The Russell Westbrook Thread (2014/15)

[thizznation]

Curry draws more attention with his off the ball play, he doesn't need a 40 percentage usage rate to be effective. Creates more space for Durant and the rest of the team with out being as ball dominant.

Keep it up with the personal attacks though.

Please, there have been no personal attacks on you whatsoever. You are making ridiculous statements and then getting called out. We get it , Curry is the real GOAT and RW is not as good in your eyes as he is in ours. Let's just move on because the thread is getting derailed at this point.

Ok keep on calling me Skip Bayless and then refuse to address anything I bring up. If you guys wanted to have a one sided rah rah westbrook fest then you should of just made this thread in the OKC forum. This is the player comparison board where we actually.....compare players.

[PaulieWal]

Curry draws more attention with his off the ball play, he doesn't need a 40 percentage usage rate to be effective. Creates more space for Durant and the rest of the team with out being as ball dominant.

Keep it up with the personal attacks though.

Please, there have been no personal attacks on you whatsoever. You are making ridiculous statements and then getting called out. We get it , Curry is the real GOAT and RW is not as good in your eyes as he is in ours. Let's just move on because the thread is getting derailed at this point.

Ok keep on calling me Skip Bayless and then refuse to address anything I bring up. You guys should of just made this thread in the OKC forum.

Stop lying, here are the facts:

I said I place Curry slightly ahead of RW in one of my replies to you.
I objected to your implication that Curry helps his teammates while RW only gets his stats.
I said your statement was Skip Bayless type hyperbole, never called you Skip Bayless. Your statement is hyperbolic.
Lastly, I am not an OKC fan. Funny thing I was talking to a friend during last night's game and I said I want GSW/Memphis to win the West, it would be nice.

What's there to address? You are simply making statements without any objective analysis. Curry and RW are both Top 5 players so far, Curry has been slightly better IMO especially when you consider RW's missed time. But when you start saying RW only gets his stats and only plays well against weak teams, yeah, don't be surprised when people don't take you seriously.

[TaylorMonkey]

Looked like Russell GOATbrick last night.

He's been good, but the sample set is pretty small. And yes, Curry is better having played twice as much of the season. Westbrook is a few shades below. You do wonder what would happen if OKC actually had a decent coach though-- but Westbrook might not be getting his numbers.

[thizznation]

I never said he only gets his stats vs weak teams. I just pointed out that his last 10 games were vs weak opposition. That's it.

About the stat stuffing. I was alluding to the fact that having a boosted TS% because of 15+ free throw attempts a game is not as conductive to helping your teammates on offense rather than playing with someone who is one of the best shooters in the game due to the extra spacing. Westbrooks stats are also inflated by having a usage rate of 40%.

[TaylorMonkey]

Trolling. I still take him over your boy Curry. He's done this for a while now, not just this season. Curry's not better at anything other than shooting.

Lol what? Curry's a way better playmaker, floor general, and passer. That's why he's the offensive engine of the entire team even when it's badly coached and his offensive rating and +/- has been at the top few spots in the league for significantly more games played than Westbrook. His defense is also improving. He definitely felt way less defensive heat against Westbrook than Jackson. Westbrook's defensive has been somewhat overrated because it looks flashy and athletic as he gambles but it doesn't reflect that highly in advanced metrics. I mean Westbrook did just let Curry get off almost as many 3's in a half as KD's epic 1/2 night.

I do agree though, Curry does contribute very little defensively to GSW's great defense.

You haven't been paying much attention. Curry's biggest improvement this year is in his defense.

Curry's best games by game score:
Miami, Houston, LAL twice, ORL, NOP twice, Dallas

Other than Dallas and Houston (neither of whom have a good PG at the time at least), all bad teams.

Lol, again, PLAYMAKING. A little cliche looking only at scoring.

And in that selective and bizarre way of choosing games to count, Curry already has faced the same number of good teams as Westbrook has his entire season (and Kyrie's defense sucks as everyone knows).

Good teams Curry has played: Blazers, Spurs, Clippers, Grizzlies, Rockets X2, Mavericks, Thunder, Bulls (I won't count the first game without either KD or WB). Record against: 7-2

Good teams Westbrook has played: Blazers, Cavs, Warriors. Record against: 1-2

Only counting highest scoring games. Smh.

[bondom34]

Trolling. I still take him over your boy Curry. He's done this for a while now, not just this season. Curry's not better at anything other than shooting.

