that Durant was coming back. But he didn't.

I think we have to understand that given our strengths and weaknesses on the roster, that the playing style is what suits this group best. With that being said, it is tough to build around just Westbrook and his uber-ball-dominant nature.

Is it possible that Westbrook may be like Kobe in the sense that he has a hard time trusting his teammates. Is it possible that Brooks and Donovan have had a difficult time getting Westbrook to rely on his teammates more so they can grow and develop? Just imagine how a conversation with Westbrook concerning his playing style would go over. Not well and you don't risk upsetting your star player.

Now I'm not saying that is what happened, but I can see head coaches walking on eggshells around Westbrook. As good as Westbrook is, anyone who has been following his career will tell you that he is boneheaded and he loves to shoot the basketball and have it in his hands. More so than almost any other player in the league.

So as a coaching staff, you have to either adjust to your star player's nature or ask him to step aside a bit so we can develop our younger guys.

So given that we are sort of stuck with a lot of the players that were meant to be complimentary to Durant and Westbrook's respective styles, it's not like you can just flip a switch and make Roberson shoot better from the 3 or make Oladipo shoot better from the 3, etc., etc.

But let's say you asked them to shoot more 3s and they are missing and missing and missing again. What does that look like to your star player who is as unpredictable as he is emotional.

Like someone said on The Lowe Post podcast, a lot of players around the league thing Westbrook should be MVP, but they would not want to play with them.

Just my two cents.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[ThunderBolt]

Erik Horn answered this question today:

11:31 AM - 5/3/17
"Jay said:
The thunder had an exciting fun season with Westbrook at the helm. But it's clear that the team is so dependent on Westbrook that it hurt their chances in the playoffs. Is Westbrook capable of taking a step back to allow his teammates to develop further? If he's the only one ever bringing the ball up the floor, driving the basketball, and assisting teammates, that's not a recipe for success. He or Sam Presti or Billy Donovan has to understand his high usage rate hurts the team development. Do you agree?
11:37 AM - 5/3/17

Erik Horne
I agree to an extent. It's all about balance. I wrote earlier in the season about the Thunder's record being incredible when Westbrook takes 17-22 shots a game. At the same time, the reason the Thunder got to where it was this season was because Westbrook bailed them out of some bad games.I think there are some pieces in house to alleviate some of that pressure. Abrines. Oladipo. Maybe McDermott. And if you want that democratic basketball as a fan, you have to be willing to deal with the ugliness and developmental growing pains that come along with it. Just because RW takes five fewer shots a game doesn't mean it will automatically equate to Golden State Warriors-esque basketball."

That makes a lot of sense. If Presti was really sold on the youth of this roster, this year should have been more about letting our guys go through more growing pains. There were times that I think Russ tried to step back but his desire to win probably hindered growth but helped us in the short term.

It's hard to say how things will progress. I think the likelihood for change of these tendancies depends on the extent the current roster stays in tact.

Here's the thing. You have to understand that Oklahoma City is a small market basketball team. This is our first year without Durant. Let's keep that in mind when discussing how OKC plays basketball.

This team was constructed with the mindset that Durant was coming back. But he didn't.

I think we have to understand that given our strengths and weaknesses on the roster, that the playing style is what suits this group best. With that being said, it is tough to build around just Westbrook and his uber-ball-dominant nature.

Is it possible that Westbrook may be like Kobe in the sense that he has a hard time trusting his teammates. Is it possible that Brooks and Donovan have had a difficult time getting Westbrook to rely on his teammates more so they can grow and develop? Just imagine how a conversation with Westbrook concerning his playing style would go over. Not well and you don't risk upsetting your star player.

Now I'm not saying that is what happened, but I can see head coaches walking on eggshells around Westbrook. As good as Westbrook is, anyone who has been following his career will tell you that he is boneheaded and he loves to shoot the basketball and have it in his hands. More so than almost any other player in the league.

So as a coaching staff, you have to either adjust to your star player's nature or ask him to step aside a bit so we can develop our younger guys.

So given that we are sort of stuck with a lot of the players that were meant to be complimentary to Durant and Westbrook's respective styles, it's not like you can just flip a switch and make Roberson shoot better from the 3 or make Oladipo shoot better from the 3, etc., etc.

But let's say you asked them to shoot more 3s and they are missing and missing and missing again. What does that look like to your star player who is as unpredictable as he is emotional.

Like someone said on The Lowe Post podcast, a lot of players around the league thing Westbrook should be MVP, but they would not want to play with them.

Just my two cents.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

If your head coach can't control his superstars, you fire him and keep searching for one who can. That's why Phil Jackson and Pops are so great. Westbrook can't be an easy player for a coach to deal with. In all honesty, what would Westbrook be like if he had been under Pops since he came in the league?

