I didn't think they'd start a rookie PF most of the year, nor did I think the coach would totally lose his mind. I thought Cam would step in at backup PG and they'd have a competent ball handler there. I thought shooting wouldn't be quite such an issue. And I thought they'd make a move for a two way wing. I also didn't think Russ would win MVP nor average a triple double, nor have to carry the offense this much.
But here we are. And here I am, rambling a bit (sorry this might get long I'm just putting a season's worth of thoughts into a post and it's been a while). It sucks to lose when you've clearly got the best player and when he's on court you're the better team. It sucks more that for whatever reason he's always been the enemy to nearly every opposing fan despite doing just about everything right other than being a pure sunshine and lollipops personality who kisses everyone's butt at every chance.
You guys all know I became a fan of this team for Cupcake, but stayed a fan for Russ. Why? Because it became readily apparent that though one was considered the franchise cornerstone, the other was the one doing the grunt work. For 8 years, every loss was on Russ, every win was on Kevin. Every shot he missed was one that should have been KD's, and KD never got the ball enough even when winning 2 scoring titles. He was the leader, always was, always will be. One thing I always look for in an athlete is that I like players who make errors of excess, not omission. Are you messing up because you're trying too hard or not enough? Well, Russ isn't ever not trying hard enough. It drew me to him and away from KD at times.
But onto narrative, it's never changed. It started in 2008 when he was drafted. He was a reach, OKC should have taken another guard. Heck, here's RealGM's take:
http://basketball.realgm.com/article/208954
Spoiler:
Yep, should have taken Jerryd Bayless.
Then came the years after. Russ was supposedly being dragged on by Cupcake, taking the blame even when he played well. On came 2013 and finally it seemed people realized he was important. He took a cheap shot and went out hurt (in a year I think they win the title if he's healthy, or at least their best shot at it). The team just looked bad without him and got basically waxed by the Grizzlies. He returned the following year and was in and out of the lineup. But still, the blame came back to him. Year after that he got some run on his own but missed the playoffs because of the 15ish games both he and KD missed to start the season, which of course is remembered by some as "he couldn't drag them to the playoffs" despite being at a pace to clearly make it when he was healthy. Another 2 years later and he was left alone.
Last offseason everyone told us as fans the team was screwed. He was leaving. There wasn't a point in him staying and he'd either be traded or leave after July 4th. That went on for a month, but on August 3rd I had a surprise when I got home and saw Russ may extend his contract, the next day he did. Maybe he's the one guy, the one STAR who actually likes OKC. Maybe he's a real leader.
Season started and ended now, and there's this new narrative. He isn't making players better, isn't a leader, well that's garbage. Let's just look at it simply, first the "making teammates better". Here's the top 5 players minutes are shared with, and compared to Harden since it seems for whatever reason it's now turned to Houston fans claiming there was some robbery with MVP (which by the way RPM also had Houston winning 1 more game than OKC and pundits thought Charlotte and Detroit would be in the playoffs, that doesn't actually mean those teams are talented, it means pundits were wrong, not a hard concept).
Russ on the court:
Adams: 57.5 eFG, 1.18 PPS
Roberson:51.5 eFT, 1.07 PPS
Oladipo: 51.6 eFG, 1.13 PPS
Sabonis: 46.6 eFG, 0.97 PPS
Grant: 57.6 eFG, 1.21 PPS
I'd also note here those are the 5 he plays most minutes with. Not one of those is a good offensive player at all, one is a rookie, two more are first year on the team.
Russ off court:
Adams: 50.0 eFG, 1.08 PPS
Roberson: 57.4 eFG, 1.06 PPS
Oladipo: 48.1 eFG, 1.02 PPS
Sabonis: 40.5 eFG, 0.87 PPS
Grant: 50.9 eFG, 1.05 PPS
So yea, he makes them better nearly across the board with the lone exception of Dre haveing a higher eFG and lower PPS.
To add to that, he sticks up for his guys. It really hit home when he nailed Tramel in the press conference. He's a leader plain and simple, doesn't make excuses, and doesn't throw teammates under the bus.
I know some want to rebuild. But he's the only star who seems to actually want to be in OKC. He's the MVP. He's a leader, and this season was just a chance for him to show it. Here's to a good offseason, and to anyone beating Golden State and Houston.
