The Russell Westbrook Thread (2014/15)

[bondom34]

When the playoffs start, Perkins can be trusted upon to bring it

We don't know how someone as green as Adams will play

Looked damn good when he played against the Clippers.

Also stood up Duncan on Xmas. Perk's taught him everything, he's quite capable and numbers seem to show a better defender than Perk already. His rim protection numbers are better than Perk or Ibaka.

[PaulieWal]

When the playoffs start, Perkins can be trusted upon to bring it

We don't know how someone as green as Adams will play

Looked damn good when he played against the Clippers.

Also stood up Duncan on Xmas. Perk's taught him everything, he's quite capable and numbers seem to show a better defender than Perk already. His rim protection numbers are better than Perk or Ibaka.

Perkins should only be used in stretches and against the bigger physical guys like Howard and Gasol IMO.

KD35brah did a fantastic job showing how Perkins negatively impacts GOAT and I had suspected as much. That's why Ibaka is also good shooting 3s, opens up things for GOAT and KD when he's back.

[bondom34]

KD35brah did a fantastic job showing how Perkins negatively impacts GOAT and I had suspected as much. That's why Ibaka is also good shooting 3s, opens up things for GOAT and KD when he's back.

Yeah, Perk is really really a guy who is limited and should be used that way. The only thing that surprised me a little was the rim protection numbers for Adams being better than Ibaka even. Honestly I'm still amazed at how far he's come considering he was really expected to be in the D league even this year.

[KD35Brah]

Perkins should only be used in stretches and against the bigger physical guys like Howard and Gasol IMO.

KD35brah did a fantastic job showing how Perkins negatively impacts GOAT and I had suspected as much. That's why Ibaka is also good shooting 3s, opens up things for GOAT and KD when he's back.

That was dfins891.

[PaulieWal]

Perkins should only be used in stretches and against the bigger physical guys like Howard and Gasol IMO.

KD35brah did a fantastic job showing how Perkins negatively impacts GOAT and I had suspected as much. That's why Ibaka is also good shooting 3s, opens up things for GOAT and KD when he's back.

That was dfins891.

Credit where credit is due then, dfins891 did a great job showing how bad Perkins is though most of us already knew from the eye-test. The numbers help us quantify it.

[KD35Brah]

Ibaka is about to drop 30.

[KD35Brah]

I didn't think Ibaka was a 3pt shooter we can throw the ball to and expect a swish consistently, but he has proven me wrong.

Still hate that he is allergic to fouls though.

KD, Morrow, and Ibaka in one lineup is going to spread the floor like crazy for Westbrook and Jackson.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/549390955540131841[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/DarnellMayberry/status/549390357658480640[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/549389298257371136[/tweet]

[dfins891]

Terrible shooting night tonight. Still contributing at least with 7 rebound 8 assists and 5 steals. I know his whole thing is to always be aggressive but I just wish he knew he's way off and would stop taking tough shots. Even the FTs he's made tonight bounced around a few times before going in.

[KD35Brah]

Brooks needs to get this lineup out NOW!

[KD35Brah]

GET PERKINS OUT!!

[KD35Brah]

Really...

[dfins891]

Another meltdown down the stretch. Just like the Pelicans game. Brooks need to bench him when he pulls this ****. He's too good for this to still be happening.

[makaveli_99]

okc ain't going nowhere without kd.... westy can try all he wants, but he ain't doing what kd did for okc last year.

any timetable on when KD will be back?

[PaulieWal]

okc ain't going nowhere without kd.... westy can try all he wants, but he ain't doing what kd did for okc last year.

any timetable on when KD will be back?

KD is obviously the better player when healthy but KD wouldn't go anywhere either without a healthy RW. We saw that in 2013.

So far this season OKC is 11-7 with RW. That's on pace for 50 wins over 82 games. They both need each other, they are both single man armies without the other and that's not going to do anything.

[bondom34]

okc ain't going nowhere without kd.... westy can try all he wants, but he ain't doing what kd did for okc last year.

any timetable on when KD will be back?