[spearsy23]

Erik Horn answered this question today:

11:31 AM - 5/3/17
"Jay said:
The thunder had an exciting fun season with Westbrook at the helm. But it's clear that the team is so dependent on Westbrook that it hurt their chances in the playoffs. Is Westbrook capable of taking a step back to allow his teammates to develop further? If he's the only one ever bringing the ball up the floor, driving the basketball, and assisting teammates, that's not a recipe for success. He or Sam Presti or Billy Donovan has to understand his high usage rate hurts the team development. Do you agree?
11:37 AM - 5/3/17

Erik Horne
I agree to an extent. It's all about balance. I wrote earlier in the season about the Thunder's record being incredible when Westbrook takes 17-22 shots a game. At the same time, the reason the Thunder got to where it was this season was because Westbrook bailed them out of some bad games.I think there are some pieces in house to alleviate some of that pressure. Abrines. Oladipo. Maybe McDermott. And if you want that democratic basketball as a fan, you have to be willing to deal with the ugliness and developmental growing pains that come along with it. Just because RW takes five fewer shots a game doesn't mean it will automatically equate to Golden State Warriors-esque basketball."

That makes a lot of sense. If Presti was really sold on the youth of this roster, this year should have been more about letting our guys go through more growing pains. There were times that I think Russ tried to step back but his desire to win probably hindered growth but helped us in the short term.

It's hard to say how things will progress. I think the likelihood for change of these tendancies depends on the extent the current roster stays in tact.

Here's the thing. You have to understand that Oklahoma City is a small market basketball team. This is our first year without Durant. Let's keep that in mind when discussing how OKC plays basketball.

This team was constructed with the mindset that Durant was coming back. But he didn't.

I think we have to understand that given our strengths and weaknesses on the roster, that the playing style is what suits this group best. With that being said, it is tough to build around just Westbrook and his uber-ball-dominant nature.

Is it possible that Westbrook may be like Kobe in the sense that he has a hard time trusting his teammates. Is it possible that Brooks and Donovan have had a difficult time getting Westbrook to rely on his teammates more so they can grow and develop? Just imagine how a conversation with Westbrook concerning his playing style would go over. Not well and you don't risk upsetting your star player.

Now I'm not saying that is what happened, but I can see head coaches walking on eggshells around Westbrook. As good as Westbrook is, anyone who has been following his career will tell you that he is boneheaded and he loves to shoot the basketball and have it in his hands. More so than almost any other player in the league.

So as a coaching staff, you have to either adjust to your star player's nature or ask him to step aside a bit so we can develop our younger guys.

So given that we are sort of stuck with a lot of the players that were meant to be complimentary to Durant and Westbrook's respective styles, it's not like you can just flip a switch and make Roberson shoot better from the 3 or make Oladipo shoot better from the 3, etc., etc.

But let's say you asked them to shoot more 3s and they are missing and missing and missing again. What does that look like to your star player who is as unpredictable as he is emotional.

Like someone said on The Lowe Post podcast, a lot of players around the league thing Westbrook should be MVP, but they would not want to play with them.

Just my two cents.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Every account that we have says Russ is extremely coachable. And don't forget that he wasnt this superstar when he came into the league.

[spearsy23]

Also fwiw we had the perfect smallball team well before it was cool. We could send out a Russ/harden/thabo/cupcake/ibaka lineup. The problem is that he spent two years believing in Lamb but was wrong, then spent two years believing in dion but was wrong. Now we finally got the guy to fill that spot but lost everyone who made that spot a necessity. If he had just waited a ****ing year on harden instead of making the panic move then things turn out differently.

[getrichordie]

Erik Horn answered this question today:

11:31 AM - 5/3/17
"Jay said:
The thunder had an exciting fun season with Westbrook at the helm. But it's clear that the team is so dependent on Westbrook that it hurt their chances in the playoffs. Is Westbrook capable of taking a step back to allow his teammates to develop further? If he's the only one ever bringing the ball up the floor, driving the basketball, and assisting teammates, that's not a recipe for success. He or Sam Presti or Billy Donovan has to understand his high usage rate hurts the team development. Do you agree?
11:37 AM - 5/3/17

Erik Horne
I agree to an extent. It's all about balance. I wrote earlier in the season about the Thunder's record being incredible when Westbrook takes 17-22 shots a game. At the same time, the reason the Thunder got to where it was this season was because Westbrook bailed them out of some bad games.I think there are some pieces in house to alleviate some of that pressure. Abrines. Oladipo. Maybe McDermott. And if you want that democratic basketball as a fan, you have to be willing to deal with the ugliness and developmental growing pains that come along with it. Just because RW takes five fewer shots a game doesn't mean it will automatically equate to Golden State Warriors-esque basketball."

That makes a lot of sense. If Presti was really sold on the youth of this roster, this year should have been more about letting our guys go through more growing pains. There were times that I think Russ tried to step back but his desire to win probably hindered growth but helped us in the short term.

