The Russell Westbrook Thread (2014/15)

[Doormatt]

Westbrook might be the best player in the league right now.

He just hasn't really had a big enough sample size/ minutes played for anyone to come out and say it. He and Harden are the closest things to young Lebron in the league. Put your head down go get free throws and dominate with your physicality and athleticism make great dishes to the corner when doubled.

i would slow down with comparisons to lebron, the sample size is the exact reason people arent jumping out of their seats with those kinds of statements, for good reason too. Russell is posting insane numbers way above anything we've ever seen him do for a full season, so you gotta be pretty skeptical that this is just a hot streak and not something were going to see consistently

still a helluva player tho, and hes playing out of his mind right now.

[HeartBreakKid]

Westbrook might be the best player in the league right now.

He just hasn't really had a big enough sample size/ minutes played for anyone to come out and say it. He and Harden are the closest things to young Lebron in the league. Put your head down go get free throws and dominate with your physicality and athleticism make great dishes to the corner when doubled.

i would slow down with comparisons to lebron, the sample size is the exact reason people arent jumping out of their seats with those kinds of statements, for good reason too. Russell is posting insane numbers way above anything we've ever seen him do for a full season, so you gotta be pretty skeptical that this is just a hot streak and not something were going to see consistently

still a helluva player tho, and hes playing out of his mind right now.

He's also played against extremely weak competition since coming back.

[dfins891]

I don't know if it deserves its own thread and its Thunder related so I figure I'll just post it here, but Andre Roberson has been ridiculously good on defense this season. Thunder have a 91.1 Drtg with him on the floor and 103.6 with him off which is an amazing impact for a wing defender. He can't shoot so he still doesn't offer much on offense besides offensive rebounds, but been really impressive.

An article was just written on him(again) by a DailyThunder writer. We kind of saw it last year, but we didn't expect this kind of impact. His shooting is completely broke, which is weird because he shot 35% from 3 in college(number of attempts were 35, 50, and 58). Don't know if it's confidence or if it's that bad.

His shot defense has been incredible according to the SprotsVU stuff. I've checked basically all the top wing defenders in the league and his looks to be easily the best right now. Next best guys I could find on overall differential were Thabo ironically at -9.5 overall with Klay and Tony Allen a little bit behind that. Also this backs up the eye test that Thabo wasn't great on D last season after returning from his injury as he was only -1.1 on the season. Here's Roberson's numbers:

[bondom34]

Wow, someone's giving him props on the gen board in a new thread....I'm floored.

[SunKing]

GO GET EM HUSTLE GOATBROOK ! DEY AIN'T READY FOR THIS !

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxKzKxfgM_0[/youtube]

[Doormatt]

Pls come home Russ, we need u

[bondom34]

Pls come home Russ, we need u

[TwoStarz]

Pls come home Russ, we need u

I second that

Sent from my SGH-I337M using RealGM Forums mobile app

[bondom34]

Pls come home Russ, we need u

I second that

Sent from my SGH-I337M using RealGM Forums mobile app

[dfins891]

I'll point out that after he returned from injury last year he played 21 games and his PER was right at 30. So this is now a 30 game sample size where he has performed at a 30+ PER level.

[bondom34]

Well, they've played 8 minutes:

14/4 on 3-4 shooting....I'm running out of adjectives here.

[KD35Brah]

Westbrook completely dominated that quarter..

[bondom34]

I feel like I'm amost waiting for an off game, but its not happening yet. Hope it stays that way.

[bondom34]

Slight aside, but postgame tonight I'd be interested if Sideshow Bob had another update on OKC's ORtg and DRtg since healthy. Its a small sample, but they put up 54 so far in a quarter and a half.

[bondom34]

Well, through a half, 3 points:

1. KD looks back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2. 24/6/5 with just 2 TOs in 15 minutes.

3. I'm out of adjectives.

Spoiler:

[Mutnt]

Why is Westbrook making all the shots he's been religiously missing all of his career?

I love Westbrook, one of my favorite players in the NBA, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself what I'm seeing right now is the future Westbrook since he's playing style is pretty much the same as it always was, except he's making a lot more shots than normally.

He's like what, 26 ppg on 60%TS on the season? From his usual 23 ppg on 54%TS... I don't see how Westbrook's style of play is capable of being that efficient sans of being really hot outside the paint. I'll give him credit that he's cut back on some of the stupid threes he's been triggering in the previous year and he's doing an awesome job getting to the line THUS FAR. Let's see if it continues.

[dfins891]

Why is Westbrook making all the shots he's been religiously missing all of his career?

I love Westbrook, one of my favorite players in the NBA, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself what I'm seeing right now is the future Westbrook since he's playing style is pretty much the same as it always was, except he's making a lot more shots than normally.

He's like what, 26 ppg on 60%TS on the season? From his usual 23 ppg on 54%TS... I don't see how Westbrook's style of play is capable of being that efficient sans of being really hot outside the paint. I'll give him credit that he's cut back on some of the stupid threes he's been triggering in the previous year and he's doing an awesome job getting to the line THUS FAR. Let's see if it continues.

He's taking much less 3s, 2 less a game than last year. His average distance per shot attempt is much lower than it has been the last couple years.

[bondom34]

Why is Westbrook making all the shots he's been religiously missing all of his career?

I love Westbrook, one of my favorite players in the NBA, but I'm having a hard time convincing myself what I'm seeing right now is the future Westbrook since he's playing style is pretty much the same as it always was, except he's making a lot more shots than normally.

He's like what, 26 ppg on 60%TS on the season? From his usual 23 ppg on 54%TS... I don't see how Westbrook's style of play is capable of being that efficient sans of being really hot outside the paint. I'll give him credit that he's cut back on some of the stupid threes he's been triggering in the previous year and he's doing an awesome job getting to the line THUS FAR. Let's see if it continues.

Its a mix, I think it is a slight hot start, but his selection is better. He's shooting about half as many 3s as last season, and a lot more at the rim. He's also shooting from his sweet spots in midrange, check the shot location charts from the last 2 seasons.
http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... bru01.html

Edit: To add, he's shooting a lot of the pull-up shots from the FT line area that he's awesome on.

[Moonbeam]

I hate OKC, but Westbrook is just unbelievable so far this year.

[Mutnt]

He's taking much less 3s, 2 less a game than last year. His average distance per shot attempt is much lower than it has been the last couple years.

Yes, I alluded to that. Last year the 3PT attempts were really puzzling, he should never shoot more than 3 threes per game. Also getting to the paint a lot more.

The thing I'm looking for here is if he continues to play like this or is he gonna revert back to his old habits, especially once Durant gets more and more integrated back into the offense.

From what I've seen, he's still taking a hefty amount of in yo face pull up jumpers, he's just nailing a lot of them.