Westbrook
by Wick_dawg on May 26, 2011 1:11 AM CDT
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Why is Westbrook allowed to take a shot? Sure, he scored 31 but it took him 28 shots to get there. He went 36-100 for the whole series to get 118 total points. He's just a really bad shooter.
His biggest problem is that he's selfish. He takes terrible shots when he should be passing the ball. His poor shots take shots away from good shooters like Harden.
Another problem of his is that he shoots the ball like he's always expecting to get fouled. Then, the defense pulls away and he ends up taking a weird contorted shot for no reason. Then he bitches about not getting a foul called.
He has a terrible attitude and it hurt his team tonight especially on his technical foul that started giving the Mavs some momentum. Plus, he was only one technical foul away from having to serve a 1 game suspension. How good would he be to his team then?
He should only be allowed to shoot the ball when he drives, and then only if he shoots it normally and not trying to draw contact. If he gets fouled, then fine, but don't aim for it.
In this series, Durant took some really awful shots away but is a way better shooter than Westbrook, and Harden looked like he might be able to play PG better than Westbrook. Harden should start with Westbrook coming off the bench. But that would likely shatter Westbrook's tender and enormous ego.
This post does not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of Welcome to Loud City or SB Nation. However, it was made by one of the members of the Welcome to Loud City community, so there is a large chance the above post is extremely ballin'!
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Better Solution.
I think the Thunder should let Harden run the offense when he’s in there, but – instead of benching Westbrook – they should simply move Russell off the ball to the two-guard position. That way, the defensive match-ups would stay the same (Westy would guard the opposing point and James would be on their shooting guard) AND there would be a built in control on the number of shots RW could take.
As to the more general point, Westbrook does need to work on staying under control at the offensive end. Unlike you, I happen to think he’s a reasonably good shooter from mid-range when he goes straight up for the jumper. What he needs to do is work on improving and extending his shooting, not shelving it. If all he ever did was drive, defenses could key in on that to severely limit his scoring (like Rajon Rondo) and this would cripple a Thunder team that needs his points.
The losses are fresh on our minds and I get your anger/disappoinment, but the fact of the matter is that Westbrook’s numbers this postseason are roughly equivalent to those of Derek Rose and you don’t see this sort of backlash against him. Russell is still just 22 and he’s learning the point guard position as he goes. He’s a spectacular player who will improve his consistency and develop into one of the truly elite players in this league. He’ll also hopefully grow out of his current attitude somewhat. Patience is hard, but it’s what this franchise needs right now.
MileHighReport.com member since 02/06/07, promoted to "Position Coach" (i.e. new staff writer) on 02/16/10!
The one thing I don't think we are asking is?
What is best for Ibaka? He’s shown some extreme talent and Westbrook doesn’t utilize it and I’m not sure if he ever will. Ibaka could be a great alley-oop, pick and roll PF ,but they don’t use him like that because Westbrook isn’t that type of point guard. He doesn’t get the ball to Durant or Harden in the right spots as well. I believe Westbrook, as great of a player as he is, doesn’t fit well with this group of players. I don’t think it would make a difference at all if Harden ran the point because Westbrook would not give up ball anyway. Also then we wouldn’t be using Harden to his full potential and why ask a shooting guard to be the point when you can just trade a young talented scoring point guard for a young talented playmaking point guard? Which a playmaking point guard would much more fit with this team. Westbrook wants to be the man. You can see it when he plays and we don’t need that right now. I think our team would be much better if we were able to trade for a true point guard such as Chris Paul or Deron Williams. That way Harden, Durant, and Ibaka could be utilized fully. I used to be a huge Westbrook believer and I still am ,but I just don’t think his style of play fits with this team. I think he would be better suited on a team where he could be the primary scorer. Also Derek Rose doesn’t have Durant on his team so he has to be that kind of player. And maybe that is the type of player that Rose is and it’s better for him to be on a team where he can be that guy. Maybe that would be best for Westbrook as well. If we keep Westbrook I will live with it and continue to hope he will eventually mold into a true point guard, but until he shows me he can be a true point guard and make good decisions; I will continue to believe that Chris Paul or Deron Williams would be the better option for this team.
by Vikings55Thunder on May 26, 2011 3:57 PM CDT reply actions
Chris Paul or Deron Williams are better options for every team in the league.
