Absolute madness. That two-handed dunk was crazy! <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2jLh096OLDU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
He's averaging 11 boards per game during this run. As a PG to get those rebounds, he's getting those possessions on the run automatically. He's a one man fast break. Let's be real: this is some historic stuff we are witnessing.
I like Russell and his style of play. I think he is probably the most athletic nba player in the league. I love his aggressiveness and wish more players were like him, but Russell is the same for me as carmelo. I think he is a "bad player" when it comes to team success. If pick him up for black top any day of the week. Like all the guest on first take were saying(harden got a lot of love) it's cool that he has 4 straight triple doubles, but he has lost two of those games by taking over 30 shots, do it doesn't really mean much They were pointing out that harden has led the rockets to a 19-9 record without howard. Russel has a 11-9 record without Durant, and hardens been doing it twice the amount of time
OKC is 10 or 11-3 during this run of his. How is that not winning? Great players have big games sometimes and their teams lose. It happens. And those were on the road v. formidable home teams. If WB wasn't injured all year, OKC probably and most likely would be battling for a top 3 seed.
That is a pretty myopic assessment. A high usage rate for any given player generally means that there is a big delta between them and the rest of team. In other words, the rest of the team isn't that good. A poor supporting cast leads to fewer wins. That delta is HUGE without Durant in there. When a guy that is in the low-mid 30's in usage rate is out, it is only natural that the guy with the highest usage rate will see his increase. This is very basic stuff. Westbrook has HAD to be the man with how many games Durant has missed. But if you are going in to advanced statistics and want to talk efficiency, look at the guy's PER. It is a very robust 29.91, second only to Anthony Davis. Not bad for a guy taking a "butt-load" of shots. He still has a 2:1 Assist-to-Turnover ratio and is pulling down 7 boars per game. You don't put up those numbers, let alone get 4 straight triple-doubles, by just chucking up a bunch of shots.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Crowd chanting MVP for Russell Westbrook at the line. Kevin Durant on the bench lifting his arm asking for more.</p>— Royce Young (@royceyoung) <a href="https://twitter.com/royceyoung/status/573326687896674304">March 5, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
I'm also just equating he is doing a bit too much. They aren't beating any body in this run. They are lucky to be 2-2 in this stretch. Should be 1-3. He shoots too much. Simple as that. That team has talent, more so than the Rockets. I can guarantee Houston would wipe them off the floor right now. ....but yes, he still is incredible.
Exactly. They were running through dudes when Westbrook's usage was lowered, his efficiency raised, and his teammates involvement increased. Ever since he's decided to go for nuclear box score numbers, the Thunder have struggled as a team. That isn't discrediting him. He's obviously doing amazing things. That doesn't mean it's the best way to win games.
I don't think OKC will enter the playoffs with this team. They have a guy named Kevin Durant who will make things easier for that entire team.
What he's doing is pretty incredible. I'm sure some of you think it means nothing if he's not winning, but I disagree. I see him carrying that team to wins this year. I wanted OKC to miss the playoffs because I didn't want the Rockets to have to potentially face them and he is crushing that hope. Even if he's costing them games, which I don't think he is, his performance is just amazing to watch. This is like watching a young Jordan.
Has anybody mentioned that in their last two losses Westbrook missed a game winning or tying layup and free throw at the end? He is crazy, but something he is doing or the team is doing just isn't quite adding up to success right now. Reminds me a bit of the Bobby Sura triple-double run a bunch of years back when it became the priority over team success.
Durant has missed the last 7 games. The Thunder are 5-2, with both losses coming on a road back-to-back to Phoenix (no slouch) and Portland (3rd in the West) by a combined total of 5 points. The excuses of this board....
I'm the biggest Jame Harden homer who wants him to win the MVP but if Westbrook keeps doing what he is doing, he should win the MVP without a doubt. Forget stats and records, watch the damn game and you will feel the same. Westbrook, Harden, Curry, James (recently turned it up too), damn this one of the best MVP races ever. Forget march madness, the NBA first round is just as good list year and last.
Or you know...maybe he just likes to shoot. The fact is team ball>hero ball. PER measure overall productivity, at the end of the day WB has more points obviously he will have better PER it has nothing to do with efficiency whatsoever. I mean just look at his production this game, he put up amazing numbers but OKC had to go to overtime against the tanking 76ers. If they had faced a better team it would again be a loss but WB would be putting up the same historic numbers. 46, 16, 10 and your team goes overtime against Philly? Isn't it funny how OKC beat the Lakers handily without heroball but needs video game numbers from WB to beat Philly? Personally, I think what we're seeing is player production replacement, meaning WB just replaces the production of his teammates. Normally when a guy like Harden goes off for 40 or whatever, you see the team production elevate because Harden's gets more points from the same amount of shots, in this case what happens is you take the shots away from the rest of the team and put everything in WB, so while WB looks historic the team itself is the same. But to be honest I'm happy about all this considering WB plays on an opposing team. Let him get all the lime light and bask in the glory of being the man. Hopefully this pisses KD off when he comes back, KD may love it now but in the playoffs WB's blackhole tendencies on crack is gonna backfire on their team.
Except you know, the wins were against low ranked teams and WB wasn't even playing. Nobody's saying WB is a bad player, people like me are saying guys like you are overrating him. OKC is a good team. WB is a good player, no **** they're gonna be winning games. But if a guy goes off for 46, 16, 10 and your squad has to go to OT against Philly, does that seem like a winning moment to you? 46/16/10 are historic numbers, if a guy does that your team should be destroying the opponent, not fighting for its life against one fo the worst squads in the NBA. Case in point would be when Lebron went off on his 2nd title run and went up against Chicago, he put up crazy number as well but Miami pretty much destroyed Chicago, there was never a moment where you thought the Bulls would pull it off they just got owned straight up because Lebron average something crazy like 26/8/6. 46/16/10 is even crazier than that, so even without looking at percentages you'd think OKC would just straight up dominate Philly, not almost lose to them.
