The Russell Westbrook Thread (2014/15)

[NinjaSheppard]

Feel terrible for Durant but I am excited to see how Westbrook does as the man for an extended period of time

[bondom34]

Yeah, this will be interesting. I'm gonna bet the first couple of games he's not going to be great, I'm thinking he'll press too much. I am however hopeful he'll bounce back and end up looking great. Said it elsewhere, but if they can just hang pretty high in the standings, OKC is fine. I'm really interested to be honest.

[GSP]

Cant wait to see how Russ does...........he is a top 3 Pg but i wonder if he will make a case for being the best. I have always wanted to see how hed do without Kd for a long period

[The High Cyde]

Not gonna lie, I'm really looking forward to a Westbrook led team. He catches a ton of flak from people, some deserved but mostly not. I'm hoping he can shut up a lot of people with his game. He's a very exciting player to watch, and his intensity is probably unmatched in the entire Association.

I think the key will be Adams starting instead of Perkins. Make no mistake, Westbrook is still going to need all the help he can get, at least offensively.

This also means Durant will be well rested for the playoffs, which is huge. They might lose the first seed, but with those two ready to go by playoffs, watch out.

[D Nice]

Looking forward to seeing how Westbrook does with the reigns. That thread on the GB is friggin hilarious though, has me rofl.

Everybody gets hurt at some point (unless you're Lebron or Karl Malone), and this is KDs first real injury as a pro, he should bounce back just fine. It will be interesting to see if he ends up being slightly out of shape when he returns with it being a foot injury, but given his body type I don't think it'll be a huge deal.

It'll be tough to stay afloat though, OKC doesn't exactly have a fluffy schedule out of the gate. I think expecting .500 ball may actually be a tad optimistic.

And yeah, even more reason for Perkins NOT to start, assuming that was still the "plan" (I used quotes because it's Scott Brooks ).

[cyclix]

Russell Westbrook stats w/o Durant in 2014:
27.2 PPG on 39% FG

[bondom34]

Russell Westbrook stats w/o Durant in 2014:
27.2 PPG on 39% FG

What games were these, am I forgetting?

Sent from my XT1080 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[cyclix]

Russell Westbrook stats w/o Durant in 2014:
27.2 PPG on 39% FG

What games were these, am I forgetting?

Sent from my XT1080 using RealGM Forums mobile app

Its a prediction

[HornetJail]

I'm excited. Guessing 33/6/6 on 41.5% and

[bondom34]

Well, its his big chance. I'll admit I'm nervous, but really hopeful. I'm thinking this could mean Jackson gets some starts, Roberson plays the 3, with Ibaka and Adams as bigs. That leaves plenty of offense with plenty of plus defenders. If I assume he's out til December 8th (about 7 weeks or so), they play:

Portland
LAC
2 X BKN
Toronto
Memphis
Sacramento
MKE
Boston
Detroit
Houston
Utah X 2
Denver
GSW
NYK

9 at home, 8 road, with 4 back to backs (between road sets).

I really think they can at least go 9-8/10-7 for that, and I don't feel like its a homer pick. Even no KD, a pair of Ibaka/Russ is still a solid duo to go up against most teams, along with Adams development and Jackson.

[dfins891]

Well this will be interesting. There will probably be some really big games and some really bad ones where Westbrook gets out of control and keeps forcing the issue with no KD. I'd guess Russ probably averages 27-28 on slightly lower than normal efficiency.

The Thunder really are not built to handle an injury to KD. They are so top heavy and really only have one other guy on the roster who can in any way create his own shot in Reggie. It should have happened anyway but they really need to start Adams now, need the offense. Starting lineup should probably be RW-Reggie-Roberson-Ibaka-Adams. They will need to try and run as much as possible.

[ronnymac2]

http://www.rotoworld.com/player/nba/1846/reggie-jackson

Jesus Christ...Maybe Westbrook will be averaging 35 shots per game after all.

[SideshowBob]

Yeah this puts even more of a load on him, he's going to have such a huge role on the ball.

[MisterHibachi]

Looking forward to the wonders he will do for my fantasy team.

[Joseph17]

The talent is there, but I still wouldn't be comfortable with him as my point guard if I was a Thunder fan. Get a real pg and put him at the 2.

[Joseph17]

When did these become a thing for every player?

I swear we only used to do these for top 1-3 players.

Anyway, can't wait for WB this year, whenever he was on the court last year he was absurdly productive. Will be interesting to see re-kindled Rose vs. WB debates if the latter can stay healthy. They're 2 of my 5 favorite players (along with Mamba, PG24, and Melo).

Also interested to see how much he slides over to SG this season with the pathetic Lamb/Roberson rotation you guys have going at SG atm. I actually like him and Reggie as backcourt partners at least for short stretches, I think it would serve Brooks well to at least experiment with that lineup a bit more. May serve to improve the Westbrook/Durant dynamic.

He's arguably the 3rd best player in the NBA. I consider him the 3rd most talented player in the league.

[bondom34]

Lamb questionable too. They have 9 on the roster for sure tomorrow.

[bondom34]

Wow, if they don't start 0-2 it may be by a miracle:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/527148839711805440[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/527171286447845377[/tweet]

Only good news is:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/527147851902881792[/tweet]

[Wall34]

I really feel like Westbrook won't play very well he is going to be very streaky without Durant...He's going to get more defensive attentions than he's use to.

[PaulieWal]

It's only the first half of the first game but right now I am absolutely loving what I am seeing from GOATbrook.