It'll be worse than the time the Spurs fed Robinson for 71 points on the final game of the season just so he could win the scoring title from Shaq. Shameless and a complete joke to the game of basketball. What if OKC designates a cherry picker (like that one recent high school kid who put up 92 points and never crossed mid court) so that RWB can just rack up assists throwing outlet passes?
on ESPN's the Jump They pretty much said the Thunder losing isn't Westbrook's fault; Jordan and Kobe put up big numbers and lost too. Stephen Jackson growing up in close proximity to Houston is disappointing me with his opinions..
They are going to play Denver in the last game. If the Nuggets has clinched or eliminated, then they might just want to be the spoiler. Never double team Westbrook. No help defense when he drives. Let him score if he can but guard his teammates tightly to prevent assists. This has always been my beef about stats like triple double. The double digit thing is so arbitrary. Why is 10 rebounds suddenly much better than 9 rebounds but 15 rebounds is no different from 10 rebounds?
So basically RW cant lose either way. Team losing = crappy teammates. Team winning = Russ. Pretty lame.
I love the fact the Spurs have a back-to-back with the Kings and Thunder, and decide to rest KL & LA for the Kings game, to save them for the Thunder.
These ex-players have been atrocious with their moronic takes this season. It's been infuriating to watch. The only one I respect in all of this is KG. He keeps it real, and actually has a logical rationale for his thoughts.
All I know is whichever voters left Harden off the all NBA ballots last year better have Westbrook no better than 3rd team this year. This is a guy that people wrongly believe is better that Harden straight up and believed preseason that his team and teammates would outplay Harden and the Rockets and yet they are failing miserably. Sounds like the exact reason Hardens historic statistical season was dismissed last year.
We can go back and forth after every good or bad game of his. I just said I have seen him doing well in crunch time more than I've seen Harden this year. The numbers posted right afterwards backed that up.
We all know he is a stats stuffer but yup except from Oladipo and a couple of above average big guys he got nothing on that team in terms of Offense. Top 3 athlete of this time and Top 2 stats padder of Alltime
Well, his team could lose and he could not average a triple double or score close to 40 ppg in those losses.
From that Bill Simmons column.... Here’s the problem: If you want to make the Finals, or come close, there’s little chance this level of ball hoggery can actually work. I love that Harden’s season is happening concurrently because that’s about as far as you want to take a one-man show. He’s a more efficient shooter than Westbrook (a .620 true shooting percentage, as opposed to Westbrook’s .548) and our only answer to the question, “What if we created Manu Ginobili 2.0 and gave him Chris Mullin’s vision and LeBron’s staggering durability?” And he’s a more creative passer than Westbrook; I would put Harden on LeBron’s level at this point. You’d never watch a clip of Westbrook assists, but you’d definitely watch this. Harden brings out the best of everyone, much like Nash did in Phoenix with better teammates and the same coach. His supporting cast is better than Westbrook’s group, but not by much: Patrick Beverley (splendid role player, world-class agitator); Clint Capela (rim protection, screen-and-rolls); Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson (reborn as dead-eye shooters); Lou Williams (another elite 3s-and-free-throws guy); and so on. Even if Harden hogs the ball about 70–75 percent as much as Westbrook does, the calibration feels better. It looks like a basketball team. Oklahoma City isn’t doomed because of Westbrook’s supporting cast; it’s doomed because of how it regards his supporting cast. Like his henchmen, basically. You don’t remember them any more than you’d remember, say, the names of the bad guys in three Taken movies. Few of them are getting better; if anything, Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and Andre Roberson are exactly the same or getting worse. I left last year’s playoffs expecting Adams to become basketball’s best young center. This season, he’s been a glorified sidekick.
Got to bump this thread. I don't want to start a new thread about this, but WB did just break Wilt's record of trip dubs in a season. Big statement game against the 4th seed, great stats, talking heads gushing over WB. Harden needs to have a few big games himself now to overtake WB. WB is the MVP favourite, damn recency bias. But credit where credit is due, despite WB chasing trip dubs and the bigs boxing out for him to get dem rebounds. He is having a hell of a season, and to maintain it for the whole season thus far is impressive, I used to be unimpressed with his stats, and still think Harden is MVP, but WB is having a historic season, and I, for one, acknowledge his greatness. That being said, I can see why KD left, WB is a straight up glory/ballhog. WB doesn't make his teammates better, he marginalises them, but he is a beast, no doubt. Harden ain't the ballhog WB is and that point is reflected in the standings. Didn't mean to bash WB at the end there, kind of just came out, but wanted to acknowledge his historic season. But still Harden > WB
