Around the League

[Pugz]

I apologize in advance if this reopens Pandora's Box, but I swear it has nothing to do with the whole "RJ Celebrating Incident" — why the hell isn't the media all over Russell Westbrook's ass?

Seriously, lost in the insanity of the end of that game last night is the fact that, at one point, RW hogged the ball and took shots on SIX STRAIGHT POSSESSIONS WITHOUT PASSING TO A TEAMMATE. Then, when his coach correctly benched him for it, he responded by pouting and sulking at the end of the bench, and even moved down two seats to get FURTHER AWAY from a team huddle that Donovan was conducting.

And I even heard some of the talking heads make excuses for him! "He's just so competitive that he wants to take over this game! That's the type of guy I want on my team!"

No, you don't. No one in the history of the NBA was more competitive than Larry Bird, and he NEVER would've ignored his teammates like that. Ditto Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, or (right across the court from RW last night) Tim Duncan. Plus, Westbrook's the freakin' POINT GUARD, the extension of the coach on the floor; for a PG to hog the ball like that under any circumstance is flatly inexcusable.

Then there's his reaction to being benched. People around here wanna criticize Dre for sulking when SVG pulls him in Hack-a-Shaq situations? What Westbrook did last night was exponentially worse. Dre's a 22 year old center who gets frustrated by the shortcomings in his own game; Westbrook's 27, supposed to be a team leader, and he pouted like a spoiled little brat and went out of his way to show up his coach when he actually did his job and coached him.

Rant over, but I'm officially out on Russell Westbrook — he is a great but selfish individual talent who just doesn't get it and will never win an NBA title (think this generation's Allen Iverson).

i agree 100%. hell of a talent, but dude is a cancer. imo, he's never going to win a championship being the key piece, and he does not want to be second fiddle.

[kurtis48239]

I apologize in advance if this reopens Pandora's Box, but I swear it has nothing to do with the whole "RJ Celebrating Incident" — why the hell isn't the media all over Russell Westbrook's ass?

Seriously, lost in the insanity of the end of that game last night is the fact that, at one point, RW hogged the ball and took shots on SIX STRAIGHT POSSESSIONS WITHOUT PASSING TO A TEAMMATE. Then, when his coach correctly benched him for it, he responded by pouting and sulking at the end of the bench, and even moved down two seats to get FURTHER AWAY from a team huddle that Donovan was conducting.

And I even heard some of the talking heads make excuses for him! "He's just so competitive that he wants to take over this game! That's the type of guy I want on my team!"

No, you don't. No one in the history of the NBA was more competitive than Larry Bird, and he NEVER would've ignored his teammates like that. Ditto Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, or (right across the court from RW last night) Tim Duncan. Plus, Westbrook's the freakin' POINT GUARD, the extension of the coach on the floor; for a PG to hog the ball like that under any circumstance is flatly inexcusable.

Then there's his reaction to being benched. People around here wanna criticize Dre for sulking when SVG pulls him in Hack-a-Shaq situations? What Westbrook did last night was exponentially worse. Dre's a 22 year old center who gets frustrated by the shortcomings in his own game; Westbrook's 27, supposed to be a team leader, and he pouted like a spoiled little brat and went out of his way to show up his coach when he actually did his job and coached him.

Rant over, but I'm officially out on Russell Westbrook — he is a great but selfish individual talent who just doesn't get it and will never win an NBA title (think this generation's Allen Iverson).

i agree 100%. hell of a talent, but dude is a cancer. imo, he's never going to win a championship being the key piece, and he does not want to be second fiddle.

The fact that he thinks some of those outfits he tries to pull off and think he looks good in,clearly shows he is drinking his own koolaid.

[kurtis48239]

I hate picking who I want to win between the raps and heat because both teams and fans get on my nerves,but couldn't help but root for the raps to take the first game especially after that Lowry half court shot to send it into overtime.

[Pharaoh]

I apologize in advance if this reopens Pandora's Box, but I swear it has nothing to do with the whole "RJ Celebrating Incident" — why the hell isn't the media all over Russell Westbrook's ass?

