slick_watts wrote:it's interesting watching the team react to stimuli. in the wake of all the questioning re: carmelo's role in 4Q, he still plays in 4Q but attempts no shots in six minutes (and gets roasted by davis bertans). on top of that, westbrook one-ups him with his own inexplicable three point attempt down the stretch.
if this wasn't a deliberate, petulant counter punch to the critics then i don't know what is.
He did a lot more than that to one up him. Carmelo is a 3rd option by necessity and his choosing, playing out of his normal style and touches, and numbers along with tape show to be one hell of a decoy that must be guarded.
Westbrook is the first option, but his constant FU it's my time approach to his teammates in the 4th are always on full display. Sometimes it works, many times it doesn't. Fact is as a point guard with this much help, he's got to find a better approach. To actually make the team better if they put the ball in his hands. Sometimes, that just means giving it up. He's not a skilled enough scorer to do this and it be a reliable weapon for a team with championship aspirations. He needs to be able to elevate the team if you're the one chosen over all of this talent to have a green light.
That's also on the coach for not having a system that just involved finding the best shot, as opposed to counting on Westbrook to make the best play.