Player of the Day: Andre Roberson

[Pillendreher]

Last I checked we had a 130 Ortg with Huestis and the starters. The problem with Huestis is clearly not on the offensive side of the ball, whether or not he's providing something himself.

What is the sample size there?

Small. 50-odd minutes, maybe 60 by now.

55 minutes



Huestis was merely along for the ride. Both ORPM and OBPM agree that his offensive impact is trash.

[Pillendreher]

Dre might legit be both our best offensive and defensive SG.

[slick_watts]

roberson is still (albeit, barely) maintaining 2% stl and 3% blk, which is rare for a listed guard. only wade has done it before (once) over a whole season although danny green is also accomplishing the feat so far this year.

even if you loosen up the criteria to 'wings' you don't get a lot of players. gerald wallace, tracy mcgrady, and renaldo balkman being the only post-mergers to accomplish it in addition to wade. andrei kirilenko as well, if you consider him a 'wing'.

he's having a truly unique season defensively. if he keeps this up and the thunder defense holds together with kawhi hurt i'm not sure all defense 1st team is that remote a possibility.

[sleestak33]

OKC is an absolute dumpster fire at the shooting guard position. They have by far the worst collection of anybody in the NBA with Roberson, Ferguson and Abrines. I am simply astounded at how bad and flawed each of these players are. Ferguson sort of has an excuse because he's a rookie but I watch his shot attempts and they have no rotation and are consistently left or right of target which is an indication of poor shooting form. There are plenty of rookies who step up and play decent when they get their chance and he has been nothing short of abysmal in Roberson's abscence outside of 1 flukish game against the Lakers. I don't see anything in his offensive game to make me really think he's going to amount to much. Roberson is literally the worst offensive wing in the history of the NBA...so much so that teams aren't even guarding him and of course Abrines is atrocious on defense and has somehow gotten worse. Considering the value of the shooting guard in today's NBA because of the need for perimeter offense and 3 pt. shooting this is a problem that absolutely has to be fixed. Presti's track record in accumulating talent is pretty dang good at every position (although he's had his blunders) but it's amazing to see the 3 players he came up with for this position turn out to be this bad.

[Pillendreher]

OKC is an absolute dumpster fire at the shooting guard position. They have by far the worst collection of anybody in the NBA with Roberson, Ferguson and Abrines. I am simply astounded at how bad and flawed each of these players are. Ferguson sort of has an excuse because he's a rookie but I watch his shot attempts and they have no rotation and are consistently left or right of target which is an indication of poor shooting form. There are plenty of rookies who step up and play decent when they get their chance and he has been nothing short of abysmal in Roberson's abscence outside of 1 flukish game against the Lakers. I don't see anything in his offensive game to make me really think he's going to amount to much. Roberson is literally the worst offensive wing in the history of the NBA...so much so that teams aren't even guarding him and of course Abrines is atrocious on defense and has somehow gotten worse. Considering the value of the shooting guard in today's NBA because of the need for perimeter offense and 3 pt. shooting this is a problem that absolutely has to be fixed. Presti's track record in accumulating talent is pretty dang good at every position (although he's had his blunders) but it's amazing to see the 3 players he came up with for this position turn out to be this bad.

Not a good year for the Anti-Roberson crowd. Stop fighting and accept it.

[CROklahoma]

Yea, now it's actually a matter of someone being just full of himself.

ROBERSON HAS BEEN MARVELOUS THIS YEAR !

His impact on defense, when paired with George and Adams, alone, gives me hope we can compete against anyone in this league when the time comes.
His cutting and reading opponents weak spots in defense is getting better and better, if only others would give him more space, meaning giving him the opportunity to attack of the dribble, or shot the ball more, to get that aspect improved a little, in future, he would be one of the top SG in the league. He is a **** steal at this contract we have him. Litteraly untradeable right now.
It's a damn shame if he doesn't make it in all defensive NBA team this year.

I just hope Abrines somehow manages to find his spots, he had, for me, excellent rookie year, and we all hoped he would make a big step up, but somehow, is it injuries or something else, he just cant get any rhytm going beside those few games at the begining of the year ...

