Great post, but I'm not yet ready to concede a "regression" after only 12 games. His December was stinky but WB is slowly rounding into form. Last couple of weeks he's starting to look more comfortable. January compared to December has been a big turnaround. Dec: 16 pts, 4 rebs, 5 dimes, 5 TOs, 37.5% shooting percentage. Jan: 21 pts, 5 rebs, 5 dimes, 2 TOs, 47.2% shooting percentage. December has ruined his early averages, but as the season wears on, the numbers will better reflect him shaking off the December rust. Patience is a virtue.
Looks like great numbers. For a shooting guard. You neglected to mention the most important stat for a Point Guard. In my opinion KD should be scoring 30 per game but that's not the point. I have no problem with Westbrook scoring a lot of points but when his shooting percentage dips and his assist numbers go down by 3 Per Game from last year that's my problem. Hypothetically speaking, I don't think KD scoring 30 means they're being too dependent on one player. It's better to spread things out and be more diverse like you said. With that said it's the PG's duty to spread things out and create buckets for other players right??? Last year in the regular season Westbrook was dishing 8 assists per game. This year he's at 5. That's a significant difference. As a PG when the number of shots increase and the the FG% drops it's eye opening. When you combine those things with 3 less assists per game and a questionable shot selection it becomes a huge deal. He's tied for 25th in the league in assits. If Westbrook was dishing 8 or more assists per game like last year compared to his pathetic 5 I'd have no qualms whatsoever. That means there's at least 6 points that's being spread around and scored by his teammates... That can't be too bad considering he shoots the lowest % on his team outside of Daequan Cook. I'm referring to that diversity thing you were talking about.
Says you. The MVP of last season, Derrick Rose, proves that assists aren't necessarily the most important stat for a PG. If you want to stay in that box, feel free. It depends on what a teams needs. With Perkins at C being very poor on offense, Ibaka having serious concentration problems so far and Thabo stuck on his normal 5 pts/game, WB needs to score to help them win. Pathetic? It's been 12 games. So your only problem with WB is 3 assists? This isn't even worth talking about. Did you see the post above on his Dec to Jan FG% improvement? Another thing about the first 12 games is KD is looking to pass more than ever and he's having fun with it. His handles have improved and he's playing more of a facilitator role. That isn't WB's fault. What you need to do is stop blaming WB for everything you don't like about OKC and give him a lot of the credit for their success. They are 10-2 and have just won 5 games in 6 days. 3 more assists wouldn't have changed anything.
Would like to further piggyback on Ibaka having serious concentration problems this year. Guy has been much worse than his normal self, and his normal self has terrible hands.
I assume he'll get it going eventually. Last year, Ibaka's problems lasted further into the season than now before he locked in. Collison is worth every generous red cent OKC is paying him. They wouldn't be near 10-2 without him.
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Westbrook is already considered at a higher level than both of those guys in their careers. And he plays DEFENSE.
Yeah they really need some scoring punch. But IMHO WB scoring a lot doesn't necessarily mean he's a good fit for his team, KD should be option 1, 2 and 3. They really should trade WB to another team for a real playmaker. If I were the Thunder GM I'd look into a Curry for WB swap. Monta is really more of a pg and WB can slide into the sg slot and can hog the ball all day long. Thunder gets a real PG who can also score, and they can field Curry, Harden and Durant all the same time at the end of the game.
He's seeking a 5yr/$94M contract extension. I think even the $80M the Thunder have in mind is too much.
Thinking like this is the reason the rockets traded the 8th pick for battier. What happens when kd has a bad game in the playoffs like he's shown recently. He shouldn't be the 1st,2nd,and 3rd option. When you do that, it sets your team up to get bounced no matter who this so called playmaker is. Westbrook is better than curry by leaps and bounds. To me, he's the 2nd best pg in the the game. He started slow, but now he's rounding into shape. He's probably the best defender at the point in the game period. That alone is enough to be considered foolish when you consider he's 23.
True, this. The Thunder do have some problems looming. They just can't pay all these guys. Westbrook is right to ask for all that $$$. But he's second fiddle on the team to Durant---just not in his own brain; he probably sees himself as more of a Derrick Rose. Interesting to see if he'll take less money. OKC doesn't want to lose his talent, but also doesn't need a shakeup in a year they could, presumably, win it all.
Not really. KD got his money, westbrook should get 80m and harden will get 60m. The guy who might get caught up is ibaka, but at his rate right now, he looks like a 6-7m per yr guy. Small market or not, they have to keep their best players.
