His shtick has always been more about getting into guys's heads than actually playing great one-on-one defense.* He's been savvy enough to milk that rep into a solid NBA career. Can't hate on him for that. *I suppose you could argue that getting into a guy's head IS playing great defense?
They're both competitors--brothers from different mamas, if you will--and they both play with emotion (sometimes to each's detriment), but Westbrook thoroughly out-schools him on the offensive end. I liked Bev when he was here, and I root for him when he's not playing against the Rockets. He the underdog in every matchup and plays like it. But when he plays the Rockets... mouths off, and pulls dirty sh*t... yes, he can go F himself.
i disagree with wb outschooling bev on the offensive end. nothing impressive with what wb did vs bev in those past matchups. bev gave wb defensive problems consistently and is a big reason why wb still feels some type of way to this day
You could be right. I don't have a memory for stuff like that. I'm talking in general terms--night-in, night-out stuff. I know the good guys won more often than not and I loved every second of it, which is all that mattered then and it's all that matters now in my book. I disliked Westbrook when he was in OKC and took pleasure in watching him lose, but I still respected him. I get sometimes the things that make us great can also be the things that make us weak, or unlikable in his case. I guess the same holds true for Bev.
I feel the first quote about the stats being guarded by Bev is a bit cherry picked. It doesnt included how many points Harden scored (via being fouled by Bev and going to the line) it didnt include how many assists Harden got while being guarded by Bev as well. If you're going to include turnovers and just missed FG that isnt a complete picture at all. It does look like though on paper even if assists and points are included that Bev did a better job than anyone else on Harden but just using those two stats doesnt mean much to me.
100% agree on him being a gimmick nowadays. It's 80% how he got his contract. All that buzz about his supposedly great defense on KD was overblown. The fact is that KD wasn't being aggressive enough, and then when he did, he lit the guy up just like everyone else. With the Rockets, I still believe beverly was vastly overrated as a defender. Besides against Westbrook (ironically) in spurts and that 3 consecutive strips of Jrue holiday, he was pretty average against most team's best guard. He got torched by just about everyone just the same as anyone else. Even in the portland series, he was getting lit up by lillard and jeremy lin's defense was looking a lot better than bev's over-aggression and antics. At some point I was like "stop stirring the pot for dame, and actually get ONE stop on him." And Curry just about killed him every time too Nowadays, with even more screens and switching, bev's only use is the draymond effect, getting in peoples' heads and clapping in their face, and trash talking when his superstar(s) are poppin off.
Bev gets lit up more than any alleged "defensive stopper".... He's more content with getting an opposing player to shake his head at his antics than actually stopping that player... He loves the skirmishes on the floor where he pops up and pokes his chest out, like Jacoby Jones used to do after a 15 yd punt return.. Actually I've seen most stars smile at him.. Then proceed to score at will on him in short spurts.. But he's found his niche. So I applaud him for going against the pussification that is todays NBA... He don't give a damn about friendship on the court..
They put up a stat line on Bev vs Harden and Harden was 0-6 with Bev guarding him which sounds impressive at first...but then when you see the rest of Bev’s stats ...3/10 FGs and a 6-2-1 stat line (1 assist and zero steals for a starting PG)while fouling out (not sure how many of those fouls were FTs)...it really ain’t that great. So basically he played defense pretty good (a small sample size still) for 6 of Hardens shots ...and help hold him to ONLY 47 lol
When a superstar feels the need to talk trash about a role player, you know that role player is living in the superstar's head. It happened to Durant during the playoffs series between the Warriors and the Clippers.
Funny to see people back up Westbrook now and act like Beverley is not nor was ever a solid defender...
I think Bev cutting down WB at the knees and ending his playoffs in 2013 still has a big reason to do with it. Add to that Bev tried to do it again the next season after he recovered.
all of it is tied together. but when you still have this guy go out of his way still talking about a role player to this day, that's pretty significant. next friday's game will be just another page
Did Russ bring it up? Or was asked by the reporter, since Bev got fouled out. Thought it was the latter.
Agree, they didn’t paint the complete picture but Russ’s characterization that Pat can’t play D is a bit dumb tbh, he’s a solid sometimes great defender, so a bit a weak bunch of s**t talking by Russ there, that’s said Bev shot like ass last night so that was fun to watch at least.
I love PBev but thought he acted like a clown last night and I enjoyed watching Harden keep his cool and calmly deliver a rough, rough schooling
never liked @PatBev much when he was a rocket, but he sure knows how to piss brehs off and live rent free in their heads.