I sensed more of a problem with Chris Paul and James Harden in the backcourts that I do with the upcoming duo. Call me crazy
Problem is those guys could shoot... We just need Russ to stop shooting that mid-range or any pullups.... He needs to be in attack... In transition and at the rim and kicking it out... He needs to be told to not take so many jumpers anymore.
I don't think they need to complete scale back they're games. I would just eliminate most of the unassisted shots away from the paint. Less step back 3s, less pull up jumpers, and more drive and dish. Westbrook can shoot 32% on assisted 3s which will yield more points than any other jumpshots he takes.
Of course, there's nothing abnormal or odd about ANYONE thinking the fit is odd and or poor, that's probably going to be most people's default view based on their previous styles and their skill sets and strengths and weaknesses. That doesn't mean they won't win games, and that doesn't mean they are incapable of adjusting and finding a way to make it work. Still, it is more likely that they will have some struggles and maybe some lingering ones than it is that they will quickly figure things out and mesh well. It will be interesting to watch it play out though, talent still can overcome some fit issues to an extent.
Decent video from Coach Nick. CP3 is no doubt a better fit but the key words are age and health. It's up to D'Antoni to make it work.
Make sure to keep 3 of Gordon, Tucker, Rivers, House, Green with RW and he'll have options all day. He just needs to step it up defensively and we're good.
He basically outlined all the issues that everyone has about the pairing. But a couple of things I feel are being under talked about with this switch. On the positive end Westbrook is truly a one-man offense and can better allow Harden to play less minutes per game than CP3, who always needed his minutes managed. On a negative aspect him and Harden on defense together is going to be god awful, especially compared to CP3 who's a savant on defense. And I'm skeptical the Rockets have enough surrounding defensive cast to make things work. Tucker and Gordon are both a year older and even if they can get Iguodala he's also declined. And these days 3&D guys aren't nearly as cheap as they used to be. I have no clue how the Rockets will do. To me this is higher ceiling lower floor type trade. Anything can happen good or bad.
Hmm well we let go of a half dozen coaches and only brought in one. Maybe if “Coach Nick” tweets nice things to Patrick Fertitta he can get Patrick to get him an assistant coaching job.
That was a BIG part of the problem with CP3 ….. He couldn't even beat big men off the dribble anymore and it often resulted in that type of contested shot. Sure , he made some of them but that's not a good shot.
Despite the fact that coach nick is not the basketball genius he sells himself to be, he does make good observations from time to time that nobody else seems to be doing in YouTube clip breakdowns. You’d be a fool to not think that he has a point about the obvious issue off the bat which is Russ’ shooting compared to CP3’s in the sets they’ll likely run again this year. CP3 is obviously the better fit but the fact is he’s likely about to fall off a cliff in production due to Father Time and Russ might have 2 to 4 more years. That’s really the main reason to have any real optimism. So dog on coach nick if you want but he’s mostly right in this breakdown. Don’t want to believe me just watch come November. It’ll be a struggle for sure. I’ll be glad to eat crow but it’s the obvious answer here. He cannot shoot and that’s a problem.
The guy made some great points about the problems the Rockets will face integrating Westbrook, while also showing some of the positives. Only thing I would disagree or that he should have touched on more is, how the vastly different spacing Westbrook will have with the Rockets will effect his shooting. Also for those whining about this dude because he didn't say all was fine and wonderful with the Rockets/Westbrook pairing... here is his breakdown of CP3 joining Harden/Rockets. Not only doesn't he sound like a "hater" he's quite optimistic of their pairing. This seems to be quite incongruous with him "Hating" Harden/Rockets, especially since most other media/people was questioning the cp3/harden fit.
Bballbreakdown is forgetting the human element, WB and Harden are tight they are both gonna sacrifice to make it work. When Lebron, Bosh and Dwade all came together the media all said it wasnt gonna work becase all 3 are the same player, all of them have some shooting but really drive into the paint for buckets. Dwade is basically a poor man's Lebron in a guard's body and Bosh is a beggar man Lebron but 2 inches taller. But because Dwade and Bron were extremely close they both sacrificed part of their game to make it work, Dwade played off the ball and Lebron played PF in crunchtime just to win even if he hated it. They made it all work and they got to the finals or won it every year. I think the same thing can easily happen, WB will cut down on his mid range Js for lane drives and 3s and Harden will run more fastbreaks. Tbh 29% from 3 isnt even that bad it's like 38% from 2 which while not amazing isn't the worst ever. Overall WB still had 6.8 Winshares over Cp3's 6.6 last season, so even if WB is still as braindead as ever he will still have more impact than Cp3 last year.