It's hard to say how things will progress. I think the likelihood for change of these tendancies depends on the extent the current roster stays in tact.

Here's the thing. You have to understand that Oklahoma City is a small market basketball team. This is our first year without Durant. Let's keep that in mind when discussing how OKC plays basketball.

This team was constructed with the mindset that Durant was coming back. But he didn't.

I think we have to understand that given our strengths and weaknesses on the roster, that the playing style is what suits this group best. With that being said, it is tough to build around just Westbrook and his uber-ball-dominant nature.

Is it possible that Westbrook may be like Kobe in the sense that he has a hard time trusting his teammates. Is it possible that Brooks and Donovan have had a difficult time getting Westbrook to rely on his teammates more so they can grow and develop? Just imagine how a conversation with Westbrook concerning his playing style would go over. Not well and you don't risk upsetting your star player.

Now I'm not saying that is what happened, but I can see head coaches walking on eggshells around Westbrook. As good as Westbrook is, anyone who has been following his career will tell you that he is boneheaded and he loves to shoot the basketball and have it in his hands. More so than almost any other player in the league.

So as a coaching staff, you have to either adjust to your star player's nature or ask him to step aside a bit so we can develop our younger guys.

So given that we are sort of stuck with a lot of the players that were meant to be complimentary to Durant and Westbrook's respective styles, it's not like you can just flip a switch and make Roberson shoot better from the 3 or make Oladipo shoot better from the 3, etc., etc.

But let's say you asked them to shoot more 3s and they are missing and missing and missing again. What does that look like to your star player who is as unpredictable as he is emotional.

Like someone said on The Lowe Post podcast, a lot of players around the league thing Westbrook should be MVP, but they would not want to play with them.

Just my two cents.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Every account that we have says Russ is extremely coachable. And don't forget that he wasnt this superstar when he came into the league.

Every account I'm sure is a public account. Russell is a naturally gifted athlete and relies on much of that athleticism in his game, but no one is going to come out and publicly blast Westbrook for his inability to be coached. It's just not going to happen because it's not good for the organization from a PR standpoint.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

[spearsy23]

Here's the thing. You have to understand that Oklahoma City is a small market basketball team. This is our first year without Durant. Let's keep that in mind when discussing how OKC plays basketball.

This team was constructed with the mindset that Durant was coming back. But he didn't.

I think we have to understand that given our strengths and weaknesses on the roster, that the playing style is what suits this group best. With that being said, it is tough to build around just Westbrook and his uber-ball-dominant nature.

Is it possible that Westbrook may be like Kobe in the sense that he has a hard time trusting his teammates. Is it possible that Brooks and Donovan have had a difficult time getting Westbrook to rely on his teammates more so they can grow and develop? Just imagine how a conversation with Westbrook concerning his playing style would go over. Not well and you don't risk upsetting your star player.

Now I'm not saying that is what happened, but I can see head coaches walking on eggshells around Westbrook. As good as Westbrook is, anyone who has been following his career will tell you that he is boneheaded and he loves to shoot the basketball and have it in his hands. More so than almost any other player in the league.

So as a coaching staff, you have to either adjust to your star player's nature or ask him to step aside a bit so we can develop our younger guys.

So given that we are sort of stuck with a lot of the players that were meant to be complimentary to Durant and Westbrook's respective styles, it's not like you can just flip a switch and make Roberson shoot better from the 3 or make Oladipo shoot better from the 3, etc., etc.

But let's say you asked them to shoot more 3s and they are missing and missing and missing again. What does that look like to your star player who is as unpredictable as he is emotional.

Like someone said on The Lowe Post podcast, a lot of players around the league thing Westbrook should be MVP, but they would not want to play with them.

Just my two cents.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM mobile app

Every account that we have says Russ is extremely coachable. And don't forget that he wasnt this superstar when he came into the league.

Every account I'm sure is a public account. Russell is a naturally gifted athlete and relies on much of that athleticism in his game, but no one is going to come out and publicly blast Westbrook for his inability to be coached. It's just not going to happen because it's not good for the organization from a PR standpoint.


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So we assume he's a problem and uncoachable because you like the narrative it presents?

[getrichordie]

Every account that we have says Russ is extremely coachable. And don't forget that he wasnt this superstar when he came into the league.

Every account I'm sure is a public account. Russell is a naturally gifted athlete and relies on much of that athleticism in his game, but no one is going to come out and publicly blast Westbrook for his inability to be coached. It's just not going to happen because it's not good for the organization from a PR standpoint.


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So we assume he's a problem and uncoachable because you like the narrative it presents?

It's not about narrative. I could care less if I like the narrative or not. Most OKC fans love the narrative of Durant being a cupcake and a bitch for leaving Westbrook. I'm not on of them. I'm simply suggesting that it is possible.


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