The Russell Westbrook Thread: 2016-2017

[RSCD3_]

Legit LOLing at the people who were arguing there isn't a talent gap between these rosters. It's the NBA playoffs and Semaj Christon, Kyle Singler, Jerami Grant, and Andre Roberson were just put on the floor together without Westbrook. Almost entirely blow a double digit lead without Russ, while the Rockets take the lead with Harden on the bench.

There is definitely a difference between casts. Houston has much better offensive weapons than OKC.

I feel like besides Oladipo and Westbrook, the only guy who can really contribute on offense on a regular basis is Kanter. The problem is he can't defend anyone. So if OKC plays him, their offensive potential increases but defense becomes a big problem. He can't defend in PnR situations and doesn't provide any rim protection.

I'm so glad we have Gobert instead of Kanter. I really disliked him as a Jazz player and I feel he can't play big minutes on a NBA contender. He's that bad on D.

He's Regular season fools gold FTMP

In the playoffs vs any team that runs a pick and roll well he's a liability

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[K_chile22]

This was the perfect game to show someone both the amazing and the bad side of Westbrook. Unbelievable for 3 quarters, and downhill from there. I get that he's the only one who can make a lot of shots, but some of those attempts were miserable without a single pass the whole possession. I also think he struggles to play large minutes because his style of play is so draining

[bondom34]

This was the perfect game to show someone both the amazing and the bad side of Westbrook. Unbelievable for 3 quarters, and downhill from there. I get that he's the only one who can make a lot of shots, but some of those attempts were miserable without a single pass the whole possession. I also think he struggles to play large minutes because his style of play is so draining

That's what they have as the option until this roster has anyone else who can score. He was every bit as good tonight as bad the other night. Problem is the bench still sucks.

[bondom34]

This was the perfect game to show someone both the amazing and the bad side of Westbrook. Unbelievable for 3 quarters, and downhill from there. I get that he's the only one who can make a lot of shots, but some of those attempts were miserable without a single pass the whole possession. I also think he struggles to play large minutes because his style of play is so draining

That's what they have as the option until this roster has anyone else who can score. He was every bit as good tonight as bad the other night. Problem is the bench still sucks.

[Dr Positivity]

How come the Thunder aren't a better defensive team? Say what you want about their low skill level they're pretty talented on defense, moreso than the Rockets who have to play some guys like Ryno, Gordon and Lou W to be the more skilled team they are. Not to mention this is an Iverson Sixers situation where one guy hogging the ball allows everyone else to save their energy for other things (possibly explains their rebounding). Why can't a team that plays a combination like Roberson, Gibson and Adams be top 5 on D? Giving up 118 and 115 points to the Rockets isn't good enough.

[CKRT]

Where can I see 4th quarter shooting stats? I'd like to see the shot distribution on the Thunder during the 4th.

[GSP]

No idea what Taj Gibson didnt get more minutes. He was playing great defense and smart on offense, solid on the boards. Jerami Grant was complete awful yet played 5 more minutes. That plus sitting Westbrook at the end of the 3rd instead of having him finish the quarter and rest the start of the 4th cost them the game. Donovan made some terrible decision making

[MisterHibachi]

What a disappointing fourth quarter. He barely looked to pass and some of those shots were really ugly. I hate to say it but idk how the Thunder win this series.

[ShotCreator]

The ending was disappointing but I'm just not criticizing a night where he clearly dominated on a level such as this.

Westbrook was great, period.

Was he perfect? No. But 'perfect' rarely ever happens at this level, in the playoffs.

Feeling WB should've done better down the stretch is basically feeling he should've had some variation of a 40/10/10 - 50/15/15 night on great efficiency, which is absurd. No player should be expected to actually contribute that kind of impact and carry that kind of load for ~ 40 minutes.

OKC is garbage offensively without him. It is what it is. This is could be a sweep considering everything that's happened thus far.

[GSP]

How come the Thunder aren't a better defensive team? Say what you want about their low skill level they're pretty talented on defense, moreso than the Rockets who have to play some guys like Ryno, Gordon and Lou W to be the more skilled team they are. Not to mention this is an Iverson Sixers situation where one guy hogging the ball allows everyone else to save their energy for other things (possibly explains their rebounding). Why can't a team that plays a combination like Roberson, Gibson and Adams be top 5 on D? Giving up 118 and 115 points to the Rockets isn't good enough.

