If we can get Westbrook not to shoot threes we will be ok. We have been needing someone to attack the rim anyway. Thats why everyone loves Rivers. Funny how Austin is now all of a sudden a good three point shooter.
It's a total joke. Everybody is trying to justify the trade with assumptions that Paul wil never be healthy for a playoff run and Westbrick is this iron man that never gets hurt. So somehow a healthy Westbrick chucking bricks is better than an injured Paul. Myself, I don't think Westbrick is as good as Austin Rivers. Durant didn't want to play with him anymore. Paul George wanted out after a year and a half. Those guys ain't fools. Harden had better make this work because this is one heck of an expensive player pacifier.
And you'll never see anybody do it. There are ways this works for the Rockets but there also ways it fails. You are in the failed camp and are unlikely to be convinced prior to seeing results.
Should topics be limited to cheerleading? Sorry, I left my skirt and pom poms at my other computer station. I posted the thread to have a discussion and probably with the hope that someone would make a valid argument that would win me over haha. I'm super supportive of the Rockets. Trust me, I have no concern over being "right." I don't get paid by a team to be right about any of this. I want to be wrong about this just like I wanted to be wrong about Melo. In the meantime I'll discuss it on a discussion board.
My comment wasn’t pinpointed at you, I’d hoped you wouldn’t take it personally. All you have to do is take a quick glance at the first few pages of the garm to see it’s 80% negative points being made about the Westbrook trade. I don’t know how you expect someone mount a valid argument to win you over from your OP because numbers don’t lie. We don’t know what his numbers will look like in our system yet, let’s hope they improve. The cp comparison should be dead at this point or at least limited to a couple threads. We get that Westbrook is less efficient but he brings a lot of other positives to the table that cp doesn’t. I won’t go into it because those points have also been brought up repeatedly. I’m not questioning your fandom I’m talking about the non stop bombardment of cynicism that’s littering the garm. Most of us understand your point and it’s been brought up ad nauseam. Like I said, I don’t have anything against you or anyone on this board. I think yall do raise valid points but I don’t want to spend the rest of the offseason reading thread after thread trashing the guy before he’s even played a minute in a rockets uniform. I don’t remember the last time we as a fan base have been this unwelcoming to a new player, that includes Dwight and Melo.
it will be a borderline miracle if Russ reaches the overall level of impact of 17-18 CP3 there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that we weren’t gonna win a title with 19-20 CP0 and a bunch of role players which is why I’m not mad with the switch to Russ Russ has huge flaws, but I would still take him over CP0 moving forward CP0 went from superstar to very good starter over just 1 summer, and who knows how Harden would handle another year of his annoying demeanor while he misses his 20+ games and continues to decline. It’s well known that CP0’s constant yapping and barking can get tiresome.
Chris Paul is weirdly underrated. Bill Simmons had a podcast recently where he placed him outside the top 40. Huh?!
The playoff numbers are indeed "not great bob." Totally agree with you about Westbrook being terrible in his past 3 playoff performances. Westbrook's main failing IMO is his decision making (+poor shooting). This was true when he was in his early 20's to his late 20's, playing with MVP Durant, with PG13 or by himself. Westbrook just cant seem to stop himself from taking TOO many ill-advise, dumb, excessive & self-defeating shots. Even in bad games, playing with better players having better shooting nights, Westbrook will often take more shots... at least half of which he shouldn't have. Westbrook has many, many faults, but due to his physical talents, he's also STILL a top 20 player in the NBA. Something CP3 isn't despite his great skills. Aside for the small sample of Westbrook's playoff games, Westbrook was clearly that he was the better & more productive player last season. Aside from just counting stats, Westbrook also trumped Paul in many advance stats such as VORP, BPM, PER and WS. Westbrook beats CP3 not just in stats, but also in the recognition of his peers & the league as he garnered ALL-NBA third team & was an ALL-star honors, neither of which CP3 received. Not trying to speak for justtxyank but i doubt he is making this thread in hopes of having Morey rescind the trade or polarize the board. If being negative is simply, posting any information, data & opinion that isn't wholly optimistic and supportive, this forum will be pretty boring imo. Though the playoff stats suffer due to sample size, the post is still very informative and enlightening, especially to those who didn't follow the Thunders much. Having different viewpoints is OK, especially when those differing views are discussed, rationally and with thought.
Guess it's all about perspective, since it was my impression that the Westbrook optimism and support was HUGE and much greater than I'd anticipate (which is also great). But it's to the point where many people are shouting and accusing Clutch of wanting to be right and of hating lol. I'm personally a fan of the trade, but am also one who share every misgiving and concern voiced by Clutch and others in this and other thread. Pointing out/examining the possible problems with Westbrook on the team, shouldn't be received as hate. It shouldn't be a question of being "supportive" or not, but rather of a discussion of interesting basketball/houston rockets related topics/issues. Isn't that why we are all here?
CP’s +/- was 0. Which is still better than Westbrook’s negative +/- Tbh tho, I’m cautiously optimistic that this is gonna work out. Just hoping Westbrook is working on that shot - 3’s and midrange - midrange is definitely a wrinkle the Rockets must add back to their repertoire.
It's like Clutch, said, somehow people starting looking at his contract rather than him as the player. However his up and down, performance last season certainly didn't help. I definitely still think that he's a top 40 player and could possibly have a rebound season. On the right team, he could be very very good. The guys is just so smart on the court and with his skill level, I don't think he'll have a huge decline IF he is healthy. Big IF unfortunately
First off don’t worry about it I don’t take it personally. I’m here for discussion and don’t mind being challenged as long as we’re not flinging poo. Westbrook is an extremely polarizing player so it doesn’t surprise me. Melo was for the minimum and didn’t cost us any players or picks so people who were anti Melo, like myself, could even embrace it as “why not?” Proposition
Y'all are funny. We are gonna be lit this year. Russ at this point in his career impacts the game so much more than CP3. I'm hyped and y'all should be to.
The reality is, Westbrook might just be a net negative player. To the point where any net positive, or even net nuetral player is overall better for our team. WB simply can’t shoot from anywhere outside or of 3 feet, he’s a terrible decision maker and a poor defender.
Hate probably wasn't the best choice of words, but then again, I wasn't trying to call anyone out specifically just the general feel of the garm and the trade. I have the same concerns and reservations as many others. WB was literally my most disliked player until the trade went down and I became more interested in his game outside of the numbers. I guess I've just moved past them at this point and have chosen to embrace the positive elements of his game. Most importantly he's a Rocket now. I just feel like some of the efficiency threads are beating a dead horse. Lastly, I would never question any longtime members fandom, let alone clutch. There's a reason we're all here and it's because we all share the same passion and enthusiasm for our Rockets.