This gets parroted a TON so I want to say. He absolutely would not be effective if he couldn’t shoot. He isn’t a good enough finisher or even close to be a rim-pressure only guy like Giannis or Simmons. Westbrook has always relied on the idea that he can hit a jumper. If he can’t get his man to kind of honor his dribble pull up he has a bad chance at getting totally by him and not being funneled into the shot blocker. Is what it is. He’s gonna keep trying to get that jumper working because once it does he might have a chance at being a good offensive player again.
Bruh... 7 for 27, 8 turnovers. In every world, Westbrick had an awful game. I can appreciate his rebounding, I can't appreciate his shooting 25% on 27 shots. I would appreciate 11 assists... if he didn't also have 8 turnovers. If WB doesn't play tonight, if you give his minutes to Rivers, House and McLemore we blow the Raptors out.
He needs to understand his role on the team better. Been disappointed in him the last few games. I'm not sure why he's shooting so far below his career averages, even last year's averages. At this point I'd take him finishing the season at 30% from 3 and run. I guess he's uncomfortable in the system. Even if he's a poor shooter, he's a better shooter from 3 than he's shown (if not by that much). He needs to shoot it with confidence, he's clearly hesitating. Also, cut out everything between 17-18 feet and the 3 line.
You guys need to relax. The most important thing is that we win. Now, Russ should be more aggressive with scoring first vs passing first. Why? Because thats his game. He is a score first point guard that can pass. A lot of his turnovers come from passing the ball to CC in tight coverage, when he had a better chance of scoring himself. Go watch the footage.
He's 31 years old and people have been waiting for him to improve his shooting his whole career. Instead, it's actually declined. He's not changing at this point.
Do you think the coaches are telling him to stop shooting and he just won’t listen? Or are they telling him to just keep shooting and the shots will fall at some point? I’m curious if anyone KNOWS what the coaching staff is trying to do to fix this situation. All the comments I see here are speculation. He does bring some positive skill sets like you mentioned. We needed someone who could grab rebounds, create easy fast break points, and dish out assists. We just need him to stop bricking shots in high volume.
I totally agree with you on the 8 turnovers were terrible but to suggest rockets would have blown out the raptors if he wasn't playing makes no sense to me. none of the guys you listed has the ability to get 11 assists or get the boards
But we're winning in spite of Russ; not because of Russ. And we'd have blown the Spurs out if he sat on the bench. Guaranteed. He can't keep jacking up 25-30 shots a game when he's shooting 25%. I don't understand how you guys are blind to this. Remember how much you guys hated Corey Brewer in 2015-2016? Remember how you cringed every time he released a shot? Corey was shooting 38% from the field and 27% from 3 that year. And he was only attempting 6.7 shots per game and 2.7 threes a game. He had an efg of .439. His on/off offensive rating was -3.9. He had an assist to turnover ratio of 1.40. Russell Westbrook is attempting TWENTY SHOTS A GAME! And he's doing it at 39% from the field and TWENTY ONE PERCENT (21%) from three.He has an effective field goal percentage of .428. His on/off rating is on/off offensive rating is -8.4. He has an assist to turnover ratio of 1.60. It is absolutely astonishing to me that he has a single supporter on this board. He is having a historically bad season and is on pace to go down as one of the worst Rockets of all-time. He's a better rebounder and passer than Brewer, sure, but Brewer was much better defensively. Our second star is essentially playing worse than Corey Sewer with EXPONENTIALLY higher usage.
Thunder fans were the same way. Must be something about Westbrook that just makes people lose sight of winning basketball. Westbrook is so very clearly and obviously damaging to the team overall, and does not fit well at all, that I think some are just trying to speak it into existence that he can actually be a positive. Yes yes yes yes yes I get it he rebounds better than Paul and has the occasional transition bucket. I get it. He still is an obvious net negative that we are paying 40 million dollars and wasted essentially 4 picks to get him.
$36 million dollars for 2 rebounds and 2 assists during the mid fourth quarter. I'm sold. How does an "MVP" player lose the ball in traffic or on the way up so many times? And how does he miss at the basket the way he does? I trusted Scott Machado to make layups more than Russ.
McLemore has given the team more than Westbrook in recent wins, and we could have about 25 Bens for one Russ.
Remember what he said about Patrick Beverley? "He tricked y'all into thinking he plays defense." I wonder if Russ believes this because he knows a thing or two about tricking people into believing he's good.
