donnieme wrote:zimpy27 wrote:donnieme wrote:Let's get honest, people give Westbrook more leeway than THT and even Drummond were afforded at a fraction of the cost and age. Many never said one thing nice about those players and they were the same or even better many nights. At 44m he has to contribute the value of 3 championship roleplayers not have poor performances sympathised on nights shooting 20%. Big 3s have always tasked the stars to bring all the production. It's bad enough he's less efficient than 2-4 minimum guys every night. Most lineups are made up of 4 other guys that don't even make half his salary combined.
We've seen Westbrook in 1 star formats, 2 star formats and now a big 3 and the excuse is always the same, teammates aren't good enough to get out of the first round/win a series/make the playoffs comfortably.
The problem with your line of thinking is just patience. You want Westbrook to fill the role of roleplayers and want him to have made that transition in 40 games on a team with the 2nd most injuries and the most changing starting rotation of all teams in the league.
THT has been with the team for 2 years prior to this one, we knew his game before this season started and it hasn't changed until the last couple weeks when he's taking up a bigger hustle role with some scoring here and there. Drummond was good in his role.
Just last season Westbrook had a better PIPM and LEBRON number than his teammate in Beal. The impact player of Westbrook is still there, Lakers just need to find a way that it suits their team.
Kuzma was not good and is still not good. KCP was good. Harrell was going anyway. Pick 22 will probably be a nice player eventually. It wasn't all that much that was given for Westbrook. He hasn't shot well recently but he's still a dangerous player.
Importantly, Lakers are locked in with him. If you are the complaining type then feel free to complain but don't get frustrated with me if I want to look for actual realistic solutions to the Lakers problems.
Well you're not exactly who I had in mind for what happened in last year's play in game and the rockets so if you think it's you I'm looking your way you're wrong. I'm looking at guys who are frequently comparing him to Curry and people who blame his costars and teammates for his underwhelming playoff series. Guess what, Lebron will be added to that blame list when he leaves, the blame train keeps adding cars to its back. I've seen this movie. The sympathies come up so much the player never refined his game and is why he is now suffering on the Lakers. He almost developed a hero complex thanks to the hatred that was placed on KD. It was frustrating seeing all these get stars put down for the benefit of the same player that let the team down.
Point on THT and Drummond is simple, they are garbage and that's the kind of blunt honesty that's needed when discussing Westbrook's performances. It was needed years ago. After so many years being the crazy person in Westbrook talks I'm absolutely loving LA for finally doing this. Keep calling it as it is, LA. Developed huge amounts of respect for them since following Lebron's career there. Probably my most closely followed playoff team this year.
Don't bother yourself with people who think that way. If you look around here, the people with level-headed understanding of the game don't blame LeBron for teammate incompatibility. They don't pile on Curry for his playoff struggles or worry about championships. The people who get how the game works are the only people you should concern yourself with.
You have to give Westbrook credit for the player he is and not buy into the irrationality of a few fans because then you end up dealing in irrationalities.
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