Tritodian wrote:Waiters' past TS% is not the issue
If it's not the issue, then why harp on his 1% increase over last year? Does his past TS% only count if it fits into an anti-Westbrook agenda?
since what I'm trying to prove is Westbrook is making his teammates go cold during the game by not involving them enough and taking them out of the flow of the game
You haven't proved that, though. You've pointed to Durant - a historically efficient player who had a 50-40-90 season
with Westbrook - and two players (Oladipo and Waiters) who hardly distinguished themselves as efficient scorers
before they played with Westbrook as "proof" that Westbrook makes everyone worse at shooting.
And you still don't have an explanation for why all of Adams, Taj, Oladipo, McDermott and Kanter's TS% went down despite taking fewer shots if Westbrook was so great at making his teammates better.
Adams took 8.2 shots per game this season, his career high by a country mile. So your claim that he's "taking fewer shots" this year is just factually incorrect. His 58% TS% was a step back from last year's 62%, but still much better than his first two seasons in the league (54% in both seasons).
Gibson's 7.8 shots per game and 52% TS% with the Thunder this season are both directly in line with his career averages. It's hard to claim that Westbrook has been bad for his game when he's playing at his normal level. Keep in mind also that Gibson wasn't even on the Thunder until after the trade deadline. He hasn't had a full season to build chemistry yet.
Oladipo took more shots per game this season (13.9) than he did last season (13.5). So there's another player who isn't shooting less often with Westbrook running the show. His 53% TS% is exactly the same as last year's.
McDermott, like Taj, joined the Thunder during the season. He's only taking one fewer shot per game than his career average, and his 55% TS% is the exact same as his career TS% and the TS% he had with the Bulls this season.
Kanter is taking more shots per game this year (10.2) than he did last year (8.8). His 60% TS% is a step back from last year but still better than his 57% career TS%.
You have yet to name a single Thunder player that has both taken less shots this year and shot significantly worse.