The Warriors reportedly think Russell Westbrook plays a style that's easy to guard

[michaelm]

As a Warriors fan, my complaint with the coaching is they play Zaza way too much.

As much as I criticize Westbrook’s inefficient style, if I were him I’d keep attacking Zaza, too.

Zaza is a guy who players don’t fear, yet Kerr loves to play him so much. Luckily guys like Draymond and KD and Klay help make up for Zaza’s deficiencies, but the Warriors would be a lot more scary if they started JaVale McGee.

McGee averages as much as Zaza and shoots 10% better in only half the minutes. Also, he’s a beast when he’s alongside Draymond because of Draymond’s passing ability to get him open looks.

When it’s Zaza with Draymond, he’ll drop those passes or have a hard time with easy layups.

So as good as the Warriors defense is, they’re holding back a bit with their love for Zaza, but hey I’m not an NBA coach so I have no right to complain.


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Screens and defense.

[dukes_wild]

What’s Westbrook’s FG% against GSW?


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FG% in 2017

was that supposed to be a joke?

FG% is a pretty meaningless stat now

[Coxy]

The Warriors play great D, water is wet, and triple doubles ya'll.

[Coxy]

FG% in 2017

was that supposed to be a joke?

FG% is a pretty meaningless stat now

You think a player shooting 20% from the field is meaningless?

Sure mean something to me if I were a coach.

[Patches Perry]

They do guard him well, mostly because they guard him with the whole team. The statement should really be "Westbrook and Andre Roberson are easy to guard" because nobody on that team wants to guard Westbrook without an extra man basically shading him.

[clyde21]

They do guard him well, mostly because they guard him with the whole team. The statement should really be "Westbrook and Andre Roberson are easy to guard" because nobody on that team wants to guard Westbrook without an extra man basically shading him.

We guarded him well when he had KD next to him as well.

[StepBackCrack]

Also Steph always did a much better job when he had to defend Russ than Russ when defending Steph. Steph's defense is usually underrated. He is better defender than Russ and Harden and always will be.

[Patches Perry]

They do guard him well, mostly because they guard him with the whole team. The statement should really be "Westbrook and Andre Roberson are easy to guard" because nobody on that team wants to guard Westbrook without an extra man basically shading him.

We guarded him well when he had KD next to him as well.

We?

Roberson was still there when Durant was there, and the strategy on Westbrook drives was the same then. 4 on 5, let Roberson shoot.

Warriors have great defenders at nearly every position so don't get me wrong. Saying Westbrook is easy to guard though is foolish without contextualizing the disrespect for Roberson and OKCs widely acknowledged lack of perimeter shooting. That will obviously have ill effects on a player who drives like Westbrook.

[Soulcatcher33]

They're in for a rude awakening this year.

No they aren't. The Warriors are still much, much better than OKC.

[Revived]

Also Steph always did a much better job when he had to defend Russ than Russ when defending Steph. Steph's defense is usually underrated. He is better defender than Russ and Harden and always will be.

Westbrook and Harden are two of the worse defenders in the league so that's not saying much.

[clyde21]

They do guard him well, mostly because they guard him with the whole team. The statement should really be "Westbrook and Andre Roberson are easy to guard" because nobody on that team wants to guard Westbrook without an extra man basically shading him.

We guarded him well when he had KD next to him as well.

We?

Roberson was still there when Durant was there, and the strategy on Westbrook drives was the same then. 4 on 5, let Roberson shoot.

Warriors have great defenders at nearly every position so don't get me wrong. Saying Westbrook is easy to guard though is foolish without contextualizing the disrespect for Roberson and OKCs widely acknowledged lack of perimeter shooting. That will obviously have ill effects on a player who drives like Westbrook.

Yes we. You didn't see me out there dropping the hammer on Russell?

At the end of the day we don't really know what they said. I'd venture to say that it's more about Westbrook's ball dominant style versus a team that likes to move and pass the ball around. In that context I don't think it's necessarily a big deal or untrue. I think they will all admit that Westbrook 1v1 is a handful.

[dukes_wild]

was that supposed to be a joke?

FG% is a pretty meaningless stat now

You think a player shooting 20% from the field is meaningless?

Sure mean something to me if I were a coach.

Sure, but nobody shoots 20% in a whole season.

Don't over-exaggerate, the point is with how much 3pt rate has went up, many players can have a sub-40% FG but still be efficient if they shoot 3s over 33% on medium-high volume and make their FTs

The more 3PA a player takes, the lower his FG% will be, unless you're a generational talent like KD/Curry etc.

It's just an obsolete stat when it comes to judging a player's scoring efficiency, just like ERA is becoming an old man statistic for pitchers in baseball. Does it hold weight? Sure, but if a player shoots 10 field goal attempts, all 3s, makes 4 of them and has a 40% FG, and another player shoots 10 field goal attempts and makes 5 of them but they were all 2s, the 40% FG player is more efficient than the 50% FG player

[Scizzup]

They do guard him well, mostly because they guard him with the whole team. The statement should really be "Westbrook and Andre Roberson are easy to guard" because nobody on that team wants to guard Westbrook without an extra man basically shading him.

We guarded him well when he had KD next to him as well.

We?

Roberson was still there when Durant was there, and the strategy on Westbrook drives was the same then. 4 on 5, let Roberson shoot.

Warriors have great defenders at nearly every position so don't get me wrong. Saying Westbrook is easy to guard though is foolish without contextualizing the disrespect for Roberson and OKCs widely acknowledged lack of perimeter shooting. That will obviously have ill effects on a player who drives like Westbrook.

fan of Russ but that's not why. He has played with Kd/Ibaka hell even Kmart. Russ has just never been that efficient. They defended Lebron/Harden/Kawhi/Kd (when he was slashing more) same way. send a extra man if they get past their initial defender. Russ has just never been that good of a finisher at the rim (he makes up for it in volume) and average shooting. teams prefer he takes his pull up mid-range and live with the result.