As Paulie said, its a mutual thing. Ultimately they aren't going anywhere w/o both. I just hope they both realize that and stay in OKC.

[bondom34]

Another bad stretch, Serge was on fire and didn't get it enough. Man, would really feel better if they could get to .500.

[dfins891]

Another bad stretch, Serge was on fire and didn't get it enough. Man, would really feel better if they could get to .500.

Brooks deserves a lot of the blame here. The Thunder have lost so many close games this season it ridiculous. They have no idea what to do without KD down the stretch of games. It was purely Reggie hero ball and now that Westbrook is back its Westbrook hero ball. When Durant is healthy its Durant hero ball where he tries to post up at the 3 point line for 15 seconds while Westbrook tries to pass to him. Durant is just good enough to make it work a lot of the time. The little amount of ball movement they have during games completely dies in 4th quarters.

[bondom34]

This is KD, but was from Daily Thunder and is cool to me. He can afford it I'm sure, but still cool:

Cool moment pregame: A locker room attendant brought KD some food and handed him his change. Durant looked at him and said, “Nah, you keep it.” The kid said, “Wait, all of it?” Durant said, “Yeah, you good.” The kid looked up, stunned. It was a $100 tip. And judging by his reaction, those don’t come around all that often.

[KD35Brah]

Article on the Thunder's troubles on finding Ibaka in 4th quarters. A problem which has plagued them for years.

http://newsok.com/okc-thunder-serge-iba ... 92/?page=1

Ibaka was on his way to a career performance through three quarters against the Mavs. He sat on 24 points, three shy of his career high, entering the final period. He poured in 14 points in the third to help the Thunder outscore the Mavs, 30-17, and wrestle away momentum. Ibaka had the hottest hand in the building and illustrated as much by twice leaving a hand posed in a follow-through position as he transitioned to defense following two late-period makes.

"Ibaka has never publicly complained about the issue and once again took the high road following the Mavs game."

“That’s basketball, man. I’m not really worried about that,” Ibaka said. “We’ve got great players on the team. We were playing against a good team, too. We’ve got players like Reggie (Jackson) and Russ that can make plays and (Anthony) Morrow can shoot the ball. I was not the only one player on the court that can shoot the ball. That happens sometimes. But it’s not something I’m worried about. I’m sure the most important thing is we’re going to learn from the mistakes and get better next game.”

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Morrow, by the way, can be added to the above list. He’s also averaging more fourth quarter points than Ibaka. The first-year Thunder sharpshooter is averaging 3.8 points in the final period.

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“My first job always is defense here on this team,” Ibaka stressed. “Some games I’m going to shoot 15 (shots). I don’t really worry about the shots. All I can do is keep working when the opportunity comes.”

The phrase trust has become a popular buzzword the Thunder relies on rather than pointing the finger.

But start digging and the data on Westbrook in particular jumps out as disturbing and explains much of the Ibaka issue.

Westbrook is averaging 5.6 shot attempts in the fourth quarter this season, tying him with Carmelo Anthony for the league lead. Much of Westbrook’s assertiveness is due to Durant having appeared in only nine games this season. But the numbers suggest Westbrook is going about things the wrong way late in games. He’s shooting just 39.7 percent in the fourth quarter and dishing only 0.9 assists.

Meanwhile, Westbrook’s usage percentage, or the percentage of the team’s plays that end in him taking a shot, a free throw attempt or turning it over, skyrockets to 41.9 percent in the final period.

But while Westbrook is shouldering the load primarily by shooting, he’s overlooking other sources of quality offense.

Namely Ibaka.

Ibaka is hitting 52.9 percent of his shots in the fourth quarter this season. Unlike Westbrook and many other players, it’s been Ibaka’s most efficient quarter. Last season, Ibaka shot 57.9 percent in the fourth quarter (and attempted only 1.9 shots on average in the final period).

This has been a problem when Durant was in the lineup as well. This has to mostly be put on Brooks and his offensive sets in the 4th quarter.

[bondom34]

Yeah, the blame is a bit on everyone. I'm a fan of Brooks, but this is a weakness of his.