Houston is flying

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Adam Stern
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#121 » by Adam Stern » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:24 pm

The biggest thing I think people are overlooking is that Houston didn't have to gut their team to add Westbrook.
No matter how you feel about the trade you have to know that is HUGE.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#122 » by Axolotl » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:26 pm

It'll work if Westbrook adopts the role of a playmaking drive 'n' kick pg and takes less shots. A lot less shots. His efficiency is such that someone else taking the shot is likely the better option.

Harden keeps doing what Harden does. He is very good at it. Who cares if Westbrook can't play off-ball, I'm sure he is good enough at watching Harden iso.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#123 » by Carlos_Danger » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:28 pm

Getting on my soap box.

WTF s up with all the statements like "if Russ can change" and "if DAntoni can get him to buy in" etc., etc.

FYI Paul George had the best year of his career last year with Russ as his point guard. Ditto Steven Adams the past 2 years.

I thought Russ was the best PG in the league well before the 1st triple double season. I watched this guy out-duel Chris Paul head-to-head in the playoffs and clench a series victory over the Clippers by defending him.

He's a great player, he is NOT selfish, and he simply takes some bad shots from time to time. Even with those bad shots, he's an upgrade over Chris Paul and the best point guard in the NBA. (I don't consider Curry a Point Guard, he's a shooting guard slotted there because of his size and does not play a PG role on offense. Warriors similar to Kerr's Bulls in that regard and Draymond has led them in assists per game the past 4 seasons).
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#124 » by NO-KG-AI » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:29 pm

gmoney411 wrote:
NO-KG-AI wrote:People that thought Cp3 couldn't play off the ball just never watched him play.

Are people really arguing that Westbrook is going to suddenly become an elite off ball player? He can't shoot, he doesn't do anything away from the ball, he has poor shot selection. Not to mention his effort on defense is terrible.

"If he can just focus on taking better shots, and hitting 3's at a higher rate, and playing tough defense all the time..." So yea, if he can do a bunch of stuff that he's literally never been able to do over his first 11 seasons.


All that isn't necessary. Russ just needs to buy into the system. No longer taking all the midrange jumpers he normally will takes will greatly improve his efficiency. You will have to live with him shooting 30% on 3-7 3s a game but it's not nearly that bad if there are no more midrange shots.


k, so no midrange shots, mediocre efficiency at the rim, no off ball movement, no screen setting, and 30% field goal shooting. Simply "buying" into a system doesn't fix all of this.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#125 » by gmoney411 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:52 pm

NO-KG-AI wrote:
gmoney411 wrote:
NO-KG-AI wrote:People that thought Cp3 couldn't play off the ball just never watched him play.

Are people really arguing that Westbrook is going to suddenly become an elite off ball player? He can't shoot, he doesn't do anything away from the ball, he has poor shot selection. Not to mention his effort on defense is terrible.

"If he can just focus on taking better shots, and hitting 3's at a higher rate, and playing tough defense all the time..." So yea, if he can do a bunch of stuff that he's literally never been able to do over his first 11 seasons.


All that isn't necessary. Russ just needs to buy into the system. No longer taking all the midrange jumpers he normally will takes will greatly improve his efficiency. You will have to live with him shooting 30% on 3-7 3s a game but it's not nearly that bad if there are no more midrange shots.


k, so no midrange shots, mediocre efficiency at the rim, no off ball movement, no screen setting, and 30% field goal shooting. Simply "buying" into a system doesn't fix all of this.


Nobody really moves off the ball in Houston. The offense doesn't ask you to. When they won 65 games CP3 wasn't moving off the ball. The Rockets also don't set many guard screens and Paul wasn't doing much of that either. Russ has to be good at attacking the rim and kicking the ball out to be a success in the Rockets offense. If he focuses on doing those two things his efficiency will go up. The thing Russ will have to work on the most is becoming a better pick n roll ball handler.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#126 » by Showdown » Fri Jul 12, 2019 12:58 pm

Flying under the radar = overatting them because they got big name via trade who is a bad fit and player on decline ?
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#127 » by Showdown » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:08 pm

Black Mage wrote:They're flying alright and here's a live look in at the cockpit...