[MartinToVaught]

With how stacked their team is, everyone else's style should be "easy to guard."

[Coxy]

FG% is a pretty meaningless stat now

You think a player shooting 20% from the field is meaningless?

Sure mean something to me if I were a coach.

Sure, but nobody shoots 20% in a whole season.

Don't over-exaggerate, the point is with how much 3pt rate has went up, many players can have a sub-40% FG but still be efficient if they shoot 3s over 33% on medium-high volume and make their FTs

The more 3PA a player takes, the lower his FG% will be, unless you're a generational talent like KD/Curry etc.

It's just an obsolete stat when it comes to judging a player's scoring efficiency, just like ERA is becoming an old man statistic for pitchers in baseball. Does it hold weight? Sure, but if a player shoots 10 field goal attempts, all 3s, makes 4 of them and has a 40% FG, and another player shoots 10 field goal attempts and makes 5 of them but they were all 2s, the 40% FG player is more efficient than the 50% FG player

Fair enough.

[LikeABosh]

was that supposed to be a joke?

FG% is a pretty meaningless stat now

You think a player shooting 20% from the field is meaningless?

Sure mean something to me if I were a coach.

It only tells half the story for scoring efficiency and it's almost useless by itself. Using an exaggerated example where the FG% is so bad that it could only mean a poor scoring performance doesn't change that

Cavs hold Kevin Durant to 41% shooting in game 4 of the NBA finals
or
Kevin Durant explodes for 35 points on 22 shots in game 4 of the NBA finals

[Patches Perry]

We guarded him well when he had KD next to him as well.

We?

Roberson was still there when Durant was there, and the strategy on Westbrook drives was the same then. 4 on 5, let Roberson shoot.

Warriors have great defenders at nearly every position so don't get me wrong. Saying Westbrook is easy to guard though is foolish without contextualizing the disrespect for Roberson and OKCs widely acknowledged lack of perimeter shooting. That will obviously have ill effects on a player who drives like Westbrook.

fan of Russ but that's not why. He has played with Kd/Ibaka hell even Kmart. Russ has just never been that efficient. They defended Lebron/Harden/Kawhi/Kd (when he was slashing more) same way. send a extra man if they get past their initial defender. Russ has just never been that good of a finisher at the rim (he makes up for it in volume) and average shooting. teams prefer he takes his pull up mid-range and live with the result.

His problems with GSW didn't start until 2014-2015. 2014-2015 is the season that:

Thunder started starting Andre Roberson, and he allowed teams to load up on Westbrook off the dribble
Warriors started starting Draymond Green, and he made them a truly elite defensive team

[StepBackCrack]

Also Steph always did a much better job when he had to defend Russ than Russ when defending Steph. Steph's defense is usually underrated. He is better defender than Russ and Harden and always will be.

Westbrook and Harden are two of the worse defenders in the league so that's not saying much.

Yeah but I don't like when Steph is being limped with them when it comes to discussing defense. Many fans think he is bad on D based on few games (2016 finals for example where he was still recovering from an injury). He gives much better effort on that end on regular basis.

[Scizzup]

We?

Roberson was still there when Durant was there, and the strategy on Westbrook drives was the same then. 4 on 5, let Roberson shoot.

Warriors have great defenders at nearly every position so don't get me wrong. Saying Westbrook is easy to guard though is foolish without contextualizing the disrespect for Roberson and OKCs widely acknowledged lack of perimeter shooting. That will obviously have ill effects on a player who drives like Westbrook.

fan of Russ but that's not why. He has played with Kd/Ibaka hell even Kmart. Russ has just never been that efficient. They defended Lebron/Harden/Kawhi/Kd (when he was slashing more) same way. send a extra man if they get past their initial defender. Russ has just never been that good of a finisher at the rim (he makes up for it in volume) and average shooting. teams prefer he takes his pull up mid-range and live with the result.

His problems with GSW didn't start until 2014-2015. 2014-2015 is the season that:

Thunder started starting Andre Roberson, and he allowed teams to load up on Westbrook off the dribble
Warriors started starting Draymond Green, and he made them a truly elite defensive team

It actually started earlier. bball reff. Russ was 52% Ts before that season. btw every team does this to stars including the guy next to Russ for those years. when they beat initial defender a close help come to deter if possible. They never defended Russ 2 on 1 outside the paint or doubled him.

[Manute Lol]

FG% is a pretty meaningless stat now

You think a player shooting 20% from the field is meaningless?

Sure mean something to me if I were a coach.

Sure, but nobody shoots 20% in a whole season.

Don't over-exaggerate, the point is with how much 3pt rate has went up, many players can have a sub-40% FG but still be efficient if they shoot 3s over 33% on medium-high volume and make their FTs

The more 3PA a player takes, the lower his FG% will be, unless you're a generational talent like KD/Curry etc.

It's just an obsolete stat when it comes to judging a player's scoring efficiency, just like ERA is becoming an old man statistic for pitchers in baseball. Does it hold weight? Sure, but if a player shoots 10 field goal attempts, all 3s, makes 4 of them and has a 40% FG, and another player shoots 10 field goal attempts and makes 5 of them but they were all 2s, the 40% FG player is more efficient than the 50% FG player

Cool story, bro, but it's meaningless here, as Russ is a meh shooter from deep. FG% is actually a useful statistic when judging Russ; until this last year, his 2PT% and his eFG% were nearly identical on a year-by-year basis over his career.