Here are the real Cold Hard Facts on Russell Westbrick

let it go guys. eyes on the real prize

 

This season, WB was exactly like AI except he is a much better player in every single way.

AI was no smarter. He had just as much crazy as WB displays now and he melted down in many a 4th quarters. But like WB, there were times when he was brilliant closing games.

After getting a taste of sharing the floor with AI, C-Web told people he couldn't play with the guy.

 

If I'm Sam presti I call the Lakers on draft night and try to trade Westbrook for a haul

Ask for that top 3 pick, Ingram, Randle and Russell. If they say no ask for 1 of either Randle or Russell depending on who that would draft at that pick.

 

I like Westbrick

 

Honestly, Westbrook is what I was afraid would happen to James this season... I'm sooooo glad it didn't. He is a prime example of what I hate about "superstar" mentality. Anyone can score a lot of points if they are the only one taking shots. Anyone can get a lot of assists if they touch the ball 90% of the time.

"Team" is where it's at! Thanks Dude for bringing me back to posting!

Sidebar: Wow it's been too long since I have been on the site... looks so different

 

How much do you guys think Russ's 4th quarter struggles had to do with the coaching?

• Donovan made it predictable when he kept taking Russ out to rest to begin the 4th. This made it easier for the Rockets to game plan for.
• He could have taken Westbrook out mid-way through the 3rd (regardless of the run), put him back in to end the 3rd and start the 4th, rest him from the 9:00-7:30 mark and have him close it out.
• Westbrook plays at 100mph on every possession - it should be on Donovan to COACH and tell him to slow the pace down.

Either way... James is the real MVP, and Rockets won so i dont care lol.

 

You know what a Westbrook fan would reply to this, right?

They shot so well because Westbrook set them up with assists.

 

westbrook doesn't seem like the kind of guy who listens to his coach.

plus i think the front office has told donovan to let russ do whatever he wants because he's basically it for them now since they lost harden and durant.

 

MVP doesn't get out of first round. Doesn't make sense. MVP should be James or Kwahi.

 

So are you implying that what the OKC fans arguing right now is exactly the same the Rockets fans did 2 years ago?

LOL

 

The OKC fans are still mad on Durant, that is sure. but which superstar wants to play with Westbrook if you follow this playoff? This guy still is great, but his basketball IQ is so low, it is hard to win a title with him on the main leader.

 

Well, yes, better for three reasons, in no particular order: (1) WB is much larger (and it matters in the NBA), (2) WB is much more of a natural athlete, and (3) they play in completely different eras in terms of league rules. The amount of legal defensive contact with a ball handler was completely different AI's era. I don't think Westbrook could avg his triple double in those days that supported brutal defenses.

I can't put the stats together on AI, but I'd wager he was more of a 4th quarter performer in the playoffs than Westbrook. And we can agree to disagree whether on Westbrook is more intelligent than a potted plant, let alone another basketball player.

 

Nice stats, can we get shooting % on the Rockets players?

I think why there was such a big margin to when Russ was on and off was due to how bad our starters played. It was clear, our bench players outplayed our starters, and the +/- took effect when we got to these bad starts. When WB was in the 4th, his +/- was bad, I think it was -24ish is what I saw and that's whene Dantoni played the best players in the 4th and not our starting lineup.

 

Kareem basically saying on "The Jump" that he couldn't play with Westbrook.

Pippen disagreed but who cares about what Pippen thinks anyways? He did say Westbrook hogs the ball a lot and that should hurt him in the MVP race and hurt the team ultimately.

 

He's smart enough to understand that practice is not for real.

 

no doubt, the +/- basically hinged on being on the court with ryan anderson and clint capela or nene and eric gordon (and/or lou). 3 times a game you know harden and westbrook share the floor are the start of each half and the end of the game. that's 2 big doses of ryan/clint to destroy harden's +/- and help westbrook's and then the 4th quarter reverses that. and of course, the off-court +/- is just the reverse, with harden getting hurt and westbrook getting helped.

not too mention that as durvasa's stats point out, the thunder's defense was almost impossibly bad when Russell didn't play. either he's the greatest defender ever or it was a hugely fluky stretch of 5 games. I mean look at game 5, the rockets spend the whole 3rd quarter bricking open 3's, then russ sits down for 2:45 to start the 4th and the rockets score 14 points, capped off by lou hitting a legit 30 footer with a guy in his face. based on their -18 in russ's 9 minutes on the bench, they would lose a 48 minute game like 150-54.

 

Just going to add that lebron James in the 2015 finals had similar numbers as Westbrook & his Irving & love were hurt.

 

when you play with a dumb ball hog like Russell Westbrook, you get scared to take shots because you know he wants all of them and if you miss you know he's going to get upset because he thinks he deserves every shot because he is so ****ing good. It's just not worth risking upsetting this guy.

just stand around and pretend that you're going to get the ball, grab his rebounds, and play defense. Pretty much just go through the motions which causes players not to play hard because they get frustrated and bored bc they know theyre capable of more as nba players

 

Copy cat.