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Roger..
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#128 » by BallerTalk » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:23 pm

Adam Stern wrote:The biggest thing I think people are overlooking is that Houston didn't have to gut their team to add Westbrook.
No matter how you feel about the trade you have to know that is HUGE.


People are too caught up in the glitz right now.
The truth (and significance) of what you pointed out will come to the fore later.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#129 » by Showdown » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:33 pm

inquisitive wrote:people jumping to conclusions just like they did when cp3 joined rockets about the fit with harden.


Paul is good shooter, he is coachable, has great vision and can control himself, Westbrook is a bad shooter, refuse to be coached, often play hero ball and sometimes simple can't control himself. He tried to change his game last year , gave ball to George and let him be first option during RS but in PO he couldn't control himself because he had beef with Lillard and he was back to his old game, shooting team out of PO, at the end of the 4th quarter of the game 5 he took almost all shots and either missed or had turnover, they lost the game altough they had lead 4-5 minutes before the end.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#130 » by dhsilv2 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:35 pm

IAMZOOTED2 wrote:
dhsilv2 wrote:
IAMZOOTED2 wrote:So... it didn't work with Melo or CP3. But we're supposed to believe Westbrook is the key that unlocks it all?

Sorry, not buying it.


The rockets were one of the best teams in NBA history the first year with CP3. It didn't just work, it was one of the best teams EVER.



what do you reckon? In 20 years some hipster producer is gonna make a 30 for 30 about the team that coulda been, but never was? History books are full of those stories already.


I don't know what you're going on about. They were an all time great team. They just ran into Curry and KD on possibly the best team ever assembled. If I were ranking the best nba teams of all time, that rockets team would be well ahead of half the eventual champions without even a second though. That's success by any reasonable measure.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#131 » by Showdown » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:39 pm

Adam Stern wrote:It's funny that for years people were saying Westbrook needs to be surrounded by shooters like Harden has in Houston. Now he has exactly that and people are questioning the fit?


He isn't first option, team is built around Harden so he is the guy that need to shot well
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#132 » by Showdown » Fri Jul 12, 2019 1:42 pm

Krazykiwi wrote:I think people need to calm down with the paper talk of bad fits. Westbrook is a much better player than CP3 at this point of their careers . Westbrook if used correctly, is the best PG in the league . Yes he can’t shoot that great, but you can’t deny his athletic ability and talent . He just takes a lot of bad shots like 20 feet jump shots. He needs to cut down on badshots and do what he does best that’s driving to the rim and kick out to shooters. I think this is the year he has finally learned that his triple double style isn’t the wining style.

People said the samething about Wade and Lebron being bad fit because both were ball dominant and needed the ball in their hands and both weren’t good shooters. But ultimately they were just too talented and still won together.

Also Houston has a lot of shooters Harden included , it’s a great lineup to put next to Westbrook, Harden is also a much better and consistent scorer than PG13. OKC of last year didn’t have anyone who could get a bucket when needed consistently. PG13 is a sidekick, Westbrook too , Both weren’t capable of being the no1 option. But Harden is a legit No1 scorer. I think Houston will be right there with the other two LA teams . Houston could very well finish as the no1 seed in the west due to Kwahi AD Lebron with the load management.

Westbrook isn't even in top 5 pg's and he is away from best pg like Earth from the Moon
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#133 » by Showdown » Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:08 pm

gmoney411 wrote:
NO-KG-AI wrote:People that thought Cp3 couldn't play off the ball just never watched him play.

Are people really arguing that Westbrook is going to suddenly become an elite off ball player? He can't shoot, he doesn't do anything away from the ball, he has poor shot selection. Not to mention his effort on defense is terrible.

"If he can just focus on taking better shots, and hitting 3's at a higher rate, and playing tough defense all the time..." So yea, if he can do a bunch of stuff that he's literally never been able to do over his first 11 seasons.


