that's great and all, but i rather have a player perform consistently over a good half season, at least, not a few games, to declare that his normal play. Looking at the last 8-9 games you singled out, he's only shot consistently well for the last 4 games. Prior to that he still had a game of 31% shooting and another of 22%. Other than that, i agree he's done well, but again, i'd like to see him keep it up before declaring him close to being elite. And i never said KD was the sole reason why Westbrook is doing better. I said KD gets him a lot of assists due to the fact that he's a great scorer. Westbrook still does other things on his own, but it's clear KD is raising his assists, just look at his assists numbers when KD didnt play last year, or again, when he scored less than 20pts this year. And someone else on here mentioned they thought rose was better earlier in the thread.
nevermind on the rose comment....i went to check again and no one wrote that, i guess i got confused when someone wrote they wouldnt compare him to rose...
You do realize Westbrook is a 2nd year player, right? This is how young players develop and you have to look as his most recent games to get an idea of where he's headed. For a 2nd year player at this point in the season, stats in November/December (and sometimes even January) don't mean anything. You can use Derrick Rose as another clear example of that. Both PGs have stepped up to another level the last few weeks. Westbrook has a long way to go. He made great progress during his rookie year when, at times, it didn't look at all like he could make it as a PG. This season he's progressed much further. It often takes PGs & Cs some time to develop before they plateau and Westbrook didn't even play PG in college, which magnifies the challenge. If you consider how much he's improved in his 1 1/2 seasons, this guy has a chance to be dominant. Right now (not in the future), there is no better rebounding PG in the NBA. Right now, he is one of the best PG finishers at the rim in the NBA. This is a 21 year-old. It's hard to believe he's the same player that made me wince so much last season. Westbrook is just figuring out that most PGs in the NBA cannot guard him. Let's hope the "take-no-prisoners" attitude he's shown recently remains. I hate to bring this up again but you need to actually watch the Thunder and quit focusing on assist numbers. Westbrook ain't Chris Paul or Steve Nash, he's a completely different type of player. Who gives a care if his assists would be 5 per game instead of 8 if KD wasn't on the team? Most assist leaders throughout NBA history had good/great scorers to pass the ball to. It just so happens that KD is the one and only good offensive player on the Thunder, who are a challenged offensive team. If Westbrook had a more balanced team, his assists would likely be just about where they are now. Derrick Rose is my guy even more than Westbrook, but he's a PG through and through. Even when Westbrook becomes a seasoned veteran at the position and does most of what I expect him to do, I think Rose will become the pre-eminent PG in the NBA. If/when either of these guys become deadly from mid-range, turn out the lights. If I'm not mistaken, both trained to together last summer with the same shooting coach. Both are much better shooters than last year. It's coming along nicely. CP3 wasn't an efficient shooter at all his first 2 seasons. Give it time.
im not sure why we're even arguing over this...i know he's got the skills and potential to be elite, ive never denied that. I know he's in his second yr. I know he needs time. My whole point was exactly that, give him some more time, instead of focusing on his play in a stretch of games. YEs, you need to evaluate them based on progression, how they are doing now as oppose to the ebginning of the season, but we're talking about a handful of games here. At this point is can be due to many other things, like easier opponents or play based on an emotional high. He needs to do it for a longer stretch before one can truly say it's a permanent change. He's not the first player to raise up his play over a span of games like that and not all of them keep it up. As for his assists, i only brought it up because his numbers were being used as a way to evaluate him. I think t's fair to say that if his assts numbers were closer to Brooks' not as many people would be that high on him. Just like if brooks was stacking up double digit asissts more often then more fans would be higher on him as a pg. Another reason why his assits should be brought up is due to his low shooting %. A pg who can't shoot well needs to be one hell of a passer and more to be a top notch pg, like Kidd, who has shot poorly, but passes, defends, and rebounds well. Rondo is doing some of that as well. As long as his shooting % is so low and he's next to KD, some fans will always wonder how he'd do on a different team. For himto be elite he's going to need to show he can do the same when durant is injured or with another team.
westbrook and collison, 2 legit PGs from UCLA. i don't know if it's just me but i feel collison will be the better player once he's on a team where he gets big minutes (away from chris paul obviously)
Don't know if anyone here caught it, but Westbrook was a beast tonight. He dropped 18 pts, 8 rebs, 15 assists, 2 steals and only 2 TOs. This is what happens when young PGs finally begin to catch on. Doubt him all you want, but he's raised his game to a different level and there isn't anything temporary about it. He is a much better player than earlier in the season. The difference is startling. I've never believed court-vision could be learned and developed much after a player arrives in the NBA, but Westbrook might change my mind. From the very beginning, he was zipping sharp, crisp passes that caught the defense off-guard. It was like nobody out there on either team saw the floor like he did. He was the star tonight even though 90% of NBA fans will only notice that KD scored 25 points again. I really think it was a good thing his 25-point scoring streak was stopped on Wednesday.
I assume he's not coming back in and finishes at 14 pts, 10 asts, zero TOs. Another great performance. He was like a traffic cop out there who, every now and then, liked to show he could abuse Calderon or Jack at will. This game wasn't even fair. One team plays defense, the other doesn't and is missing it's best player. The Rockets should be able to clean up tomorrow night because Bosh didn't travel.
How about Serge Ibaka? 13 pts 10 rbs and 4blks in 24 minutes Just take a look at the Thunder's young players Durant Westbrook Green Harden Sefelosha Ibaka Maynor B. Mullens All of these players are years away from their potential and are under 25 years old. Kristic is still in his mid-twenties also. Scary roster they have...
When Westbrook is more consistent with his jump shot and controls the pace of the game a little better, I think he can actually give Rose a run for his money. Right now, Westbrook is still going 90 mph all the time. Once he slows down, the rest of the league better watch out! The rate at which he has been able to convert from being scoring combo guard to a point guard is stunning.
It's just you and a few posters here. Rose is the Lebron James of PG's in the NBA in terms of athleticism, and don't take my word for it, just watch his games and highlights this season alone. Better yet go read what All-stars around the league have to say about Rose. Chris Paul, Chauncey Billups, Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade etc.. have all marveled at Rose's freakish combination of speed, power, vertical leaping ability and insane body control. Rose can go by you, through you and over you with ease and has shown it on the court time after time in the past year and half in the regular season and the playoffs.
Westbrook continues his stellar play over a "stretch of games". 30 pts, 5 rebs, 13 asts only 2 TOs tonight. He looks like a veteran PG and continues to be deadly with laser passes that find guys open near the basket and on the perimeter. Over his last 13 games: 20 pts, 6 rebs, 10 asts, 2.5 TOs while shooting 47%. That is a 4/1 ast/TO ratio! I guess this is just a trend and doesn't prove anything. But if you watch him play, see how much more comfortable he looks out there and especially how he sees plays develop from all over the floor, it's definitely more than a trend. His development is amazing. But in reality, I expect both Westbrook and the Thunder to cool off at some point because they are such a young team. There is no way they can keep up this pace and the notion of them winning 50 games is a pipe dream IMO. The final 3 weeks of their schedule is tough. I just don't want them finishing 8th. IMO, the perfect 1st round match-up for OKC is the Jazz.
I've been watching them alot lately and he's getting better and better. Does he seem like a young baron davis in terms of his physicality and stuff? I never thought baron was going to be as good coming out of college, but then he started balling in his 2nd year also.