Seriously, lost in the insanity of the end of that game last night is the fact that, at one point, RW hogged the ball and took shots on SIX STRAIGHT POSSESSIONS WITHOUT PASSING TO A TEAMMATE. Then, when his coach correctly benched him for it, he responded by pouting and sulking at the end of the bench, and even moved down two seats to get FURTHER AWAY from a team huddle that Donovan was conducting.

And I even heard some of the talking heads make excuses for him! "He's just so competitive that he wants to take over this game! That's the type of guy I want on my team!"

No, you don't. No one in the history of the NBA was more competitive than Larry Bird, and he NEVER would've ignored his teammates like that. Ditto Michael Jordan, Isiah Thomas, or (right across the court from RW last night) Tim Duncan. Plus, Westbrook's the freakin' POINT GUARD, the extension of the coach on the floor; for a PG to hog the ball like that under any circumstance is flatly inexcusable.

Then there's his reaction to being benched. People around here wanna criticize Dre for sulking when SVG pulls him in Hack-a-Shaq situations? What Westbrook did last night was exponentially worse. Dre's a 22 year old center who gets frustrated by the shortcomings in his own game; Westbrook's 27, supposed to be a team leader, and he pouted like a spoiled little brat and went out of his way to show up his coach when he actually did his job and coached him.

Rant over, but I'm officially out on Russell Westbrook — he is a great but selfish individual talent who just doesn't get it and will never win an NBA title (think this generation's Allen Iverson).

The amazing thing to me about Westbrook is that he'll do this often!

Six possessions without passing is just extreme but as a leader and the PG any time your team mates have not moved the ball or made terrible calls offensively it's your job to get the team back into the groove and run the right play to get the right shot!

People completely ignore that!

If KCP takes a quick 3 & misses, then Mook goes 1 on 1 & misses, then Harris fires up a long 2 Reggie Jackson better NOT take some BS shot on the next possession!

That's the time to run a PnR with Dre and get a high % hoop. Not to dish it out for a 3! Get a bucket! Either with the drive, lob, floater - it MUST be done!

Otherwise it's just another wasted possession in the sea!

Westbrook is apparently a championship level PG - I believe my definition of that is a lot different to the talking heads on tv.

Would love to know what SVG, JVG, Pop, Riley & even Phil Jackson really think of Westbrook

[DBC10]

I hate picking who I want to win between the raps and heat because both teams and fans get on my nerves,but couldn't help but root for the raps to take the first game especially after that Lowry half court shot to send it into overtime.

I actually like Lowry, I think he would've been the perfect PG for us.

But the Raptors as a whole I can't stand because of their fanbase. I'll root for Wade and the Heatles because of it.

[DBC10]

Also, Draymond is as good as he's been advertised. So many people said that he wouldn't be effective without Curry, but it's literally just Klay out there and Dray is still posting up great stats.

He's their heart and soul.

[joedumars1]

Anyone want to bitch about the Pistons D against Cleveland? Checkout what ATL is doing... supposedly have one of the best Defenses in the league too

[beechnut]

Anyone want to bitch about the Pistons D against Cleveland? Checkout what ATL is doing... supposedly have one of the best Defenses in the league too

Just makes the Pistons effort look that much better. We're 2-3 bench pieces away from being serious contenders in the East

[The_Irony]

Hawks losing by 40 is truly an embarrassment.

The East needs to watch out for Detroit next year

[MrBigShot]

LeBron having such an easy path to the finals (compared to teams in the west) for most of his career is also a joke.

