Some of ya'll are dissecting this way too much. Westbrook is Stephon Marburry. Allen Iverson. Steve Francis. What did any of them do other than pad their stats, run iso, drive the ball, and makes some high light reels in their careers? Iverson of that bunch was the toughest, and I'll give Westbrook that much. But you look at that group and they all share the same characteristics. And unlike them, they weren't paired with a player like Durant. Well Marburry was, and he opted to leave.
Nice bounce-back game for Westbrook. Coach Nick from BballBreakdown dissects Westbrook's first game against the Spurs: <object width="640" height="360"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YVitzGz9g2s?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YVitzGz9g2s?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" height="360" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
Better players but it's not like WB is a scrub. Durant is the 2nd best player Harden - Top 10 and possible Top 5 in the future Westbrook is somewhere Top 12, just an exciting individual player that can pass, rebound and do other things than score the ball Teams are lucky to have either one of them. Lowry is not there yet....as a team player and leader he is good though
WB isn't a scrub, but he's paid like a top star, and because his game results in him padding his stats ala Melo/Marbury/Francis, he'll always get supporters who look at all his lowlights but ignore all the horrible stuff he's doing. WB's main problem is between the ears. That's the hardest thing to fix IMHO, OKC chose WB over Harden and IMHO they're gonna take a step back because of that.
It is too early to say how many steps back they are gonna take. The contract situation was clear to everyone..... They couldn't keep everyone happy unless they got everyone on the same page which they obviously did not. I doubt that Harden would play like this if he were still coming off the bench. OKC's problem should not be our problem. They are still one of West's contenders. Looking forward to playing them straight up.
Actually a lot of the teams already have decent pgs. Guys like Curry, Lawson, Lou Williams, Gogi, etc. aren't as good as a locked-in WB (esp. on D), but they get the job done. OTH, you actually have a dearth of quality SGs. Due to Broy and Eric Gordon getting hit with serious injuries, the top young sgs in the league apart from Harden feature guys like Demar Derozan, Courtney Lee and Klay Thompson. Its a pretty crappy list, if you're gonna pay for a max player get the franchise SG, you can get a decent pg almost anywhere.
I'm not saying they're taking a step back because they traded Harden, the package they got for him was extremely good and probably one of the better packages for a superstar(on the level of the Melo deal, which was fantastic). However they're gonna take a step back because they'll still be relying on WB-ball to save their team, and WB fluctuates from being a top 5 player to outright terrible (as Durvasa's BBall breakdown video shows). Before, they had Harden they could rely on to steady the ship, and when WB was having one of his fits they'd take him out and plug in Harden with very little dropoff. I guess Presti thought WB wouldn't fetch as much as Harden on the open market, I certainly wouldn't be thrilled if we traded Kmart+lotto pick+Lamb and got WB on a max contract in return.
When it comes to Rose vs Westbrook, I won't believe it until I see Westbrook on his own team doing what Rose did in 2011 to lead his team. With Harden vs. Westbrook, until Harden plays a full season here, I can't say how good of a first option he is, so I'll wait on that but I just think that he CAN be a better #1 option.
You guys are crazy. Westbrook and Harden are both amazing players. Each of them are capable of being franchise players on most other teams in the league. And, if the Thunder remain contenders it will be largely due to Westbrook's great talent. He's not a traditional PG but that's not nearly as important in today's nba. His sporadic poor decision making as a PG frustrates me but no more than bigs that can't post up or wings that can't defend. Still, there are stars with each deficiency.
Didn't. They beat the spurs 4-2 after being down 0-2? So westbrook did nothing in the regular season and the playoffs? Ok. I didn't watch all the ok city games on league pass last yr either. Yep,you got it. I'm glad you mentioned parker. Parker the 12 yr vet was nothing like parker the 4 yr guard either. Parker was out of control a lot early in his career and say what you want about durant now vs duncan then,its a lot easier playing with duncan than durant. Its a lot easier when you can dump the ball into one of the top playersv of our generation in his prime and get a quality shot. Who can do that on the thunder? I will tell you who,westbrook and durant from the perimeter. I don't know why I'm even discussing this with a guy stuck in 70s ball who think of basketball by positions. Its like people who think you have to run 35 times to win a football game. That day is through bro. Now when pure pgs start winning titles again,then maybe they will make a comeback,but its aout having difference making, impact players and that's what westbrook is. Last year lowry was better than westbrook,as the season wore on,westbrook made his 2nd straight all nba 2nd team by his 23rd birthday. The pure pgs who your clamoring for were sitting at home eating chicken and drinking beer while westbrook was in the finals before his 24th birthday. Its not all on him and I hope harden keeps his great play up. Its was a win-win for both team and to me its not about harden vs westbrook. Its just that simple,but people want to make it into a harden westbrook thing. They offered him a great contract,he got a better one. They offered him a chance to play on a contender,maybe he wants to turn a team into a contender. Maybe they turn that toronto pick into a talent or maybe they blow it. Whatever happens,happens.
More analysis on Westbrook (a response to the bballbreakdown video posted above): http://www.welcometoloudcity.com/2012/11/3/3594140/coach-nick-analyzes-westbrook-wtlc-responds
I keep thinking back to if the Thunder had done that trade too. Rondo Harden Durant Ibaka Perkins Rondo would distribute the ball to everyone and already has chemistry with Perkins.
that's still over tax, when you add their role players. They'd have to amnesty Perkins, just like they would if they kept Westbrook. On top of it, Rondo's next deal will be more expensive than Westbrook's current one. So financially, Westbrook for Rondo wasn't a solution.
