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For OKC to have any chance at legitimately competing for a championship they need to go the way of the Rockets and start Westbrook alongside Shroder the same way they start Paul and Harden and allow both to share ballhandling duties. For one thing it would be a MASSIVE upgrade to the shooting guard position which has been a huge achilles heel since Harden left and it also would eliminate some of the ill advised turnovers and foolish shots that Westbrook takes throughout the course of a game since Shroder would bear some of his ballhandling duties. Having 3 players in the starting lineup who can create their own offense would give OKC enough of a punch offensively to contend with anybody and I've been really impressed with the ease at which Schroeder can score and assist. Plus it would help conserve energy for Russ for late in games and especially into the playoffs. I keep hearing people in the media refer to Shroder as the "backup point guard" and I just laugh because that's clearly not going to be his role. Russ averages around 36 minutes per game so that leaves around 12 minutes per game or so for the "backup point guard" who clearly is Felton. Now that Roberson's career is most likely over this will leave either Abrines, Diallo or one of the other new wing players to emerge as a backup to the shooting guard position and within a few months that will all sort itself out. Like what I saw against the Warriors but the team isn't going anywhere starting guys who shouldn't start (Ferguson and Patterson).

oh no

I get knocked down, but I get up again

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After an extended conversation with chief, I can in fact confirm that he stated to me in confidence that this post is not it.

If you had been paying attention they have basically said Schroder is going to be the primary SG getting starter minutes and finishing games. He is not going to start. He is going to be in more of the Harden role with Felton as the backup PG. That is assuming Russ' knees are given time to heal and he doesn't come back just to hurt the knee worse and Schroder is your starting PG for 50 games.

By not starting him and staggering him and Russ is actually helps the team to have a competent play maker on the floor at all times. I realize that you do not understand this concept, but by staggering them it limits the potential for the massive swings we saw last year when Russ was on the bench. There is still the problem that there is no one on the team that can play the wing position to replace Roberson's production. Roberson's level of BPM, RPM, on/off, etc can not be matched by Schroder, Ferguson, Diallo, Abrines or anyone else who can currently fill those minutes. This leaves OKC as a worse team than they were at this point one year ago even before we factor in Russ' knee surgery. Depending on how Roberson returns they very likely could remain below the level they were at with their initial roster from last season.

Harden and Paul can both shoot though..

I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the entire OP.

RalphSampsonJr wrote:Harden and Paul can both shoot though..

and christ paul is one of the best defensive pg in the nba.

With Schroeder at PG, If Russ would somehow transform his mindset, and start using his athleticism to defend opposing SG's, that would probably be the move that would change our game the most since the begining of OKC era.

And we would probably go to a whole other dimension, but that is utopia, Russ ain't changing his supernova game centered around him.

CROklahoma wrote:With Schroeder at PG, If Russ would somehow transform his mindset, and start using his athleticism to defend opposing SG's, that would probably be the move that would change our game the most since the begining of OKC era.

And we would probably go to a whole other dimension, but that is utopia, Russ ain't changing his supernova game centered around him.

Russ at SG would be a HUGE improvement to the team and drastically alter the roster composition in a positive way. However, Russ is going to become D-Wade at this point. Wade and Russ basically are the same player and I'm referring to Wade's skill set and in his prime not where they both are today. Both were never good 3pt shooters, great ball handlers, had great court vision and were athletically gifted. If Russ were to move to SG AND commit to defense, like Wade did, while still being the focus of the offense, but letting Schroder bring the ball up and initiate the offense OKC could drastically improve their ceiling.

Unfortunately, Russ won't do that and Donovan probably isn't smart enough to think of it much less implement it and enforce it. Oh, the greatness OKC could achieve with a competent coach is almost limitless. Unfortunately, Presti keeps ignoring the short window and Donovan would be the worst coach in a YMCA youth league so OKC remains capped as a first round playoff exit.

slick_watts wrote:

RalphSampsonJr wrote:Harden and Paul can both shoot though..

and christ paul is one of the best defensive pg in the nba.

I know you love all the things rockets, but this is a bit excessive.

Knrstz wrote:

slick_watts wrote:

RalphSampsonJr wrote:Harden and Paul can both shoot though..

and christ paul is one of the best defensive pg in the nba.

I know you love all the things rockets, but this is a bit excessive.

It's better than the spelling of schroder in the title.

spearsy23 wrote:It's better than the spelling of schroder in the title.

We know what are getting from a sleestak post before we open it. It will defy all logic and reason unless the NBA goes to 6 on 6 then they will have a clue about who the 3 on offense should be with no clue about the other side of the court.

Knrstz wrote:I’ll be honest, I didn’t read the entire OP.

Neither did I until now. Its probably the best post I can recall from him. Not good, but relative.

Sleestak is back!

Now the season can begin