[joedumars1]

RJ on NBA TV giving his brilliant insight. I thought it was kinda weird with what he just said tho. It was something like if a teammate isn't capable of doing something on the court not to get mad at him and just let it go. I may be way off only caught a little bit of it. I kinda interpreted like RJ are you saying that's ok? If it's Defense and staying in front of your man that's usually pure effort damn it, lol. Idk

[Pharaoh]

RJ on NBA TV giving his brilliant insight. I thought it was kinda weird with what he just said tho. It was something like if a teammate isn't capable of doing something on the court not to get mad at him and just let it go. I may be way off only caught a little bit of it. I kinda interpreted like RJ are you saying that's ok? If it's Defense and staying in front of your man that's usually pure effort damn it, lol. Idk

Based on your post I could imagine he means if a player doesn't have a particular skill then you just roll on.

Every player/person has weaknesses - as a leader you have to acknowledge them but you don't have to beat your buddy to death about it.

Or was RJ talking about something specific? Cause your post is all I got to go on

[joedumars1]

RJ on NBA TV giving his brilliant insight. I thought it was kinda weird with what he just said tho. It was something like if a teammate isn't capable of doing something on the court not to get mad at him and just let it go. I may be way off only caught a little bit of it. I kinda interpreted like RJ are you saying that's ok? If it's Defense and staying in front of your man that's usually pure effort damn it, lol. Idk

Based on your post I could imagine he means if a player doesn't have a particular skill then you just roll on.

Every player/person has weaknesses - as a leader you have to acknowledge them but you don't have to beat your buddy to death about it.

Or was RJ talking about something specific? Cause your post is all I got to go on

You could be correct. I'm not 100% sure what he was exactly talking about. It had to do with the Cavs/Hawks game. It was a little after the game. I just caught him talking. I was hoping it would be on the replay of NBA Gametime, but wasn't.

[DBC10]

I hope this proves that this Cavs team was ready for the playoffs. There was nothing our roster can really do to stop their shooters from missing. They are literally hitting shots they're not supposed to make.

Really was nothing we could do, I'm just glad we kept it close as it is for our series. Being that it was our first playoff taste for the young guys, isn't that progress?

[In SVG We Trust]

Anyone want to bitch about the Pistons D against Cleveland? Checkout what ATL is doing... supposedly have one of the best Defenses in the league too

"This team is awful, we're the worst defense in the league".

[mademan]

LeBron having such an easy path to the finals (compared to teams in the west) for most of his career is also a joke.

The other most likely finals candidate (GSW) is about to make the WCF without their best player and MVP of the league. And OKC upsetting SAS is a legit possibility. Dont think they have much to complain about

[In SVG We Trust]

LeBron having such an easy path to the finals (compared to teams in the west) for most of his career is also a joke.

The other most likely finals candidate (GSW) is about to make the WCF without their best player and MVP of the league. And OKC upsetting SAS is a legit possibility. Dont think they have much to complain about

Make a list of the 10-15 best players in the league. I think there are 2, maybe 3 players of the Eastern Conference.

[mademan]

LeBron having such an easy path to the finals (compared to teams in the west) for most of his career is also a joke.

The other most likely finals candidate (GSW) is about to make the WCF without their best player and MVP of the league. And OKC upsetting SAS is a legit possibility. Dont think they have much to complain about

Make a list of the 10-15 best players in the league. I think there are 2, maybe 3 players of the Eastern Conference.

Im not saying the West isnt better. Im just saying that the winner of the West hasnt exactly had to go through fire to get to the finals the last couple years. This is the 1st year in a while where the winner of the West will actually be tested (if GSW/SAS both advance)

[MrBigShot]

LeBron having such an easy path to the finals (compared to teams in the west) for most of his career is also a joke.

The other most likely finals candidate (GSW) is about to make the WCF without their best player and MVP of the league. And OKC upsetting SAS is a legit possibility. Dont think they have much to complain about

If CP3 & Blake don't get injured the Clippers likely beat the Blazers. Curry's injury sucks, but the Warriors lucked out in facing the Blazers without him instead of the Clippers.

[joedumars1]

Well Indy made a mistake imo. Let Vogel go. He hasn't had much of a chance with the players he has. How many of them players have been with the team for 3 years? Like 3 or so? I think he did a pretty good job with what he had. Think he should've got 1 more year to see what happens tho