Lol what? Curry's a way better playmaker, floor general, and passer. That's why he's the offensive engine of the entire team even when it's badly coached and his offensive rating and +/- has been at the top few spots in the league for significantly more games played than Westbrook. His defense is also improving. He definitely felt way less defensive heat against Westbrook than Jackson. Westbrook's defensive has been somewhat overrated because it looks flashy and athletic as he gambles but it doesn't reflect that highly in advanced metrics. I mean Westbrook did just let Curry get off almost as many 3's in a half as KD's epic 1/2 night.

I do agree though, Curry does contribute very little defensively to GSW's great defense.

You haven't been paying much attention. Curry's biggest improvement this year is in his defense.

Curry's best games by game score:
Miami, Houston, LAL twice, ORL, NOP twice, Dallas

Other than Dallas and Houston (neither of whom have a good PG at the time at least), all bad teams.

Lol, again, PLAYMAKING. A little cliche looking only at scoring.

And in that selective and bizarre way of choosing games to count, Curry already has faced the same number of good teams as Westbrook has his entire season (and Kyrie's defense sucks as everyone knows).

Good teams Curry has played: Blazers, Spurs, Clippers, Grizzlies, Rockets X2, Mavericks, Thunder, Bulls (I won't count the first game without either KD or WB). Record against: 7-2

Good teams Westbrook has played: Blazers, Cavs, Warriors. Record against: 1-2

Only counting highest scoring games. Smh.

Honestly, this is a good post. I disagree Curry is a better playmaker and passer, and frankly was just poking at the other poster on his D, I know he's good. As well, I don't see why Westbrook gets no credit for games in which KD played, considering he was better than Durant. Curry got the better of him yesterday, it doesn't change my overall opinion I'd rather have Russ on OKC, but Curry fits GSW better.

[bondom34]

Whatever bro it looks like you are determined to make this a circle jerk russell westbrook thread if any mention of the strength of his opponents is considered "trash talking".

No, I said it in my prior post. If you care to discuss, continue, but I remember now why I started to find some GSW fans tiresome last postseason. I posted on your team board last night, it was a good game, but its guys like you who give fanbases a bad rep. You clearly haven't paid attention if you think KD has been better than Russ this season.

Edit: And if you want to feel all superior about yourself, go ahead to the Curry thread, its fine.

Second edit: http://bkref.com/tiny/kKRXs

So, meh. Russ still ahead in assist percentage, better rebounder, PER, WS/48, OBPM, DBPM.....after a bad game.

Keep stereotyping fanbases and attacking people who bring up legit points.


Steph Curry spaces the floor better, less turnovers, better off ball play, knows when to stop shooting his team out of the game. He would be a perfect fit next to KD.


Would you rather have your offense spaced by one of the greatest shooters of the game, or rely on someone who gets his TS% really high by going to the line 20 times a game. One of these guys makes your teammates better, the other just stuffs the statline.

Well, again you haven't been paying attention. WB makes his teammates better, though Curry does as well. You've just come in to attempt to discredit WB at any chance, and are now beyond bragging about a good game for Curry and onto attempting to belittle Westbrook because he's not as good a floor spacer, when that's clearly not his role. The TO rates are nearly identical.

[bondom34]

Please, there have been no personal attacks on you whatsoever. You are making ridiculous statements and then getting called out. We get it , Curry is the real GOAT and RW is not as good in your eyes as he is in ours. Let's just move on because the thread is getting derailed at this point.

Ok keep on calling me Skip Bayless and then refuse to address anything I bring up. You guys should of just made this thread in the OKC forum.

Stop lying, here are the facts:

I said I place Curry slightly ahead of RW in one of my replies to you.
I objected to your implication that Curry helps his teammates while RW only gets his stats.
I said your statement was Skip Bayless type hyperbole, never called you Skip Bayless. Your statement is hyperbolic.
Lastly, I am not an OKC fan. Funny thing I was talking to a friend during last night's game and I said I want GSW/Memphis to win the West, it would be nice.

What's there to address? You are simply making statements without any objective analysis. Curry and RW are both Top 5 players so far, Curry has been slightly better IMO especially when you consider RW's missed time. But when you start saying RW only gets his stats and only plays well against weak teams, yeah, don't be surprised when people don't take you seriously.

So is this what it was like in the Lebron thread w/ trainwreck? Geez ,GSW plays well for 2 months and their heads explode.

