The Russell Westbrook Thread: 2016-2017

[TroubleS0me]

& they said he doesnt have help..who is he gonna pass the ball too.....

[ardee]

Maybe it is more to compete next year?

OKC now have the best point guard in the league and reigning MVP + one of the elite two way wing players. They have size and defense too.

They're one move away from being a viable contender to the title; and that move isn't a superstar or even star player, but rather a good 3 & D player to replace Roberson. Let's say:

Westbrook
Ingles
George
Gibson
Adams

This would be an elite team on both offense and defense.

Presti has a hard on over athletic guys that can't shoot for some reason. OKC needed spacing for years yet the team is still stuck with Roberson at the 2. The sooner they replace him with a good shooter (and decent defensively at least), the better. Ingles would be great. Not sure he can play the 2 however. Someone like JJ Redick would be perfect next to Westbrook.

Redick would be great indeed.

All in all, if OKC start next year without Roberson in the lineup, they're my pick to make at least the WCF.

Westbrook
Ingles/Reddick
George
Gibson
Adams

This is obviously a great offensive team; you have one of the top players in the league and current MVP at the point + one of the elite two way wing players in this league. And you have shooting and real spacing. Westbrook will likely be a lot more efficient driving to the rim now that OKC have shooters that have to be respected. Gibson and Adams aren't going to be scoring much, but they are going to be dominating on the offensive glass; if there's one thing OKC were good at this year, it was offensive rebounding.

It also has the potential to be one of the best defensive teams in the league. Westbrook will be able to focus more on defense now that he doesn't have to do everything, and the rest of the team are very good defenders.

Plus now you can run bench units with always one of Westbrook/George on the floor handling the ball and running the offense. George/Roberson/McDermott/Abrines/Kanter for instance is a pretty good bench lineup with Westbrook resting...

I really like it.

[NO-KG-AI]

I think there has to be a pretty good chance George stays if the Thunder do and say the right thing.

Great fit to, I don't like George overly dominating the ball and trying to be something he's not. But his size, shooting, and versatility are good for anyone, especially a team with a dominant guy who demands a ton of possessions.

[Pillendreher]

If there's one guy who checks all the boxes next to Russ, it's George:

-Able to create shots for himself and others
-Great shooter
-Great defender
-Wants to win
-Steps up to the challenge

Magnificent trade. Now let's hope Presti builds on it and we can take the fight to the rest of the league.

Go Thunder!

[bondom34]

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[Joey Wheeler]

Deserved. All that's left for Russ is to win a title for OKC, if he does that he'll be one of the biggest legends in NBA history.

Looking forward to another great season next year, but with a deep playoff run now that he has some real help.

[bondom34]

Didn't know where to leave this, and didn't think it fit in the OT thread, but an interesting theory:

http://www.odetooden.com/home/2017/7/24/bmkw86wxy01iru75lrj8x00o75y7nz

Above, we see they are the second best Fast Break team in the NBA by a fair margin. That's not just because of offense. It's because of their defense, as we can see above. Over the course of a game, the Thunder allow two less points than an average NBA team in transition. This allowed their defense to be above average (10th in the league) despite being slightly below so in the half court.

Everyone has noted that Russell Westbrook leaves his man in the half-court to get rebounds. This is in general thought to be a stain on the reputation of Russell Westbrook, yet some very smart people have noted that the Russell Westbrook was doing so in order to get the rebounds that were often the first step in Oklahoma City's transition game. As we can all see, Oklahoma City were a good team precisely because they were good in transition.

Russell Westbrook personifies the phrase "One Man Fast Break". Though what we see here, in these many dunks (some in transition, some in the half court) are not just good offensive plays. They are good defensive plays as well. How so? Well, because Russell Westbrook is a one man fast break.

Now watch the videos again. Instead of watching Russell Westbrook, watch for these things instead:

1) The number of men Oklahoma City has to commit to its Fast Break and how hard they commit them. It's often just Westbrook, and even when five men make it up the court, two or three are often lagging and prepared to get back on defense.

2) The number of defenders in the paint when Westbrook completes the play. It's often none. When this is the case, the defense has time to set as someone from the opposing team must get back to inbound the ball. It's also often four or five. When this is the case, the defense has time to set as everyone besides Westbrook already has an advance on the offense getting down court.

