Yea I dont know where this is coming from tbh. Harden was slumping a game before Westbrook even got back. He just hasnt been himself.
Well well well isnt it crazy how good WB looks now that he is months removed from arthroscopic surgery? He isnt even fully well at this point, still sitting out B2Bs.
Is he sitting that out because of current health? Or is he sitting them out because of multiple past knew surgeries? I thought it was the latter.
Mike D'Antoni, James Harden's gravity, trading Capela, the rest of the team buying in. Great job by the Rockets as a whole! We should love them all for it... especially Westbrook. He's to be credited too!
Niiiiiice. Actually some decent analytics from a major network. I'm tired of seeing useless stuff like FG% when comparing two players, or raw PPG and stuff like that. That was considered insightful maybe 20-30 years ago, but not in 2020. But at the same time we don't have to show "basketball nerd" stats like win shares, PIPM, VORP and another stuff that the majority of the people don't get or quite frankly don't want to think about when enjoying a basketball game on TV. So good on them for presenting a useful interpretation of Russ's change in play style that everyone can enjoy and understand.
I haven't hated on him on these boards but man I'll admit I wasn't wild about the trade and I always hated Russ when he was on OKC. I appreciated his passion and his loyalty for sticking with OKC (and who wants to live in OKC?!) but his shot selection and his basketball IQ were awful IMO... That said, looking back they did an awful job surrounding him with the right pieces in OKC and I don't think this is some ~15 game abnormal stretch either and he's going to start jacking threes again - I think this trade of Capela was made because he is 100% bought in and for once he will have the space to get to the basket. The fact those OKC teams had Steven Adams AND they played Sefolosha or Roberson along with Adams and Russ is mind blowing thinking about now. In summary...I never thought I would say this but man I really like watching Russ play and I'm glad he is a Rocket.
It doesn't hurt that he's playing with someone that has gravity and commands a double team out to 35 feet.
When Russ takes 3 or fewer 3s in a game the Rockets are 17-5, with the 5th loss coming from that Utah buzzer beater. Basically our winning % (77.3%) is the same as the Lakers (76.9%) when Russ goes big game hunting in the paint and avoids the 3.
Don't worry, the majority of us were not a fan of the trade and lets be real, he is suddenly being unleashed because the Rockets committed to small ball. If we would of kept Capela and kept the same line up, we would definitely be having issues still and hating the trade. The folks that loved the trade from the start, those people are just fortunate enough that the Rockets decided to re-shape the roster to fit the way Russ plays, otherwise, this team would definitely be struggling right now (even Russ would not be shooting as well because of the space Capela took up in the paint). @Clutch was right to be upset at the trade because as we witnessed prior to the trade and prior to Capela getting injured, we were going to be severely limited and easily guardable when both Capela/Russ were on the floor together. This has worked out, because Mike had the balls to tell conventional basketball positioning "**** YOU" and he instead is embracing his guard. Mike is bringing out the best of Russ by putting him in the best position to be the best all while making sure Harden continues to get his.
Getting rid of Capela helped Russ Just instinctively score He doesn’t need to pass except to three point shooters
The only reason I didn't like the trade is because it didn't seem to provide equal value. Didn't we lose a FRP also?
Oh, I was totally for the Westbrook trade. I though CP3 was washed up and still think that. I was talking about the Capela trade.
Since January, 19 game sample size. Roughly when Russ decided to stop taking 3's. 32.9 PPG on 53.5 FG% and 58 TS% Since February, 8 game sample size in all small ball lineups, including multiple tough games against top tier defenses in the league. 33.4 PPG on 54.9 FG% and 59.1 TS%
I mean his scoring efficiency is essentially the same with and without Harden isn't it? The floor is spaced with decent shooters around him unlike in OKC.
Westbrook is playing MVP like basketball, let's keep it going! Westbrook is steady increasing his shot attempts, getting a bit more than Harden or around the same. This game was skewed as Harden should not have taken this many shots, so as long as he can recognise when Westbrook and others have it going and picks his spots to shoot and during games when he gets it going Westbrook defers to others then we should be good.
