WCQF | (3) Houston Rockets vs Oklahoma City Thunder (6) | HOU 2-1

red96 · Post #1361 » by **red96** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:30 am

Woodsanity wrote:This is NOT a typo. Thunder bench was a -64 tonight. Rockets bench: +41.

All that needs to be said in terms of talent difference.

The Rockets have a top level bench. Harden can carry the starters by himself. Their 2nd and 3rd option's are part of that bench. Well built and thoughtout scheme by Morey and D'Antoni.

RightToCensor · Post #1362 » by **RightToCensor** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:30 am

Pointing out the difference of supporting talent isn't gonna make Rocket fans less giddy about tonight's win. This series should have been tied at 1-1 going into OKC, but god bless Billy D. for his late third quarter lineup and Westbrook for his memorable fourth quarter.

Sakay · Post #1363 » by **Sakay** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:31 am

E-Balla wrote:
DievsZingis wrote:
Sakay wrote:
they're gonna look at the stats and say westbrook is ballhog when in fact, not a single okc player can damn shoot the ball.
he literally is a one man army.

It's funny how it's not an issue in the first half when Westbrook is looking for his assists, the team seems to make shots and give him a double digit lead, all through the third quarter as well as a matter of fact...but once that triple double is secured..... This has happened time and time again.

Tell me something, how many times did he come down and just jack it, how many other players touched the ball on numerous possessions, how many others even get the opportunity to put up a shot during that 4th quarter? One man army? Come on, man. If his teammates where getting the ball and not coming through, it's one thing, but the dude is a bonifide dumbass playing like that in the fourth quarter of a playoff game in which his team actually had a rhythm and a lead....and it was actually because of him...but he changes his tune down the stretch and throws a wrench in it.

He's a great player, and I didn't believe this graph I saw the other day that showed his intentions, when he passes and shoots, but tonight, as a joke, I placed a bet that after he got his triple double he will start chucking and play hero ball, and I made 20 bucks.

Thanks, Russ!

In the first half it wasn't an issue because he had Steven Adams and Taj Gibson to at least finish the layups he spoonfed them. Billy didn't play Taj much in the 2nd half and Adams was in foul trouble so he had to rely on Sabonis, Oladipo, Dougie, and Grant and they're all trash.

Westbrook outscored Houston by 11 in the game. OKC was outscored with Russ in the floor by 4 in the 2nd half. IDK what you were watching but I saw Westbrook willing his team and them doing everything they could to throw the game.

don't forget christon and singler :lol:

i'm not disparaging houston's win. infact, i have them winning this series in 5 games. they are that good.

you can't deny the fact that no one could create offense in okc outside of westbrook, sometimes oladipo, but he was struggling. the moment singler and christon stepped on the floor, the lead was gone.

houston's bench is just better. they went on to erase the lead in the 3rd then harden iced the game up with his clutch shooting.

nbafan38 · Post #1364 » by **nbafan38** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:33 am

EmperorLocky wrote:i unfortunately missed the first three quarters and only got to watch the last quarter. Tremendous first three quarters obviously stat wise for Russ as I didn't get to see him play. But in the end the fourth quarters is where great teams and greater players adjust to win games. Russ couldn't and I'd guess that he'd blame himself like true greats do. It was one terrible quarter though and I won't count him out the following games. Plenty of superstars have failed in the fourth for multiple reasons, becoming too passive or just not hitting shots when they have to.

He was clearly tired, the shots he was making the first three quarters were not falling in the fourth. I actually agree he should have deferred a bit more in the fourth but people are almost making it sound on here like he lost them the game which is ridiculous.

Patches Perry · Post #1365 » by **Patches Perry** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:34 am

RightToCensor wrote:Pointing out the difference of supporting talent isn't gonna make Rocket fans less giddy about tonight's win. This series should have been tied at 1-1 going into OKC, but god bless Billy D. for his late third quarter lineup and Westbrook for his memorable fourth quarter.

Rockets fans have a lot to be excited about. The bitterness of Harden probably not winning MVP is making them want to focus on Russell.

As a Thunder fan, I am excited for Russell probably winning MVP. That's about it at this point.

HotTubMike · Post #1366 » by **HotTubMike** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:34 am

Patches Perry wrote:
K_chile22 wrote:
Patches Perry wrote:
How many games does OKC win with Harden instead of Westbrook?

I don't know, and neither do you, so these hypotheticals are pointless arguments.

I'm down with that, so let's stop with the making teeeaaammmatess bettterr rhetoric, because we don't know.

