The Westbrook apology thread for Clutch,Yolo, et al

@Jontro

 

It's been 4 months. I think we might be seeing a trend...

 

When this trade went down, it was a dilemma for me.

For years I had taken the stance, publicly, that "No team which features Russell Westbrook as a primary component will ever win a championship." This was based on his body of work, and primarily upon his demonstrated low BBIQ. It was clear that, when the game was on the line, the pressure was on, and 'Crazy Russ' would magically appear out of nowhere and destroy his team's chance to win. Crazy Russ had done this over and over and over again.

So, while I never hated Westbrook, I always looked at him as a guy who was supremely physically gifted, but whose grey matter between the ears was just too.. 'volatile', I guess would be the right word.

And then the trade happens. To be honest, it kind of filled me with dread. It smacked of a move ultimately driven by an interfering owner, rather than anything to do with something the normally-sensible Morey would do.

But, once it was done, I was also curious to see what would happen. Not a lot of actual hope, but definitely curious.

So unlike when the Rockets signed Jason Terry (whom I actively DESPISED), I was not upset or offended that Westbrook would now be wearing a Rockets jersey, and being a Rox fan, I began to actively hope to be proven wrong about 'Crazy Russ'. And yes, there were some moments early in the season where Crazy Russ reared his head, and it did make me cringe.

Add all of that to the fact that Capela clearly has not been healthy this season, and even when he DID play, the bread-and-butter staple of the Rockets' offence, the pick-and-roll, was almost completely absent, meaning Capela had become more of a drain than a benefit on the court.. I was still feeling that 'dread'.

But then, slowly, it began to becoem clear that somehow, some way, Westbrook had corralled 'Crazy Russ' - not really taking an unreasonable number of threes, not going into 'berserker mode' as much.. things were starting to look a bit.. hopeful?

But then.. Capela TRADED? For a guy we used to have and then cut?

Yikes. But looking at the numbers, well, it made sense.

And now?

Russell Westbrook is playing the best basketball of his career. Maybe not technically the 'most dominant', but for sure the 'best'.

He fits, the rest of the team fits, there are enough shooters that if someone is off, someone else will pick up the slack.

It feels... good.

So, for now at least, I am actually feeling optimistic about the Rockets' chances this year. And yes I know they would still need to get past the Lakers, and then have to find some way to beat the Bucks. Tall orders, to be sure. But it seems that Russell is proving me wrong, so far anyway. But, win or lose this year, it does seem that, if we do get beat in the playoffs by the Lakers or the Bucks, then I don't think it will have as much to do with 'Crazy Russ' driving his own team over a cliff, as much as it would simply be a matter of being beaten by a superior team.

We'll see.. maybe Crazy Russ makes a return.. but for now, it seems that particular demon has been locked away.

Let's hope he stays there.

 

The opportunity cost is what made the Westbrook trade bad (and the Knight/Ryno trades). I still believe that. If Morey wasn't operating with limitations from ownership, I can't help but think our roster as a whole would be better and deeper.

However...we've maybe found something with small ball, and that may be because of the Westbrook trade forcing our hand into it. Time will tell. Playoffs will be what truly determines whether this trade was successful or not, that's always been the case.

 

Love this post. I am concerned too of Crazy Russ returning especially in the playoffs. That is when he typically tries to do too much or gets a one on one game going and forgets he needs to win a game instead of beat the opposing PG. If he can just harness that and continue to play controlled, especially down the stretch in the playoffs, then we may have something here. That is obviously asking a lot but maybe, just maybe, he is learning to play winning basketball.

 

Not sure if I am considered a "hater", but I am excited Westbrook is making better decisions and playing smarter ball.

Still a disaster of a trade though.

 

I so sorry

go smol bol rocks

 

not a good fit initially with this team and how it was built. but they've made the moves to adjust to him and his strengths. he has also adjusted his game to weed out his significant weakness. This maximizes this specific team's ability on both ends. Is it good enough? not sure but the fit is better than it was previously prior to the trade and acquisitions

 

One thing is for sure with this new small ball. All of the other big man in the league are beatable IMO. There are obviously some good ones on contenders like AD, Lopez, etc. but there are also some pretty bad/mediocre ones like McGee, Gobert, etc. that don't scare me in the least. Jokic would be tough but still think our small ball centers of Tucker, Green, Covington can guard Jokic pretty well for 48 minutes.

None of these big men are equipped to completely dominate a series against us or any team. They may dominate a game or two but we will be tough to guard and make enough defensive stops to get an advantage in a 7 game series. Not saying we will win the whole damn thing just yet but nobody scares me anymore the way the Warriors did since they were able to completely neuter Capela. Now that they are out of the way and Capela is gone, I don't really see a team in the league that matches up very well against us. Probably the Bucs but every other team has weaknesses and are starting/playing some pretty questionable talent heavy minutes from what I have seen around the league.

 

I really like the last part of your post. "[...]every other team has weaknesses and are starting/playing some pretty questionable talent heavy minutes [...]." I feel like that really sums up the Rockets chances bc one could also argue that a strength of ours is that we arent giving heavy minutes to players with questionable talent. Everyone of our rotation players is asked to do what they do well. Bodes well for our chances.

 

Better early than late.

 

Can they play good enough defense??

They ARE playing good enough defense. 97 percentile good.

 

Pretty amazing how good Covington is. Morey can scout like the best of them.

 

So glad we have him, been begging to get him back for years.

I'm hoping we can steal AG next season. We need him to be our Amare/Matrix hybrid.

 

How the hell are we getting Aaron Gordon( I assume that is who you are referring to)? Eric Gordon isn't going to get it unless we are attaching even more first round picks.

 

Exactly!

 

In the alternate reality where the Rockets kept CP3, you still have to assume Tilman is cost-cutting. We all know he lied now. He stripped multiple assets from the #1 regular season team that took the Goat Warriors to game 7 just to save money. Before that season, he said this as a reply to when he'd pay the luxury tax going into 2017-2018:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/20983294/new-rockets-owner-tilman-fertitta-see-need-big-changes
So we all know he lied there prior to the 2017-2018 amazing season. He will trade all future draft picks possible, let players walk, and not use MLE money. That is what happened.

So if we're looking at the alternate universe and Tilman is still the owner, then you have to assume it's Harden/Capela/CP3/Tuck/EG and minimum contracts. So in that situation, the Rockets may be better off now for this playoff run or the next. We're boned in the future, but maybe he would have boned the fans either way.

 

Trade hater checking in:
Westbrook has been playing like his absolute best self here and I have to admit that I have zero issues with his work ethic and chemistry. I can agree to move on and not harp on the trade.

At the same time Paul hasn't been playing as bad as many here projected. I do think Paul and 2 firsts was a steep price, even still.

 

GOATBROOK

 

Westbrook pre Jan 1(30 games played)

24/8/7 w/ 4.4 TOs

43/23/80 splits .506 TS on 21 shots per game

104 ortg
109 drtg

Westbrook from Jan 1 on(17 games played)

32/8/7 w/ 4.2 TOs

52/30/77 splits .573 TS on 25 shots per game

113 ortg
110 drtg

Pre 2020 it was a **** show. He was bad. He was killing us. And it was pretty much in line with his last few season in OKC. He went from MVP level to you can’t win with this guy level. To deny that is to deny reality.

2020 has been a revelation. Not a season turnaround, A CAREER turnaround. Never thought he had it in him. Happy he’s doing it in Houston and not somewhere else. The sample is still pretty damn small of this new and improved guy, but the way he’s playing and now the way we have more molded the team to fit him better, it appears sustainable.