You just named their only 3 defenders (and Taj played 23 games/487 minutes in the Rs for them). Kanter, Sabonis, Doug, Payne (when he was there), Christon and Singler are some of the worst defensive players in the league. Oladipo is mediocre and Russ is average at best. Doesnt help that Adams has regressed from last year in his contract year. They were still a top 10 defense, you need depth at some point to be a top 5 defense unless you have an alltime great defensive anchor.

[Woodsanity]

This is NOT a typo. Thunder bench was a -64 tonight. Rockets bench: +41.

Just sad....

[bondom34]

How come the Thunder aren't a better defensive team? Say what you want about their low skill level they're pretty talented on defense, moreso than the Rockets who have to play some guys like Ryno, Gordon and Lou W to be the more skilled team they are. Not to mention this is an Iverson Sixers situation where one guy hogging the ball allows everyone else to save their energy for other things (possibly explains their rebounding). Why can't a team that plays a combination like Roberson, Gibson and Adams be top 5 on D? Giving up 118 and 115 points to the Rockets isn't good enough.

You just named their only 3 defenders (and Taj played 23 games/487 minutes in the Rs for them). Kanter, Sabonis, Doug, Payne (when he was there), Christon and Singler are some of the worst defensive players in the league. Oladipo is mediocre and Russ is average at best. Doesnt help that Adams has regressed from last year in his contract year. They were still a top 10 defense, you need depth at some point to be a top 5 defense unless you have an alltime great defensive anchor.

Nobody calls out Donovan for it. Taj just doesn't get minutes, this is about his average.

[bondom34]

This is NOT a typo. Thunder bench was a -64 tonight. Rockets bench: +41.

Just sad....

But the GB said it's Russ fault and he has help.

[K_chile22]

This is NOT a typo. Thunder bench was a -64 tonight. Rockets bench: +41.

Just sad....

But the GB said it's Russ fault and he has help.

It's not all Russ fault, for sure, they wouldn't have had the lead in the first place if he wasn't so amazing through 3. But to completely absolve him of blame for that 4rth quarter...

[Wooderson]

Thoughts on Westbrook driving to the rim with 14 seconds left and OKC down 6? Pretty clear move to hit 50. I think if any other player pulls that they'd be getting crucified.

[bondom34]

This is NOT a typo. Thunder bench was a -64 tonight. Rockets bench: +41.

Just sad....

But the GB said it's Russ fault and he has help.

It's not all Russ fault, for sure, they wouldn't have had the lead in the first place if he wasn't so amazing through 3. But to completely absolve him of blame for that 4rth quarter...

Ended the game +11 in a 4 point loss.

Gonna go with probably not really his fault. His 2nd option on offense was 4-14 for 11 points. His 3rd option can't play because he sucks at defense too much. His 4th option...well there isn't one. Meanwhile Harden had 3 players off the bench and 2 scored over 20, he sucked most of the game and still wins based off a massively stronger cast.

[bondom34]

Thoughts on Westbrook driving to the rim with 14 seconds left and OKC down 6? Pretty clear move to hit 50. I think if any other player pulls that they'd be getting crucified.

Hit it, down 4, foul with 14 seconds left and they miss you can cut it further. They've probably had crazier comebacks this year.

[thekdog34]

Bad end by Westbrook. He seemed to try to take over after the bench blew the lead, and also perhaps was tired.

I feel they had a better shot if he kept moving the ball, but who knows. They scored enough points anyway.

Still a great game overall, finished with a +11.

[Wooderson]

Thoughts on Westbrook driving to the rim with 14 seconds left and OKC down 6? Pretty clear move to hit 50. I think if any other player pulls that they'd be getting crucified.

Hit it, down 4, foul with 14 seconds left and they miss you can cut it further. They've probably had crazier comebacks this year.

It was 14.6 seconds when they were inbounding, 9.5 after he scored. And then OKC took 8 seconds to foul with some half assed trapping. They basically gave up when the game wasn't close to over.

[bondom34]

Oh and I'm thrilled Donovan is still experimenting with lineups in game 84. Clearly Singler was the answer since he hasn't been in the rotation in months. Cole went from playing a fair amount to literally in a suit. Sabonis 1st off the bench. He should be getting killed.