All that isn't necessary. Russ just needs to buy into the system. No longer taking all the midrange jumpers he normally will takes will greatly improve his efficiency. You will have to live with him shooting 30% on 3-7 3s a game but it's not nearly that bad if there are no more midrange shots.

He has a lot of bad things but taking midranges isn't one of them and you wont fix anything by removing midranges because he stil can shoot you out of the game from three or go at the rim in the final moment of the game when refs swallow the whistle and lose the ball.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#134 » by Cowbulls » Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:13 pm

I feel so bad for Harden and Houston fans. I'd take a 45 year old Chris Paul over Westbrick.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#135 » by gmoney411 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:25 pm

Showdown wrote:
gmoney411 wrote:
NO-KG-AI wrote:People that thought Cp3 couldn't play off the ball just never watched him play.

Are people really arguing that Westbrook is going to suddenly become an elite off ball player? He can't shoot, he doesn't do anything away from the ball, he has poor shot selection. Not to mention his effort on defense is terrible.

"If he can just focus on taking better shots, and hitting 3's at a higher rate, and playing tough defense all the time..." So yea, if he can do a bunch of stuff that he's literally never been able to do over his first 11 seasons.


All that isn't necessary. Russ just needs to buy into the system. No longer taking all the midrange jumpers he normally will takes will greatly improve his efficiency. You will have to live with him shooting 30% on 3-7 3s a game but it's not nearly that bad if there are no more midrange shots.

He has a lot of bad things but taking midranges isn't one of them and you wont fix anything by removing midranges because he stil can shoot you out of the game from three or go at the rim in the final moment of the game when refs swallow the whistle and lose the ball.


If I'm reading the NBA shot dashboard correct Russ took 5.5 mid-range shots at 34%. Take those away and he's much more efficient player.

Those things you said are true and might be a problem. But it's Harden's team so he likely has the ball at the end of the game.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#136 » by Moon Walk » Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:33 pm

Basketball has one ball. Not two balls
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#137 » by GANGSTERDOG » Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:29 pm

Westbrook is the best player in the world. They had to do that trade. I'm sure they will figure it out.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#138 » by COY0607 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:32 pm

Second half of last season, Harden had the ball in his hands for 90% of each possession he was on the court for. That's the whole reason the CP3 unhappy rumours started.

How does Westbrook make that better. Their entire offence will need to change - hard to say for better or worse at this point
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#139 » by spicy6 » Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:33 pm

xdrta+ wrote:
Krazykiwi wrote:I think people need to calm down with the paper talk of bad fits. Westbrook is a much better player than CP3 at this point of their careers . Westbrook if used correctly, is the best PG in the league .


Living up to your name, well the first part of it, anyway.


Nothing wrong with what he said. He had shown it in 2017, and when hes on, hes on like in all facets of the game. Problem is hes had inconsistencies which halt his overall progression to what he used to be. Having much more space for a driver like russ is much better news in that regard and hopefully for his and Houstons sake they can figure it out.
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Re: Houston is flying 

Post#140 » by XxIronChainzxX » Fri Jul 12, 2019 3:44 pm

Carlos_Danger wrote:Getting on my soap box.

WTF s up with all the statements like "if Russ can change" and "if DAntoni can get him to buy in" etc., etc.

FYI Paul George had the best year of his career last year with Russ as his point guard. Ditto Steven Adams the past 2 years.

I thought Russ was the best PG in the league well before the 1st triple double season. I watched this guy out-duel Chris Paul head-to-head in the playoffs and clench a series victory over the Clippers by defending him.

He's a great player, he is NOT selfish, and he simply takes some bad shots from time to time. Even with those bad shots, he's an upgrade over Chris Paul and the best point guard in the NBA. (I don't consider Curry a Point Guard, he's a shooting guard slotted there because of his size and does not play a PG role on offense. Warriors similar to Kerr's Bulls in that regard and Draymond has led them in assists per game the past 4 seasons).


It's coming from the reality the rest of us are sharing as opposed to this parallel universe where Westbrook is in his perpetual prime and somehow getting better.

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