That is an incredibly high standard to try to meet. I agree that it would be nice to see our pg run the offense better, but there are only a couple guys in the league who can really do that. Everyone needs to keep in mind Russ was 2nd team all-NBA. He does what he does and he is still young, if he keeps working he can learn to make the right plays with experience in practice, he will never be Chris Paul, but Chris will never be able to put pressure on the defense the way Russ does either. He’s not perfect but he is a hard worker and is getting dumped on way too much, he wasn’t the whole problem, our spacing, play calls and movement off the ball is just as much of a factor.
WE'RE DANCIN!!!
Thank You!
The fact of the matter is that Westbrook – as are all of our young studs – is still developing. Heck, more than most, he’s still learning a new position at the highest level and he’s performing incredibly well for the most part. I too get frustrated with his attitude and occasional lack of composure, but I see a young man with incredible talent getting better every year and with no ceiling yet in sight. I don’t consider him untouchable, but it’d take something special to move him and the sorts of deals being floated about by disgruntled fans right now simply aren’t there.
MileHighReport.com member since 02/06/07, promoted to "Position Coach" (i.e. new staff writer) on 02/16/10!
Which he controls.
Westbrook is the floor general and he controls most of everything you just listed. Chris Paul is a free agent after next year and it’s not looking like he is going to stay in New Orleans. I’m sure New Orleans wants something for him rather than nothing and Westbrook could be there best option. I don’t think it’s that far fetched. I’m sure New Orleans would take Westbrook, Robinson, a draft pick and I’m sure another player would have to be added, and depending on what we draft it could be Sefolosha, Cook, or Mohamed. I’m not even close to a disgruntled fan. I’m just trying to think about options that are best for the team and Westbrook. I hope the two can work together. I really do ,but I don’t think his style of play fits with the other talent we have. I think Williams is the least likely of the two that we could get because the Nets just acquired him ,but I do believe we could have a really good chance at Paul. He is a smart, floor general, play making point guard. Westbrook is a scorer and a bit of a hot head who would fit better on a team that needs that. The fact of the matter is we don’t and if we had that type of point guard we would be much closer to a championship than we are now. We might even still be playing for one. Paul just turned 26 and Williams is also 26 so it’s not like they are old either. They have at least 7-10 good years left in them and they were true point guards right when they came in. We know what we would be getting with them. With Westbrook you don’t know what you are going to get. Usually it’s a roller coaster ride with him. I’m sure that also put’s a lot of pressure on the team and Durant. Which is something we don’t need. The point guard is supposed to be the guy you can depend on to run the offense consistently and get everyone involved every night and Westbrook is not that guy. He’s a scorer. I believe with the players we have a floor general point guard would be much better for this team.
by Vikings55Thunder on May 26, 2011 5:12 PM CDT up reply actions
Couple Of Things.
I agree that Paul won’t re-sign with New Orleans, but what makes you think he’ll want to play longterm in OKC? Everything I’ve heard, read and seen indicates that – like virtually every star before him – Chris is looking to play in a big market where his star can shine under the right spotlight. More specifically, all the rumors about CP3 point to NYC with his close friends Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire. I would love to have him on our team (who wouldn’t) but it’s a pipe dream that I’m just not willing to indulge. As for Deron Williams, he ran out longtime head coach Jerry Sloan and forced his own way out of Utah, and I doubt he did all that to sign longterm with OKC. Maybe you could arrange a deal for either that makes basketball and/or financial sense, but there are other factors at play that simply won’t work. I can’t imagine that the Thunder will look to make such a drastic change anyway, so I’d channel my thoughts towards potential solutions that are more feasible. Those are just my two cents, so take it for what it’s worth…
MileHighReport.com member since 02/06/07, promoted to "Position Coach" (i.e. new staff writer) on 02/16/10!
