Yes Westbrook has the higher peaks but he also brings high risk on the other end of the spectrum. They will be asking him to play more PG this season than ever before and many times his "hero mode" hurts the team
The Thunder have gotten better every year, and went to the Finals last year. Tell me how he hurt his team? He's 23. There will be some growing pains. But an all-nba teamer at 23 years old? How many players have done that?
WB's assists per game should go back up this year to between 8-9 like they were 2 years ago now that he'll be asked to be more of a playmaker with Harden gone. WB was baptized by fire last year when Maynor went down and he passed with flying colors. I didn't know if he could hold up the entire season without falling off but he did. People don't realize how bad Reggie Jackson was as his backup and the extra pressure on WB didn't even faze the guy. He stepped up and shouldered the burden despite the condensed season. As Rockets fans, we'll see first hand how Harden handles the pressure of being asked to deliver 20-25 ppg as the team Alpha. He was a superb 3rd wheel and we get to watch him grow into a new role.
So one guy is a all nba performer and the other had questions about his work ethic,yet the op says the 3rd wheel is better? Man, look here, they traded harden for martin and lamb plus picks, the thunder turned down cp3 for westbrook. Doesn't that say something about who people view as the better player? Let's not forget the age of westbrook either. Let's not forget how he performed when durant was hurt. This isn't even close or make sense. Its easier to just say the rockets were in the right place at the right time and got themselves a all star caliber player. Had they got westbrook,they would have a superstar caliber player. There is a difference.
No way, unless Pierce comes with him. Westbrook is a flat out scorer something Rondo isn't. And Rondo is a poor shooter, shooting less than 60% on FTs and shooting 24% on 3s, not this year's average, this is his career average. Lin>Westbrook, as QB of the team, you want smart players. I believe Westbrook's brain malfunction when the Heat won the clinching game, he inexplicably fouled a Heat player when they don't need to foul. I think we won a game against Thunder when he was careless with the ball, C.Lee picked his pocket to seal the game. That was the game we were losing 12-15pts in less than 2 minutes and we came back to win.
You can say what you want about Westbrook's playmaking, but he's unstoppable on offense(no defense can contain him) and he has the potential to be one of the best defenders in the league. Look at his effort in the Olympics at the defensive end, he's a matchup nightmare.
We turned down paul and went for Pau instead. One has nothing to do with the other. Westbrook is great for what scotty is running, which is just winging it. Like HP said, intelligence i.e. basketball I.q is way underrated. Defensively, dragic and chalmers can easily get under his skin. I say they're about equal in talent, but Harden is a better fit for this team.
Westbrook is better than Harden. Westbrook is amazing. He can do everything on the court. He can get tough offensive or defensive rebounds. He can absolutely take over big games in the finals. How many players can really score 44 points in the NBA Finals against a really good defensive team in the Miami Heat? You can argue that Westbrook shoots too much but it's not like Durant didn't win the scoring title. And the rest of the starting lineup is just not good offensively. He has to do what he does.
They are both great and bring something different to the table. Westbrook can be a hothead at times and is not as good of a distributer as Harden but he is very explosive, one of the best penetrators in the game, and brings an attitude that top teams need. He is a more controlled version of Maxwell. He also takes a lot of pressure off of Durant. James is more controlled. Excellent pick and role player. However, this will be the first time where the teams will lock him down as the first option on the team. We still have to see how he responds to the new role. And you have to be a little wary about his disappearing act in the Finals. I am huge Harden fan and I was disappointed.
Op, you should listen to the Simmons Grantland podcast. Listen to the whole thing. In the second half he has that guy on who is a data beast, sports bettor, poker player dude. Can't remember his name. Anyway, he looks at a bazillion stats and says so far pretty much every stat has Harden as the better/more efficient offensive player. May change. Harden gets less efficient. Westbrook more. But I agree with him for now. Westbrook needs to get smarter. Then I agree with you wrt to position. DM has found a ton of quality points. Not Westbrook of course, bu quality. Moreover for all the attention the PG spot has gotten over the past 15 years, PG led teams just haven't won it all. The Spurs are the closest with Parker winning Finals MVP one year bu I wouldn't call that PG led. Meanwhile, a dominant a wing player has basically become a necessity. I much much prefer Harden. Westbrook is like Francis on steroids. As in much much better, but still so frustrating at times.
I've always liked Harden more but Westbrook can be a force of nature, it will be a shame and a disappointment for OKC if he doesn't keep improving. When his act is clean he's definitely a superstar, he has a higher ceiling than Harden.
I hope so and that he's able to do it efficiently. He won't be able to be as selective with his shots now. The Rockets need him to average 20 shots/game and take shots nobody else will.
What we have in Harden is a Ginobili-lite (he won't ever have Ginobili's all-out reckless initiative to win). Westbrook on the other is a Steve Francis 4.0, a much upgraded version.
