I don't remember if the ball hit the rim. It was a bit too high, or maybe the timing was not right. But usually a great athletic guy, which Westbrook is, would still be able to get a pass that's a little bit off and finish. What I remember was that Russ's hands were barely above the rim. Even if he did catch it, he wouldn't have been able to slam it home. And that's not the only play. He got blocked by LeBron two times, I think. Both time would have been a dunk when Westbrook was in peak form. Anyway, like I said. I hope it is just because he's not fully recovered from the injury.
he's obviously not 100%. he's rusty. until he's back to being himself we can't allow him to have superstar usage. I would start with harden, ego, house, roco, and pj. I'm playing those starters 38-40 minutes each. that leaves 40-50 minutes for the bench. green gets 16-20 backing up roco and pj. rus can have 20-24 backing up everyone else. that leaves 4-6 minutes for bmac. rivers shouldn't be in the rotation right now.
Agreed. So much. But what to do when a superstar insists on finishing a game? A coach has to balance the outcome of one game against essentially telling a star player that he doesn't have it in him to be on the floor in the closing minutes, and the fallout from that. MDA was in a tough position that way, just like he was in a bad position when Harden insisted on burning an early challenge that was never going to be overturned. Sometimes the coach has no choice but to follow his superstars, at least momentarily, for the betterment of future games. I think the situation would have been different in an elimination game. I don't think MDA would feel compelled to listen to a star player that just doesn't have it in an elimination game. But maybe he would still feel compelled to, even if if it meant elimination. I think it would remain a tough situation for him. If I were in his shoes it would be a tough decision for me too. I wasn't looking to MDA to bench Russ though. As much as I wanted him to be benched, I thought the best way to sit him was for him to foul out. And we were so close! He already had 5. As a result, I was literally cheering for a star player on our team to foul out. If he had, I believe we'd have had a much better chance of winning. But the Lakers knew that so they didn't go at him like they would any other star. Not only did they not go after him in search of that final foul, they seemed to be avoiding it. So that 6th foul never came, he remained on the floor, and we lost. And the only person that could have helped us out in this situation (apart from MDA) came up short too. Thanks a lot, Scott Foster.
You have to play him - he’s a high risk high reward player. Sure, performances like last night and his usual low-IQ turnovers are enough to make any one of us want to throw stuff at the TV, but man when he’s in a zone he’s really something special - his 40 points when we beat the Lakers in February the first time we ran true micro-ball with Covington was awesome and carried us to a victory. At this point, we’re married to Westbrook and I’m sure D’antoni is going to ride or die with him, so let’s just hope for the best!
You let him play, but three 3’s from his hand is the exact same ****ing thing as six fouls. Once you hit that magic number, you’re done. No more game for you!
Jan- March was regular season, most teams coast a bit which Russ takes advantage of by playing hard, but once playoffs hit that advantage dissipates and we are stuck with a great athlete who sucks at key parts of basketball. DD
Ofcourse you play him but if he has another horrible game that makes us lose, this series is pretty much over unless Lebron or AD get injured. Harden can't win this series by himself unless we shoot above 40% as a team from the 3 every game (which won't happen).
I remember a playoff game where the coach benched James Harden and we had one of the greatest comebacks of all time. But, that was a different coach, and Josh Smith is no longer on the team. But, the point is, if you need to bench a star player to win a game, then do it.
Disagree. You guys arent taking the mental aspect into this. All that says to the team, and to the media is that Westbrook is not trusted by our team. And Dantoni>>>>>Mchale every day of the week.
What happened in that game was that the bench was having a great run and we had the momentum. If that is the case with Westbrook on the bench, you definitely do not want to put him back in to disrupt the flow. But when the bench players aren't really killing it out there, it's hard to not play your star player. You can get fired if you lose the game with your star on the bench.
The bench is not killing it because Russ is throwing the damned ball into the stands or breaking a backboard with his bricked shots....he is ball hogging and KILLING any momentum we have, we would be better with Rivers, or EGo running the team..... DD
Russ is fine James and PJ will get him right and he will dominate tomorrow. I would want to be Lebron KCP AD Caruso Kuzma or Rondo. He is going to smoke those clowns. I cant wait