I wouldn't see why not.
Having the chance to play with younger talent such as Kevin Durant and James Harden would be enough for him. More championship chances and he wouldn’t have to deal with the Heat until the Finals. He also loved playing in Oklahoma City when they played here after Katrina. I don’t think it’s that far fetched. Plus Jerry Sloan wasn’t getting the Jazz organization any better so it was time for him to go. The organization just didn’t have the guts to do what was best for the team because he had been there so long. Most players would have a hard time not wanting to play with the likes of Kevin Durant and the fan base we have. I don’t think you are giving this organization enough credit. I think they would work if we tried ,but I’m not sure if we will or not.
by Vikings55Thunder on May 27, 2011 12:48 AM CDT up reply actions
Fair Enough.
Chris Paul and Deron Williams would both be better options at point guard – instead of Russell Westbrook – for this or any other team out there. Therein lies the catch: other teams see this, too! Why would New Orleans or New Jersey trade their guys for Westbrook if their guys are better? And please don’t suggest adding pieces like Kendrick Perkins or Nate Robinson, because they don’t bridge that gap. The Thunder simply don’t have the requisite expendible talent to swing the sort of trade people seem to envision. Personally, I’d love to snag Dwight Howard, but I know that isn’t happening, so I’ll stick to a more practical solution. In this case, having Harden run point and Westbrook play off the ball on offense. They did this with great success in Game 5 against the Mavs and James actually played this way much of the time he was successful in the series. It’s not perfect, but it’s feasible and could work!
MileHighReport.com member since 02/06/07, promoted to "Position Coach" (i.e. new staff writer) on 02/16/10!
Better solution would be to start Harden and split PG duties between them.
Also running an offense that has more than 1 option and has legitimate weakside/backside movement would help everyone a lot.
After the trade the starting unit went from having 4 offensive options in it, to having 2, sometimes 3. The majority of the plays and sets they worked on during training camp were now useless since they didn’t fit the personnel.
Westbrook’s decision making has to improve but you can’t put Westbrook and KD out there with 3 non-threats on offense, run Durant off some screens and expect to get a good shot every time.
Even the Harden PnR with Collison didn’t have much movement from anyone else.
Maybe it was by design. Wasn’t just 1 new starter, they had to get used to 2 new starters, and Harden was getting increased minutes. Personnel was different + rotations were off from what they were used to. Simplified sets make sense in this case.
There’s not a lot of time to get new stuff installed during the season. You have very few real practices. Most of the stuff is game-plans for the next opponent, shoot-arounds, walk-throughs, film-sessions, and guys coming in on their own to do whatever.
Regardless of what the reasons were, the offense needs to be more complex/dynamic next season. It can’t be…take away KD, play goes to hell. There have to be multiple options, movement, screening, cutting away from the ball.
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Northwest Standings
| W | L | PCT | GB | STRK | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oklahoma City
|
47 | 19 | .712 | 0 | Won 4 |
|
Denver
|
38 | 28 | .575 | 9 | Lost 1 |
|
Utah
|
36 | 30 | .545 | 11 | Lost 4 |
|
Portland
|
28 | 38 | .424 | 19 | Lost 7 |
|
Minnesota
|
26 | 40 | .393 | 21 | Lost 2 |
(updated 5.22.2012 at 9:28 AM CDT)
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Sun 05/27 | TBA |
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Sun 05/27 | 7:30 PM CDT |
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Tue 05/29 | 8:00 PM CDT |
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San Antonio
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Thu 05/31 | 8:00 PM CDT |
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Los Angeles Lakers
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Mon 05/21 | W 106 - 90 |
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Fri 05/18 | L 96 - 99 |
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Wed 05/16 | W 77 - 75 |
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Mon 05/14 | W 119 - 90 |
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