[slick_watts]

Roberson is literally the worst offensive wing in the history of the NBA...

this is especially humorous now since there are two on our very team who are worse.

it's been entertaining watching the nba blogosphere react since dre was out and our defense turned into mush. there's room on the bandwagon for you too, sleestak. even your buddy has come around somewhat.

[slick_watts]

don't let andre roberson's upcoming 1st team all defense this year distract you from the fact that hardenasg13 and sleestak were questioning whether or not he was better defensively than avery bradley five months ago.

[slick_watts]

Easily the worst offensive wing player in the history of the NBA (I've challenged anybody on this message board to name somebody worse and nobody can do it) and his defense has been shown repeatedly to have no impact whatsoever

This is just funny. What, in your opinion, makes Roberson the better off the ball defender? What does he do specifically that is so much more impactful than Bradley

The issues he causes by the other team not even guarding him and his pathetic offense far outweigh anything he does defensively.

I would love to discuss the malnourished man's Thabo Sefolosha, but I'd rather not be bombarded with notifications from the pro-Roberson peanut gallery.

The simple truth is while Roberson is a great defender his impact is completely negated by teams running high screens and pick and rolls until he's out of the play so it's completely irrelevant.

If Roberson were coming off the bench like he should be he would have one of the worst +/- ratings in the league but his is good because he plays with the league MVP and the starters.

Not denying they have some filthy defensive possibilities with him out there, worth exploring, but can't they seemingly outscore almost everyone while playing a lineup with russ/pg/melo/patterson/adams, or Russ,george, grant, melo, adams, or Russ, abrines, george,patterson, adams, all of which would be fine defensively.

What?....yes outscore, yes good instead of very good on defense (if you play 2 average defenders (Russ and melo), 2 above average (adams and george), and 1 below average (abrines) the d is still fine.

At the end of the day it all comes down to this...does Roberson's defense offset his offensive deficiencies? The glaringly obvious answer to that question is absolutely not.

Also that you guys seem to think 1 perimeter player makes so much of a difference defensively (the stats say so!) is incredible. Defense has to be all 5 guys on board. Westbrook hasn't been. Durant wasn't when he was in okc (look what he did last year defensively). You act like Roberson is a game changer there.

Let's keep watching, this is honestly funny at this point. Roberson brings no value to this team.

When will you all admit embarrassing defeat? Also don't begin to argue the team stunk defensively because Roberson was out.

Must be so frustrating for NBA players to play offensively alongside him, especially when grant is twice the player. At least abrines is rounding into form and huestis is beginning to get used. The benching is coming, the stars will get frustrated enough with him soon.

Your support of Dre is as unreasonable

You also live alone in a world where a starting shooting guard in the NBA who is so pathetic offensively that he doesn't even need to be guarded is somehow a positive to the team.

To attribute Roberson for all their success defensively is a massive reach.

[ThunderBolt]

How long did that take?

[RalphSampsonJr]

What ive started doing this season is use, what i like to call, "the Roberson test".
If im trying to talk basketball with someone i ask their opinion on Dre before i continue.
If guys just "follow" OKC they tend to think he is terrible.
If they watch the thunder and understand the game, they tend to know his worth and can see what he brings to the team while on the court.

[hardenASG13]

Wow, way to strike while the team is coming off an incredibly brutal travel schedule....golden State lost by 30 in Utah, and lost in Denver last night, crazy how it happens to every team.

Hey, maybe I'll go back and highlight every line you wrote about Westbrook in October/ November......just kidding I'd never take the time to do that.

Let's see what happens to the "Roberson test" When/if the bring in an NBA caliber replacement, which to this point they haven't had, and after they can catch their breath and stay in the same time zone for more than a day.While he's proved he isn't the worst player in the league, the fact that the team is struggling when he's replaced by a 19 year old stick, a g leaguer who was drafted purely to save money, and abrines isn't saying much.

[slick_watts]

While he's proved he isn't the worst player in the league, the fact that the team is struggling when he's replaced by a 19 year old stick, a g leaguer who was drafted purely to save money, and abrines isn't saying much.

hmm. this isn't what you said.