[bondom34]

And OKC has a + 13.7 difference in ORtg with Westbrrok on court.

[PaulieWal]

So is this what it was like in the Lebron thread w/ trainwreck? Geez ,GSW plays well for 2 months and their heads explode.

And the countless other trolls. But hey now you know, RW is definitely playing well if he's attracting this kind of attention. The funny thing is I told him I rate Curry slightly better than RW and he still continued bashing RW. Oh well, as we say in this thread: GOATbrook gon GOAT.

[bondom34]

So is this what it was like in the Lebron thread w/ trainwreck? Geez ,GSW plays well for 2 months and their heads explode.

And the countless other trolls. But hey now you know, RW is definitely playing well if he's attracting this kind of attention. The funny thing is I told him I rate Curry slightly better than RW and he still continued bashing RW. Oh well, as we say in this thread: GOATbrook gon GOAT.

And this I completely get and respect. I can take a legit opinion, but just don't see why there's a need to trash players. Remember a while back when I said I kinda like LAC because they have some cool fans? Yeah, this is why I turned on GSW and started to like the Clips.

[PaulieWal]

So is this what it was like in the Lebron thread w/ trainwreck? Geez ,GSW plays well for 2 months and their heads explode.

And the countless other trolls. But hey now you know, RW is definitely playing well if he's attracting this kind of attention. The funny thing is I told him I rate Curry slightly better than RW and he still continued bashing RW. Oh well, as we say in this thread: GOATbrook gon GOAT.

And this I completely get and respect. I can take a legit opinion, but just don't see why there's a need to trash players. Remember a while back when I said I kinda like LAC because they have some cool fans? Yeah, this is why I turned on GSW and started to like the Clips.

Oh, and don't forget his insistence that we are all OKC fans in this thread including me .

[bondom34]

And the countless other trolls. But hey now you know, RW is definitely playing well if he's attracting this kind of attention. The funny thing is I told him I rate Curry slightly better than RW and he still continued bashing RW. Oh well, as we say in this thread: GOATbrook gon GOAT.

And this I completely get and respect. I can take a legit opinion, but just don't see why there's a need to trash players. Remember a while back when I said I kinda like LAC because they have some cool fans? Yeah, this is why I turned on GSW and started to like the Clips.

Oh, and don't forget his insistence that we are all OKC fans in this thread including me .

This I do find funny

As well as the Mavs mod, Ardee, Sideshow, Hibachi, and some others.....

[TaylorMonkey]

Honestly, this is a good post. I disagree Curry is a better playmaker and passer, and frankly was just poking at the other poster on his D, I know he's good. As well, I don't see why Westbrook gets no credit for games in which KD played, considering he was better than Durant. Curry got the better of him yesterday, it doesn't change my overall opinion I'd rather have Russ on OKC, but Curry fits GSW better.

Well thanks. Pretty rare to for anyone to acknowledge points on the GB sometimes. Props.

I do think Curry is a better floor general-- mainly because he's an extremely unselfish player that looks to pass as much as to shoot, even though he is probably the GOAT 3-point shooter considering difficulty and volume. His vision is uncanny and some of the lobs he throws up are unbelievable. And having watched him the last few seasons, this aspect of his game has been quietly and steadily improving. As good as he's been in the last few seasons, there's a quiet maturity about his floor game that recalls other "pure point guards", whereas he used to sometimes look like a playmaking shooter still trying to figure it out. Even with this year's much better offensive system and collective of players that can handle and contribute, the on/off +/- with Curry is still astronomical. And we all know it's not just because he puts up shots. Like ESS said, Curry's affect on the offense even without shooting was demonstrated when "a trail of Pistons defenders were trailing him like the tail of a comet".

Westbrook is insane at getting to the rim though. It's otherworldly. As far as other aspects of his offense, he's like an irrational confidence guy who's actually really, really good.

[thizznation]

I never said GOATbrook didn't make his teammates better. I just said Curry is better at doing so (I didn't bring this up until bondom kept making comparisons).

[bondom34]

Well thanks. Pretty rare to for anyone to acknowledge points on the GB sometimes. Props.

I do think Curry is a better floor general-- mainly because his an extremely unselfish player that looks to pass almost as much as to shoot, even though he is probably the GOAT 3-point shooter considering difficulty and volume. His vision is uncanny and some of the lobs he throws up are unbelievable. And having watched him the last few seasons, this aspect of his game has been quietly and steadily improving. As good as he's been in the last few seasons, there's a quiet maturity about his floor game that recalls other "pure point guards", whereas he used to sometimes looked like a playmaking shooter still trying to figure it out.