That is to say, that certain fast breaks, should they be successful, are better than others. 1-on-none or really 1-on-anything fast breaks allow the defense a better chance to set than odd man rushes that seem to be in the offenses favor. For example, 3-on-1, 4-on-2, 5-on-3 plays potentially leave the offense exposed because two opponents are left behind the play, potentially ready to flip the switch and become offensive players.

[bondom34]

https://fansided.com/2017/08/11/nylon-calculus-measuring-creation-box-score/

So who is the best creator over the last forty seasons according to the metric? The current MVP, Russell Westbrook.

[bondom34]

Probably the last post itt, but a good read, posted in the Lebron thread too:

https://fansided.com/2017/09/06/nylon-calculus-balancing-volume-scoring-efficiency/

MVP-Meter confirms that Russell Westbrook’s season was quite impressive. As mentioned, in terms of individual scoring, he wasn’t super efficient (short purple box), but his playmaking made his teammates better (tall green box) and he carried a huge load on offense (wide purple and green boxes). His MVP-Meter was further enhanced by the relative ineptitude of his teammates — he had the lowest teammate efficiency of any qualified player (minimum 2,000 minutes played) at 0.93 points per possession. The Thunder had a lot of trouble scoring if Westbrook didn’t do it himself or, at least, facilitate his teammates with an assist.

[bondom34]

OK 1 more...

https://fansided.com/2017/09/07/russell-westbrook-off-ball-paul-george-durant-comparison/

[Pillendreher]

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[ardee]

What are you guys thinking for his numbers with the reconfigured roster? In addition to George, Patterson actually offers a pretty decent spacing effect at the 4, and you know he's going to get open looks with Russ driving.

I think scoring will drop, no lower than 26-27 though, and assists might climb even further.

[ardee]

Deserved. All that's left for Russ is to win a title for OKC, if he does that he'll be one of the biggest legends in NBA history.

Looking forward to another great season next year, but with a deep playoff run now that he has some real help.

Already is. But a title would be icing on the cake.

I hope they win one in the next 2-3 years before the Lakers become good enough to be contenders and I can't root for OKC anymore

[bondom34]

What are you guys thinking for his numbers with the reconfigured roster? In addition to George, Patterson actually offers a pretty decent spacing effect at the 4, and you know he's going to get open looks with Russ driving.

I think scoring will drop, no lower than 26-27 though, and assists might climb even further.

I'd hope/guess around the same as when cupcake was around but better playmaking. I think he improved a bit there last year.

[Rapcity_11]

What are you guys thinking for his numbers with the reconfigured roster? In addition to George, Patterson actually offers a pretty decent spacing effect at the 4, and you know he's going to get open looks with Russ driving.

I think scoring will drop, no lower than 26-27 though, and assists might climb even further.

I'd hope/guess around the same as when cupcake was around but better playmaking. I think he improved a bit there last year.

When did Ray Felton play for the Thunder?

[bondom34]

What are you guys thinking for his numbers with the reconfigured roster? In addition to George, Patterson actually offers a pretty decent spacing effect at the 4, and you know he's going to get open looks with Russ driving.

I think scoring will drop, no lower than 26-27 though, and assists might climb even further.

I'd hope/guess around the same as when cupcake was around but better playmaking. I think he improved a bit there last year.

When did Ray Felton play for the Thunder?

What do you mean? He hasn't yet but signed a few weeks ago.

[Rapcity_11]

I'd hope/guess around the same as when cupcake was around but better playmaking. I think he improved a bit there last year.

When did Ray Felton play for the Thunder?

What do you mean? He hasn't yet but signed a few weeks ago.

Felton is the OG cupcake.

[bondom34]

When did Ray Felton play for the Thunder?

What do you mean? He hasn't yet but signed a few weeks ago.

Felton is the OG cupcake.

Always considered him more of a donut lol.

[Woodsanity]

I think with Paul George he will average 25 ppg on 55-56 TS% and with 10 dimes and 8 boards a game. I hope I am wrong and his efficiency is better than that but I notice WB's efficiency stays relatively the same whether he scores on really high volume (30+ ppg) or just high volume (22-25 ppg).

[bondom34]

Looks like that metric was updated slightly. Top stays pretty similar though.

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