Not denying they have some filthy defensive possibilities with him out there, worth exploring, but can't they seemingly outscore almost everyone while playing a lineup with russ/pg/melo/patterson/adams, or Russ,george, grant, melo, adams, or Russ, abrines, george,patterson, adams, all of which would be fine defensively.

What?....yes outscore, yes good instead of very good on defense (if you play 2 average defenders (Russ and melo), 2 above average (adams and george), and 1 below average (abrines) the d is still fine.

what's the next excuse? this is getting sad.

[hardenASG13]

While he's proved he isn't the worst player in the league, the fact that the team is struggling when he's replaced by a 19 year old stick, a g leaguer who was drafted purely to save money, and abrines isn't saying much.

hmm. this isn't what you said.

Not denying they have some filthy defensive possibilities with him out there, worth exploring, but can't they seemingly outscore almost everyone while playing a lineup with russ/pg/melo/patterson/adams, or Russ,george, grant, melo, adams, or Russ, abrines, george,patterson, adams, all of which would be fine defensively.

What?....yes outscore, yes good instead of very good on defense (if you play 2 average defenders (Russ and melo), 2 above average (adams and george), and 1 below average (abrines) the d is still fine.

what's the next excuse? this is getting sad.

This was said very early in the season, maybe even preseason. Abrines has been a massive disappointment, yes. Melo hasn't been the average defender i thought he was. Still like grant, but he's developed into a 4, looks to be bulking up for that role.

Edit....also, they haven't really tried that patterson lineup that I suggested, but you didn't bold that one. Abrines has sucked, I admit it. All thunder fans should be very disappointed with him.

[hardenASG13]

God i hope they get smart or bradley

[spearsy23]

God i hope they get smart or bradley

Smart would be fantastic, he's probably the closest thing to Roberson in the league.

I don't really understand why you'd Argue against dre and want smart though.

[hardenASG13]

God i hope they get smart or bradley

Smart would be fantastic, he's probably the closest thing to Roberson in the league.

I don't really understand why you'd Argue against dre and want smart though.

I've seen alot of smart, as the celts are my local team in New England, plus they are just great to watch whether you like them or not. His percentages stink, I know. But he's a different type of bad offensively than Roberson, in that he misses tough shots(he shouldn't always take) vs. easy open ones. He is way better at creating for others. The defense has to guard him. He's a beast defensively too. They just don't need him anymore as rozier has been great all season.

[spearsy23]

God i hope they get smart or bradley

Smart would be fantastic, he's probably the closest thing to Roberson in the league.

I don't really understand why you'd Argue against dre and want smart though.

I've seen alot of smart, as the celts are my local team in New England, plus they are just great to watch whether you like them or not. His percentages stink, I know. But he's a different type of bad offensively than Roberson, in that he misses tough shots(he shouldn't always take) vs. easy open ones. He is way better at creating for others. The defense has to guard him. He's a beast defensively too. They just don't need him anymore as rozier has been great all season.

He's a different type in that he's a bad offensive player that doesn't recognize his limitations.

[hardenASG13]

Smart would be fantastic, he's probably the closest thing to Roberson in the league.

I don't really understand why you'd Argue against dre and want smart though.

I've seen alot of smart, as the celts are my local team in New England, plus they are just great to watch whether you like them or not. His percentages stink, I know. But he's a different type of bad offensively than Roberson, in that he misses tough shots(he shouldn't always take) vs. easy open ones. He is way better at creating for others. The defense has to guard him. He's a beast defensively too. They just don't need him anymore as rozier has been great all season.

He's a different type in that he's a bad offensive player that doesn't recognize his limitations.

Pretty much, alot more skilled than Roberson tho....think the pressure him and Westbrook would put on teams D would be great tho smart plays with a similar aggression as Russ, he's just not nearly as good. They should give whatever it takes, tho I'm skeptical ainge would bite on anything aside from maybe ferguson....dont think hed want singlers dead money. If anyone values Ferguson, ship him out this team can't wait 3 years for him.

[slick_watts]

marcus smart would be as adequate an andre roberson replacement the team could realistically acquire, but he's still a huge downgrade overall.