We sure know RW doesn't make his any better.

ikedog34 · Post #1367 » by **ikedog34** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:34 am

Westbrook took more shots in the 4th than harden took all game. I noticed harden continued to feed Ryan Anderson even though the dude couldn't hit the side of a barn. That's leadership. That's instilling confidence in your team. Even on last year's garbage rockets team harden wasn't jacking like that. It's bad basketball. But hey, westbrook's stats are nice I guess.

bakesale · Post #1368 » by **bakesale** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:36 am

I didn't get to watch the game but why is Adams only taking 3 shots? You give him a 100 mil contract and he only gets 3 shots? that's ridiculous, meanwhile RW gets 43 shots. Again I didn't see this game, but I'd wanna get Adams more involved if I was OKC.

Post #1369 » by **TMU** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:37 am

Regardless, the series is far from over. The Rockets simply protected home court, and OKC has a lot to figure out how to close out games and get more guys involved with their offense.

Patches Perry · Post #1370 » by **Patches Perry** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:38 am

HotTubMike wrote:
Patches Perry wrote:
K_chile22 wrote:I don't know, and neither do you, so these hypotheticals are pointless arguments.

I'm down with that, so let's stop with the making teeeaaammmatess bettterr rhetoric, because we don't know.

We sure know RW doesn't make his any better.

How many games does OKC win with Harden instead of Westbrook?

Post #1371 » by **og15** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:39 am

OKC would have really helped themselves by getting a solid ball handler / shot creator off their bench.

Didn't see the game, but it certainly looks like that hurt them. Westbrook shot a lot, and from the posts it seems like he was in a bit of an extreme chuck mode in the 4th. Still, he was +11 for the game, so he certain didn't "lose" the game by any means.

Maybe the tides will turn for them when they get back home and we might be discussing how game 5 is really important as the series is tied 2-2

nbafan38 · Post #1372 » by **nbafan38** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:40 am

Billy Donavan who did a great job of coaching last year in the playoffs for a while seems like a rookie, terrible job of coaching but he's probably still shell shocked he doesn't have Durant on the team.

StepBackCrack · Post #1373 » by **StepBackCrack** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:43 am

People just don't want to admit that Harden is much better at making his teammates better. He is much smarter and way more collected which makes him much better decision maker. That's the main difference between the 2. Russ is a great player but there is no excuse for taking that many shots in the 4th. Harden would never do that no matter how bad his teammates are. He is much smarter than that. He realizes this is a team game and there is no place for "I'm by far the best so I can take all the shots" mentality. As the PG/primary decision maker, it's your responsibility to keep your teammates in rhythm or get them in rhythm and to do that they got to touch the ball more to feel more involved. There gotta be some level of trust for your teammates to make them feel confident about themselves and actually give them a chance to help.

Teckon · Post #1374 » by **Teckon** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:43 am

Harden and Westbrook both get what they wanted.

Harden got the win. He has been saying winning matters most. Westbrook got his 50pts triple double - an individual record in playoff.

NBAFan93 · Post #1375 » by **NBAFan93** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:45 am

Omg - Westbrook just dropped an F bomb in the post game interview. He'll get fined for that won't he?

Illmatic12 · Post #1376 » by **Illmatic12** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:45 am

Yooo they don't censor the press conferences on NBATV? Russ just cursed loud af lmaooo

"I don't give a **** about my statline" :lol:

Post #1377 » by **7 Footer** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:46 am

Westbrook shot his team out of the series, so many unnecessary stupid shots, not a good look

deezerweeze · Post #1378 » by **deezerweeze** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:47 am

KD_Steph wrote:People just don't want to admit that Harden is much better at making his teammates better.

There's literally NOTHING to support this. Nothing.

It's more like people just don't want to admit that Harden's supporting is FAR better, and we actually do have mountains of evidence to support this.

That's the difference.

nbafan38 · Post #1379 » by **nbafan38** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:48 am

Teckon wrote:Harden and Westbrook both get what they wanted.

Harden got the win. He has been saying winning matters most. Westbrook got his 50pts triple double - an individual record in playoff.

Pretty sure if you watch the postgame, Westbrook did not get what he wanted out of this game.

trickshot · Post #1380 » by **trickshot** » Thu Apr 20, 2017 3:50 am

KD_Steph wrote:People just don't want to admit that Harden is much better at making his teammates better. He is much smarter and way more collected which makes him much better decision maker. That's the main difference between the 2. Russ is a great player but there is no excuse for taking that many shots in the 4th. Harden would never do that no matter how bad his teammates are. He is much smarter than that. He realizes this is a team game and there is no place for "I'm by far the best so I can take all the shots" mentality. As the PG/primary decision maker, it's your responsibility to keep your teammates in rhythm or get them in rhythm and to do that they got to touch the ball more to feel more involved. There gotta be some level of trust for your teammates to make them feel confident about themselves and actually give them a chance to help.

Yes. Trying to win games playing that way is always a futile effort no matter the player. Lebron got killed for it but he had the right idea knowing it's better to lose sharing the ball than trying to outscore a good team by yourself. You MAY WIN with the former, you WILL lose with the latter

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