Westbrook is insane at getting to the rim though. It's otherworldly. As far as other aspects of his offense, he's like an irrational confidence guy who's actually really, really good.

Props to you too. Again, I said it before, but if I were GSW, I'd rather Curry, and for OKC, I'd rather Russ. He's exactly what you said in that last sentence, and just gets guys open looks by driving and kicking a ton. The Curry/Klay duo is amazing in its own way and can literally shoot a team into any game (heck OKC was up 17 early last night and that lasted all of like 10 minutes) and can stop most PG/SG combos pretty well defensively. I still remember Curry in college and thinking he'd never make it in the NBA, and I loved him in college (man was so wrong there). Literally the only time I remember seeing him completely shut down was in college, and it was one game.

Spoiler:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7QsXUnq57U[/youtube]

Frankly, OKC only has 2 options on offense, and Russ is one of them. GSW has a few other guys who can at least kinda score, and Kerr has them playing well too. Given the limitations OKC has offensively, I'd take Russ, but completely get the argument for Steph. I just don't like it when people come into player threads and don't contribute, but just try to belittle guys (not you, thizznation). Props to you.

[bondom34]

I never said GOATbrook didn't make his teammates better. I just said Curry is better at doing so (I didn't bring this up until bondom kept making comparisons).

Yeah, you did, and called him a stat stuffer. As well, don't come in acting persecuted if you're the one who started trash talking. Whether you want to think it was or wasn't, it pretty clearly was to everyone other than you. I've replied to TaylorMonkey just a minute ago, he's been cordial in this thread, and I was in return. You were not, and have not been, so I have not been.

[azwfan]

Not gonna get into an arguement of Curry vs. Westbrook, one can probably guess who i prefer (by looking at my fav team). But having said that... Westbrook had a bad game? He looked pretty damn good to me. Him and Durant are the only guys on OKC to worry about offensively and they hung in there the whole game with Durant out the 2nd half. I'd say Westbrook looked awesome. He may have not been as efficient as he could be but what is the alternative... watch Reggie Jackson dribble for 15 seconds and brick a jumper? Seems like Westbrook can get the rim whenever he feels like it and he can hit really REALLY tough shots. I don't know about GOATness but he's pretty damn good.

[TaylorMonkey]

Props to you too. Again, I said it before, but if I were GSW, I'd rather Curry, and for OKC, I'd rather Russ. He's exactly what you said in that last sentence, and just gets guys open looks by driving and kicking a ton. The Curry/Klay duo is amazing in its own way and can literally shoot a team into any game (heck OKC was up 17 early last night and that lasted all of like 10 minutes) and can stop most PG/SG combos pretty well defensively. I still remember Curry in college and thinking he'd never make it in the NBA, and I loved him in college (man was so wrong there). Literally the only time I remember seeing him completely shut down was in college, and it was one game.

Spoiler:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7QsXUnq57U[/youtube]

I can totally understand that. The slashing of Westbrook compliments the shoot-from-everywhere ability of Durant. That relentlessness keeps opponents on their heels, though I do have to wonder what KD looks like next to Curry. Curry does his own paint penetration by forcing players to play up and overreact and with crafty dribbles in traffic, but it's not with the blizting explosiveness of Westbrook. Curry has improved steadily here as well-- a Curry drive in iso has become a very good option in the clutch (like we saw last night) where it didn't used to be, and it's one of the marks of him becoming a superstar (and even MVP candidate).

I do think Curry would get Durant better shots. Westbrook receives the perception that he sometimes freezes Durant out, but as a whole, the difference between a KD/Curry and KD/Westbrook offense would probably be a wash. I'd sure like to see it (in GSW) though. Hah. I do think I'd prefer a KD/Curry pairing with the complementary players Golden State has than a KD/WB pairing in the same situation. But either of those is probably winning a championship (with health).

I've replied to TaylorMonkey just a minute ago, he's been cordial in this thread, and I was in return. You were not, and have not been, so I have not been.

My game must be off. I was actually trying to be a little snarky.

[bondom34]

I do think Curry would get Durant better shots. Westbrook receives the perception that he sometimes freezes Durant out, but as a whole, the difference between a KD/Curry and KD/Westbrook offense would probably be a wash. I'd sure like to see it (in OKC) though.

Fixed that for you!