I think this is a valid thing to look at. On the other hand, as a huge Rockets fan, I also can't ignore the reality that Russ goes out, the bench quickly loses much of the lead, and the Rockets have huge momentum. That's just a fact. But it's also a fact that Russ comes back in and doesn't move the needle in the 4th. Even if the momentum has been lost, the idea that Russ is in, Thunder are better, Russ is out, they suck, is just not always true. Also, this 4th quarter stat speaks to Russ as a player that will never change. Great teammates (KD, Serge and co.) or not as great teammates (current), it's the same issue. The interesting thing, though, is this was NOT the case in the regular season. It seemed like Russ had finally turned that 4th quarter corner. But in retrospect, it was just him going off and hitting - usually against non playoff teams - instead of making the best decisions, as he does in the first 3 quarters. So this is still a Russ problem that will never go away, imo. He's not a dude you build a championship roster primarily around. he's not guy #1. as history has shown.
Cuban hates Westbrook too, these Dallas cats don't like Westbrook. @swyyyguy whats the deal with your boys?
Yep, i totally agree. Only thing i would disagree (let's say) in your post is that Westbrook definitely needs to be your 1st guy if you have him on the team since without the ball i'm not sure how/if he can impact the game...which kinda makes him a hit and miss type of player so yeah...
Right, I agree with that... wasn't trying to imply otherwise. The only thing that gives me pause is that I could have definitely envisioned a Thunder team with Russ as guy #2 and KD guy #1 winning a ring at some point. Should have happened last year, but Russ being Russ was part of the problem that led to the collapse. And since now they don't have KD anymore, I have no clue how they get a KD like player back on the team. Which star player would really want to go play with Russ?? Not that he's a bad dude, or a selfish player or whatever... but its just factual, he's completely ball dominant in a way from the PG position that he'd just to be fun to play with. To be fair, Harden has some of this as well. I'd much rather play with Harden as another star player than Russ, but then I'd much rather play with Kawhi, Lebron, Steph than Harden. Also, random aside, does a ball dominant, high usage, high assist guy historically ever lead to a ring?? I guess Magic is the closest to a really high assist guy being the leader of multiple championship teams. But even Magic wasn't that high usage. 26% at his peak. Stockton got close, but his usage unbelievably was never about 21% for a season. I have long term concerns that Harden has too much Russ in him. Or just the eye test - he's too dominant, iso heavy, lack of movement at times.
There you go. Undercover Calvin Twatkins with the passive aggressive tweet. Taking thinly veiled shots at Rockets for having more help and basically crediting WB for MVP
Off the top of my head I would say Lebron who's had very high usage and been to 7 finals. But nobody has been on russ level of usage, imo that too high and you can't win with a guy dominating that many possessions. I do think the way the Rockets play would be good enough to win a chip most year. It's just that this year and moving foward there's that team in the Bay Area. That why the rockets have to get another high level allstar without losing basically anyone on the current roster.
